Are there any areas of your life which are not being changed due to technology? For me, the most mundane areas of my life have suddenly become easier to manage. For example, getting up to turn on a lamp used to be annoying, but now I can just use the Wemo app and turn the lamp on.
With technology moving away from the office and into all parts of our homes, areas previously unaltered with technology are becoming increasingly exciting as technology can aid in mundane task. Checking the temperature of meat can become mundane when cooking for an extended period of time. A good grill or smoker can and should be able to maintain its temperature without much fuss from the cooker, but I am not comfortable yet to leave my grill temperature unchecked for hours. In recent years there has been an improvement and innovation with wireless thermometers but these require the griller to carry around an extra item to check the temperature.
To aid in improving grilling enjoyment the iGrill wants to make grilling or smoking meat easier. By using the iGrill device you can connect your iOS device through Bluetooth and remotely monitor the temperature of your meat or grill. While time is a helpful gauge on whether a piece of meat is ready, I am never as confident with that first cut unless I have stuck a temperature probe into the meat. The iGrill is a unique idea but what about the execution? Is it reliable enough to forgo all visual temperature checks during those long cooks? Let’s dive in and see if this device really makes grilling an easier experience.
Upon the thought of email, what thought just went through your head? Did a sick feeling enter into the pit of your stomach because the unread count has become too overbearing? While the usefulness and proper techniques to handle it are debatable, the fact is that email is still a necessary evil and it is definitely worth investigating in order to find the best way that email works for you. If you have been struggling to keep tabs on your inbox then using email similar to a task system might be beneficial.
Attempting to help fix email is no easy task but Mail Pilot wants to change how you think of it. Instead of seeing an inbox and folders, Mail Pilot sees email as either incomplete or complete. By utilizing review times and lists, Mail Pilot wants to remove the stress from email and help you process your inbox a lot quicker. If dominating email sounds attractive, then keep reading on to see if Mail Pilot is the answer to a new productivity workflow!
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With the recent trend in the App Store it is surprising to see a weather app which is not following the bandwagon by making the simplest one possible. Seasonality Go breaks this trend by trying to become your weather power station. Instead of finding simple colors with a sliver of weather data and no real grasp of weather predictability, Seasonality Go provides a complete weather solution showcasing weather prediction with current weather conditions. When looking at weather apps there are always questions such as the reliability of the app and its weather data. Keep reading on to see how Seasonality Go stacked up in these crucial features.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a great way for people to stay up to date on the latest updates from their favorite websites. Google Reader has become one of the most popular RSS services available since it is free and easy to set up. Whilst Twitter might have replaced RSS for some users, I find value in knowing that there are certain websites that enable me to not miss any important updates. A quick search of the App Store leads to many app results for RSS apps that utilize Google Reader, including options such as Reeder, Mr. Reader, and Pulse but buried beneath the search results is a nice addition called Ziner.
Ziner’s tagline is “Where the simplicity of RSS returns.” Just one look at the screenshots and it can be hard to argue with that claim. Content is presented in a clean magazine format that can help remove the stress of the unread count. This raises a question which is: do consumers want simplicity with their RSS or would they prefer powerful callback features much like in Mr. Reader? One look at the new Mr. Reader update and the excellent review put together by Viticci makes a valid claim for more powerful RSS. Can simple still win in the RSS competition? Let’s dive in and take a look at Ziner to find out.
The way television is delivered to customers is slowly becoming archaic. Previously in my old apartment I was forced to use a small cable company to deliver my television entertainment. The company provided high definition but that was about all of the extra features it offered. They did not provide any extra features like viewing content on my iPad or scheduling digital video recordings(DVR) through a website. Recently I moved into a house and I decided to try satellite. After comparing services I decided on Dish Network and their Hopper DVR
While Dish Network may not be perfect, I have been happy with their service and the Dish Anywhere app. It allows Dish Network subscribers to view featured content, browse the guide to see what is on, schedule and maintain DVR events, and also view live TV and DVR events with the optional Sling Adapter. Keep reading past the break to see if the Dish Anywhere app has been a welcome addition to my change in TV providers. (more…)
Podcast are an incredibly beneficial way to either gain entertainment or information. News, cooking, sports, and technology are amongst some of the common areas which are popular for podcasters but there is most likely a category to suit most users.
Instacast came on the market to help alleviate the troubles most users were experiencing when having to manually sync their podcasts using iTunes. After podcast clients started to gain in popularity, Apple split podcast out of the music app on iOS and created their own podcast app. Although many users are still not happy with the experience due to a lack of syncing between the iOS apps. Instacast version 3.0 was released recently which includes an update to the syncing mechanism and also an upgraded design. The app is universal now and changed away from the in-app purchase model which was in version 2.0. Let’s find out more after the jump.
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Music streaming services have grown in popularity, with Rdio being one of the most popular options in the United States until Spotify jumped across the pond in July 2011. Since that date, Rdio and Spotify have been two of the biggest contenders for monthly subscriptions.
The reason I keep coming back to Rdio is that it seems to be a better fit for how I want to manage my music. I want a true iTunes-in-the-cloud solution and Rdio provides that. Even though Spotify is planning to add a collection feature and to help in music discovery, I am really liking Rdio’s innovations. With version 2.0, though, it is not just about a new coat of paint; Rdio 2.0 features new and innovative features, which positions itself in a good spot for competition of monthly subscription revenue. (more…)
Evernote is one of the most popular digital notebooks services, and it has been very popular with iOS users for some time now. There have been many complaints (mostly plain text fanatics) about Evernote’s export ability if you choose to leave the service, but I feel that Evernote is better fit as a digital archive rather than an ongoing list of notes. What has brought people to using Evernote in the past is how easy it is to save info from the web for reference and items to remember later. Have a great meal? Save the image into Evernote along with the recipe for when you would like to cook it.
While features are not touted as the main new items in the new Evernote, the redesign is. The old Evernote seemed to suffer from an identity crisis. On iOS, the app was not uniform and looked completely different when using the iPad and iPhone. With the new redesign, the app and service has become more uniform and looks consistent, with extra features on the iPad due to screen real estate. Let’s take a closer look after the jump. (more…)
With the lack of widgets built into iOS, the desire to perform actions quicker is usually requested. Some people turn to jailbreaking to achieve quicker access to apps and settings, but I believe most users would rather not deal with the extra work. URL schemes have become more popular with launcher apps which allow for apps to communicate with each other in a certain way. Whether if it is to open the app or to perform an action in the app, url schemes can make sharing data easier.
Launch+ aims to help alleviate some of the troubles of sharing data across apps. By using url schemes, apps can be opened and data can be shared across iOS. Launch+ also includes reminders which can remind you to launch an app or send a text message to someone. Does the iPad need a launcher app since there is a considerable amount of more room for more apps? Read on after the break to see. (more…)
The days of exploring through Shenmue are long over for me, but I can remember the countless hours that I spent playing my Sega Dreamcast. There were two games which got the most use out of my console. The first was the previously mentioned Shenmue, the other was Crazy Taxi. To my great joy, Crazy Taxi is now available on iOS.
The game is the same version that shipped with the Dreamcast and features every bit of crazy driving that you might be expecting. For users not familiar with the game, Crazy Taxi offers the player the ability to drive a taxi around and earn fares based on driving skills and how quickly customers arrive at their destination. Drivers must avoid other customers and traffic, all while trying to beat a game clock. Let’s find out more after the jump. (more…)
