Apps for Safety

There really is an app for nearly everything, and home and household safety is something that really shouldn't be neglected: So lucky for you we've sourced some of the better apps out there for home safety, emergencies and first aid:
Life360 is a handy Android emergency app that will allow a family to quickly prepare for any disaster (this app was conceived in the wake of Hurrican Katrina -when the need was seen for this type of quick emergency app)
Playsafe Makes driving and listening to music on your Iphone much easier with the app turning icons into super sized versions for easy music scrolling , so you can keep your eyes on the road.
First Aid for Infants is a crucial app for any parent and can deal with and give advice for anything from the smallest cuts and bruises to more serious injuries.


Apps for safety are all well and good but real home safety must always be planned and thought about,  pool fence tampa is particularly one of the companies we must recommend for pool safety-that should negate the need for you ever having to use any of your home emergency apps, at least around the Swimming pool!

The duel depression of visiting the dentist and having a lisfranc injury

Lisfranc Injuries and Toothache

So what possible correlation between a Lisfranc Injury and a dentist could there possibly be? Well again it's two highly relevant news items that have prompted me to put finger to keyboard to write about how Smartphones can help improve your general physical health from dental needs, whether they be dental diagnosis, dentist reviews or even cosmetic dentist needs all the way down to an obscure foot injury such as the already mentioned Lisfranc foot injury. Phew , enough worries there to cause depression for anybody!

Well just like the Cantaloupe Listeria scare that I mentioned in a previous article the LisFranc injury has also been in the news: this one because when Houston Texan's Quarterback Matt Schaub was injured with this obscure foot injury ( apparently a rare and often misdiagnosed injury that results in pain and swelling) that put paid to his NFL season. When I heard of this news naturally it reminded me of my medical apps article , but then I got to thinking how coming to the end of my threesome of medical app related articles I still hadn't covered any Dental Apps. So before you sink into a depression for that toothache I'll help you to find those dentist apps.

Find a dentist near you: Like finding a favourite hair dresser ( so the wife tells me) finding a dentist in a city you've just moved to can literally be a pain, this app does it's best to make finding a new dentist as easy as possible: 


Find a Dentist

Dental Expert by COSMETIC INNOVATIONS

Seeks to answer a huge variety of dental questions, including cosmetic dentistry and general teeth and mouth hygiene. It's presented in a refreshing ( spearminty!) style and will if nothing else provide some interesting dental trivia (Did you know: The Statue of Liberty's mouth is 3 feet wide?)

Teeth Whitening App:This app will give you the dental advice you need to get that million dollar award winning smile that all the movie stars enjoy.


Tooth Brushing Motivator

This app is pretty out there, in a normal and expected way they say it can help to motivate kids to brush their teeth ( no surprises there) but then goes on to elaborate on how teeth are energetically charged zones that will supercharge the rest of your body! And no I have no idea either you'll just have to download and see: I look forward to hearing your comments on that one!




And that concludes our trio of medical app reviews I hope you've enjoyed finding out about Lisfranc Injuries, best medical apps and now can even find a dentist near you thanks to your Iphone. Stay Healthy! 










dentist/depression/lisfranc injury:dental/cosmetic dentist; dentist reviews and foot injury; lisfranc foot injury

Use Medical apps to find out if you have Listeria

I'm writing this article as recent appreciation of a medical apps review article has gone through the roof and in light of how the mysterious Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak has been hitting the news lately.

For those of you who don't know recent USA news had a mysterious outbreak of listeria hitting headlines. The multistate outbreak , apparently linked to a farm in Colorado had a large portion of the USA in a panic. Unfortunately the large majority of us have never been to medical school so wouldn't know Listeria from lisping ( FACT: Listeria is named after Joseph Lister, father of modern sterile surgery). If you are interested, though, check out Guide to Healthcare Schools' list of top medical schools.   Personally I don't think I've ever been able to read a doctor's handwritten note and don't even get me started on the obscurity of most medical abbreviations!

Something Fishy about this Cantaloupe!
So with the idea firmly in mind that we probably wouldn't be able to identify listeria  symptoms we'll have to turn to that modern stalwart the mobile phone. Now you could just start googling medical symptoms on your phone but you'd more than likely quickly make yourself into a hypochondriac doing that , as the net pulls no punches and the amount of insane diseases that the human body is susceptible to ( FACT: The Aztecs of South America were mostly wiped out by diseases that the Spanish Conquistadors exposed them to, having no natural resistance to European ailments) . No don't blindly self-diagnose just check out my article about WebMD and download it now!

How to use your Smartphone as a pill identifier and to identify symptoms

Preganancy symptoms; swine flu symptoms and more-we live in an increasingly health conscious and sickly society , so thank goodness for smartphones that can act as both a symptoms identifier and a pill identifier if the right medical app is used.

                                                                 Swine Flu Symptoms?

First a warning: A recent British television program ( WATCHDOG) concerned with consumers rights pointed out that of all the apps on Itunes offering professional advice about serious topics such as symptom identification, fully 90 % of them had no accreditation. Would you go to a Doctor that had no credentials. I'm hoping not so make sure that whichever Medical App you do download it has some sort of integrity and credence behind it. I'm not going to give you a whole heap of medical apps for Iphone to wade through but will just speak about one very well regarded one for that reason.

Web Md for Iphone and Android


Web Md is already well regarded on the internet and it was only a matter of time before it made its way onto Smartphones. Have a look at the original Web Md symptoms identifier .


Firstly lets mention it's accreditation as a medical app: Web Md is URAC accredited which makes it about as legitimate as they come.
The app itself has exactly the useful features that you'd expect in a highly regarded app:

• WebMd Symptom Checker
• Conditions (find medically related info about medical conditions and treatments right from your phone)
• Pill Identification Tool - highly useful pill identifier pictures and pill/medicine information
• First Aid Essentials
• Drugs and Treatments- what they are used for; drug warnings; treatment side effects
• Local Health Listings- to find nearby doctors; hospitals and other medical help

WebMD for Android;WebMD for iphone;WebMD for iPad

Naming Apps WYSIWYG

Have you ever wondered where these app get their names from?The Android Market and rivals are inundated with apps so it's interesting to see some of the marketing strategies that are coming out from app developers in a very congested market. Of course major app developers always have a trick or two up their sleeve and Sony has come up with an Ace of Spades by quite simply naming one of their new apps with a foolproof name that does exactly what it says on the packaging Video Trimmer. What does the app do, trim videos of course! https://market.android.com/details?id=com.sonydna.videotrimmer. The Video Trimming app has many rave reviews and is well worth checking out.
Superb marketing by Sony, wysiwyg(what you see is what you get) is strangely enough a concept not properly explored in the App Development game as developers try more and more outlandish names to make their creations stand out. Leave it to an old grandmaster like Sony to make back to basics fashionable again. As for the app in question, its simple and trimmed and the high quality you could expect from Sony. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6fUulEflgU&feature=player_embedded

Mobile Genres : Endless Running

Depending on a platforms capabilities there have always been certain genres associated with different platforms. The Nintendo Wii for example will always be associated with motion control games, normally of a childlike persuasion. Pc games will always be known predominantly for RTS and other mouse friendly games.
Touchscreen mobiles in the relatively short time they have been around have carved out a surprisingly large amount of genre niches. That is not to say that these types of games only exist on this platform but it would be hard to argue that touchscreens aren't the best suited for them.
This article is another one of our series articles in which Gametrender will discuss some of Smartphonings favourite genres. The one that is up on the podium this week is 'Endless Running'
A very reviewer friendly genre as it does exactly what it says. The character normally runs from left to right with inputs from the player normally limited to single finger jabs usually associated with an action like jumping. Scores are normally totted up by how far the character runs and the challenge is tempted up by adding obstacles along the way.
So far so simple, so you'll be asking what's good about it and why should you play it. I've chosen a brilliant endless runner called DIVERSION  https://market.android.com/details?id=com.ezone.Diversion&hl=en   as an example to show exactly how good a polished version of this genre can be.
Diversion is by far the best endless runner I've played. At first appearances it's apparent how much effort has gone into the game. The graphics are superbly rendered in 3d being easily on par with a mid generation Playstation One game. The music is all jingly and bouncy filled with adrenalin and hinting at the potential for manic kinetic energy.
The avatar you play with has a lot of personality. A female protagonist has been chosen perhaps in a cursory head nod to the legendary Mirrors Edge. The avatar its imbued with personality , and adding to the games sense of polish and fun is upgradeable. With lots of different outfits waiting to be bought or unlocked. Not only that but part of the fun is that each outfit bestows different skills which it is up to the player to find out.
On to the game itself, firstly it must be pointed out that it has lots and lots of levels, hence a lot of longevity.
Of course it wouldn't be up to much good if the levels lacked variety, but variety they do have in bucketloads-floating minse,slides,jumps,warps,ziplines to name a few. Timing is crucial on each of these as you attempt to get the highest score.

Diversion-Superb Endless Runner

And just when you thought that they couldn't possibly lavish any more love on this game then up they come with... Boss Battles! Very Impressive stuff and certainly a great poster child for app gamings beloved Endless Runner genre. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMO8g_52O2w&feature=player_embedded 
android games


If you like this then read our follow up post

Android Games on holiday

Mobilephones have in recent times joined the staples of a man's pocket, adding to the dynamic duo of keys and wallet most people wouldn't consider leaving the door without their mobile phones also.

These miniature computers,thanks to app access now have virtually unlimited uses: communication device,gps,alarm,camera,watch being among some of the most basic functions that we can enjoy. However there are some hard engineering facts that stop us using them to their full potential: they're just too damned easy to break!

Engineers have done a superb job in recent use in making mobile components faster,cheaper,more reliable and ever more powerful, however there is a pressing need to make them much stronger. Recently on holiday I was spending a lot of time poolside and down the beach. I'd unconveniently forgotten my camera at home, but whereas my mobile normally quite easily fills that gap I was reluctant to expose it to the sand and heat of the beach. Swimming laps in the pool I thought to myself that my experience would be enhanced if I was able to time my laps using the phone or listen to music. With its built in accelorometer it would have also been great to have an app that could analyse my swimming stroke and give me advice. That app sadly will not be invented for the forseeable future as phones are not pool friendly. Even sat relaxing around poolside I was reduced to reading a Kindle as in direct sunlight my xPeria Play's screen was just too hard to see.

Again on a bicycle tour down the Majorcan coast I was reluctant to bring the phone for fear of knocking it, on another note functions such as Google Goggles and Google Maps would have made the bike trip more enjoyable, but international internet access rates are far too steep to to be using the bandwidth for such activities.

Motorola Defy:A step in the right direction

So engineers you've created for us in the form of these great Modern Android Phones and other smartphones a new exciting generation of device, but it's akin to having a Ferrari supercar and only being able to drive it on sunny days on flat roads. There is a lot of potential being left untapped.<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/android" rel="tag"><img style="border:0;vertical-align:middle;margin-left:.4em" src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=android" alt=" " />android</a>

From humble beginnings: Traditional gaming inspiring app gaming

Android gaming and smartphone gaming is arguably one of the most cutting edge fields in entertainment today, a developer has the ability to virtually create a game within a few hours, the tools and technology that developers and gamers have access evolve at a phenomenal rate. And more importantly unlike traditional gaming industries the Android market has a massive amount of freeware resource tools to draw on. But there is one issue that no amount of cutting edge tools can solve: that of creativity. The ideas of game designers must come from somewhere, recent games I've played give a very strong case for traditional non technological games being a very good source of inspiration.
  Pocket  Soccer by Rastergrid Entertainment http://rastergrid.com/blog/ especially got me thinking about this issue. The game it must be said is very good, with a slick presentation, three difficulty levels, lots of playability and polish. Of note was the way the game was played, on a simple playing field players take it in turn to push one of the players represented by a disc with the teams flag on it, to score goals. The influences are two fold with traditional football being a clear influence, flick football being another and interestingly enough the Rts staple of turn based games. Arguably without the developer drawing on these influences, whether consciously or not, the game of  Pocket Soccer would not exist.

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Crazy app downloads:Why did I do that?

Have you every looked on another persons phone? Not their messages or voicemail but actually what apps they have downloaded? It can be a very illuminating and sometimes downright scary experience. At a barbecue this past weekend it was getting to that time of night when most if not all conversations were exhausted and people were starting to deploy their smartphones enmasse. Another observation of the smartphone generation is that in one way they are very similar to baby boomers of a previous generation. It's never uncommon at parties of a certain age group for those with babies to trot them out and expect coos and aahs and suchlike from their captive audience. Well the smart phones who are infant less have found a way to retaliate! They bring out their phones, only of course if they are new and shiny enough not to be an embarrassment (the equivalent of a baby with a scary looking rash?) and like the other unlucky bloke across the room being regaled with baby stories the smartphoner feels obliged to show you what apps are on their phones. Well at this particular barbecue thankfully all the infants had been put to sleep leaving me at the mercy of a smartphoner. That is why at one in the morning I found myself being bored to death by a man smashing virtual bottles and being equally mystified as to why a thirty something year old would be deriving so much satisfaction from a talking, farting, drinking dog that you can beat up! On a positive note I was shown Sniper which is now on my to download list. It also made me realise how good the Gametrender concept actually is. Log onto gametrender.webs.com and you too could be having your own particular irritating app, drunk or sober, to bite or entertain with as you please. android games