Cool Product of the Day

Perhaps the most effective way to learn a language is by talking with a native speaker. Outside of a school or tutoring environment, though, it is not always easy to find or connect with one. Cambly is an app that solves this issue by creating an on-demand marketplace of native tutors for nearly a dozen languages that students can instantly connect with online or through a mobile device.  It provides a two-sided platform so that those interested in learning a new language can do so through conversational video chat with a native speaker. Thanks to the simplicity of its mobile and tablet apps, students can access personal tutors wherever and whenever with just one click. Read more »

Almost anyone can access their local news and weather reports on their smartphones, but it is seldom possible to report an emergency as soon as it occurs.  StormPins is a social weather and breaking news platform that connects cities with TV media, police, fire, and emergency managers. In its creators’ words, StormPins turns you into a local reporter sharing real-time alerts with Local TV, Emergency Managers and your community, and your postings could be used on TV and help your city respond more effectively.  It is an app with a simple interface that allows users to drop “pins” on any online map website and submit videos to show the locations of trouble on the road or weather incidents.  People can use the app to help each other, as they can alert others quickly of stormy weather, storm damage, or flooding before news teams can respond, as well as getting that information to local news stations to report. Read more »

For those who enjoy reading, there are plenty of e-readers on the market, but more and more apps are being released that can turn the tablet or smartphone you use every day into an e-reader as well.  Moon+ Reader is an e-magazine and e-book app for Android devices that will help you to personalize your reading experience on mobile devices, but what makes it different from similar apps?  The list of advantages it holds over other e-reader apps is surprisingly lengthy. Read more »

Given the importance of education in human development and how much time and effort we dedicate to it throughout our lives, it is no surprise that there a large number of companies focused on learning and plenty of technological advancements geared toward it.  It is also no surprise that there are numerous apps focused on education.  One of these is instaGrok, an app that essentially combines the elements of research, organization, interaction and learning engagement between students, their peers and their teachers in various learning exercises and projects.  In its creators’ words, instaGrok is an innovative educational search engine that combines sophisticated linguistics and language technology with an interactive user interface to make learning more engaging, personalized and fun for everyone. Read more »

No matter how successful a sports team is, there is always room for improvement, and it is important to continue upgrading whenever possible.  However, as teams are forced to deal with increasing demands on their budgets and coaches’ time, it can be quite difficult to do so.  Enter SportsBoard, a cloud-based app that provides solutions for recruiting, training camps and clinics, and other aspects of player development for amateur and college sports.  According to the app’s developers, it is “the only assessment solution that enables coaches to efficiently capture and distribute feedback to each athlete.”  This makes the app effective in evaluating players and their place on a team as well as finding players to recruit who would best fit with a team’s system and philosophy. Read more »

Whether you make your living on the water, you enjoy watersports, or you enjoy going to the beach for other forms of recreation such as sunbathing or collecting seashells, keeping track of the tides can be an important task.  TideGraph is a tool that helps you do just that, providing all the information you could ever want in planning your next trip to the water.  It provides you all the data you need about the tides and how big the waves will be, even going beyond that by giving you the option to see an entire month’s worth of tides at once.  With TideGraph, you can see how the tide is rising or dropping and plan your trips around it to avoid discovering that the waves are weak or too strong upon arriving.  For whatever you do at the beach, take this app with you and never be caught off guard. Read more »

Photos are visual reminders of those people, places and events that hold special significance to us.  Numerous apps allow you to edit and alter photos.  There are also websites that let you add effects, captions, and further edit them, as well as social media sites to post them on.  Layout from Juicybits is an app designed for iOS that lets you add photos directly from sites like Facebook, Instagram, to create new photo layouts.  Built for touch screens, it is ideal for mobile devices, delivering easy editing, captioning, effects, and complete customization.   Options such as resizing or removing borders, rounding corners, and adding background patterns help you add a special touch.  It also has a few aspects unique to its service that distinguish it from the competition, and its real benefit is letting users uniquely combine photos into a layout that tells a story. Read more »

Until recently, a product’s barcode was generally only used to find the price of an item.  With the innovation of the QR code, people were able to gain more information about an item, get direction to a website on their smartphones, and a few more helpful things.  Soundpaper takes this concept to a new level, enabling you to add sound to your product barcodes utilizing patented technology developed by Labels That Talk.  The app’s developers tout it as the world’s most advanced two-dimensional barcode.  It is not limited to companies selling a product; talking labels can transform everyday objects by adding information that a mere printed label can never convey.  Possibilities include adding audio to photos, prescription bottles, books, and anything else you can imagine would benefit from sound. Read more »

Offering coupons and discounts has long been one of the most effective means of increasing a company’s business.  As we continue to advance and our technology develops, our mobile devices are often the most useful tools we have to do almost anything wherever we are.  Tatango is an app for businesses that allows them to take advantage of their customer base and improve sales by offering coupons via text message.  While there are some apps and programs that offer a similar service, there are a few additional benefits to the service that Tatango offers. Read more »

While social media has allowed us to get to know more people than we ever could before, it has also helped to bring together groups of like-minded people who share a singular passion.  For those whose passion is tennis there is TennisRound, an app that allows players to schedule tennis matches with compatible partners and locate nearby tennis courts. Any time they want, users can connect with each other to play in their hometown or even when traveling.  The app helps you find other available users who are nearby, then alerts you both by email and text message. Read more »