Apps to help achieve new year’s resolutions

Whether it is improving health or managing finances better, about 87% of Americans will make resolutions for 2013 and there are plenty of apps to help them achieve their goals.

Nearly half of new year’s resolutions are about setting health-related goals, which is the most popular category, according to a recent survey by online broker TD Ameritrade.

Rather than jumping into a rigorous fitness routine, a new app called 5K Runner suggests it might be better to ease into things slowly and focus on building sustainable habits. The iPhone app helps couch potatoes ramp up their running distance to 5km over the course of eight weeks.

"You’re slowly building this routine into your daily life with a lot of success and after eight weeks you’re literally running 5K, which is pretty big if (initially) you’re not running at all," says David-Michel Davies, the executive director of The Webby Awards, an annual ceremony honouring internet companies.

The app guides runners through each run, alternating periods of running and walking for 35 minutes.

Mr Davies also recommends Nike+ Running and RunKeeper, two popular and free fitness apps, which use GPS to track distance travelled, speed and calories burned. Both apps are available for iOS and Android devices.

Diet is another component of good health and a focus of many apps. Fooducate is an iPhone and Android app that helps shoppers make healthier purchases at the supermarket by allowing them to scan the barcodes of products and get insight into how healthy the product is.

Their database, which contains more than 200,000 products, displays a grade for the product and information on its contents. It can show whether there are hidden additives or the probability of containing genetically modified ingredients.

"There are a lot of healthy people out there who unknowingly buy products that have an inordinate amount of salt in them," Mr Davies says.

DietBet is an app for people with a competitive streak. Available for iPhone and on the web, it allows its users to join in a four-week weight-loss challenge to lose 4% of weight. Everyone bets money, which goes into a fund, and submits proof of weight lost. People who meet the challenge split the money.

"It comes back again to how people get motivated," Mr Davies says. "Gamification is something that technology has really enabled and for some people it really works."

To stay on top of finances, Mr Davies recommends Mint, which provides a visual view of all financial accounts and is available for iOS, Android and on the web.

Best Android apps of 2012: Evernote, Pinterest make it to the list

Best apps of 2012

Here’s the list of the apps that made it big on its app store this past year. As per Google, the apps it has made a part of its list are among the best apps available. While some of these launched this year, there are others that were issued updates – combining utility, beauty and accessibility. Most of these apps are available globally, and Google shares that these offer a great user experience on both tablets and phones. 

Evernote 

Evernote makes it to the list

Among these is Evernote, the popular note taking application. Recently, Evernote for Android was updated to version 4.3, bringing a host of new features to the table. With the latest update to the Android app, the Note Editor toolbar on Android has been de-cluttered. The app excludes everything that doesn’t pertain to editing and instead, puts it into the Action Bars along the top of the note. Using the toolbar, users can style their text and even go ahead and organise it with bullets, lists and checkboxes. If users want to hide the toolbar, they can do so by tapping on the arrow. 

Pinterest

Pinned to the best apps list

Pinterest, the social bookmarking service, launched its Android application in October this year. The Pinterest app for Android devices "makes it simple and fast to pin". The makers assure that the app has been made such that it works well on both Android phones and tablets irrespective of the device's cost, speed or screen size.  

Grimm's Snow White

This paid app on Google Play is an interactive pop-up fairy tale book for children. The classic tale for children will take them on the adventures of Snow White with the seven dwarfs, trying to escape the wicked queen.  

Pocket

This offline reader allows users to save and view articles, among other things. So, if you find something worth reading on the web, but want to push it for later, you can put it in Pocket. The app syncs to a user's device.

Expedia

Expedia app on Google Play lets users book hotels and flights at their convenience. The app was updated last month, allowing users to book flights on their phones. They can also browse through photos of the deals near them. 

Pixlr Express

Lets you do great things to your photos

Another interesting app mentioned in the list, it lets you do great things to your photos. The app boasts of over 600 effects, overlays and borders to help you personalise your image. 

Ancestry

This interesting, free app on Google Play lets you show off where you've come from (quite literally!). The app claims that it makes finding one's heritage fun and easy. Users can interact with their family trees or build a new one. 

Fancy

As cryptic as it may sound, Fancy app on Google Play lets see you discover great stuff, collect things you like and unlock good deals. The app description on Play calls it part store, magazine and wishlist. 

TED

You know what TED is all about. The official Android app brings users talks from some of the most fascinating people in the world – education radicals, tech geniuses, medical mavericks, business gurus and music legends. 

Seriesguide Show Manager

Then there is the Seriesguide Show Manager app on Google Play that allows users  to manage the progress of watching their chosen TV shows. The app lets users keep track of the show coming up, to know what to watch next.

SOURCE:tech2

Android apps collect too much user data, researcher says

     More than 100,000 applications available for download from Google's Play Store may be collecting too much data from users, a research firm says.

About one-quarter of more than 400,000 applications studied are "suspicious" or "questionable" because of what they do in the background, such as location tracking, accessing contact lists or harvesting the contents of email messages, according a report issued yesterday by security firm Bit9. Those functions typically go far beyond the programs' stated purpose, Bit9 said.

Android phones warn users when they download applications about what information the programs will access. Whether most people actually read those warnings is another matter. A Google representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Some of the most aggressive apps are programs purporting to be affiliated with popular brands, such as Facebook and Zynga, Bit9 chief technology officer Harry Sverdlove wrote in an email interview. While the extra functions don't necessarily make the programs malicious, they do raise questions about the developers' intentions, he said.

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"Including a common app or publisher in the title is not a guaranteed sign of suspicious behavior, but it is certainly a technique that malicious authors use to trick users into installing their apps," Sverdlove wrote.

The findings illustrate a reality of the application economy: having a vast amount of third-party applications is both good and bad for consumers. With so many unknown developers writing software for smartphones, users must be vigilant about monitoring what permissions they're granting when they download new programs. Just 8200 or so of the applications that Bit9 studied came from what it described as highly trusted developers.

Mobile-app privacy has also attracted the attention of law enforcement.

In California, the only US state to require privacy policies for mobile applications as well as websites, Attorney General Kamala Harris has warned companies such as United Continental, Delta Air Lines and OpenTable that they are in violation of state law for failing to conspicuously post privacy policies for their mobile applications, Bloomberg reported on October 30.

The companies have 30 days to make the policies readily accessible or face fines of as much as $US2500 for each download of applications that violate the law, which is known as the California Online Privacy Protection Act.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/consumer-security/android-apps-collect-too-much-user-data-researcher-says-20121102-28oie.html#ixzz2B8Flco62