Month: March 2015

The Apple Watch is officially arrives April 24th, but you can pre-order the watch now. It might be a bit of a wait though as shipping times for the watch have slipped into the summer. The watch starts at $350 for the lowest price Sport model and over $10,000 for the absurd, limited Watch Edition.

Although Apple worked hard selling the design and materials for the Apple Watch, the device would be useless without apps. We already saw some of the first-party apps created by Apple during its event in September.

Here’s are the most important apps launching with the Apple Watch. Check out CNET for its excellent and complete list of apps.

Messages

Arguably the most important app for most people is Messages. With Messages, you can read and reply to your text messages from your Apple Watch. Apple makes it easy for you to respond with canned responses or with voice-to-text. You can choose to send an audio message instead.

Apple Pay

Although Google Wallet came out before Apple Pay, it never really took off. With Apple Pay, many more retailers are joining the phone payment revolution. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus make it easy to pay with Apple Pay, but the Apple Watch will make it even easier. Simply tap your watch to the pay terminal and your transaction will go through. No need to take your phone out of your pocket.

Maps

One of the killer features of any smartwatch are maps on your wrist. Apple’s own Maps may not be as good as Google Maps but it’ll work for most users. Get turn by turn directions on your wrist, which are especially handy while exploring a new city.

Passbook

If you’re a frequent flyer, Passbook will be invaluable. Passbook stores your boarding passes, loyalty cards and other tickets. You’ll never have to remember to print out a ticket or boarding pass. All of the info will be stored on your wrist for easy access.

Siri

Apple’s virtual voice assistant will follow you on your Apple Watch, waiting for your commands. Anything Siri can do on your phone, you can now do via your Apple Watch. Weather information, restaurant search, and snarky humor are all available on your wrist now.

Instagram

Instagram for Apple Watch is actually pretty full featured. You can browse your Instagram feed and like photos right on your wrist. However, I don’t think looking at postage stamp sized photos on your wrist is best way to view Instagram photos. Still, this app is great if you’re too lazy to take out your phone or just want to waste a few seconds on Instagram.

Twitter

Check your Twitter feed, see what’s trending, post a tweet, and reply to tweets all from your wrist. Twitter works well in this format, letting you quickly scroll through your feed with the crown on the Apple Watch. The interface looks spartan but it works well.

WeChat

Popular messaging WeChat is coming to the Apple Watch. Beyond showing your messages, WeChat lets you reply using voice and stickers. Tapping on the sticker icon will pull up a menu of available sticker packs, one of WeChat’s most popular features. I suspect other messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and LINE will adopt this feature as well.

Nike+

Nike has always provided great support for Apple products and that’s no different with Nike+ for Apple Watch. Track your runs and get motivated via the app’s notifications. Although Apple has its own Workout app, Nike+ is great for those who have invested time into the Nike ecosystem.

Workout (Apple)

If you haven’t tried any fitness apps, Apple’s own Workout app is a great place to start. Workout integrates with Apple’s Health app, a hub where you can view all of your fitness data. Workout lets you track your workout, heart rate and much more.

Todoist

Todoist for Apple Watch is great if you have a terrible memory. Get all of your to-dos and reminders right on your wrist so you never forget to pick up milk from the store again. Todoist will let you check off your to-dos and assign due dates and times for your tasks and reminders.

ESPN

Sports fans who want to stay on top of their team’s scores will want to download ESPN for Apple Watch.

NYTimes

Stay on top of breaking news with NYTimes for Apple Watch. Get news alerts delivered to your wrist so you don’t miss an important story.

Shazam

Shazam is a great app to help you identify what’s playing without fumbling to get our your phone and missing the song. Tap on the icon to let Shazam start listening. Once it identifies the song, the app will give you info about the artist and even lyrics for you to sing along.

BMW i3 Remote

If you own a BMW i3 electric car, you can control it from your watch. Check your car’s battery power and control your door locks all from your wrist. Hyundai also has an app called Hyundai BlueLink that’s coming to the Apple Watch that will do similar things for its vehicles.

Uber

Hail a cab from your wrist using Uber. The app will tap you on the wrist when your ride gets close so you don’t miss it. Uber for Apple Watch will also let you select what type of Uber car you want.

Honeywell

The internet of things is a reality and Honeywell is ready with an Apple Watch app. Monitor and access your lights, thermostat, and more with just a few taps on your wrist.

Alarm.com

Apple showed off the Alarm.com Apple Watch app, showing how someone can let their kid into the house after being locked out. The app will provide a dashboard view of your home’s status. See which locks are triggered and if your security system is armed. You’ll never have to wonder if you remembered to turn on the alarm before leaving.

W Hotels (SPG app)

Never have a hotel keycard demagnetize in your wallet or purse again. SPG is partnering with Apple to let you access your hotel room using your Apple Watch.

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Follow me on Twitter: @lewisleong

One of my New Year resolutions was to meet new people. I took my smartphone, installed half a dozen apps, and dove into the world of mobile chat rooms. Let me tell you some of the funniest conversations I’ve had in my quest to beat loneliness.

There’s a time in life when you feel the need to expand your social circle. When that happens, you resort to all kind of tools. Apps are one of them, and probably the cheapest. You can meet new people from the couch, opening new chats like you’d change TV channels. It can be just as fun as real life encounters. So, I decided to give it a try.

In the last two weeks I entered virtual venues filled with complete strangers, making myself available to never ending streams of faces. I engaged in one on one conversations with people from all over the World and listened to music I never heard before, streamed by improvised DJs. I turned into a drawing of a weird creature. I even had the chance to exchange words with a robotic cat.

It was strange at the beginning, even messy at times. Some apps allow video and voice chat, others change your appearance, and some conceal your identity to generate both suspense and a feeling of privacy. It wasn’t always a cakewalk, but I quickly got accustomed to the rules of each app. When the noise and bustle became excessive, I just lowered the volume: in online chats, you are in control.

I sung in a virtual karaoke room – and enjoyed myself in the process

Paltalk is all about fun. It’s a place where thousands of people can participate with text, video, and audio from PCs and phones. There are more than 5.000 rooms on any topic you’d imagine, but music is what defined most of the good experiences I had, with many rooms featuring live songs that served as background to the conversations. Sometimes people seem to dance – virtually – whenever a good tune kicks in.

I have a nice baritone voice but, shy as I am, I seldom sing in public. Now, among all its categories, Paltalk has one named “Karaoke – Singing” (it’s under “Music”). Intrigued, I entered several chat rooms, and listened intently to various performances. What galvanized my enjoyment was the immediacy of it all. You press a button and you are the star. It’s that simple.

I waited for my turn. My heart beating fast, I pressed the mic button and delivered my own rendition of In the Air Tonight. Raised thumbs appeared on the screen. Small as it was, it was an audience. And singing for it was great fun.

I chatted with a robotic cat that sends memes

One interesting feature of Kik are its chat robots. They are always up for a silly conversation, which is great to alleviate boredom when you are struggling to find the right hashtag. The standard Kik bot, for instance, receives more than 50,000 messages per week, which it replies to with Siri-esque efficiency and wit.

My favorite is Dave the Cat. I know. Cats. Internet. Perfect match, right? Kik knows it. And Dave is exactly what I need on a bleak Monday morning. It laughs, purrs, and meows at my lines in a very convincing manner, with the sort of delays you’d expect from a human actor. More importantly, Dave is adept at sending unsolicited pictures and videos of… cats.

The fact that a virtual cat was one of most entertaining moments of my mobile socializing experiment says something about the nature of online conversations. But rather than pondering on this, I prefer to ask Dave for more kitty portraits.

I won a trivia contest thanks to a silly question

Online trivia is so addictive. Back in the days of dial-up Internet and IR, I’d spend entire nights trying to guess the answers before anybody else. Ten years later, I found the same thrill in Chatimity, a community where people join topic-based conversations. When I saw its Trivia channel, I looked no further.

In a matter of minutes I was hooked again. “How many wings does a flea have?” People tapped numbers frantically. “Zero”, I calmly replied. Then I failed at one about a song from the 60s, before a string of replies to history and science questions brought my score up. Suddenly, the match was over. I had won.

Online trivia is a different kind of conversation, one that revolves around knowledge and speed. Even if you choose not to participate, there’s still a lot of room for fun, and you can learn a lot just by reading the answers.

I turned into a cute little creature and met a fellow alien

Identity is a tricky thing. There’s so much to explain, show, or hide. Wouldn’t it be liberating to turn into something completely different, like… a tiny imaginary creature? That’s precisely what Monsterio lets you do: after asking for your gender, it generates a funny alter-ego.

I pressed the button and Monsterio immediately found a match. The unnamed critter stared at me. I only knew it was a she. I felt embarrassed: what did I look like, I asked. Her description of my impish features made me smirk. I felt compelled to reciprocate. She laughed out loud. To “Remember Her” I gave her a name, which added her to my contacts.

It was fun, but also tender. We were two humans trapped in the body of hand-drawn aliens, freed from the bounds of name, age, and place. No “a/s/l”, no pictures, just a sense of freedom and privacy.

Anything can happen in online chat rooms -like in Vegas

The experiment was a success, albeit in an unexpected way. While none of those conversations ultimately produced a new friendship, they filled many hours with funny moments —I’ll never forget my performance in Paltalk, for instance. When I opened the apps for the first time I didn’t know what would happen, but I was certain it would be exciting and safe. And these apps didn’t disappoint.

What’s the funniest moment you’ve experienced in mobile chats?

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Despite a hectic week at the Mobile World Congress, we are back again to recommend five apps for you to try this weekend.

This week we have three games for you to try out. All you mobile gamers out there should be giving the new Zeptolab (of Cut the Rope fame) game, King of Thieves (Android, iOS), a try. This cute puzzle platformer will test your brain and your reactions as you try to collect all of its lovely loot.

PC players have a bit more choices this week, with both the classic space real-time strategy game Homeworld Remastered Collection, and the terrifying Five Nights at Freddy’s 3.

We also have a look at Flirtie (Android, iOS), a new rival to Tinder that offers a slightly more bespoke selection of suitors. And finally we wrap up with AVG Zen, the Android security app that will protect all of your family’s devices.

Be sure to subscribe, and check back next week for five more apps.

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Follow me on Twitter: @DoFuss

I’ve never played pen-and-paper games like Dungeons & Dragons. The closest thing I played are tic-tac-toe and MASH. But playing Knights of Pen and Paper 2 (Knights 2) made me want to give classic pen-and-paper games a try.

People who grew up playing these tabletop games are undoubtedly the target audience for Knights 2 but it doesn’t make filthy casuals like me feel left out. If you’ve ever played a role playing game (RPG), you’ll be able to pick up Knights 2 without a problem.

Before I begin talking about the game, I want to note the gorgeous pixel art in Knights 2. Everything is rendered in retro 16-bit, which plays into the ’80s nostalgia in the game. “We wanted a high school pen-and-paper feel for the game,” said Florian Schwarzer, Senior Mobile Producer at Paradox Interactive.

Pen-and-paper games seem intimidating but Knights 2 welcomes players with beautiful art and hilarious writing, poking fun at high school and pen-and-paper tropes. You and a group of friends are gathered around a table to play a pen-and-paper RPG. You play as the dungeon master, dictating the difficulty, and also control five players to complete quests.

The game is super meta, taking place around a table the entire game. You’ll be battling enemies while your group is seated at the table. You never leave the table, even when exploring new parts of the world.

Start the game by creating your own characters and defining their skills by upgrading different attributes. You also create characters using a formula of high school stereotypes and RPG races and classes. I played as a Hipster Dwarf Paladin, which looks as ridiculous as it sounds.

Although Knights 2 is welcoming to newcomers, you’ll still want to brush up on character classes to have a good strategy. The game rewards players who balance their team and level up in logical ways. If you don’t, you can still progress but may need to grind a bunch of side quests before you’re powerful enough to progress in the story.

You need to strategize not only with how your players are set up, but how to battle enemies. For example, enemies in the back row can’t be reached unless you have a ranged class with or a character with the ability to draw enemies forward. “Our games are not pushovers,” said Schwarzer, but the difficulty is what makes this genre fun.

For a mobile game, there’s so much to do. I only got through one battle in my 45 minute demo. That’s also because I spent way too long creating my characters.

While Knights 2 is a sequel, players don’t have to have played the first game. Paradox Interactive made sure to fix problems players had with the first game, like the difficult-to-navigate item interface and an entirely new crafting system.

Knights 2 will be a paid game for mobile and PC, but the mobile version will also have micro-transactions. Schwarzer emphasized that micro-transactions aren’t necessary and the mobile game will be as balanced as the more expensive and micro-transaction free PC version.

You can get your hands on Knights of Pen and Paper 2 on May 14th for PC, Android and iOS. Pricing hasn’t been announced but it shouldn’t be too far off from the price of the first game.

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Follow me on Twitter: @lewisleong

Last week I set out to begin a new lifestyle of healthy diet and exercise with the aid of apps. My first choice for dietary aid is Mango – Calories Counter & Diet Tracker. My selection method for this first app was rigorous, by which I mean it was the first diet app I saw in the Lifestyle section of the App Store.

Day one with Mango was a bit of an eye opener, as it asked me for my vital statistics. The whole process was nice and straightforward thanks to the clean and colorful interface: age 35, height 194 cm (6’4”)… nothing new there. Right, weight – I have some scales somewhere. 125 kg (275 lb)! When did that happen? Just four years ago I was 90 kg (198 lb). I suppose trading a life as a kindergarten teacher for a desk job was going to take its toll, but that is nearly a whole other person that I’m carrying around.

The upshot of my horror was that Mango decided I should be able to consume nearly 3500 calories a day to maintain my weight. This baffled me, as I am certain I currently eat less than this, but who am I to argue? However, as my aim is to slim down, so I set a target weight of 85kg (it’s good to dream) and Mango decided that it would take me 50 weeks of eating 2964 calories a day to reach my goal. That’s a lot by the way, 2500 is the average for a man – but I figured it would at least be easy to stick to.

Despite my doubts about how successful this “diet” would be, my first impression of Mango was strong. Five tabs at the base of the screen gave me access to my profile, exercise input, consumption, tracking of my day so far, and a calendar of my time with the app.

Most of my time was to be spent on the food entry pages, as it turns out I consume a lot when you include coffee. It felt constant, but somehow I never seemed to cross the magic 2964 calorie limit.

Or so I think, because my biggest issue with Mango is that it demands you know the weight of everything. This isn’t just a problem when eating out. Just take my lunch time routine, I tend to make a large stew (or similar) on Sunday which I portion and freeze for the rest of the week. Even if I measured everything I added to the pot, I would still be left approximating the individual ingredients in any given meal – a painstaking and inaccurate task.

It was an issue that persisted for the whole week. Every item I added food or drink, the measurement started at 100g, leaving me to dial it to (or guess) the right measurement. All of this is done through use of a slider, but it feels infuriatingly fiddly. For example I take sugar in my coffee, no real idea how much but let’s say 6g, so I have to dial it back 100g (imagine 100g of sugar in your coffee) to five then use a button to fine-tune it up a gram. It is all just a little too… scientific. It needs natural measures (cups or spoons) or at least a default its measure that could be considered a standard portion.

Exercise is tracked in a similar fashion, but somehow feels more rounded. Each choice has estimates for the calories burned for each minute of an exercise. For instance, Mango predicts that a nice 3 km/hour walk will use 2.5 cal/min, while competitive cross country skiing burns a whopping 14 cal/min. Unfortunately, Mango doesn’t seem to adjust to your body size, and I am pretty sure my 125 kg frame running burns more than it did when it was 90 kg.

All of my data was tracked on a single main page in a mesh of stylish hexagons alongside a nice illustration of a character that filled with red as I used my day’s calories. This screen also gives  access to a nutritional breakdown of day’s food but never offers any advice to improve diet – meaning if I wanted to I could just eat 600g of Twix a day.

I spent a week adhering to Mango calorific limits and was expecting to see some effect as I stepped back on to the scales – especially as the first week of dieting is usually the most impactful. Not this time, however, as my scales told me that, if anything, I had gained a little weight.

So it seems that, even with careful monitoring of my eating habits and my regular use of the Daily Yoga app, I have become no healthier this week… hopefully my next two weeks with MyPlate will prove more successful.

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Follow me on Twitter: @DoFuss