Rediscover your pics with Picmatic app

Like most smartphone users, I have a lot of photos stored on my iPhone and iPad. Pictures of friends, travel albums, kids, pets, relatives -- you name it. But also like most smartphone users, I seldom take the time to thumb through my collection.

Picmatic is an iOS app that brings all those photos from your life back into your life. It creates a photo frame and slide show that cycles through selected albums or randomly chooses images from your picture files.

You can choose among several layouts, like four or eight squares in a grid, and tweak transitions or apply filters like Sepia or Retro.

The fun is the serendipity, the the surprise of seeing people, places and selfies that you haven't looked at in months or even years. And, as delightful as Picmatic is on an iPhone, it's even better on an iPad when the tablet is parked in a charging station or sound dock.

Want a soundtrack with your picture show? Picmatic does that as well. It plays songs from your device's music collection. Tap to start the music and swipe to change track. And the app makes room to display the date and time.

That's a lot of features to get from a free app. Pony up $1.99 and you get more layouts, filters and ways to customize and experiment. 

By: Ric Manning On 3/17/2014

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Newest Windows phone is worth a look

Last week a good friend switched his mobile phone carrier and decided to trade his iPhone for a Galaxy s5. I couldn't argue with his decision. The Galaxy has a 5.1-inch display and a terrific camera.

But I would have encouraged him to check out the Nokia's new Lumina Icon Windows phone before making his choice. The Icon's specs put it close to the s5 than to the iPhone 5. It has a 1080p high-rez display and a speedy Snapdragon processor with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The 20-megapixel camera produces photos and videos that look terrific on the phone's 5-inch screen.

I also think that the Windows 8 interface is a refreshing departure from the mundane rows of buttons that you get with either iOS or Android. If you spend a lot of phone time checking your Facebook stream, a Twitter feed or the latest weather conditions, Windows' live tiles will put the latest updates in a featured location on your home screen.

I carried the Icon for a couple of weeks and I found I especially liked the phone's camera. It's easy to use and it offers a good mix of quick snapshot options, advanced settings and in-camera editing tools.

The Microsoft appl collection can't match Apple or Android for size and variety, but it does contain versions of the most popular apps like Skype, Netflix, Vine, Spotify, Kindle and many more.

Overall, the Icon is the best incarnation yet of the Windows 8 phone and well worth a close look in you're looking for something new in a high-level smartphone.

Verizon Wireless is currently offering the Icon for $199 with a two-year contract.

By: Ric Manning On 3/12/2014

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Gadgets that aren't afraid of water

Lifeproof's Nuud case for iPad

Going somewhere wet and wonderful on your spring vacation? Be sure your prized electronic devices get as much protection as your pasty white skin.

Check out my latest column at MyWell-Being.com for a look at some new waterproof gadgets, including a mobile phone that can take a plunge and an MP3 player that will go for a swim with you.

There's also a floating Bluetooth speaker and waterproof cases for your iPad and iPhone 5.

By: Ric Manning On 3/10/2014

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New cable designs keep you charged up

Your mobile phone battery is almost out of power, but you don't have a charging cable. Sound familiar? We all make room for our phones, but nobody wants to carry around a snarled cable.

When these new cable concepts arrive, it will be easy to always have a jumper cable close at hand.

JumperCard

The Jumper Card is the size of a thick credit card, which makes it convenient to tuck away in a wallet, purse or pocket. It has two pop-out extensions. One has a USB plug to connect to a computer or an AC connector and the other has three widely-used connectors: Apple's wide 30-pin plug and its new  Lightning plug plus a standard micro USB.

Packed inside the card is an internal battery with enough juice to add about an hour of life to an exhausted phone. A tiny flashlight built into the edge of the card is another nice touch.

The Jumper Card is expected to sell for about $35 when it reaches the market. Get more details at JumperCard.net.

Chargekey

The Chargekey from Nomad is even more portable as it's designed to fit on a keyring. It has a USB plug on one end of a black stalk and either a Lightning or a micro USB plug on the other end. The middle section of the stalk is flexible rubber, which helps you make a snug connection.

Both versions sell for $29 at Nomad's website. Both were on back order when I last checked.

Torso

The Torso cable does double duty and a charger and a display stand. Like the Chargekey, it has a USB plug on one end of a short cable and a micro USB connector at the other end. (A version with the Lightning plug is under development).

The cable also has a pair of flexible legs that let you use the Torso as a display stand for a mobile phone when you're watching a video or having a video call. It can also be a tripod for timed snapshots.

The Torso costs $15 and is available for pre-orders at RichardTracyBrand.com.

By: Ric Manning On 3/06/2014

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Beyond Google: The DeeperQI seminar

For most people, Google has become the go-to source for finding information on the Internet. The search giant indexes billions of web pages and accounts for more  than two thirds of all Internet searches in the U.S. And for many users, Google delivers the cat videos or football scores that they're seeking. So do other popular services like Yahoo! and Bing. But how can researchers and investigators find obscure or sensitive information that might be buried deeper in the Web?

If February, I teamed with Constance Ard to help answer that question. We delivered a 90-minute presentation at Velocity Indiana, a business accelerator in Jeffersonville, Ind. The session was part of Open Office Hours, a monthly program sponsored by Richard Meadows.

Constance is a trained researcher and law librarian. I am a former reporter, editor and webmaster at The Courier-Journal. We work with ArnoldIT and Stephen E. Arnold, a consultant and author who has written extensively about Google and search technology. Their program is based on a series of seminars that was presented twice last fall to more than 500 security and law enforcement professionals.

The presentation included tips and tricks to get around Google's filters, profiles of free and low-cost online databases, and resources to get unfiltered worldwide news. And we used real-world examples to illustrate how different tools can be used to find relationships among businesses and persons of interest.

Here's a four-minute video drawn from our presentation. For more information, visit DeeperQI.com.

By: Ric Manning On 2/25/2014

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Return of the Nazi-killers

Castle Wolfenstein, the computer game that revolutionized the gaming industry by getting us hooked on first-person shooters, is coming back with a new look and a new environment. And it's bringing Nazis. Lots and lots of Nazis.

In fact, in Wolfenstein: The New Order, the Nazis are in charge. They won World War II with the help of technologically advanced war machine. Now it's 1960 and the Americans and their allies are preparing to launch a last-ditch counter-offensive across Europe.

The game is scheduled to be available for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on May 24 in North America. Bethesda Softworks is taking advanced orders. Anyone who signs up early gets access to a beta version of the next incarnation of another shooter classic: DOOM.

By: Ric Manning On 2/19/2014

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New smart appliances can think, plan and talk

A refrigerator that reads your text messages, a WiFi-enabled slow cooker and a barbecue grill that hears your instructions. They were all on display at last month's International CES, along with a host of other new tech-savvy appliances.

Household appliances are the next group of products that will be plugging into the Internet to help consumers save energy and improve their lifestyle. One example is HomeChat, a feature that LG is building into many of its new products.

HomeChat uses text messaging to let users communicate with their appliances. For example, you could tell your robotic vacuum cleaner to tidy up the living room before you arrive home from work. Or you might inform your refrigerator that you're leaving for the weekend so it could switch to power-saving mode.

Check out that new connected Crock-Pot and more appliances my latest column at MyWell-Being.com.

By: Ric Manning On 2/11/2014

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Optrix outfits iPhones for surf or snow

I have a few videos from family vacations at the beach and the ski slopes - but not many. I was always afraid I would drop or damage my camcorder or cell phone. But now that I have a PhotoX case from Optrix, sand, snow and water are no longer a threat.

The PhotoX is a clear, waterproof case that fits an iPhone 5 or 5th generation iPod Touch. The case has a soft membrane front so you can swipe and click when the phone is sealed inside.

The backside has a threaded connection that accepts a tiny lens. It also has a mounting bracket for one of the many accessories that Optrix sells. They include suction cup and handlebar bike mounts, a tripod connector and a monopod.

Optrix even sells a chest strap, presumably for skydiving, snowboarding or kayaking. That sounds a lot more practical than my approach: skiing downhill while holding my Sony Handycam up to my face.

The PhotoX cost about $100 at Optrix.com. It comes with a flat lens and a macro. A step up is the PhotoProX, which costs $150 and comes with two additional lenses, a fisheye and a telephone.

I wanted to illustrate the PhotoX by shooting a beach video, but as you can see from the clip below, the surf wasn't up.

 

By: Ric Manning On 2/06/2014

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