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Top 5 Free Android Applications For Health and Fitness

If you own an Android OS mobile phone, you’re in for some good news. Classy applications aren’t designed just for iPhones and Windows handhelds anymore.

There are many applications in the Android market as well. In this article, I am sharing 5 Android applications for people who are health buffs. Best of all, all 5 of these applications are free. So get started, use these apps for better health.

#1.My Tracks


As you walk, run, bike, hike or involve yourself in any other athletic activity, your Google My Tracks is busy recording your path using its inbuilt GPS sensor. This application also gathers metrics such as the speed at which you traveled, the distance you traveled, at what elevation and how much time you took to complete your exercise.

My Tracks can also record data from several external sensors such as the Zephyr Technology Consumer HxM Bluetooth heart rate monitor.  You can share your My Tracks track data as TCX, GPX, CSV or KML or file.

#2. Recipe Search


Here’s an app that lets you quickly find the recipes you want based on your preferred ingredients. You can browse over 70,000 recipes that are neatly categorized. The recipes include everything from appetizers to main dishes, side dishes, diet dishes, to drinks and desserts. You can also use this app to participate in a recipes community, where you can share your recipes and send links to overtheoven.com to your friends.

#3. Calorie Counter – MyFitnessPal


MyFitnessPal is a fast and easy to use calorie counter for Android OS handhelds. This application accesses a large food database containing caloric measurements for over 750,000 food items, including fast foods, medifast and nutrisystem diets, snacks, etc. You can use this app to enter your daily diet.

Calorie Counter remembers your favorites and allows you to add multiple food items to the list. You can sync with the Web, and log into the application either via your phone or your computer. The biggest plus is that your data is fully backed up, ready to access at any time.

#4. Instant Heart Rate


This application converts your phone into a quick and accurate heart rate monitor. Instant Heart Rate does not require any external hardware to monitor your heart rate. You can use this app to optimize your exercise routine and to track your progress.

Instant Heart Rate uses a technique similar to the one used by medical pulse oximeters to measure your heart rate. Place your index finger on your phone’s camera when the app is on. The app measures your heart rate based on the color changes in the fingertip that are directly linked to your pulse.

#5. JEFIT

JEFIT is a professional weight training and body building application that’s been designed by serious bodybuilders. This application contains a workout planner equipped with hundreds of exercises for your references, along with smart workout logs. You can sync your workout progress, and charts for tracking workout and body statistics on your computer.

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News

Sony Introduces Playstation Tablets Running on Android Honeycomb!

Sony has introduced two tablet devices which will be running on the Android 3.0 (Honeycomb). The two tablets were unveiled yesterday and might help Sony capture a market which might look for the gaming experience along with the other tablet features. The two tablets are named S1 and S2 respectively.

Sony Tablet S1 Features

  • The S1 tablet will have 9.4 inch length. It has a single screen.
  • It will run on Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor.
  • The S1 tablet will have front and back cameras. It will be running on Android 3.0.
  • The tablet will also have “Swift” web browser.
  • The S1 tablet is Playstation certified which means it will be able to run certain PS games.
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Sony Tablet S2 Features

  • The first noticeable difference is that it is a dual screen tablet.
  • The tablet folds like a book and is suitable for people looking for a tablet but more compact options which can be carried with more ease than traditional tablets.
  • The two screens will be both 5.5 inches each and will also run on Tegra 2 dual core processor.

Video for Sony Tablets

Recently, Google’s AdMob had carried out a survey which came up with surprising results. The results were that more people used tablets for playing games than anything else.
While I had not included it in my list of 5 competitors to Apple iPad2, I do feel that over time Sony might just make decent progress in the tablet device market.

I think this will ultimately come down to how good Android 3.0 in terms of performance. If Android 3.0 hits gold dust then Apple would have reasons to worry.

What are your views? Do drop in your comments.

Source: Engadget

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News

[Survey] Tablet Users Play Games More Read E-Books

When we think of tablet devices, we assume that tablets will be used primarily for reading e-books, watching videos and even looking up the news. Strangely gaming is what tablets are most used for. If that is not surprising enough then second to gaming is searching for stuff online.

Google Admob which is a service for showing ads on mobile and tablet platforms has carried out a survey of tablets and have discovered some interesting insights on how Tablets are being used.

The survey can be downloaded from Google Admob link.

Google Admob’s Survey on Tablets

  • The main point of interest is that 84% people used Tablets primarily to play games.
  • Other things ranked high were searching for information which was at 78% and Emailing which  was  74%.
  • That means most people are using tablets a lot like their laptops or  even mobile phones.
  • While shopping online and reading e-books is quite lowly ranked as priorities for tablet owners. This is a surprising trend for people who thought that tablets were going to replace books more than laptops.
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Is it really that surprising?

The answer to that is simply ‘No’. If you noticed all the tablets that are being released this year, most of them boast of better processor and better graphics handling. I think if e-books and watching videos was going to make people addicted to tablets, then Amazon’s Kindle would be more dominant than lets say Apples iPad.

This proves that tablets are being looked more often as replacement to their computers or even mobile phones and not books and newspapers.

With 165 million tablets being shipped in the next two years, we might be in for some interesting times in the gadgets industry. Do drop in your comments.

Credit: Google AdMob Blog

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News

[Mobile] Acer Liquid Metal priced at Rs. 20,000/- in India!

Definitely Acer laptops are being recognized everywhere for their built-quality, and what comes next in the series is a smartphone from the company – Acer Liquid Mt (Metal). If you remember well, DELL  – a computer manufacturer like Acer too entered the booming Smartphone market in India last year June 2010.

Features

  • Processor: 800 MHz Qualcomm
  • Display: 3.6-inch TFT with 16 million colours
  • Battery: upto 8 hours of talk time (1500 mAh battery)
  • Operating System: Android 2.2 (Froyo)
  • Camera: 5 MP, auto focus and LED flash
  • Video: HD Recording in 720p (30 fps)
  • Memory: 8 GB Micro SD included (upto 32 GB)
  • Others: Push Mail, Dolby Surround technology, Top LED indicator, GPS

The smartphone being launched just a week back, prices may vary in different parts of India. However what I could find out was that it may not exceed Rs. 20,000/- in retail.

Do let me know your through your comments your views about the new Acer Liquid Metal. Would you buy one? 

Link: Acer Liquid Metal

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News

Bribe Demand by Indian Custom Official Delayed Adam – India’s first Tablet PC

I have been recently reading a book called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. The main argument of this book is that successful individuals are not only successful because of their own hard work and genius, but more importantly because of where they come from and the environment and the culture they thrive in.

When it comes to innovation Notion Ink, an Indian company responsible for the highly anticipated Adam Tablet has been running to trouble. The trouble is in the form of Indian custom officials who are demanding bribes.

As I had not heard a lot about Notion Ink for a few weeks, I decided to look up their official blog. The post by Rohan Shravan (founder of Notion Ink) was quite detailed about new updates. The second last point caught my eye.

It reads,

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On the delay part (Indian one) There was a bribe demand from some of the people associated in releasing the product from Customs. Notion Ink would not pay them and that’s the reason for delay.

There is a very good chance he means that the people demanding a bribe are custom officials.

The post goes on to say that it could endanger Notion Ink’s spirit for selling the Adam tablet in India. Also refreshing is the attitude of Notink Ink to not take short cuts and instead fight it out. This could end up paving the way for a lot more people to actually take the leap and innovate in the hardware sector.

Until then hopefully the environment we grow up in becomes respectful and nurturing towards innovative companies rather than become a monster that discourages people for doing something new and different.

Link: Notion Ink Blog

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News

HTC Unveils EVO 4G Tablet with Android 2.3

HTC has unveiled a new tablet which will probably start comparisons with other top tablets out there. iPad opened up the market in 2010 for tablet computers in a big way, and that niche of the industry has grown like never before. HTC EVO view 4G is a 7 inch tablet which looks impressive and has a lot of novel features, but it does have an out-dated OS and no dual core processor.

HTC EVO View 4G Specs

  • Processor: 1.5 GHz processor MSM8655. (no dual core)
  • Operating System: Android 2.3 with HTC Sense for tablet. (No Android 3.0 Gingerbeard meant for tablet devices)
  • Internal Memory: 4 GB
  • Display: 7” inch 1024 X 600 resolution
  • Camera: Two cameras with 5 megapixel with auto-focus
  • Battery: 4000 mAh Lithium battery
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A glance at their tablet specs shows that with Android 2.3 (most recent android tablets in the next few months will have Android 3.0 Gingerbread version) on a tablet will be quite out-dated.

Also with lack of dual core processor, I think this tablet could have been fine last year but surely not in 2011. Check the competition for iPad in 2011.

What are your views? Is HTC introducing a out-dated product? Do drop in your comments.

Source: HTC

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News

Top 5 Tablets that will compete with iPad 2 in 2011!

Okay, the iPad 2 is out and Apple is getting all the right publicity. Why will it not? It has sold more iPads than all tablets every sold in just 2010. iPad has in a way opened up a niche market and made it mainstream. We saw some tablet computers over the last 5-6 years but none of them was a prime project for any one of them.

Dominating the market with so many positive reviews and no competition was easy for Apple’s iPad product. But, will this continue in 2011?

This year we have many companies which traditionally were into smartphones but are also jumping onto the tablet computers bandwagon.

Here is a list of 5 tablets that could likely dent iPad’s market dominance.

#1. The BlackBerry Playbook

Research in Motion’s Blackberry smartphones did receive setbacks thanks to the popularity of iPhones. With the smart-phone market slipping away, RIM has re-branded Blackberry phone and also has the smaller sized tablet device called the Playbook. The Playbook is tapping into some discontent people might have over the size of an iPad.

The Playbook comes with a 1 GHz dual core processor. The RAM is 1 GB and it’s screen is only 7 inches. The plus point over iPad seems to be its acceptance of Flash. I think this tablet could be a hit with professionals as it has good compatibility with Blackberry phones. This is one of the few promising non-android tablets around.

Link: BlackBerry Playbook

#2. Dell Inspiron Duo

The Dell Inspiron Duo is tapping the market which might be unsure of getting a tablet or a notebook. I am sure there are many people who are not sure about using only a touch device but might want a tablet device for reading or simply browsing. Dell Inspiron Duo does both. It is a regular laptop with hinges that allow it to become a tablet like touch device.

The Duo comes with 1.5 GHz dual core processor and with Windows 7 as a OS. The a big drawback compared to other tablets is that it has a screen that’s 10 inches wide. This makes it a bulky option especially if you are looking for a tablet device.

Link: Dell Inspiron Duo

#3. LG’s T-Mobile G-Slate

The T-Mobile G-Slate seems to be highly rated and might end up being one of the hottest selling tablets. It will have the Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) operating system. It also has a NVidia 2 Dual Core processor. The tablet using Android 3.0 will be quite watched closely by industry watches. This is because Android 3.0 is being developed only for tablet exclusively.

Link: T-Mobile G-Slate

Related: LG’s G-Slate: Do we have a iPad killer? [Video]

#4. Notion Ink’s Adam Tablet

Notion Ink’s Adam Tablet seems to be a bit of an underdog but it is a company that is passionate from head to toe about tablet computers. The Adam tablet will have A-9 Dual processor along with support for USB 2.0 Ports. The bonus and interesting part seems to be it will be using Ubuntu and Andriod for its OS. The Notink Ink website also promises apps of the likes, that we have never seen.

Link: Notion Ink’s Adam Tablet

Related: Adam Tablet PC from India

#5. Motorola Xoom

The Motorola Xoom tablet has recently been getting a lot of attention. Even Google seems to be excited about this tablet. The Tablet market is probably a roll of dice for Motorola which is not exactly setting the mobile market on fire. Xoom will have a large screen and 2 cameras. It will be designed on Android 3.0 (Honeycomb). It will come with 1 GHz dual core processor.

Link: Motorola Xoom

By no means we will only have 5 tablets being released over the next year. There may be many that might surprise us but these are the 5, that I think might dent iPad’s market. At the end of the day, it might just happen that iPad might be upstaged by an OS and not really a device. This will depend on the success or failure of Android 3.0. Whatever happens with Android 3.0 will be directly reflected on iPad sometime in the future.

What are you views? Do you think I missed an upcoming tablet here? Do drop in your comments.

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Reviews

[Review] Android entry-level mobile phone in India!

With Android growing without a looking back, people in India are often found more interested in budget-savvy mobile phones. So here I am coming to you reviewing 3 entry-level mobile phone available in India and running Android OS.

The three handsets I am talking about are: Micromax Andro, Samsung Galaxy Pop (confirmed the price in Pune, courtesy the Mobile Store) and Dell XCD 28. Let me list down a few major features of these mobile sets.

 

 

Price

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  • Andro: Rs. 6999 (Mobile Store price)
  • Galaxy Pop: Rs. 9169 (Mobile Store price)
  • XCD 28: Rs. 7725 (a price lower than Naaptol, check here)

 

 

Android Version

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  • Andro: 2.1 (Éclair)
  • Galaxy Pop: 2.2 (Froyo)
  • XCD 28: 2.1 (Éclair)

 

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Display

  • Andro: 2.8” resistive touchscreen
  • Galaxy Pop: 3.2” TFT capacitive touchscreen
  • XCD 28: 2.8” resistive touchscreen

 

 

Camera

  • Andro: 3.2 Mega-pixel (digital zoom, that’s what mentioned everywhere :P)
  • Galaxy Pop: 3.15 Mega-pixel with 3x zoom
  • XCD 28: 3 Mega-pixel with 5x zoom

 

 

 

Ofcourse, all the above 3 phones supports 3G network, Bluetooth as well as WiFi connectivity. I hope this will give you a brief idea about the mobile handsets in the Android range. Keep commenting and do suggest if you want me to cover any specific topics.

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News

Lenovo T-series laptop promises 30 hours of battery life!

Another major announcement and the tickle within me to share it with you all. Lenovo, a company which acquired the ThinkPad division of IBM in 2005 and finally took over its manufacturing as well as marketing.

In a recent announcement, Lenovo is upgrading its T-series laptops with new processors, upgraded battery life and boot faster. The upgraded models, namely 14” T-420S and 15.6” T-420 will get the new Core i5 and i7 processors, respectively. While the new T-420S laptop claims to boot 30% faster, the thick & heavier T-420 series laptops claims to run upto 30 hours on a single full charge of its 9-cell slice extended battery.

T-420S Laptop video

I am not yet sure about the market price in India, though reports suggest a starting price of $1329 and $779 for the T-420S series and T-420 series laptops, respectively.

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Buying a Computer: Laptop vs. Desktop

I know it’s necessarily not about being confused, but it is about the right choice. Even in general life, we need opinion and suggestions for certain tasks, similarly what people even ask before buying a new Computer, a Laptop or a Desktop?

A Laptop is the right choice if

  • you possess high levels of mobility and keep moving to different parts of your house, city or the country.
  • you don’t want your PC to be shared among your pals.
  • you live in a house small enough to hold you and the Desktop at the same time.
  • you have that hatred for wires, this and that!
  • you are happy with the ‘extra’ price you paid for the same features.
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A Desktop is instead better if

  • you want to see a special area with your computer placed and all stuff around it with no movement.
  • you are cool enough to share your PC with friends, relatives and whosoever.
  • you love to constantly ‘upgrade’ your PC with new and techy parts.
  • you are not cool enough with the idea of paying ‘extra’ bucks just for mobility sake.
  • you think your UPS battery is enough in case of power-cuts.
A video to choose between a Laptop & a Desktop

I guess the above points clearly (some tricky points too 😛 ) explains how I think would make a difference in choice. What do you think what will matter in making the right choice? Comment, suggest and drop in some points too, I feel so alone writing all the time! 😉