Useful Apps etc

[JollyGreen]

For chat or text message I like Whatsapp. I have a lot of friends outside the UK and this will allow me to send text, pictures etc all for free. All you need is a cellular data connection, it doesn't even have to be 3G. Obviously if you are on a cellular data system you have to ensure it is within your data allowance. On wi-fi I can sit and chat with a friend in Spain as we watch the same football game.

Peter also recommended Glympse which is a handy little App. Because I cannot drive due to my illness I take the train. We all know you can be late or miss a connection so when I am meeting Peter for dinner I send him a glympse and he doesn't have to sit around waiting for me at a station. I now use it with my family so my daughter can let me know where she is.

[andyfuller]

Cheers for those Jolly - never heard of LastPass or Glympse.

I have been after a password manager for ages. I worked out recently I have just over 200 different things I have to remember passwords for! Crazy what the online world demands of us these days!

I can see Glympse being really really useful for me - I am often having to pick up family from the train station and end up sitting in my car when they are delayed. This will let me see when the train goes past my house and I can then set off!

I really like Whatsapp as well.

[Euler]

I found Glympse when looking for a quick way to let people know where you are.

I often use it when I go out on my bike and send a text to my wife so she knows where I am. Twice in the past I've set off to exercise only for my wife to pick me up from A&E a bit later. So know she doesn't need to worry when I'm gone for 2 or 3 hours and the kids love watching me belt around the countryside in real time.

I've used it for meetings also, really handy.

[andyfuller]

I often use it when I go out on my bike...I've used it for meetings also, really handy.

I just passed it on to my family and they have put it to use straight away. One has used it to let the wife know they were on the way back from work - no excuse for dinner not being on the table when they get in from work now

I really like the idea of using it for exercise - I often go out for very long runs and now take my phone with me, one reason is for music but the other so I can ring if I need help, this will let me share where I am running as I never am too keen on going out and no one knowing where I am. Also like the idea of tracking the run - no longer will my brother be able to tell me he ran x distance in x time - I can track him

Do the texts just come out of your normal allowance or are they premium rate?

[Euler]

Just a normal text or you can email.

[Dabbla]

Endomondo www.endomondo.com (Sport tracker). It uses GPS to track your runs/cycling sessions. Tells you your pace, mile splits ect.Also gives you a map of your session. Free and paid.

[Ethanol]

3

GOTOMYPC - I used this over the summer when I went on holiday, nice and simple. You have to pay but there is a one month free trial and a free app for smartphones.

A great free alternative to this is TeamViewer, which I've been using for years. As well as using it to connect to my own PCs, I also find it great for remotely supporting family and friends, etc. whenever they have IT issues. They also have iOS and Android apps.

The reason it's free is that they charge corporate clients an absolute bomb!

For those who use RDP, I recommend Visionapp's RDP client. It allows up to three simultaneous RDP connections in the free version, or unlimited if you purchase it. It's also easy to configure settings for multiple connections, and manage them all within a hierarchy.

[andyfuller]

A great free alternative to this is TeamViewer, which I've been using for years. As well as using it to connect to my own PCs, I also find it great for remotely supporting family and friends, etc. whenever they have IT issues. They also have iOS and Android apps.

Cheers for this one - really useful. I have used GoToMyPC in the past.

The number of times I have been on the phone trying to explain how to do something when these kind of things would be so much easier.

I am also looking at sorting out a media centre to control all of my TV and Music in the house and have it running from a central PC in a cupboard. So being able to use something like this from my iPad would be fantastic.

Useful video review here of TeamViewer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLU55TvbwDE

Really glad I started the thread - already found some great new apps etc thanks to it!

[andyfuller]

Endomondo http://www.endomondo.com (Sport tracker). It uses GPS to track your runs/cycling sessions. Tells you your pace, mile splits ect.Also gives you a map of your session. Free and paid.

I really like SportTracks for analysing my runs or bike rides:

http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/sporttr ... ompare.php

Free or paid versions - I use the free.

I use it in conjunction with my Garmin running watch and it gives loads of data and it can be overlayed on Google maps.

[Euler]

Was going to ask you about sports apps, I've been using a GPS tracker and analysing it when I get home, but wanted to get a heart rate monitor and plug in that info as well.

Thanks to Ethanol for teamviewer, I've been on GTMPC for ages.

[Euler]

I realise Glympse is an all signing all dancing tracker, but the ability to send somebody a quick message so that can track you for a limited time is a neat idea.

[andyfuller]

Was going to ask you about sports apps, I've been using a GPS tracker and analysing it when I get home, but wanted to get a heart rate monitor and plug in that info as well.

I started using a heart rate monitor with my running a year or so ago after it sat in the draw from the day I bought the running watch which included the HR monitor. I found it really helped in my training once I started to use it regularly and look at the data. I also use it when I am on the WattBike.

There was a thread here about wearing it when trading:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5766&p=45510&hilit= ... #p45510%20

Just tested my resting heart rate and glad to see it is now 40 to 44 bpm compared to 50 in March 2012 - all the training is paying off

Interesting article about Bradley Wiggins and VO2 max and HR etc.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18959642

[steven1976]

For your media center if you have it set up to the tv's I recommend xbmc as the media center as there are all kinds of plugins you can get to have tv online players in and a few good add ons such as navi x which has a lot of HD movies if your internet is quick enough. Also has apps for its own remote and I also use My Remote (paid version) for navigating around the desktop from my phone.

[James1st]

A really useful App is the one that lets you log in to Betfair, find a market and place a bet and also allows you to "green up" a trade. Trouble is that there isn't one available...(prompt to an ambitious App coder).

I use IbetMate on my Iphone when I am roving but despite promises from Mike Pollard (the author), it still cannot Green. I suspect the problem is related to the need to bet below minimum stakes for greening.

Maybe BetAngel could develop an App?

[andyfuller]

I am not the fastest reader so have been after an app for a while that can read text for me and play it back. I came across the free app iSpeech this morning, only used it a little but is seems to be pretty good:

http://www.ispeech.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFj2XdZYrv8

I have been using it in Google Chrome's from their browser app store to read news articles to me as I get on with other stuff. There are various voices available and the speed it reads can be altered amongst other things.

Has anyone got any other recommendations for similar text to speech apps?