Mobile Marketing reports on an interesting new app launched in the UK called PanicGuard, aimed at those who fear they are being stalked. The app works as a gateway to a security service and, once activated, makes use of handsets' GPS and video recording capabilities to alert pre-set emergency contacts.
PanicGuard was developed by entrepreneur Mikkel Dissing. “Everyone has a right to feel safe on the streets and in their own homes, but sadly that is not always the case,” says Dissing. “Our goal is to empower our users to feel more confident, knowing that without doing anything more than shaking their phone, they can instantly alert friends and family who can call the police to come to their aid and they will have the evidence to help them catch the criminal.”
It is estimated that over 120,000 people a year are victims of stalking in the UK. The app is intended to help the police gather evidence, which is streamed to a secure server rather than being stored on the handset.
The app, called Expedition White Shark, displays a map with live tracking data for the sharks tagged with real-time tracking devices, so that users can follow these sharks at the same time as the research scientists! A “news” interface lets you keep up to date on the latest in shark conservation and research news, and you can learn more about sharks from the “facts” tab. There is also a “meet our sharks” section that provides photos and data on all of the tagged sharks, as well as numerous photos and videos of great whites and the research team in action.
The Tawkon app for Android tracks and rates a phone’s level of mobile radiation exposure (low, moderate or high) and suggests situation-specific adjustments for lowering it to safe levels during a call.
Tawkon is currently undergoing tests for FCC certification.
In Kenya, the ratio of patients to doctors is 6,000 to 1, and the dearth of health professionals isn't the only challenge to accessing decent health care. Unlicensed impostors hand out expired medicines to people who don't know any better, and a shortage of public information on health services makes it easier for quacks to lure victims. Good.is reports via @mobileactive
... More than 25 million Kenyans have mobile phones, making apps a logical way to disseminate essential information about health. MedAfrica, a new smartphone app, has positioned itself as the go-to service for wired Kenyans in search of reputable health care. The app operates like a mobile yellow pages for medical services, providing basic listings of professionals in the area. Additional features include a symptom checker for patients to compare their ailments with different diseases and make decisions about seeking medical attention.
Smartphones and tablets are transforming the future of health care. Can we really trust them to save lives? FastCompany reports via @jranck.
... "mHealth," the rapidly growing business of using mobile technology in health care. Leveraging the wonders of a device that's fast becoming ubiquitous--two in three people worldwide own a cell phone--a new generation of startups is building apps and add-ons that make your handheld work like high-end medical equipment. Except it's cheaper, sleeker, and a lot more versatile.
"It's like the human body has developed a new organ," says Raja Rajamannar, chief innovation officer at Humana. Smartphones can already track calories burned and miles run, and measure sleep patterns. By 2013, they'll be detecting erratic heartbeats, monitoring tremors from Parkinson's disease, and even alerting you when it's prime time to make a baby.
At stake is the future of health care--and a share of the $273 billion medical-device industry, which is dominated by the likes of GE and Philips. Although today's mHealth market barely tops $2 billion, experts predict that number will skyrocket over the next decade as smartphones get smarter and patients lose, well, patience with the high costs and hassles of health care.
One of the most popular — and controversial — video games of our time is now playable in mobile form. USA Today reports.
Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto III: 10 Year Anniversary Edition delivers an experience similar to the original gritty console game adventure, but now can be taken on the go on an iPhone 4/4S, iPod touch (fourth generation), iPad and most Android devices.
Despite some all-touchscreen controls that take some getting used to — especially on smaller screens — this new spin on the decade-old instant classic delivers the same exhilarating gameplay, missions and open-world freedom.
Mobile health platforms are fast emerging in Kenya, where one startup's newly launched mobile health platform is attracting nearly 1,000 downloads daily, and the dominant telecom, Safaricom, has forged a partnership that will give its 18 million subscribers access to doctors. MIT Technology Review reports via @jranck.
.. Many Kenyans have serious health problems; for example, according to the World Health Organization, more than 30 percent of children under age five show stunted growth. At present, only 7,000 doctors serve a nation of 40 million people. But Kenya is rich in mobile phones, with 25 million subscribers (Africa has more than 600 million of them).
The new app, called MedAfrica—available for smart phones and less powerful feature phones—is the product of Shimba Technologies, a Nairobi-based company founded by two locally educated entrepreneurs, Stephen Kyalo and Kezia Muoki, with $100,000 in seed money from a European VC.
MedAfrica is platform that provides a suite of health services (health widgets) such as symptom checkers, first-aid information, doctor & hospital directories as well as relevant alert services.
Occupy Wall Street protesters use a "human microphone" to get around their lack of a new York City permit for speakers or megaphones - one person speaks while the crowd repeats their message, spreading it to those further away. Now, there's an app that does the same for your iPhone. New Scientist reports.
Inhuman Microphone was developed in 24 hours at the Music Hack Day in London last weekend. The speaker simply talks into their phone and their message is uploaded to a server before being pushed out to other phones in the area that have the app's website open - watch a video of the app in action above.
It is not a piece of conspicuous tech, but plug it into the headphone socket of your iPhone and it will tell you that how many steps you have walked in a day and how many hours of sleep you have had. You can program wristband to vibrate on your wrist to remind you to move when you've been inactive for too long. You control the interval and timeframe.
An Android developer has created an app that can find out if your phone has Carrier IQ installed. Voodoo Carrier IQ detector is an Android app, and it’s currently available for free on the Android Market.
TED has just lanched an iPhone app. Adapted from their award-winning iPad app, the new TED iPhone app allows users to browse and watch TEDTalks, videos ranging from 3 minutes to 18 minutes in length. TEDTalks feature great ideas from speakers on everything from genetics and geopolitics to sculpture and creativity.
In the early Internet days, circa 1996, one of the most impressive features and success story was FedEx's website that allowed customers to track their packages. Now Delta Air Lines is offering an app that allows you to check on your bag. Seattle PI reports.
Once you enter your bag’s code (with the iPhone you can scan it) you are able to watch it board your plane and find out what carousel it will show up on after you land. Or you might also be able to watch as it goes to Hawaii as you fly to Ohio. Even though that would be a negative experience overall, at least, it allows you to plan ahead of time. You won’t have to stand at baggage claim for an hour waiting for your bag, just to find out that it did not make it. You can go straight from your flight to a customer service representative.
The app itself is free, however, you still need to purchase one of Iridium’s satellite phones to act as the hotspot access point to share the satellite data connection with your iOS devices. The phone itself will cost about $1,000 to $1,500 while the bandwidth is charged at $1 per minute of usage.
Private banks, which have been slow to embrace mobile technologies — over concerns about security and a general impression that private banking clients did not want that kind of relationship with their bankers — are changing their minds and offering social media and smartphone apps. The New York Times reports.
-- Merrill Lynch mobile applications for Apple and BlackBerry devices allow clients of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and the online discount brokerage service Merrill Edge to view their portfolio holdings and account activity; transfer money between linked Merrill Lynch brokerage and Bank of America banking accounts; and trade stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and options in approved accounts.
Clients can also track market news and headlines, and gain access to the bank’s latest research reports.
-- The J.P. Morgan apps let clients view their account balances, transactions and investment positions. They can transfer funds, send wire transfers and pay bills using the application, but they have to go through their client managers to give orders on their investment positions.
The Light Bulb Finder uses E.P.A. data on energy-saving light bulbs to help consumers make the switch to more efficient incandescent bulbs. Enter your ZIP code, and the app will calculate your savings based on local electric rates.
You choose the bulb style and the quality of light you prefer, add the items to your shopping cart, and then order bulbs directly from your smartphone. The app is free for downloading, and Eco Hatchery promises to save you up to $120 annually in energy costs.
PayPal has launched a Facebook application designed to let users of the social networking site send money to each other.
The application, named Send Money, features a greeting card component for accompanying the money transfer with an e-card containing a message, photos and videos to mark occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.
Go app for iPhone lets people stream media and post in real-time. Users can also locate tagged posts on a map aided by GPS. Forbes reports.
What separates Go from other social media sharing apps, however, is its ability to hide a poster’s name and identity. Unlike apps which simplify authentication via Facebook or Twitter, Go lets users skip self-authentication entirely, allowing them to post as “anonymous.”
The Internet has been an important part of the efforts by protesters during 2011’s “Arab Spring” events across the Middle East, allowing citizens to pass information back and forth and organize rallies.
Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter have been instrumental in sharing information about protests and government crackdowns in several countries with the rest of the world, which has helped reform movements in those places to catch on and enact serious political change in many cases.
But for the first time, accrding to Appolicious, a revolutionary movement is turning to the iPhone for help with protests.
A new app out of Syria might be the first of its kind. An effort to battle government censorship of news events coming out of the country about political upheaval, the app Souria Wa Bas provides users with news from protesters in the country that they might not be able to get anywhere else, without requiring them to necessarily have access to a computer to check the Internet.
According to a story from The Daily Beast, the app’s creators say Souria Wa Bas is mean to counter “deliberate attempts to distort facts” and that it compiles the most important news it can from Syrian news sources. Among the information on offer are maps of locations where protests are heavy, news articles, videos from events taking place around the country and even jokes to lighten the mood.
A new iPhone app that lets you spot leopards, elephants and other animals in the wild could also help conservationists identify new species or determine whether populations are under threat.
The Instant WILD app, released today by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), connects users to motion-sensitive cameras set up near animal habitats in Kenya, Sri Lanka and Mongolia. New images are sent to the app in real-time when a camera senses a nearby animal, which then tasks users to pick which species it belongs to. You can also follow a specific camera to get alerts whenever a new image is captured, or access a version of the app online.
Everybody has heard horror stories of the Facebook past of job applicants coming back to haunt them. In fact, a large proportion of final year students will now be trying to figure out how to expunge the unsuitable-for-work comments, photos and updates they have accumulated on their profiles and walls of friends. It is no easy task. The Wall Street Journal reports.
CNET reports on a very thorough app developed by a job-seeking programmer Michael Devine.
Devine’s Android app, called Exfoliate, allows you to delete batches of posts based on how long they’ve been up. For instance, you can have it remove posts that are older than three months and various time periods up to three years. You can clean just your wall, or also remove posts from friends’ walls. And the kind of content you can select for removal includes your posts, comments and likes…
“When you really think about it, it becomes clear that there’s actually no reason to leave anything (on Facebook) after a certain point in time because no one sees it or they rarely see it,” he said. “It just sits there waiting for someone to see it out of context and then it can cause you trouble.
As it is, CNET warns, the app is a “bandwidth hog” which takes several hours on a Wi-Fi network. Its actions are also permanent. Exfoliate costs the equivalent of $2.99 from the Android Market and an iPhone version is expected in a few weeks, writes The Wall Street Journal.
An app called 4sqwifi enables you to find nearby venues which offer WiFi — and their password. Worldwide.
It's been approved by the app store, but is this legal?
According to thenextweb, "while sometimes, using a hotspot without the owner’s permission is at best a little rude, the information is already shared on Foursquare and this app is simply making it easier to access."
The Android Market has lots of Siri-like voice-activated assistant apps (most of them free) that use Google’s excellent voice recognition system. They’re not as slick as Apple’s virtual executive secretary, but some are worth trying.
Still in beta testing mode, Estonian Qminder is a queue management system that spares consumers the need to wait in line in person, not just at hospitals and doctor’s offices, but also at banks, restaurants and stores. Springwise reports.
After downloading the app, customers can “take a number” remotely, which marks their place in the virtual queue. In return, Qminder estimates how long the wait promises to be and sends a notification when the user’s turn approaches.
For venue owners, the app can be used to determine when peak hours are occurring, enabling managers to better schedule extra staff. The app can also be set up to work with existing queue systems, or using a web service.
A new Android app inspired by Occupy Wall Street and other protests sweeping the globe allows protesters to notify family, friends and even their legal team that they are being arrested. The LA Times reports via C/Net.
The app,I'm Getting Arrested enables anyone, with one click, to broadcast a custom message to SMS numbers in the event they are arrested. Very easy to setup and operate. Instructions under help menu. Inspired by a real Occupy Wall Street incident. Free to the other 99%.
FastCompany reviews LHSee, a free Android app taht can stream actual particle-collision events to your phone in 3-D.
You may have heard about the hunt for the Higgs boson (or "God particle," as it's sometimes called) going on at CERN's Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland. Some think the elusive particle may never turn up, but now you can pitch in on the search yourself using an Android app called LHSee.
Designed and built by scientists at CERN, it streams live 3-D visualizations of actual particle collisions that happen at the detector.
The idea is very simple and it’s basically a physical crowdsourced experience. Download the iPhone app (for free), you will get a message, the message will tell you when you should jump. Everyone who has got this app receives the same message, so let’s jump all together at the same time.
If you jump at the exact time while holding your iPhone, the device can calculate how high everyone jumps at the same time. When total distance of jump reaches to the distance from the earth to moon, the brand behind the app (still unknown) will give you a special gift.
Scandinavian Airlines just launched “The TimeKiller”, an iPhone app for all of those who don’t fly with SAS and therefore get frustrated with delayed flights and long waits at the airport.
A leaderless group of "Occupy Wall Street" protesters living in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park are using a smartphone app to communicate with each another – anonymously.
The “Vibe” app allows users to post tweet-like messages to other users' mobile phones without revealing their identities, as no registration is required.
Users can decide how long their “vibes” will exist - 15 minutes, an hour, a day, seven days, or forever. After the selected time is up, the message disappears.
Users can choose how far their messages will travel. A “whisper” can only be seen within 150 feet of the user’s mobile phone; a “speak” can be seen up to 1,500 feet away; a “shout” 3 miles away; a “whistle” 30 miles away; a “yell” 300 miles away – and a “bellow” can be seen worldwide.
To combat distracted driving, Sprint has launched one of the most Draconian apps. Called Sprint Drive First it locks your phone when you're driving over 10 miles per hour, and alerts your parent or spouse when the phone has been locked. PC Mag reports.
First, the app determines how fast your car is going by using GPS and cell tower triangulation. Once your car exceeds 10 mph, the phone is automatically locked. Incoming calls are directed to voicemail and email and text message alerts are silenced. All voice calls and texting going on at the time will immediately end. The locked status can only be overridden if the user is a passenger in the car.
Freshlist connects sellers and buyers of local produce so nothing goes to waste. Fast Company reports.
This past weekend, adventurous developers were invited to participate in the Cleanweb Hackathon, a competition that challenged entrants to develop apps in just 24 hours--everything from Chrome plug-ins to cell phone applications--that allow users to use natural resources more efficiently. One of the more intriguing winners of the hackathon was Freshlist, a text-based marketplace designed to help people buy and sell produce in real time.
Created by Hoa Huyn and Freshr founder Joshua Rosen, the app uses the Twilio API for text messaging to easily allow people to make transactions.
Here's how the marketplace works: A buyer texts their inventory (say, 20 apples) to a list of buyers. A nearby buyer types "list" and gets a list of everything being sold in the area. The service uses GPS to locate buyers and sellers, so nearby produce is highlighted. When a buyer is ready to make a purchase, the seller receives a text with the buyer's phone number and deletes their items from the inventory list.
PanicGuard was developed by entrepreneur Mikkel Dissing. “Everyone has a right to feel safe on the streets and in their own homes, but sadly that is not always the case,” says Dissing. “Our goal is to empower our users to feel more confident, knowing that without doing anything more than shaking their phone, they can instantly alert friends and family who can call the police to come to their aid and they will have the evidence to help them catch the criminal.”
In Kenya, the ratio of patients to doctors is 6,000 to 1, and the dearth of health professionals isn't the only challenge to accessing decent health care. Unlicensed impostors hand out expired medicines to people who don't know any better, and a shortage of public information on health services makes it easier for quacks to lure victims. Good.is reports via 
Smartphones and tablets are transforming the future of health care. Can we really trust them to save lives? 
Mobile health platforms are fast emerging in Kenya, where one startup's newly launched mobile health platform is attracting nearly 1,000 downloads daily, and the dominant telecom, Safaricom, has forged a partnership that will give its 18 million subscribers access to doctors. 
An Android developer has created an app that can find out if your phone has 
Private banks, which have been slow to embrace mobile technologies — over concerns about security and a general impression that private banking clients did not want that kind of relationship with their bankers — are changing their minds and offering social media and smartphone apps. 
The Internet has been an important part of the efforts by protesters during 2011’s “Arab Spring” events across the Middle East, allowing citizens to pass information back and forth and organize rallies.
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