Gadgets Category Archive

Buddycon Plus! Android App Review

3 Replies RonF

Its been some time since I have written an app review, and this time its for the Android fan boys. In this post, I review a simple background and avatar customization app called BuddyCon Plus! Available to download from Google Play for free.

If you are on the lookout for an app to customize your Android mobile handset with avatars, wallpapers etc. there are plethora of them available on Google Play to help you do so. But if you are looking for customization as well as an entertaining live avatars & wallpapers, then try Buddycon Plus. Its free and its fun!

Buddycon Plus! Android app screen

Buddycon Plus is an Android app that allows you to personalize your contacts as adorable and fun avatars. You can either choose your contacts’ faces to create avatars or use the template gallery which contains predefined sets like those of super heroes and more. The BuddyCon settings options allows you to create your contact’s avatar and acts basically like the control panel. Images of your friends can be accessed from the device’s gallery and synced with the app. There is a built-in paint brush which allows you to tweak your images. Once you are satisfied with your work of art, you can activate the wall paper. Your avatars will walk around on your Android device’s screen.

Along with adding your art to the images, BuddyCon also allows you to dress them up, create varieties of call-screen backgrounds and make your avatars interact on the home screen. There are options available to make your communication easy too. When you tap on any of the avatars, options like Email, Speed dial, Gtalk, Play a Game appear on the screen in a single touch. These options act as a single point of contact available with all communication modes to interact with your buddies.

To sum it up, Buddycon Plus! offers you an exciting process of personalization. It guarantees an amazing experience and a whole lot of fun which you can share with your friends.

Buddycon Plus! is available for free to download in Google Play and requires an Android version of 2.2 and above.

PingPing – a revolutionary new way to manage your money

6 Replies Christopher Roberts

In Belgium, a revolutionary new technology is now in use. This technology is known as PingPing, and I believe that it is going to change the way we all pay for things.

ping.pingSmartphones are becoming evermore popular by the day, and the Belgian telecom operator Belgacom, is now providing a service which is capitalising on this change. They are providing users with a way to connect their wallet to their phone.

Okay we have seen this sort of thing happen before right? Google Wallet and others have tried to bring your wallet and your phone closer. PingPing is something completely different though, as it turns your phone, into a portable bank account – quite literally!

What is PingPing?

PingPing is a system whereby you create a PingPing account, credit this with money from your bank account, and then wherever you go, you can access this at the push of a button, or swipe of your phone, and pay for almost anything.

If you are out and about, you can pay for your car parking simply by sending an SMS. You can buy your sandwich with a swipe of the PingPing electronic tag on your phone. You can pay for your online shopping by texting a code to a given number. You can even text money to friends, which is credited instantly. Owe someone a tenner? They can have the money in their PingPing account in five seconds (quite literally) and all you need do is text it to them.

How does the PingPing service work?

With PingPing, you are able to make payments from your smartphone, by texting, or even easier, simply by swiping your phone on a PingPing reader.

Say for example you want to buy a drink from a vending machine. Usually you would have to fumble around and find some coins, only to discover the machine doesn’t give change, right? Well with PingPing, all you would need to do is swipe your phone on the machines PingPing tag detector, and it will link straight to your PingPing account – which you can easily top up with a bank transfer. This means that you can buy your drink within seconds, and the money is removed directly from your account. No loose change, no hassle. Confused? Watch the video below to see my example in action.

In the past, we have had to wait to get paid, checks can take days to clear, as can bank transfers. With PingPing, you are able to transfer money in (quite literally) 5 seconds, and all you need is your phone.

This technology is not just limited to vending machines though! With PingPing you can pay for anything – which is PingPing compatible. As I mentioned earlier, your sandwich, car parking, online shopping, in-store shopping, your bus fair, even charging your electric car, quite literally anything!

Can I use it?

There are many similar services to PingPing, which are live. I have heard that in the UK, Barclays bank are trialling such systems, and in Africa, there are many similar systems which have really taken off.

PingPing is currently only available in Belgium though. The software and technology is still relatively new, but I think it will spread fast.

Your Turn

What do you think about the PingPing service, will it take off elsewhere? Will it be a revolution, or is there too much competition already? Your thoughts, comments, opinions and facts are welcome as always 🙂

The App Store exceeds 25 billion downloads!

3 Replies Christopher Roberts

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California-based tech giant Apple – a company renowned for their phenomenally successful consumer hardware – have confirmed that the number of applications downloaded from its App Store recently exceeded 25 billion worldwide.

The figures that make up this total include apps sold via the store for all of Apple’s iDevices – including the iPhone, it’s various iPods and the iPad. Apple’s iDevices are used by an estimated half a billion people world wide (500 million) a colossal amount!

A black iPhone 4S

A black iPhone 4S – one of the iDevices which Apple have sold half a billion of (globally)

The announcement by Apple follows news that the winner of the company’s App Store Countdown to 25 Billion Apps – Chunli Fu from China – will be given a gift card worth $10,000 in free gifts as a reward for being the person to download the 25 billionth app from the Apple Store.

The app that marked the 25 billion download point was the game Where’s My Water (the free version). The app is a puzzle game that tests the physics skills and knowledge of the user, and can be downloaded onto virtually all of the main Apple iDevices, including the iPhone and iPad.

The game is one of the biggest selling and most popular apps available via the Apple Store – an in-house option for downloading Apple products which has proven to be revolutionary since the company started it.

In the period since the Apple Store was launched it has grown to the point where it now has 600,000 apps available for download, to users of the iPhone, iPad and iPod. These apps are available in more that 100 countries world wide, with nearly 200,000 of the apps being created by Apple itself. The apps available cover a wide range of subject areas, such as sports, games, news, business, travel and health and fitness. Just look at the Technology Bloggers ‘apps‘ category, to see reviews of some of the great apps on offer.

Apple’s Internet Software and Services senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, said:

“We’d like to thank our customers and developers for helping us achieve this historic milestone of 25 billion apps downloaded. When we launched the App Store less than four years ago, we never imagined that mobile apps would become the phenomenon that they have, or that developers would create such an incredible selection of apps for iOS users.”

Thanks to this and other user-friendly promotions, Apple remains the company to beat in more than one field!