Stuff for mobile devices
Ever had the urge to print something while out and about? Something important, like a boarding pass or a mobile ticket? Frustrating isn’t it? And sometimes costly, since many airlines now charge you a penalty for forgetting to print off your boarding pass before reaching the airport (we’re looking at you Mr Stinky Ryanair).
We’re all subject to mood swings, no matter how old we are or where we live. Day to day, moment to moment there are things which continually affect our emotions, equilibrium and state of mind. It’s almost scary how random it all seems. But what if there was a way to work out why we feel like we feel, using nothing more exotic than our phone?
![EmotionSense – get in touch with the real you, with a little help from technology [Freeware]](http://www.redferret.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/emotionsense4.jpg)
WeQ4U is a free iPhone and Android app which does all the hard work of queuing up for business and government 08 numbers in the UK, so you can get on with other things. The app not only saves you time hanging around on long boring switchboard call queues, but it also saves money, because the app hangs up but stays in the queue until a customer service agent arrives on the other end.
![WeQ4U – free app feeds you through call centers and switchboards with no pain [Freeware]](http://www.redferret.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/weq4u.jpg)
The mighty Google this week filed a patent for securing a mobile device using facial recognition technology. The idea is for the user to set up a ‘facial landmark‘, for example sticking their tongue out or wrinkling their nose, after which they can unlock their device by repeating the ‘faceword’.
Progress is a wonderful thing. Take computing for example. Just a scant few years ago we were all lugging around very heavy, cumbersome lunchbox computers which couldn’t compute their way out of a paper bag, and now look at us. Sneak a peek at your fellow coffee shop patrons next time you’re in for a check up, and chances are a good third of them will be doing some sort of tablet computer dance over their Latte with Sprinkles.
![Versus Touchtab 10.1 Inch Tablet – you paid HOW much for your Galaxy Tab? [Review]](http://www.redferret.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/versustouchtab3-1.jpg)
It’s funny how far removed we are from tangible objects. We used to keep memories through photographs and written journals, and now we store all of this digitally. It’s not hard to forget about making hard copies of all of your photographs, but you’ll wish you had if your computer dies with no hope of getting anything off of the hard drive. While the whole world isn’t going to move back to jotting their thoughts down on paper, there are…
We’ve all become very reliant on mobile phones, simply because they’re an awesome invention. But even so it is probably prudent to minimize extensive exposure to the radiation from the handsets during a long call. And before you trot out the old nonsense about non-ionizing radiation being completely safe, just remember that microwave ovens also use non-ionizing radiation, which most definitely is not safe unless properly shielded.
![Tawkon – track your phone radiation and stay safe [Freeware]](http://www.redferret.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/tawkon-1.jpg)
We love our phones so much that we can’t help but buy accessories. They either give us extra functionality, or make the phone more appealing to look at. If you’re more inclined to listen to music, but still want a cute case, you’ll need to find a good crossroad between the two.
The stories circulating recently about working conditions in some Far Eastern factories have made a fair number of people start to question their role as consumers. For one thing it doesn’t feel right that we can buy something cheap only because someone else far away suffers. The Fairtrade movement, which started to help African farmers improve their living standards while still supplying Western supermarkets with produce, has now found an equivalent in the consumer electronics space.
For the past couple of weeks I’ve been playing a game called Ingress, developed by Google and currently being played in closed invite-only beta across the world. The game, which draws heavily on a kind of Matrix meets StarCraft science fiction styling, melds augmented reality with smartphones, computers and the kind of backstory that only a Hollywood scriptwriter could dream up.
High end smartphones are all well and good, but not everyone has $700+ to drop on a mobile, even if it’s got more processing power than the space shuttle. For those on a budget the choice is limited when it comes to top spec handsets, unless you’re prepared to compromise in some way.
![THL W100 – is this Quad Core, Jelly Bean phone at just $159 worth buying? Yep. [Review]](http://www.redferret.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/thlw100smartphone.jpg)
Just about every day you see a new smartphone, tablet, or laptop crop up that has a rather lofty price tag attached to it. All of those may have the latest or most impressive hardware and software, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the best. You can still have good quality without paying an exorbitant amount of money. Nokia has been known to make sturdy phones in the past, but they wanted to make a touchscreen smartphone that was affordable.
With the launch of the latest Samsung, HTC and Nokia smartphones the world of NFC enabled applications has taken a large leap forward. The fact is that most of the latest model smartphones now feature this ‘near field communications‘ technology, which let you ‘tap’ to access a range of services and features.
If you’re constantly on the move, carrying around a backpack, messenger bag, or purse is going to get really annoying, really fast. You want to keep the essentials with you, but not burden yourself with too much extra weight. The best way to keep things together is with a case for your phone that can also be a wallet.
It’s hard to remain a ‘concerned’ citizen nowadays because you can never tell whether a product you’re buying comes from a company whose ethics are questionable or worse. There are so many different degrees of ownership in the major corporates, that it’s almost impossible to trace who owns what when it comes to consumer products on the shelves.
![Buycott – finally there’s a guilt free way to shop [Freeware]](http://www.redferret.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/buycott3.jpg)
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