UberHype: Android’s Best New Music Finding App

Yet another music app, oh boy. What could possibly be in store here that we haven’t been able to get from the plethora of other music apps available and probably downloaded on my Android device. Well, here’s the thing, this isn’t just an app for music or streaming content it has another aspect which makes it completely unique.

You know how Pandora or IheartRadio will play a random artist when you are listening to one artist and a lot of the time it’s something completely unrelated and often not what you were looking for at all? That’s kind of what UberHype avoids through its music introduction. Since it is linked through a music discovery system called The Hype Machine there are always new songs and up and coming artists being shown throughout the app that you can choose to follow, create a channel for, or never listen to again. This freedom allows you to actually hear the type of music you want and listen to what you want when you want and not have to be subjected to random awful artists in the midst of what you’re doing.

The search features for this app are also what set it apart from other music services. You can really almost learn of an entire new set of artists in a single listening session with the way that search is set up by keywords and trends. You can also follow what your friends are listening to and what they have been liking which allow you to see what else there might be for you to see.

As far as music apps for Android go, this one is absolutely worth trying out. It’s a welcome change with a few minor fixes, like an exit button, needed, but overall it’s great and well worth the change from a conventional, lackluster music streaming service.

Source: UberHype App for Android

Hola: The Web Acceleration and Unblocking App for Android or PC

If you live in certain regions of the world internet censorship is simply a way of life. The information super highway that is supposed to be there for everyone can be completely obstructed by government or other services looking to block user access. There are solutions to these blocks, but most come at the price of heavy advertisement space, or significantly reduced speeds. Finally, there is an option which doesn’t have to involve either. Hola is an application which serves as both a web accelerator and an unblocker. This means you can browse web content previously untappable through this service while remaining anonymous.

This app is compatible for most major web browsers from Firefox to Chrome, to Safari. On Android devices it can be run on anything version 2.3 or higher. It has a very clear and obvious interface which allows the user to select the options they want to use and get the most out of the accelerator and unblocking components.

The array of settings to customize your experience with this app are very well rounded and offer you the ability to choose exactly what you hope to get from it. This is by far the best option, app wise, I have come across to access blocked sites and speed up an unblocker. If this is an issue you face in your life then getting this app will provide a very simple solution. Check out Hola and get back to seeing what you want to see, when you want to see it.

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Hola For Windows, Chrome & Firefox

Hola for Android

Utter! Voice Command Personal Assistant App for Android

The first thing people think these days when they hear about an app that functions as a personal assistant of sorts is Siri. This leaves a lot of catching up for anything other than an iPhone user to have to do. Well, Utter!, is taking a stab at it, and it seems like they have all of their aspirations in line.

Siri is great, not nearly as great as in the commercials, but it’s still really good and useful, but it takes a decent data connection and an even stronger amount of background phone usage. This is what Utter! Aims to reduce. Utter! Allows most functions to be performed while the device is not online or connected to data. This means that not only is the data usage much smaller, but the battery usage footprint is much less as well.

The app is still in the development stage so they are looking for more and more people to download it and give it a test run. Here’s your chance to turn your Android phone into an extension of your hipster aspirations and get something before anyone else knows about it!

In essence this app is very similar to a Siri type personal assistant, but the disconnects make it able to go beyond that. It isn’t just a copy, it aims to improve upon aspects of the Apple equivalent and make it a better user experience. Since it is still in testing only time will tell how successful they will be or how big of a following this app can garner. One thing is for sure, if it works well, which it seems to be doing, then it probably will serve to be the Android equivalent of a Siri level personal assistant.

Google Play: utter! Voice Commands BETA For Android

[Images Credit: Google Play Store]

Haze: The New Weather Forecast App for iPhone

Haze is a brand new app to the iTunes App Store. It’s yet another weather forecast app, but this offers class and sleekness along with its functionality. There’s no denying that weather apps are a dime a dozen. The thing is, most of them are clunky, require too many touches to really see what you want or simply just look like a third grader’s school project. This is where Haze separates itself from the pack.

Haze is the weather forecast system of the future. Not necessarily because of what it does, but it does do it all from 5 day to sunshine hours, UV, cloud coverage, sunrise/sunset times, and of course precipitation, but because it looks so uniquely modern. This is what I would expect the weather forecast to look like on some device in the future. It looks so simple yet relays so much and the color schemes and hues make you feel enveloped in the information.

This is a brand new app so there are inevitably going to be issues that arise, but given first impressions Haze has set a good one. It’s a nice new way to really get the weather and not just be presented with the usual array of boring numbers and symbols. It’s simple, but direct and to the point while maintaining a great, sleek interface that users can easily navigate. For only being on the market such a short time it has received rave reviews from customers. Give it a shot and get your weather in style.

Source: Haze for iPhone

[Image Credit: iTunes Store]

Top 5 Android Apps for Better Sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep can be a problem for most of us some, or all of the time. There’s nothing worse than waking up groggy and foggy from not getting rested up. There are some great apps to help you track your sleep to help fix problems or just help you get a better night’s sleep in general Here are the top 5 Android apps for sleep help.

SleepBot Tracker – Sleep Suite ;

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This is the best one on the market. This app won first place by the US National Institute of Health’s competition for “Going Viral to Improve Health”. This app will log in all of your sleep information, organize it into graphs and charts, and allow you to see the trends, patterns and time stamps of your activity. If you want to figure out your problem times or areas, or just get a better idea of how you sleep this is an essential app.

Lightning Bug – Sleep Clock ;

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Did you have one of those sound makers years ago to help you sleep? Studies show that ambient sound and white noise can help you sleep far easier than in a regular quiet room. When you have every creek and bump to take your attention away from sleeping then you can’t fall asleep nearly as easily. This app will provide you with the ambient noise to help you drift off into a slumber of calmness and relaxation. With over 200 sound loops to choose from you can’t go wrong.

Relax and Sleep ;

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This is another great ap for people who need to hear something as they fall asleep. It also features the ability to fade sounds in and out , have custom presets and use and alarm clock. Choose from an expansive list of over 35 ambient sounds from nature to animals to machinery.

Music Box to Sleep ;

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If you have someone who needs to hear music to fall asleep, whether it’s you or your infant child, this is the app for you. With a number of great lullaby type songs this will have you wandering off to sleep in no time at all. Relaxing background images make it all the more enjoyable as well.

Music Therapy for Sound Sleep ;

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This is a great approach to sleep therapy from a sound perspective. The sounds in this app are made especially to go well with the wavelengths and patterns of the brain to induce and continue sleep. The ability of the creators to sync this app well with actual neurological activity makes this one of the most comprehensive sleep aid apps available. Not only will this app help sleep, but it will put you in a more relaxed and refreshed state.

PopClip: The App Your Mac Needs

The apps in the Mac store are usually of very high quality since they are heavily screened and tested before ever coming close to the marketplace. PopClip is a great app which follows suit with these standards. In principle it is a simple app. When text is selected PopClip springs to action. With any imaginable shortcut you can think of such as copy and paste, autocorrect, sending links or excerpts, and even searches this does anything you could ever want when selecting text.

It really does seem like it’s almost too simple to really have any meaningful impact on your computing experience, but that’s only because you’ve gone so long without it. Once you start using this app you’ll first wonder how it isn’t a default program on the Mac since it works so flawlessly, and then you’ll wonder how you functioned without it for so long.

It takes short cuts and makes them even shorter. The only services it provides it does faster and more efficiently than would be possible without it. I downloaded this app to write this article about and I’ve already used it a number of times in my work day. People who use their Macs to do anything at all will find this incredibly useful from students to professionals.

With seamless integration to other services like EverNote there’s no reason to hold yourself from this app any longer. It really does make my workday go so much easier in places I never even realized I was wasting time. Check it out and you won’t regret it.

Source: PopClip for Mac

[Image Credit: Apple Mac Store]