App Attack and Tech News

The ENDOMONDO app is designed to keep sports fans on their toes. The free version lets you select any outdoor, distance-based activity, then tracks your progress, time, and whispers words of encouragement. At the end of your marathon/triathlon/pub crawl, the app shows a map of your route, which you can then distribute to social networks like a big narcissist.

Look at the stars, see how they shine for you. Thanks to GOOGLE SKY MAP, you can gaze at the heavens and piece together, stars, planets and constellations, on your smartphone screen. Simply point your phone camera at the skies to operate the app’s augmented wizardry. It works indoors too.

Believe the type
Swiping and typing come together in one glorious display of democracy with the new Logitech wireless keyboard. The TK820 wirelessly connects to a computer, streamlining navigation with a built-in touchpad. The keyboard is especially designed for “whisper-quiet” typing – important when cracking safes during bank heists – and the keys have contoured edges, so you can tap-tap-tap like Liberace tickling the ivories. “We created the Logitech Wireless All-in-One Keyboard TK820 to combine everything you need to control and navigate your computer in one sleek keyboard,” said Logitech’s Charlotte Johs. “This keyboard offers a way to navigate, letting you type, touch and swipe with a single device.”

Flip service
Just like moustaches, giant headphones, and shit disco, flip screen phones are back in vogue. In China, anyhow. The latest phone to drive Asia flipping mad is Samsung’s SCH-W999, a phone personally endorsed by action hero champ Jackie Chan. The 1.4GHz quad-core device has 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and an impressive 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera. Another Samsung flip phone, the Hennessy (W789), was recently ousted. This dextrous device has a pair of 3.3” displays and a 5-megapixel rear camera. Next up? Samsung’s Galaxy Folder, which does what it says on the tin: erm, it folds!

­Chapter and verse
Android users can burrow into the latest books courtesy of Amazon’s updated app. Kindle for Android, which has a long-awaited 4.0 revamp, now looks like a bookstore you’d want to spend time in. Beforehand, the library view was a basic grid; now recently read items are presented in a rotating carousel. You can sort the library according to author, title and books. The navigation panel is larger, providing faster access to books, documents and periodicals. The main reading panel remains untouched, but since we’re talking about words on a page here, we’d probably prefer Amazon kept their grubby paws out of an author’s work.