App Attack and Tech News

App Attack
Hunter S. Thompson famously dragged his attorney along for the ride, in the event of legal kerfuffles, in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Instant legal advice is not always possible, but a new app steps in when your lawyer steps out. SHAKE - founded by the fellas behind BuzzFeed and Spotify - simplifies legal transactions via smartphones. The app includes legally-binding non-disclosure agreements, property and equipment rental contracts, and other means to reaching agreement without using expensive middlemen.

Other smartphone apps to keep business ticking over? EVERNOTE lets you store, organise and share text, photos, and voice notes. Google’s DRIVE app is a fully-featured office suite with cloud storage facilities, so you can save files remotely, or port and edit them from PC to tablet to smartphone. BUMP has replaced the dog-eared business card. Using the app, two smartphone users bump their phones together to trade contact information, photos, and files.

Tech News
Keep ‘em undercover
A new line of accessories keep your tablet snug as a bug in a rug. Logitech’s line-up of protective sheathes for Samsung Galaxy tabs are water-repellent, light, and thinner than a surgeon’s scalpel. Meanwhile, the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Folio features a Bluetooth keyboard that straps onto the corners of the tablet.
Go, go power gamers
Back in the 1970’s, when everything was in black and white, and there wasn’t much to do apart from drink the black stuff and go to confession, everyone went crazy for a cog-turning board game. The Power Game, a two-person strategy game invented by Dubliner Brian McCarthy, sold 4,000,000 copies. The game is now getting a digital reboot on the Windows 8 Store for Surface, PC and smartphone devices. McCarthy said, “I am delighted to be working with Atom Split Games to bring The Power Game back to life on Windows devices. The digital game is a better experience than the static game I invented all those years ago.”
Picture of good health
A new app for iOS devices lets you take a photo using the front and rear facing cameras at the same time. The suitably titled Frontback lets you combine both images together, tag the location, and share the result on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Not entirely original, though: Samsung Galaxy S4 included the same feature as part of its camera software.