Why rap genius is ...genius

How did we ever check and authenticate our hip musical needs before RapGenius came along anyway? Expanding the horizons of what the biggest trending musical app/website can do the team have looked hard and come up with a better product in the form of the Genius by Rap Genius App.

The Genius app arose because of increased demand from mobile devices, because isn't that the best way to consume content and arguably create (music included)? If the Rap Genius web presence has enjoyed your patronage now you can enjoy the mobile version , make a name for yourself and possibly even find sympathetic ears to listen to your fender supersonic generated efforts. So who is the daddy when it comes to knowledge of rap , rock, poetry and music news?

Genius will solve all of your rap battles and analyse your iTunes library (including what’s currently playing) to give you instant access to those lyrics. Genius Recognition Technology lets you know what's hip and happening.

Increase IPad Battery Life

How to Extending an IPads Battery Life

(1) automatic settings for Wi-Fi and mobile data are a no no

A big battery drain is when your IPad searches for connects to the mobile or WiFi network with the strongest signal. If you're doing offline work them turn off the WiFi settings.

You can do this by going to “Settings” > “WiFi option” or “Cellular”, and tap ‘”œOff”€.

(2) Control how often data downloads happen

Some data hungry apps can really blitz your battery. Data in some apps are updated regularly, including the RSS feed and email notifications. The more often data is fetched the bigger the drain.

You may go to “Settings” > tap on “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” > “Fetch New Data”> tap “Manually”. Or "hourly" fetching can also be used.

(3) Screen Brightness

A bright screen is obligatory for bright surroundings ,but it's not always necessary and one of the biggest power suckers. Adjust your brightness to comfort levels and save your battery life.

Go to “Settings” > “Brightness & Wallpaper” > “Auto Brightness”

Now your IPad senses the ambient light and adjusts accordingly.

(4) Turn off Push notifications

If youre a power user and love being connected you would benefit from this step. Push notifications can be a huge battery drainer.

Make your camera into a Smartphone

A Wi-Fi SD memory card can adds wireless capabilities to all SDCH-compatible digital cameras. Together with a wifi enabled SD card and SD App, photographers can use their dedicated digital camera (or Smartphone)to easily share photos as soon as they are taken.

Why purchase a a WiFi capable card?

The card transfers your photos and videos over Wi-Fi .Media can be streamed to a maximum of three devices at once.Many of these cards are supported by free apps available to operate on iOS and Android devices, usually two modes are available: direct sharing mode and internet mode. The former includes the advantage of browsing photos already taken or viewing them as you shoot. The direct share mode is automatically activated as soon as the camera is powered on. Such feature allows peer-to-peer connections between the camera and mobile devices in any location. The internet mode can also be activated to quickly share images from the camera with others via Facebook and email. It allows the SD card to connect to nearby internet hotspots or connect to a personal hotspot feature of your Smartphones or tablets.

Typical Transfer Speeds

In addition, the Wi-Fi SD card provides higher transfer speeds and much greater stability. Together with excellent performance and 16GB or 35GB capacity, this SD card is undoubtedly beneficial. Each Wi-Fi SD card provides adequate space and support for exceptionally high resolution digital cameras.

The Shoot and View feature of the Wi-Fi SD card App utilises the advanced capabilities of digital cameras as well as the large screen of mobile devices for enhanced post-production process. What you need to do is simply capture a photo by using a high megapixel camera which will then appear immediately on the Smartphone or tablet. You can now download the images to your local memory and manipulate it in creative ways by using photo-editing apps before sharing it.

Disadvantages

However

battery life needs to be monitored as power is used to transfer images and videos. The larger the files the more drain on  battery life. As soon as the card completes uploading the photos, it turns itself off after a few minutes in order to conserve its battery life.

Apps for entrepreneurs

If you're already a part of the start up, technology harnessing, supper efficiency fraternity known as entrepreneurs you'll probably be aware of many of thes apps. If you're not and want to be up there with the big bucks and ideas that generate hard currency then follow in serious business geeks footsteps and use your mobile technology to look beyond entertainment and to pure productivity and more.

When looking at entrepreneur apps we've given a lot of weighting to how efficient the apps are, a necessity for multitasking and effective time management.

Free Wifi Finder:  Who needs 4G when our networks rarely even provide any data connection whatsoever outside of major cities! Starting a start up? Wifi is essential and this app will help find it.

TrackMaven: Go all NSA on your rivals and let big data give a heads up on their performance. All in one neat convenient place.

EchoSign: Adobe is a trusted name so attaching their brand to an app that affirms the legality of electors ally signed documents is bound to be good for your business, when signing delays are a make or break. It also records and stores each document's history, so you have automatic audit trails.

MobileDay: use MobileDay to coordinate all of your in-person and conference call meetings. Automatic dialling and emailing is supported.

 Skitch: This Evernote add on allows superior note and pic annotations.

Mint: Financial management in app form allows you to record expenses, create budgets and get a grip of your bottom line.

Music player app with “Hatsune Miku”

The virtual singer “Hatsune Miku” is possibly the world's first Vocaloid, a Vocal Android where a Japanese voice actress provides the character voice. The technology is part of a voice creation system “VOCALOID 2”developed by Yamaha Corporation.
Melody and lyrics input is used to create the main vocal and back chorus. Hatsune Miku is positioned as a “futuristic idol.” In a Max Headroom modernised type of way we suppose. She has also found fame with Toyota Corolla using Miku in advertisements since May 2011, and also a live concert was held for the first time outside of Japan in the same year.
As for the music app itself if you're lacking a  jerry cantrell guitar  you can still get down with app features like:
 Selecting a song from iPhone/iPod touch, and jamming  with Miku. If the BPM is available then Miku can move to the beat of the song with varying moves.
-  users can communicate with Miku while listening to music, and if you bond,like some sort of music driven Pokemon, you can receive special presents.
- Users can enjoy changing Miku’s fashion by acquiring new hairstyles, accessories and wardrobes available at the store inside the app.  More items will be added and available in the future.
- The English version includes the additional "Harukaze" costume pack.

Shadow of Mordor Companion App

The iPad companion app for upcoming Tolkien-ignoring Lord of the Rings prequel console game Shadow of Mordor seeks to add some context to the game.

The tie-in app is called Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Palantir. It 'listens' to the part of the game you're playing and loads up the relevant Wikia information for that point, a great way to contextualise and definitely one for the Tolkien fan boys.

The app is out now for free preceding the console game to launch. You can still use the recording feature to get more information on videos about Shadow of Mordor.

Defenders and Dragons:How to get Free Revives

Defenders and Dragons is another great pay em up from Glu Mobile. The free to play game is very similar to its other game Samurai Siege, but set in a more medieval rather than oriental setting. Following standard Glu procedures you earn greater rewards for subsequent daily log ins. We've fortuitously come across an exploit where this can be circumvented and you can get maximum rewards.

How to get free Revives in Defenders and Dragons

Naturally the clock reset exploit probably works, but rather than fiddling with your internal settings we've come across another exploit( we'd be keen to hear from readers whether this works on other Glu games). If you play between midnight and one on the morning every time you start a new game the app will think that it's a new day. So every five restarts you will get Day 5 log in reward of a free revive, not to mention the free in game gold from the other day's rewards. Whilst many argue against the F2P model it undoubtedly gets a lot of quality games into people's hands for nothing unless you want a leg up over the game mechanics. Glu arguably has a good model as their games are achievable without becoming nauseating grinds. One thing to watch out for is your IPad running really hot and the battery being blitzed rapidly with a lot of smooth textures and onscreen graphics being pumped out. If you're on the go look to have something like a nikon d3000 charger batteryheads.com to take the pain. It's also one of the only games I've seen to cause substantial slowdown on an IPad 3,so remember to close other apps. Enjoy the exploit.

Stop Motion gaming on ios

DroidArcade harnesses the power of stop motion animation for superior IOS gaming

Kyttaro Games has brought DroidArcade, the free, frantic, sci-fi, stop-motion animated action game  that lets you nimbly maneuver your Bishop 7 droid through the ancient corridors of the vast retro-futuristic Basilica to IOS

Gamers can download it for free for their iPhone, iPad and iPod touch from the App Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/droid-arcade/id747617910

The story behind A Droid's History
A power-hungry Ecclesiarchy has plunged humanity into the new Dark Ages. The last remaining Chronomancer has been taken hostage on the gargantuan Basilica space station, and if he dies, an already dark world will get a lot darker. Only a small, unarmed droid named Bishop 7 can save him—and only with your help.

The stop motion technology behind A Droid's History
DroidArcade has been approached like an interactive work of art. They have hand-modeled the characters in clay and painstakingly animated them using stop-motion technology,an atmospheric soundtrack and lush hand-painted cut-scenes add to the atmosphere.

Gameplay
In each of DroidArcade’s levels, you must avoid patrolling enemy droids, grab the gems and keys needed to proceed, solve puzzles on the fly and all this while making sure you do not run out of time or energy.

**Features**
-Stop motion animated graphics!
-Gameplay taxing both your mind and your reflexes!
-Graphics and cut-scenes by visual artist Hariton Bekiaris!
-Full soundtrack by acclaimed musician Chris Christodoulou!
-Sweeping sci-fi story!
-One in-app purchase to unlock the complete game!
-60 levels over 4 different worlds!
-Universal app: works smoothly on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch!

http://droidarcade.kyttarogames.com/

** Contact us**
info@kyttarogames.com
 

Gamevil's Akasha comes to Android

GAMEVIL has launched their " unique " action MMORPG, Akasha, on Google Play

GAMEVIL has announced the release of its latest title,  Akasha, on Google Play today. The free-to-play game is an exciting new action MORPG. The devs are also responsible for Immortal Dusk and Legend of Master 3.

Akasha is a 2D, 8-directional MORPG with full network system capabilities and in-depth content. Classes available are the standard - Fighter, Archer, and Mage, dynamic action gameplay while enjoying the nostalgic feel of the classic MORPG is promised. A well thought out party-matching system should bring some longevity to the game as players can play with friends and enjoy a raiding experience on mobile. The dungeon play and original skill upgrade system and multi player raids should prove fun. We hope that stale quests like find a high pressure pump are avoided.

GAMEVIL know how to do promotion and Gamers who play before January 26th will receive a Beginner Support Pack and 2 limited edition 'Akashas’ which are in-game crystals that provide passive stats and bonuses.

Akasha is a third party title developed by KnetP and published by GAMEVIL through its global expansion funds. GAMEVIL and KnetP have shown exemplary synergy between developer and publisher in the past, and Akasha is expected to reignite the passion for grand-scale MORPGs on mobile once again.

Flash in a Flash winner sees light of day

Tail Drift, Winner Of Unity’s 'Flash In A Flash' Contest Is Coming To Mobile

Attract Mode Games and Right Pedal Studios announce that Tail Drift, winner of Unity’s “Flash in a Flash” contest is finally coming to iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android devices this year.

Tail Drift is an arcade flight racing game that challenges players to maneuver a plane along a 3D tubular track which runs below, above, around and through floating islands, hot-air balloons and other obstacles that the player must avoid to win the race.

Tail Drift won the “Flash in a Flash” contest against stiff competition and was praised by Unity for it’s creativity and fun and for showing off the amazing technology of Unity.

“It’s great to get the chance to realize the game I always wanted to, ” said Cameron Owen, creator of Tail Drift.

Tail Drift is scheduled for a 2014 release on smart phones and tablets.

You can play the demo that won Unity’s “Flash in a Flash” competition here:
http://demo.attractmodegames.com/taildrift-20140120/WebPlayer.html

About Tail Drift
Tail Drift won Unity’s “Flash in a Flash” competition back in 2012, and is an arcade racing game where the player flies along a tubular track. It a variety of features beautiful and fantastic environments to race around, over a series of different racing leagues.

Key Features:
·         Upgradeable racers.
·         Lots of tracks with unique environments.
·         Multiple racing leagues to play through.
·         Plenty of game modes, including classic racing, time trial and elimination.
·         Daily challenges with rewards.
·         Leaderboards to compete against your friends and the world.

Hacking the Internet of things

• The dark,deep world of hacking is ever evolving, much faster than IT security specialists can devise ways to defeat the hackers. Of course most notably in recent times the ubiquitous smartphone has come under fire from the pirates of the net. Knox, Kaspersky and others are all out there to stop these guys getting into your phone. But how secure are your  linen table skirts from hackers?

There's actually some meaning behind that seemingly random question,believe it or not. As the Internet of things catches on and Nest and other gadgets become a household name ,new windows of insecurity are opening. Quite recently two things stand out in the technology hews for those interested in that type of thing. The recent Target takedown has being linked to a point of sale hack, which apparently are more common than we'd like to think. A POS is certainly an Internet of things device from a commerce standpoint,but where is the protection. Wily hackers know that if something that can link to the Internet it is fair game to be hacked and could be profitable. An even crazier recent hack linked to a massive botnet takedown saw that a percentage of spam sent by the botnet was unbelievably sent by Internet of things devices,including some fridges! 

International Calling with your Smartphone

There are a lot of household names from Europe to Asia thriving on the concept of using your iPhone or Android device to cheapen international calls. MobiVoip is a newcomer on the market which promises smoother and cheaper connection and communication costs on your preferred platform. 
MobiVoip is a multi-platform app for free VoIP calls on mobile phones. App offers free voice and video calls and text messages between users of MobiVoip, and suggests affordable rates for other calls. For reference, a call to an US cell phone number in Skype costs starting from $0.023/minute only less connection costs, while MobiVoip allows making such call for $0.0098.

Not only does this app allow calling friends and relatives cheaply, whatever place in the world they are; instant VoIP communication lets a user stay in contact as long as the Internet is available. The program supports 3G, 4G, EDGE and Wi-Fi connections and uses special optimization of the traffic to provide fluent talks and smooth video chatting.

Website: http://voipmobi.com/
AppStore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mobivoip/id727854220?ls=1&mt=8
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.voip.mobilevoip&hl=en

Gametrender readers can get 5$ for the balance to test the app here:http://voipmobi.com/en/get_pin/

Music monitors for your phone

It wasn't that many years ago when my musician friend introduced me to the wonders of music sampling and monitoring via Cakewalk and undoubtedly what was a top end PC in early 2000. Moore's law is to be obeyed though and now in our pockets we are happily toting around a lot more power than a desktop could pump out ten years ago. A little caveat here though, if you really want a professional music monitor than go for something like an exciting krk monitor but if you're one the go we do recommend sticking with an Android phone if you're going to do any Midi smartphone playing around, it's a lot more open to doing things than the walled garden of IOS. There's actually not a great deal of music monitoring apps out there, but this little gem could start you off:   USB MIDI Monitor lets you view all incoming MIDI events from your USB MIDI interface. The events are timestamped and the event type, MIDI channel and values are displayed in a scrollable table. For control changes, extra information is displayed if the control change is a known type like volume or panning. Best of all it works on many modern versions of Android and has been tested with the following music devices:

Tested USB MIDI interfaces / devices:

• Cakewalk / Roland UM-1G
• Edirol UM-2EX
• The 5 euro ‘Hong Kong’ interface (note: this one drops MIDI events if they are coming in too fast!)
• M-Audio Keystation Mini 32
• M-AUDIO Keystation 61
• M-Audio MIDI One
• EMU Xboard 61

Ingress: Operation Flatland and more

Using the Ingress Monitor for the first time abroad I really felt some sympathy for the intrepid agents(resistance or enlightened, I'm not sure), who braved the feisty and frigid winter waters around Britain to make their way to hack a portal on a remote island. Operation Flatland is testament to how much the game of Ingress has started to find its way into people's mindset. Proudly I've even hacked a few portals while abroad, which got me thinking of the Operation Flatlanders and what Ingress really needs. While I'm all up for hard core gaming (but is it really a game...) I'm having to only hack portals where there's some sort of Wifi reception. The thing is hard core or not paying about 10 pounds( 16 or so dollars) for a few minutes of international roaming day charges needed to hack is a little bit too hard core for me! So sympathy for those hacking that remote Welsh island, and not to mention the Niantic broadcast activity Ibe seen emanating from Antarctica! Can we please hack without being connected to the web!

Making your music go viral

Probably some of the best guerilla marketing you can do nowadays is to make an Internet meme that goes viral. With a host of video and audio capture apps available for all smartphone platforms it really only takes a bit of creativity to make another Internet sensation . Vloggers especially are in their heyday with it being hard not to make a viral video! But audiophiles and those that thrive just on auditory channels , whether it be stories or music are having a hard time of it. Perhaps with superior sound capturing such as  cheap blue microphones they might find more success. This issue has been raised dramatically on Digg, with radio journalist Stan Alcorn exploring why audio seldom goes viral. So get creating if you've got a musical ear and make 2014 vaural (viral audio-you heard it here first).

Is this Julian Assange's Phone?

Fresh on the heels of NSA spying reforms announcements by Obama, espionage fearing people the word over are really considering how much their governments really know about them. Our ever present mobile phones are one of the biggest sources of information which is why they're so sought after by scammers,criminals and dare we say it, governments. It's long been an open secret that our apps and mobile providers have huge swathes of information on us, mostly for commercial purposes. But what would people like Julian Assange, just now commenting on Obama's spying reforms and still in exile in London's Ecuadorian embassy, use to communicate. People like Assange and Snowden and many others who really don't want themselves to be monitored can now have a bit of hope with the soon to be released Black Phone.
Blackphone is a sleek smartphone that encrypts communications.
Blackphone, according to the creators, is an Android-based gadget that can make video and voice calls, as well as send texts and files--all the while blocking out prying eyes through a custom operating system called PrivatOS.
Not much else is known about the hopefully soon to be endorsed by Julian Assange BalckPhone, but it's creators are certainly to be taken seriously :a joint project from security company Silent Circle and phone company Geeksphone, the team includes Phil Zimmerman, the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), the popular encryption system for sub rosa talks. If you know Mr Assange please pass this on to him, secretly of course!

Technology Jewellery for 2014

I've used the Fitbit Flex for a few months now and am very impressed by the wearable fitness tracker(despite syncing  issues-especially with Android devices). Now that CES is over you'll be wondering what wearable fitness trackers and wearable tech you should be saving up for. While stille not as stylish or blingy as diamond rings there's a real push to make our 2014 devices a lot more expensive and grown up looking. The Misfit Shine is still one of the best looking wearable devices out with its smooth lines easily able to mask it as a minimalist bracelet or necklace. The Fitbit Flex has now been superseded by the Force which is yet to make its way to Europe,it's small electronic readout makes the once plain band more attractive. The Jawbone Up has also had an update making it look slightly better than its predecessors. And of course if you're talking about wearable tech than you definitely need to mention the Pebbl Smart Watch. A drastic redesign makes the new Pebbl a very smart looking dress watch.

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Google Contact Lenses

Google Glass is almost upon us ,but it seems that already the technology is in place that will make Glass seem as yesterday as feature phones. Fresh from Google labs is their new contact lens that uses tiny sensors and electronics to enable diabetics to measure their glucose levels. At the moment they're still working on the tech that will add tiny LEDs to the Google Contact Lenses to give diabetics a visual warning when their levels are imbalanced. And since these sensors are as small as a fleck of glitter there's real potential for these to take over in the future from Glass.

Too many Skylanders?

Skylanders is really making an impact on the gaming world,with everything from young gamers to more veteran gamers having a lot of fun with the legacy of Spyro. Whether it be multiplayer battles in Skylanders Giants or gaming the new story quests in the newer Swap Force, one thing is certain, it's definitely a hit.
It's a great crossover gaming product with multiple platforms supported from the IPad to the traditional consoles, what's particularly likeable is the physical toys that are used to unlock characters in the game. But since these are fairly pricy, especially considering that the amount of Skylanders you can collect now seems to be over a hundred you'll be wanting to think of two logistics: where to buy cheap Skylanders and the best ways to store them.
Price wise local Facebook networks and Ebay are always a good bet, but we've seen the lowest prices on Amazon, particularly when there are discounts. Of course just like video games second hand Skylanders characters can sometimes be found at gaming shops.
You'll be wanting a lot of  shelf support for all these great characters, but can also go down the route of buying the official storage box for them, we however have gone down the cheaper rout of buying a Skylanders Lunchbox and using that for storing the figures.