Apps to help you keep your New Year's Resolutions!

You’ve worn the outfit… done the countdown… popped the champagne and dealt with the January first hangover…  but what do you do now that 2014 is a reality… and those New Years resolutions are looking ever so challenging? We’ve looked into that for you and found a few free apps that could keep you on track for living a successful 2014.

Lose it

We’ve seen these before. An app that tracks your diet and helps you to lose weight. However Lose It! Has made it a fun and simple process with restaurant menu integration and a full database of foods & ingredients. It also lets you see how your friends are doing with their diet & keep up to date with their progress. What I also like about it is that you start to learn the caloric value of foods before choosing them so that you can make healthy choices.

Snapguide

Using a peer to peer system, Snapguide will get you started on a new hobby in minutes. With a wealth of guides within the Snapguide community you can learn something new every day like how to make your kitchen smell amazing in seconds or how to naturally clean your drains and help you discover a talent you never even knew existed! However, there is a slight drawback, the guides don’t go into too much detail but hey, it’s a great starting point!

My Last Cigarette

You know you want to quit smoking but you just can’t. I know the excuses that come with that but My Last Cigarette will help helps users quit smoking by mapping out the changes in their health as they quit. Simply enter in your smoking habits, and the app keeps you informed on how you're bettering your life through quitting. For example, since I stopped in June of last year, I’ve saved over R16,000 and almost all the levels are at green. My lung health is only improving slowly but it’s improving nonetheless! By seeing these improvements in your quality of life, the app can be used as a reminder each time you feel the need to light up.

All I can say from here is, good luck! It’s up to you to keep your resolutions and here’s hoping that these little apps might make life just a little bit more joyful, better & easier! Happy 2014!!

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 & Gear

1973 saw the very first mobile handset in action. It weighed 1 kilogram and cost around R40,000. Since a more commercially acceptable handset was developed in the late 80’s, cellphone subscribers grew from 12 million to over 6 billion to date. Which brings us to the invention of a great little gadget called the ‘Gear’. It’s part and parcel of the new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and is going to change the way we use cellphones forever.

It’s a bit like Dick Tracy meets James Bond in this cloak & dagger scenario where you can now make phonecalls, receive and reply to text messages and even take photos & videos all by using this watch!

  

I’ve had the pleasure of using the phone & watch for the past week and it’s been just that. Let’s start with the phone. To be honest, it took me a few days to get round the interface. There are so many different pages, apps, news sources, system settings, a camera with about 10 different ways of taking pics, a new type of stylus, and so many different ways of personalizing your phone it’s really very hard as to know where to start. If you’re not patient, then forget it…stick with an iPhone. However, if you’re up for the challenge, then you’ll be in for some great surprises.

Now I could bore you with all the tech specs but frankly speaking, I want to know how easy it is to use and if I’m going to enjoy it! First of all the screen truly is beautiful and the resolution is outstanding! You can rent or buy videos through the Samsung Hub and watch them quite comfortably. The camera takes amazing pictures but don’t worry about all the options, they’re just frills. The stylus, with it’s new options, also comes with its difficulties but once you’ve mastered them then you’re golden! 

I also like the convenience features like easy access to wi-fi & blue tooth and to the notifications. My biggest gripe, however, is the fact that this is more of a tablet than a phone and is not very easy to handle. I have big hands and it’s still not manageable. If you’re comfy with never putting it in your pocket and walking around with it like a 90’s Filofax, then fine. Oh and another thing…it’s gonna kick you off wi-fi if it feels that the internet connection is too slow. So while you think you’re using wi-fi, you could just be using your own data. So be careful, there’s a setting to switch that off hidden somewhere in the different millions of setting options the phone has.

Now onto the watch. It’s water resistant, neat and quite fashionable coming in a variety of colours including, green, orange, white & black and on it’s home page you can view the time and the weather! You can make and receive phone calls & text messages although it’s near impossible typing on the small screen. There is a camera for taking both photos & videos but of it’s poor position you have to take it off before the right shot can be taken. The speaker & microphone is housed in the same place and is quite surprisingly enough very clear. It is however for the moment, only compatible with the Galaxy Note 3 so don’t go just buying it willy nilly, ok? You won’t even be able to tell the time if the Note 3 isn’t anywhere close by.

I’m an Apple fan and have been for quite some time, but I can tell you this, if an iWatch doesn’t come soon…you may just see me wearing this little gear soon.