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3 Android apps for international travel

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International travel has, for most of history, been something for the most adventurous folk only. You may have counted yourself among them, but perhaps you, like many, forewent traveling abroad simply because there were too many things that could go wrong. This would not have been an incorrect assessment. Until recently, international communication, currency exchange, language tools, and global tracking technology simply were not advanced enough (or did not exist at all) to make international travel something predictable enough for the masses.

But today, this has changed. The smartphone is a computer in the pocket, able to help guide you through any international traveling scenario you can come up with. Here, we’ve listed three of the most helpful apps for people traveling abroad. They can make your excursions more enjoyable, and even get you out of some truly sticky situations.

Tile

The Tile Tracker app for Android is essential, whether you are traveling or not. Most of us are at least a little forgetful, and who among us hasn’t lost something important during a critical time? When you’re traveling abroad, losing something important may be a disaster, especially if that something is your passport or your hotel key. Luckily, the Tile app lets you stick up to 8 little stickers on the things that are most important to you, then allows you to track those things with your Android phone. You can even stick one of these stickers in your kids’ shoe, meaning that the safety and security provided by this simple app simply can’t be measured.

Translator

Automatic translation technology sure has come a long way in recent years. Translator for Android devices is essential for travelers abroad, because it gives real time translations, even for spoken words. Two people can even have an automatically translated conversations, providing that the app is installed on two different devices. Translator is a great way to prepare yourself for future conversations, learn a language, clarify phrases you’ve heard, and help to make new friends. Download it before you travel to learn how it works and to help you get comfortable with the language before you set foot on foreign soil.

NobelCom NobelApp

NobelCom has existed for years as a first choice resource for global communication. Specializing in phone cards that are still incredibly useful, often in nations where phone communication remains very difficult, NobelCom is adapting to the future. Their full service app works with Android phones, and is perfect for getting voice to voice communication, no matter where you are in the world. This is especially essential for people traveling in unusual places, and for those in nations where no one close by speaks the language spoken back home.

Naturally, this is just the tip of the iceberg for Android apps which offer huge value to international travelers. Look for your own, and find ones that meet your unique needs. Many of the aspects of international travel have not changed in many years, but these simple consumer technology advances have opened up whole new vistas for the modern adventurer.

Bubble Witch 3 Saga- Does one of King’s latest offerings still bring the magic? (Review)

AndroidGuys
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King made a name for itself in a big way a few years back when it launched it’s first hit game Candy Crush Saga. There have been a plethora of games since then from King involving witches, pets, farms, soda, but all revolve around this idea of having short levels with some sort of match 3 gameplay with tricks and turns, and every time you fail to pass a level you lose a life. Lose 5 and you’ll be sending annoying Facebook requests to all your friends hoping to receive a few to continue your Saga. One of King’s newest games is Bubble Witch 3 Saga (that’s not a typo, and yes it is a little awkward to say) but does the tried and true method of King’s previous hit games still hold up?

Developer: King
Price: Free/IAP
Download: Google Play, iTunes

Levels and levels and levels and levels and…

Welcome to the World of Magic

In Bubble Witch 3 Saga you play as a witch in pursuit of a trouble making magic cat. You launch differently colored bubbles from your magical portal up to the top of the screen. Any match of 3 of the same color will cause the matched bubbles and any adjoining bubbles of the same color to exploded. The goal of each level varies a little, with missions to either clear all the bubbles, release owls that are trapped in bubbled by popping them out, helping a ghost travel up through a maze of bubbles by popping the way, and even boss battles where you need to release fairies (again, by popping bubbles) to attack bosses.

BEHOLD MY POWER!

Controls

Seeing that this is a King game, the controls are not overly complex at all. You hold your finger on the screen to aim your bubble and release to launch it. There is a beam that shows your trajectory, so aiming is dead simple. King keeps controls simple so that their games are easily accessible by all kinds of players. When you make a game that I’ve seen 7-year-olds play, and that their Moms can also pick up and play, you’ve got a recipe for success.

Graphics and Sounds

BW3S is colorful and cartoony. Everything is bright and crisp and the animations flow very smoothly. The sound matches the art style, with cheery pops, fun music, and whimsical sound effects. The various environments look and sound like they are ripped right out of a Disney movie and it makes the game feel fun and inviting.

The ghost levels are the best. Just my opinion, but it’s true.

Gameplay

There are several basic styles of levels as I mentioned earlier. Popping all the bubbles is probably the most straightforward of all the level types. My favorite levels are the levels that involve getting the ghost all the way up the tower of bubbles to be reunited with his friends. These levels are typically filled with bubbles and different routes you can pop, but there are some amazing combos you can pull off and you get a tremendous sense of accomplishment when the entire screen explodes and your ghost zooms up in the air. All these different gameplay styles help to keep the game feeling fresh and new level after level even though at its core it’s still the same one-touch gameplay.

Every start you earn for completing levels lets you upgrade your cottage

Longevity

As with most of the Saga games, there are countless levels. They start incredibly simple and brainless and get more complex as the levels go on. There are a handful of powerups that help you demolish bubbles quickly and easily. Some of these are gifted to you when you beat boss battles or at special checkpoint levels, but to get more otherwise, that would be an in-app purchase. Each of the stars you collect for completing the levels gives you money to improve a little cottage. There’s really not much to this besides bragging rights.

I would like to have seen your abilities maybe tied to which garden you planted or which trees you chose, but really this is nothing more than a cosmetic cottage where your goal is to make it look pretty. If that’s your kind of thing, then maybe that part of the game will keep you interested for longer. I tended to forget about it until I had enough to do about 3 upgrades at once, just because I didn’t remember it since there is no sort of reward tied it with. All in all, there are enough levels, powerups, and cottage building (if that’s what you’re into) to keep you busy for weeks and weeks.

Conclusion

Bubble Witch 3 Saga is a pretty fun game. The simple gameplay makes it easy to pick up and play for just about anyone, but don’t let that fool you. The levels can get pretty complicated and you’ll find yourself burning through lives until you finally pull off that perfect run. There is enough variety in the levels that things do not get stale quickly, and the cottage mode gives you reasons to get 3 stars since they give your currency to unlock more cottage upgrades, even if it is just for purely cosmetic reasons. King doesn’t stray to far from it’s tried-and-true formula, but with a game that is this beautiful, engaging, and fun, maybe they don’t need to just yet. BW3S is a great game to pick up if you’re looking to pass some time, or if you need a new addiction. That said, they can only rehash the same game a few times before people need something new. Bubble Witch is still fun, but this might be the last romp before they need to have a serious shakeup.

Now you can interact with Cortana from your Android lock screen

Alexandra Arici
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Microsoft’s answer to the Google Assistant, Alexa and company – Cortana – has been available on Android devices for a while. On Monday, the Redmond-based company announced the additional of new feature and improvements for Cortana on Android – many of which have been expressly requested by users.

Previously in order to have access to Cortana, users would have had to swipe up to pull up info stored in Cortana from the lock screen, but that was that. You couldn’t have interacted with it. That changes today via a helpful update which lets users talk to Cortana directly from the phone’s lock screen.

So from now on, users will be able to ask Cortana questions, set a reminder and more without having to unlock their Android device to do so. On top of that, Microsoft has also made a few updates to the default Cortana home screen, so users can easily see information like weather, upcoming calendar events or commute information – at a glance.

Other new features include buttons that allow users to create Reminders and Lists from Cortana home and improved reminder experience and location triggering.

Microsoft is also taking the opportunity to announce the Cortana app for iOS and Android is now available in Australia with for the first time.

Cortana for Android is available for download from the Google Play Store in select markets.

Google Play Store has a new “Free App of the Week” section

Alexandra Arici
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Attention freebie lovers, we have an important announcement to make! Google has a new “Free App of the Week” section that offers a premium, paid title free of charge, for a limited amount of time. At the moment you can grab Card Wars – Adventure Time, which you could normally grab for $2.99 – free of charge. Interested parties have a whole week to download it, before it goes back to being a paid app.

Right now Google has a game on promotion, but expect apps to become available too. Note that the discounted titles are hand-picked by developers. Google is following Apple’s footsteps which has been offering premium iOS apps for free via its Free App of the Week promotion.

If you can’t see the new feature in your region, don’t fret. You can still download the app for free by simply searching for it. By next week, when the following freebie comes along, you’ll hopefully be able to see it in the new section.

Apart from the new “Free App of the Week” section, another change to the Google Pay app has been spotted – particularly in the My Apps section. Apps are now currently divided in four categories (tabs) including Updates, Installed, Library and Beta. What’s more, users now have the option of sorting apps within the installed and library tabs alphabetically, by size, last updated or last used.

Meet Oppo’s dual selfie camera phone, the F3 Plus

Alexandra Arici
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With dual-cameras becoming so popular in the smartphone industry, OPPO is also joining the bandwagon. But unlike other OEMs which put a dual camera on the back of their phones, OPPO is adoring its new F3 Plus with a dual selfie camera instead.

OPPO has been known for making selfie-centric phones and with the new F3 Plus the company is taking it to another level.

The highly acclaimed dual selfie camera inside the phone, is of a 16MP variety and builds on the technology previously offered by the F1 smartphone, plus the specialized 120-degree wide-angle 8MP sensor. At the core of the 16MP camera lies a 1.3-inch sensor is employed to increase light exposure while the f/2.0 aperture can deliver the highly popular depth-of-field effect. The secondary 8MP camera can capture a much wider view, up 105% more than a regular 80% lens. Thanks to this technology, users can now take a group selfie that includes the whole group. The camera also takes advantage of a ¼-inch sensor.

The 16MP rear camera is powered by a brand-new 1/2.8-inch IMX398 sensor which take advantage of a Dual PDAF – dual phase detection autofocus technology. The new tech doubles the sensor’s pixel array area thus allowing 40% faster focusing speeds even in low light.

But what about the other specs you might wonder, the phone features a 5.5-inch 2.5D display with Gorilla Glass 5 and 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution and Snapdragon 653 processor working hand in hand with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage (microSD card slot available for expansion to 256GB). It also relies on a 4,000 mAh battery and features a home-button fingerprint reader.

Disappointingly, the Oppo F3 Plus launches with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box with ColorOS 3.0 plastered on top. There’s no word of whether the phone will get Android 7.0 Nougat update or not.

The Oppo F3 Plus will become available in Black and Gold in $470 in India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Myanmar. The phone will also launch in the Middle East and North Africa. The Oppo F3 also launched alongside the Oppo F3 Plus, with a 5.5-inch display with a dual-selfie camera. It will become available in May.

6 questions you need to ask before building an app

Guest Blogger
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With the booming market of smart phones, new apps are being developed every day. Hence, the competition is incredibly tough. If you are on your way to making one, stop and ask yourself these questions first.

What app am I building?

Before building an app, you need to consider what kind of business it is for. It is important that you do a bit of research before you set work on. Browse through some similar apps to check out what cool new things which you can incorporate or the mistakes you should avoid. For example, if you are building a new app for your hotel, look at the apps of popular Amsterdam, New York or Las Vegas hotels to get some interesting ideas on how to crack the travel deals formula and make a platform, which is lure-worthy for the user to appear and reappear at.

Is the app for a new or existing business?

What kind of work you need to put into your app depends upon whether you are designing it for a new or an existing business. For a brand new business, you get an open canvas where you can choose everything from scratch. But if it is an existing business, you have to keep the image of the business in mind and build your app based on that.

What is my target group?

The target user is what should determine how you build your app. If school students are your primary users, keep is preppy and bright but that is not the best idea for app for a construction company. Moreover, if your app is going to be used by older people who are not yet very comfortable with newer technology, it is best to keep the it simple, with all the operations clearly mentioned.

Paid or free?

Unless you are building a niche app, chances of people buying a paid app are incredibly low. Hence you will not start making money unless you can build a strong clientele who will gladly pay for your app. It is a smart idea to build a free trial version which will help turn your free users into loyal customers.

What OS should I build my app for?

You need to choose which operating system you want to build your app for. Android and iOS are two different mediums with two extremely different sets of users. If your aim is to make money quickly, iOS is what you should choose. It is an excellent medium but it is also exclusive. So, if your app needs popularity, Android the best choice. It is the most popularly used platform worldwide. Earning well through an Android app might take some time, but the rewards it will reap eventually, is worth the wait.

Beta testing

You have to let your app go through stringent beta testing before launching it for the public. It is always a good idea to use your family and friends to test your app on but is that enough? It is wise to employ the services of a professional beta testing program for the best technical analysis.

Today’s market for apps is highly competitive and hence, you must stand out from the crowd. It is important to plan well to create an excellent and unique app which will not get lost.

How to create a successful dating website or app (Sponsored)

Guest Blogger
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In a world where virtual social interaction is quickly gaining ground on the traditional face-to-face meet and greet as the most-utilized path to romance, internet dating is a burgeoning industry ripe with business opportunity. Playing virtual Cupid is a great way for the budding entrepreneur with a passion for cultivating love to create a profitable venture. But how does one go about building such a business? It may be easier than you think.

First and foremost: decide upon your approach: do you plan to target a particular genre of folks? Old people, gay people, locals, divorced people, people looking for hook-ups or committed relationships? Do some research and focus on what you determine is an untapped or underserved market. Does your city or town have its own exclusive dating site? If not, that might be the way to go. Deciding your niche is crucial for how you build your site and who you target to market your site or app to.

Once you determine your primary audience, you can work on choosing a name. Be creative and playful, and choose something that speaks to your theme. Once you’ve decided on a name, you can utilize a quick google search to determine if your chosen name is available, along with the URL. Pick a host, legally register your business and purchase your URL.

Now that you have the foundation established, it is time to build, which includes the most essential component, cultivating your site. If you have little to no experience with website design or coding, you can outsource your website design, but that is an expense that adds up quickly. The benefit to custom design is you can tailor features to what you have in mind. For example, you could add a mature chat room feature, or match users based on specific criteria.

Some options for those who prefer a ready-made template are SkaDate, WordPress, and datingpro. WordPress Sweet Date is a highly-reviewed dating website template available for $59. Another strong consideration is this fast-paced market it mobile accessibility and if you choose to promote yourself as an app or dating site with mobile compatibility.

You need to decide what information you will request of your users for their profiles. Again, this is a time to consider their niche. If your members are interested in long-term relationships, their profiles should be far more detailed than if they are only in it for a one-night-stand. Consider including favorite activities, personal interests, favorite music, what they are looking for in another person, etc.

As for branding, you will need a solid, simple logo. Outsource the design locally or go with the many online options like designhill.com or logodesign.net.

You must also determine whether your site is going to offer paid or free membership. Free sites are likely to experience more traffic and make money by hosting affiliate sites or once you build a large user base, but with paid sites, you may have to invest more in upfront marketing but reap easier profit margins in the long run.

A free trial period is a great way to gain users along with requiring payment only to gain the ability to communicate with other members. If you decide on paid memberships, you will also have to embed a payment tool. Paypal is an excellent choice for a simple and user-friendly platform that many users will already be familiar with, however, if you choose a third-party form of payment, these tools do not offer reoccurring payment options and can cost a good deal to conduct business with, cutting into your profit margins.

Set a launch date and work with the software to iron out possible glitches. Once you feel confident in your product, recruit some friends to test it out and gather feedback, tweaking as need be.

You’ve already determined your target market, and now that you have a solid product to stand upon, it is time to promote it. Choose appropriate advertising venues; local radio and print media if you selected a local focus, Google ads if your audience is wide-spread (Facebook no longer allows advertisements from new dating sites). Maintain a blog and update it regularly with fresh posts about your niche to promote SEO.

The next step? Patience and persistence. It may take a very long time to build your name in the online dating community and gain enough members to make any money at all. But don’t give up hope. Continue to put out refreshing content and promote your site, and responding to user feedback. Once you gain members, send out email promotions and updates regularly. Give an incentive for referrals. Like so many singles out there navigating the web for that perfect somebody: you have to keep putting in the work until you experience success.

Editor Note: This sponsored post was vetted by AndroidGuys at the time of publication, however the information and views may not represent those of the site as a whole.

Google Assistant can now deliver IMDB movie ratings and more

Alexandra Arici
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Google Assistant has been recently updated to include 15 new, useful actions. Actions are voice-only commands, like Skills are for Alexa. In the case of Amazon’s intelligent assistant, users can browse third party apps via a dedicated website, but when it comes to the Assistant, Google itself approves and enables skills its cloud servers and from there, users can access them.

Some of these new actions include Chefling (which was already available for Alexa) which helps users keep track of what’s in their fridge, suggests recipes based on the available ingredients and provides alerts when certain grocery items are about to expire. The option of asking Google Assistant to add grocery items to a Google Keep shopping list was already available.

Chiefling isn’t the only foodie-friendly action that has been recently added. Users of Google Assistant, also welcome Wine Guide, Beer Guide and Food Network.

Moving along, there’s also an action that allows users to start, stop and pause cleaning sessions with a Neato robot vacuum cleaner. And if you’re a fan of movies, the Movie Maestro can quickly deliver the IMBD rating of the movie you’re about to watch. With Racing Results users can get horse race results from all over the UK, United States, France and Ireland.

Weirdly enough there’s an action which gives you quotes by Jaden Smith. The action was developed by a 16-year-old who considers Will Smith’s 18-year-old son highly inspirational. He also developed another action called Computer Builder, which provides users with a roundup of building a computer basics.

Sure, if you compare the capabilities of the Google Assistant with the ones of Amazon Alexa, you’ll notice the former is a lot more limited. However, it’s not really fair to make a comparison between them, since the Google Assistant was only opened to developers in late 2016, while Alexa has a head start of 18 months.

During this time, Amazon aggressively pushed the service to developers. The strategy proved fruitful, since Alexa users now have up to 10,000 skills to take advantage of. But the Google Assistant will catch up eventually.

Gear Up: Unitek charging and productivity accessories

AndroidGuys
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Do you live in a house with multiple smartphone users? Or, maybe you own a handful of devices that need charged via USB. It’s not uncommon to have a tablet, smartwatch, digital camera, Fire TV remote, phone, Kindle, etc. It isn’t hard to find yourself with more than a few things fighting for the plus and outlets. Ever considered a charging station or dock?

Unitek has a couple of options to choose from which could be of value to those of you who need to plug a variety of devices in on a regular basis. Moreover, if you’ve got one place that everyone in the house goes to for charging, these are something you might want to purchase. All of the products listed below come with a two-year warranty.

96W/2.4A 10-Port USB Charging Station with Quick Charge 3.0

Why you’ll want it: Charge up to ten devices at one time, including two of them using Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0. Move the dividers around to fit your needs; space them out for wider items like backup batteries or put them closer together for that skinny tablet. It’s the perfect office companion for those of you who have keyboards and mice that need the occasional charge on top of the various phones and headphones. About $70

36W/2.4A Detachable 4 Port USB Charging Station Dock

Why you’ll want it: An excellent option for the nightstand, it lets you plug in your phone, tablet, and two other products at once. Although it charges four things at once, the dock has room for six devices so feel free to put other tech in there, too. The cord is long enough to tuck behind the bed or dresser; provides up to 5V 7.2A and one power port up to 2.4A. About $28

Aluminum Type C 3-Port Data Hub with SD/Micro SD/TF Card Reader

Why you’ll want it: If you own a Chromebook or laptop with a USB Type-C port, this unit adds a number of ports and functionality to it. Give your device three extra USB 3.0 ports on one side and adds a card reader that supports a variety of formats on the other: SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC, RS-MMC, Micro SD, and Mini SD. Aluminum build ensures it will stand up to moderate abuse; it looks great next to any hardware. About $20

Portable USB 3.0 4-Port Ultra Slim Data hub

Why you’ll want it: Inexpensive but flexible, this portable unit converts one USB port into four. Moreover, there’s an extra microUSB output that can be used to power your phone or tablet. Backward compatible with USB 2.0 / 1.1, the USB 3.0 ports deliver charging and fast data transfer speeds. The built-in clasp keeps the cord from flopping around while the small footprint allows for portability. About $10

Editor Note: These items were provided to AndroidGuys for promotional consideration. Morever, they were offered to us at no cost and with no expectation of review or coverage. 

Become a certified Forex trader with this $25 certified training course (Deal of the Day)

AndroidGuys
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Have you ever thought about getting into Forex trading? Not sure where to start or what to do get started? Wouldn’t it be nice to get a crash course in the principles and strategies? How about enough training to actually earn certification?

About

Our Deal of the Day is a 36 hour training course from the New York Forex Institute. Shoulder your way into the department in your organization that handles currency swaps, become an investment manager, or use all that knowledge to grow your net worth. At the end of the course, you’ll understand the foundations of finance and techniques to bring in huge sums of money, with a certificate to show it all off.

Features

  • Learn what it takes to navigate the largest market in the world w/ 124 hours of training
  • Go through 12 weekly lessons
  • Easily understand financial basics, principles & strategies thanks to great instructors
  • Get your certification upon completing & passing all 12 lessons and quizzes
  • Send messages through the support portal for any questions
  • Download all included materials for the course at no extra cost
  • Bonus products included: Forex Trading Blueprint, Forex Digital Flashcards, Access to
  • Forex Article Database

Where to Buy

You can purchase the New York Forex Institute Training & Certification Course from the AndroidGuys Deals Store for only $25. Normally valued at around $900, we’re offering it to readers at a 97% discount.

Save even more!

In addition to the savings above, when you buy through AndroidGuys Deals, for every $25 spent, you get $1 credit added to your account. What’s more, should you refer the deal via social media or an email that results in a purchase, you’ll earn $10 credit in your account.

Shop AndroidGuys!

If this is your first time buying, then you are also eligible for a further 10% discount when you subscribe for email updates.

How about a freebie?

Not looking to spend any money today? That’s alright, we understand. Why not visit the AndroidGuys section for freebies and take something anyhow? Go ahead, grab two!

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