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When Was the Last Time You Set Foot Inside a Bank? 0

mobilebanking_artLong gone are the days when you would drive to the bank, park, go inside and fill out a paper withdrawal slip, then wait in line for the teller just to get 40 bucks out of your account for groceries or to pay a phone bill. Today, the majority of your banking can be done through your smartphone or tablet.

The major banks are releasing banking apps for mobile devices with cutting-edge features and tools that make online banking easier and more convenient than accessing the bank’s website through the device’s Internet browser.

The competition for this consumer market is robust, according to Business Insider (subscription required):

“The banks that establish a  reputation for mobile innovation are likely to benefit in the future from  greater market share and more engaged — and high-margin — customers.”

While you still can’t withdraw cash from your iPad like an ATM, you can use your bank’s mobile app to transfer money between accounts, apply for loans or other forms of credit, check your mortgage status and more.

Bill paying is where the bank mobile apps really demonstrate their usefulness, in terms of saving time and positively affecting our lifestyle. No more filling out paper checks and mailing them. Now, it’s just a few taps on your mobile device and the deed is done. There’s no waiting in line for a teller, and it is less likely you’ll be late on a payment.

Perhaps this may not seem like such a life-changing spinoff of mobile technology advancement, but think of those people with mobility or health issues who find it difficult to get around town to complete tasks. In the past they would likely have to rely on family or friends to assist with banking and other activities that others take for granted.

With mobile technology, such as banking apps, people can maintain their sense of autonomy and that is always a very good thing.

  • How do you use mobile technology for banking?
  • Do you have concerns about the security or safety of banking online from a mobile device?

Keep a Lookout on Your Smartphone 0

Lookout Keys, wallets, Phone, Purse, laptop…there are a lot of things to keep track of. I have to do inventory every time I leave the house. I can’t decide which is most important because I will need them all during the course of the day but I would be a mess if my phone were to go missing. It has my whole life on it. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t misplaced or legitimately lost their phone at some point in their life. I have misplaced it plenty of times but if it wasn’t for Lookout I would have lost it.

Lookout is the safeguard every smartphone needs. Once it is installed, it will help you find your phone every time it isn’t where you need it to be. All you have to do is log into Lookout.com from another device and a map will show you where your phone is within 6 meters.

There have been three occasions where I had to use Lookout to find my phone. Once it was in my car, it had fallen between the seats. The second, it was home, I placed it on top of some clothes in the laundry basket and it fell in between the clothes. The last time it was actually stolen. I was at a restaurant and I was moving from one table to another so I was moving my stuff and in the midst of the move someone lifted my phone.

After I looked everywhere (you know how you check the same place ten times, expecting one time to find it there?) I looked all around the floor, on the chairs etc before I finally gave up and borrowed my friends’ phone. I logged onto Lookout MapLookout.com and my phone was 7 miles away! Fortunately I was in a small town where the police were able to assist in recovering it. I was so happy to get my phone back and so happy there is such an app that can target exactly where my phone was. Can you imagine the surprise when the police went knocking on the door of the house Lookout identified my phone to be?

I tell everyone I know to install it on their Androids, iPhones, tablets and iPads. Most people don’t think about installing it until it’s too late. It can be installed over the air if you have an Android which means you can go to the Google Play market and send it to your phone.

Besides locating a missed phone, it also backs up your info and scans for malware or questionable websites when you are surfing the web, all for free. Lookout is the ultimate security tool. It’s safety in the form of an app. It literally tells me everything is okay!

 

Best Photo Apps For Droid Users 0

Want to learn how to capture video and still pictures at the same time, how to create 360 degree panoramics or what’s the best app to edit pictures on your phone? Check out these tips.

Photo burst takes a multitude of photos of the same scene and picks the best shot for your approval. With all this technology, there’s almost no excuse for taking a bad photo!

But, if you do take a picture that you want to edit, or if you like editing your pictures in general, Aviary is a great app that can adjust color, brightness, saturation. you can crop, rotate, enhance get rid of red-eye and remove blemishes. If you fancy goofing up your pictures there are stickers and effects available and even more to download. I primarily use it to crop, and sometimes adjust brightness but it is really the best app I have found for overall editing of my photos.

If you like the nostalgic effects of Instagram, there is a cute app called Roidizer. The “Roid” is from Polaroid. Its another app to add fun to your photos. It gives the picture the classic Polaroid border and you can add text to the bottom.

Another great photo app that has quite a few cool features is called Camera Zoom FX. This can be used as an interface, which means instead of opening your normal camera button you’d use this app instead. It has all the options your camera has and then some. One of the things I like best, as simple as this may seem, you can touch anywhere on the screen to take a picture.

Lapse It is the ultimate time lapse app. You have a multitude of settings to create a cool time lapse video. The only thing you need to consider as you don’t exactly have a tripod mount is how to prop the device up.

Use the camera on your phone and do what I do, experiment! You can find some really cool effects while you are snapping away.