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Zapped by Apps

Attack of the Clones

Are you among the millions mourning the demise of the annoying but addictive Flappy Bird that went super viral in recent days, causing the app’s creator to actually get fed up of his new fame and money and shut it down? Not to worry: this is the age of everything imitation, and Flappy Bird clones are here aplenty — and creatively named too. Take your pick from Clumsy Bird (Android; more visually realistic, less Mario-style), Desert Bird (Android; set in a desert, with cacti instead of the pipes); Flappy Bird HD (Android; glossier style); Ironpants (Android & iOS; actually harder than the original, if that’s possible!) — and the best yet, Squishy Bird 
(Android, web; sadistic version of FB that lets you squash the birds with those infernal pipes!). Get flapping!

Type away

Among the best new iOS apps launched last month, SwiftKey Note gets some of the top votes. Conside-ring Apple’s vociferous dislike of any third-party app on their platform, it’s pretty much a casting coup that the popular Evernote and SwiftKey have pulled off, by joining forces. By combining both their suites, you have the new SwiftKey Note, which pairs the former’s note-taking abilities with the latter’s excellent predictive keyboard, responsible for much of Android’s popularity. The catch? You can’t use the keyboard outside of the app :( Still, you can create and assign notes, notebooks and tags.

Comics On

Who doesn’t love reading comics, and the iPad’s clean screen and interface make it perfect for enjoying your favourite strips.

While it isn’t exactly a new app, Comics from Comixology has thousands of titles, and the reading experience is excellent, with a fluid movement between pages. And with a Comixology account, you can sync your purchases/downloads across your iOS devices. Perfect to keep your little ones — and yourself — engaged!

Androiders, protect your privacy

If you’re worried about safeguarding your Android phone or tab, get LBE right away. Touted as the most powerful privacy protection software available for Android, LBE Privacy Guard blocks malicious malware and Trojans, unwanted network traffic and also finds out which app is trying to steal your privacy by checking the security log, and much more. Finally, one app that regains some control over your phone! It comes with a well-designed, simple blue and white interface, and also helps cut down your monthly data usage my making a settings adjustment.

What’s Next…

While smartphones with flexible screens are already available on the market, another new — and much welcome — addition you can expect soon is in-built projectors. One can only guess the the multitude of uses it can be put to, including impressing your boss by making the office presentation through your smartphone, on the meeting room wall. Samsung did have a model come out with this feature back in 2010, but if everyone else follows suit, you’re talking about being able to interact with smartphone features, using just your voice or the camera, and watching movies wherever you please (provided you have blank wall).

Compiled by Mary Paulose