Book your train tickets, check your PNR status and trains availability with Cleartrip Android App, download now

Indian Railways is used by over 25 million Indians every year and is the best possible method of conveyance because of its sheer size and reach.   I had already given a timetable App for all phones here for Mumbaikars which is very popular even now.  

The Indian Railways introduced a SMS based ticketing service last month wherein you have can avail the services even through most basic phones on 139 or 5676714.  Once you have received the tickets on your SMS you can use it along with your original photo id to embark the train.  

But getting the tickets itself is a big problem where every ticket gets sold out in 7 seconds or so.  I have given out a tutorial for easing the process of booking tickets from the IRCTC website here.  

Today or rather yesterday Cleartrip has updated its Android App to include the ticket booking of Railways in the App through IRCTC.  With the latest App, you can search for trains and book tickets on the go, anywhere anytime.  It also give PNR status of your tickets if they have been wait listed.  

The Cleartrip App can be used as you would use the IRCTC's website.  It can be used to  find trains between stations, availability of seats, train fares, PNR Status all in one.  

This is a must have App for every Indian, because every now an then we have to travel by the Indian Railways.  You can download the App here from Google Play.

Cleartrip also offers air tickets through the same App.  They have not updated the iOS App yet to add the Railways feature, if they do I will keep you updated.

QWOP the sprint games available for download for Android devices for $0.99 (Rs.56.00)

QWOP the original flash based sprint game has fallen to the lure of Android.  Noodlecake today launched the Android version of the game on Google Play for Rs.56.00    The game is a very good entertainment combined with skills and is a must have if you are into gaming especially on mobiles.

You play Qwop in the game and have to finish a race.  There are two touch pads given on the Android version as seen in the image above.  Your objective is to control Qwop's movements with these two controls and at the same time use the thumb in a clock work motion to keep Qwop running forward.  Beware if Qwop falls down you your finished.  

Those who have used the flash based version of the game will remember that the controls on PC were through the keys Q and W for Qwop's right leg and O and P for left.  The participation is very very entertaining as you will fall for umpteenth time till you get the hang of controlling Qwop.  In the meantime you may forget that Qwop has a race to finish.  

The Android version has five game modes

1.  100 meters sprint

2. Hurdles

3. Long Jump

4. 50 Km walk

Noodle has integrated the game with Google's Play Game service which makes it even more fascinating because you have a global leaderboard.

After the Temple Run and Angry Birds kinds of games this is welcome change because it is funny, requires skills with touch pad and addictive as well.

Remember it cost $0.99 (Rs.56.00)  and is worth every penny.  Download the game from Google Play now.

'Vine' now available on Kindle Fire download now from Amazon's Appstore for Android

Twitter has been caught in its worst nightmare with the launch of Instagram Video and the subsequent popularity of the it.  After rolling out updates and fixes today it launched a App for Kindle Fire.  Remember Kindle Fire runs on customised Android so is not able to run normal Android Apps without sideloading, which you can do by reading this article.

Vine has for now stolen the march on Instagram Video as there is no Instagram or Instagram video for the users having Kindle Fire tablets.   However it may hero on Kindle Fire only for a few weeks before Instagram decides to hit the market place with its own version.

For the uninitiated, Vine is a App which lets you upload, share and view a 6 second loopy video.  It can be used to share your cherished memory or promote your product or just share the tiny tit bits of your life.

You can read all about Vine here.  To download the Vine for Kindle Fire visit the Amazon's Appstore.  

Smart way to run your Android device directly from your PC, Snappea App for Andorid, web and Windows PC

There are many lazy bums out there and this is the App for them.  It lets the users manage you Apps, import iTunes music, send SMS, reply to them all from the comfort of your PC.  Snappea for Android does just that.   However there is a process involved with it.  This article gives you the process in most easy ways.  

Download the Snappea App from here or by visiting here (wap site).  Once you have installed the App, it will give a code.  Now go to your Windows PC and download this Snappea App for Windows from here and input the code or go to Snappea website here and input the code.  

Thats it now you can manage you Android device from the confines of your PC.  The Snappea allows you to 

MANAGE

✓ Manage your apps, contacts, music, photos, and videos

✓ Text message from your computer

✓ Auto-connect over Wi-Fi or USB

✓ Backup your phone

DOWNLOAD

✓ Download apps for FREE

✓ Download videos for FREE

✓ Save your data plan

There is even a Chrome extension of Snappea, which you can get here.  

The latest update lets you control the Android device from web based portal also.  Remember the Android device has to be connected to web at the time you want to use Snappea becasue it uses the internet connection to converse with your PC.  Data charges may hit the roof if you dont have a unlimited plan.

Enjoy 'Street View' with the newly updated Google Earth for iOS devices

Arch rival Google yesterday updated its flagship App, Google Earth for the iOS devices.  The Google Earth 7.1 released yesterday brings the street view to iOS users.  It will also cover more than 100 countries now with India being one of them, under the street view option.  

The updated App will now have a new streamlined interface to enable users to view different worldwide destinations including the likes of Stonehenge in Street View or the Chicago skyline in 3D.  The update also brings about new changes to interface.  Clicking on the Earth logo in top left now allows users to access more information through layers like Wikipedia and Panoramio Photos. For those who’d like to explore these regions themselves, the app claims to feature improved directions too, to let them visualise step-by-step transit, walking and biking directions in 3D. 

The Google Earth app for iOS devices is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad with devices running of iOS 4.3 and higher.     Download this must have App from Apple Store now.

Voice calls, videos calls, P2P file sharing with new Mozilla Firefox browser for Windows, Mac and Android devices

A June parting gift from Mozilla, make voice calls and videos calls from the new Mozilla Firefox 22 browser for PC and Mac and Android devices.  Mozilla this week updated Firefox to version 22 and with it brings nice little changes to the browser.  For one it is very stable, and now supports video Chat, voice calling and P2P file sharing from within the browser itself.  The Peer to Peer (P2P) sharing has been made possible because of Mozilla guys have made WebRTC default in the new version.

For those who are interested in browser history and web based development, this update is really a big leap because the default  WebRTC will now allow developers to create web apps with built-in voice and video calling, and peer-to-peer file sharing without having to implement third-party plugins or software like Adobe Flash etc.  This also means that security wise your computer and browser are much safer.  Developers just have to add a few lines of codes to draw out the full potential WebRTC’s PeerConnection and DataChannel components to add video/voice calling and file sharing capabilities to the Web Apps being developed by them.

This update is also important for the App developers of Firefox OS for smart phones.  The browser also comes enabled with Asm.js optimisations, which is a subset of JavaScript that lets web apps run just like the inbuilt native programs. Which means the App and game developers can use the engine from within the browser to run 3D Apps and games.   

Mozilla first demoed this capability at the Game Developers Conference in March. The company teamed up with Epic Games to port the Citadel demo and Unreal Tournament to Asm.js, and showed off the two ports running natively in Firefox.

The Windows version of the browser now will display scaling options so that the text size is rendered as per the resolution.  which means the new Firefox browser will render text in a larger font if your display is HD and lower the rendition for normal displays.   The Mac OSX version now puts a download progress icon in the Dock. The WebGL rendering has also been improved.

The Android version now scales completely to present the full tablet UI on smaller screens which is really helpful if you have a 4.3 inch Android device.  The WebGL rendering performance has been also improved through “asynchronous canvas updates” according to Mozilla guys.   The release makes a interesting fact as Microsoft today released a preview of IE11.  Maybe the browser wars will start afresh now

Get the latest version of Firefox for the PC and Mac here. The Android users can download the App from Google Play here.

Facebook's Instagram Video a hit among users, meanwhile 'Vine' update lets you delete cache on Android devices

Facebook seems to have hit the right chord with users at long last.  With falling Facebook users, a flop Facebook smartphone, a flop Facebook Home, the things were quite miserable at Menlo Park.  But the Instagram Video has taken the tech world by storm.  It had unprecedented popularity on the first day of launch with 5 million videos being upload in the 24 hour period.

The above pic describes how the Instagram Video can be uploaded with filters,frames etal in three flat steps.  And that seems to have worked the magic for Facebook.  You can read all about Facebook's Instagram Video and download it here.

After attempting to promote 'Vine' on the day of Instagram Video release, today Twitter released a update for Android devices for 'Vine'  to clear cache memory.  How is this useful.  I will explain in plain vanilla English.

The 'Vine' lets you play the 6 second videos in a loop which mean that they are first downloaded into your smart phones memory and stored and played natively.  Hence you get the nice loopy video that you can watch.  However, day in day out of downloading the 6 second videos means a unnecessary waste of memory.  Vine does not have a limit for cache memory so pretty soon you will find out you have used a lot of memory.  There was a workaround available to clear the memory but nothing like a within App button to clear the cache in a zip.

Vine Engineers identified the problem and the new update gives you just that.  A button within the App to clear the cache memory in a jiffy.  

The update also brings integration for Facebook and you can now search for users and hashtags.  But as of now this update is only available for Android devices.  You can grab the update here from Google Play

An App for Engineers on Android devices : GrabCAD makes online CAD collaboration easy

An excellent App for engineers and engineering students, the GrabCAD gives you access to any 3D CAD models on your Android device and it is free.  It is a product of online collaborative community of engineers and partners who design physical products which you can visit here.  

They also have a GrabCAD Workbench portal which is a cloud service for sharing and collaborating with others around individual CAD projects.  

The Android App has over access to over 20000 models of different designs.  GrabCAD lets users view CAD models in full 3D regardless of the format they were created in. Users can also use the free app to communicate with other collaborators and upload photos to a GradCAD workbench project. In addition to CAD models, people can share images, sketches, and PDFs with the added perk of getting instant feedback from others. 

The features of GrabCAD are :

• View CAD models in full 3D, regardless of the format they were created in

• View and respond to comments that Workbench collaborators have made 

• Upload photos to a Workbench project

If you are a Engineer or a wannabe engineer, this is one must have App on your Android device.  To download it click the Google Play link

'Yandex.Browser' the newest browser in town with a bottom URL navigation bar for Android devices and iPad

The Russian search engine giant Yandex today unveiled a new Browser for Android devices.  Called the Yandex.Browser, the browser has a distinct URL navigation at the bottom.  

There is also a customizable visual shortcut manager called Tablo on board which list the sites you visit often.  It also has a Opera like data compression engine to reduce your bandwidth consumption.  Rest all the features are a browser specific which are available in almost all the browsers available today.

But what I really liked about the Yandex.Browser was the design of bottom navigation for URL.  This is really helpful if you have large screen devices like tablets or S IV  

So if you like experimenting with browsers here is one for your.  Download Yandex.Browser from Google Play for Android devices now and enjoy it for a while.

And as far as iPad users are concerned the Yandex.Search has now become Yandex.Browser so if you also want a piece of Yandex cake you can download the Yandex.Browser from Apple Store.  The bottom navigation feature is not yet available for iPad and Yandex.Browser is not yet released for iOS devices as a whole

Rdio the ultimate online music subscription adds seven countries to its expanding list

Rdio the App for iOS and Android devices has added seven new countries to its online music subscription service viz. Malaysia, Hong Kong, Colombia, Chile, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Poland.

With this expansion, Rdio is now available in 31 countries in the world.  US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil,  Finland, Germany, UK and Netherlands,  Australia and New Zealand  are its primary markets.

Rdio is available for download for both the iOS and Android devices is expecially useful to music addicts because it is ad free and has a collection of more than 20 million songs from all genres.  It also provides an option to queue up songs that one could listen to at a later point.  The Rdio comes with 6 months free subscription for new users as a promotion after which come with in-App purchases of subscriptions to suit your style.

Another added advantage of using Rdio would be that you will not be restricted from using it on a single device.  Using its Sync feature, the music service can be accessed on multiple devices through a single account. This would mean you can use your single Rdio account on your laptop, desktop and also the music player.

iOS users can download the App from Apple Store here.

Android users can download the App from Google Play here.

Remember to check out if your country is supported by the App.

BlackBerry 10 gets a Facebook App update and new News Feed design

While all the techies and mobile lovers are glued to the WWDC 2103 and Apple launches, the Blackberry team and Facebook quietly launched an update for the Facebook for BlackBerry App. The new update hikes the version number to v10.2.0 and is now available for BlackBerry 10 devices.  

The most important feature of the new Facebook App is a very refreshing looking News Feed.   With the new design and a little tinkering the update offers a very easy navigation to the users. 

The updated App also lets you create new albums from your photos page which is indeed helpful to users who have high volume of images or are photography aficionados.  

The App also lets you to tag an existing photo on Facebook from within the App. In addition to tagging, users can toggle between all their photos and albums.

Give the new Facebook a shot here at BlackBerry AppWorld.  Remember the App is available only for BlackBerry 10 and above

Tapatalk 4 Community Reader released today for Android devices and FREE, get it now

Forum users may know Tapatalk which is a very good tool for forum users.  It has completed 4 years and for that occasion has it has launched a beta community reader for Android devices.  The best use of Tapatalk 4 Community Reader is that you have all your favourite online communities at your fingertips and you can comment, post a thread within the App.  And whats more it is free for now.

The Publisher, Qoord Systems Limited has given following information on the App.

This is the public beta release of Tapatalk 4. Final release of this app will be merged with Tapatalk HD and will be renamed to Tapatalk 4

Discover great internet communities or stay connected with your favourites community on-the-go with this award-winning mobile app. Tapatalk is the only mobile app combing over 50,000+ internet communities with a streamlined mobile experience, allowing you to share and follow thoughts, photos, opinions to all your communities within a single mobile app.

Tapatalk aggregates content from network of communities of common interests, from automotive to parenting, from gardening to horse-riding - You will meet passionate people who share the same interest and participate in great discussions on topic only you and the like-minded members truly appreciated.

If you are interested in the App kindly download it here from Google Play.  Kindly post in your comments on the App.

Vijay Prabhu