2013 Mobile Apps Showdown

One of the events produced and managed by Living in Digital Times at the International CES every year, Mobile Apps Showdown is one show that I never miss attending.

This is because I enjoy watching the contestants demonstrate their new and amazing mobile apps in front of a large audience. The Ten Best Mobile Apps have been preselected before the actual show, so we expect all of them to be of great value as they show off.

Here are the 2013 Mobile Apps Showdown Finalists:

1.         iMeet

 iMeet® lets you have face-to-face video meetings when you can’t be there in person.

Meetings don’t always happen in an office or in front of a computer. Today, we’re always on the go — and iMeet is as mobile as you are. Whether you’re on your iPad®, iPhone® or Android™ device, you can have highly productive meetings with all the key features and functionality of your iMeet room right in the palm of your hand.

- Easily host or attend meetings on the go
- See everyone in your meeting
- Access and present files stored in the cloud

Plus, with the new Auto-Connect™ feature, iMeet instantly connects your audio so you can talk right through your mobile device without dialing in.

2.         MindMeld

MindMeld is the first voice and video calling app that actually understands your conversation, making it effortless to find and share related information as you talk. MindMeld lets anyone make high-quality calls with up to 8 people using their iPad. Unlike any other calling app, MindMeld actually understands what you say and proactively find relevant pictures, videos, articles and documents from your social graph or across the web. MindMeld also makes sharing effortless by letting you share anything with a single swipe.

MindMeld is powered by Expect Labs’ Anticipatory Computing Engine. Two years in development, this unique platform continuously analyzes the last 10 minutes of any conversation to anticipate the information you may need in the next 10 seconds.

3.         My Disney Experience

My Disney Experience – Walt Disney World is the very best way to plan your visit to Orlando, navigate the park, & maximize the magic while enjoying all that Walt Disney World has to offer! Featuring brand-new Walt Disney World® maps, official Disney Parks-provided wait times, FASTPASS® return times, ability to book dining reservations, details about nearby characters, attractions, entertainment, park hours and schedules, and more!

• New Here & Now feature, which instantly shows attractions and events closest to your current location
• Explore Walt Disney World attractions, including descriptions, images, and height requirements

• Locate nearest restrooms, baby care centers, concierge, and other Guest Services
• Browse dining options including Table Service and Quick Service restaurant locations

4.         My Script Calculator

With MyScript® Calculator, perform mathematical operations naturally using your handwriting.

**The Free handwriting calculator for your device**

Easy, simple and intuitive, just write the mathematical expression on the screen then let MyScript® technology perform its magic converting symbols and numbers to digital text and delivering the result in real time.

The same experience as writing on paper with the advantages of a digital device (Scratch-outs, results in real time).

Solve mathematical equations by hand without actually having to crunch the numbers yourself.

BENEFITS AND FEATURES
– Works on your iPhone, iPad or Android smartphone or tablet
-  Portrait and landscape operation
]– Redo and undo functions

5.         NIVPAT

Intelligent garment recognition mobile social networking.

NIVPAT allows you to socialize both in person and over television with second screen interaction. Events, concerts, schools, sports games, meet and find out about people without talking to them. Game changer powerful computer vision technology.

Mobile advertising of sponsors in each reading. Link virtual games to real life interaction. Developed at ETH in Zurich Switzerland, world leading high tech computer vision institution. 

6.         Runtastic Fitness App

Challenge yourself to reach previously unattainable fitness goals with the new runtastic Fitness App Collection! The Fitness App Collection consists of four apps which focus on important, stationary exercises, including: push- ups, sit-ups, squats, and pull-ups.

The apps are specifically designed to increase your strength and stamina, all the while providing you with easy-to-follow instructions and a long-term goal. Whether your goal is to complete 50 sit-ups or 100 squats, runtastic offers you unique training plans and day-by-day training guidelines to get you there! Using your smartphone’s built-in sensors, repetitions are counted automatically and you’re alerted when you’ve reached your goal.

Need motivation? No problem! The voice coach will keep you going as you earn badges and shatter personal records. You can also share progress and challenge your friends to a little friendly competition.

7.         Sales Navigator

Sales Navigator is the first iOS application that enables individuals and organizations to improve productivity by integrating their contacts, locations, and calendars.

Sales Navigator lets users view their day’s appointments as a route using Apple Maps and identifies clients or prospects in the vicinity that may be scheduled in along the way. Users see the time needed to get to and from appointments, and which routes are the fastest. Users can easily modify plans as appointments and activities change in real time.

Sales Navigator enables users to assign contacts to groups that can be identified with customizable pins.

Contacts can be grouped by priority/location, or by using the Filter function, they can choose to view specific groups on their map. Users can also send emails to contacts and view contacts’ websites from within the application.  A VoIP calling feature for the iPad and integration with Salesforce.com are enhancements planned for early 2013.  Sales Navigator helps users clearly see the “Who, Where and When” of their busy day. 

8.         SecuraFone

SecuraFone® Health combines GPS tracking, 24/7 emergency response, and remote monitoring of vital signs to deliver individualized mobile health and safety solution. The app offers an easy-to- understand dashboard provided by the “band-aid-like” SecuraPatch. These vitals, your location, speed and heading can be seen remotely by caregivers, doctors or others who have rights to access this information. Alerts can be setup with high and low thresholds for each vital. The person with the app can call for help to an emergency monitoring center by holding the SOS button for 3 seconds. Vitals can be viewed in real-time or historically by pressing on each dashboard icon. Historical information for each vital is shown in the near past for up to 5 minutes, over the last hour, or over the past 24 hour period. Individualized emergency care no longer means you cannot remain independent, mobile and able to live an active life. 

9.         SWYPE

Swype is a living and learning four-in-one keyboard that allows users to simply and easily input text to their touchscreen mobile device, delivering an amazingly fast, flexible, and accurate experience. Users have the option to Swype (by sliding a finger or stylus from letter to letter – and only lifting a finger between words) type, write or speak with the power of Dragon Swype “learns” each individual user’s text input style and builds a personal language model, getting smarter after every use!

The latest version of Swype beta features:

•Living Language: Crowd-sourced language additions to user’s dictionaries

•Smart Editor: Cutting-edge predictive language models

•Dictionary Backup & Sync: Swype now backs up and syncs a user’s personal dictionary across any of their mobile devices, so a personal Swype experience is available on any device they use •Swype for Tablets: Three different keyboard layouts

10.      Unified Remote

Unified Remote is an app that lets you control your entire Windows computer from your Android and Windows Phone device. In short, it turns your device into a WiFi or Bluetooth remote control for all the programs on your computer. It is easily the most feature-filled PC remote available. With our app you can control a wide range of applications, including simple mouse and keyboard, media players, and even external hardware, including support for TellStick, USB-UIRT (IR Blaster), and NFC tags.

What started out as a hobby project by two university students as now turned into a profitable business, with the free version nearing 1.5 million downloads, and the full version ranked as one of the top tools and as one of the top grossing apps for Android. 

The descriptions of each of the products come from the developer. Since I will be part of the judging audience, I will wait for the products to be demonstrated before I could aptly describe their use and features.

I look forward to the MOBILE APPS SHOWDOWN!