Gizmo Girl

Translator

Microsoft launched a  free app for iPhone and  Android devices with support  for wearables last month that lets you translate text or speech into one of 50 languages. Hindi is the only Indian language supported on the app. The interface is nice and clean, and lets you pin frequently used words or phrases to a list for quick access.

There’s also a bookmark option for frequently used phrases and words. We’ve all know that feeling of being abroad and incapable of understanding or communicating. With Translator you can have the chosen words or phrases swapped into supported languages and read aloud.  Users can also use large full-screen translation cards.

Cortana for Android

Cortana is now available to Android users  in select regions. Microsoft has announced the  public beta of its digital voice assistant for devices powered by Google’s mobile operating system. Officially not yet available in India, users can still sideload it on their devices. Cortana for Android is very similar to its Windows Phone counterpart. It maintains the same user interface and functionalities. If you are already using it on your Windows 10 running desktop, you can use Cortana for Android as a companion app. Once integrated, you will be able to see your notes, emails, and other things from computer synced right into your Android mobile device. As with Microsoft’s desktop incarnation, Cortana on Android can do things like set reminders or alarms, track flight or weather details and a whole range of other ‘functional’ stuff. On the more ‘fun’ side of things, you can ask it to sing you happy birthday or to tell you a joke too. If you especially like  Cortana, you can set it to replace Google Now when you long-press the home button.

Snowball

If notification overload is a genuine  problem and you want a way to step back for a while without fully switching off, then Snowball’s what you need. A version of ‘adblocker for notifications’, the updated and free app Snowball prioritises critical alerts - things like messages, email or calendar notifications - and displays them above unimportant ones, like app updates or those annoying ads to buy in-game items at a discounted rate.  Snowball automatically gets rid of the annoying stuff like “10 of your apps were updated”.Also, they have this nifty feature where, Instead of always opening apps to do things like reply to Facebook, SMS, and WhatsApp messages, you can simply reply right inline. Don’t worry: the message will always be sent through the right app.

Accomplish

There’s no dearth of list making apps on  Android. But if you’re looking for a clean look and one that will integrate your Google Calendar as well, look no further than Accomplish. Also, not only does Accomplish help you remember the tasks that you need to do, with a conventional and simplistic to-do list, it also lets you graphically plan out your time, with a daily planner built in. Using Accomplish, you can drag tasks straight from your to-do list into a calendar-like “day view”. You can graphically plan out when you will get each of your tasks done.

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The New Indian Express
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