Tilt-Shift Camera: For Shutterbugs

Tilt Shift photos make the world look like a miniature model. This is achieved traditionally by manipulating depth and perspective of a view using dedicated Tilt Shift lens in a dSLR. However the miniature effect can also be mimicked using Photoshop and other tools. Tilt Shift Camera is an application that can be used to click Tilt Shift Photos easily. 

The application is simple to use and easy to control to achieve desired results. You can move the focus area up or down, control the size of focus area along with controlling the color saturation and filter radius of the photo. This helps you to get different results for different environments. However the application does not let you zoom into the view. 

The application also allows you to edit already taken photos to add tilt shift effect over them and the obtained results are as good as any. These edited photos can then be saved to your gallery. This application works perfectly for its description and is a must try for photography enthusiasts.  I have included some camera samples below. 

Sync.Me : Contacts and Caller Manager

Sync.Me is a great application available on both Android and iOS to keep your contacts updated and synchronized with all the social networks. This application primarily designed as a caller id and call blocker application lets you sync your contacts with updated information from social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and VK. 

The application asks you to chose from various social networks to sync your account with. Then it picks up all the contacts in your phone book and matches them with your friends on that account. It links accounts with similar names and creates a match. Once you confirm the matches, Sync.Me starts synchronizing information such as addresses, birthdays, Work and display pictures for all the contacts. 

Sync.Me also provides features that can be useful such as the Caller Id which displays the caller name just like Truecaller. It also has a block list where you can add Spam call numbers to automatically block their calls. The block feature also works for text messages. Sync.Me would also send you Birthday reminders for your contacts. 

You can set the application to automatically sync contacts periodically. The premium feature lets you merge duplicate contacts and lets you unlock more social profiles to sync. Download Sync.Me to manage your contacts with convenience.

Stream : YouTube Smart Music Player

Most of us like to stream music on our smartphone via YouTube. But its only good till the app is open on your screen. YouTube for now does not support background playback. Stream on Android is a solution for that with some added features that make it perfect for multitasking.

The application plays the content available on YouTube. You can search for music and videos from inside the app to stream. Stream opens a Floating Pop Up player that can float over any application on the screen and can be best used for multitasking. This floating pop up player can be resized according to preference. You can drag the popup player across the screen to change the position.

Some of the added features of Stream include discovering the trending videos on YouTube as well as curated lists of music divided into various categories. You can also add your YouTube playlists into the application to listen to it when you want under the My Music tab. The application allows you to change into various themes however most of them are paid.

Although devices running on Android Nougat enjoy split screen for multitasking but Stream provides an added utility of not losing the screen space on the app while listening to music via YouTube. Stream definitely is a must try.

Stop Using Google Chrome!

Google Chrome is the most popular browser available in the market right now and that is evident by its huge user base that only seems to be rising. So why not use it? Read on..

Google Chrome is the most stable of all the browsers and the large number of extensions available can truly give you a personalized experience. But all of this comes at a cost. Google Chrome is also one of the top resource user on your machine. It eats up a huge chunk of RAM while using, so for devices with limited RAMs the performance is not great. In fact it would be advisable to use an alternative. In most of the benchmark tests the performance of Google Chrome is not comparable to its alternatives.

Google has built Chrome to be extendable and you can easily sign in to your Google account to sync your bookmarks, history and saved passwords on any number of your devices. Though it adds a little touch of convenience, it also raises some issues with Google tracking all your browsing data.

So What's the Alternative?

There are many alternate browsers available in the market like Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge that match up to the potential of Google Chrome. 

But I would recommend using the Opera browser for some of its many add on features.

• Opera has an in built Ad-Block so you don't need to install any extensions to avoid those annoying ads all over Facebook and YouTube.
• It also contains a turbo mode for slow connections that essentially lowers the data usage in loading web pages and is recommended if you're using a mobile connection.
• The new Opera browser also comes in with free VPN that can be used to access content restricted by your ISP.
• The browser also comes in with a battery saver mode that promises to increase your battery life while browsing.
• Opera has a clean UI without any clutter and also provides a huge number of extensions to personalize your experience.

Wally : Curated High Quality Wallpapers

Most wallpaper applications available on the Play Store do not have high quality wallpapers needed for the full HD screens and the ones which have do not update their content regularly. 

Wally promises to provide premium high quality wallpapers in 2k, 4k upto 10k resolution for all your smart phone needs. The application updates its content regularly so you can find new wallpapers everyday.


The wallpapers are available for ten categories which include Buildings, People, Objects, Nature, Food, Drink, Technology, Water, Fresh, B&W, Love, Space and Quotes. There has been no compromise with the content. The wallpapers are submitted by photographers around the world and selected and presented in the application. 

You can browse wallpapers in three tabs New, Featured and Collections. Collection include a set of wallpapers labeled under a special category. You can even login and create your own personal collection or make them publicly available.  


Give it a try and you wont need any other wallpaper application for quite some time.

      

Stop Windows 10 automatic updates

For all of us who have been using Windows 10 home edition for a while might know the pain of Automatic updates running in the background every now and then.  This affects our browsing experience  as well as increasing the data usage of the network. 

So here is a quick and neat trick to stop automatic updates on Windows 10 . However this trick only works with WLAN networks and not for networks connected over Ethernet. So if you connect your laptop running Windows 10 via Wi-Fi this might be the solution for you.

• Go into the network settings
• Click on 'Manage Known Networks' and find your network. Click on the network to reveal properties.
• Scroll down to find a switch for 'Metered Connection' and switch it ON.
• And you're done.

You can use this trick for multiple networks from preventing automatic windows updates . This can be easily reversed if you want the automatic updates option back.  You can also check for updates manually and install them on the metered connection.

So you use this trick to save the precious data that you would rather use for downloading movies and TV Series. :P

Flynx - A Smart Web viewer

In this day and age when we get most of the news from social media a smart link viewer is a must have for everyone. The posts on social media today have rich content along with web links that provide a detailed info on the posts. On Facebook, Twitter these links are viewed on the internal browser of the application which navigates to another window and is kind of a hassle.

Flynx is a solution for that. This application once installed on your device will open  any link that you may click on a floating bubble that can be viewed over the application without losing the content on the screen.

And of course multiple tabs are supported, so you can open more than one link and view them using tabbed bubbles. Another add-on feature is saving the links for later viewing. You can save the links that you've opened on Flynx bubble to view them later through the Flynx app. There is also a read only mode and night mode available for facilitating reading  articles or text content on a webpage. 

Gboard keyboard for iOS

Gboard for iOS 

The Apple's iOS is seeing an increase in the third party keyboards available in the app store. Just a month after its biggest rival Microsoft released Wordflow Keyboard for the US another giant, Google takes a big leap by introducing Gboard for iPhone and iPad. 

Gboard though aesthetically average and simple consists the power of web. It has a search functionality integrated with the keyboard which helps user to search for content on Google and it's services like YouTube and share that content with users without having the trouble to open a separate application.

The Google button at the top left of the keyboard opens a mini screen where you search and look for the right content to share. You can even search for emoji and gif for that right moment in any conversation. This makes searching for any content like text and image seamless. 

Along with this Gboard packs the usual features like swipe-to-type and predictions which work pretty well too. Google has launched Gboard for US only users, but you can download it by creating a US based Apple ID. 

Gboard is a must have for people constantly going across web while in-conversation to share content like images, gifs and videos. 

Inshorts News in 60 words

Inshorts : On-the-go News

Inshorts helps you keep updated with news in your busy schedule. Most of us don't like to go through long articles on websites and newspapers to keep up with the daily national and international happenings. Inshorts brings all the news to you in just 60 words. 

The content is curated by writers who downsize the long and lengthy articles from across the web into 60 words while keeping in the important facts. The sources include a variety of news publishing websites and media websites such as YouTube. The stories get updated frequently to keep you up to speed. The articles also mentions the source of the content which can be navigated to if you want to read the full article. The link opens as a webpage in-app

You get to chose your language as Hindi or English which can be changed from the settings menu anytime. The articles are also divided into various categories that can be browsed through the side menu. The app also tells how many of the articles are still unread.

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Inshorts is best suited for people catching up on news on their commute or during short breaks between work.

Download Inshort for Android
Download Inshort for iOS

Backdrops : Wallpapers

Wallpaper App for Big Screens

Backdrops is a bliss for those of us who want the perfect wallpaper. It took quite a while for a beautifully designed app with rich content to show up on the playstore which could do justice to the full HD screens of our devices. 

Backdrop is designed into tabs namely community, explore and favorites. The huge collection of amazing wallpapers are uploaded by users across the globe. You can sign up to submit your photographs as wallpapers too. 

The community and explore tab are refreshed with new wallpapers everyday. You can set any wallpaper from inside the application. However you may only save wallpapers from the community tab. Saving wallpapers to your device from the explore tab requires the pro version.

While most wallpaper apps provide compressed images that appear grainy on the large screens, Backdrops does not shy away from listing wallpapers with size as much as 3-4 mb with exceptional quality, which in turn is required for the full HD screens. 

This application is a must try for people using big screen android device. 

Download Backdrops

What Everyone is Playing - Clash Royale

What everyone is Playing - CLASH ROYALE

The game developers at Supercell are back with an exciting new installment Clash Royale after the massive success of their previous title Clash of Clans. The game is essentially a card combat game where you fight against one enemy with the cards in your deck. It’s a real time strategy game where you would win only by choosing the right cards at the right time. Let’s dig a little deeper to find out why this game has everyone hooked.

THE GAME

The game consists of each player having a selected deck of 8 cards which can be used to attack or defend against the enemy. The cards are unlocked as you move up in the game and by opening different kind of chests earned after winning battles. Each card needs a certain amount of elixir to be deployed into the battlefield, the elixir refills itself during the battle. There are three towers for each player to defend and attack. Destroying the middle one (where the king sits) instantly wins you the battle. There is also a time limit for each battle which might be extended if there is no clear winner. The game matches you to battle against the players all over the world. You can also have friendly matches with your friends from your clan.

     

THE REWARDS

Your win in each battle is rewarded by a chest that can be silver, gold or magical. These chests have a time gap before they can be opened. Each chests contains gold for buying upgrades for the cards, gems for special perks and cards of new characters. The game also gives you a free chest to open after every 4 hours so that you keep revisiting the game.

      

THE CHARACTERS

This game borrows a lot of the characters from its predecessor Clash of Clans and introduces some new ones. The characters are in the form of cards which when deployed on the battlefield attack according to their skills. Each character requires a particular amount of elixir to deploy. There are a lot of characters in the game. Each card is also upgraded once you have collected enough cards to move to next level. There are some really cool new characters to be unlocked at every level and you can handpick any of these numerous characters for your deck.

       

WHY TO PLAY

For starters this game is extremely easy to learn and play, the tutorial in the game makes sure of that. You can run this game on your mobile data and does not require very high speed Wi-Fi network to play. You get free chests and upgrades if you revisit the game and no in app purchases are required. The game has enough to keep you hooked and you can easily move up the game by selecting through unlocked characters and using them in your deck. This is one of those classics game that every one of your friends is playing and you have to give it a try. Believe me you won’t regret it.