10 Things You Didnt Know You Could Do With Your Smartphone

1. Match Paint Colors

Want to paint your walls the same color of green as your throw pillows? What about making your wainscoting the same color blue as yesterday afternoons sky?
With BEHRs ColorSmart mobile app, you can match the perfect paint color. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

2. Use Your Phone as a Level

The free iHandy Level app (one of the five tools included in the iHandy Carpenter toolkit), lets you hang pictures, align shelves and measure angles accurately.

3. Start Your Car

The Viper Smart Start app lets you start your car remotely. All you have to do is install the device in your car, and you can warm the engine on a winter morning while you finish your coffee in the kitchen.
The Viper Smart Start is available on iOS, Android and BlackBerry.

4. Measure Stuff Using Your Camera Lens

Tired of pinching yourself on tape measures? Interested in measuring really tall things? There are several apps that can measure practically anything for you through your camera lens.
Check out Smart Measure Pro (linked above) for Android and Dot Measure Pro for iOS.

5. Create Blueprints (or Design Your Dream Room)

You can use your smartphone for high-level design with Mark On Call on iOS. Create detailed blueprints for your project, or mock up that living room you always wanted.

6. Visualize Your Home Using Augmented Reality

In the same design vein as Mark On Call, uDecore lets you view a real room of your house through your iOS devices camera and, using augmented reality, visualize different pieces of furniture and design elements.

7. Monitor Your Heart Rate

Azumios Instant Heart Rate measures your heart rate after you place your finger on your smartphone screen for a few seconds. The app, available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone, was awarded the Best Health & Fitness App in the Mobile Premier Awards in 2011.

8. Use Your Phone as a Remote Control

Odds are you lose track of your remote all the time, but you probably have your phone by your side at all times. Thats why ThinkFloods RedEye Mini comes in handy. With a small infrared device, you can control several devices from the palm of your hand. Compatible with iOS.

9. Change the Color of Your Lightbulbs

Wouldnt it be convenient to control the brightness and color of your lights from your mobile device? Now you can, with Phillips Hue. The app and "smart" light bulbs let you adjust the lighting via Wi-Fi on your iPhone or iPad, and you can also turn your lights on remotely if youre working late and want it to look like youre home.

10. Program Your DVR Remotely

Do you often forget to digitally record your favorite shows before you leave the house? With Verizons FiOS Mobile Remote app, not only can you control your cable box with your smartphone, but you can program the DVR when youre away from home. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

 

original article is in mashable.com

10 Things You Didnt Know You Could Do With Your Smartphone

 

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Free phone calls through Gmail 8 things you need to know

If you’re in the U.S. or Canada and you’re a Gmail user, heads up: you can make free phone calls through your PC or Mac to any domestic cell phone or landline. As always, though, there are a few ifs, ands, and buts.

Google has been offering free domestic voice calls to U.S. and Canadian Gmail users for a few years now—and indeed, just last month, it extended its offer (again) through 2013.
Making voice calls through Gmail is a cinch. Just launch your favorite web browser, open your Gmail inbox, and click the little handset icon in the bottom-left corner of the page.
When you do, a dialer will pop up on the screen. Type in a phone number, click the blue “Call” button, and within a second or so, you’ll hear a familiar “brrring, brrrrrrring!” through your PC’s speakers.

Just click the headset icon to launch Gmail’s phone dialer.

So, free phone calls through Gmail, really? Yes, really—for now, anyway.
But like I said, there are a few things to keep in mind, starting with…

1. Only U.S. & Canadian Gmail users can make free calls

…and then only to U.S. and Canadian mobile and landline numbers. If you’re an international Gmail user, sorry—no free calls for you.

2. Domestic calls over Gmail are free through the end of 2013 only

Beyond that, no guarantees. Google first began offering free voice calls through Gmail back in 2010; since then, it’s extended the generous offer three times, most recently last month. Will Google keep footing the bill for Gmail voice calls in 2014, or will the party be over in a year’s time? Good question.

3. If you want to make international calls with the Gmail dialer, you’ll have to pay up

Rates range from two cents a minute (for landlines in France, Germany, and the U.K.) to a whopping $6.90 a minute (for calls to satellite phones). You can check the complete list of international Gmail calling rates right here.

4. You don’t need a headset to make Gmail voice calls

If your PC or laptop has built-in speakers and a microphone (and nowadays, most do), you can start making Gmail calls right away, no headset required. That said, your callers will probably hear you more clearly if you do use a wireless or (ideally) a wired headset.

Click a phone number in a Gmail message and the dialer will pop up automatically.

5. You can click any phone number in a Gmail message to dial

If you need to call someone who sent an email to your Gmail account, look for their phone number in the body of the message (like, say, in their email signature) and click it.
When you do, the Gmail phone dialer should pop-up automatically, complete with the number you just clicked.
All you have to do is click the blue “Call” button to start chatting.

6. You must make your free calls through the Gmail interface on your computer

In other words, no—you can’t make free Gmail calls through your iPhone or Android phone (or not officially, at least).

7. Replacing your landline or cell phone with Gmail isn’t the best idea

For one thing, you can’t add a third party to a call using the Gmail dialer. More importantly, though, you can’t make 911 calls through Gmail.

8. You can receive calls through Gmail if you have a Google Voice number

Sure, your friends and family can call you through Gmail, but they’ll need a number to dial first.
You can get one in a flash through Google Voice, a clever (and free) phone service that will (among other things) transfer incoming Google Voice calls to any of your various home, office, or mobile numbers.
Once you’ve signed up for Google Voice, your Gmail dialer will “ring” whenever someone dials your Google Voice number.
Not working? Go to your Google Voice account, click the Settings button, click the Phones tab, then make sure that your Gmail account is selected in the “Forward calls to” section.
Keep in mind, though, that Google’s offer of free domestic calls through Gmail only covers your outgoing calls; incoming calls don’t count.

Tip

You can port your mobile number to your Google Voice account, if you wish; that said, doing so will automatically terminate your mobile service, meaning you may owe an early termination fee if you signed a contract with your wireless carrier.

Original post is in http://heresthethingblog.com
Free phone calls through Gmail: 8 things you need to know

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