Articles by Patrick Nelson

This week's All Things Appy takes a look at the five best, free geo-oriented apps for the iOS platform. To keep your costs down, we're concentrating on those tracking apps that don't require additional hardware, like sensors....

If you've been stung by roaming charges in the past when using a U.S. cellphone abroad and you've recently heard about new, supposedly fair roaming caps in Europe, beware: It's not what it seems. As of July 2013, European-carrier SIM card roaming rates are capped in Europe at 0.45 euros, or about US$0.60, per megabyte for data and 0.24 euros, or a...

For a glimpse at the future of gaming control, there are few places better to look than iMotion Intellect Motion's concept is to create a large, motion-sensitive area in front of you while you're gaming -- a kind of invisible, virtual touchscreen. Handheld controllers then interact with that touchscreen....

MeteoEarth is available for US$3.99 in the Google Play store.You know those fancy, animated weather visualizations that you get on the local television news broadcasts -- the ones with the 3D drill-down dynamic graphics that make it appear as if the meteorologist is directing the clouds?...

Battery managers, task killers, analyzers and monitoring apps make up the basis of a solid Android mobile tool kit This week's All Things Appy takes a look at the must-have, free apps in this genre that will keep your device operating swimmingly....

With a 3 GB bucket of wireless data from your cellphone company often costing more than US$50, it makes sense to take advantage of the often unlimited or at least generous nature of a cheap, wired home Internet connection when you can. Netflix reckons that its movie and TV streaming service, using its Best Quality setting in High Definition, uses ...

If you've ever used Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing input device for the Xbox 360 game console, you'll have an initial grasp of how Occipital's 3D scanner for mobile devices, called "Structure Sensor," functions ...

Google Keep is available for free in the Google Play store.Some years ago I decided to eschew paper. It was part of an effort, with which I was obsessed at the time, to become more nomadic.

Fall is just around the corner in the Northern Hemisphere, and at least for those of us in some locales, outdoor activities can now ramp up with the milder temperatures This week's All Things Appy takes a look at the top five free Chrome apps in the weather department....

If you're noticing that your Windows laptop runs slower and crankier the older it gets -- I'm talking about your laptop here, not you or me -- it's probably because it needs a bit of maintenance. Some tender loving care will take care of most old-laptop lethargy in much the same way a routine service visit can extend the life of your car and let i...

There's no denying the popularity of Apple's iPad and its Android-based kin, not just with adults but with kids as well. Now, for all those parents out there who wish their kids would play with something else once in a while -- simple drawing paper and pens, for instance -- a new Kickstarter funding project offers fresh hope ...

Turn-by-turn directions have become a common technological enhancement to the automotive world thanks to a set of satellites dedicated to the task To date, these radio positioning signals have been supplied to consumers primarily by the U.S. military through a satellite constellation called "GPS," or Global Positioning System. Essentially, receiver...

PanicGuard is available for free in the Google Play store.Here's an app that should bring peace of mind to any late-night solo worker, exerciser or neighborhood watch patroller.

The 2013 Atlantic hurricane season is quietly underway. Gear is available, however, that can help mitigate potential office disruption as weather ramps up Uninterruptible power supplies are sophisticated battery-containing devices that supply backup power to desktop PCs during grid electricity outages, like in storms. You can pick up a UPS at offic...

This week, TechNewsWorld's All Things Appy looks at the top five free map apps for the Firefox platform. These are power tools that will make it faster to look up addresses and gain new perspective on the locations you want to visit We look at pop-up maps, unique map-related search add-ons and one alternative to common old Google....

Here's a scenario: It's late, and you're on your way home from a work trip on a subdued, last flight of the day. You instinctively glance at your phone and notice it's about to die Been there? It's a problem, and if you don't address it, you'll obviously have no battery for calls when you land. Kindly, your seat neighbor and colleague offers you a ...

Lost Droid (Find my Phone) is available for US$1.09 in the Google Play Store. Having recently had my bicycle stolen -- after having a set of wheels pilfered in a previous year -- I was getting mad and, to quote the 1976 movie Network, I was not going to be taking it anymore....

Breaking the screen on your mobile device doesn't have to mean a brand new, expensive bit of kit. It's actually quite easy, and cheap, to replace the glass once you get the hang of it. A tablet touchscreen can cost about US$50 if you perform the work I've replaced a few touchscreens on my roughly handled devices and found that tablet and phone cons...

In this week's All Things Appy, we take a look at the five best, must-have free apps for communicating in Windows 8 and taking advantage of the tile-based layout that's native to the ecosystem About the Platform: Windows apps can be found in the Windows 8 Store, which is available from within Windows 8. Click or touch the Start page's Store tile,...

This story was originally published on June 21, 2013, and is brought to you today as part of our Best of ECT News series. If you're perusing Staples' website anytime soon looking for boring old printer cartridges or what have you, you may be surprised to see, in the Narrow by Department panel, a listing for 3D Printers....