El 4: Hands-On With SXSW 2013's Best Apps

domingo, 17 de marzo de 2013

Hands-On With SXSW 2013's Best Apps

The Interactive portion of SXSW 2013 is now history, and it featuredproved to be a launching space for lots of new apps. The rollouts included new apps for making you smarter while you're at work, as well as a few fun additions. Here we get our hands on the best apps we found.

A new photo app records video while you're snapping a shot, and lets you create a sharable clip — complete with filters and music — at the end of the day with all your pictures in video form.

A rich messaging app also made a splash at this year's SXSW, and allows you to send friends not only text messages, but also video, music clips, and drawings. Finally, a new app for haters lets you share what you hate with the world.

What do all these fantastic new apps look like? Check out the video above for a hands-on look at some of the best apps from SXSW.

Have your own favorite app from the week? Tell us about it in the comments.

Takes

Takes wants to replace the camera app on your smartphone. The app records video the whole time it's open and then, when you snap a picture, it decides what part of that video is important to you. Later on, you can create a "Take," combining together several video clips – for instance, all the pictures you took at a party – and create a short video that can be shared on Facebook or Twitter. The app also has built-in Instagram-like filters, and music clips to help make your finished product look its best.

Takes is currently iOS-only, but has plans to launch for other smartphone platforms in the future.
MessageMe

MessageMe is a new take on free messaging. Much like competitors WhatsApp and Kik, the app lets you text friends for free. Beyond text messaging, the app allows you to send contacts pictures (both your own and from Google Images), videos (your own and from YouTube), a voice message, a doodle, your location, or a short music clip from its library.
Hater

What do you hate? A new app called Hater lets you share everything, from traffic to bad service, that makes you unhappy. The social network for haters has a live-streaming feed of hates from people you follow on the service as well as a built-in "Hater camera" for sharing an image with the masses.

Hates can be shared anonymously on the service, or if you want to be really public about your hate, you can share your posts on Facebook or Twitter.
Thread

Thread wants to make you smarter about incoming calls. The Caller ID app replaces the Caller ID currently on your phone, and gives you not only your caller's name, but also your last email exchange with that person, their last Facebook and Twitter posts, and all of your latest texts with that individual. While you chat, that information remains visible, allowing you to quickly reference anything you might be talking about on the call.
Younity

Ever get home and realize you left an important file on your work computer? Younity may be just what you need. The service makes all of your files available on all your devices whenever you want them, with no need to intentionally sync those files to make them available.
Hinge

Feel like you're looking for love in all the wrong places? Hinge is an app that helps you find potential suitors using your mutual Facebook friends. Each day at noon the app sends you a group of friends of friends to rate. If both you and the person you're rating give each other a four or higher, then the app will send an email to both of you making introductions.
Koozoo

Ever wonder what it looks like right now across the globe? On vacation and want to know what it looks like outside back home? Koozoo is a crowdsourced video app that displays smartphone videos from around the world. The app allows users to share video from wherever they are with the rest of the world, live.

The idea behind the service is to ultimately allow you to answer questions such as, "How long is the line at my favorite brunch spot?" or "Is it foggy at the beach today?" from your phone.