Top 7 Apps to Quit Smoking for Your Smartphone [Guest Article]

Smoking is one of the hardest addictions to break. Nicotine addiction is hard to overcome, because the drug actually alters your brain and encourages your body to take in higher and higher doses. This type of addition is harmful to the brain and body. If you are thinking about quitting smoking, technology can help. These 7 useful apps provide clear offers and helpful information that can make it easier to quit.

1. iCoach

iCoach is a simple, free stop smoking health guide that can help you reach your goals. The app has a high effectiveness rate. 40 percent of past users now are smoke-free. The app helps you conquer your addiction by helping you through a five step process based on digestible daily tips. The app is available for iOS and Android.

Download Link: Android and iOS

2. Quit Smoking

This app works with you by providing an outlet when you feel the urge to smoke. When you feel like smoking, click the red button to record your urgency level and stress levels. The app presents your progress as a graph. Quit Smoking is available for Android systems.

Download Link: Android

3. Kick Smoking

Kick Smoking is an app for Windows phones. It works by giving you a goal to work toward. The app records anytime you resist the smoking urge and times how long you have been smoke-free.

Download Link: Windows Phone

4. My Last Cigarette

My Last Cigarette is a health-based app that helps you see the damaging effects of smoking. It creates a health timeline based on your current smoking habits. As you reduce your smoking, the health timeline shows improvement to long-term health. The app is $1.99 for iOS devices.

Download Link: iOS

5. QuitNow!

QuitNow! is an Android-based app that uses a multi-step approach to help you quit. Users can join a message board to talk with other fellow quitters for motivation. A smoking log helps you track your improvements over time. An image gallery of medical images from smokers helps reinforce the importance of quitting.

Download Link: Android

6. Quitter

Quitter is a free quit-smoking app for iOS devices. The app is social-media based, and allows you to share your results online. The app also tracks how long it has been since your last cigarette and how much money you are saving by not smoking.

Download Link: iOS

7. Quit Smoking Tracker

The Quit Smoking Tracker is a BlackBerry app that tracks your progress as you quit smoking. The $1.99 app uses medical information to keep you motivated. As you log your smoke-free time, the app shows encouraging data, such as how many harmful chemicals you avoided and the improvement to your body.

Download Link: Blackberry

Quitting smoking is hard, and is probably one of the hardest things you will have to do in life. However, if you stick with it, and implement one of the above helpful apps, you may find that the process is a little easier. Have a friend help quit with you or ask a non-smoker to help keep you accountable to maximize your quitting power. In just a few months, you may find you don’t need to smoke at all!

Author Bio: Jefferson Vergo is a freelance writer and an occasional guest-blogger interested in tech, seo and startup related topics. He is currently working as for an internet service provider company called Clear Internet. When he has time he likes to travel and read as much as he can.

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Download Hangouts, A New Messenger from Google for Android, iOS and Your PC for Free

Google has announced a new messenger app called Hangouts at the Google I/O event in San Francisco, that merges its various messaging platforms including Google Talk, Google+ Hangouts, Messenger and Google Talk for Google+. Hangouts replaces Google Talk - brings one-on-one and group conversations to life with photos, emoji, and video calls for free. Connect with friends across Computers, Android and Apple devices.

Notable Features of Hangouts

• Group conversations are better than ever - Send photos or emoji, see when people are engaged in the Hangout and message friends anytime, even if they're not connected right now.
• Video calls make Hangouts more fun - Turn any conversation into a video call with up to 10 friends.
• All your friends can use Hangouts - Hangouts works on computers, phones, and tablets, so you can connect with everyone.

Some More Hangouts awesomeness

• View and continue your Hangouts across devices.
• Get notifications just once. After you see an alert, it’ll be removed on other devices.
• Snooze your notifications if you’d prefer to respond later.
• See what you talked about in the past, including shared photos and your video call history.
• Keep a record of any Hangout for just a short period of time by turning history off.
• View collections of photos shared from each of your Hangouts.
• Choose from over 850 emoji to express what’s on your mind.

Here the video shows you how Hangouts works

Download Links

• Click here to download Hangouts for Android Devices
• Click here to download Hangouts for iPhone and iPad
• Click here to download Hangouts for PC

Note for Android Users: If you aren't yet able to install Hangouts on your phone or tablet, or the Play Store "Open" button takes you to the old Talk app, hang tight, we are rolling out Hangouts to everyone over the course of several days. Rest assured Hangouts will be available soon for all Android 2.3+ devices, tablets included!

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Panasonic Launched P51 with Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and 5 Inches HD Display [Price, Features and Specifications]

Panasonic has launched the new android smartphone, the P51 comes with dual-SIM support with dual stand-by and also comes with a magnetic flip-cover and a stylus. The device has a pre-loaded apps including WeChat, Open Office, ET, TOI, Cam Scanner, Business Card reader and few more.

The Panasonic P51 features a 5 inches HD IPS display with the resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and a scratch resistant Asahi Dragontrail glass, runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), and is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6589 processor, It has a 8-megapixel rear camera with LED Flash and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera.

Other Notable Features of Panasonic P51

• Brilliant HD IPS Display - A large 5.0 Inch 12.7cm size of screen gives you superior contrast and brightness for your viewing pleasure.The high definition display provides utmost clarity and sharpness. So from now on, all your picture and videos will look astonishing.
• Amazing 8MP Camera with HD Recording - Capture all your precious moments with the 8MP rear camera with face detection technology and record all your videos in HD. Relive those memories with super high quality images & videos that'll take you back to where it all happened.
• Smart Flip Cover - A unique style accessory that uses a smart magnetic system so your cover stays in place in any situation and keeps your phone dust free.
• Cool Capacitive Stylus - The sleek and stylish stylus let's you write,draw and perform rest of the functions with absolute ease. So,add a personal touch to your messages and give your fingers a well deserved break.

Specifications of Panasonic P51

SIM	Dual SIM (GSM + GSM) with Dual Stand-by
OS	Android OS, v4.2 (Jelly Bean)
Body	144mm x 75mm x 8.5mm and 135 grams
Display	5 Inch HD IPS Capacitive touchscreen with Multi-touch and scratch resistant Asahi Dragontrail glass
Processor	Quad Core 1.2 GHz MediaTek MT6589 processor
Graphics	???
Memory	1 GB, 4 GB internal memory and microSD, upto 32 GB
Camera	8 MP rear camera with LED flash and 1.3 MP front facing camera
Connectivity	GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n,Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0, microUSB v2.0
GPS	Yes, With Assisted GPS
Sensor	Accelerometer, proximity, compass
Browser	HTML5
Battery	Li-Ion 2500 mAh (Non-removable)
Colors	Black and White
Price	Rs. 26,900 ($490)

The Panasonic P51 is priced at Rs. 26,900 and would be available from online retail stores, multi-brand outlets and distributors across India from next week.

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Young Girls Of Ambiguous Age? Enjoy These Games [Guest Article]

People seem to believe that girls are not very fond of video games, and that this is more of a boys’ activity. Well, this is completely false, and in fact there are many girls of different ages who simply love playing video games, this being their favorite pastime activity.

Below are presented several of the finest video games for girls:

1. Nancy Drew Mystery Games From Her Interactive

The Nancy Drew games are fetching, enjoyable, plus they are extremely good for the brain too. Now, there are available 23 fantastic games, and each one of them has a different gameplay, and amazing graphics. And, you can buy them online, or from most retail stores.

2. Farm Frenzy from Big Fish Games

The Farm Frenzy Games are extremely popular, and they are suitable for girls, as well as for boys of all ages. However, since the leading character is a girl, they are generally preferred by girls, who also like the challenging levels of the game, and the fact that there are several distinct versions that make everything even more interesting.

3. The Sims

You have surely heard about The Sims, as it is a spectacular game, which is played all around the globe. It is recommended to anyone who wants to control the life of an imaginary character, to design its house, to select its clothes, and even send it to dates. It is engaging, and so fun, no wonder that it is so widespread.

4. Nanny Mania from Big Fish Games

All young girls who have a strong mothering sense will love this game, because it permits the player to go through the entire day of a nanny, in a frenetic household. Unfortunately, the game does not have highly detailed graphics, but it compensates by being extremely easy to play, and very amusing. You can purchase it from the web, or from any supermarket, including Walmart.

5. Diner Dash

The heroine of Diner Dash is a girl named Flo, who has to overcome all sorts of obstacles, and pass various levels in order to save her dinner. She is put in countless, interesting scenarios, including serving dinner on a ship cruise, in a restaurant, and so on. There are numerous fetching versions of the game, all being part of the Diner Dash franchise.

6. Viva Pinata

This is an incredibly addictive game, which girls of all ages adore. The player is supposed to build a garden that is filled with all sorts of piñata pals, and it will encounter numerous obstacles on the way. It is a cool game, which can be played from various gaming platform, including Xbox, or Wii.

7. Virtual Villagers

During this game, players need to complete several tasks, promote their village, and obtain rewards for the other villagers. Likewise, it is a game suitable both for games and girls.

8. Cooking Academy

All the girls that love cooking with their mother should try this game. It is extremely realistic, and enables players to cook diverse complicate dishes, being a great choice for experienced, and amateur, cooks.

9. Mystery Case Files

This is another game appreciated both by girls, and boys. Basically it is an intriguing mystery game, which will capture your attention immediately, and you will want to play it all the time. And, girlsusually like it because it does not have any creepy aspects.

10. The Littlest Pet Shop

This game is highly recommended for girls that love animals, but who are not allowed to have a pet. The game has amazing graphics, it is very relisting, and it also features an online component, being suitable for Nintendo DS.

Author Bio: Jason Phillips is the writer to this article. He is very much interested in gaming and loves playing different games. His favorite site for online gaming is Sniper Games 365.

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Spice Stellar Horizon Pro Mi-505 Launched with Dual-Core Processor and 5 Inches Display [Price, Features and Specifications]

Spice Mobile has launched the Stellar Horizon Pro Mi-505 features a 5 inches capacitive touchscreen display with the resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, powered by 1 GHz dual-core processor and runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). It packs a 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera with Dual-LED flash and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video calling and others.

Spice Stellar Horizon Pro Mi-505 packs with a free leather cover and a screen guard, comes with dual-SIM support with dual stand-by and sport a 9.6mm thickness body, before going down just check Spice Mi-535 Stellar Pinnacle Pro that was launched last month.

Specifications of Spice Stellar Horizon Pro Mi-505

SIM	Dual SIM (GSM + GSM) with Dual Stand-by
OS	Android OS, v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Display	5 Inch Capacitive touchscreen with Multi-touch
Processor	Duad Core 1.0 GHz processor
Graphics	???
Memory	512MB, 4 GB internal memory and microSD, upto 32 GB
Camera	8 MP rear camera with LED flash and 1.3 MP front facing camera
Connectivity	GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n,Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth, microUSB v2.0
GPS	Yes, With Assisted GPS
Sensor	Accelerometer, proximity, compass
Browser	HTML
Battery	Li-Ion 2100 mAh (Non-removable)
Colors	Black and White
Price	Rs. 8,499 ($150)

The Spice Stellar Horizon Pro Mi-505 is priced at Rs. 8,499 and would be available through online retailer's and retail stores across India.

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Google I/O Announcements: Music Streaming, Google+, Gaming, Maps, Search, Chat, Developer Tools, Schools, and A New Phone

Google used its annual conference for software developers to unveil several new products, services and features. They include enhancements for online games, maps, search, music and photos and are meant to help the company cement its role in people's technological lives.

Here's a look at some of the announcements made at Wednesday's keynote at Google I/O.

Music streaming

All Access will blend songs you have already uploaded to your online libraries with millions of other tracks for a $10 monthly fee. This puts Google in competition with paid subscription plans such as Spotify and Rhapsody and free music services such as Pandora.

All Access became available in the U.S. on Wednesday and comes with a 30-day free trial. If you start the trial by June 30, the monthly fee drops to $8. That's $2 cheaper than leading competing plans. It is expected to roll out soon in 12 other countries where Google currently sells music - 10 European countries such as the U.K., France and Germany, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

The new service will allow you to search for songs, albums or artists directly, or peruse 22 different genres. Google curators will also offer recommendations based on your listening behavior and your existing library of songs. You can listen to any available song right away, or switch to a "radio" format that creates a playlist of songs that you might like. Radio playlists can be adjusted on the fly by deleting or re-ordering upcoming songs. Google describes all of this as "radio without rules."

By combining an unlimited-access subscription plan with music sold through Google's online Play store, All Access covers any gaps. Some artists, including Taylor Swift, keep recent releases away from streaming services for several months in order to boost download sales. All three major recording labels - Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group Corp. - are participating in All Access.

Google+

Google is adding 41 features to its Google Plus social network as it tries to turn it into a more formidable threat to Facebook. The new features started appearing Wednesday and draw upon the computing power, algorithms and other innovations that have made Google the leader in search.

A new photo-management tool will pick out the best shots from a wide assortment of photos. Just upload a bunch, and Google's machines will reject ones that are blurry or don't have people smiling. Another factor is Google's knowledge of who's important to you - so family members or close friends are more likely to make the cut.

If the photos don't look quite right, Google is promising to enhance them, taking over a job that typically requires people to buy and master special photo-editing software. Computer-controlled editing tools will automatically remove red eyes, soften skin tones, sharpen colors and adjust contrast. Google offers something similar through an "I'm Feeling Lucky" button on its Picasa editing software.

Another feature promises to stitch together a sequence of photos taken of the same group of people or a panoramic scene. This stitching system can be used to create a single photo that pulls the best shots of everyone featured in a series of pictures. It will also produce an animated clip featuring the motions of people captured in a succession of photos taken against the same background.

Google is also expanding the storage limit for full-resolution photos. Instead of five gigabytes for free per account, you'll get 15 gigabytes.

Other enhancements to Google Plus include a newly designed stream of content, which moves away from the list of posts found on Facebook. It will also automatically add hash tags to identify the main topic being discussed in a post or featured in a photo, and it will use those tags to bring you related posts. Facebook doesn't use hash tags, though Twitter and Instagram do.

Online games

Google is adding leaderboards and the ability to match players in online games to its Android operating system for smartphones and tablet computers. The new features match those available in Apple's Game Center for the iPhone and iPad. Google is also making it possible to save game progress online, so players can pick up games where they left off, even on other devices.

Getting into gaming gives Google an opportunity to participate in one of the most popular activities on mobile devices.

Google says the leaderboards will also be available through a browser on regular computers. Apple's Game Center works on Mac computers, too.

Maps, Search and Chat

Google introduced new features for its mapping apps on Android devices and iPhones. When you search for restaurants in a city or neighborhood, you'll get the names of the restaurants along with their ratings at the bottom of the screen. You can swipe through the results horizontally. The mapping app will also include Google Offers - deals akin to those from Groupon Inc. and LivingSocial.

Google is making images from its Google Earth service available on the Web browser. Before, you had to install separate software to use Google Earth. One feature demonstrated Wednesday is the ability to see a view of earth from space and rotate it around.

Google Maps on the Web also has a new look, taking up the entire screen. Names of destinations that used to be on the left of the map are being embedded on the map itself.

For mobile devices, Google is optimizing its mapping app for tablet computers such as the iPad. That will allow the app to take advantage of the larger screen. It's expected this summer.

Google will integrate what it knows about users with its search function, so it can reply to questions like "What's my gate number?" or "my restaurant reservation." Google already makes this available through its Google Now service on Android devices, iPhones and iPads. Now, it's available to anyone using its Chrome browser on traditional computers.

Meanwhile, Google is streamlining its communications tools, offering a new app to combine its chat and Hangout services. It keeps a record of past conversations, though there's a way to turn that off. It will be available for Android and Apple devices, as well as regular Web browsers on computers. The new application is called Hangouts.

New phone

A variant of Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S4 phone will run a pure version of Android. That's the version that Google makes and distributes, not the one modified by Samsung to include a host of features that have been dismissed as confusing gimmicks in reviews by The Associated Press and others.

The new phone will be unlocked, meaning it will work with any carrier, including those abroad. But it also means the price won't be subsidized by the carrier. Google will sell it for $649 starting June 26, rather than the usual $200 or so with a two-year contract. Google says that the new phone will be able to get Android updates as they come. U.S. carriers sometimes block those updates from getting to locked phones.

Developer Tools

Google unveiled a number of tools that software developers could incorporate into their apps.

One will allow apps to track what users are doing, such as walking. It may appear creepy to users, but Android executive Hugo Barra says the tools will allow developers to create "a whole new category of awesome apps."

Another tool will help software developers make sure their apps work well on different screen sizes. That's important because some people use phones and others use mid-size or larger tablets. Developers will want to make sure their apps are pleasant across the board.

Other tools promise to help developers get more users and make more money through their apps, such as by better understanding how effective their ads are in getting people to download their apps.

Some of the new tools will help Android users directly. With new technology for syncing notifications on different devices, a notification you dismiss on a phone won't reappear when you check your tablet. Google also says its Google Play store will make recommendations for apps, books, movies and music based on the device you are using. After all, what works well on a tablet might not on a phone.

Schools

Google Play for Education, launching this fall, is designed to help get Android tablets into schools. One feature will allow educators to distribute an app to hundreds of tablets with a single click. Schools will able to pay for apps by charging against an account set up ahead of time. Normally, a credit card is required, something difficult for schools to use for purchases.

Originally published by NDTV.com

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