Microsoft brings Office Lens scanner app to iOS, Android

Microsoft is staying true to its policy of bringing more of its apps and services to other platforms. This time their bringing Office Lens app to Android and iOS. The app turns your camera into a scanner and lets you make the photographed document into an editable file. You can store the photographed file into OneNote or on OneDrive. You can save the file as either a Word file, PowerPoint presentation, or PDF file. For Android though, the app is still in beta. You can try it out here if you want to. 

Source: Office Blog | Download: Apple iTunes App Store (Free) 

Microsoft's Cortana is invading iOS and Android devices this Fall

You gotta love Microsoft's new direction of making sure their best software is available to users on any device and any platform. It seems their voice assistant Cortana is being readied to transcend platforms and has been confirmed to be headed to iPhones, iPads and Android devices as well as Windows 10 PCs.

Cortana is expected to come as a standalone app to rival operating systems in the fall (sorry, no BlackBerry version is planned). This will give users on iOS and Android anoter option to Siri or Google Now.

Source: The Verge

Nokia's HERE maps app now available on iOS again

After having been pulled 15-months ago despite being made available on other mobile operating systems, Apple's HERE maps application is now available on iOS again. Featuring downloadable city maps, interior maps and turn-by-turn directions, offline caching, traffic information, public transit data and more, HERE maps is one of the more popular free navigation services around.

Completely overhauled, the HERE maps for iOS features free mapping data for offline use from 100 countries. Most notably the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Australia and Brazil. This is a real money saver for travelers who need to get around in a new city but don't want to burn through data or get hit with exorbitant roaming fees. Want to check out HERE maps, have a look see HERE.

Podo takes on the selfie stick with a smartphone-controlled camera

Don’t want to be the person that whips out a selfie stick? Here’s an alternative for you. Podo has a Kickstarter project for a brightly-colored, remotely-activated camera that can stick to most solid surfaces. It does this with a combination of a suction pad that’s exposed when you rotate a replaceable flap and a strong magnet. You can clean the pad with water to make the stickiness come back.

The boxy camera works on both iOS and Android and links up to them via Bluetooth. It can take stills, videos, GIFs, and time lapse clips. You just need to double tap the device to turn it on and off. And you don’t have to worry about photo orientation; your shots will be auto-orientated thanks to the built-in accelerometer. A limited number of early backers will get the device for US$79 but for everyone else it’ll be available for $89. The campaign will end in April and they will start shipping the device in August. The retail version will go for $99 and will be out later this year.

Source: The Next Web