Unique Mobile Phone Gadgets and Apps for Convenience and Safety

People use their mobile phones for a wide number of actions: They watch films and TV shows; they listen to music; and occasionally, they actually use it for voice and text communications. But how many people have used their smartphones as a lost-and-found or to report leaky faucets? Read on for some unique ways to expand your mobile phone use by learning of apps and techniques others are enjoying.

U Grok It

This may not help you find your missing eyeglasses or your lost car keys, but if either is new and contains a radio frequency ID or RFID chip – or you tag something with one, it just might.

U Grok It is a system based on or around your smartphone. Similar in concept to BikN but much more streamlined, you place an RFID-embedded strip on an item, and so long as the tag remains on that item, you simply engage the U Grok It device with your smartphone, and it will locate that missing item.

U Grok It can be a major boon when used with electronic devices, purses, wallets and even children. When the tagged item gets too far away, you are notified via an alarm that sounds on your mobile phone.

You simply use the audio and visual guides that leads you to that cataloged item, and it’s no longer lost or misplaced.

Labels are one-off items and cannot be reused, but the tags cost only about $1 each, a very affordable price. The labels are encoded with a unique code and microchip that sends and receives signals from the U Grok It device attached to your mobile phone. The range is short at about six to eight feet, so your little one cannot stray far without your knowing it.

Include one in a purse, tucked inside a wallet, slipped onto the back of a tablet or a laptop, a camera or another mobile device, and reduce your worry of “accidentally” having it end up in someone else’s pocket or briefcase.

U Grok It does not eliminate the common-sense precautions everyone should take, but it does lend some peace of mind on top of those safety measures, and that’s always good news, isn’t it?

Maintenance App Applicability

The Los Angeles Unified School District has made available for download a maintenance alert app for their students, faculty, staff and even parents or other visitors to schools.

The user can take a picture of the problem with a mobile phone camera and send it with tagging to the school district’s maintenance office for correction. Broken windows, leaky pipes, commodes, light fixtures, locks and more have already been reported instantly and repaired within 24 hours, far faster than previously averaged on the 700 acres of property and in the 14,000 buildings involved.

The mobile app used, developed by CitySourced, has been responsible for reporting and repair of potholes to downed power lines and other public safety issues. The geo-tagging feature leaves location out of guesswork, which improves efficiency and repair times.

The school district has already fielded over 1,700 maintenance reports, and it hasn’t officially been announced there yet. That will come next month.

Jaye Ryan is a freelance writer who loves to write about mobile technology and mobile phones for MobilePhones.org.uk.

Published in Security, Technology