Five Favorite Apps Friday!

Happy Friday everybody! Let’s kick off the weekend right with ABCey Events’ five favorite apps of the week, apps that help our lives healthier, happier, and more organized (which comes in handy in the bustling world of events)!

1. Mint

There’s no time like the present for you to get your finances in order! Our favorite budgeting app of the moment is the Mint (free on iOS, Android, Amazon, and Windows). Mint helps its users stay organized by collecting all of their financial activity including savings, investments, and spending. You are able to input your financial goals and receive advice specifically tailored to your financial needs (did we mention all of this info comes in a beautiful pie chart?)! Plus a little budgeting can come a long way when getting ready for the holiday season. It’s apps like Mint that ABCey Events can’t wait to try out for our next event!

2. Fooducate

With the holidays coming up, particularly holiday food, what better way to stay in shape than keeping track of your diet. Our favorite healthy-living app of the week is Fooducate! The way Fooducate (free on iOS and Android) works is that its users can easily scan barcodes and get loads of information on just what exactly they are eating, highlighting things many manufacturers overlook like transfat, excessive sugar, and MSG. Fooducate not only helps users keep track of their diet but also educates them in the process!

3. Yahoo! Weather

When planning an event, particularly an outdoor one, weather can be a tricky element to plan around. With Yahoo! Weather (free on iOS and Andriod), users are able to not only check the weather report (including wind pressure and precipitation, etc), but also are able to do so while enjoying the beautiful backdrop of the corresponding city. And who doesn’t love an app that’s both informative as well as visually striking?

4. Afterlight

For all the Instagram fans out there, Afterlight takes mobile photography one step further by allowing its users to control an image’s brightness, contrast, and saturation, along with a wide array of fun filters and frames. Afterlight ($0.99 on iOS and Android) also includes one of the best crop tools as well as other basic photo editing features. We definitely can’t wait to try this app out when capturing our upcoming events!

5. Lovely

Let’s face it, San Francisco is an expensive city, especially when it comes to finding a place to live. Lovely (free on iOS) provides renters access to great apartment deals while helping users find a place quick and easy with its real-time listings. Lovely keeps users in the know by providing notifications when new listings are available. Trying to move out of your apartment or looking to relocate to a new city? Lovely is your app!

What are your favorite apps of the moment? Share with us your thoughts in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: Apps for your New Year’s Resolution

Did you know that 50% of Americans make a New Year’s Resolution ever year, but only 8% actually follow through? If you’re having trouble sticking to those resolutions like we are then you’ll love these apps! We’ve rounded up the Top 5 resolutions made by Americans and found fantastic mobile apps to help you succeed!

1. Losing Weight/Getting Fit: Don’t let habit and excuses get in the way of your fitness goals! San Francisco’s very own GainFitness is an app that puts every tool in the palm of your hand. With downloadable fitness packs you can tailor your workout to your needs and restrictions while tracking your progress. Don’t believe us? Check it out for yourself!

2. Read More Books: Still have that stack of books you’ve been meaning to read? Or maybe a friend just suggested a great read but you can’t bring yourself to actually begin? This is where ReadMore comes in. Keep track of your reading list and your habits all in one simple app, we love being able to power through our reading lists with it.

3. Spend Less and Save More: Want to keep track of your spending habits and find out where you can save money on everyday expenses? Mountain View, CA based company Mint is just what you need. Mint keeps track of your accounts and spending habits showing you exactly where your money goes. Its perfect for everyday use or party planning on a budget!

4. Get Organized: Do you have a million things to do in a day? Sounds like we have a few things in common! Use Wunderlist to organize your day and get make sure every task is completed flawlessly! It recycles repeated tasks as well as syncs and updates to all your devices!

5. Staying Sharp: In our crazy day and age maybe you are focusing on making 2014 the year you begin to keep your brain sharp. Tablets and smartphones are the perfect travel toy to keep your ‘thinker’ sharp. Try one of our favorites, FitBrain with games and tasks that help you keep your brain sharp and eager to learn new things!

What were your New Year’s Resolutions? Let us know if any apps are helping you stick to your goals in this new year? Let us know in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: Scentee

Tech Tuesday highlights some of the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming companies for their innovative ideas and ability to think outside the box!

Choosing the right alert sounds for your phone can be pretty difficult. Some people like the longer tones, others like shorter ones. Some people like classical music tones, others might like a simple beep. Well, the days of hearing these alerts may soon be long gone. Thanks to some creative minds in Japan, they’ve come up with a device that releases different scents for each notification your phone receives!

This device, cleverly named Scentee, plugs directly into the headset of any smart phone. It works in conjunction with another app that tells it to spray a scent when the notification is received. There’s already a ton of scents available with the device such as lavender, mint, and rose, to cinnamon roll, corn, and even Korean BBQ!

Users can customize when the scents will be emitted too. It can be programmed to go off according to texts, alarms or Facebook alerts. Each model of Scentee is said to have 100 bursts of scents with only $5 refills. The company’s latest video features this device in a typical Japanese soap opera style. Watch it below and let us know what you think! Leave us a comment or visit us on Facebook & Twitter.