If there’s anything that the year 2011 make evident about mobile applications, it is that these mobile apps are developing at a rapid pace. If the previous year was about real-time alerts and push notifications, this year is about localized content and cloud content among other trends that are taking the market by storm or will be out very soon.

So here are the most popular Mobile App Trends for 2011:

#1: Photo and Video Filters

Photography has always been a popular mobile app category, and with the portability of camera phones, you can be sure that they are the most popular cameras used today. In 2010, the focus was on photo sharing apps but for 2011 it is all about the photo effects and filters that can be applied to the photos before sharing them.

Instagram, Hipstamatic and PicPlz are some of the examples of mobile apps that can bring an analogue feel to a digital photo, making it more aesthetically pleasing. Along with this, you can also get a variety of filters and color hues that can change how a photo looks.

#2: Front-facing Camera Apps

The feature of having just one camera is a thing of the past, and thanks to devices such as the Motorola Xoom or the iPad 2, several options for video and photo apps have opened up. Whether this extra camera allows one to take his photo as an avatar or for video chat support, this will lead to app developers paying attention to camera attention more closely.

#3: Access to Tumblr, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and Foursquare

Mobile Apps for Twitter and Facebook are considered to be common these days however with more companies using OAuth, this means that it has become easier for mobile app developers to add support for the most popular social networks.

Posted by: Sweepstakes Machines

People are usually pretty skeptical of internet cafe sweepstakes.  They feel as if it is just another internet scam that lures naïve consumers in to just take more of their hard earned money.  This cannot be further from the truth though.  Companies provide internet cafes with products, games, and software that entice consumers to return for both the product and services they are enjoying, but also for their chance to win wonderful prizes.  There is internet cafe sweepstakes software at many of these locations where individuals can win and win big, and it does not require any purchase on their part directly. 

Customers pay for their time in the café, and with their purchase they are entered in for a chance to win bigger and better prizes.  Having these machines in your internet café can help bolster your customer numbers, and they won’t feel cheated for loosing either.  They are already there to spend their money to go online, and with these machines they have a great chance at winning some good prizes. 

Since the Internet has entered many households few people have sought out cafes as a place to gain Internet access.  Instead they are content with going to their local coffee shops with their laptops and tablets to do all their work, but with the recent thefts at a lot these places many have become wary of returning with their valuable products.  Therefore, the internet café franchise industry has grown as a result, and they are here to stay by keep the customers coming with entertaining games and valuable prizes.

In stark similarity to a car or bike, the life of any boat is its engine, and there’s no doubt that in finding the best Yamaha marine parts, you can extend the life of your precious yacht or whatever boat you use to enjoy your free time in the water.

Since most boat owners are just as passionate about their boats as car owners are about their vehicles, the question as to which brand of boat parts and accessories are the best often arises. And the truth is that they all have their unique advantages. Thus, there isn’t much of a difference between the top manufacturers, such as Suzuki, Mercury, or even Yamaha.

Experts will tell you about what they share in common: whether you are looking for Mercury or Suzuki marine parts, you will find that they are not only reasonably-priced, but are easily available just in case you wish to take extra precautions for your boat before you set sail.

Since they have been built with the highest quality, you will be pleased to know that these parts are durable and dependable enough for you to expect that your boat will be running for a long time without any issues, provided you carry out preventative maintenance from time to time.

And whether you are looking for Mercury marine outboards or inboard parts, these companies have been in the business for a long time, spanning almost seventy years of experience in building better parts and accessories for boat owners around the world with their unique needs.

In the end, if one has to differentiate between these three manufacturing giants, there isn’t much difference between them except for the fact that any one of these companies might just have the parts or accessories that suit your specific needs, and that’s the option you will have to go with.

One strategy used by frequent overseas travel today is to have two separate phones for home and away. Instead of using your everyday phone, along with its high roaming charges and possible network incompatibilities in other countries, consider using a travel phone. You can now leave your phone behind and use the purpose-built phone to ensure that you are contactable and can stay in touch with your business and family at much lower rates.

In order to get the best cheap roaming deal, you will need to pair your travel phone with a global SIM card.

Using a global SIM card has many benefits, the most important of which is the lower roaming charges. They provide much lower roaming rates compared to standard providers and some packages even have free incoming calls. Any traveler will know how expensive it can be to even receive calls while overseas. With a global sim card, your wife and kids could call you anytime without worrying about heavy incoming call charges.

In addition, they are also meant to work in the countries you travel to. They are guaranteed to work and you can be sure of the charges and costs associated with phone usage overseas long before you leave.

Most smokers who struggle with the habit and wish to quit have been known to quit cold turkey to only return to the habit yet again. Let’s face it: it’s a difficult habit to break but this was the accepted paradigm until the invention of the e-cigarette.

Being totally smokeless, they have been known to simulate the experience but with a vital difference: the carcinogens present in cigarettes are not present in this patented device.

The e-cigarette looks exactly like the normal cigarette, and in doing so, does not use any tobacco but a fluid that provides the smoker with the required dosage of nicotine while eliminating almost 300 other carcinogens that are considered to be harmful to the body. And that’s a big difference from smoking normal cigarettes.

And critics aren’t yet convinced this is an excellent smoking cessation therapy the beauty is that this e-cigarette is able to give smoking addicts what they are looking for while avoiding the aforementioned harmful carcinogens that can cause great harm to your body.

Yet another advantage is the fact that, apart from normal cigarettes, these cigarettes do not smell and thus can be smoked anywhere in public thus relieving the people that you meet from second-hand smoke as well.

So if you are looking for an alternative that will work to help you quit smoking, you should find that this smoking cessation method can help you do so successfully as all you will need along with this device is the desire to quit.

 As the race for killer apps is being closely contested by Android and Apple these days, most Android users claim that there are a large number of free apps that they are able to download as a benefit that iPhone users enjoy.

Perhaps the reason why Android is achieving so much success is because there are a wide variety of apps that its users find very useful.  But best of all, they are free. Here is a list of must-have Android apps that a user in 2011 must get for his Android phone:

#1: Opera mini

If you use your phone frequently to browse the Internet, then getting this app for your phone is a must as it is simple to use and very fast.

#2: Daily Ab Workout

If you are a fitness freak who does not have much time, this app will provide you with a five-minute video that is prepared by a certified trainer.

#3: Go SMS

This app is purely for messaging related purposes.  It helps you find a contact or a group easily and allows you to send an SMS/ MMS.

#4: Zedge

This app has been designed to customize your phone with wallpapers and ringtones, and helps you download them rather easily. It is one of the most popular apps downloaded today.

#5: QuickPic

This app allows you to find your pictures on your phone easily while also allowing you to zoom in, crop, and share your photos.

There is a reason why people prefer international phones when they are on vacation or out on a business travel. It is cheaper for one, and the companies that offer these services also offer seamless services when you travel from one country to the other.

While for some, finding economical mobile services might not be a priority, but for those who find this to be important, there are several options that are made available to them over the Internet.

Since there are several options that have been made available in the guise of an international prepaid cell phone or even a post-paid account, you can be sure that the deals you get from these service providers will be the best that you can find.

With this said, you should be able to understand that you do not have to incur large bills in staying connected with your friends and loved ones. And if you are not sure whether or not these international SIM cards will work for you, it might be a relief to know that the people who have taken the risk in finding a decent cost-effective deal for international mobile services also profited in the bargain.

All in all, economical mobile services are available only if you would take the time to find them.

 Most experts consider the Apple iPad to be one of the best products that Apple has created. With such amazing features that leave people wanting more, Apple has acquired the reputation of a company that is known to push the limits in terms of creativity and innovation.

And perhaps, some of the features will tell you why!

For one, the 9.7 inch LED-backbit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen has an amazing picture resolution of 768 X 1024 pixels supporting almost 16 million colors. Some of the latest advances in technology such as finger/ scratch resistant oleo-phobic surface, an accelerometer for auto-rotate and a multi-touch input method will tell you why this device is state of the art.

With an internal memory of 256 MB RAM and the options for 16, 32 and 64 GB storage space along with the 1 GHz apple A4 processor that is run on iOS 4, one can only imagine how such a device will run on any given day.

However, when it comes to the software involved, not only have they tied up with several web-based companies for their products such as Google Maps, iBooks PDF Reader and Down-loadable and so on and so forth but they have also added the latest in social media applications as well.

There is no doubt that the Apple iPad has its all, and is no doubt, one of the coolest ways by which one can access the Web, Email and pretty anything related to fun stuff on a PC.

 When Apple announced that the iPhone 4 would soon be available on Verizon’s 3G network, people were more than pleased. For several months there had been rumors that the iPhone would soon be available to on the Verizon network, but the announcement finally confirmed the rumors. When people first decide that they want to purchase a smart phone, they want it to be able to accomplish any task they may demand of it. The iPhone 4 is one of the very few devices on the market that can accomplish just about any task.

One of the best things about the iPhone 4 is that users have access to the thousands of applications in Apple’s App Store. One of the best applications that an iPhone owner can own is the Facebook app. This app makes social networking very easy. Users do not have to open a separate browser and log in each time they want to update their status or comment on someone else’s status. With this app, users just have to tap the icon and they will have instant access to their Facebook page.

Overall, the iPhone is a revolutionary piece of technology. With the many features that it comes equipped with, users no longer need to carry more than one device in their pockets. This phone can be used as a camera, with a 5 megapixel camera, as a music player and of course a phone. Users will find that their lives will be much easier and with access to many different things on the phone, the iPhone is the best device created in the last decade.

Leaked information on the new Android Music app posted on the Engadget blog earlier this week might give users and developers clues about what the Android 3.0 operating system will look like. Android programmers can likely expect a revamped user interface with Android 3.0, including the possibility that Google is getting rid of its hardware buttons entirely and transitioning to full menu functionality through touch-screens within its apps.

According to Fortune, the new Android Music app that was leaked to Engadget is a good way to organize music files within a cloud setting. However, Android developers should note that the app appears to have significant limitations when it comes to streaming music to a device. It’s a potential problem which could hamper development of next-generation content streaming on Android devices.

The speculation is that the Android Music app will ship with the Android 3.0 operating system known as “Honeycomb” that is being touted by Motorola for their upcoming tablet computing device.