The phone itself is not not necessarily a revelation. It makes calls, takes calls and sends texts like any other. What is so amazing about this phone is the fact that while it can do all of the above with ease it also gives you much more. Out of the box, the iphone is also a camera, an ipod and GPS mapping service. It is also your personal weatherman (or woman), a stocks advisor and a mobile email device. Whilst nowadays many of these utilities are common in other mobile phones, including a touch screen, there is however one thing that the iphone has over all others.
The App Store. A store housing everything you could ever imagine. Unique to Apple Macintosh Ltd, it is mind blowing. I had a little trepidation when purchasing the iphone but as soon as I visited the App Store for the first time via the iphone, it was something I knew would have a lot of fun with. The Apps available for download are endless. You can truly turn your mobile phone into, well basically, anything.
There are in total 20 categories of Applications. Examples of these are: Games (such as Street Fighter and Final Fantasy); Entertainment (turn your phone into a virtual aquarium, joke apps etc); Utilities (your phone can now be a thermometer, a spirit level, a magnifying glass or a torch); Social Networking (Facebook/Bebo Apps); Lifestyle (apps comprising cooking recipes, baby names and ooh err...sex positions!); Travel (Rail/bus timetable apps, route planners); Sports (watch Eurosport live, follow your favourite football club, bet calculators, a golfing app measuring strokes taken, swing tempo and distance to the hole); Photography (have fun will all your photos); Music (download radio stations to your phone, guitar chord finder, turn your phone into a virtual piano); Finance (a budget planner, currency converters): Books (download your favourite book in audio format); Medical (pregnancy apps, quit smoking apps); Health & Fitness (Calorie counter apps, workout routines, turn your phone into a pedometer!). Its amazing! The possibilities are endless.
The only downside to all of this however is that most of the Apps have to be bought. Within the above categories there are however sub categories of Apps you have to pay for and the ones which are free. Although all are relatively inexpensive, the free apps do just as much as the ones you have to purchase. An example of this was an app I downloaded called 'Rain Maker'. This app basically let you choose from around 30 different options what type of Rain you wanted to listen to. Sounds mental right?!
How many of you have trouble sleeping, yet somehow when there is a heavy downpour outside it has a hypnotic effect on you making you drowsy and sleepy....??? Hmmmm??? - Well this app lets you choose from different sound effects such as light rain, rain falling from a broken gutter, rain running into a drain, a hailstorm, a rain sound effect as if you were inside a tent, rain falling on a forest floor, rain and wind, rain and lightning thunderstorm effects. There were so many! - Truth be told....too many.
When I was having trouble sleeping I would just use the effect of rain falling from a broken gutter. Having tried them all, this one seemed to be the most calming and helped me get to sleep the easiest.
Although I paid for this app which was less than a pound, there was also a free version called Rain Maker Lite. This was simply the exact same application, but with fewer sound effects. So you can, if you take the time, find free versions of more or less every app you so desire.
As I type this post though I am aware of an app which has definitely been worth its £0.59p asking price for me. Even more so than the above. An app called 'Couch to 5K' (or C25K, as we gadget geeks like to call it! lol). Having previously blogged about my exploits in the gym and failing fitness levels, this was the perfect app that I was looking for. A shining beacon within the app jungle! As Ronseal would say - "It does exactly what it says on the tin!" It can be found within the Health and Fitness section and aims for those sedentary individuals such as moi, to get off the COUCH and run 5K! Simples!
This app helps you get back into shape using a 3 days a week workout program spanning 9 weeks, culminating in your ability to run 5km (or 3.1 miles) without stopping or walking. Every workout begins with a warmup of 5 mins, about 20-30 mins of intervals (alternating jogging and walking), and a cooldown of 5 mins. The app has audio and visual cues for each interval period and shows elapsed time, time remaining, and time to the next interval.
The idea is to slowly build up your strength and endurance so that your body can get used to running longer distances. If you start off pushing yourself too hard, you risk having your body rebel, making it harder to stay with the program.
It asks that you take a rest day after every workout to let your body recover. Muscles need to heal and they need rest to do that. And to avoid the temptation to skip ahead or lump workouts together; a sure recipe for soreness and unhappy workouts! Also, that you stretch your muscles before and after your workout to avoid injury. Charts of stretches are included in the app.
You can also use this app with the built in ipod and Nike Plus+ features of your iphone which allows you to listen to your own music or playlists and afterwards upload details of your runs to the Nike Plus+ website (including Facebook and Twitter) where your runs, calories burned and progress are plotted on graphs and the like. It really is the business.
I had 2 trial runs last week of the program and it works superbly. I was apprehensive about starting back into my training after essentially a 2-3 year lay off but the app was excellent. Perfectly timed intervals and audio cues making you totally aware of everything. The Ministry of Sound CD I was listening to also played its part! ;-)
Upon finishing my previous two runs, I was left with a feeling that I could do more...go for another one almost. But as the app suggests...I avoided this temptation. It was a confident start.
So without further ado - as I am off work today \o/ YAY! - I shall swiftly make my retreat from this post and prepare for Week One > Workout One. And if by chance I meet any of you on my travels, please lend a hand and give an old boy a pat on the back... :-)
Au Revóir Monsóiurs et Mamósielles,
Vivá lé Resistánce
Lé Paúlio. x
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