Kamis, 06 Februari 2014

How can we find the cheapest gas stations?

With the increase in the value of a barrel of oil and the rise in VAT, the fuel prices are at historic highs. If we fill up our cars and scare us with the bill, a good way to save is to locate the cheapest gas stations. Thus, we can use multiple mobile applications that are reported where these stations and offer useful additional information.

Any help will serve to save is always welcome. And if it comes to a product such as fuel for vehicles, used by millions of people in our country to travel by road, especially because direct impact on our pockets.

Smart phones allow unburden all applications, including those that help us find the cheapest gas stations near our area. Applications, in many cases, free and other at very affordable prices, Mobile Android, iOS or Windows Phone.
Typical applications to find cheapest gas stations

Gas Stations Spain. Find the place where we are and displays a map which shows the pump. A menu allows you to filter the results and given the option to enter search criteria such as price, distance, make the gas station, and offers data such as the opening and closing hours of the station. Also, Google Maps tells us how to get. The application is free and has been developed by Android and PĂ­ntega Mobialia on iPhone.
Cheap Gas. Search for the cheapest gas stations within a radius of 30 kilometers to the point where we are through Google Maps. Indicates the price and we guide you to your destination. This application allows us to calculate how much we save when refueling over other stations marked on the map. Developed by Mobilendo, is applicable to Android and Windows Phone. Its price is 0.99 euros.
GPS Stations. Available for Windows Mobile Phone at a price of 1.49 euros, find cheaper gas stations and displays them on a map in different sizes and colors for quick viewing. You can check address, hours, distance and time of arrival. In case of not knowing how to get to the station, the navigator guides us to the destination.
Gasofa Barata. It is one of the most used applications by Android users as well as being free and based on official data from the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Energy. Indicates the economic station and get directions to the nearest. You can sort by price or distance information and has four location modes.
Z-GasoRedux. Android Application that finds the cheapest gas stations in Spain, updated every five minutes the prices of its database from the server of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Energy. The sort by price, distance and optimal price, ie, the amount of fuel increased according to what it takes to get to the gas station. It then displays the path and guides us from our current position to the station.
GasAll. Developed by Mobivery, is an alternative for iPhone Cheap Gas Stations Spain and, although with a similar operation. The map indicates the stations with the lowest prices in green and in red those with the highest. Clicking indicates the schedule, route and also shows a calculator to determine the cost of refueling by the liter. This free application allows you to filter the search by distance criteria and fuel type.

How do these applications?

The operation of all these applications is very similar. Using Global Positioning System (GPS) chip or data connection, where we are located and gas stations with the best price around. When we indicate the type of fuel you use our vehicle, a map will appear with the seasons and if you click on each of them will give us more information.

NFC, a new system to pay via mobile phone

In a consumer society like ours, where smartphones have transformed our ways, firms and agencies begin to bet on a new technology: NFC, you can buy, pay and get information, among others, simply bringing a cell phone to a terminal.

In Spain, where there are more mobile devices than people, users are constantly connected to the network. Therefore, the large telecommunications companies working to bring to market innovative products that pose the same time, new business opportunities and greater convenience for consumers. An example is the Near Field Communication technology (Near Field Communication or NFC for short) that allows to speed up payments low amounts. It is, in short, to facilitate customer consumption and also to increase business operations.

What is it? NFC is a short-range wireless system, similar to the Bluetooth, that allows transmission of data between electronic devices. It is an alternative to traditional payment methods (cash or credit card) which involves making contactless payments through mobile phone.
How NFC system works and what it is used?

This technique, which uses the principles of radio frequency identification technology (RFID, for its acronym in English), is completely safe. Communication is possible only when the two NFC devices, smart tags, are at a distance less than 10 centimeters, so that the possibility that another signal capturing terminal is quite difficult.

Besides being able to make payments, there are several utilities that this system provides. Some of the most interesting are:

Buy tickets for different modes of transport.
Get product information or events through the so-called smart posters.
Spend a photo wirelessly to a TV or printer without requiring any configuration.
Control access entry in concerts, festivals or any event crowded.
Share business cards with other NFC phones.
Exchanging data with other devices or files.

These and other NFC mobile applications are available for iPhone, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.
Implementation in Spain

Although NFC technology first developed in 2002 in a joint project between the companies Philips and Sony, has not been massively deployed in our country, because the installation of NFC tags on smartphones is still be a slow process and expensive.

But I have taken some steps, Renfe and Vodafone, for example, are some of the companies that have begun to introduce this technology in Spain. Late last year, the two companies signed an agreement by which it was possible to make payment of bills through the mobile phone. The railway operator 300 lathes adapted suburban network of the Community of Madrid to allow payment, or any other operation, an NFC device to another, equipped with the same technology. In addition, several banks in our country (Banco Santander, BBVA, La Caixa, etc.), operators (Telefonica, Orange, Vodafone …), hypermarkets (Caprabo, Carrefour, for example) and companies such as MasterCard and Visa, also begin to offer its customers the ability to make payments (and other operations) using this system “contactless”.

The ignorance and the limited use of this system make certain mistrust still exists by users. However, many companies are aware of their progress and effectiveness, are pursuing major possiblities NFC because it provides convenience, immediacy and simplicity, as major advantages.

Apps for managing expenses, how mobile can help us control our budget

Nowadays it is Smartphone unseating the dog and gradually becomes the best friend of man. Mobile applications are our allies for most activities almost daily and would expect to regarding domestic financial management, even more now that we have to moderate our monthly expenses and manage different domestic payments. Now we can use the technology for home bookkeeping using apps to manage our mobile expenses allowing us to control our economy in a comfortable and easy.

Saving is, in many cases, make the effort to examine and forecast expenses and money do you have available. And we should eat wisely, and get score reduce costs or simply to know what the money is going and see what is essential and what is not.

Internet also we can make life easier thanks to a series of tools that allow us to organize and rationalize expenditure. The more users we have different technological applications for all types of devices that help us balance the books at the end of the month. Some are free and some for sale, and allow us to control our expenses and income transfers or notices set and get custom reports these data, among other operations.

AppAplicaciones that help us

There is a wide range of more or less simple applications with which control our finances without too much effort. Some of them are:

Moneytracking. Internet is presented as “the free online tool to regain control of your finances.” This solution allows to know how money is spent and where will the revenue each month. It is also aimed at small businesses to help them manage their accounts easily.
Moneybox. Designed to keep track of household expenses, professional workers and small businesses. Provides access to summaries of revenues and expenses with charts, filters and statistics.
ReadyForZero. Aimed at managing the debts incurred by users. You need to add all debts along with the fees payment and the period for completion of the same. Highlights include graphics for the status of the accounts and the progress of the reduction of debts. The system also sends email alerts of upcoming payments due and account status.
Mint. Services is one of the longest-running online as manager of the family economy and one of the most used tools. However, it has the disadvantage that European users can not automate the movements of their accounts through secure connection with their banks.
AceMoney. Contains tools to carry out a practical control your user accounts: savings, loans, credit cards, etc.. Lets get comprehensive reports by category (transport or food, for example) or payments to know exactly what the money is being spent.
MoneyWell. It has a system graphically represented cubes representing different areas of monthly expenses, with which you get as much as possible to set a spending plan that barely varies each month. In the version for Apple devices is clearly the money left in each area of ​​the budget and all accounts, credit cards, etc..
Debt Free. It is not intended for daily spending, but displayed debts and help you calculate how much money to spend per month to your payment, and also calculate how much time or interest can be reduced by changing the variables.
Expenditure. Application very useful for people who travel often go and have to change the currency, as it uses its own converter that allows you to annotate and control costs in the country where you are.
My Expenses. We can create an expense or transaction with name, date, cost, do accounts classifications and categories, if they are recurring expenses, view expenses by day, week or month and make a backup of all data, among others.
MoneyBook. The application helps various icons to locate each economic operation we undertake. Visually daily reports of all income and expenses, and also offers a monthly historical graphs to check which is performed more spending.

This is a small sample of the applications that can be found on the network, but the Internet offers many more (Tupaco, Moneywise, iXpenseIt, My expenses, etc..). In order to find the one that best suits our needs we can consult blogs, pages and portals specializing in mobile technology and where often publish comparative every application.

Guide to hiring the best mobile tariff

The supply of mobile services and the Internet has grown in the last five years, we need to consider certain factors before hiring the services with one or another company to get the best mobile tariff.

The arrival of new entrants to the sector has increased supply, improving and increasing the rates, services and, ultimately, the money of the products offered by telecommunications companies.

Changes in the exchange rates

If until recently we had to take into account the time in which we called on the phone, the landscape has changed since the rates we currently offer are flat, ie, no matter the time you call, and even the operator whose recipient because all calls are priced equally.

Today we are primarily two types of rates:

- Price per minute. Should hire this type of fee if we do long calls because usually the price per minute is very competitive and we only call setup charge every time we call.

- Flat rates. In this case we pay a flat fee for “x” minutes spoken, regardless of the number of calls we make. This fare type is highly recommended for people who make lots of calls and especially short.

Please note when choosing operator

The strong competition between operators causes the rates are quite similar to each other, something that downplays prices either hire operator. So are other aspects to consider when choosing:

- Coverage. This aspect has evolved over time and currently, the level of coverage that we provide the four companies with their own network reaching 99% of the territory. Yet phone companies themselves have developed and published detailed maps, so that each user can check which operator will be more functional in the areas through which it moves normally.

- Terminal. In this case, each user will have to assess what you prefer, because although there are people who choose to purchase a free terminal change “tie” to an operator with a permanent contract, there are others who choose to buy a free phone so you can change carriers and rate at the time that suits them.

In recent months it has introduced another way of purchasing a new terminal. The companies have followed the model of other European countries and now offer financing mobile phones, adding to the monthly service fee, one with some interest.

- Internet on mobile. One of the services most valued by most users. We must take into account the number of megabytes (MB) to download which includes the fee and the use you are going to take because it will not be necessary to hire unlimited rates if we do not surf the net much. We must also look at the conditions of the contract when we exceed the MB download, because sometimes we only lose speed, but in others we may charge for the downloading more.

- Physical stores. Currently have entered strong market Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO). Such companies offer their services online or by phone, but lack physical stores. This may not be more important, but sometimes there are certain problems which must be addressed in person.

- Offers and discounts. The ADSL and cable operators tend to offer better conditions when more services contracts with the company, such as fixed and mobile telephony, broadband, wireless, television. If we are to optimize telecom spending should choose a single operator for all and so benefit from additional discounts.

Find the perfect rate so much on offer and so many aspects to be assessed can be very complicated. To do this, we can use comparators rates and calculators offered by the Telecommunications Market Commission (CMT).

Listen to music online for free

Websites that offer free music on demand and streaming are fashionable. With just one click we can listen to our favorite artists and with a more than acceptable.

The success of streaming music (ie not saved content, but listen while downloading) is increasing and not only among users but also between record companies, who see in this model the form to survive the piracy. There are two main factors that have driven streaming services. On the one hand, increasing all devices with access to the network and on the other, the expansion of affordable internet rates, allowing us to be online at any time and place.

The most popular

One of the most popular platforms to stream music is Spotify, with about thirteen million users worldwide. In keeping with its philosophy of enjoying music anywhere and at any time, the service launched its official application for mobile devices and now has launched its iPad app. Thus, allow users to enjoy all their music through Apple tablet.

This system allows free music, but has a maximum limit of ten hours a month. Therefore, most of its users are subscribed to one of their services or premium payment rates to access exclusive features. It costs ten euros monthly.

Other ways to listen to music online

- Grooveshark. Completely free, with the option of paying for access from mobile and tablet. The main feature of Grooveshark is the ability to find songs and play them instantly allowing also creating a playlist, which can be saved so you can listen to it on any other device.

- Rockola.fm. It offers its users the option to access music without an internet connection from your portable device applications. With this service you can access music playlists for decades, language, genres, artists and songs preset by the system. If you do not like the song can be marked for re-listening or not, on the contrary, it can be stated as favorite to appear more frequently.

- Rdio. It is a very complete system of playing music with a performance similar to Spotify. It has two pricing plans depending on the type of platform where you want to access music, but you can try without any commitment for seven days. Also, known for its simplicity of use and graphical environment.

This service provides access to a catalog of twelve million songs without limits from the browser, desktop applications for Mac and PC or popular mobile systems (iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7).

- Musicovery. An application that allows us to discover new groups or artists. To do this, we introduce service when accessing parameters on the type of music that we (the environment, to dance, etc..) And gender or date. With these data, the service performs a search and offers results.

- ITunes Match. This service is limited to Apple device users connected to the network as the iPhone, iPod Touch, Macs or iPad tablet. They can listen to streaming music, if only we will have it saved and sync with the cloud servers of Apple, iCloud. This service is charged at 25 euros per year.

- Soso. Noted for its ease of use and performance. We can listen to almost any song, either on your computer or Apple devices (iPhone, Ipad, Ipod Touch) or Android. In addition to managing our playlists, the system allows us to upload our own music.

The handicap of this service is to limit access. After more than two million registered users, now only new users by invitation can enjoy advanced options such as managing their own distribution lists or upload their own songs.

MySpace

Although not a download application itself, the popular social network MySpace is a good choice for music in our devices. Many bands and singers share their songs on this website, to be released to the network and launch the subjects of his recent albums. They also keep in touch with their fans and allow them to select the subjects to listen in streaming. Moreover, these applications have a digital counter that records the times you hear each topic, so that measures the popularity of the same.

Many, therefore, the benefits we provide networking, especially music lovers, because since the internet came into our lives acquire music became much easier. Moreover, the idea of ​​sharing and downloading music has revolutionized the record industry, which has created a service and a business selling alternative to classic albums and live concert tickets.

What is it and what is a data phone?

Since the cards were in our lives, the payment process has evolved shops. The old dataphone has given way to the new POS terminal, with which it makes a payment process more convenient and, above all, safe.

Technological advances have opened the door to new forms of commerce to attract a greater number of consumers. A good quality of products and of course, good service are the keys to retaining customers and attract potential buyers.

For consumers it is important to have alternatives when establishments pay in cash or by credit card in most cases. For the latter system, which is becoming the most common, used some electronic devices called data phones.

What is a data phone?

A dataphone or point of sale terminal (POS) is a device, installed in a shop or store, allowing customers to charge their credit card or debit card. It consists of a card reader through magnetic stripe or chip, a receipt printer and a connection system through a phone line or Internet. In addition, online communication allows the financial institution where the customer pays with their card.

The payment process through POS has evolved in recent years to adapt to the new EMV chip cards, which carry a safety pin, allowing them to be more secure payments. Also, the increased use of the cards to buy has led many businesses to use a dataphone in which we insert ourselves into the terminal board and type our pin.

Advantage

- Process payments easier. Streamlines the billing process and avoid long queues.

- Payments safer. The client keeps track of the card at any time.

- The trade saves time and money. No need to enter the money in the bank, or have large amounts of changes.

- Facilitates the use of cards. The client does not need to carry cash and can use any funding formula that provides the card issuer and payment by installments, discounts in shops, etc..

- Trade wins customers. Many purchases are not made for not having cash.

Immediate Future

The evolution of the terminals goes far beyond. Square payment system used in the United States, uses a small, square reader with a magnetic strip that connects to iPads and smartphones for people to spend their credit cards.

The device provides card information to free Square software, which prevents companies must purchase or rent the equipment to process these payments.

Google Wallet, the mobile wallet

The Google Wallet service proposes to replace any current payment method (cash or card) by the mobile phone. Lets make a purchase in two steps: approaching the mobile terminal and pressing the acceptance of purchase on the touch screen of the phone, plus the number secret.

To function uses the Near Field Communications (NFC) on mobile phones, which allows the exchange of data between compatible devices within inches. This signal stimulates the electronic circuit of the label to return the information it contains.

Users must have confidence to use these services and other alternatives that will come in the future. Many betting and this new way to pay, but are we really about the future of payments in Spain? Is it a good option? RealizarĂ­as? Payments with your phone? Are we motivated to buy more?