The Best Apps for Students

Being a student can be a tough life. You have your studies to keep up with and a social life to maintain. Some students have jobs and even children to worry about as they study too. You have to work on your current commitments while looking ahead to post-graduation too. Fortunately, there are some great mobile apps to help you make it through your education. You can download apps to help you study, stay on top of your schedule and record all the material you need. All of these excellent apps are perfect for carrying around on your phone or tablet and using in and out of class.

Planning and Scheduling Apps

Depending on what you study, you could have a pretty heavy workload. Staying on top of everything isn’t always easy, so you need something to help you stay organized. There are some great planner apps to help you make plans and keep notes. You might use something like Google Calendar to keep track of everything you have going on. Many students use an app like Timetable to map out your classes and other commitments. There are other options too, such as My Class Schedule for Android or Class Timetable for iOS. They’re much more convenient than a timetable on a piece of paper.

Revision Apps

Making notes and recording lectures might give you something to revise, but it won’t help you learn it. Some apps can focus on a specific topic that will help you memorize standard information. For example, a medical student could use one that helps them with anatomy. You can also get lots of apps that allow you to put in your own information. You can use your revision notes with EverNote Peek or use ExamTime on the web to make charts, maps, and notes.

Lecture Capturing Apps

Many students like to record their lectures so that they can listen to them again later. It can be very useful if you’re not a great note taker or you just want another tool for learning. You do have to be careful that you get permission, however. In many states, it’s not legal to record someone without their consent. You can know use a lecture capturing app instead of using the recorder on your phone or a specialist piece of equipment. You can use SoundNote, which records and lets you take notes. Other apps include Lecture Capture and Notes Plus.

Sleep and Wake up Apps

Making the most of your sleep is essential when you’re a student. Sleep tracking and wakeup apps can be excellent tools to help you do it. For example, you can use Sleep Cycle to track your sleeping patterns and help you go to bed and wake up at the right time. It will wake you when you’re in the lightest phase of sleep so that you’re not as groggy when you wake up.

Taking advantage of the latest apps can help students stay on top of everything. Find the ones that work for you to make the most of your studies.

Source: www.latesttechupdates.com

Apple Inc's Apple Pay mobile payment system to go live in China on Feb 18

Apple Inc's Apple Pay mobile payment system will be available in China from February 18 for Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) customers, bank representatives said in social media posts on Tuesday.

The technology giant had previously said the system would launch in China in early 2016, making it Apple Pay's fifth country as it accelerates development of a planned new revenue stream. ICBC is China's biggest lender by assets.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on ICBC's posts on the projected launch. The lender is set to be joined by a raft of peers: Apple's China website lists 19 Chinese lenders as official Apple Pay partners, and state media reported two other lenders will also go live with the service from February 18.

Greater China is Apple's second-largest market by revenue, but the company faces an uphill battle to match that prowess quickly in mobile payments.

Apple Pay's beginnings have been less than auspicious in other markets, including scepticism from retailers in its home market. But in China, Apple Pay's issue will be how to compete with dominant and entrenched players, serving shoppers well used to paying for goods and services with their handsets.

China is the world's biggest smartphone market. By the end of 2015, 358 million people, more than the population of the United States, had already taken to paying by mobile phone, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

Dominating those payments are China's two biggest Internet companies: social networking and gaming firm Tencent Holdings Ltd and e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, through its Internet finance affiliate Ant Financial Services Group.

Tencent operates WeChat Payment, while Ant Financial runs Alipay.

Apple Pay has also struggled to gain traction with banks in some countries. In Australia, the four main banks are holding out against the new entrant. The company in Britain faced resistance from big banks over fees before relenting.

Earlier on Tuesday, China's state radio reported on its website that China Guangfa Bank Co Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp said on social media they would also launch Apple Pay on February 18.

A China Construction Bank spokesman declined to comment, while Guangfa could not be reached for comment.

Source: reuters.com