6 surprising things you can do with your smartphone

With more than 2 million apps in the Apple App Store and 2.2 million in Google Play, there are tons of things you can do with your smartphone beyond making calls and texting. Here are some of the most innovative apps that make your smartphone do things you've never imagined.

1. Measure your heart rate

Instant Heart Rate is an app that uses your phone's camera and flash to take a reading of your pulse. Just place your index finger on the camera and the app will automatically measure your heart rate by detecting color changes.

The app also collects data from each reading to create charts that help you monitor your heart rate over time. Plus, you can add tags and notes such as "Just woke up," "Before bed," "Exercising," and "Resting," to make your tracking more effective.

You don't have to be a fitness enthusiast to benefit from this app. It's also helpful if you have a medical condition such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes and need to monitor your heart rate closely. When I tested the app, it was within a beat or two of manually measuring my heart rate.

A free basic version is available for both Apple and Android users. However, there is also a Pro version (Apple, $2.99/Android, $1.99) that's ad-free and offers unlimited data tracking.

2. Hunt for treasure

One of the most unexpected things your smartphone can do is search for metal. If you own an iPhone, download a free app called Metal Detector. This app taps into your phone's built-in magnetometer, which helps your phone detect the X,Y, Z axes for things like the compass.

Metal Detector won't detect everything that's metal, but don't discredit its ability. Point your phone's camera toward the metal objects and turn up the dial to increase the intensity. You'll be surprised by the things it picks up. The app detects any metal that is magnetic.

If you don't have an iPhone, a similar app (also called Metal Detector) is available for Android devices. These apps share the same name; however, they were created by different developers and have slight differences in the way they operate.

3. Control your vehicle from anywhere

Wouldn't it be great if you could warm up or cool down your car before you even reach the parking lot? That's what Viper SmartStart does. It's like turning your phone into a remote control for your vehicle.

With the full system, you can start your car, unlock your doors, open your trunk, locate where you're parked, and even activate your security system. Premium versions also include features such as text alerts for speeding and when your car has a low battery.

The apps for Apple and Android are free to download and test, but you'll need extra hardware and a monthly service plan to make the system work.

There are four different service plan options, ranging from $70 to $240 per year, depending on the features you select. You will also need a module installed in your car, which costs around $300, plus installation.

4. Measure height and distance

Using your phone's camera and fancy math, the iOS app EasyMeasure estimates the distance or height of an object.

Before you play around with this app, an initial calibration is required. For better results, you'll need to set the lens' height. According to the app's tutorial, the lens' height is 4 inches from your real height.

To use the app, stand up and hold your phone at eye level then aim the little arrow at the base of the object you want to measure. Using the camera's angle and your position, the app estimates the object's distance.

EasyMeasure is available for both Apple and Android users as a free download. There is also an option to upgrade to a premium version (Apple $2.99/Android, $.99) that is ad-free.

5. Level objects

Here's a "handy" use for your smartphone, turn it into a leveler! iHandy Level is a free download for both iOS and Android that uses your smartphone's accelerometer to help you level objects. The app even mimics a real bubble leveler with a wooden overlay.

The leveling action works with all your phone's orientations so it's quite versatile. Use it in portrait mode, landscape mode or go hands-free and lay your phone flat on its back.

iHandy Level can help you hang picture frames, TV mounts, light fixtures and just about anything you want to straighten out.

Other features include a digital readout of the current angle and a Hold button that locks the leveler in place.

6. See in the dark

Thermal vision isn't something we're born with, but now it's possible to use it to see in the dark. All you need is a camera attachment, such as the Seek Thermal.

This high-resolution thermal camera attaches to your smartphone through the lightning port for Apple or micro USB port for Android. There are two different models currently available, the Compact and Compact XR.

Compact models cost around $250 and include a 206 x 156 thermal sensor. This model is also waterproof and can detect temperatures between -40 degrees and 626 degrees Fahrenheit at a range up to 1,000 feet.

For $300, the Compact XR model gets you a larger field of view, as well as a range of up to 1,800 feet. You'll find these products on Seek Thermal's website and on Amazon.

Seek Thermal cameras also come as an app to display the detected heat signatures on your phone screen. Use this equipment to scout and track wildlife, detect air leaks, monitor your home, find loose electrical wires, etc.

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Google buys Orbitera, a platform for cloud marketplaces, for $100M+

Google today announced another acquisition that will help the company improve how it competes against Amazon’s AWS, Salesforce and Microsoft in the area of enterprise services, and specifically selling enterprise services in the cloud: it has acquired Orbitera, a startup that developed a platform for buying and selling cloud-based software.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed but our sources close to the deal tell us it’s just north of $100 million.

This is an acquisition of talent, technology, and existing business. The CEO Marcin Kurc (tellingly) is an alum of AWS. And Google notes that some 60,000 enterprise stacks have already been launched on Orbitera. These include the likes of Adobe, Oracle and Metalogix, who all resell cloud services from third-party vendors as part of their larger enterprise businesses.

“This acquisition will not only improve support of software vendors on Google Cloud Platform but also provides customers with more choice and flexibility in today’s multi-cloud world,” Google said in a statement provided to media.

Kurc notes in his announcement that Google will keep everything running as is, “at this time.”

The startup says its focus is on providing four (end-to-end) aspects of building cloud marketplaces: Packaging and Provisioning, Billing and Cost Optimization, Marketplace and Catalogs, Trials and Lead Management.

It looks like Google will continue to operate that business on behalf of existing users, and maybe to help out its own marketplace for cloud services on its own cloud platform.

“Looking to the future, we’re committed to maintaining Orbitera’s neutrality as a platform supporting multi-cloud commerce. We look forward to helping the modern enterprise thrive in a multi-cloud world,” writes Nan Boden, head of global technology partners at Google.

As Google has grown well beyond its earliest roots as a search company, its reached an interesting relationship with companies that are at turns friends and rivals to its own business interests.

Buying a platform company that works with so many of these in the area of cloud services is an interesting development for Google, and one that it’s keen to try to tread carefully in making.

In this case, Google is trying to reassure customers that even as it sells a platform to sell products, it recognises that the ultimate repository of those products might not be Google itself.

(Whether or not that is the case longer term is another question — in other areas like ads, Google has walked an impartial line and then changed course — but for now there is a viable enough business for Google in remaining a neutral party.)

“We recognize that both enterprise customers and ISVs want to be able to use more than one cloud provider and have a way to conduct product trials and proofs of concept before building a full production deployment, all using their trusted SIs (System Integrators), resellers and normal sales cycles,” Boden notes.

“Orbitera has built a strong ecosystem of enterprise software vendors delivering software to multiple clouds. This acquisition will not only improve the support of software vendors on Google Cloud Platform, but reinforces Google’s support for the multi-cloud world. We’re providing customers with more choice and flexibility when it comes to running their cloud environment.”

Orbitera was co-founded by Firas Bushnaq and Brian Singer, who came up with the idea for the company to fix some of the “transactional and operational challenges associated with selling software” that they encountered while founding and working at previous tech companies.

Based out of West Hollywood, CA, Orbitera had raised some $2 million in funding from angels like Hiten Shah and Arjun Sethi, Double M Partners and Resolute.

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