It may seem like today’s generation of phones is vastly different from those of a few years ago, but the core features have hardly changed. The phone, browser, messaging, music player and calendar apps that come with your phone today are the same as the ones that came on your phone five years ago – with minimal functional and visual overhauls.

It’s time for these basic functions to change. Just as replacements such as instagram have made the default camera app nearly taboo, alternative apps for the core functions of our phones are quickly making their way into the standard app repertoire.

The Phone

The default phone app is … phoney. Our contact book is far less extensive and detailed than our social media lists of “friends” and “followers”, so why should we limit our phone to just people in our contact list? Imagine receiving a call, and in those three seconds before you answer having the ability to know who is calling, what their last tweet was and what they emailed or texted you recently. That way, next time your boss calls and asks you about “that email,” you can be prepared. Replace your stock phone with an app like CallApp (pictured below) or SideCar – it may just save your job.

Music Player

People take music seriously. Lock a metalhead and a dubstep fan in the same room and it might get a little out of control. We spend so much time and money downloading music and purchasing high end headphones to optimize our experience with music, but we don’t realize that what’s really limiting it is the default music player on our phones. Try downloading a full-featured music player like PowerAMP (pictured below) or doubleTwist, which allow you to truly listen to your music in a way that would make the artist proud.

Browser

Open a browser on your computer and then open your stock mobile browser. Which experience is better? Imagine having the same features on your phone’s browser as you do on your computer at home. This means things like multiple-tabs, gestures, themes, additional customization, flash players and download managers. That’s a lot of features your current browser is missing. You don’t need to fear browsing on your phone, it should be seamless and convenient: try an app like Maxthon (pictured below), Dolphin Browser, Skyfire or Opera Mini:

There are many other apps that come standard with your phone that are upgradeable for other apps. Don’t take our word for it – go search for apps to replace your calendar, messaging and clock apps and tweet us @quixey with your favorite apps!

Welcome to the Quixeyplex! Here’s your chance to check out the office and take a tour. Brace yourself and off we go!

Hope you liked the tour! Let us know on Facebook or Twitter if you’d like to visit!

The TV market needs a refresh. And luckily, the days of channel guides, five remotes and regular TV are coming to an end.

Welcome to the era of the SMART TV. Apps, internet connection and gesture based controls – it’s like a super computer in your living room.

Just this past weekend, LG released their new Smart TV – complete with a Nintendo Wii-like remote, app store integration and most importantly, internet access.

Samsung recently released their own Smart TV, which, like the xBox Kinect, allows you to interact with the TV using gestures, voice control and facial recognition. And many sources believe that the new Apple iTV will include iCloud and Siri integration. You’ll just ask your TV to pull up an app and you’ll be good to go.

But what do Smart TVs really mean to the tech industry?

First, Smart TVs provide opportunities for communication between devices. Multiple manufactures are already working with communication networks to launch smartphones and tablets that can communicate with their new Smart TVs. Additionally, wi-fi connectivity allows Smart TVs to act as a hub, exchanging data such as documents, music and pictures with other devices. Your TV can become the center of your living room, displaying a slideshow of your family or playing music directly from your computer.

But it doesn’t stop there. Bluetooth 4.0 technology connects devices almost instantaneously. With Bluetooth 4.0, developers can build games that use your phone or tablet as a remote. Imagine playing a racing game and tilting your phone to control the car.

Smart TV is the new frontier for app developers. Already, Samsung TV has over 1,400 apps, ranging from fitness to social networking apps. According to Samsung over 20 million TV apps have already been downloaded! A larger screen, 3D capabilities, gesture based controls, bluetooth and wifi-connection all give app developers an entirely new set of tools to work with.

For example, Flingo is developing an app that allows you to “grab and then fling” content from one device to another – opening doors for users and advertisers. Imagine watching a youtube video on your phone, walking into your living room, and flinging it onto your TV. Or let’s say you’re watching an ad on your TV, and you want to learn more about the product. You could fling the content from your TV to your smartphone, and learn more without disrupting your show. Advertisers could also offer discounts for purchasing the product directly through your TV or Smartphone.

Another great Smart TV app is LG’s Dual Play function. The Dual Play app enables two players to see different screens on the same TV. Instead of having to split the screen, now multiple gamers can have a full-sized experience at the same time. The TV transmits two separate images that can be viewed through two different sets of polarized glasses.

This is just the beginning. It’s only a matter of time until developers start considering TVs an important platform. Once that happens, the rest is history. Stay tuned.

Comments, thoughts? Tweet @Quixey!

There are apps for everything – from writing on virtual walls to measuring distances with your phone’s microphone. Today, we document three of these apps that you didn’t even believe existed.

Type n Walk

Today, texting is one of the most used features of smartphones – but it isn’t perfect. Type n Walk is an app that helps you easily maneuver around obstacles while texting, such as people and trees, by displaying a transparent view of what’s directly in front of you!

Type n Walk on Quixey

WallitApp

Imagine yourself as a graffiti artist and the world is your canvas – there’s an app for that. The Wallit app allows you to graffiti hundreds of secret digital walls throughout the world. But instead of using spray paint, you can leave your mark by posting a message, photo or video on designated walls. There are walls in San Francisco, New York, Tokyo, Istanbul, Panama and in other popular cities. You can only post, or see what other people have posted, when you’re at the wall’s physical location. Rumor has it that there is a marriage proposal on the Golden Gate bridge…

WallitApp on Quixey

Sonar Ruler

Drop the tape measure, you won’t need it next time you measure dimensions. Sonar Ruler uses your phone’s microphone to send a short pulse from the speaker and measures how long that pulse takes to bounce back – gauging your distance from objects.

Sonar Ruler App on Quixey

There are apps that are suited for every situation, regardless of what you need or want!

The goal was to make a name that could earn a ton of points in Scrabble. “Quixey” seemed to fit the bill, earning a whopping 25 points before any bonuses. Compare that to Google (a measly 8 points), Microsoft (16 points), Zynga (18), or even Shazam (20). We considered naming our company Qvixey (28 points), Quixxey (33 points), or Quixzy (34 points) but those names just didn’t have the same ring to them. It was tough letting go of our dream name, Zyxyqz, which would have netted 46 points! We’re baffled that the domain name zyxyqz.com hasn’t been taken already. Anyway, here’s to the day when Quixey grows so popular, it gets listed in the dictionary as a common noun…

Or better yet, a verb. That way, there can be a past tense, as in “I quixeyed an iPhone app for recognizing music yesterday. I got Shazam!” The wonderful thing about playing ‘quixeyed’ in Scrabble is it gains the player 50 points for using all their tiles in one turn. That’s powerful.

How powerful? We’ve calculated that a strategically placed ‘quixeyed’ could earn a player up to 374 points on a single turn! Just for reference, the most points in history gained from a single word came from Michael Cresta, who had 365 points for “quixotry.”

Got another company name you wish you could play in Scrabble? Tweet @Quixey!