I’ve talked about some apps people can use if they want to communicate with others from around the world without spending a lot of money.

Do you remember when you had to remortgage your home to make an international phone call because they were far too expensive? Things have changed and a big reason for the turnaround is some great apps that are being built at the moment. Being able to communicate with people abroad is obviously very important to some people, so let’s look at the apps they should be using.

WhatsApp Messenger (https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/whatsapp-messenger/id310633997)

WhatsApp is slowly becoming the biggest player in the instant messenger crowd and the reason people are moving over to it is because all their friends have it. Why would you still send messages through your normal phone network when you can send them through the app along with images, videos, and voice notes? You can even chat with multiple friends at the same time inside group chat. Even though you can’t make proper calls you can still get everything else for free.

Viber (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/viber/id382617920)

Viber is on a mission to let everyone in the world connect without having to pay a dime. You can use Viber to communicate with someone in almost any way possible with carrier pigeon messages being one of the exceptions. When you first join up you’ll be given an id number and this will be your phone number. The app will also dig into your contact list to find out of any of your friends use Viber too. You can invite anyone to join if you want to talk to them for free from anywhere.

Rebtel (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rebtel-cheap-free-international/id310755560?mt=8)

It feels like all these small startup companies are trying to give us as much benefits as possible so they’ll be the next company that stands out from the crowd, but I don’t think you’ll be complaining any time soon. Rebtel has HD sound quality which I know you’re going to love because it’s a lot clearer than what you’d get from a lot of other apps. There is also a push notification feature that will let you know when someone has tried to call or message you just in case you have the app switched off.

MilliTalk (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/millitalk-free-calling-texts/id418049135?mt=8)

You’ve probably not heard much about Millitalk yet, but when you download their app you’ll still be provided with a ton of value. A few things about there features are slightly different from the other companies including their powerful SMS platform. You will also be able to turn your iPad into a phone which will come in handy when you’re on a video call with someone. The key feature is obviously the fact their international calls are very cheap and you’ll save a lot of money using them.

Snapchat (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/snapchat/id447188370)

There is a lot of buzz around this startup too and it’s about to do big things in the social media world, but it’s also a very good way to communicate with people. The biggest benefit you’ll get when using Snapchat is the ability to save time. Instead of talking with someone on the phone for ages you can just record a short video and send it to them. The person will get your message when they’re ready and you will be able to work on other things.

Author Bio

Nancy Baker, the author of this article, is a freelance blogger who is currently writing for, Total Communication Services Inc, reputable providers of business telephone systems and solutions. She enjoys participating in art and graffiti competitions. You can also follow her on Twitter @Nancy Baker.

The expanding use of both smart phones and smart glasses are predicted to expand the use of the tech.

According to a recent report released by Juniper Research, there are an estimated 60 million people worldwide who use augmented reality applications on a regular basis.

This report also stated that this figure should jump to 200 million by the year 2018.

It was also noted in the report that augmented reality has the opportunity to take off from its current focus in the gaming and navigation environments and will expand into much greater everyday use purposes. The publication stated that “Initial innovations will stem from games, such as Google Ingress, but the technology will expand to include lifestyle and fitness apps.” It also added that there is a chance for “paradigm shifting utilization of AR within social media, potentially breaking the digital-physical wall with potential future uses allowing a digital representation of a person to appear in the users surroundings.”

By the year 2018, games and location based augmented reality will represent under half of the tech’s usage.

Juniper believes that by that time, augmented reality will have expanded greatly into areas such as healthcare and lifestyle. It could help with remote doctor visit experiences, as well as to help to enhance the remote shopping experience as well as that through social networks. It has also seen a potential future in enterprise, such as providing technical specs for aircraft mechanics and drawings to overlay on machinery for engineers to use for building new technologies.

Some companies have already started to use augmented reality for this type of project, such as SpaceX and Elon Musk, which use AR tech for designing new components for rockets. That said, the majority of apps that use this technology, such as Layar, provide content overlaid on paper to make it “come to life” with such elements as added data and video. It was pointed out that most of them are ad funded. Juniper also pointed out that there are a few pay-per-download and some that are freemium.

Equally, Juniper feels that the augmented reality industry will only benefit from the increasing dominance of Android, as it will help to improve AR’s current situation which is seen as rather buggy and fragmented.