Do you fancy having an emergency stash of useful apps in your BlackBerry 10 smartphone? Gadget Box is well worth checking out. It's kind of like having a Swiss Army Knife in your handset. The app is made up of eight useful gadgets - some for everyday use and some for when you may be in an emergency situation. They are all pretty cool though.
Lets start with the flashlight. This is something we have seen on BlackBerry for a long time. This version though also has strobing built in and using the adjustable bars on screen you can adjust from a long flash to a quick burst. Maybe handy for signalling where you are or if your car breaks down at night.
Next up is a protractor. I'm never going to use this feature but clearly some people will or it wouldn't be in the app. Then we have a unit converter. There are twelve options for units here ranging from weight to speed. A handy tool to have on your BlackBerry for sure.
We have a compass already on BlackBerry 10 but there is also one in the Gadget Box too. Where things get a little more interesting is that you can activate the native BlackBerry Maps app from the compass and have the two running as one - clever stuff.
I'm a big fan of using a speedometer on my Blackberry while I'm driving and the one in the Gadget Box is pretty sweet. You have two options for viewing the display - one with just numbers and one with some extra graphics which look like a car speedo. It works perfectly I am pleased to say.
Using morse code is not something I'm likely to use but if I was stuck up a mountain It may come in useful. I'm not going up a mountain though! Using it is simple - just key in the text you need and press play. As well as the BlackBerry making the morse sound it also uses the camera flash.
Last but not least is the height feature. This is probably the most clever within the app. If you need to measure something but don't have a tape measure you can use the app. It utilises the camera application and so you point the camera at one edge of the item you wish to measure, take a reading and then do the same at the other end. Gadget Box then asks your approximate distance from the subject and then gives you the result. This feature is really impressive so kudos to the developer.
Gadget Box will set you back $1.99/£1.50 and if you think it would be a handy app to have in case you ever need it I would highly recommend it. It's certainly staying on my Z10.
More information/Download Gadget Box for BlackBerry 10
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