Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes. It might be a tornado that's bearing down on your location, a finger that gets burned on a hot stove, or even just a fender bender in a parking lot.

To paraphrase the Boy Scout motto: be prepared -- with apps!

The iTunes App Store is home to countless apps that can help you in an emergency. I've rounded up six to get you started.more

This is one of the quick and easy tips that makes iOS so remarkable. Yes, it's simple, but that small attention to detail makes all the difference in terms of user experiences.

Due to the iPhone's small screen real estate, compromises in how some information is displayed had to be made. A specific amount of characters are viewable when scrolling through the track listings on albums (in both landscape and portrait mode). When song titles are longer than the space available, an ellipses appears, indicating there is more to the title.

In a world where nearly every song

When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S III last week, one piece of the announcement was that Flipboard for Android would be exclusive to the device for a little bit after launch. But, thanks to an XDA Developer Forum member, the APK is out and available for download right now.

Installing the APK on your Android device is easy. Head on over to this XDA Forum post and download the APK. You can then either e-mail it to yourself, or add it to a Dropbox folder (or Google Drive, Box, etc.) to access it on your device. Once you have downloaded more

When Instagram finally arrived on Android, it was missing a major photo effect that iOS users had been enjoying for some time: tilt shift. Just over a month after its release, Instagram for Android has been updated to finally include tilt shift. It's a fun little effects tool that can make subjects in your photos appear miniature or to create a shallow depth of field.

Here's how to use tilt shift:

1. After choosing a photo, tap the new teardrop icon in the effects toolbar and choose whether you want a radial or linear tilt shift.

2. By

Having the official Dropbox app on your Android device makes it extremely easy to access files on the go. You can even download files to your device. But what about the times you need the contents of an entire folder? With the official Dropbox app, you'd have to download each file one by one.

Folder Downloader for Dropbox is a free app available through Google Play that does just as its name says: allows you to download the contents of an entire folder in your Dropbox account to your Android device.

1. To get started, download and install the app more

Podcasts are awesome-sauce. When I'm in the car or out for a run, there's nothing I like better than an episode of "This American Life," "Wiretap," or the amazing new radio-drama "The Truth."

Seriously, what's not to like? iTunes is home to zillions of podcasts -- there's literally something for everyone -- and they're all free.

There is, of course, one downside: podcasts consume space. Not a ton (the average episode of "This American Life" is about 27MB, the equivalent of three or four MP3 song files), but if your iPhone is already brimming with more

If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch is running iOS 5 or higher, you can now receive software updates over the air. What this means, to you, is that you'll no longer have to tether to a computer to download and install the update. Instead, you'll be alerted on your device of an available update. You can then can download and install it while on the go. Here's how it works.

1. To check for an available update, to go Settings > General > Software Update.

2. If an update is available, you'll see a screen similar to that above. more

There's no need to panic if you've lost an Android phone. That is, as long as you've already installed security software. With the right app, you can back up your contacts, lock the handset, and even wipe your phone's contents should it go missing.

Mobiles are more vulnerable to real-world threats such as theft and loss than they are to rogue software stealing your private information from within. The ability to remotely lock it if stolen is just as important as running antivirus software. There are dozens of security apps to choose from, and the best more

With this app you can choose from a handful of your photos or even complete albums to show in the background of your Android's Home screen. If you're trying to think of which collection of photos to use, here are some ideas and how to get started:

You can choose photos of:

• your last vacation spot.
• things that inspire you.
• your kids doing kid stuff.
• family pets being cute.
• the things you love.
• a combination of all these things!

Step 1: Grab a copy of Wallpaper Changer for your Android device.

Here you