WordTour is one of those free little apps that turns out to be way more interesting than it should be. The idea behind WordTour is to give those of us trapped in cubicles or offices a glimpse of the rest of the great big world we only wish we could go visit. WorldTour sets the background of your android phone to a real-time image from any of several webcams from around the world. Say, for example, you love penguins, and who doesn't, really? You simply tell WorldTour to set your background to the Moody Garden penguins in Texas, and it will periodically take an image from a live webcam in the zoo and set it as your phone background. Then, any time you pick up your phone, you can see what those crazy penguins are up to.
One of the best features, though, has to be the ability to set the background to a random webcam. This is just what I did, and, throwing data usage to the wind, I told it up update every 10 minutes.
I then found myself strangely compelled to check my phone throughout the day to see what things looked like around the world. I saw the Pyramids, The Vatican, the surface of the sun (don't ask me how they got a webcam there), a beach in Australia, and even a random laundromat in China. Luckily you can also remove cameras from the random rotation, because I'm really not overly interested in an updated image of the sun, as it doesn't seem to have any seasons, weather, or visitors.
In the interests of full disclosure, though, I have to say that my wife was not nearly as interested, and informed me of such about the fifth time I interrupted Glee to show her my phone. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Despite how great I think WordTour is, it does have a few issues. While it has a setting to force the random webcams to only show places where it's daytime, I regularly get pictures of dimly lit monuments and beaches. I also find that I've seen the same webcams several times, while there are others available that have never show up in my random rotation.
Pros:
* It's definitely addictive
* Gives you that fun "I have to check my email again" feeling
* Provides interesting little snapshots of what's going on around the world.
* Can add a user-defied webcam
Cons:
* Could use up a good amount of data for those on limited data plans
* Still has some bugs
* Your wife or significant other may yell at you
Final Verdict: WordTour is a fun, free little ride around the world. Unless you're worried about data usage, give it a try.
One of the best features, though, has to be the ability to set the background to a random webcam. This is just what I did, and, throwing data usage to the wind, I told it up update every 10 minutes.
I then found myself strangely compelled to check my phone throughout the day to see what things looked like around the world. I saw the Pyramids, The Vatican, the surface of the sun (don't ask me how they got a webcam there), a beach in Australia, and even a random laundromat in China. Luckily you can also remove cameras from the random rotation, because I'm really not overly interested in an updated image of the sun, as it doesn't seem to have any seasons, weather, or visitors.
In the interests of full disclosure, though, I have to say that my wife was not nearly as interested, and informed me of such about the fifth time I interrupted Glee to show her my phone. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Despite how great I think WordTour is, it does have a few issues. While it has a setting to force the random webcams to only show places where it's daytime, I regularly get pictures of dimly lit monuments and beaches. I also find that I've seen the same webcams several times, while there are others available that have never show up in my random rotation.
Pros:
* It's definitely addictive
* Gives you that fun "I have to check my email again" feeling
* Provides interesting little snapshots of what's going on around the world.
* Can add a user-defied webcam
Cons:
* Could use up a good amount of data for those on limited data plans
* Still has some bugs
* Your wife or significant other may yell at you
Final Verdict: WordTour is a fun, free little ride around the world. Unless you're worried about data usage, give it a try.
