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Picitup, a company known for its innovation in the computer vision field, is bringing its popular iOnRoad app to the iPhone. iOnRoad, which first debuted for Android OS in October, will offer advanced collision warning, headway distance monitoring, text message narration and more to iPhone and iPad users.

Picitup has posted a sneak peek video of iOnRoad on an iPad:

Using proprietary algorithms, iOnRoad can calculate the distance to the car in front of you through the camera in your iPhone or iPad and alert you both visually and audibly when you get too close. When you receive a text message, iOnRoad can read the text message to you aloud so you don’t need to take your eyes off the road. It also offers a car locating feature, automatically taking a picture and logging your GPS location, if available, when you park your car to help you find it later.

iOnRoad has been popular in the Android Market where it’s available for free, garnering over 200,000 downloads in the first two months after release. There, iOnRoad has an overall rating of four stars at the time of this post.  iOnRoad was selected for a CES Innovations 2012 Design and Engineering award.

Picitup plans to submit iOnRoad for iOS to Apple in the next few weeks. iOnRoad for the iPhone and iPad will be a paid app though Picitup has not yet finalized its price.

Singapore-based Zensorium is previewing its Tinké dongle and iPhone app here at CES 2012 in Las Vegas. The dongle attaches to the iPhone’s dock connector, and in conjunction with the app, will record your heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen level through your thumb, creating your “Vita Index” with these data points and tracking this index over time as you use it.

The Tinké dongle has no battery in it and is fully powered by the iPhone. You need to press your thumb against the dongle for 60 seconds, activating LED and infrared sensors, to get an accurate reading. The app shows your current Vita Index and your history in a line graph view. You’ll be able to share your Vita Index with friends and family through the app. Though the exact format hasn’t been defined according to a Zensorium rep, you’ll also be able to export your Vita Index data if you want to share it in other ways or do even more analysis.

Here’s a demo video showing how Tinké works:

I like the concept of Tinké to measure, compile and track health information over time. However, it’s an accessory that you’ll need to be a bit dedicated to use since you’ll have to remember to whip it out and spend one minute with your thumb pressed against it to get a reading every day. Comparatively, I think something wearable in the same vein as the Jawbone Up would be more compelling though I’m still thrilled to see more health-related iPhone devices for consumers hit the market.

The Tinké dongle will cost $100 and its release is planned for this summer.

CloudOn, a Palo Alto-based start-up, made waves earlier this week when it released its first app in the App Store, bringing Microsoft Office to the iPad via a cloud-hosted solution. Demand was so great that the company’s servers were overwhelmed, causing CloudOn to remove the app from the App Store. However, CloudOn is now back in the App Store and open for registration to new users again.

CloudOn links directly to your Dropbox account, a required element to even use the app. (Dropbox accounts with 2GB of storage are free.) Once connected, you can access existing documents in your Dropbox account and edit them using Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. You can also create new documents in any of these applications, which will also be saved to your Dropbox account.

CloudOn’s WorkSpace allows you to:

• Use Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint on your iPad to create or edit documents.
• Rename, delete and manage documents with your Dropbox account
• Display, edit or create charts, change formatting, spell check, insert comments, into any Word, Excel or PowerPoint files
• Track changes while reviewing Word documents
• Use pivot tables and insert formulas in Excel workbooks-Display and edit animation or transitions in PowerPoint presentations
• Present in full PowerPoint mode (not in PDF)
• Open files directly from your iPad email accounts or Dropbox account
• Automatically save documents to avoid losing changes

As you can guess from the app’s name, CloudOn isn’t really putting Microsoft Office 2010 on your iPad but provides a way to use the applications on their servers. Since Microsoft Office is not a free suite of applications, this may sound too good to be true, particularly since CloudOn is also free. However, CloudOn’s blog indicates that this will change in the future when the company defines “a pricing model that is win-win for all.”

If you want an app that can create and edit Microsoft Office documents without requiring an internet connection, there are several alternatives in the App Store including QuickOffice Pro, Office² (and Office² HD for the iPad), and my Microsoft Office weapon of choice on my iPhone and iPad, Documents to Go.

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  CloudOn

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  iOS Universal

  CloudOn brings Microsoft Office® to your iPhone & iPad and links it to your Box, Dropbox, Google Drive and SkyDrive accounts. If that isn’t enough, the built-in Adobe Reader and File...

Have you made your New Year’s resolutions yet? Is one of them to get in shape or lose weight? If so, there are ton of iPhone apps that can provide exercise and diet plans and help you track your workout, but there’s now one that will actually pay you for going to the gym. GymPact hit the App Store on New Year’s Day (most appropriately) and tracks your progress against your commitment –the Pact that you define– to go to the gym. If you stick to your Pact, you get paid out of funds accumulated by those who don’t meet their commitment. If you don’t stick to your Pact, you contribute to the funds to pay those who did meet their commitment.

You can create a new account through the iPhone app or at GymPact’s site. As you create an account, you define the terms of your Pact including how many times per week you will go to the gym and how much money per visit you’re willing to put at stake. For example, you could commit to going to the gym three times per week with stakes of $10 per day missed. When you go to the gym, you open the app and check in. In order to register a check-in, you must remain at the gym for at least 30 minutes, which lessens the chances of cheating.

If you don’t make it to the gym per your Pact, you are charged based on the stakes you committed through the credit card you entered at registration. The money paid by all members who did not live up to their Pacts is added together each week and and divided up among those who did meet their commitments, which can be cashed out via PayPal.

Here’s an overview video describing the whole process:

 
If you’re not ready to put real money on the line, you can opt in for a free trial and avoid entering any credit card details during the sign-up process. You can find more details at GymPact’s site in an FAQ.

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  GymPact - Cash reward to...

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  iOS iPhone

  Conquer workout excuses and earn cash rewards for exercising - paid for by non-exercisers. ***** - "Works Great and Is A Brilliant Idea!" -aaparr ***** - "This app...