Mike's NBC-TV stories

Apps to enjoy springtime

Believe it or not, its officially springtime.  And despite the lingering cold and piles of snow in many places, warmer weather is coming. To get you in the springtime mood and help you enjoy what’s coming, I have some great apps to take advantage of the new season

The surest sign of springtime is the returning bird population. The free Bird Migration app for the iPhone tracks migrating birds by region by radar. The ultimate bird watching app, though, is iBird, for iPhone and Android. It costs a lot by app standards -$10 to $20 – but it identifies almost every species of bird in North America and has a built in journal you can keep. This is the only field guide you will need.

springtimeThere’s no better way to enjoy springtime than taking a hike or going for a mountain bike ride or run along a great nature trail. The AllTrails app helps you find them near you, gives you a map, uses your smartphone GPS to track your distance and all sorts of other cool things It’s free, though there is a $20 upgrade that also accesses topographic maps and info from National Geographic.

Looking to enjoy more of the great outdoors? Get the State Parks Locator App to find the closest parks and nature preserves. It lists more than 3,000 state parks across the U.S, all searchable by location. The app provides details on what each park has to offer directions from your current locations and contact information, often even photos of what the place looks like. Available for Android and iPhone for $2.99

Mike is a veteran journalist whose video "PC Mike" reports have been distributed weekly to all 215 NBC-TV stations since 1994, making him one of the most experienced tech reporters in the country. His tech stories and videos have appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, the Today Show, The New York Times, USA Today and in numerous national newspapers and magazines. In addition to the PC Mike tech blog, he also publishes the Roadtreking.com RV Travel Blog in which he travels North America in an RV reporting about interesting people and places.