There are hundreds of thousands of apps, but which ones are right for iOS 4? That’s a tricky question as different apps come to market iOS 4 tested and others bring more advanced functionality to the table — step inside for more.
Water, water everywhere, but what’s safe to drink? Every app here is at the very least iOS 4 tested and many have additional enhancements, like the multitasking found in Pandora (rocks!). From games to productivity, find the apps you’re looking for!
40. Dots Free — Killer graphics and sound for your iOS 4 iPhone! Play against another human or your iPhone — it’s wherever fun and the price is right.
39. Kindle (universal) — Read multimedia enhanced ebooks on your hardware enhanced iPhone 4. More sound, movies and a better reading experience.
— Kindle for iPad, iPhone get multimedia playback
38. AroundMe — Where’s the closest gas station? Need to find an open drugstore at 2a.m.? You need iOS 4 tested AroundMe.
37. Solitaire (universal) — iOS 4 tested that’s ready for those mobile moments when there’s simply nothing better to do. Try Klondike 1 Deal!
36. Find My iPhone — Lost your iPhone? Don’t despair, take action! Leverages your MobileMe account to track down your iPhone, wipe it, send a message to the finder and more.
— Apple updates Find My iPhone, opens MobileMe Mail beta
35. Vuvuzela 2010 — The number one free app in dozens of countries. Do you love soccer? Embrace the vuvuzela on your iPhone!
34. Wi-Fi Finder — Wanna get some FaceTime? You’ll need to find open Wi-Fi hotspots and this is just the app to do it.
— See also: FaceTime calls won’t eat your minutes
33. A+ 12,000+ Wallpapers — Ready for new wallpapers and login screens? Here’s a just a few to get you started, for free!
32. Bing! — Don’t just search it, Bing! it. Find stuff with the iPhone 4′s exceptional camera, search via voice and much more.
31. Tic Tac Toe — Play against your iPhone or another human right next to you or around the world over Wi-Fi or 3G. iOS tested n’ ready.
30. We Rule — Farm. Build. Rule. iOS 4 tested and ready with more crops, structures and people for you to manage and control.
29. Google Mobile (universal) — The app that puts the power of the Goog in your pocket, speech recognition in multiple languages.
28. Word with Friends — Push notifications, chat, strong Facebook + Twitter integration. Scrabble? We don’t need no stinkin’ Scrabble.
27. The Weather Channel — More beautiful graphics and maps on iPhone 4′s incomparable Retina display.
26. EXO-Planet — Live multiplayer over 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Free yourself from the bonds of gravity in this third-person shooter.
25. SoundHound (universal) — The app that gives you instant music search and discovery.
24. 3D Wallpapers & Backgrounds — No more waiting for your beautiful pics n’ images to load — it’s way faster.
23. Spawn Glow — Create beautiful art and share it with your social networking friends.
22. Facebook — Not a lot of iOS 4 love here, but you can upload 720p pics, watch videos and it is (or was) the world’s most popular app.
— Watch videos with Facebook 3.1.3 for iPhone
21. Windows Live Messenger — Fast app switching and background push notifications. Stay connected with your friends worldwide.
20. Twitter — This is the official Twitter app from Twitter and now it multitasks as well as you do.
19. Audiobooks — Play audio files in the background while you read — simple, yet priceless.
18. XE Currency — It’s got multitasking, permitting you to convert 180+ currencies on the go, anywhere.
17. Fandango — Arguably the best mobile movie app allows you to juggle other tasks while finding theaters and tickets
16. Foursquare — It’s got fast app switching, yet background location tracking isn’t there (yet).
15. Twitterific (universal) — This particular Twitter client takes advantage of fast app switching, a must for always in touch social media sluts nuts.
14. New York Times — It’s now got fast app switching and remembers where you left off in articles.
13. Evernote (universal) — Multitasking permits Evernote to stay synchronized even when its not running in the foreground, so it’s ready when you need it.
12. LinkedIn — Optimized for fast app switching, helps you stay connected with your network.
11. WordPress (universal) — Optimized for the Retina display, better handling of drafts when quitting and more.
10. FarmVille — This one’s iOS 4 tested, so you can plow, plant and harvest on the go with your iPhone 4 or upgraded device.
9. iBooks (universal) — The best eReader (we don’t need no stickin’ Kindle app)
— See also: What’s new in iBooks 1.1
8. Dropbox (universal) — Mobile warriors agree; this is a must have app. Sync and share you stuff wherever and whenever.
7. Truphone — Now runs in the background and allows calls to come through while multitasking.
6. Tap Tap Revenge 3 — Not sure how this app benefits from multitasking, but it’s freaking’ awesome.
5. GodFinger — Now your people can toil, and earn you gold, while get on with your real life.
4. Twitter — Stay up-to-the-moment even when this app’s running in the background with push notifications and more.
3. Loopt — Find out who’s around, what to do and where to go while you get on with your day.
2. NPR Music — Expect excellence while you multitask to superbly curated music and related content.
1. Pandora (universal) — The app everybody’s been waiting for and wanting. Tune in and then do anything you want — Pandora keeps playing!
* Instapaper Free iPhone app
* Photoshop.com Mobile iPhone app
* Wikipedia Mobile iPhone app
* Apple iPhone 4
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Posted on 12 Jul 2010 at 11:44
Smartphones are becoming increasingly popular and a lot of that is down to the increased functionality and improved web-browsing experience, but probably the biggest step forward is the availability of apps. While smartphone apps themselves have been around for a long time, it wasn’t until Apple launched the App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch that they were readily available to everyone.
Prior to the App Store, installing apps on any smartphone wasn’t something for the faint-hearted, but especially so on the iPhone. It required a relatively complex procedure to ‘jailbreak’ the handset so that you could install additional apps. If the process went wrong, you could end up bricking your handset outside of Apple’s warranty terms. Jailbreaking is still popular today, but it’s not as necessary because there are more than 150,000 apps available in the App Store.
Due to the sheer number of apps, there’s inevitably a lot that are rubbish – thankfully nobody has made a Phantom Menace app, because that’d no doubt be as rubbish as the film was – and so we’ve selected our favourite apps from the store. We’ve focused exclusively on Free iPhone Apps here and have excluded apps like Facebook, Twitter, Skype and other similar apps as it makes little sense cluttering our list with apps that many of you already use. In the future, we’ll be looking at paid-for apps and games on iPhone, as well as extending the series to other smartphone platforms so stay tuned.
Apple Remote
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Apple Remote iPhone appRemote was Apple’s first iPhone app and it allows you to use your iPhone or iPod touch as a remote control.
The latest version allows you to use gestures when you’re controlling an Apple TV box, but if you’re using it to control iTunes on your PC or Mac, you’ll have to prod and poke your way around the interface. The good thing is that the interface is very intuitive like almost every Apple product, so this isn’t a massive issue.
To use it to control iTunes, you’ll need to plug your computer into a set of speakers and then open up iTunes. Once you’ve done this, start the Remote app and follow the simple instructions – in literally no time, you’ll be controlling iTunes playback from the comfort of your couch.
Amazon Mobile UK
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Amazon Mobile UK iPhone appIf you’re a regular Amazon user, Amazon’s iPhone app might be right up your street as it makes the sometimes chaotic Amazon website incredibly simple to navigate while your’e out and about. Once you’ve logged into your account, Amazon’s personalisation tools make it very personal to your tastes.
It links seamlessly to the website too, meaning if you’ve planned to buy items on your desktop machine but got sidetracked, it will remember them. If you enable one click purchasing, items will be on their way to you in an instant.
What’s more, it has an interesting feature called Amazon Remembers which allows you to take a picture of an item and upload it to Amazon. These are then matched to items in the Amazon store by freelancers using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing program. Once a match has been found you’re alerted via email and, generally speaking, it only takes a few minutes. Sometimes, the matches aren’t perfect, but they do come very close.
Where this might be a problem is if you start using it while you’re out shopping in brick and mortars. The temptation to look up Amazon’s price for an item might agitate shop owners and you may end up getting thrown out.
Access to Amazon’s MP3 store is also missing, so don’t expect to be able to download DRM-free MP3s to your iPhone – only CDs come up in search results, which is presumably because Apple doesn’t want anyone competing with the iTunes store. We’re not too bothered about this because MP3s are often overpriced and lower-quality than the physical alternative.
* Apple iPhone 4
* Apple Remote iPhone app
* Amazon Mobile UK iPhone app
* Dropbox iPhone app
* eBay Mobile iPhone app
* Flashlight iPhone app
* Movies by Flixster iPhone app
* Gorillacam iPhone app
* Instapaper Free iPhone app
* Photoshop.com Mobile iPhone app
* Wikipedia Mobile iPhone app
* Apple iPhone 4
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Posted on 12 Jul 2010 at 11:44
Dropbox
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Dropbox offers 2GB of free online storage space, with more available as part of a subscription. It allows you to access files stored in your Dropbox, which can be accessed from any PC with access to the internet. The iPhone app extends that to your mobile phone, where you’re able to view the most common file types. These include PDFs, Word documents, JPEG images and even MP3 files. Some video formats are supported, while others aren’t.
Dropbox iPhone appWhat’s more, you can share files located on your Dropbox with other people by emailing them a link to your online storage space. If you’re running Apple’s latest iOS 4.0, you can manipulate those files in other third party apps too.
The favourites function allows you to store files offline – providing you’ve got enough space – for quick access when you’re not connected. You need to register for a free Dropbox account – something that can be done in the iPhone app – and, for the best experience, install the Dropbox software on your home computer.
eBay Mobile
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eBay Mobile iPhone appIf you use eBay regularly, this is a free app that you won't be able to live without. Its home screen provides an at-a-glance view of everything you're watching, bidding on and selling - something that's awkward if you're trying to view the website in Safari mobile.
You can also search for items and filter the search, just as you would on eBay's website. This makes it easy to search for items that are local, and within your price range.
Also, you can access your messages using a similar interface to the iPhone's Mail app. Here you can both read and reply to messages, as well as deleting items you no longer want.
When it comes to viewing items for sale, the results list looks just like the main website, but the interface is streamlined for the small screen when you want to check the product's description and view images. Of course, you can easily place bids on the move, sniping items at the last minute without needing a computer.
Flashlight
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Imagine dropping your keys or some change on the floor while you’re at the bar in a nightclub. It’s dark below the bar and you need a flashlight. Even if you’ve got enough foresight to have one about your person, it’s probably attached to your keys and is of little use right now.
Flashlight iPhone appFear not, because help is at hand in the form of the handy Flashlight app. It transforms your phone’s screen into a flashlight by illuminating its pixels bright white. Strangely, the app also produces slightly less useful colours for some reason – we’ve not managed to work out why yet. Regardless, this app’s usefulness speaks volumes and while it’s not perfect, it’s good enough – and it’s free.
If you’ve got an iPhone 4, new Flashlight apps designed specifically for it are starting to appear in the App Store. These use the LED flash, instead of the screen, as a flashlight instead. You’re probably best looking for one of these if you’ve got a newer handset.
Movies by Flixster
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Movies by Flixster iPhone appMovies by Flixster tells you what films are showing in your local area and gives you information about all the latest movies. It’s an excellent app that has far more functionality than you’re ever likely to need.
Flixster has every major UK cinema in its database, complete with address, phone number, online ordering (where supported) and their entire film showtime schedule for the next seven days. It also allows you to find your nearest cinema – either using the iPhone’s built-in GPS or via a postcode search. You can store venues as favourites for quick access in the future.
The ability to search by movie title is also useful, as are the lists of what’s opening this week, top box office hits and much more. Upon selecting a film, you can check out plot synopsis, cast list, genre, run time and ratings from Flixster or Rotten Tomatoes. You can even watch a film’s trailer if it’s available. All in all, it’s an essential app for all film buffs and we’ve not found one – either free or paid for – that’s better.
Gorillacam
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The iPhone's bundled Camera app is a little basic for our liking, as there are very few options available. There are a number of apps out there that expand the camera’s functionality, but Joby’s Gorillacam is arguably the best we’ve found.
Gorillacam iPhone appIt includes several useful options, such as a self-timer, time-lapse shooting and the ability to take a picture by touching any part of the screen – an ideal inclusion if you want to take self-portraits, as it was nigh on impossible to correctly touch the default shutter button in Apple’s own camera app. There’s also a spirit level and a grid to help with composition – tools that many photographers find very useful on their main cameras.
Gorillacam also takes advantage of the autofocus lens found on the iPhone 4 and 3GS, although the slideshow functionality is currently broken on the iPhone 4. We’re expecting Joby to release an update in the near future that should fix this though. In the meantime, you can always drop back to Apple’s Photos app to check out the results.
Instapaper Free
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Instapaper Free iPhone appInstapaper allows you to cache almost any webpage so you can read it offline. It’s especially useful for iPod Touch and iPad users when they're out of range of a WiFi hotspot, but it’s also great for iPhone users who commute on the tube.
There are free and paid-for versions – the latter offers slightly more functionality – but the free version is good enough. It’s a very simple app to use and is integrated with the Safari web browser – to save an article, you simply need to add a “Read Later” bookmarklet and click it every time you want to save an article for later reading.
Upon launching the Instapaper app, stories you’ve saved are downloaded – which needs to be done before you head offline, of course – and will be available to read later on. You can organise your articles with the folders feature and you can add RSS feeds; they’ll automatically update when you launch the app and start downloading saved stories.
* Wikipedia Mobile iPhone app
* Apple iPhone 4
* Apple Remote iPhone app
* Amazon Mobile UK iPhone app
* Dropbox iPhone app
* eBay Mobile iPhone app
* Flashlight iPhone app
* Movies by Flixster iPhone app
* Gorillacam iPhone app
* Instapaper Free iPhone app
* Photoshop.com Mobile iPhone app
* Wikipedia Mobile iPhone app
* Apple iPhone 4
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Photoshop.com Mobile
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The iPhone version of Adobe's popular Photoshop image editor obviously isn't as sophisticated as the desktop version but it includes several useful options for tweaking your snaps while out and about. Cropping photos, applying effects or adjusting their contrast, exposure and saturation is surprisingly easy using the minimalist interface.
Photoshop.com Mobile iPhone appYou can crop in a range of aspect ratios, including 1:1, 3:4, 4:3 and a custom ratio, and there’s also support for rotating your image, as well as flipping it horizontally or vertically. Exposure, Saturation, tint and Black & White controls are also available – you simply select the effect you want and then slide your finger from one side of the screen to the other to apply it.
For those times when a more far-fetched image is desired, there are several photo effects available. Sketch and Soft Focus change the image drastically, while other photo effects use colour washing – the most useful are Black & White, Warm Vintage and Vignette Blur.
Wikipedia
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Wikipedia Mobile iPhone appWhile the mobile version of Wikipedia’s website works very well on the iPhone, the Wikipedia Mobile iPhone app focuses on improving the simplicity and speed at which you browse the online encyclopaedia.
There are some omissions in the app – most notable among them is the lack of multi-touch gesture support. It could be argued that this isn’t a huge deal because the content is well-formatted for the iPhone’s screen, though.
What is very useful is the suggestive search feature, which suggests pages as you’re typing into the search toolbar. The bookmarks feature is also well-implemented and allows you to quickly bookmark and access pages that you regularly visit. There’s also a history function that allows you to track down pages you’ve visited in the past.
The “Today’s Featured Article” is very well implemented too and, on the whole, it’s a well worth downloading if you find yourself browsing Wikipedia on a regular basis.
Author: Expert Reviews Staff
Sunday, January 30, 2011
India to test major missile systems in 2011
Bangalore: India would be testing various new missile systems, including strategic ones such as the Agni-5, developed for the three Indian defence services, through 2011. The tests will begin in February, according to Dr VK Saraswat, scientific advisor to the defence minister and DRDO chief.
Dr Saraswat said the country was self-sufficient in missile technology and had the necessary technological wherewithal to produce various classes of missiles for the three defence services. He was speaking to news persons here.
Dr Saraswat also said that the need of the hour was to gear up the Indian industry, both private and public sector, to take up integration of missiles so that these systems could be produced in required volumes.
Significantly, he also said the country could even emerge as an exporter of some of the missile systems such as Akash and Nag. While Akash is an advanced medium range air defence system the Nag is an advanced anti-tank missile.
He clarified that domestic needs of the armed services would have to be first met before any exports of these systems could be considered. ''We do have requests and we can think about it only after meeting domestic requirements'' he said.
Dr Saraswat said the country was self-sufficient in missile technology and had the necessary technological wherewithal to produce various classes of missiles for the three defence services. He was speaking to news persons here.
Dr Saraswat also said that the need of the hour was to gear up the Indian industry, both private and public sector, to take up integration of missiles so that these systems could be produced in required volumes.
Significantly, he also said the country could even emerge as an exporter of some of the missile systems such as Akash and Nag. While Akash is an advanced medium range air defence system the Nag is an advanced anti-tank missile.
He clarified that domestic needs of the armed services would have to be first met before any exports of these systems could be considered. ''We do have requests and we can think about it only after meeting domestic requirements'' he said.
Top 30 Android Apps Of All Time
Top 10 Free Apps
1. Kindle (review) – bring the book reading experience to your Android device. Read all the same titles from your Amazon account and enjoy the same functionality in a pocket format
2. SkyFire (review) – faster web browsing and video streaming than included mobile browsers
3. Google Voice (review) – take control of your phone by creating a new number, route calls to various paths, and take advantage of tons of advanced features like voicemail transcription, free texting, cheap international calling, and more
4. EverNote (review) – the ultimate, centralized notebook and note creation system that syncs to the cloud
5. Barcode Scanner (review) – scan books, movies, and music to quickly get information and pricing
6. Lookout (review) – the problem with an open system like Android is that you are prone to viruses and walware. Lookout keeps these in check and runs scans on your device for installed apps and downloaded files
7. Facebook (review) – you know the drill, get your social network fix
8. Layar Reality Browser (review) – see overlays on your camera as you scan the real world and get up to date information on it
9. Mint (review) – aggregate all of your finances safely and stay on top of your bank account balances, credit lines, mortgages and more
10. Places Directory (review) – like AroundMe, Places Directory lets your know of restaurants, movie theaters, and more in the area
Top 10 Best Paid Android Apps
1. Root Explorer (File Manager) (review) – a comprehensive file manager to access and manipulate all files on your device
2. Advanced Task Manager (review) – keep all system tasks and apps in line to get the most efficient and speedy phone
3. Beautiful Widgets (review) – customize your device with tons of skins and widgets
4. SetCPU for Root Users (review) – overclock, underclock and tweak your device’s performance
5. MyBackUp Pro (review) – keep everything on your phone backed up and secure incase you need to restore remotely from the cloud
6. CacheMate for Root Users (reviews) – the best cache clearing app currently available, free up tons of space
7. Sound Hound (reviews) – like Shazam or Midomi, find music instantly by letting your device listen
8. Dropbox (review) – sync files between your computers and your mobile
9. LogMeIn Ignition (review) – access your computers remotely from your phone
10. DroidAnalytics (review) – keep on top of all your blogs and websites with this solid Google Analytics client
Top 10 Best Paid Android Games
1. Robo Defense (review) – as a fan of tower defense games, Robo Defense stacks up with the best. Open maps, solid graphics and excellent upgrades, this will make any TD gamer happy
2. Fruit Ninja (review) – like its iPhone brother, Fruit Ninja is all about cutting up fruit and earning bigger points
3. SNESoid (review) – play all of your favorite SNES games right from your device
4. HomeRun Battle 3D (review) – a quirky sports game with online play, multiple game modes, and a casual but exciting experience
5. Abduction! 2 (review) – a Doodle Jump clone with plenty of new features and power-ups
6. HyperJump (review) – launch a creature higher and higher by collecting coins and power-ups along the way
7. Zenonia (review) – a fantastic mobile RPG with all the fixings that’d you’d expect from the genre
8. WOW Keyboard (review) – play World of Warcraft directly from your mobile device
9. Angry Birds (review) – the chart topping, bird tossing game is now available on Android
10. Voice Music (review) – let your voice become a musical instrument as its converted into a keyboard
In addition to the paid offerings available on Android, the platform offers great free game classics like UnblockMe, Bubble Blast II, and Backgammon.
So those are my picks. What have you been using that has become a staple on your device?
The Android Market may still lag behind the iPhone App Store in terms of variety and quality, but there is something to be said for the Android operating system’s extremely tight integration with existing Google products, and the wide choice of devices and carriers.
There’s no question that the iPhone has many wonderful apps, but Android’s smart syncing with existing tools, interesting Android-only experiments coming every day from Google employees, and its open marketplace model have yielded some tools that may give the average iPhone user pause.
If you’re looking for a change, or you’re in the smartphone market and still weighing the pros and cons, consider these Android-only apps and how they might fit into your work, play, and mobile lifestyle.
1. OpenHome
OpenHome Image
There’s no denying that the iPhone OS is a gorgeous piece software. But when it comes to the home screen, “you get what you get, and you don’t get upset,” to quote a nursery school mantra.
Android is completely open-source, which means that apps can change the functionality and appearance of the OS, if you permit them to. This isn’t always good for safety, but it’s great for customization.
OpenHome is one of the leading customization apps available on the Market. It functions as a replacement for the default home screen, into which you can load customs skins, icon packs, and fonts — many of which are freely available in the Market and created by other users.
In addition to the look and feel of your OS, OpenHome also allows for other custom tweaks including soft keyboard improvements and widget modifications.
2. Google Voice
Google Voice Image
Imagine a world where you never have to listen to another voicemail again. That’s almost what you get when you set up Google Voice and utilize the Android app. Google Voice lets you keep your existing mobile number, but will forward your missed calls to a generated Google number that you can check on the web, in your e-mail, or via the app.
The service automatically generates voicemail transcription that is usually accurate enough to get the gist of what the caller is saying. Instead of getting a voicemail on your phone, you’ll receive and e-mail (or text message) with the transcription.
The app then lets you scroll through your messages visually, like an e-mail inbox, and stream the audio messages from the web as needed, all without wasting precious mobile minutes.
There are certainly other great voicemail alternatives for the iPhone (and Voice is available as a web-based service), but Google Voice’s deep integration with Gmail (you can also enable audio playback within web e-mail messages) makes it a great compliment to your hand-held arsenal of communications tools.
Google Voice is still an invite-only service at the moment. You can request an invite from Google here, or hit up your friends on social networks for one.
3. NESoid
NESoid Image
Classic gamers rejoice! NESoid is a Nintendo ROM emulator for Android that actually works. The app itself is software that interprets ROM files — the format of choice for hacked console games. Assuming you’re loading a worthwhile ROM file from your SD card, the gameplay is really smooth.
The lite version of NESoid is free, but prevents you from loading a “saved-state” of a game. The full version will cost you $3.49 and unlocks this feature.
Most ROMS are not exactly kosher in terms of copyright, so we’ll leave it at your discretion whether you want to actually track down the games. This is likely why console emulators have not made it through the stringent App Store approval process, but are now appearing in Android’s more liberal Market.
4. Google Finance
Google Finance Image
If you’ve got an eye on your stock portfolio 24/7, Google Finance can be a useful tool for getting customized, real-time quotes.
The Android app syncs directly to your Google Finance portfolios and streams live data right into your hands by way of quote updates, charts, and financial news.
Android is currently the only mobile platform with an official Google Finance app.
5. Google Listen
Google Listen Image
Google Listen is a unique offering from Google Labs that functions like a search engine and subscription tool for podcasts across the web. If you’re on the train and realize you’ve forgotten to download the latest episode of NPR’s This American Life, simply fire up Google Listen, search for it, and stream it immediately, from the source.
Google Listen effectively eliminates the need to download podcasts or connect your handset to your computer. And with subscription options built in, once you find a show you like, you’ll never miss an episode while you’re on the go.
6. Gmail and Google Calendar
Last but not least, the utility of the fully integrated Gmail and Calendar apps that come built-in to the Android OS cannot be overstated. One of the core reasons why any Gmail or Google Apps user should go Android is that the handset will complete your suite of cloud computing productivity tools.
Because of the intrinsic link between your Android phone and your Google account, the mobile functionality of Google apps like Gmail and Calendar are seamless. Draft an e-mail on your phone and it is instantly viewable in your drafts folder on the web. Update an appointment on the web Calendar, and it’s reflected on your phone seconds later.
Android users also enjoy the built-in functionality of shared calendars, Gmail labels, threaded conversations, and “Send As” accounts if it is configured in your settings.
If you live and work out of your Gmail inbox, an Android handset is the perfect extension.
Android's been around for more than a year, and in that time developers have whipped up some great apps. Whether you're a new Android owner or a pro looking for new tools, these 10 great and free apps belong in your arsenal.
Photo by lwallenstein.
We're going to skip right over the apps that are just so common, universal, and well replicated on the iPhone or other mobile platforms that a user with a need will probably hunt them down—Facebook, Yelp, Evernote, Remember the Milk, and endless Twitter clients, widgets, and apps. We've also skipped over Google's own neat apps, like Google Voice, Navigation, and Goggles, that are (or will be) included standard on new Android phones. Instead, we're aiming to shine a little light on apps that quietly offer excellent functionality for those who download them.
Update: I moved TasKiller Free up to a lower ranking, and modified its entry description a bit, after some further research, spurred by some Andro-savvy comments and emails.
10. Layar
[Top 10 Android Apps] In some ways, this is a vote for the potential of Layar as much as the practical application. Walking around with your phone and seeing Wikipedia subjects, apartments for sale, and what Twitter users have raved about through your phone is a pretty neat thing, and potentially helpful when you're looking for things to do in a new city. But as Layar continues to add new layers, and as camera and mobile processing power continue to improve, Layar could become a lot more interesting than it already is. One thing worth mentioning is that if you don't like the 3-D camera view, or like the looks of yourself while using it, Layar can just show you points of interest on a Google-type map. Either way you use it, it's an intriguing look at what's happening just around the corner. (Original post)
9. Listen
[Top 10 Android Apps] Until the latest upgrade, we couldn't have really called Listen a king among podcast apps—it had a few irksome bugs, one of them being the loss of episodes and, sometimes, subscriptions. Now, however, Google's own app does a great job not only of finding audio content, but it exports your subscriptions to be managed in Google Reader, ensuring a full feed backup and easier retrieval of past episodes you want to head back and hear. If you need more fine-grained podcast control, try ACast, but Listen will work for most. (Original post)
8. AnyCut
[Top 10 Android Apps] You can drop a lot of neat things on your Android home screen, but you can't quite get one-click access to everything in your phone's settings and extras. AnyCut doesn't have a great interface, and it might take some trial and error before you get to exactly what you're looking for. Soon enough, though, you'll have access to the deepest guts of your settings, so switching 3G on and off, enabling location services, and other tricks are easy to pull off. (Original post)
7. Secrets
[Top 10 Android Apps] There's no browser syncing on the Android—yet (c'mon, Mozilla, get on that Firefox Mobile!). In the meantime, there's Secrets, a secure, KeePass-compatible, master-password-locked vault for all your passwords. It's not that hard to export your passwords from your desktop or laptop onto your SD card, and with full-text search finally implemented, Secrets is a lot more convenient for those oh-shoot-what's-that-username-again moments. (Original post)
6. TasKiller Free
[Top 10 Android Apps] The downside to Android's multi-tasking is that sometimes, some apps can become unexpectedly become memory or bandwidth hogs, or bring your phone down with them when they crash. Few apps provide a direct, easy "Quit" option, though, and sometimes you can't get to the app to close it. Enter TasKiller, a free app-killing utility that works from its standard icon, or as one of a number of widgets you can add to your home screen for one-click system rescuing. The free version serves up ads and lacks a few advanced features, but generally serves the needs of anyone who's sick of needing to actually reset their phone just to clear up space for, you know, phone calls and such. Note: This app should be used as more of a last resort than regular maintenance tool—killing processes and apps willy-nilly can turn off alarms, kill background syncing, and have other unintended consequences.
5. SlideScreen
[Top 10 Android Apps] You use your Android smartphone differently than your desktop computer. You don't work with files and shortcuts, so much as you check in on the streams of data you care about—email, text messages, Facebook and Twitter, chat, and the like. SlideScreen replaces, or just augments, if you'd like, your phone's home screen, creating row after row of messages and feeds. Slide the center info bar up and down to look at more or less of your items, swipe to the right to dismiss items as read, and revel in having all your data on hand at once. SlideScreen also replaces the standard application tray, giving you 8 slots to put your most frequently accessed apps, and tucking all the others into a rolling deck below. It's a total makeover for your phone, in other words—one that might just make you fall in love all over again with the concept of mobile data. (Original post)
4. Shopper
[Top 10 Android Apps] Okay, at first we were pretty skeptical of Google's Shopper app, since it seemed like just a mashup of Google's own Goggles and barcode-smart apps likes ShopSavvy. Then we actually used Shopper, and were amazed at both how accurately it picked up both barcodes and simple cover shots, and at how very fast it worked. Turns out, according to one developer who appeared on This Week in Google, Shopper is actually uploading image data to Google's servers as it captures it, and decodes barcodes right on the phone. Speed for speed's sake is nice, sure, but it's pretty nice not to have to stand in front of a book display for a whole two minutes, waving your phone around a bunch of books you're trying to competitively price. Shopper answers the "Can I buy this cheaper" question, and answers it quickly.
3. PDANet
[Top 10 Android Apps] PDANet is the easiest way to use your phone's cellular net connection as a makeshift internet access point, for those hard-up situations when you just need to get online somehow, anyhow. The free version always offers basic internet access, but restricts secure site connections after a trial period. The paid version isn't cheap ($30), but it is the easiest of the three ways we know how to tether an Android phone. For the cost of nothing, we'll take some basic web site browsing—because, hey, can't you get to Gmail on your phone if you really need it? (Original post)
2. WaveSecure
[Top 10 Android Apps] This one's only free until March 31, so be sure to jump on it if you think there's even a remote chance you'll want some killer security tools available to you. WaveSecure not only backs up your contacts, SMS messages, photos and videos, and other files to the developer's cloud for later restoring if your phone gets lost, but can lock down a phone when you're stashing it for a while, locate a phone with GPS or text message triangulation (seriously), and, as a final option, pull off a total and complete remote wipe if you fear all is lost. Powerful peace of mind, especially for the price. (Original post)
1. ASTRO File Manager
[Top 10 Android Apps] This is one of those apps you hope gets some attention, if only to be bought by Google or otherwise integrated into the basic phone software. ASTRO File Manager does a great job of letting you navigate files on your SD card and accessible internal memory, sure, but it also has its own built-in task killer, backs up applications, can send files as email attachments (not all that easy or intuitive from the mail client, for some reason), and much more. It's the Leatherman of Android utilities, and a must-have on any serious geek's phone.
1. Kindle (review) – bring the book reading experience to your Android device. Read all the same titles from your Amazon account and enjoy the same functionality in a pocket format
2. SkyFire (review) – faster web browsing and video streaming than included mobile browsers
3. Google Voice (review) – take control of your phone by creating a new number, route calls to various paths, and take advantage of tons of advanced features like voicemail transcription, free texting, cheap international calling, and more
4. EverNote (review) – the ultimate, centralized notebook and note creation system that syncs to the cloud
5. Barcode Scanner (review) – scan books, movies, and music to quickly get information and pricing
6. Lookout (review) – the problem with an open system like Android is that you are prone to viruses and walware. Lookout keeps these in check and runs scans on your device for installed apps and downloaded files
7. Facebook (review) – you know the drill, get your social network fix
8. Layar Reality Browser (review) – see overlays on your camera as you scan the real world and get up to date information on it
9. Mint (review) – aggregate all of your finances safely and stay on top of your bank account balances, credit lines, mortgages and more
10. Places Directory (review) – like AroundMe, Places Directory lets your know of restaurants, movie theaters, and more in the area
Top 10 Best Paid Android Apps
1. Root Explorer (File Manager) (review) – a comprehensive file manager to access and manipulate all files on your device
2. Advanced Task Manager (review) – keep all system tasks and apps in line to get the most efficient and speedy phone
3. Beautiful Widgets (review) – customize your device with tons of skins and widgets
4. SetCPU for Root Users (review) – overclock, underclock and tweak your device’s performance
5. MyBackUp Pro (review) – keep everything on your phone backed up and secure incase you need to restore remotely from the cloud
6. CacheMate for Root Users (reviews) – the best cache clearing app currently available, free up tons of space
7. Sound Hound (reviews) – like Shazam or Midomi, find music instantly by letting your device listen
8. Dropbox (review) – sync files between your computers and your mobile
9. LogMeIn Ignition (review) – access your computers remotely from your phone
10. DroidAnalytics (review) – keep on top of all your blogs and websites with this solid Google Analytics client
Top 10 Best Paid Android Games
1. Robo Defense (review) – as a fan of tower defense games, Robo Defense stacks up with the best. Open maps, solid graphics and excellent upgrades, this will make any TD gamer happy
2. Fruit Ninja (review) – like its iPhone brother, Fruit Ninja is all about cutting up fruit and earning bigger points
3. SNESoid (review) – play all of your favorite SNES games right from your device
4. HomeRun Battle 3D (review) – a quirky sports game with online play, multiple game modes, and a casual but exciting experience
5. Abduction! 2 (review) – a Doodle Jump clone with plenty of new features and power-ups
6. HyperJump (review) – launch a creature higher and higher by collecting coins and power-ups along the way
7. Zenonia (review) – a fantastic mobile RPG with all the fixings that’d you’d expect from the genre
8. WOW Keyboard (review) – play World of Warcraft directly from your mobile device
9. Angry Birds (review) – the chart topping, bird tossing game is now available on Android
10. Voice Music (review) – let your voice become a musical instrument as its converted into a keyboard
In addition to the paid offerings available on Android, the platform offers great free game classics like UnblockMe, Bubble Blast II, and Backgammon.
So those are my picks. What have you been using that has become a staple on your device?
The Android Market may still lag behind the iPhone App Store in terms of variety and quality, but there is something to be said for the Android operating system’s extremely tight integration with existing Google products, and the wide choice of devices and carriers.
There’s no question that the iPhone has many wonderful apps, but Android’s smart syncing with existing tools, interesting Android-only experiments coming every day from Google employees, and its open marketplace model have yielded some tools that may give the average iPhone user pause.
If you’re looking for a change, or you’re in the smartphone market and still weighing the pros and cons, consider these Android-only apps and how they might fit into your work, play, and mobile lifestyle.
1. OpenHome
OpenHome Image
There’s no denying that the iPhone OS is a gorgeous piece software. But when it comes to the home screen, “you get what you get, and you don’t get upset,” to quote a nursery school mantra.
Android is completely open-source, which means that apps can change the functionality and appearance of the OS, if you permit them to. This isn’t always good for safety, but it’s great for customization.
OpenHome is one of the leading customization apps available on the Market. It functions as a replacement for the default home screen, into which you can load customs skins, icon packs, and fonts — many of which are freely available in the Market and created by other users.
In addition to the look and feel of your OS, OpenHome also allows for other custom tweaks including soft keyboard improvements and widget modifications.
2. Google Voice
Google Voice Image
Imagine a world where you never have to listen to another voicemail again. That’s almost what you get when you set up Google Voice and utilize the Android app. Google Voice lets you keep your existing mobile number, but will forward your missed calls to a generated Google number that you can check on the web, in your e-mail, or via the app.
The service automatically generates voicemail transcription that is usually accurate enough to get the gist of what the caller is saying. Instead of getting a voicemail on your phone, you’ll receive and e-mail (or text message) with the transcription.
The app then lets you scroll through your messages visually, like an e-mail inbox, and stream the audio messages from the web as needed, all without wasting precious mobile minutes.
There are certainly other great voicemail alternatives for the iPhone (and Voice is available as a web-based service), but Google Voice’s deep integration with Gmail (you can also enable audio playback within web e-mail messages) makes it a great compliment to your hand-held arsenal of communications tools.
Google Voice is still an invite-only service at the moment. You can request an invite from Google here, or hit up your friends on social networks for one.
3. NESoid
NESoid Image
Classic gamers rejoice! NESoid is a Nintendo ROM emulator for Android that actually works. The app itself is software that interprets ROM files — the format of choice for hacked console games. Assuming you’re loading a worthwhile ROM file from your SD card, the gameplay is really smooth.
The lite version of NESoid is free, but prevents you from loading a “saved-state” of a game. The full version will cost you $3.49 and unlocks this feature.
Most ROMS are not exactly kosher in terms of copyright, so we’ll leave it at your discretion whether you want to actually track down the games. This is likely why console emulators have not made it through the stringent App Store approval process, but are now appearing in Android’s more liberal Market.
4. Google Finance
Google Finance Image
If you’ve got an eye on your stock portfolio 24/7, Google Finance can be a useful tool for getting customized, real-time quotes.
The Android app syncs directly to your Google Finance portfolios and streams live data right into your hands by way of quote updates, charts, and financial news.
Android is currently the only mobile platform with an official Google Finance app.
5. Google Listen
Google Listen Image
Google Listen is a unique offering from Google Labs that functions like a search engine and subscription tool for podcasts across the web. If you’re on the train and realize you’ve forgotten to download the latest episode of NPR’s This American Life, simply fire up Google Listen, search for it, and stream it immediately, from the source.
Google Listen effectively eliminates the need to download podcasts or connect your handset to your computer. And with subscription options built in, once you find a show you like, you’ll never miss an episode while you’re on the go.
6. Gmail and Google Calendar
Last but not least, the utility of the fully integrated Gmail and Calendar apps that come built-in to the Android OS cannot be overstated. One of the core reasons why any Gmail or Google Apps user should go Android is that the handset will complete your suite of cloud computing productivity tools.
Because of the intrinsic link between your Android phone and your Google account, the mobile functionality of Google apps like Gmail and Calendar are seamless. Draft an e-mail on your phone and it is instantly viewable in your drafts folder on the web. Update an appointment on the web Calendar, and it’s reflected on your phone seconds later.
Android users also enjoy the built-in functionality of shared calendars, Gmail labels, threaded conversations, and “Send As” accounts if it is configured in your settings.
If you live and work out of your Gmail inbox, an Android handset is the perfect extension.
Android's been around for more than a year, and in that time developers have whipped up some great apps. Whether you're a new Android owner or a pro looking for new tools, these 10 great and free apps belong in your arsenal.
Photo by lwallenstein.
We're going to skip right over the apps that are just so common, universal, and well replicated on the iPhone or other mobile platforms that a user with a need will probably hunt them down—Facebook, Yelp, Evernote, Remember the Milk, and endless Twitter clients, widgets, and apps. We've also skipped over Google's own neat apps, like Google Voice, Navigation, and Goggles, that are (or will be) included standard on new Android phones. Instead, we're aiming to shine a little light on apps that quietly offer excellent functionality for those who download them.
Update: I moved TasKiller Free up to a lower ranking, and modified its entry description a bit, after some further research, spurred by some Andro-savvy comments and emails.
10. Layar
[Top 10 Android Apps] In some ways, this is a vote for the potential of Layar as much as the practical application. Walking around with your phone and seeing Wikipedia subjects, apartments for sale, and what Twitter users have raved about through your phone is a pretty neat thing, and potentially helpful when you're looking for things to do in a new city. But as Layar continues to add new layers, and as camera and mobile processing power continue to improve, Layar could become a lot more interesting than it already is. One thing worth mentioning is that if you don't like the 3-D camera view, or like the looks of yourself while using it, Layar can just show you points of interest on a Google-type map. Either way you use it, it's an intriguing look at what's happening just around the corner. (Original post)
9. Listen
[Top 10 Android Apps] Until the latest upgrade, we couldn't have really called Listen a king among podcast apps—it had a few irksome bugs, one of them being the loss of episodes and, sometimes, subscriptions. Now, however, Google's own app does a great job not only of finding audio content, but it exports your subscriptions to be managed in Google Reader, ensuring a full feed backup and easier retrieval of past episodes you want to head back and hear. If you need more fine-grained podcast control, try ACast, but Listen will work for most. (Original post)
8. AnyCut
[Top 10 Android Apps] You can drop a lot of neat things on your Android home screen, but you can't quite get one-click access to everything in your phone's settings and extras. AnyCut doesn't have a great interface, and it might take some trial and error before you get to exactly what you're looking for. Soon enough, though, you'll have access to the deepest guts of your settings, so switching 3G on and off, enabling location services, and other tricks are easy to pull off. (Original post)
7. Secrets
[Top 10 Android Apps] There's no browser syncing on the Android—yet (c'mon, Mozilla, get on that Firefox Mobile!). In the meantime, there's Secrets, a secure, KeePass-compatible, master-password-locked vault for all your passwords. It's not that hard to export your passwords from your desktop or laptop onto your SD card, and with full-text search finally implemented, Secrets is a lot more convenient for those oh-shoot-what's-that-username-again moments. (Original post)
6. TasKiller Free
[Top 10 Android Apps] The downside to Android's multi-tasking is that sometimes, some apps can become unexpectedly become memory or bandwidth hogs, or bring your phone down with them when they crash. Few apps provide a direct, easy "Quit" option, though, and sometimes you can't get to the app to close it. Enter TasKiller, a free app-killing utility that works from its standard icon, or as one of a number of widgets you can add to your home screen for one-click system rescuing. The free version serves up ads and lacks a few advanced features, but generally serves the needs of anyone who's sick of needing to actually reset their phone just to clear up space for, you know, phone calls and such. Note: This app should be used as more of a last resort than regular maintenance tool—killing processes and apps willy-nilly can turn off alarms, kill background syncing, and have other unintended consequences.
5. SlideScreen
[Top 10 Android Apps] You use your Android smartphone differently than your desktop computer. You don't work with files and shortcuts, so much as you check in on the streams of data you care about—email, text messages, Facebook and Twitter, chat, and the like. SlideScreen replaces, or just augments, if you'd like, your phone's home screen, creating row after row of messages and feeds. Slide the center info bar up and down to look at more or less of your items, swipe to the right to dismiss items as read, and revel in having all your data on hand at once. SlideScreen also replaces the standard application tray, giving you 8 slots to put your most frequently accessed apps, and tucking all the others into a rolling deck below. It's a total makeover for your phone, in other words—one that might just make you fall in love all over again with the concept of mobile data. (Original post)
4. Shopper
[Top 10 Android Apps] Okay, at first we were pretty skeptical of Google's Shopper app, since it seemed like just a mashup of Google's own Goggles and barcode-smart apps likes ShopSavvy. Then we actually used Shopper, and were amazed at both how accurately it picked up both barcodes and simple cover shots, and at how very fast it worked. Turns out, according to one developer who appeared on This Week in Google, Shopper is actually uploading image data to Google's servers as it captures it, and decodes barcodes right on the phone. Speed for speed's sake is nice, sure, but it's pretty nice not to have to stand in front of a book display for a whole two minutes, waving your phone around a bunch of books you're trying to competitively price. Shopper answers the "Can I buy this cheaper" question, and answers it quickly.
3. PDANet
[Top 10 Android Apps] PDANet is the easiest way to use your phone's cellular net connection as a makeshift internet access point, for those hard-up situations when you just need to get online somehow, anyhow. The free version always offers basic internet access, but restricts secure site connections after a trial period. The paid version isn't cheap ($30), but it is the easiest of the three ways we know how to tether an Android phone. For the cost of nothing, we'll take some basic web site browsing—because, hey, can't you get to Gmail on your phone if you really need it? (Original post)
2. WaveSecure
[Top 10 Android Apps] This one's only free until March 31, so be sure to jump on it if you think there's even a remote chance you'll want some killer security tools available to you. WaveSecure not only backs up your contacts, SMS messages, photos and videos, and other files to the developer's cloud for later restoring if your phone gets lost, but can lock down a phone when you're stashing it for a while, locate a phone with GPS or text message triangulation (seriously), and, as a final option, pull off a total and complete remote wipe if you fear all is lost. Powerful peace of mind, especially for the price. (Original post)
1. ASTRO File Manager
[Top 10 Android Apps] This is one of those apps you hope gets some attention, if only to be bought by Google or otherwise integrated into the basic phone software. ASTRO File Manager does a great job of letting you navigate files on your SD card and accessible internal memory, sure, but it also has its own built-in task killer, backs up applications, can send files as email attachments (not all that easy or intuitive from the mail client, for some reason), and much more. It's the Leatherman of Android utilities, and a must-have on any serious geek's phone.
Top 10 Symbian Apps And What They Offer
1. Google Search Client For Symbian Devices
The Symbian Google Client is a program that integrates with your device's idle screen, that is if your device offers a "Ctrl" or "Pencil/Edit" key, or via the application launcher found on Symbian based devices. By typing in searches in the provided box Google can access the internet, find your queries and display the necessary information in a mobile formatted display for easy access. Unlike the standard internet Google search from your mobile device, the Symbian Google Client is also built to render searches faster, and display the information in an easier to read display.
2. Nokia Email Service For Symbian
Nokia really wanted to make sure everyone knew what this program did, so they named it Nokia Email Service to showcase the obvious. The program essentially offers connections between popular email clients such as GMail, Yahoo! Mail, and ISP email accounts (of which thousands are listed as compatible). Users can also access their Microsoft Exchange Server Accounts, while handling both POP and IMAP account alike. The program is currently free as it's running in Beta mode, but charges will apply when it launches as a full version program. You can find out more at Nokia Email.
3. Fring For Symbian
FringFring is one of the best Voip and Data chat programs available for any mobile platform (read about Fring for Windows Mobile). The program allows users to make VOIP calls when Wi-Fi is available, or to utilize their data plan for voice and text based chatting. Fring supports the most popular in mobile chat programs including Skype, MSN Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, SIP, Twitter, AIM, and Yahoo.
With these applications users can tell if their friends are available before they place a call or leave a message, and they can make cheap calls via Skype and other applications without wasting their cell phone minutes. It's easy to install, compatible across many platforms, offers cheap international calling and is fast and easy to grasp. What more could you want?
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alreadytaken/1367321797/
Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/symbian-platform/articles/7030.aspx#ixzz3q7qReEm2
4. Google Maps For Symbian
So far I've included Google Maps on My Top 10 Windows Mobile and Top 10 Blackberry Apps, so it only makes sense that I also include it on my Top 10 Symbian Apps page. The reason I've included Google Maps everywhere is because it simply works equally well on each platform.
With Google Maps users can find Points Of Interest (POI's), receive Turn-By-Turn Directions, and even search local businesses and call them by clicking on the selected business phone number. Google Maps works with built-in GPS receivers Google Mapsand assisted GPS offerings. It can even operate using My Location Based Services when GPS is not present, offering proximity calculations to within 1000 meters. If you don't want to pay for expensive mapping then Google Maps is not only free, it works better than many paid software programs currently available on the market.
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alreadytaken/3252578029/
5. Nokia Sports Tracker For Symbian
Sports TrackerFor the fitness enthusiast with built-in GPS capabilties there are few programs as good as Nokia Sports Tracker. With this program Runners, Cyclists, and even Walkers can track their average speeds, the altitude at which they are travelling, the total distance they've gone and much more. The program even allows users to show their workout routes via Google Earth, while a Facebook app can be added so you and your circle of friends can compare your workout details and overall progress. If you're motivated by competition, or you just want to show off your workout routine, then I'd suggest taking a look at Nokia Sports Tracker.
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roland/2598536207/
6. Nokia Podcasting For Symbian
With this very useful program users can add, delete and manage their podcasts directly from their Symbian based devices. You can download your favorite podcasts directly to your phone via either Wi-Fi connectivity or using your device's mobile data connection. With Nokia Podcasting you don't even need to manage your podcast subscription on your PC, it can all be downloaded directly on your cell phone.
Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/symbian-platform/articles/7030.aspx?p=2#ixzz3q7qMtxgh
4. Google Maps For Symbian
So far I've included Google Maps on My Top 10 Windows Mobile and Top 10 Blackberry Apps, so it only makes sense that I also include it on my Top 10 Symbian Apps page. The reason I've included Google Maps everywhere is because it simply works equally well on each platform.
With Google Maps users can find Points Of Interest (POI's), receive Turn-By-Turn Directions, and even search local businesses and call them by clicking on the selected business phone number. Google Maps works with built-in GPS receivers Google Mapsand assisted GPS offerings. It can even operate using My Location Based Services when GPS is not present, offering proximity calculations to within 1000 meters. If you don't want to pay for expensive mapping then Google Maps is not only free, it works better than many paid software programs currently available on the market.
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alreadytaken/3252578029/
5. Nokia Sports Tracker For Symbian
Sports TrackerFor the fitness enthusiast with built-in GPS capabilties there are few programs as good as Nokia Sports Tracker. With this program Runners, Cyclists, and even Walkers can track their average speeds, the altitude at which they are travelling, the total distance they've gone and much more. The program even allows users to show their workout routes via Google Earth, while a Facebook app can be added so you and your circle of friends can compare your workout details and overall progress. If you're motivated by competition, or you just want to show off your workout routine, then I'd suggest taking a look at Nokia Sports Tracker.
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roland/2598536207/
6. Nokia Podcasting For Symbian
With this very useful program users can add, delete and manage their podcasts directly from their Symbian based devices. You can download your favorite podcasts directly to your phone via either Wi-Fi connectivity or using your device's mobile data connection. With Nokia Podcasting you don't even need to manage your podcast subscription on your PC, it can all be downloaded directly on your cell phone.
Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/symbian-platform/articles/7030.aspx?p=2#ixzz3q7qMtxgh
1. Google Maps
The first really huge third party S60 application to get a full touch makeover, this works superbly on S60 5th Edition, on all phones, in both landscape and portrait modes, and with touch-panning of maps and of the StreetView displays (in countries where this is supported). Version 3.2.1 is the latest and has built-in Latitude (friend-finding), Traffic and Wikipedia (layers) support. It's also terrific as a general purpose location-centric search tool (e.g. find the nearest plumber or pizza or hairdresser).
5800 screenshot
Get it at m.google.com
2. YouTube
Yes, there's now a mobile version of the YouTube main web site, but exactly what it serves up is dependent on the device you use to browse it - and there are the delays caused by having to bring up different pages and by waiting for RealPlayer or Flash Lite to do its thing. Better is to use the dedicated YouTube client for S60 5th Edition. It's fast to search and browse from clip to clip, works over Wi-Fi or 3G and the only trick is in getting hold of it in the first place.
Picture quality is QVGA, scaled up, but it's quite good enough for casual viewing.
YouTube 2.2.17 screenshot
Try m.google.com, but if you're not offered the client for your phone, grab v2.2.17 from here instead.
3. GMail
The third big Google application, GMail is Java-based, which means that you need to take a trip into Settings | App Mgr | Installed apps and turn off the S60-supplied navigation and function 'keys'. That done though, you've got a fully touch-enabled, full-screen view into your GMail, complete with all features, such as 'Stars', 'Drafts' and your full list of emailed contacts. Try it - it'll work better than you expect.
Screenshot GMail
Get it at m.google.com in Web on your phone.
4. BBC iPlayer
For UK residents only, of course, and almost certainly only really practical while in Wi-Fi range, this presents the best of the BBC's TV output in very high quality, in streaming or DRM-protected download form. There are hundreds of programmes on offer, mostly from the last few weeks, plus a number of radio programmes as well, better for listening on the move since the bandwidth requirements are somewhat lower.
It's the download option, available for many programmes, which really impresses, since you can grab things for watching later while travelling, with no worries over needing expensive connectivity. The DRM isn't a problem as long as you watch your downloads fairly promptly (within a week, usually).
screenshot
Although BBC iPlayer is now in the Ovi Store, you can also go directly to www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/iplayer/ to see what the BBC's site offers you automatically. If your S60 5th Edition phone hasn't been added yet to the BBC's compatibility database (they're not very quick at updating this), it's worth trying www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/iplayer/iplayer.wgz directly. There's a great chance that the widget will work.
5. Opera Mini
Why on earth would you want another web browser? You have S60 Web, after all? Moreover, why would you want a mouldy, ol' Java app? Because it's faster, slicker and more frugal than Web, that's why. Once you get past the initial Java hand-holding 'Do you want to go online?' question, Opera Mini, quite simply, rocks. Backed up by special proxy servers, even huge web pages like BoingBoing can be opened in just a few seconds and browsed around with full touch-panning. If you find S60 Web too slow for tradition text-based pages then Opera Mini is a definite candidate, especially if you're not on a flat rate data plan. The new version 5 beta introduces multi-tab browsing and an integrated touchscreen keyboard to save you messing with the standard Java text box forms, but the production v4.2 is also well worth installing.
5800 screenshot
Get either version from mini.opera.com
6. Quickoffice v6 (upgrade)
It may seem a little odd to see Quickoffice in a list of freeware and, it's true, I'm cheating slightly. But by default, Quickoffice's document viewers aren't in the 5800 XpressMusic's ROM. Instead, they're a free addition, giving you Word, Excel and Powerpoint viewing with full touchscreen support. And on other S60 5th Edition phones, the viewers included are often 'old' v4 or v5 editions. So, make the most of the downloads and upgrades offered in your phone's Download! or 'Sw update' system. In particular, note that all Nokia phone owners are entitled to a free upgrade to the latest v6 viewers, giving extra document compatibility - look in the 'Updates and upgrades' section of Quickoffice if you're not already on v6.
5800 screenshot
And I can't resist a plug for upgrading to the latest editing version. The Quickoffice folks always seem to have one offer or another on, so check out their web site for details.
7. Snaptu
As with Opera Mini, don't write this off because it's Java-hosted. Snaptu offers to bring whole swathes of your online life together in one, streamlined and optimised application. Social networks, news, TV listings, the works. And it's extensible, with new modules being added weekly.
Snaptu
Get it from the Nokia Ovi Store or by going to m.snaptu.com in Web on your phone.
8. AccuWeather
One of S60's best kept secrets, AccuWeather was always a useful little widget to have installed. With the advent of S60 5th Edition and touch control, it has been dramatically improved, now with hourly and daily forecasts, weather charts, maps, and even GPS integration, to query the exact forecast for your current location - and all for free, quite amazingly. Admittedly, it takes a good ten seconds or so to retrieve the necessary weather data over the Internet, but in this case it's well worth the wait (and anyway, with your multitasking smartphone you can just switch away to something else and come back shortly, can't you?)
5800 screenshot
AccuWeather is best found in the Ovi Store for Nokia phones (especially if you're after the version with the N97 homescreen widget) and it's also archived and up for download on many sites right across the web, e.g. here as accuweather.wgz (1.3MB).
9. Files on Ovi
A terrific way to keep your important desktop folders automatically backed up (you get up to 10GB free, amazingly, in Nokia's 'Anytime files' system) and to have remote access to your master documents - on either Windows PC or Apple Mac - through the phone, Files on Ovi is fully compatible with Nokia's S60 5th Edition phones - it's just that Nokia doesn't make it easy...
5800 screenshot
Although you can simply access your 'Files on Ovi' through the mobile web site, it's tedious having to keep signing in, which makes the Files on Ovi widget so important, since it handles this for you. In order to get the widget, either sign in to the mobile site (and yes there really are half a dozen 'secure' warning dialogs to step through) and then look at the bottom of the home page - OR - type in files.ovi.com/wrt/fl/downloadw into Web and grab the widget directly.
You'll also need to install the Windows or Mac OS X 'connector' utility, which handles the remote file access and the uploading to 'Anytime files'.
PS. I believe this solution also works with the Samsung S60 5th Edition phone(s), but don't tell Nokia... 8-)
10. Wireless keyboard
Although this hasn't been fully updated officially yet for S60 5th Edition and thus shouldn't qualify for this list as not being optimised, I couldn't resist adding the necessary install for driving a Bluetooth wireless keyboard. With this onboard, you can treat your S60 full-screen touch phone (a 5800 is shown below) as a mini-laptop and the solution works rather well.
5800 screenshot
Use this install file, the version for S60 3rd Edition FP1 phones, until such time as Nokia get round to doing a formal S60 5th Edition release.
11. France 24 Mobile
Full credit to France 24, the TV/media company, for putting out their content for free on all mobile platforms. And no, don't worry, you don't have to speak French. There's general news, business, culture and weather content here, in pre-edited (but regularly updated) 10 minute segments, all in either French, English or Arabic, plus a genuinely live stream onto the appropriate language France TV channel.
Video quality's not the best by default, but you can change the stream to 'Highest quality' in Settings, after which picture quality is easily up with that of the BBC's iPlayer.
5800 screenshot
You can get France 24 for your S60 5th Edition phone from the Nokia Ovi Store or by going to m.france24.mobiclip.com in Web.
12. PhoneTorch
Fabulous. With the dual LED flash system able to be used during video recording, why on earth didn't Nokia let us use the LEDs as a torch when needed? Why indeed, which is why PhoneTorch is such a little God-send. On devices with the LEDs covered in normal use (e.g. the Nokia N97), you'll need to prepare the way by opening the camera slider and then closing the Camera application.
PhoneTorch
Get it from here. (Nokia phones only)
13. "JoikuSpot Light FREE Hotspot"
Perhaps a pinnacle of modern software engineering, JoikuSpot turns your S60 phone and its data connection into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot for other devices (of yours) to hook into. The premium version has loads more functions and security, but for cheap, cheerful and ad-hoc use, the free 'Light' version does very well, letting you surf away on your laptop, for example, using (in this case) the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic as the hotspot. Yes, PC Suite also allows through-Internet connections, but isn't is just so cool to be making your own Wi-Fi hotspot?
Get it from the Nokia Ovi Store or from Joiku's download page.
14. Fring and 15. Nimbuzz
As ever, I can't split these two, offering very similar feature sets. Both are Nokia 5th-Edition-optimised VoIP and chat clients, and both include Skype integration. So I'm going to let you try both and make your own mind up!
screenshot
Grab both utilities from the Nokia Ovi Store or directly from the developer mobile sites: Get Fring by going to m.fring.com in Web, grab Nimbuzz by going to m.nimbuzz.com in Web.
16. Qik
This well known live video capture utility. The quality of its output usually disappoints (relative to capturing video with the native Camera app), but hey, if you need to stream live then you need to stream live...!
screenshot
Get it from the Nokia Ovi Store or (e.g. for Samsung i8910 HD) here.
17. Mobbler
This is a Last.fm radio player and 'scrobbler' for S60 smartphones. It allows you to listen to your Last.fm radio stations and to scrobble (share) tracks played using the S60 Music Player.
Get it from here.
18. Palringo
Aside from Skype, its one omission, this is perhaps the ultimate instant messaging client for S60, building in every other chat system, including (unusually) Facebook Chat. There's GPS support too, so that your contacts can see where you are in the world.
Get it from the Nokia Ovi Store or from www.palringo.com in Web on your S60 5th Edition phone.
screenshot screenshot
19. Psiloc World Traveler
Similar to Worldmate (but here compatible with all S60 phones and not just Nokia ones), this offers free travel related functions, including daylight globe, currency conversion and 5 day weather forecast. It's all rather slick and, like Worldmate, Psiloc probably plan to make their money on the premium flight information, coming soon. The rest of the application is free, however, which is why it's included here.
In theory, World Traveler is in the Ovi Store, but it's currently giving an error. So get it from here. Note that the install is incredibly slow - I'm guessing the SIS file is very complicated and has all sorts of language options which need to be worked through by the OS!
20. Paint Pad
A rewritten version (allegedly) of a Forum Nokia source example, Paint Pad does a good job of standing on its own two feet, with proper load/save/background/send options, plus many more painting tools. It's the paint utility that Nokia forgot to add!
5800 screenshot
Get it from Nokia's site or (if you don't like all the Flash) here.
21. Tweets60
Yup, it's a full blown Twitter client and a whole heap more friendly than using the Twitter mobile web site each day. Not in the same league as Gravity but then this is free, after all. The functionality's mainly there, with the usual columns/lists for tweets, replies and direct messages. Sadly, there's no web-like 'kinetic' scrolling, so you have to use the fiddly scroll bar.
Get it from the Nokia Ovi Store or from here.
screenshot screenshot
22. X-plore
(shown above-right) With a decidedly non-standard interface, X-plore is still mightily functional and is the current file manager of choice on S60 5th Edition. Although shareware, it only has the one 3-second nag screen and there's no time limit to your trial.
Get it here.
23. TFL Tube Map
A little specialist, to be sure, it's only appropriate to someone visiting London, but it's a slick conversion from paper to pixels (as the company name suggests). Browse around the London tube network without having to remember to bring your paper tube map.
Get it from here.
screenshot screenshot
24 S60 Internet Radio
(shown above right) Nope, not Nokia's nice, friendly version, which has yet to be ported to S60 5th Edition, unbelievably apparently. This is the original Shoutcast player from a few years ago. It's been minimally updated since, but does work. It only comes with a handful of Shoutcast stations, but it's reasonably easy to create .pls (playlist) files yourself on the desktop and then copy these across to a /shoutcast folder on the device.
Get it here.
25. The Musician's Swiss Knife and Chords
Two sister apps from the same developer, both shown/grouped here. The perennial BPM counter, metronome and note generator, implemented here in full-screen Java. Impressively, there's a range of different instrument tones that can be generated. And... a guitarists chord database deluxe - just pick the root chord and the variation and the fingering is shown - and can be played by tapping on the plectrum. There's even a choice of four guitar tones, but I was disappointed not to be able to scroll up the neck to see the various inversions as well. Still, for a freebie....
screenshot screenshot
Get Musician's Swiss Knife from here and Chords from here.
Kooaba Visual Search
Kooaba is a free application that allows you to access and view product information for CDs, DVDs, games, books and movie posters simply by taking a picture of them. All you do is take a picture of the desired object and you'll be able to view trailers, reviews and CD information directly on your mobile phone.
You can also share your searches via email or on Twitter and Facebook. However, if you're not much for social networking, there's also the option to store all your information at http://my.kooaba.com.
Kooaba is free, but does require a one-time download of 13MB of components, and we'd recommend using the application on Wi-Fi, rather than 3G, to save on data costs.
Qik
Qik is an application that lets you instantly upload videos to YouTube, social-networking websites such as Twitter or even blogs.
It also enables you to have live video chats to give you face-to-face contact with whoever you want.
Simply use the application to record, and the result can be viewed live by friends and family. All you need to do is point your mobile’s video camera.
Comics Creator
Nextwave's Comics Creator lets you create a cartoon, comic or photo journal on your Nokia handset.
Adding text, backgrounds and characters is all easily done, whether you're an artist or not.
Your finished cartoons can then be shown off to friends.
Nokia Photo browser
Nokia Photo Browser is an app developed by the Nokia Beta Labs that allows you to browse your photos in a different way to the usual gallery application preinstalled on your Nokia phone.
The Nokia Photo Browser brings 3D effects to your gallery and, if you press and hold a photo, the area will be magnified. Drag your finger across the photo to see parts of it in more detail.
Nokia Photo Browser also features face recognition. Double tap on a face in a photo and you'll zoom into that face. You can browse other faces by swiping your finger around the screen.
YouTube
The Nokia YouTube Player is a fully functioning YouTube player that allows you to browse and view videos on your Nokia phone.
The Query tool allows you to find videos with minimal typing, as it predicts what you're going to write and presents you with a list of videos dynamically.
You can also log into your YouTube account to see your uploaded videos, subscriptions and playlists, making it much like the desktop experience.
Whatsapp
WhatsApp is a Symbian application that allows you to message friends without paying for an SMS.
Blogradio
The internet's a big place, and sometimes it can be difficult to keep abreast of everything that’s going on out there, what with all the blogs, news sites and social networks competing for your attention.
Fortunately, there's an easy and rather novel way to ensure that you're always up to date with what’s happening with BlogRadio from BT Software, which converts all your RSS feeds into audio so you can listen to them while you're on the move, just as you would with a podcast.
So next time you're doing the commute to work or travelling abroad, you can simply plug in your headphones and sit back as BlogRadio relays all your RSS or Atom-based feeds back to you in a clear and natural voice.
Shazam
Shazam is another music recognition service and is available across a number of platforms.
Whether you're trying to identify a song from the TV, radio or a club, you can do just by holding your phone up to the speaker.
Shazam will identify the tune and come back with a whole load of information about the artist and the album, plus you'll have the choice to download the song or album straight onto your phone.
Some devices are compatible with the Shazam homescreen widget, allowing you to start tagging straight from your homescreen.
TuneWiki
TuneWiki is so much more than a music player for your Nokia phone – it's also an application that allows you to sing along with your favourite tunes too.
As you listen to your music, subtitled lyrics will appear over the cover art on the phone's screen.
You can search for more than 2.5 million music tracks in 40+ languages and using the music maps, you can see exactly what your friends are listening to too.
Other features include the ability to create Playlists, Song Search, Facebook and Twitter integration along with Top 50 charts so you always be up-to-date with what's hot.
Gravity
Gravity is one of the many Twitter applications for Symbian.
It features an attractive tabbed interface and integrates with your Symbain phone perfectly.
When you come across a tweet from someone else you like, clicking on it will slide out a menu from under it so you can choose to Reply, ReTweet, Favourite, or Unfollow that person.
10. PuTTY
PuTTY is a free SSH client. Especially if you own an E61/E62/E70 which come with Qwerty keyboards, this software is a must have for all you Unix guys reading this!
9. Screenshot 2
Screenshot for Symbian OS is a free program to take screenshot on your Symbian OS mobile phones. You can capture screenshot and save it to a file in JPEG, BMP, PNG or MBM format.
8. Mobile Search
Search, Find, Connect - the mobile search software for Nokia mobile phones is a simple, convenient, and fast way to find and connect to local services, websites, images, and mobile content via Yahoo!. It also supports mapping via Microsoft Local.
7. Nokia Podcasting
The Nokia Podcasting application allows you to find, subscribe to and download podcasts over the air with your Nokia N91. After downloading a podcast, you can listen to or watch it when you want.
6. DivX Player
A great DivX player, requires free registration. Can playback 320kbps QVGA DivX video at 15fps without dropping any frames. Make sure you get at least the 0.85 version or above.
5. QRreader
QReader is a high quality ebook reader, easy and powerful. It supports plain text (.txt), Palm DOC (.prc and .pdb), TCR, FB2 and UMD files reading. Alternatively, check the MobiPocket Reader.
4. Y-Browser
Y-Browser is a file manager for Symbian OS devices. It implements most standard features on files (such as copy, cut, paste, etc) & folders (create, remove, etc) and it allows you to work with "hidden, system" folders. Its addons are very unique compared to other free file managers (like SExplorer or SysExplorer), because they allow you to save to the filesystem files that were sent via Bluetooth and got stuck in Messaging.
3. Internet Radio
The application supports SHOUTcast streaming audio playback. Currently, MP3 and AAC+ streams are supported. The application also supports local playback of audio files in the following formats: MP3, AAC, eAAC+, MP4, M4A, WMA, 3GPP, AMR, and WAV. Note that some formats may not be supported on some S60 products.
2. Adobe PDF Reader
With the application you can read PDF documents on the display of your device. Documents can be accessed and opened in the following ways:
* Opening an email attachment from received e-mail messages (network service)
* Document sent using Bluetooth technology to your Inbox in Messgaing
* Using the File manager to browse and open documents stored in the phone memory and on memory card
* Browsing Web pages
1. Autolock
AutoLock is a free automatic key lock application. It will turn key lock on after certain amount of time of inactivity. For some weird reason, some of Nokia's new phones don't do that automatically.
From all the above applications, only the #1 and #2 are not available for the S60 2nd Edition phones.
Honorable Mentions:
* Zip Manager
Zip Manager is a powerful and easy-to-use file compression program for the Nokia E61. ZIP Manager allows you to handle zip files in a convenient way. It offers a graphical interface to add, extract, and open files, as well as toperform other commands. The reason this is not in the top-10 is because I am not sure is truly free. It came for free in my E61, and its package is freely available, I am just not sure if it will work freely in all other phone models too. Try and see.
* Still Image Editor
Edit your megapixel images by adding clip art, multicolor frames, color adjustments, text, resize & rotation and much more. This application came with the Nokia 3250 but it works on other phone models too. It is not in the top10 list because I am not sure if it's a native C++ Symbian application or a J2ME one packaged in a Symbian package. To use this application after installation, open your image with your Gallery/Images application and then from the menu choose "Edit".
And speaking about J2ME, here is the list with the best Java applications (not games) that you can use in *any* phone model today! That page is mobile-friendly so you can directly use it with your cellphone.
Enjoy your applications ahoy!
The Symbian Google Client is a program that integrates with your device's idle screen, that is if your device offers a "Ctrl" or "Pencil/Edit" key, or via the application launcher found on Symbian based devices. By typing in searches in the provided box Google can access the internet, find your queries and display the necessary information in a mobile formatted display for easy access. Unlike the standard internet Google search from your mobile device, the Symbian Google Client is also built to render searches faster, and display the information in an easier to read display.
2. Nokia Email Service For Symbian
Nokia really wanted to make sure everyone knew what this program did, so they named it Nokia Email Service to showcase the obvious. The program essentially offers connections between popular email clients such as GMail, Yahoo! Mail, and ISP email accounts (of which thousands are listed as compatible). Users can also access their Microsoft Exchange Server Accounts, while handling both POP and IMAP account alike. The program is currently free as it's running in Beta mode, but charges will apply when it launches as a full version program. You can find out more at Nokia Email.
3. Fring For Symbian
FringFring is one of the best Voip and Data chat programs available for any mobile platform (read about Fring for Windows Mobile). The program allows users to make VOIP calls when Wi-Fi is available, or to utilize their data plan for voice and text based chatting. Fring supports the most popular in mobile chat programs including Skype, MSN Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, SIP, Twitter, AIM, and Yahoo.
With these applications users can tell if their friends are available before they place a call or leave a message, and they can make cheap calls via Skype and other applications without wasting their cell phone minutes. It's easy to install, compatible across many platforms, offers cheap international calling and is fast and easy to grasp. What more could you want?
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alreadytaken/1367321797/
Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/symbian-platform/articles/7030.aspx#ixzz3q7qReEm2
4. Google Maps For Symbian
So far I've included Google Maps on My Top 10 Windows Mobile and Top 10 Blackberry Apps, so it only makes sense that I also include it on my Top 10 Symbian Apps page. The reason I've included Google Maps everywhere is because it simply works equally well on each platform.
With Google Maps users can find Points Of Interest (POI's), receive Turn-By-Turn Directions, and even search local businesses and call them by clicking on the selected business phone number. Google Maps works with built-in GPS receivers Google Mapsand assisted GPS offerings. It can even operate using My Location Based Services when GPS is not present, offering proximity calculations to within 1000 meters. If you don't want to pay for expensive mapping then Google Maps is not only free, it works better than many paid software programs currently available on the market.
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alreadytaken/3252578029/
5. Nokia Sports Tracker For Symbian
Sports TrackerFor the fitness enthusiast with built-in GPS capabilties there are few programs as good as Nokia Sports Tracker. With this program Runners, Cyclists, and even Walkers can track their average speeds, the altitude at which they are travelling, the total distance they've gone and much more. The program even allows users to show their workout routes via Google Earth, while a Facebook app can be added so you and your circle of friends can compare your workout details and overall progress. If you're motivated by competition, or you just want to show off your workout routine, then I'd suggest taking a look at Nokia Sports Tracker.
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roland/2598536207/
6. Nokia Podcasting For Symbian
With this very useful program users can add, delete and manage their podcasts directly from their Symbian based devices. You can download your favorite podcasts directly to your phone via either Wi-Fi connectivity or using your device's mobile data connection. With Nokia Podcasting you don't even need to manage your podcast subscription on your PC, it can all be downloaded directly on your cell phone.
Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/symbian-platform/articles/7030.aspx?p=2#ixzz3q7qMtxgh
4. Google Maps For Symbian
So far I've included Google Maps on My Top 10 Windows Mobile and Top 10 Blackberry Apps, so it only makes sense that I also include it on my Top 10 Symbian Apps page. The reason I've included Google Maps everywhere is because it simply works equally well on each platform.
With Google Maps users can find Points Of Interest (POI's), receive Turn-By-Turn Directions, and even search local businesses and call them by clicking on the selected business phone number. Google Maps works with built-in GPS receivers Google Mapsand assisted GPS offerings. It can even operate using My Location Based Services when GPS is not present, offering proximity calculations to within 1000 meters. If you don't want to pay for expensive mapping then Google Maps is not only free, it works better than many paid software programs currently available on the market.
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alreadytaken/3252578029/
5. Nokia Sports Tracker For Symbian
Sports TrackerFor the fitness enthusiast with built-in GPS capabilties there are few programs as good as Nokia Sports Tracker. With this program Runners, Cyclists, and even Walkers can track their average speeds, the altitude at which they are travelling, the total distance they've gone and much more. The program even allows users to show their workout routes via Google Earth, while a Facebook app can be added so you and your circle of friends can compare your workout details and overall progress. If you're motivated by competition, or you just want to show off your workout routine, then I'd suggest taking a look at Nokia Sports Tracker.
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roland/2598536207/
6. Nokia Podcasting For Symbian
With this very useful program users can add, delete and manage their podcasts directly from their Symbian based devices. You can download your favorite podcasts directly to your phone via either Wi-Fi connectivity or using your device's mobile data connection. With Nokia Podcasting you don't even need to manage your podcast subscription on your PC, it can all be downloaded directly on your cell phone.
Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/symbian-platform/articles/7030.aspx?p=2#ixzz3q7qMtxgh
1. Google Maps
The first really huge third party S60 application to get a full touch makeover, this works superbly on S60 5th Edition, on all phones, in both landscape and portrait modes, and with touch-panning of maps and of the StreetView displays (in countries where this is supported). Version 3.2.1 is the latest and has built-in Latitude (friend-finding), Traffic and Wikipedia (layers) support. It's also terrific as a general purpose location-centric search tool (e.g. find the nearest plumber or pizza or hairdresser).
5800 screenshot
Get it at m.google.com
2. YouTube
Yes, there's now a mobile version of the YouTube main web site, but exactly what it serves up is dependent on the device you use to browse it - and there are the delays caused by having to bring up different pages and by waiting for RealPlayer or Flash Lite to do its thing. Better is to use the dedicated YouTube client for S60 5th Edition. It's fast to search and browse from clip to clip, works over Wi-Fi or 3G and the only trick is in getting hold of it in the first place.
Picture quality is QVGA, scaled up, but it's quite good enough for casual viewing.
YouTube 2.2.17 screenshot
Try m.google.com, but if you're not offered the client for your phone, grab v2.2.17 from here instead.
3. GMail
The third big Google application, GMail is Java-based, which means that you need to take a trip into Settings | App Mgr | Installed apps and turn off the S60-supplied navigation and function 'keys'. That done though, you've got a fully touch-enabled, full-screen view into your GMail, complete with all features, such as 'Stars', 'Drafts' and your full list of emailed contacts. Try it - it'll work better than you expect.
Screenshot GMail
Get it at m.google.com in Web on your phone.
4. BBC iPlayer
For UK residents only, of course, and almost certainly only really practical while in Wi-Fi range, this presents the best of the BBC's TV output in very high quality, in streaming or DRM-protected download form. There are hundreds of programmes on offer, mostly from the last few weeks, plus a number of radio programmes as well, better for listening on the move since the bandwidth requirements are somewhat lower.
It's the download option, available for many programmes, which really impresses, since you can grab things for watching later while travelling, with no worries over needing expensive connectivity. The DRM isn't a problem as long as you watch your downloads fairly promptly (within a week, usually).
screenshot
Although BBC iPlayer is now in the Ovi Store, you can also go directly to www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/iplayer/ to see what the BBC's site offers you automatically. If your S60 5th Edition phone hasn't been added yet to the BBC's compatibility database (they're not very quick at updating this), it's worth trying www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/iplayer/iplayer.wgz directly. There's a great chance that the widget will work.
5. Opera Mini
Why on earth would you want another web browser? You have S60 Web, after all? Moreover, why would you want a mouldy, ol' Java app? Because it's faster, slicker and more frugal than Web, that's why. Once you get past the initial Java hand-holding 'Do you want to go online?' question, Opera Mini, quite simply, rocks. Backed up by special proxy servers, even huge web pages like BoingBoing can be opened in just a few seconds and browsed around with full touch-panning. If you find S60 Web too slow for tradition text-based pages then Opera Mini is a definite candidate, especially if you're not on a flat rate data plan. The new version 5 beta introduces multi-tab browsing and an integrated touchscreen keyboard to save you messing with the standard Java text box forms, but the production v4.2 is also well worth installing.
5800 screenshot
Get either version from mini.opera.com
6. Quickoffice v6 (upgrade)
It may seem a little odd to see Quickoffice in a list of freeware and, it's true, I'm cheating slightly. But by default, Quickoffice's document viewers aren't in the 5800 XpressMusic's ROM. Instead, they're a free addition, giving you Word, Excel and Powerpoint viewing with full touchscreen support. And on other S60 5th Edition phones, the viewers included are often 'old' v4 or v5 editions. So, make the most of the downloads and upgrades offered in your phone's Download! or 'Sw update' system. In particular, note that all Nokia phone owners are entitled to a free upgrade to the latest v6 viewers, giving extra document compatibility - look in the 'Updates and upgrades' section of Quickoffice if you're not already on v6.
5800 screenshot
And I can't resist a plug for upgrading to the latest editing version. The Quickoffice folks always seem to have one offer or another on, so check out their web site for details.
7. Snaptu
As with Opera Mini, don't write this off because it's Java-hosted. Snaptu offers to bring whole swathes of your online life together in one, streamlined and optimised application. Social networks, news, TV listings, the works. And it's extensible, with new modules being added weekly.
Snaptu
Get it from the Nokia Ovi Store or by going to m.snaptu.com in Web on your phone.
8. AccuWeather
One of S60's best kept secrets, AccuWeather was always a useful little widget to have installed. With the advent of S60 5th Edition and touch control, it has been dramatically improved, now with hourly and daily forecasts, weather charts, maps, and even GPS integration, to query the exact forecast for your current location - and all for free, quite amazingly. Admittedly, it takes a good ten seconds or so to retrieve the necessary weather data over the Internet, but in this case it's well worth the wait (and anyway, with your multitasking smartphone you can just switch away to something else and come back shortly, can't you?)
5800 screenshot
AccuWeather is best found in the Ovi Store for Nokia phones (especially if you're after the version with the N97 homescreen widget) and it's also archived and up for download on many sites right across the web, e.g. here as accuweather.wgz (1.3MB).
9. Files on Ovi
A terrific way to keep your important desktop folders automatically backed up (you get up to 10GB free, amazingly, in Nokia's 'Anytime files' system) and to have remote access to your master documents - on either Windows PC or Apple Mac - through the phone, Files on Ovi is fully compatible with Nokia's S60 5th Edition phones - it's just that Nokia doesn't make it easy...
5800 screenshot
Although you can simply access your 'Files on Ovi' through the mobile web site, it's tedious having to keep signing in, which makes the Files on Ovi widget so important, since it handles this for you. In order to get the widget, either sign in to the mobile site (and yes there really are half a dozen 'secure' warning dialogs to step through) and then look at the bottom of the home page - OR - type in files.ovi.com/wrt/fl/downloadw into Web and grab the widget directly.
You'll also need to install the Windows or Mac OS X 'connector' utility, which handles the remote file access and the uploading to 'Anytime files'.
PS. I believe this solution also works with the Samsung S60 5th Edition phone(s), but don't tell Nokia... 8-)
10. Wireless keyboard
Although this hasn't been fully updated officially yet for S60 5th Edition and thus shouldn't qualify for this list as not being optimised, I couldn't resist adding the necessary install for driving a Bluetooth wireless keyboard. With this onboard, you can treat your S60 full-screen touch phone (a 5800 is shown below) as a mini-laptop and the solution works rather well.
5800 screenshot
Use this install file, the version for S60 3rd Edition FP1 phones, until such time as Nokia get round to doing a formal S60 5th Edition release.
11. France 24 Mobile
Full credit to France 24, the TV/media company, for putting out their content for free on all mobile platforms. And no, don't worry, you don't have to speak French. There's general news, business, culture and weather content here, in pre-edited (but regularly updated) 10 minute segments, all in either French, English or Arabic, plus a genuinely live stream onto the appropriate language France TV channel.
Video quality's not the best by default, but you can change the stream to 'Highest quality' in Settings, after which picture quality is easily up with that of the BBC's iPlayer.
5800 screenshot
You can get France 24 for your S60 5th Edition phone from the Nokia Ovi Store or by going to m.france24.mobiclip.com in Web.
12. PhoneTorch
Fabulous. With the dual LED flash system able to be used during video recording, why on earth didn't Nokia let us use the LEDs as a torch when needed? Why indeed, which is why PhoneTorch is such a little God-send. On devices with the LEDs covered in normal use (e.g. the Nokia N97), you'll need to prepare the way by opening the camera slider and then closing the Camera application.
PhoneTorch
Get it from here. (Nokia phones only)
13. "JoikuSpot Light FREE Hotspot"
Perhaps a pinnacle of modern software engineering, JoikuSpot turns your S60 phone and its data connection into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot for other devices (of yours) to hook into. The premium version has loads more functions and security, but for cheap, cheerful and ad-hoc use, the free 'Light' version does very well, letting you surf away on your laptop, for example, using (in this case) the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic as the hotspot. Yes, PC Suite also allows through-Internet connections, but isn't is just so cool to be making your own Wi-Fi hotspot?
Get it from the Nokia Ovi Store or from Joiku's download page.
14. Fring and 15. Nimbuzz
As ever, I can't split these two, offering very similar feature sets. Both are Nokia 5th-Edition-optimised VoIP and chat clients, and both include Skype integration. So I'm going to let you try both and make your own mind up!
screenshot
Grab both utilities from the Nokia Ovi Store or directly from the developer mobile sites: Get Fring by going to m.fring.com in Web, grab Nimbuzz by going to m.nimbuzz.com in Web.
16. Qik
This well known live video capture utility. The quality of its output usually disappoints (relative to capturing video with the native Camera app), but hey, if you need to stream live then you need to stream live...!
screenshot
Get it from the Nokia Ovi Store or (e.g. for Samsung i8910 HD) here.
17. Mobbler
This is a Last.fm radio player and 'scrobbler' for S60 smartphones. It allows you to listen to your Last.fm radio stations and to scrobble (share) tracks played using the S60 Music Player.
Get it from here.
18. Palringo
Aside from Skype, its one omission, this is perhaps the ultimate instant messaging client for S60, building in every other chat system, including (unusually) Facebook Chat. There's GPS support too, so that your contacts can see where you are in the world.
Get it from the Nokia Ovi Store or from www.palringo.com in Web on your S60 5th Edition phone.
screenshot screenshot
19. Psiloc World Traveler
Similar to Worldmate (but here compatible with all S60 phones and not just Nokia ones), this offers free travel related functions, including daylight globe, currency conversion and 5 day weather forecast. It's all rather slick and, like Worldmate, Psiloc probably plan to make their money on the premium flight information, coming soon. The rest of the application is free, however, which is why it's included here.
In theory, World Traveler is in the Ovi Store, but it's currently giving an error. So get it from here. Note that the install is incredibly slow - I'm guessing the SIS file is very complicated and has all sorts of language options which need to be worked through by the OS!
20. Paint Pad
A rewritten version (allegedly) of a Forum Nokia source example, Paint Pad does a good job of standing on its own two feet, with proper load/save/background/send options, plus many more painting tools. It's the paint utility that Nokia forgot to add!
5800 screenshot
Get it from Nokia's site or (if you don't like all the Flash) here.
21. Tweets60
Yup, it's a full blown Twitter client and a whole heap more friendly than using the Twitter mobile web site each day. Not in the same league as Gravity but then this is free, after all. The functionality's mainly there, with the usual columns/lists for tweets, replies and direct messages. Sadly, there's no web-like 'kinetic' scrolling, so you have to use the fiddly scroll bar.
Get it from the Nokia Ovi Store or from here.
screenshot screenshot
22. X-plore
(shown above-right) With a decidedly non-standard interface, X-plore is still mightily functional and is the current file manager of choice on S60 5th Edition. Although shareware, it only has the one 3-second nag screen and there's no time limit to your trial.
Get it here.
23. TFL Tube Map
A little specialist, to be sure, it's only appropriate to someone visiting London, but it's a slick conversion from paper to pixels (as the company name suggests). Browse around the London tube network without having to remember to bring your paper tube map.
Get it from here.
screenshot screenshot
24 S60 Internet Radio
(shown above right) Nope, not Nokia's nice, friendly version, which has yet to be ported to S60 5th Edition, unbelievably apparently. This is the original Shoutcast player from a few years ago. It's been minimally updated since, but does work. It only comes with a handful of Shoutcast stations, but it's reasonably easy to create .pls (playlist) files yourself on the desktop and then copy these across to a /shoutcast folder on the device.
Get it here.
25. The Musician's Swiss Knife and Chords
Two sister apps from the same developer, both shown/grouped here. The perennial BPM counter, metronome and note generator, implemented here in full-screen Java. Impressively, there's a range of different instrument tones that can be generated. And... a guitarists chord database deluxe - just pick the root chord and the variation and the fingering is shown - and can be played by tapping on the plectrum. There's even a choice of four guitar tones, but I was disappointed not to be able to scroll up the neck to see the various inversions as well. Still, for a freebie....
screenshot screenshot
Get Musician's Swiss Knife from here and Chords from here.
Kooaba Visual Search
Kooaba is a free application that allows you to access and view product information for CDs, DVDs, games, books and movie posters simply by taking a picture of them. All you do is take a picture of the desired object and you'll be able to view trailers, reviews and CD information directly on your mobile phone.
You can also share your searches via email or on Twitter and Facebook. However, if you're not much for social networking, there's also the option to store all your information at http://my.kooaba.com.
Kooaba is free, but does require a one-time download of 13MB of components, and we'd recommend using the application on Wi-Fi, rather than 3G, to save on data costs.
Qik
Qik is an application that lets you instantly upload videos to YouTube, social-networking websites such as Twitter or even blogs.
It also enables you to have live video chats to give you face-to-face contact with whoever you want.
Simply use the application to record, and the result can be viewed live by friends and family. All you need to do is point your mobile’s video camera.
Comics Creator
Nextwave's Comics Creator lets you create a cartoon, comic or photo journal on your Nokia handset.
Adding text, backgrounds and characters is all easily done, whether you're an artist or not.
Your finished cartoons can then be shown off to friends.
Nokia Photo browser
Nokia Photo Browser is an app developed by the Nokia Beta Labs that allows you to browse your photos in a different way to the usual gallery application preinstalled on your Nokia phone.
The Nokia Photo Browser brings 3D effects to your gallery and, if you press and hold a photo, the area will be magnified. Drag your finger across the photo to see parts of it in more detail.
Nokia Photo Browser also features face recognition. Double tap on a face in a photo and you'll zoom into that face. You can browse other faces by swiping your finger around the screen.
YouTube
The Nokia YouTube Player is a fully functioning YouTube player that allows you to browse and view videos on your Nokia phone.
The Query tool allows you to find videos with minimal typing, as it predicts what you're going to write and presents you with a list of videos dynamically.
You can also log into your YouTube account to see your uploaded videos, subscriptions and playlists, making it much like the desktop experience.
WhatsApp is a Symbian application that allows you to message friends without paying for an SMS.
Blogradio
The internet's a big place, and sometimes it can be difficult to keep abreast of everything that’s going on out there, what with all the blogs, news sites and social networks competing for your attention.
Fortunately, there's an easy and rather novel way to ensure that you're always up to date with what’s happening with BlogRadio from BT Software, which converts all your RSS feeds into audio so you can listen to them while you're on the move, just as you would with a podcast.
So next time you're doing the commute to work or travelling abroad, you can simply plug in your headphones and sit back as BlogRadio relays all your RSS or Atom-based feeds back to you in a clear and natural voice.
Shazam
Shazam is another music recognition service and is available across a number of platforms.
Whether you're trying to identify a song from the TV, radio or a club, you can do just by holding your phone up to the speaker.
Shazam will identify the tune and come back with a whole load of information about the artist and the album, plus you'll have the choice to download the song or album straight onto your phone.
Some devices are compatible with the Shazam homescreen widget, allowing you to start tagging straight from your homescreen.
TuneWiki
TuneWiki is so much more than a music player for your Nokia phone – it's also an application that allows you to sing along with your favourite tunes too.
As you listen to your music, subtitled lyrics will appear over the cover art on the phone's screen.
You can search for more than 2.5 million music tracks in 40+ languages and using the music maps, you can see exactly what your friends are listening to too.
Other features include the ability to create Playlists, Song Search, Facebook and Twitter integration along with Top 50 charts so you always be up-to-date with what's hot.
Gravity
Gravity is one of the many Twitter applications for Symbian.
It features an attractive tabbed interface and integrates with your Symbain phone perfectly.
When you come across a tweet from someone else you like, clicking on it will slide out a menu from under it so you can choose to Reply, ReTweet, Favourite, or Unfollow that person.
10. PuTTY
PuTTY is a free SSH client. Especially if you own an E61/E62/E70 which come with Qwerty keyboards, this software is a must have for all you Unix guys reading this!
9. Screenshot 2
Screenshot for Symbian OS is a free program to take screenshot on your Symbian OS mobile phones. You can capture screenshot and save it to a file in JPEG, BMP, PNG or MBM format.
8. Mobile Search
Search, Find, Connect - the mobile search software for Nokia mobile phones is a simple, convenient, and fast way to find and connect to local services, websites, images, and mobile content via Yahoo!. It also supports mapping via Microsoft Local.
7. Nokia Podcasting
The Nokia Podcasting application allows you to find, subscribe to and download podcasts over the air with your Nokia N91. After downloading a podcast, you can listen to or watch it when you want.
6. DivX Player
A great DivX player, requires free registration. Can playback 320kbps QVGA DivX video at 15fps without dropping any frames. Make sure you get at least the 0.85 version or above.
5. QRreader
QReader is a high quality ebook reader, easy and powerful. It supports plain text (.txt), Palm DOC (.prc and .pdb), TCR, FB2 and UMD files reading. Alternatively, check the MobiPocket Reader.
4. Y-Browser
Y-Browser is a file manager for Symbian OS devices. It implements most standard features on files (such as copy, cut, paste, etc) & folders (create, remove, etc) and it allows you to work with "hidden, system" folders. Its addons are very unique compared to other free file managers (like SExplorer or SysExplorer), because they allow you to save to the filesystem files that were sent via Bluetooth and got stuck in Messaging.
3. Internet Radio
The application supports SHOUTcast streaming audio playback. Currently, MP3 and AAC+ streams are supported. The application also supports local playback of audio files in the following formats: MP3, AAC, eAAC+, MP4, M4A, WMA, 3GPP, AMR, and WAV. Note that some formats may not be supported on some S60 products.
2. Adobe PDF Reader
With the application you can read PDF documents on the display of your device. Documents can be accessed and opened in the following ways:
* Opening an email attachment from received e-mail messages (network service)
* Document sent using Bluetooth technology to your Inbox in Messgaing
* Using the File manager to browse and open documents stored in the phone memory and on memory card
* Browsing Web pages
1. Autolock
AutoLock is a free automatic key lock application. It will turn key lock on after certain amount of time of inactivity. For some weird reason, some of Nokia's new phones don't do that automatically.
From all the above applications, only the #1 and #2 are not available for the S60 2nd Edition phones.
Honorable Mentions:
* Zip Manager
Zip Manager is a powerful and easy-to-use file compression program for the Nokia E61. ZIP Manager allows you to handle zip files in a convenient way. It offers a graphical interface to add, extract, and open files, as well as toperform other commands. The reason this is not in the top-10 is because I am not sure is truly free. It came for free in my E61, and its package is freely available, I am just not sure if it will work freely in all other phone models too. Try and see.
* Still Image Editor
Edit your megapixel images by adding clip art, multicolor frames, color adjustments, text, resize & rotation and much more. This application came with the Nokia 3250 but it works on other phone models too. It is not in the top10 list because I am not sure if it's a native C++ Symbian application or a J2ME one packaged in a Symbian package. To use this application after installation, open your image with your Gallery/Images application and then from the menu choose "Edit".
And speaking about J2ME, here is the list with the best Java applications (not games) that you can use in *any* phone model today! That page is mobile-friendly so you can directly use it with your cellphone.
Enjoy your applications ahoy!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Comparision of Amazon kindle,Apple Ipad and Notion Ink Adam
New Amazon Kindle DX vs Apple iPad vs Notion Ink Adam. Let it rip!
Only a year ago, Amazon’s Kindle unquestionably towered over its e-reading competitors with a sleek design, low price and always-on 3G access built right into the purchase price. Then along came Apple. Although the iPad differs in many ways from a dedicated e-reader, Apple’s marketing has depicted it as a suitable replacement for books. Now its nearly time for the next iteration to come out. And to add to the mix, we added the soon to be launched Notion Ink Adam tablet which has created a buzz online.
Look and Feel:
Out of the box, the iPad easily looks the best out of the three. With its solid build and use of expensive looking glossy plastic and aluminium, it gives a premium feel to the user. The people who have used the Notion Ink say that the plastic body has a very solid feel to it, and they have gone for a matte finish which resists fingerprints and dirt and all that, much like the Kindle DX. Of the three, The kindle is the slimmest, and Adam is the thickest. Despite the Adam being thicker and heavier it is actually easier to use the Adam in any orientation thanks to the rubberized, curved top edge.
In terms of ports, Adam demolishes the other two, having a host of ports including USB [host] as well as a full HDMI port. The other two almost beg for more ports having only a micro-USB [Kindle] and Apple Dock connecter Port [iPad].
Kindle DX: 10.4″ x 7.2″ x 0.38″ (0 .54kg)
iPad: 9.56” x 7.47” x 0.5” (0.73kg)
Adam: 10.59”x 7.52”x 0.55” (0.73kg)
Display:
Lets start with the Pearl e-Ink of the Kindle. Easily the most suited to reading with a high dpi resolution, and the lack of a 60Hz refresh rate makes it incredible easy for the eyes to read. However face it: a 16 level gray scale screen is so good for reading and the like. The 1024x 768 screen of the iPad is a gorgeous, beautiful, glossy, vivid display which makes internet browsing, and viewing videos a pleasure. The Adam in contrast has a 1024×600 transreflective PixelQi display. The backlight can be toggled by tapping the top button the display, and makes for an incredible reading experience in the sunlight. In contrast, the iPad is absolutely unreadable in direct sunlight. With the backlight on, the colors appear washed out as compared to the iPad. iPad and the Kindle offer incredible viewing angles, and they were also good in the Adam, though not as good as compared to the other two.
To sum it up, Kindle is most suited to the e-Bibliophiles out there, iPad is best for the movie freaks, and Adam offers a great compromise of both the features.
UI Experience:
Kindle, of course, has a dedicated reader based UI, measly support for web pages. Basically it reads books. Thats it. Its not really good for any other purpose. iPad has the well tried, used and loved iOS, along with its AppStore which provides a brilliant offering of Apps. Anyone who has used the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch knows how great and intuitive the OS is. The touchscreen is brilliantly responsive, and the fingers just glide over the glossy screen. Web Pages look vibrant in its screen, and it has an awesome option of Apps for games, etc. Notion Ink brings a new UI called the Eden, which it has built on the Android platform, and customized it heavily. It uses panels on the home screen to display information. It is not very friendly to use out of the box but as you start using it, it should get a second nature to use it. Single taps and Double taps behave differently, though it has a neat layout. Notion Ink has an inbuilt camera as well as GPS support. Support for Third Applications are the major issue, it has no support for Android Market, though it has plans to launch its own Genesis store soon.
Performance and Battery Life:
Apple uses an A4 chip, at 1GHz based on the Cortex A8 chip. Performance is great on it, with nothing taking forever to open. It renders Web Pages almost instantly, and has support for 720p Video Playback. But this is not really a lot compared to Notion Ink’s NVIDIA Tegra 250 chip and its dual core 1Ghz Cortex A9 chip and ULV GPU which works for both power efficiency as well as blazing performance, and allows it to support full HD 1080p playback. Lets not mention the Kindle over here.
In terms of Battery Life, the iPad gives around 10 hours, the Adam around 12hours, and the Kindle gives about 4 days of battery life with the Wireless on. With the wireless off, the Kindle DX can work for upto 2 weeks, thanks to e-Ink technology.
Pricing and Verdict:
Notion Ink Adam is priced at 499USD [+50USD Global Shipping], for the PixelQi screen and the Wi-Fi only version. Adding 3G gets it upto 549USD [based on the Pre-Order Prices]. iPad comes for 499USD for the Wi-Fi only version, and goes upto a whooping 629USD. Kindle DX is available for 379USD.
So to sum it up, iPad is a great buy if you are into internet and video but its not for the books. Its worth waiting for iPad 2 to be launched with the rumored Retina Display, and Apple A5 chip. Kindle is recommended only if you are bent on buying a eBook reader only device, and don’t have any other use for it. Notion Ink Adam is our definite choice here, and it should be worth the wait. To add to the mix Samsung Galaxy Tab has already been launched, and Motorola Xoom and RIM Blackberry Playback are also expected soon. None of them are eBook readers but they should be taken seriously in the tablet market.
Only a year ago, Amazon’s Kindle unquestionably towered over its e-reading competitors with a sleek design, low price and always-on 3G access built right into the purchase price. Then along came Apple. Although the iPad differs in many ways from a dedicated e-reader, Apple’s marketing has depicted it as a suitable replacement for books. Now its nearly time for the next iteration to come out. And to add to the mix, we added the soon to be launched Notion Ink Adam tablet which has created a buzz online.
Look and Feel:
Out of the box, the iPad easily looks the best out of the three. With its solid build and use of expensive looking glossy plastic and aluminium, it gives a premium feel to the user. The people who have used the Notion Ink say that the plastic body has a very solid feel to it, and they have gone for a matte finish which resists fingerprints and dirt and all that, much like the Kindle DX. Of the three, The kindle is the slimmest, and Adam is the thickest. Despite the Adam being thicker and heavier it is actually easier to use the Adam in any orientation thanks to the rubberized, curved top edge.
In terms of ports, Adam demolishes the other two, having a host of ports including USB [host] as well as a full HDMI port. The other two almost beg for more ports having only a micro-USB [Kindle] and Apple Dock connecter Port [iPad].
Kindle DX: 10.4″ x 7.2″ x 0.38″ (0 .54kg)
iPad: 9.56” x 7.47” x 0.5” (0.73kg)
Adam: 10.59”x 7.52”x 0.55” (0.73kg)
Display:
Lets start with the Pearl e-Ink of the Kindle. Easily the most suited to reading with a high dpi resolution, and the lack of a 60Hz refresh rate makes it incredible easy for the eyes to read. However face it: a 16 level gray scale screen is so good for reading and the like. The 1024x 768 screen of the iPad is a gorgeous, beautiful, glossy, vivid display which makes internet browsing, and viewing videos a pleasure. The Adam in contrast has a 1024×600 transreflective PixelQi display. The backlight can be toggled by tapping the top button the display, and makes for an incredible reading experience in the sunlight. In contrast, the iPad is absolutely unreadable in direct sunlight. With the backlight on, the colors appear washed out as compared to the iPad. iPad and the Kindle offer incredible viewing angles, and they were also good in the Adam, though not as good as compared to the other two.
To sum it up, Kindle is most suited to the e-Bibliophiles out there, iPad is best for the movie freaks, and Adam offers a great compromise of both the features.
UI Experience:
Kindle, of course, has a dedicated reader based UI, measly support for web pages. Basically it reads books. Thats it. Its not really good for any other purpose. iPad has the well tried, used and loved iOS, along with its AppStore which provides a brilliant offering of Apps. Anyone who has used the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch knows how great and intuitive the OS is. The touchscreen is brilliantly responsive, and the fingers just glide over the glossy screen. Web Pages look vibrant in its screen, and it has an awesome option of Apps for games, etc. Notion Ink brings a new UI called the Eden, which it has built on the Android platform, and customized it heavily. It uses panels on the home screen to display information. It is not very friendly to use out of the box but as you start using it, it should get a second nature to use it. Single taps and Double taps behave differently, though it has a neat layout. Notion Ink has an inbuilt camera as well as GPS support. Support for Third Applications are the major issue, it has no support for Android Market, though it has plans to launch its own Genesis store soon.
Performance and Battery Life:
Apple uses an A4 chip, at 1GHz based on the Cortex A8 chip. Performance is great on it, with nothing taking forever to open. It renders Web Pages almost instantly, and has support for 720p Video Playback. But this is not really a lot compared to Notion Ink’s NVIDIA Tegra 250 chip and its dual core 1Ghz Cortex A9 chip and ULV GPU which works for both power efficiency as well as blazing performance, and allows it to support full HD 1080p playback. Lets not mention the Kindle over here.
In terms of Battery Life, the iPad gives around 10 hours, the Adam around 12hours, and the Kindle gives about 4 days of battery life with the Wireless on. With the wireless off, the Kindle DX can work for upto 2 weeks, thanks to e-Ink technology.
Pricing and Verdict:
Notion Ink Adam is priced at 499USD [+50USD Global Shipping], for the PixelQi screen and the Wi-Fi only version. Adding 3G gets it upto 549USD [based on the Pre-Order Prices]. iPad comes for 499USD for the Wi-Fi only version, and goes upto a whooping 629USD. Kindle DX is available for 379USD.
So to sum it up, iPad is a great buy if you are into internet and video but its not for the books. Its worth waiting for iPad 2 to be launched with the rumored Retina Display, and Apple A5 chip. Kindle is recommended only if you are bent on buying a eBook reader only device, and don’t have any other use for it. Notion Ink Adam is our definite choice here, and it should be worth the wait. To add to the mix Samsung Galaxy Tab has already been launched, and Motorola Xoom and RIM Blackberry Playback are also expected soon. None of them are eBook readers but they should be taken seriously in the tablet market.
Top 10 Online Virus scanners
Recently, we posted about top free antivirus for Windows 7 and we also wrote about top free mobile antiviruses on Comptalks. Today, we are going to talk about online virus scanners through which you scan your computer/laptop or the files you are about to download from downloading sites rapidshare,megaupload or mediafire .
Most of the times,people get infected by viruses when they try to download some pirated software from some warez forum. We recommend all our users not to use warez softwares as some of them might be having some keyloggers/trojans binded with them . For every software, there is a free and open source software available . Also, it is highly recommended that you should scan the software online using it on computer ,as some online virus scanners present great variety .
So, here is our list of Online Virus Scanners :
VirusTotal :
VirusTotal is quite famous among downloaders and regular downloaders always do an online scanning before downloading a file from somewhere . Here you can either check the file by uploading or by URL . In Virustotal, there are more than 30 antivirus companies that participate in VirusTotal with their antivirus engines.
ESET Online Scanner :
I have been using ESET Antvirus on my laptop and never had a virus problem in the last two year. So, I will be advising you guys to have a look at the ESET Online Virus Scanner . If you are mozilla firefox or any other browser user other than Internet Explorer, then you’ll have to install a file/plugin and then run it . I tested it on Internet Explorer and it was working way cool .
BitDefender Online Scanner : BitDefender Online Scanners offers you a browser extension in Mozilla and Chrome. And scanning through both the extensions works way cooler than you might have thought of . I have tested both the extensions and best thing about them is that they run simultaneously with your PC’s antivirus and you don’t have to uninstall that software.
McAfee Online Virus Scanner : McAfee Online Virus is another online virus scanning tool which works quite neatly for users,but right now it not available for Windows 7 .
Symantec Security Check : This is for all Norton Antivirus fans, which love using that antivirus even after its validity has expired. You can use this for checking some stuff on your computer . This too doesn’t work with Windows 7 .
Panda Security Online Antivirus scan anda Security also offers a quite cool online antivirus tool ,for using this in Firefox you need to download a plugin .
Avast Online Scanner :
This is for all Avast lovers,who love to use Avast antivirus. Although never been a fan of offline version ,this seems cool as you can individually scan an infected item given that it is less than 16 mb .
COMODO Online Scanner :
Comodo AV Scanner is a free service that lets you quickly find out whether your computer is infected with viruses and spyware. The scanner requires the installation of a small browser plug-in.
F-secure Online Scanner :
F-Secure Online Scanner helps you getting rid of malwares from your computer .
Kaspersky Online Virus Scanner :
This used to be a great tool for online virus scanning but now it has been disabled by Kaspersky as they are working on it to give you guys a better online scanner .
Most of the times,people get infected by viruses when they try to download some pirated software from some warez forum. We recommend all our users not to use warez softwares as some of them might be having some keyloggers/trojans binded with them . For every software, there is a free and open source software available . Also, it is highly recommended that you should scan the software online using it on computer ,as some online virus scanners present great variety .
So, here is our list of Online Virus Scanners :
VirusTotal :
VirusTotal is quite famous among downloaders and regular downloaders always do an online scanning before downloading a file from somewhere . Here you can either check the file by uploading or by URL . In Virustotal, there are more than 30 antivirus companies that participate in VirusTotal with their antivirus engines.
ESET Online Scanner :
I have been using ESET Antvirus on my laptop and never had a virus problem in the last two year. So, I will be advising you guys to have a look at the ESET Online Virus Scanner . If you are mozilla firefox or any other browser user other than Internet Explorer, then you’ll have to install a file/plugin and then run it . I tested it on Internet Explorer and it was working way cool .
BitDefender Online Scanner : BitDefender Online Scanners offers you a browser extension in Mozilla and Chrome. And scanning through both the extensions works way cooler than you might have thought of . I have tested both the extensions and best thing about them is that they run simultaneously with your PC’s antivirus and you don’t have to uninstall that software.
McAfee Online Virus Scanner : McAfee Online Virus is another online virus scanning tool which works quite neatly for users,but right now it not available for Windows 7 .
Symantec Security Check : This is for all Norton Antivirus fans, which love using that antivirus even after its validity has expired. You can use this for checking some stuff on your computer . This too doesn’t work with Windows 7 .
Panda Security Online Antivirus scan anda Security also offers a quite cool online antivirus tool ,for using this in Firefox you need to download a plugin .
Avast Online Scanner :
This is for all Avast lovers,who love to use Avast antivirus. Although never been a fan of offline version ,this seems cool as you can individually scan an infected item given that it is less than 16 mb .
COMODO Online Scanner :
Comodo AV Scanner is a free service that lets you quickly find out whether your computer is infected with viruses and spyware. The scanner requires the installation of a small browser plug-in.
F-secure Online Scanner :
F-Secure Online Scanner helps you getting rid of malwares from your computer .
Kaspersky Online Virus Scanner :
This used to be a great tool for online virus scanning but now it has been disabled by Kaspersky as they are working on it to give you guys a better online scanner .
Top 10 Antivirus softwares for PC in 2011
Today, an unprotected computer isn’t just vulnerable, it’s probably already infected. New viruses, spyware, trojans, worms, and other malware are created every day. New threats are disguised to bypass other security measures, and specifically designed to catch you and your PC off guard.
The Antivirus Softwares are the one stop solution to keep your machine healthy and secure. There are a number of options available in the market today and seeing the escalating security breaches on the internet, the companies have equipped their softwares with the most updated features to fight any trojan or virus trying to conquer the firewall of the empire of their data.
Here’s my list of top 10 antivirus to use :
1)BITDEFENDER:
BitDefender is the best antiviruses with top class defending ability.BitDefender Antivirus Pro protects PC from a number of online threats, including viruses, spyware, phishing scams, and more. The software basically covers from every angle, protecting PC from threats on the internet, email, and even instant messaging. The program scans all web, IM, and email traffic for malware. The software is even equipped to encrypt the IM chat conversations.It provides hourly definition updates for latest threats.
2)KASPERSKY:
Kaspersky Antivirus is often treated as the best available Antivirus application and has a special version for file servers. It covers almost all sections needed for a top class security.Kaspersky is known for their quick response to new viruses, and they’re often among the first to detect new viruses in the wild. One reason the software is so effective is because it is updated regularly and is proactively looking for new security threats. The malware landscape continues to change, and Kaspersky adjusts to address the threats.
3)NORTON:
Norton Antivirus is one of the most popular and well known antivirus application.Norton AntiVirus 2011 does a great job of balancing system resources, simplicity, and (most importantly) security. The protection level is second to none, and new features continue to set the standard for antivirus software. The latest version has the ability to map your wireless home network and safeguards your wifi networks.Norton has managed to use their unique strengths to deliver an excellent antivirus program with a great overall user experience.
4)McAFEE:
McAfee is one of the leading antiviruses in security industry.McAfee also produces an enterprise-level product named VirusScan Enterprise: McAfee has designed this for use on larger networks. It contains features intended to make management of antivirus software on multiple computers easier.McAfee introduced 2 features ScriptStopper and WormStopper. But it has no support for P2P File Sharing, Instant Messenger and Registry Startup. The inbuilt updater updates virus definitions on a regular basis to keep PC up-to-date.
5)WEBROOT:
Webroot Antivirus with Spysweeper is the perfect virus/spyware combo. The software is easy to use, and features effective protection and performance.Webroot monitors and detects all sorts of malicious files and just plain unwanted programs like adware, dialers, cookies, and keyloggers. The integrated Spy Sweeper is an amazing standalone anti-spyware software that in itself protects from a variety of computer threats.The only thing keeping this software out of the top slots is the lack of a few features like a battery saving mode and rescue CD.
6)AVG ANTIVIRUS:
AVG Antivirus offers a number of compelling features and the right technology to keep PC protected.AVG protects from hackers, phishing scams, adware and malware that come through email or IM. AVG even scans outbound email to make sure you don’t accidentally pass a virus along to others. And of course the software protects from other forms of malware, including worms, keyloggers, Trojans and rootkits.With innovative new features and improved performance, AVG 2011 is better than ever. The new social networking protection and LinkScanner up the ante with proactive web protection, cloud antivirus and a security network.
7)AVIRA ANTIVIR:
Avira Antivir Premium is one of the best in the business, and has several compelling features that make it a great choice for antivirus software. Avira AntiVirUS is filled with great features that enhance security, performance, and convenience. One important feature is that the scanner works in real-time. Avira scans all files as they are accessed, in the split second before they are opened and have the chance to infect your PC.The software also incorporates advanced technology that protects from the constantly changing virus landscape.And while the software didn’t offer some convenient features (like a silent gamer mode) that others have, the effectiveness is second to none.
ESET NOD-32:
ESET NOD-32 is a great desktop security solution, complete with effective protection and advanced features. Eset Nod32 is particularly useful for home users looking for a simple “down-to-earth” security software that they can simply install and let the software do the work for them. Eset has proven to be one of the best overall performing antivirus software.Eset Nod32 Antivirus certainly isn’t as far-reaching as the upgraded Smart Security, but the scope is definitely on par with other leading antivirus competitors. Eset works behind the scenes to deliver protection from dialers, adware, and keyloggers.
9)PANDA CLOUD ANTIVIRUS:
Panda Cloud Antivirus uses a community-based approach to quickly identify new threats spreading via the Web. Processing of these new threats is done in-the-cloud, saving your system resources and making for a lighter and far more proactive antivirus software.It provides a full range of protection, from antivirus and antispyware to behavior blocking and rootkit detection. Panda Cloud Antivirus even protects while you’re offline. An added bonus, Panda Cloud Antivirus disables the ill-advised autorun feature in Windows that has led to a tremendous population of autorun worms.
10)ZONEALARM:
The latest version of ZoneAlarm antivirus comes with strong removal ability of most dangerous viruses and multilayer security for PC. But it is not certified by any of the three major independent testing labs Virus Bulletic, Checkmark, or ICSA. Zone Alarm scans uses lesser possible system resources.
If you want to scan your computer online, you can check our list of top online virus scanners or if you want antivirus for your mobile then do checkout our list of free mobile antivirus
Top 10 Antivirus softw
The Antivirus Softwares are the one stop solution to keep your machine healthy and secure. There are a number of options available in the market today and seeing the escalating security breaches on the internet, the companies have equipped their softwares with the most updated features to fight any trojan or virus trying to conquer the firewall of the empire of their data.
Here’s my list of top 10 antivirus to use :
1)BITDEFENDER:
BitDefender is the best antiviruses with top class defending ability.BitDefender Antivirus Pro protects PC from a number of online threats, including viruses, spyware, phishing scams, and more. The software basically covers from every angle, protecting PC from threats on the internet, email, and even instant messaging. The program scans all web, IM, and email traffic for malware. The software is even equipped to encrypt the IM chat conversations.It provides hourly definition updates for latest threats.
2)KASPERSKY:
Kaspersky Antivirus is often treated as the best available Antivirus application and has a special version for file servers. It covers almost all sections needed for a top class security.Kaspersky is known for their quick response to new viruses, and they’re often among the first to detect new viruses in the wild. One reason the software is so effective is because it is updated regularly and is proactively looking for new security threats. The malware landscape continues to change, and Kaspersky adjusts to address the threats.
3)NORTON:
Norton Antivirus is one of the most popular and well known antivirus application.Norton AntiVirus 2011 does a great job of balancing system resources, simplicity, and (most importantly) security. The protection level is second to none, and new features continue to set the standard for antivirus software. The latest version has the ability to map your wireless home network and safeguards your wifi networks.Norton has managed to use their unique strengths to deliver an excellent antivirus program with a great overall user experience.
4)McAFEE:
McAfee is one of the leading antiviruses in security industry.McAfee also produces an enterprise-level product named VirusScan Enterprise: McAfee has designed this for use on larger networks. It contains features intended to make management of antivirus software on multiple computers easier.McAfee introduced 2 features ScriptStopper and WormStopper. But it has no support for P2P File Sharing, Instant Messenger and Registry Startup. The inbuilt updater updates virus definitions on a regular basis to keep PC up-to-date.
5)WEBROOT:
Webroot Antivirus with Spysweeper is the perfect virus/spyware combo. The software is easy to use, and features effective protection and performance.Webroot monitors and detects all sorts of malicious files and just plain unwanted programs like adware, dialers, cookies, and keyloggers. The integrated Spy Sweeper is an amazing standalone anti-spyware software that in itself protects from a variety of computer threats.The only thing keeping this software out of the top slots is the lack of a few features like a battery saving mode and rescue CD.
6)AVG ANTIVIRUS:
AVG Antivirus offers a number of compelling features and the right technology to keep PC protected.AVG protects from hackers, phishing scams, adware and malware that come through email or IM. AVG even scans outbound email to make sure you don’t accidentally pass a virus along to others. And of course the software protects from other forms of malware, including worms, keyloggers, Trojans and rootkits.With innovative new features and improved performance, AVG 2011 is better than ever. The new social networking protection and LinkScanner up the ante with proactive web protection, cloud antivirus and a security network.
7)AVIRA ANTIVIR:
Avira Antivir Premium is one of the best in the business, and has several compelling features that make it a great choice for antivirus software. Avira AntiVirUS is filled with great features that enhance security, performance, and convenience. One important feature is that the scanner works in real-time. Avira scans all files as they are accessed, in the split second before they are opened and have the chance to infect your PC.The software also incorporates advanced technology that protects from the constantly changing virus landscape.And while the software didn’t offer some convenient features (like a silent gamer mode) that others have, the effectiveness is second to none.
ESET NOD-32:
ESET NOD-32 is a great desktop security solution, complete with effective protection and advanced features. Eset Nod32 is particularly useful for home users looking for a simple “down-to-earth” security software that they can simply install and let the software do the work for them. Eset has proven to be one of the best overall performing antivirus software.Eset Nod32 Antivirus certainly isn’t as far-reaching as the upgraded Smart Security, but the scope is definitely on par with other leading antivirus competitors. Eset works behind the scenes to deliver protection from dialers, adware, and keyloggers.
9)PANDA CLOUD ANTIVIRUS:
Panda Cloud Antivirus uses a community-based approach to quickly identify new threats spreading via the Web. Processing of these new threats is done in-the-cloud, saving your system resources and making for a lighter and far more proactive antivirus software.It provides a full range of protection, from antivirus and antispyware to behavior blocking and rootkit detection. Panda Cloud Antivirus even protects while you’re offline. An added bonus, Panda Cloud Antivirus disables the ill-advised autorun feature in Windows that has led to a tremendous population of autorun worms.
10)ZONEALARM:
The latest version of ZoneAlarm antivirus comes with strong removal ability of most dangerous viruses and multilayer security for PC. But it is not certified by any of the three major independent testing labs Virus Bulletic, Checkmark, or ICSA. Zone Alarm scans uses lesser possible system resources.
If you want to scan your computer online, you can check our list of top online virus scanners or if you want antivirus for your mobile then do checkout our list of free mobile antivirus
Top 10 Antivirus softw
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Apple ready to launch iPad in India, Price of Apple iPad in India
The countdown has begun, as Apple is all set to launch iPad in Indian Market. After waiting for so much time, the Indian users will be adding Apple iPads to their gadget-robe.
Apple is releasing iPad in India on 28 January, after 3 days. Ipad will be available only through Apple premium retailers.
Price of the Wi-Fi version of Apple iPad will be Rs. 26.000-33,000. And the 3G+Wi-Fi version are priced Rs. 33K to 44K.
Apple is releasing iPad in India on 28 January, after 3 days. Ipad will be available only through Apple premium retailers.
Price of the Wi-Fi version of Apple iPad will be Rs. 26.000-33,000. And the 3G+Wi-Fi version are priced Rs. 33K to 44K.
12 Android Apps to Replace Your Other Gadgets
Android phones can do more than just answer calls and take pictures. Like digital Swiss army knives, they concentrate a lot of utilities into a compact, pocket-size device. Straight out of the box, your Android phone is a still and video camera, an address book, a GPS navigator, and even a phone.
But with the right apps, you can also turn it into a flashlight, a remote control, a barcode scanner, and a compass. Musicians will find that it makes an excellent tuner and metronome. And though it's already an alarm clock and a music player, it can get better at these tasks with the right software.
Here are 12 apps--all of them available from the Android Market and most of them free--that can turn your phone into an even better multipurpose device.
But not a perfect one. I'm still looking for the right Phillips screwdriver app.
Flashlight
DroidLight turns on your phone's camera flash LED to light your way.Have you ever watched someone trying to read in the dark by the blue glow of their cellphone's screen? Have you ever been that person?
With Motorola's DroidLight, those days are over. Launch this app, and your phone's camera LED will come on and light the way. DroidLight's user interface is transcendently simple: An illustration of an old-fashioned, incandescent light bulb. Touch the bulb to turn the light on or off.
One caveat: Make sure that you go to another program or return to the Home Screen before putting away your phone. Otherwise, you might accidentally turn the beam back on, and it will light up the inside of your pocket until the phone's battery dies.
The DroidLight requires a camera with flash, of course; and it doesn't work on all such phones. It's most dependable on Motorola phones, but it does work on some others, as well. And since it's free, there's no risk in trying it.
Tape Recorder
Your phone has a microphone and a memory. Why shouldn't you be able to use it to record verbal reminders, conversations, and even live music?
Though there are plenty of recording apps for Android, I recommend the free RecForge Lite and its $6 big sibling, RecForge. (Until very recently, both versions went by the name AudioRecorder.) The lite version is fine if you're making recordings of less than 3 minutes each.
Either app gives you a host of options for handling the recording you want to make. At its default setting it saves recordings as .mp3 files, but you can choose instead to record .wav or .ogg files. Available sample rates range from low-fi but understandable 8KHz to CD-quality 44KHz, and you can choose to record in mono or in two-track stereo.
Once you've recorded something, you can attach an additional recording to the end, convert it to another format, or share it via e-mail, Gmail, Bluetooth, or text message. Don't get too excited about the Edit option on the menu, however: That's just for file manipulation; you can't edit the audio in RecForge.
Bear in mind, too, that in most places, recording conversations or performances without permission is illegal.
TV Remote Control
I wish I could recommend an app that would turn your Android phone into a universal remote control. But that won't happen any time soon. The problem is that phones don't emit infrared signals--the preferred interface between remotes and the devices they control.
This Wi-Fi remote handily controls the Boxee set-top box.There are a few of exceptions, all of them involving controls for devices that plug into your home network as well as into your TV. By turning on your phone's Wi-Fi connection, you can control the device over the LAN.
I gave the free Boxee Wifi Remote a whirl. If you've attached a computer to your television so that you can watch movies and TV shows via your Boxee account, this program will permit your phone to function passably as a remote control. It's reasonably straightforward and it works, navigating through the menus with simple on-screen controls, and it even uses your phone's volume control for Boxee.
Running Boxee involves entering text occasionally--for instance, if you want to search for a title or an actor. If you've ever tried to enter text with a conventional remote control, you know how much easier it is to use your phone's keyboard instead. And that's despite the fact that the Boxee Web remote got confused when I tried using Swype with it.
The developer told me that he has not yet tested this app with DLink's upcoming Boxee Box, but he thinks that it should work.
Since I don't own a TiVo, I wasn't able to test Tim Hoeck's TivoRemote. The app costs $1 and is supposed to work with Tivo Series3, HD, or Premiere DVRs.
Remote Keyboard and Mouse
You can control your computer from your Android phone, even if you aren't watching Boxee.
The free, open-source RemoteDroid uses your network and Java to ast as another keyboard and mouse for your Windows PC. Preliminarily, you'll have to install the Java SE runtime environment on your the computer and then run the RemoteDroid Server software. And of course, you'll have to turn on your phone's Wi-Fi and get it onto the network.
Once you've taken care of those steps, you'll find the user interface minimal but intuitive: You use the big rectangle as a touchpad; the two smaller rectangles are buttons; and (as you'd expect) the keyboard icon brings up the keyboard.
RemoteDroid doesn't support Swype, unfortunately. But it does let you lean back and control your computer without having to touch it. And if you hook up your computer to your TV, the app works with Windows Media Center.
Alarm Clock
Your phone comes with an alarm clock app already loaded.
Alarm Clock Plus is way more sophisticated than that clunky box of circuits on your night stand.But I know a much better one. Alarm Clock Plus is, quite simply, the best alarm clock I've ever used--including physical alarm clocks of the digital, analog, and wind-up varieties.
What does Alarm Clock Plus do that the others can't? Plenty. It lets you select not just a song but a playlist, from which it will play songs at random. That means you can select 40 or 400 songs that seem right for starting the day, and be pleasantly surprised every morning. You can have it start the alarm softly and slowly increase the volume. And if you have a really hard time getting up, you can preset it not to shut up until you've solved a math problem. That should get your brain working.
You can set alarms to play once, to play every day, or to play only the days of your choice (such as on weekdays).
With all these of options, Alarm Clock Plus can be a little daunting to set up. So when you create an alarm, work through it slowly, and then use the option for testing it. The requirement to proceed methodically may explain why Brent Rose had such a different experience with it than I did.
The full version of Alarm Clock Plus costs $1.79; but if you're willing to put up with some advertising, the free version works just fine.
Compass
Catch Compass shows you the way with a variety of customizable looks.If you're in a location where you can recharge your phone and get on a 3G network, you probably don't need a compass. But a compass is still a cool thing to have around.
Catch.com's free Compass displays a working compass on your Android phone's screen, complete with an arrow that always points north. And unlike a real compass, this one can point to due north as well as to magnetic north.
You get a choice of seven compass designs, from antique to GPS, and you can select from among various backgrounds.
The app has some cool tricks up its sleeve. For instance, you can save your current longitude and latitude as a place, and later you can bring up the place in Google Maps for directions back to it. If you're the sort of person who forgets where you parked your car--or who gets blindfolded and taken to secret hideouts a lot--this feature can come in handy.
Compass's accuracy is only as good as your phone's direction- and location-finding abilities. You may also have to move your phone in odd ways (such as in a figure 8 pattern) before you can get an accurate reading.
Notepad, Post-its, and Refrigerator Door
We all scribble things on pieces of paper--reminders, ideas, shopping lists. Then we leave them places where we'll find them or, more likely, never see them again.
You'll find plenty of note-taking apps in the Android Market, but the free AK Notepad won my heart. In the first place, it looks great on a phone's screen--mimicking yellow, lined paper. The sans serif font looks slightly handwritten while remaining highly legible. You can edit the title of each note separately from the note itself.
After creating a note, you can do much more with it than just leave it in AK Notepad. You can set a reminder to go off in 5 minutes, in a day, or on the day and time of your choice. You can pin an icon for the note (but not, unfortunately, a widget) to your Home Screen. You can save the note as a text file, or send it to someone via e-mail, Gmail, or text messaging.
Barcode Scanner
Almost every commercially packaged product has a barcode, which can tell you more than just the price of the product in that particular store--especially if you've installed Barcode Scanner on your Android device.
Zap a barcode with Barcode Scanner to instantly search the Web for any product.With the app running, point your phone's camera at a bar code, and it will decode it and offer you information about the product. You may find reviews, and you'll certainly learn where else you can buy it and whether you can get a better deal.
Barcode Scanner gives you three ways to look up each product that it identifies. Its own Product Search tends to find local and online stores that offer the same item. The Web Search looks up the code in Google, thereby finding a wider variety of information. And if you have the Google Shopper app installed, Barcode Scanner can use that--though in my experience, the results are identical to those from the Product Search.
The app saves all of your scans in a history, which is good, but it doesn't do much with that history. For one thing, it merely lists numbers, without descriptions, which is not very useful. Also, as near as I can tell, you can't delete anything from the history.
Weight Watcher's Diary
WWDiary takes the hassle out of tracking your points.If you're trying to lose weight, or to maintain your weight after slimming down, you've probably considered either joining Weight Watchers or trying to follow its point system without joining. Either way, Canofsleep's free WWDiary is worth considerably more than you don't have pay for it.
Here you track the foods you've eaten in the course of a day, the exercise you've done, and the effect these have on your daily and weekly allotment of points. (In the Weight Watcher system, every food serving has points, from 1 point for a carrot to 19 points for a banana split. Based on your age, weight, and gender, you should accumulate no more than a specified maximum number points per day and per week--or you'll start accumulating unwanted reserves of cushiony lipids.) When you add a new food or a new exercise to your diary, you have the option of adding it to your Favorites list too, which simplifies adding the same things in future entries.
Specialized calculators help you determine the points associated with a food item or an exercise routine, as well as how many points you're allowed that day. You can also keep a log of your weight changes.
But don't bother with the widget--at least not at first. It simply tells you how much weight you've lost since you started using the app.
WWDiary is not officially affiliated with Weight Watchers, and it carries this disclaimer: "By using this program you agree that I am not responsible for any of your problems."
Portable Music Player
Android phones come with software for playing MP3s and other music files. But the preloaded player is pretty basic, and lots of better alternatives exist. My favorite is Maxim Petrov's PowerAMP.
As I write this, PowerAMP is a free beta. But the final version will be out very soon and will cost $5. That's a lot to pay for a program that competes with a bunch of freebies, but consider what you get for the money.
First, PowerAMP provides some awesome audio settings: a ten-band equalizer; preamp control; and separate dials for controlling bass, treble, and volume. All of these adjustments come up on a separate, highly graphical window, but you can turn any of them off or on from the main screen.
As on most other players, the main screen displays album artwork. But PowerAMP is sensitive to what you do with your fingers over that art. Flick left and it takes you to the next song. Flick right and you go to the previous one.
PowerAMP is intelligent about headphones, too. Unplug your headphones and the music stops. Plug them in again, and it restarts.
You also get your choice of three different widgets for viewing and controlling your music from the Home Screen.
Guitar Tuner
Country Joe McDonald once gave me his analysis of the difference between '60s rock and '70s rock: In the 70s, everybody's instruments were properly tuned. He credited this triumph of euphony to the invention of small, electronic devices that took the guesswork out of instrument tuning.
We know what you were thinking, but gString is an app for tuning guitars.Cohortor.org's gStrings can turn your Android phone into just such a chromatic tuner. Using the microphone, it determines whether a plucked string or a note blown through a mouthpiece has produced the correct wavelength. You can optimize the program for a specific instrument, or you can shift its results to match the tuning practices of a particular orchestra.
The free version should work just fine for most people, but for a single Euro (the equivalent of $1.41, as I write this) you can get gStrings+, which provides more-precise results and--thanks to its relatively compact code--demands less power from your phone's battery.
My wife, a professional musician and music teacher, described gStrings as "Clearly a professional tuner for many instruments."
Metronome
By supplying a regular but adjustable pulse both visually and audibly, a metronome helps musicians keep a steady beat while they practice. You can set the beat to match the piece and your comfort level with it before you start playing. Sophisticated metronomes can accent downbeats to mark the beginning of each measure.
The full version of Zealy Technology's Metronome ($1) does all of this.The free demo is just that--a demo. You can't even change the tempo on it.
With the real program, you can do that and more. You can set the app to count out anywhere from 40 to 208 beats per minute, and to add a measure-marking ping on the downbeats.
You can play the beat audibly, display it as a blinking series of lights, and receive tactile feedback via vibration. Its vibrating ability means that you can operate this metronome while it's tucked in your pocket.
In fact, by turning off the light and sound, keeping the vibration on, and parking the phone in a pocket, a musician could use it during a performance and no one else would ever know.
Lincoln Spector writes PCWorld's daily Answer Line blog. Madeline Prager provided expert opinion and analysis on the Tuner and Metronome sections.
But with the right apps, you can also turn it into a flashlight, a remote control, a barcode scanner, and a compass. Musicians will find that it makes an excellent tuner and metronome. And though it's already an alarm clock and a music player, it can get better at these tasks with the right software.
Here are 12 apps--all of them available from the Android Market and most of them free--that can turn your phone into an even better multipurpose device.
But not a perfect one. I'm still looking for the right Phillips screwdriver app.
Flashlight
DroidLight turns on your phone's camera flash LED to light your way.Have you ever watched someone trying to read in the dark by the blue glow of their cellphone's screen? Have you ever been that person?
With Motorola's DroidLight, those days are over. Launch this app, and your phone's camera LED will come on and light the way. DroidLight's user interface is transcendently simple: An illustration of an old-fashioned, incandescent light bulb. Touch the bulb to turn the light on or off.
One caveat: Make sure that you go to another program or return to the Home Screen before putting away your phone. Otherwise, you might accidentally turn the beam back on, and it will light up the inside of your pocket until the phone's battery dies.
The DroidLight requires a camera with flash, of course; and it doesn't work on all such phones. It's most dependable on Motorola phones, but it does work on some others, as well. And since it's free, there's no risk in trying it.
Tape Recorder
Your phone has a microphone and a memory. Why shouldn't you be able to use it to record verbal reminders, conversations, and even live music?
Though there are plenty of recording apps for Android, I recommend the free RecForge Lite and its $6 big sibling, RecForge. (Until very recently, both versions went by the name AudioRecorder.) The lite version is fine if you're making recordings of less than 3 minutes each.
Either app gives you a host of options for handling the recording you want to make. At its default setting it saves recordings as .mp3 files, but you can choose instead to record .wav or .ogg files. Available sample rates range from low-fi but understandable 8KHz to CD-quality 44KHz, and you can choose to record in mono or in two-track stereo.
Once you've recorded something, you can attach an additional recording to the end, convert it to another format, or share it via e-mail, Gmail, Bluetooth, or text message. Don't get too excited about the Edit option on the menu, however: That's just for file manipulation; you can't edit the audio in RecForge.
Bear in mind, too, that in most places, recording conversations or performances without permission is illegal.
TV Remote Control
I wish I could recommend an app that would turn your Android phone into a universal remote control. But that won't happen any time soon. The problem is that phones don't emit infrared signals--the preferred interface between remotes and the devices they control.
This Wi-Fi remote handily controls the Boxee set-top box.There are a few of exceptions, all of them involving controls for devices that plug into your home network as well as into your TV. By turning on your phone's Wi-Fi connection, you can control the device over the LAN.
I gave the free Boxee Wifi Remote a whirl. If you've attached a computer to your television so that you can watch movies and TV shows via your Boxee account, this program will permit your phone to function passably as a remote control. It's reasonably straightforward and it works, navigating through the menus with simple on-screen controls, and it even uses your phone's volume control for Boxee.
Running Boxee involves entering text occasionally--for instance, if you want to search for a title or an actor. If you've ever tried to enter text with a conventional remote control, you know how much easier it is to use your phone's keyboard instead. And that's despite the fact that the Boxee Web remote got confused when I tried using Swype with it.
The developer told me that he has not yet tested this app with DLink's upcoming Boxee Box, but he thinks that it should work.
Since I don't own a TiVo, I wasn't able to test Tim Hoeck's TivoRemote. The app costs $1 and is supposed to work with Tivo Series3, HD, or Premiere DVRs.
Remote Keyboard and Mouse
You can control your computer from your Android phone, even if you aren't watching Boxee.
The free, open-source RemoteDroid uses your network and Java to ast as another keyboard and mouse for your Windows PC. Preliminarily, you'll have to install the Java SE runtime environment on your the computer and then run the RemoteDroid Server software. And of course, you'll have to turn on your phone's Wi-Fi and get it onto the network.
Once you've taken care of those steps, you'll find the user interface minimal but intuitive: You use the big rectangle as a touchpad; the two smaller rectangles are buttons; and (as you'd expect) the keyboard icon brings up the keyboard.
RemoteDroid doesn't support Swype, unfortunately. But it does let you lean back and control your computer without having to touch it. And if you hook up your computer to your TV, the app works with Windows Media Center.
Alarm Clock
Your phone comes with an alarm clock app already loaded.
Alarm Clock Plus is way more sophisticated than that clunky box of circuits on your night stand.But I know a much better one. Alarm Clock Plus is, quite simply, the best alarm clock I've ever used--including physical alarm clocks of the digital, analog, and wind-up varieties.
What does Alarm Clock Plus do that the others can't? Plenty. It lets you select not just a song but a playlist, from which it will play songs at random. That means you can select 40 or 400 songs that seem right for starting the day, and be pleasantly surprised every morning. You can have it start the alarm softly and slowly increase the volume. And if you have a really hard time getting up, you can preset it not to shut up until you've solved a math problem. That should get your brain working.
You can set alarms to play once, to play every day, or to play only the days of your choice (such as on weekdays).
With all these of options, Alarm Clock Plus can be a little daunting to set up. So when you create an alarm, work through it slowly, and then use the option for testing it. The requirement to proceed methodically may explain why Brent Rose had such a different experience with it than I did.
The full version of Alarm Clock Plus costs $1.79; but if you're willing to put up with some advertising, the free version works just fine.
Compass
Catch Compass shows you the way with a variety of customizable looks.If you're in a location where you can recharge your phone and get on a 3G network, you probably don't need a compass. But a compass is still a cool thing to have around.
Catch.com's free Compass displays a working compass on your Android phone's screen, complete with an arrow that always points north. And unlike a real compass, this one can point to due north as well as to magnetic north.
You get a choice of seven compass designs, from antique to GPS, and you can select from among various backgrounds.
The app has some cool tricks up its sleeve. For instance, you can save your current longitude and latitude as a place, and later you can bring up the place in Google Maps for directions back to it. If you're the sort of person who forgets where you parked your car--or who gets blindfolded and taken to secret hideouts a lot--this feature can come in handy.
Compass's accuracy is only as good as your phone's direction- and location-finding abilities. You may also have to move your phone in odd ways (such as in a figure 8 pattern) before you can get an accurate reading.
Notepad, Post-its, and Refrigerator Door
We all scribble things on pieces of paper--reminders, ideas, shopping lists. Then we leave them places where we'll find them or, more likely, never see them again.
You'll find plenty of note-taking apps in the Android Market, but the free AK Notepad won my heart. In the first place, it looks great on a phone's screen--mimicking yellow, lined paper. The sans serif font looks slightly handwritten while remaining highly legible. You can edit the title of each note separately from the note itself.
After creating a note, you can do much more with it than just leave it in AK Notepad. You can set a reminder to go off in 5 minutes, in a day, or on the day and time of your choice. You can pin an icon for the note (but not, unfortunately, a widget) to your Home Screen. You can save the note as a text file, or send it to someone via e-mail, Gmail, or text messaging.
Barcode Scanner
Almost every commercially packaged product has a barcode, which can tell you more than just the price of the product in that particular store--especially if you've installed Barcode Scanner on your Android device.
Zap a barcode with Barcode Scanner to instantly search the Web for any product.With the app running, point your phone's camera at a bar code, and it will decode it and offer you information about the product. You may find reviews, and you'll certainly learn where else you can buy it and whether you can get a better deal.
Barcode Scanner gives you three ways to look up each product that it identifies. Its own Product Search tends to find local and online stores that offer the same item. The Web Search looks up the code in Google, thereby finding a wider variety of information. And if you have the Google Shopper app installed, Barcode Scanner can use that--though in my experience, the results are identical to those from the Product Search.
The app saves all of your scans in a history, which is good, but it doesn't do much with that history. For one thing, it merely lists numbers, without descriptions, which is not very useful. Also, as near as I can tell, you can't delete anything from the history.
Weight Watcher's Diary
WWDiary takes the hassle out of tracking your points.If you're trying to lose weight, or to maintain your weight after slimming down, you've probably considered either joining Weight Watchers or trying to follow its point system without joining. Either way, Canofsleep's free WWDiary is worth considerably more than you don't have pay for it.
Here you track the foods you've eaten in the course of a day, the exercise you've done, and the effect these have on your daily and weekly allotment of points. (In the Weight Watcher system, every food serving has points, from 1 point for a carrot to 19 points for a banana split. Based on your age, weight, and gender, you should accumulate no more than a specified maximum number points per day and per week--or you'll start accumulating unwanted reserves of cushiony lipids.) When you add a new food or a new exercise to your diary, you have the option of adding it to your Favorites list too, which simplifies adding the same things in future entries.
Specialized calculators help you determine the points associated with a food item or an exercise routine, as well as how many points you're allowed that day. You can also keep a log of your weight changes.
But don't bother with the widget--at least not at first. It simply tells you how much weight you've lost since you started using the app.
WWDiary is not officially affiliated with Weight Watchers, and it carries this disclaimer: "By using this program you agree that I am not responsible for any of your problems."
Portable Music Player
Android phones come with software for playing MP3s and other music files. But the preloaded player is pretty basic, and lots of better alternatives exist. My favorite is Maxim Petrov's PowerAMP.
As I write this, PowerAMP is a free beta. But the final version will be out very soon and will cost $5. That's a lot to pay for a program that competes with a bunch of freebies, but consider what you get for the money.
First, PowerAMP provides some awesome audio settings: a ten-band equalizer; preamp control; and separate dials for controlling bass, treble, and volume. All of these adjustments come up on a separate, highly graphical window, but you can turn any of them off or on from the main screen.
As on most other players, the main screen displays album artwork. But PowerAMP is sensitive to what you do with your fingers over that art. Flick left and it takes you to the next song. Flick right and you go to the previous one.
PowerAMP is intelligent about headphones, too. Unplug your headphones and the music stops. Plug them in again, and it restarts.
You also get your choice of three different widgets for viewing and controlling your music from the Home Screen.
Guitar Tuner
Country Joe McDonald once gave me his analysis of the difference between '60s rock and '70s rock: In the 70s, everybody's instruments were properly tuned. He credited this triumph of euphony to the invention of small, electronic devices that took the guesswork out of instrument tuning.
We know what you were thinking, but gString is an app for tuning guitars.Cohortor.org's gStrings can turn your Android phone into just such a chromatic tuner. Using the microphone, it determines whether a plucked string or a note blown through a mouthpiece has produced the correct wavelength. You can optimize the program for a specific instrument, or you can shift its results to match the tuning practices of a particular orchestra.
The free version should work just fine for most people, but for a single Euro (the equivalent of $1.41, as I write this) you can get gStrings+, which provides more-precise results and--thanks to its relatively compact code--demands less power from your phone's battery.
My wife, a professional musician and music teacher, described gStrings as "Clearly a professional tuner for many instruments."
Metronome
By supplying a regular but adjustable pulse both visually and audibly, a metronome helps musicians keep a steady beat while they practice. You can set the beat to match the piece and your comfort level with it before you start playing. Sophisticated metronomes can accent downbeats to mark the beginning of each measure.
The full version of Zealy Technology's Metronome ($1) does all of this.The free demo is just that--a demo. You can't even change the tempo on it.
With the real program, you can do that and more. You can set the app to count out anywhere from 40 to 208 beats per minute, and to add a measure-marking ping on the downbeats.
You can play the beat audibly, display it as a blinking series of lights, and receive tactile feedback via vibration. Its vibrating ability means that you can operate this metronome while it's tucked in your pocket.
In fact, by turning off the light and sound, keeping the vibration on, and parking the phone in a pocket, a musician could use it during a performance and no one else would ever know.
Lincoln Spector writes PCWorld's daily Answer Line blog. Madeline Prager provided expert opinion and analysis on the Tuner and Metronome sections.
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