Guns n’ Glory is a tower defense game that requires adaptive strategy as well as shooting. Players control bandits who kill settlers on foot, horseback, in wagons, and in gold-carrying trailers. Some bandits are more effective at stopping certain types of settlers, so finding the right balance is important since letting too many travelers escape will attract the law. In addition to being one of the rare tower defense games where players assume the role of the bad guys, Guns n Glory also has the benefit of not having stationary towers. Bandits are set up along various points of each map and often must be moved in order to keep pace with the waves of settlers. There are three types of bandits – gun wielding cowboys, dynamite-throwing Mexicans, and arrow-shooting Indians (the dialogue is kind of stereotypically offensive, by the way). As the game progresses, players can also acquire cannons, train-mounted machine guns, and upgrades for better attacks. I like Guns n’ Glory for its fun style of gameplay but it is somewhat limited because the game persistently force closes on some phones (an update released today should address most errors). However, Guns n’ Glory still lacks the ability to easily move through large maps or set varying degrees of difficulty. Thankfully, the makers promise updates that will include new maps, so gameplay is less likely to become stale. Download the free version of Guns n’ Glory and put it through the ringer for a day or two. Then purchase the ad-free version for 2.99 Euro if it you like it. Install this app KEY FEATURES Relatively unique tower defense game Fun style of play CONS Lacks difficulty settings for each level Moving across maps sometimes problematic App: Guns n’ Glory Price: Free w/ Ads, €2.99 ad-free Website : http://www.handy-games.com/
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Android fans are always on the go, and that often means having a safe but accessible set-up when driving from Point A to Point B. Arkon sells a line of universal car mounts that provide such an experience. Arkon’s smartphone mounts fit a variety of devices, ranging from the HTC Desire, EVO, and Incredible, to the Motorola Droid, Droid 2, and Droid X (full list of phones supported available here). I tested three Arkon products for phones that are set-up in a variety of ways: Friction Dash Mount, Windshield Mount, and a Removable Air Vent Mount. Each is made of light but secure material. They all feature cushioned edges that prevent the phone from moving or being scratched. The Arkon Friction Dash Mount retails for $19.95 and a little on the hefty side depending on your vehicle. This may not be the best solution depending on your car; I found it difficult to install and remain in place because of my oddly shaped dash. The mount cannot be installed over where the airbag deploys, so setting this up was troublesome. However, I can attest to the quality of the Windshield and Air Vent mounts. The Windshield mount is much easier installing and feels more likely to work long-term. The hinge is easy to turn and comes with an optional adhesive to stay on the dashboard. Not bad for $19.95. The Air Vent mount, which costs $14.95, has practically the same holder. In fact, the main holding portion of each product tested is practically the same; the differences come into play in the mechanism used to mount each to the car. The Arkon line of products is stable, and easy to secure or remove your phone from the mount. Each mount is adjustable to rotate between portrait/landscape or into a better viewing position for navigation, music playing, or storage when driving. Each is reasonably priced and there are a variety of options. Visit Arkon.com to browse the full line. Here are a few photos and a quick video sample.
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Some apps have excellent features, but sport interfaces that appear to be inspired by the good ol’ Windows 3.1 from 1992. Then there are apps that look great, but hardly provide any functionality. With its stylish, retro UI, the recording app Recordoid certainly got the look right, but what about the features? Recordoid is styled after an old analog tape deck and since what you see essentially is what you get, the app is commendably easy to use. There are four self-explanatory buttons at the bottom of the screen: record , pause , play and settings . The rest of the main interface is mostly eye-candy. There’s a picture of a compact cassette above the buttons, and it starts spinning when you press record. A large counter is also present at the top that shows the length of your recordings. The audio the app produces is usually crisp and clear, and the sound quality is particularly good if you activate the WAV format in the settings instead of the default 3GP. Support for the MP3 format in various bitrates is unfortunately not available at the moment. Distortion may occur if you record really loud sounds, but for the most part the audio quality is fine. Ideally, there would be an option to modify the sensitivity of the microphone, or at least a feature that automatically adjusted the input level when recording. You can easily add notes to your recordings, share them via email, Bluetooth and MMS, save and view recording locations on a map and assign recordings as ringtones. A homescreen widget comes bundled with the app that lets you quickly make a new track. A commenter on the Market pointed out that Recordoid is one of the few recording apps that keeps recording even when the screen is turned off, which is a nice touch. While Recordoid may not offer a whole lot more functionality than the Android Voice Recorder app, Recordoid’s stylish interface makes it much more fun to use. And with the homescreen widget, recording is a breeze. The Lite version of the app can regrettably only record three minutes at a time, but that’s mostly enough. The full version can be purchased via the developer’s website. KEY FEATURES Stylish interface Easy-to-use Fine audio quality Geo-tag, share and add notes CONS No MP3 support The app can’t be launched from the widget Three minute recording limit in Lite version App: Recordoid Lite Price: Free Website: http://www.somyac.com/recordoid/recordoid.html
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If you’ve ever enjoyed the text message notification pop-up feature in apps like Handcent or SMS Popup and wished that something similar would come along for e-mail, the time has arrived. Gmail Popup is a £0.69 Android app that shows incoming messages. Yes, you could just as easily swipe down the notifications menu and tap the icon to launch the Gmail app, but there’s no need for this app if that’s all you want. Gmail Popup is designed specifically for people who want to see headlines for all of their messages immediately. When a new message comes in, Gmail Popup displays a quick glimpse of what’s new. Users can then mark a message as read or delete based on settings. The app is good if you want a notification, but won’t hit the mark if you need more features. The app can delete or mark a message read, but not actually launch that particular message (you can go to Inbox, however). Worse yet, only one setting can be done at the time; there’s no option to delete Message A and then mark Message B as read. It’s not the best solution, but it’s available if you seek a pop-up version for email. KEY FEATURES Shows latest Gmail messages in pop-up Delete messages or mark them as read Launch Gmail inbox from app CONS Cannot launch particular message Users must choose between deleting and app or marking it read, but cannot do both on the fly Download the trial app before purchasing
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Shelves is an application that is quite new on the Market, and it’s designed to let you manage your various collections straight from your Android device, such as movies, video games, books, gadgets and albums. Depending on whether or not you are the type that likes to keep track of what you own, this may sound like a useful tool to have, but how well does such an application work on a phone? That’s what we’re going to try and find out. The main screen of Shelves consists of icons that represent the nine available collection categories, and the number of items in each collection is displayed in parentheses. There are two tabs at the top that let you switch between the category view and a list of items that are out on loan (if any). When you tap on a category, the app shows virtual shelves which you can put items on through web searches, by scanning barcodes or by entering details manually. You can also import items from other sources, such as Delicious Library – a media cataloguing application for Mac OS X. Shelves lets you search your collections for items, and you can also apply a filter provided that you have added tags. Longpressing an item will let you rate it, tag it, view/buy it online or delete it. You can also indicate that you have lent an item to somebody, and you then get to select a person from your contacts and enter when the item is supposed to be returned. Another neat feature is the live folders that you can add to your homescreen that lists the items in a specific category. So far so good, but how well does all this actually work? Even though I applaud the concept and some aspects of Shelves are great, such as the interface, it also leaves much to be desired in its current state. For starters, the app often has trouble finding scanned items online along with a few other bugs here and there, and it would have saved a lot of time if Shelves had inserted tags automatically. Shelves shows a synopsis and some basic info for movies that you have added to your collection, but it would have been nice with more facts such as genre and cast members as well. I’m personally a huge movie buff, and whenever I hear of a new film that intrigues me, I make sure I get to see it eventually. I also keep a list of movies that I want to watch again, and I can see myself using Shelves for that purpose. For managing larger collections, however, desktop software such as Movie Collector is far more superior and convenient to use. On the other hand, Shelves is likely a lot more useful for those who have a Mac with Delicious Library installed, since its items can be imported into the app. As one user said in a Market comment: “not yet perfect but best app of its kind”, and that sums it up pretty nicely. KEY FEATURES Lets you manage 9 different collections Live folder support Can import info from Delicious Library Scans barcodes (requires the app Barcode Scanner) CONS Trouble getting results for scanned barcodes A few bugs here and there Doesn’t add tags automatically App: Shelves Price: Free Website: http://www.shelvesforandroid.com/
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The iconic 8-bit Commodore C64 was manufactured for an impressive 12 years between 1982 and 1994, and it’s the best-selling single personal computer model of all time. It featured 64KB of RAM, a 1MHz processor and was a great gaming machine: both its sound and graphics were superior to IBM-compatible PCs of that time. Thanks to its SID chip that actually still is used in music production today on occasion, the C64 could make truly awesome sounds. Frodo C64 is a Commodore 64 emulator for Android, currently the only one available. Its main interface consists of the classic blue C64 command prompt with a blinking cursor. When you press the Menu button, you get the option to load a ROM, reset the emulator, quit, load/save gamestates and change various settings. Since you often need to press a specific key in order to get past game intros, Frodo C64 lets you quickly switch between joystick mode and keyboard mode by pressing the Back button. The most commonly used keys are Space , Enter , Y (es), N (o), Fire and the R/S button. The emulator should support all ROMs in the D64 and PRG formats, and so far it has been able to load every game that I’ve thrown at it. But for some reason you have to use the Reset command before playing a new game, otherwise the ROM won’t load. Even though most games can be played with a fairly decent frame rate, the emulator could definitely have performed better. Sound is supported, but it can be somewhat choppy, even with a high frame skip count. Hopefully the developer will continue to improve Frodo C64 and make it faster. When you play games in portrait mode, the pixel-density is higher, but everything will naturally be much smaller than in the stretched landscape mode. To control Frodo C64 you can either use on-screen buttons or a hardware QWERTY keyboard, but I have only been able to test the former. The on-screen controls consist of a D-pad and a fire button, and while they may not be ideal, they at least work. As far as I can tell, Frodo 64 doesn’t have multi-touch support, but you can still jump in a specific direction, for example, thanks to the 8-way D-pad. In theory Frodo should be able to save and load gamestates, but the implementation is so-so. If you simply press Menu > Load state , you’ll likely get a “No state file found!” error message. However, you can resume a game where you left it by loading its ROM and selecting the “Load previously saved state file” option. Even if there are a few kinks left to iron out and performance ought to be better, using Frodo C64 is great fun for those who had the original computer and the games are worth playing for the superb 8-bit chip music alone. True Commodore 64 geeks might want to check out the apps C64 Games Music Collection and SID Player in the Market as well. KEY FEATURES Supports touchscreen controls as well as QWERTY keyboards Can restore gamestates Sound support CONS A bit slow even on Snapdragon powered devices Music playback can be choppy Some inconsistencies/glitches App: Frodo C64 Price: Free Install This App
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Would you use an app that just moves pictures across your screen? It probably doesn’t sound that enticing, but Floating Image may surprise you. It’s a gallery application that gathers photos stored locally on your SD card, and it can collect pictures from various web feeds as well, such as Flickr , Picasa and Facebook . The app then makes these images float gently across your display, while an effect is applied to give the impression that some pictures are farther away than others. You can speed up the photo stream by flicking the screen, and you may scroll back and forward as you please. If you want to get a closer look at an image, just tap on it. You can then longpress the picture to visit its source, set it as your homescreen wallpaper, save it to the SD card or share the image URL. When you have zoomed in on an image, the stream keeps flowing in the background, which is a nice touch. There are traditional slideshow transitions available in addition to the photo stream: crossfade , slide vertical/horizontal and fade to black , to name a few. However, these display modes come across as dull compared to the stream, and I don’t know why you would want to use them. To make sure there’s a steady flow of photos, the app caches images on your memory card by default. What I enjoy most about Floating Image is its ability to show the Flickr Top 500 (Explore) photo stream. It’s a serene way to discover interesting photos from all over the world. These images usually have captions, and they’re displayed when you tap on a picture. In this regard, Floating Image can give you a glimpse into other people’s lives, by showing their photographs; memories and moments captured on film. If you give free rein to your imagination, the app can actually provide an experience close to visiting an exhibition – but instead of looking at pictures on a wall, they float across your Android’s screen. Unless you have a fast Internet connection, a downside with Floating Image is that it may take a while before the app has collected an adequate amount of images: there are generally just a few pictures in the stream at first, and they are shown over and over. Floating Image is not meant to replace your standard gallery app, but it can prove to be an interesting, and as far as I know rather unusual, complement. KEY FEATURES Beautiful interface Shows a stream of photos in 3-D Can grab images from the Flickr Explore feed CONS It takes a while for the app to gather pictures Two major bugs on the HTC Desire: the Facebook/Picasa feeds don’t work App: Floating Image Price: Free Website: http://code.google.com/p/floatingimage/ Install This App
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One of the hottest games on the iOS platform right now is Words with Friends, mostly because of the interaction with people you know and the ability to play a long-term game of scrabble with them. Social gaming is very popular and for good reason. It isn’t everyday you can make fun of Andrew and say that he has a limited vocabulary. Well, we Android users have yet to get a decent clone of the game but Wordfeud Free is one that mostly hits all the right notes. When starting up the app you can create an account based on your email address. After the very brief registration (used for friends to find you and play against you) you are presented with a screen where you can start a new game. Clicking on the ‘plus’ button in the top right corner will take you to the New Game screen where you choose what dictionary you want as well as what board you want to use. You can then either choose to play with a friend (choose them from your contact list) or find some random opponent. After that it is pretty self explanatory — it’s just a regular game of turn-based Scrabble. Some of the extra features are the ability to set a profile image, chat with your opponents, and allow for push notification of messages or when your turn has come up. One of the greatest “features” of Wordfeud Free is it’s simplicity. It really is just a simple Scrabble game with friends. There is only one annoyance that I have to speak as it’s a deal breaker; the fact that after almost every turn you are forced to look at a full-screen add and have to choose to skip it to get back to the game. I understand that developers need to make money, but ads need to be used effectively and not get in the users way. Personally, this makes Wordfeud Free not playable for very long. It’s kind of a shame because the game works very well. They could easily fix this by taking the full-screen ad away or even offering a paid version that removes all ads. KEY FEATURES Simple game play against multiple players Easy registration (email only) Gameplay with multiple players at once (20 games at a time), random people or friends you invite Chat function Smooth Gameplay CONS Users are forced to look at adds after almost every turn; no way to turn this off and have to skip the ad GAME: Wordfeud Free WEBSITE: http://wordfeud.com/ Install This App
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As a fan of technological convergence, I love when I can find a new use for my Android phone that makes it replace yet another device that I once carried separately. In fact, a while ago I tried to list all the gadgets an Android handset can be used instead of, and I came up with no less than 36 contraptions with a combined weight that was 106 times heavier than my phone. You may wonder why I’m telling you this. Well, an app for musicians that you may already have heard of is gStrings . What does it do? It basically renders standalone instrument tuners pointless and obsolete. The app is a chromatic tuner, and it not only lets you tune guitars, but any musical instrument: bass guitars, pianos, violins… – the list goes on. The better part of gString’s interface is occupied by a frequency meter. In the top of the screen is a chromatic scale listing the 12 notes that are employed in western music. When you tap on a note, its frequency is shown. gString also has buttons for playing the currently selected note (if you want to tune your instrument by ear) and for tuning the selected note. In addition, the app has a mode that automatically figures out which note you’re tuning. In the settings you can set the microphone sensitivity, optimize the app for a specific instrument and select the playback octave. There are also a few options that I frankly have no idea what they entail (“integer arithmetic rounding in the fourier transform”, anyone?). I did a quick check with another digital tuner to verify that gStrings tunes my guitars correctly, and yes, it does indeed. gStrings is very accurate, almost too accurate, since it can be rather difficult to hit the exact sweet spot. It’s hard to find anything negative to say about the app, really. If the developer did an interface overhaul and brought an old-school, analog vibe to gStrings, in the same vein as Retro Camera and Recordoid , it would probably give a much better first impression. This would naturally only be useful for guitarists, but another great addition to the app would be built-in support for various alternate guitar tunings, such as open C (used by Jimmy Page in many Led Zeppelin songs) and open G , which was a favorite of Keith Richards. Yet another fine extension would be some sort of web integration. One more thing: unless you make sure there is a moment of silence before you move on to the next string, the tune auto option will lag a bit, as it takes a while for it to realize which string you’re currently tuning. Other than that, the tuner performs admirably. If you play an instrument and rock an Android device, gStrings definitely belongs in your app drawer. There’s a Plus version as well with a couple of additional options that will set you back $1.49. KEY FEATURES Can basically tune any instrument Very accurate When you’re using the tuner, the app keeps the screen awake Several options CONS Slightly dull interface Would benefit from built-in support for various alternate guitar tunings Functionality could be extended with some effort App: Tuner – gStrings Price: Free Website: http://cohortor.org/gstrings Install This App
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Every week, Androinica.com attempts to highlight the best Android Apps. Using tips from the #androidapps tag on Twitter and recommendations to @androinica , we try to find something you may have missed. This week’s theme is management: music, money, mood, memories, or whatever it takes. We’ve got apps to help you deal with finances and fun alike. You may also notice there are no QR codes in this edition of Apps Alert. While I’m sure you love them, we wanted to remind you that AppBrain has added a great new way to install applications directly from the web or link to the Android Market page if browsing from a phone. This will be a much easier way for me to share links with you all. Find out more information here . MoodAgent We just compared the best streaming music apps , and one of the categories was “Mood Accuracy,” a measure of how well an app can predict what you want to hear. MoodAgent is an Android app that takes that premise to the extreme. After an initial sync of the songs in your library, MoodAgent goes online to compare to its database and decide what type of music to play depending on your mood. Feel good on a Friday night? Select “Happy” and the app will play songs from your library that capture that mood. Also included are Sensual, Tender, Angry, and Tempo. The app is amazingly accurate at finding which songs to play, and a movable slider sets-up pinpoint playback. Recommend by @pixel8ted : Enjoying moodagent #androidapps – plays all the forgotten music on my phone. Launch-X Pro (€0.99, FREE Lite) Some users want to use up only the bare minimum of space, and others just want to add a bunch of shortcuts that can be accessed quickly. Power-X is an app that meets both needs. Users can create one or more 4
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Protecting a phone from scratches and scuff marks is a priority for many, but some people don’t like the bulk or unnatural feel that comes when using many of today’s modern smartphone cases. Anyone looking for added protection without added size ought to consider XO Skins. XO Skins provides cases that are thin but durable. The material offers a tight fit that prevents scratches and is thin enough to make your phone fit comfortably in a docking station. The best thing about XO is that it feels good. I initially installed the anti-glare screen protector sold by Sprint but removed it because I did not like the way the material felt on my thumb. The XO Skin for my EVO 4G is the complete opposite; my thumb glides across the screen and feels perfectly normal. I would prefer the back of the skin have a little more grip, but it’s tolerable. Once on the phone, XO Skin does a great job of protecting your device. The material doesn’t add any bulk or residue, so your phone still looks good. While others may choose to perform stress tests with knives, I opted to use the real world tests of seeing how XO performed in my day-to-day travels. Despite dropping out of my pocket onto cement, grazing my keys, and nicking the edges of my night table as I swatted the phone to stop the alarm, my EVO held up nicely. My only complaint with XO is the same complaint I have for most protective skins: installation. Despite following directions to the letter, I was unable to get out all of the air bubbles on the skin. I’m convinced this has more to do with my poor installation skills since this a problem I commonly have, so get someone to install it for you if you typically have trouble applying protective skins. When I removed the protective layer after a month of use, my EVO was as pristine as the day I bought it. XO Skins is one of the better phone skins that I’ve used and one of the few that I recommend. XO Skins :: HTC EVO 4G Skin Protection XO Skins are available for a variety of devices for $11.99; available at XOSkins.com
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The list of streaming radio services grows with each passing day, but there are a few hidden gems in the heap, and Grooveshark is one of the lesser-known services worth considering. The company’s $3 per month Android app has one of the most diverse selections, is one of the easiest to use, and has a key strength that not all services have: user-defined playlists to hear songs whenever you want. I’m very pleased that Grooveshark has a library that bests any service when it comes to music from obscure or lesser known acts. The underground and fringe genres are best represented by Grooveshark, which actually has songs you won’t find on Pandora or Rhapsody. Users also have a great deal of control over those songs. Grooveshark is playlist-driven, so you can search its library – or upload your own music collection – to create a list of Lady Gaga songs and hear it whenever you want. Or you can mark items as a “Favorite” in radio mode and play those songs when you just want to hear the hits. But Grooveshark is faulty because certain songs are able to playback only in Wi-Fi mode. The lack of 3G playback on Grooveshark’s entire library makes the Android app incredibly flawed and could prove frustrating depending how often the issue arises. I was unable to listen to three songs within a 20 minute span because of this problem. Grooveshark is great because it plays music on demand, recommends songs in radio mode, and creates playlists that take advantage of its growing music library. Factor in a pristine interface and a monthly membership cost that’s only $3 per month, it almost holds its own against any steaming service. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi only mode for some songs may prove to be an inconvenience too large to overlook. KEY FEATURES Offline sync for select songs On-demand playback of songs or playlists Large and diverse song library that is easy to browse or search Upload music for increased customization (desktop only) CONS Many songs not available to play unless in Wi-Fi No widgets to control playback on homescreen Duplicates of the same song are commonly listed App: Grooveshark Price: Free, but requires $3 per month VIP account Website: http://www.grooveshark.com Download from Market (if browsing from phone only)
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This week we are going to take a look at HTC’s two latest superphones, the HTC EVO 4G and the HTC DROID Incredible. These two phones are very similar; both with Android 2.1 with Sense UI, 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, 8MP Camera, and vibrant touchscreens. But there are some differences that may sway potential buyers to one or the other. Today we will look at the build of the phones and gives some first impressions. Overall Build At first glance you will of course notice how much larger the EVO is compared to the Incredible. Although this means more screen space for the EVO, the EVO does not gain any jumps in resolution as both are 800
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iPhone Ad: “Family Travel” Today’s iPhone ad is titled “Family Travel.” If ever there was a great example of Apple’s marketing abilities, this is the one. The commercial looks so cool, but the actual products don’t live up to the hype. Why not? Read on after the video. The commercial starts with the woman checking in for her flight with the Southwest Airlines app on the way to the airport. She then uses GateGuru to find her kids a “snack near the gate.” Not surprisingly, she already has her kids’ favorite movies ready to go on her iPhone. And finally, she remotely turns out the lights at her house by using the Schlage Link app after a reminder from her husband. Whoa. Sounds pretty cool, huh? Well, beyond the fact that the parents probably should have checked in earlier in order to get better seat selections and should have made sure the house was secured before they left, there’s a dark Apple secret here. I was surprised to find that some of these apps aren’t as cool as one might think from the commercial, at least as far as iPhone customer ratings are concerned . Southwest Airlines is free and gets 3.5 stars on the App Market, which isn’t too bad. However, GateGuru (also free), gets only 2.5 stars from 1,771 customers. Similarly, Schlage Link (“Free”, but $12.99/month to use) gets decidedly muted support, with 2.5 stars from 4,113 ratings. Hmm. Doing it the Android way Despite the ratings, let’s see if we can do this the Android way. As always, if I get it wrong, let us all know. If there is a better version or a cheaper app, tell us. First, there is no Android app for Southwest Airlines . Oh no! But wait, don’t panic–there’s a quick workaround that works just as well as the app. Open your browser, go to mobile.southwest.com, and add a bookmark. Now, simply long press on your screen, add a shortcut, select bookmark, and then choose your new Southwest page shortcut. Voila! Press your new Southwest “app” and book flights, check in, etc, whenever you want–even on the way to the airport. If you want to be really cool, use Bettercut ($1.99, 10,000-50,000 downloads, 4.3 stars) instead and change the associated icon to anything you want–including the Southwest Airlines app icon from the iTunes Store. Oooh. Tricky. The best benefit of this approach? You can make your own Delta, Continental, and United “apps” too . Dan Gellert, author of GateGuru, tells me that he hopes to have an Android version of his app “towards the end of the year.” Until then, GateGuru has two Android competitors: Airport Maps (Free, 5,000-10,000 downloads, 2.1 stars) , and Airport Maps Mobile ($2.99, 100-500 downloads, 2.3 stars). Interestingly, the gripes seem to be similar for both the iPhone and Android apps: some missing airports, inaccurate or missing maps. Heathrow Airport Limited seems to have done a good job with Heathrow Airport Guide Free (Free, 1,000-5,000 downloads, 4.3 stars). Of course, no one will want to download a separate app for every airport they fly to, but perhaps HAL’s model could be adopted in future attempts to get this type of application right. Getting new full-length movies on your phone is much easier on the iPhone because of the iTunes Store . Until Netflix gets their Android app out , that’s all there is to it. There are ways to purchase videos on iTunes and convert them for playing on your Android, but it’s not easy (and may be illegal depending on where you are). Old text : Th e better way in the meantime is buy a DVD ripper and convert your movies to .MP4s that are optimized for your particular phone. Which DVD Ripper? Andrew Kameka posted this review of Wondershare’s DVD Ripper Platinum in December, which would certainly do the job. Edit: In the meantime, there is an incredible app that can convert your videos on the fly from your computer to your device and provides an iTunes style interface: DoubleTwist (Free, 50,000-250,000 downloads, 4 stars) . ( I originally thought Doubletwist was just a Android Media Player replacement, but I was wrong .) Simply install DoubleTwist on your computer and on your Android phone and sync and convert your media to your heart’s content. The last iPhone app, Schlage Link, is getting ripped by its customers on the App Store . It costs $12.99/month unless you buy a full year subscription, which reduces the price to $11.90/month. You also have to buy all of the matching Schlage components for the Z-Wave automation system, plus have a dedicated machine running the server. Ouch. That seems like a lot to pay for the privilege of turning your lights off remotely. The matching Android app seems to be Autom8 . Autom8 (Free) requires x10 hardware and a CM15A controller run by a Windows machine. Since Autom8 is not on the Market and I don’t have a need for an x10 system, I can’t vouch for how well it works. Anyone willing to give it try should let us know how it goes. As you may have noticed, today’s edition was a bit tougher than usual. I am surprised that Apple chose to highlight some apps with less than stellar reviews, and I’d have to say that the matching Android versions haven’t fared any better . The lesson is: “Don’t buy a phone just because an app looks cool in an advertisement.” Regardless, you now have your own version of Apple’s “Family Travel,” Android style. Bonus : I came across a fun game while searching for airport related apps: Flight Director ($1.99, 10,000-50,000 downloads, 4.6 stars). Give this one a try as you prepare for your next flight and hope that the air traffic controllers are doing a better job than you are.
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One of the most common problems people come across is how to exchange contact information easily between phones. There’s virtual contact cards, generated 2D barcodes and MMS, but none of these are an elegant and immediate solution. Along comes Bump , a brilliantly intuitive app that allows cross-platform (even between Android and iPhone OS) information exchange including contacts, photos and even installed apps, with just the action of bumping two phones together. Both phones connect to a secure central server which co-ordinates the exchange (which is why a data connection is required), but from there the intelligent algorithm then decides which phones have bumped and handles the rest. This allows for transfer to occur without the need for Bluetooth or e-mail. Once Bump is set up, you specify your own contact details or an existing phone book entry of yours) Relevant information is loaded, including photos if available. You can also send over photos from your gallery, contact cards, or links to applications installed on your phone. This is extremely useful for sending across interesting apps which may not be available on the Market to your friends. If you’re on the receiving end of a Bump, you can select which GMail account to save incoming contacts to. Sensitivity of bump detection can also be tweaked for best results, so if you’re not keen on your phone receiving physical contact, just crank up the sensitivity and give it a quick shake simultaneously. KEY FEATURES Supports seamless sending contacts, photos and Market-links to installed applications Supports Android and iPhone transfers Easy to use with intuitive interface Fairly accurate, adjustable sensitivity Not reliant on Bluetooth or manual e-mail attachments Able to specify which account to save contacts CONS No support for generic files App: Bump Price: Free Website : Bump
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The standard Android calendar homescreen widget is a disappointment to say the least, being only able to display one single event in a 2
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In what seems to be our endless quest in finding excellent media player replacements for Android, today we are going to look at the brand new music app, FLiP . FLiP appears to be a “very comfort control MP3 Player” (or so the awkwardly translated market page says) with simple features that gets the job done with little quirks. When opening the app for the first time you are presented with the menu screen with Album, Artist, Playlist, Single, and Setting choices. When choosing any of the music choices (album, artist, single) you are taken to you music which is organized in the fashion you chose. There is also a nice search box at the top in case you have a ton of music on your device so you can navigate to it quickly. When you have picked a song you are given a decently formatted music control screen complete with scrubber, repeat, shuffle, a “123″ button (still can’t figure this one out), skip forward and backward, play/pause, fast-forward/rewind, and menu button that gives you the menu choices you are given at first. There are also gesture settings, ability to use a bluetooth remote control, auto play settings, as well as many other small preferences settings that can help while using the app. To be honest, there really isn’t too much to the FLiP music player and that may be what makes it somewhat compelling. A few qualms with this app is that it doesn’t go for the “standard” Android interface meaning that when pressing the menu and back buttons you are not presented with what you are normally use to; a menu view and back the the last thing you were looking at respectively. I suppose that these are things that can be added in the future and they do not necessarily take away from the experience. KEY FEATURES fully functioning Android music player replacement album, artist, playlist, singles, and settings view complete audio playback controls including play/pause, fast-forward/rewind, previous/next, repeat, shuffle, etc. transparent widget setting including gesture control, sleep, auto play, play pause toggle, widget type, etc FREE! CONS not the “standard” Android interface (back button and menu button do not perform “usual” actions) somewhat confusing way of getting back to your lists of music APP: FLiP PRICE: FREE WEBSITE: http://homepage1.nifty.com/tom016/FLiPf/jp/
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QuickDesk beta was released into the Android Market just four days ago and it has already gained some serious momentum, surpassing 10,000 downloads as of yesterday afternoon. The developer is prompt to point out that QuickDesk is not meant to replace your home screen, but actually work alongside of it to enhance the overall user experience. The concept is both simple and brilliant. A double-tap on your home button will bring up your QuickDesk homescreen, where you now have immediate access to up to 20 of your favorite applications. You don’t have to leave whatever you’re doing (unless you actually select another application) because it opens on top of what is on screen at that moment. And if you open QuickDesk and decide you don’t need to open another app, you can press the back button and resume what you were doing before with no delays. One of the greatest benefits to this would be in a scenario where you open a browser or a twitter/facebook application or anything that requires a data connection only to remember that you have Wi-Fi turned off. Instead of having to get back to the homescreen, enabling Wi-Fi through Settings or a widget and then re-opening the application, you can instead just open QuickDesk and click on the Wi-Fi widget to turn it on and press the back button to be right back where you were without having to re-open anything. QuickDesk is a single 5 x 4 screen, so you can put up to 20 applications on it for easy access to them from within any other application. You can also opt to use some of that space for widgets. I use a Touiteur widget on mine, because I like to share links for articles that I read in my browser all the time. Before QuickDesk, I had to copy the URL, leave the browser, open my twitter application, share the link, and then get back to the browser to continue what I was doing. Now, from the browser, I can open QuickDesk, share the link through the widget, then press the back button and be exactly where I was in the browser just moments before. It’s hard to imagine that any Android user couldn’t benefit from the convenience of QuickDesk. Despite the fact that it is in beta, it is already a very impressive application and seems professionally done. Features Easy access to up to 20 of your favorite and most-used applications or widgets. Works without having to close any applications Does not replace your default home screen. Cons Only one screen. While this is probably sufficient for average users, power users like myself use 20-30 applications daily as well as several widgets, so multiple screens to put my favorite things would be nice. App: QuickDesk Beta Price: Free Website: http://www.ruqqq.sg/blog/quickdesk/
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When I got my HTC Incredible and started playing with it I was surprised and maybe even alarmed that there was a radio on the device. Yeah, a radio. Like scan for channels and listen to things that you have no control over, radio. I couldn’t remember the last time that I actually “scanned” the radio for some tunes or talk. Well, today I can bring back that radio nostalgia to my Android device with Wunder Radio (except this time with way more control). Wunder Radio is a new Android app that allows its users the ability to stream live radio from all over the world. Wunder Radio is developed by Weather Underground and gives users a ton of radio stations and genres to listen to. Listeners can choose local weather reports, talk radio, sports, music, browse by location, and even browse world stations. When you choose one of the categories you are presented with genres that help you widdle down your choices. For instance under talk you are presented with business, conservative, entertainment, news, progressive, public/NPR, religious, specialty talk, sports talk, and technology. And under those genres you are presented with even more choices. It is crazy and awesome. When choosing a station the streaming is fluid and didn’t give me any problems at all. I listened to some metal, rap, country, and classical on some headphones and even in my car and the audio was decently clear and stable. Mind you any audiophiles out there will surely be dissapointed; I will imagine that most stations are well under even 128kbps. But for radio streaming it is totally acceptable. I only had one hiccup when trying to access a Japanese station but I imagine that it was more on the station’s feed than the app itself. With a good 3G connection or Wi-Fi, audio starts streaming in a matter of seconds with no stutter. Other features of Wunder Radio is the ability to add your own online radio URL. This is a great addition, especially if you listen to online radio and your favorite shows or stations are not included. There is also an “Add to Favorites” button allowing you to add stations that are playing to your favorites list. One problem that I encountered was when I was on a list browsing genres I opened the menu and hit the “Add to Favorites” button. Wunder Radio forced closed but then “gracefully” recovered once I hit OK. It may just be overlooked and I am sure that this isn’t too difficult to fix, but with a $6.99 price tag, I want to see something that is very well polished. I still think that the app is worth the money as its pros far outweigh the one con. KEY FEATURES ability to stream online radio from all over the world ability to locate local stations by GPS listen to the current weather in your area add favorite stations to your favorites list for easy retrieval add your own favorite online radio stations by URL a VAST selection of music and talk CONS force closes when pressing “Add to Favorites” on anything other than the “station view” App: WunderRadio Price: $6.99 Website: http://www.wunderradio.com/
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The NYTimes Android app has been around for a little over a month now on the Android platform and with most of the bugs worked out it’s time to see how it holds up. It’s always interesting to see how these large, oldschool media outlets present their content in new ways, and I have to admit that the Times has decided to take a slightly different approach. The NYTimes is a simple, clean, polished way to read the “award-winning” content from the NYTimes’ editors. The entire app has a completely white background with black text and really does remind one of the newspaper. This is one thing that the Times has done well on all platforms; bring their content to new platforms but make it “feel” as if it is the original. This is one app where simplicity is of vital importance. When going through the application you will notice a second drop down menu, just like the notification tray at the top. When dropped, the menu contains all of the various topics and categories, and boy are there a lot of them. There are videos, world news, US news, tech, health, etc. You name it, the Times has it covered. At the bottom of the headlines overview page there is also a refresh icon notifying you the last time you refreshed. Also, from the main page of headlines when you press the menu button you can activate the sections tray as well as read the about page. When you are in a section you can browse through the headlines and choose one to view the entire story. From the entire story page, the pictures tend to be larger and when hitting the menu key you can share the story or change the font size. Videos are smooth and on Wi-Fi played pretty much instantaneous. There really isn’t more to it than that. One gripe I have is that the refreshing of the headlines still seems to be slow and can freeze the app up a bit. Other than that the Times seems to present the content it needs while getting out of the way. The key to this app is that it’s all about the content, not the features of the app. KEY FEATURES browse through the latest headlines of the Times share stories any app that supports sharing browse through sections refresh headlines ability to change the font size in the full story view CONS performance of the app can sometimes be slow and “jittery” App: NYTimes Price: FREE Website: http://www.nytimes.com/services/mobile/index.html
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