Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Google Alert - android

News10 new results for android
 
Review: Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone aims high, falls short
CNN
(Wired) -- Samsung rightfully enjoys pointing out that it ships more Android smartphones than anyone else. And, with its new Galaxy S III, the South Korean ...
See all stories on this topic »
Samsung Galaxy S III - red
CNET
The good: The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes fully loaded with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 4G LTE capability, a zippy dual-core processor, and a strong ...
See all stories on this topic »
Samsung Galaxy S III Visual Tour: Android Superphone
InformationWeek
Samsung's Galaxy S III looks more elegant and thin than the company's previous smartphones, with an even larger display. It is a fantastic media consumption ...
See all stories on this topic »
Review: Samsung Galaxy S III
Washington Post
The Samsung Galaxy S III is the latest salvo in the war between Android and iOS, and it's a doozy. Lighter and thinner than the iPhone 4S, the Galaxy S III also ...
See all stories on this topic »
Samsung's S Beam teaches Android a new trick
CNET
The Samsung Galaxy S III introduces Samsung's take on a relatively new Android feature. Read this blog post by Jessica Dolcourt on Android Atlas.
See all stories on this topic »
Google Offers Android App Deals for Summer Solstice
PC Magazine
The temperate may be nearing triple digits in parts of the U.S., but Android users can get a cool break today thanks to the summer solstice.
See all stories on this topic »
Samsung Galaxy S III delivers a top-notch Android handset
USA TODAY
The highly anticipated successors to Samsung's popular smartphones are sleek and attractive.
See all stories on this topic »

USA TODAY
Samsung Galaxy S III: Best Android Yet
ABC News
The new Samsung Galaxy S III: a new leader among Android phones, but does it keep up with Apple's iPhone?
See all stories on this topic »

ABC News
Mossberg: Samsung's Galaxy S III Could Challenge Apple's iPhone
Fox Business
No single Google (GOOG) Android-based smartphone on its own has been able to take a bite out of Apple's (AAPL) success, but Samsung's new Galaxy S III is ...
See all stories on this topic »
Galaxy Quest: One Phone Aimed at All Networks
Wall Street Journal
Like other new Android phones, this Galaxy S sports a huge screen—4.8 inches—and an 8 megapixel rear camera. But it's thinner and lighter than the iPhone ...
See all stories on this topic »

Wall Street Journal

Blogs5 new results for android
 
Google Marks the Summer Solstice With Android App Deals
By Stan Schroeder
It's the longest day of the year, and Google is marking the occasion with special "Longest Day Deals" over at Google Play.
Mashable » Tech
Google I/O 2012 app unveiled for Android, keeps attendees and ...
By Richard Lawler
Hardly any self-respecting conference can do without a companion app these days and Google has pulled out all the stops with an updated app for I/O 2012.
Engadget
Amazon to Expand its Android Appstore Internationally
By Dan Rowinski
The Amazon Appstore for Android is going international. Developers that distribute through the Appstore are invited to start submitting apps for new markets such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain as of today, ...
ReadWriteWeb
New Game Boy Advanced Emulator Coming To Android This Week ...
By Chris Chavez
Got a pile of Game Boy Advanced games laying in an old cupboard somewhere? Looking to give them new life by playing them on your Android powered device?
Android Phone Fans
Android Jelly Bean spotted in Google I/O companion app - Ubergizmo
By Tyler Lee
According to the rumors, Google's Nexus tablet is expected to run on Android Jelly Bean. Many had believed Jelly Bean could be none other than Android 5.0, while others believe it may simply be Android 4.1. Whichever the case, with [...]
Ubergizmo


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Android Authority

Android Authority


Best Android apps for ESL students and learning English

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT

Learning the English language is very important, especially if you are doing business with foreign partners, if you want to get a decent job, or if you want to tour abroad. Being able to speak English will give you a great advantage, as it’s one of the most popular languages spoken internationally.

On the other hand, not everyone has the opportunity to learn the language, but thanks to Android, any Android user now has the opportunity to learn English anytime and anywhere she or he wants. Read on to learn more about the best Android apps for learning English.

Learn English with busuu.com!

Learn English with busuu.com! helps you learn English through conversational examples that include pictures, making learning very simple and easy for beginners. These examples cover 150 different topics and situations that you might encounter in the real world, as well as an extensive vocabulary containing more than 300 words and key phrases.

What’s great about this app is that it doesn’t need an Internet connection. Once you’ve downloaded it, you can access all the tutorials and interactive tests in it, allowing you to learn English anywhere. You can also create a busuu.com profile where you can sync your learning progress and even ask for help from native speakers from the busuu community.

English in a Month Free

Some people have all the time to learn English, but other people don’t. If you are one of the latter, then we suggest that you try using English in a Month Free. Unlike the usual English lessons where you are given tests which leave you puzzled with words, this app uses audio-visual exercises to help you learn the language fast. Learning basic phrases and building your vocabulary are fast and easy because you can easily imagine the lessons through the images.

You will also not get into trouble when speaking with native English speakers in the real word because this app trains you to easily understand them. Every word or phrase is pronounced by a voice in various intonations and speed, training your ear to understand a word even if it’s spoken differently. Try it and learn English in a month!

LearnEnglish Elementary

Too busy to learn English? If that’s the case, try learning English by just listening to it whenever you’re idle, such as waiting for your train or during your lunch break. You can easily do this if you try LearnEnglish Elementary. All you need to do is to download the app and listen to a series of podcasts from the British Council.

Each part of the series is 20 minutes long and it includes questions which you can try to answer. The taped script is carefully designed for beginners to easily catch up, allowing easy retention of the things discussed for every episode of the show. It’s really very easy to use and you don’t need any Internet connection to use the app. Try using it in your idle moments!

Learn English with babbel.com

There are many apps which can help you learn English and yet another app of this sort is Learn English with babbel.com. It’s easy to use and it’s also very fun. The app comes with a vocabulary containing 3,000 words which also includes pronunciations, images, and sample sentences, allowing you to easily understand and learn words.

It supports an intelligent review manager, as well as integrated speech recognition for pronunciation exercises, letting you know if you are doing things right. The app also features extra courses and features on babbel.com, one of the largest language learning platforms around the world.

Learn English – Voxy

If you speak Spanish and you want to learn English, try using Learn English – Voxy and you will discover a new, fun, and better way to learn English. This app really is better than going to expensive English classes or buying textbooks. It has hundreds of tests and exercises to help you learn your English fast and has been proven to be twice as effective as traditional teaching methods.

The app also updates you on current events, including news stories on the exercises. Flashcards with audio are also included, helping you out on how to pronounce words in a sentence, as well as an English translation tool that you can use to discover new English words. You also get tips and study reminders from the app, too.

WordTalk – english word study

While some apps for learning English are made for everybody, no matter what language they speak there are some apps that were specially made for certain language-speakers. WordTalk – english word study was made particularly for Koreans because the app itself is translated in Korean characters, allowing you to easily understand it.

It’s really more like a dictionary. You can type in a word and the app provides you with the correct pronunciation of that word, as well as a translation to the Korean language. This is makes things easier for Koreans who are not very familiar with the alphabet. It’s very handy if you are doing homework for English class.

Test Your English I

For those people who have learned English but need to polish their skills, Test Your English I is the perfect app. As the app’s name suggests, it contains multiple choice tests to evaluate how good you really are in speaking and writing English. The tests are about grammar, idiomatic expressions, and common errors in using English.

Each type of test contains 10 questions and your score is evaluated at the end of each test. It’s a very enjoyable way of learning more about English, not to mention that the app resembles the “Who wants to be a Millionaire” game show. Check out this app and know your weak points in using English.

ESL Daily English

When you are always on the go, learning English through podcasts can be really very helpful, and another app that lets you do that is ESL Daily English. Using the app really is very easy. All you have to do is download an episode and listen to it anytime and anywhere you like. You can visit the podcast’s website to download new episodes every time you have finished an episode.

It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an advanced English learner; there are podcast episodes that you can download depending on your level. For beginners, the app also translates descriptions of each episode to your language, allowing you to easily identify which podcast you should try.

Spell Checker (+voice input)

Speaking English is easy, but writing it is often much more difficult. If you are not very familiar with the language, I bet that you would get a lot of words misspelled. You don’t want this to happen because if you misspell a word, it could mean another thing which could offend someone. If you don’t want this to happen, we suggest that you try Spell Checker (+voice input).

The app is very easy to use. It supports voice recognition, allowing you to input your text by speaking it. It’s also very easy to access via the notification bar or a long-press on the search button. It supports other languages: Español, Français, Italiano, Deutsch, Svenska, Polski, Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Hebrew, and Turkish. Try it and correct your English spelling easily!

Dictionary

When you talk about learning a new language, dictionaries are always very useful particularly in learning about word definitions, pronunciations, as well as examples. Dictionary is probably the most comprehensive dictionary that you can find, including medical jargon, legal terms, and others. You don’t need an Internet connection for word searches.

Through the app, you can translate a word to over 40 languages and get access to 13 language dictionaries including English. Via this app, you will know relevant information that you want to learn about a word, including sentences illustrating a word’s proper use. It’s a great app if you want to enrich your English vocabulary.

Those are just some of the best apps that can help you in learning and polishing your English. There are more apps which are not included in this list and some of them may be your favorites. Let us know about them by leaving a comment below.


This article, Best Android apps for ESL students and learning English , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Google Developers Live debuts along with Google I/O 2012 app

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 07:36 PM PDT

Google holds a lot of live events, press conferences, Office Hours, and live Hangouts on Air. Keeping track of the vast amount of content coming from Google would prove to be an impossible task for nearly all of Google’s fans and those developing on the Google platform. Thankfully, Google’s latest tool aims to bring much needed organization into the picture with Google Developers Live.

The Google Developers Live website is more or less a TV Guide for all past and present Google events. You can browse through current live streaming events or search for past shows. You can narrow down your search by selecting one of the seven categories (Ads, Android, Chrome, Cloud, IO, Google+, Maps) or you can browse month to month by the large calendar located at the bottom of the page.

With Google I/O 2012 just around the corner, the Developers Live site is going to be a great way to keep track of and watch live streaming content for those of us unable to attend the event.  However, if you are able to attend the event next week in San Francisco, Google has also released the latest version of the Google I/O Android app.

The Google I/O 2012 app is much more than a simple scheduling and agenda app. If you’re a fan of Google+, you’ll love the integration from this year’s app. You’ll be able to view the Google+ profiles of speakers, +1 sessions, and participate in public #io2012 conversations. If you want to re-watch a session or watch one you missed, you’ll be able to play back I/O sessions on Android 3.0+ devices. If you have a newer device running Android 4.0, you’ll be able to sync your I/O calendar and beam session details from one NFC enabled device to another.

io1 io2 io3 io4 io5 io6

Get it while it’s hot at the Play Store: Google I/O 2012.


This article, Google Developers Live debuts along with Google I/O 2012 app , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Symbaloo: Managing your bookmarks effectively and efficiently

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT

Here's another famous application that has been ported to the Android platform and is definitely a keeper. Symbaloo is an easy-to-use bookmark management application that lets you organize your favorite bookmarks and websites in just a few taps.

Users who keep loads of bookmarked websites on their computer browser will surely love what the Symbaloo application can do. Simply put, the app is a bookmarking web service that manages your URLs into one sleek presentation, together with attractive tiles and logos of your favorite websites and RSS feeds.

Symbaloo can group bookmarks according to a specific topic and pile them neatly in a tile-oriented interface called "webmixes."

Symbaloo has explored possibilities of keeping up with the trend of easy bookmark management with the use of your mobile devices. If you have been desperately seeking the best bookmark management application, look no further than Symbaloo. The app requires you to register for an account so you can enjoy its service.

The mobile version of Symbaloo still resembles the web interface found in its older brother, with the app presenting your favorite bookmarks in the form of square tiles. The app serves as your own personal homepage or landing page that houses all your favorite bookmarks under one roof. As an added bonus, the app also comes packed with its very own web browser.

Symbaloo already comes with tons of bookmarks found on the app's main home screen. Users can also add their own bookmarks. The list of supported services Symbaloo caters to is huge–from news, shopping, social networking, travel, business and finance, to communications, and music, just to name a few.

The feature that makes Symbaloo stand out from the rest of the crowd is the ability to easily customize and add your favorite webpages and laying them out in square tiles. Adding a tile is easy: just supply the URL of the website. You can even  personalize each tile by adding a color, which is particularly handy if you have your own way of arranging your tiles.

Using your account, Symbaloo can let you access all of your favorite sites, whether you saved them on your PC or your Android tablet. Rest assured that everything is synchronized and ready on your next use. Symbaloo also features audio streaming so users who love listening to their favorite radio station can do so with the app.

From a mobile point of view, the lack of widgets can discourage some users as most Android applications already feature widgets. We do hope that the developers will add this feature in later releases. You can download Symbaloo absolutely free from the Google Play Store.


This article, Symbaloo: Managing your bookmarks effectively and efficiently , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Best Android keyboards for smartphones compared: Adaptxt vs Swiftkey X vs SlideIT vs stock ICS [video]

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 02:16 PM PDT

android keyboard

Typing is an essential part of the experience of using an Android device. Most of us type everyday, be it text messages, emails, posts, memos, or simple searches. When typing on an Android smartphone becomes cumbersome, productivity hits rock bottom. It’s no wonder that many Android keyboard developers compete to create the most versatile and intuitive keyboard for Android.

Many users are looking for more speed, more accuracy, and a well rounded user interface. Picking the right keyboard for Android smartphones is often a long string of trials and errors. Of course, not everyone is willing to spend money and time trying out new keyboards. As a result, many people remain stuck on the stock keyboard they get with their device, thus missing out on smart, advanced features that would bring them a much better, more efficient typing experience.

For all of you Android users looking for a keyboard that suits your needs and tastes, we’ve prepared a video comparison where we pitted together some of the most popular keyboards on Google Play. We have chosen the following keyboards for this comparison: Adaptxt, Swiftkey X, SlideIT, and the stock ICS keyboard. Each one provides it’s own special functionality and set of features, and all are fairly easy to use on a daily basis. Before we show you the results of our comparison, let’s quickly go through the features of the four keyboard apps.

Adaptxt keyboard features

  • Hyphenated Suggestions
  • URL Suggestions
  • Acronyms
  • Next Word Predictions
  • Automatic text Replacement
  • Private Mode
  • Accent Trimmer
  • Word Completions
  • Error Correction
  • Automatic Learning Into Dictionary
  • Accented Suggestions

 SlideIT keyboard features

  • Instead of entering text by tapping on the keyboard letters, SlideIT keyboard eases texting by sliding a finger along the keyboard letters
  • Smart predictions and disambiguation
  • Over 45 language packs and layouts
  • More than 30 skins
  • Speech-to-text
  • Handwriting recognition
  • Import contacts from your phone
  • Keyboard customization

 Swiftkey X keyboard features

  • Global Mobile Awards Most Innovative App 2012
  • Accurate corrections and predictions
  • Enable 3 languages at once, with many to download
  • Natural language processing
  • Typing improvement statistics

Stock ICS keyboard features

  • Easy to use interface
  • Typing prediction
  • User defined dictionary
  • Stored dictionary is export-able to other keyboards

Video hands-on comparison

We compared the four keyboard alternatives using two high-end Android smartphones, the LG Optimus 4X HD and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The Adaptxt keyboard was used on the LG smartphone while SlideIT, Swiftkey X, and the ICS stock keyboard were used on the Galaxy Nexus.

Adaptxt vs SlideIT

As far as UI goes, the SlideIT has a 3D and a Classic version built in, and over 30 themes available for download on the Play Store, while Adaptxt offers “Dark” and ”Light” color schemes.

Leaving the user interface aside, we're going to delve right into usability. SlideIT offers sliding support, which means you can easily end up writing text messages faster by simply sliding your fingers across the letters than by using a regular keyboard. Adaptxt has a completely different feature that's also very useful, automatic text replacement (ATR). It takes practice to become efficient with either method, as sliding can take time getting used to, and ATR commands must be programmed by the user initially. Adaptxt will get you faster to the punctuation marks you are looking for, as it only has two menus compared with the four found on the SlideIT app, in addition to the double functionality of keys (letter plus symbol). Although, the four pages of additional characters found in the SlideIT app may be useful to some.

On the other hand, SlideIT, when compared to Adaptxt, provides the functionality of Cut, Copy, and Paste in the form of buttons on the top of the keys. This makes editing text a breeze.

Adaptxt vs Swiftkey X

Swiftkey X is similar to Adaptxt, as it provides users with word suggestions right on top of the keyboard. What’s worth noticing about Swiftkey X is that the numbers are grouped together in the punctuation screen, rather than being placed on the first row, like in most keyboards, which means you'll access them a lot faster than on other keyboard apps. In fact, they can all be reached with just one finger.

Swiftkey X also offers typing stats in the settings section of the app, although not everyone will be interested in knowing how much more efficient he or she is at typing text when using the app.

When it comes to comparing accuracy, the Swiftkey X appears to be the winner. But, like all tests, the human factor plays into comparing the accuracy of Android keyboard apps. It is also important to mention that as each app’s user dictionary expands with more entires, their prediction accuracy increases.

Adaptxt vs ICS stock keyboard

Finally, we’ve compared Adaptxt with the stock keyboard found on Ice Cream Sandwich devices. We found that both of them seem to offer a similar performance. The ICS keyboard lacks the secondary numbers and punctuation that are available on the Adaptxt keyboard, but on the flip side, it does come with text-predicting features, which can offer a high accuracy when entering text. The stock ICS keyboard also features a very simple, easy to use UI.

Which keyboard app for Android is the best for you?

As you would’ve imagine, we don't have a definitive answer to that question, and you may want to test them all before you choose your favorite. Also, every one of these keyboards will aid the user in attaining better typing skills. Once the Adaptxt, Swiftkey, or ICS keyboard learns a good amount of your commonly used words, it will be a breeze to type quickly and accurately. Not to mention, becoming familiar with the SlideIT keyboard will bring your typing to a new level of speed.

All of these keyboards are available in a free trial version, so pick them up and decide which one you will stick with!


This article, Best Android keyboards for smartphones compared: Adaptxt vs Swiftkey X vs SlideIT vs stock ICS [video] , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Flipboard to get Google+ integration

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 01:36 PM PDT

Bradley Horowitz, Vice President of Product Management for Google+ made an exciting announcement today at the LeWeb conference in London. He announced that Android newcomer, Flipboard,  is slated to join the ranks of Buddy Media, Hootsuite, Context Optional, Hearsay Social, Involver, and Virtue as a Google+ trusted partner.

If you aren’t aware, Flipboard is a top, unique news reader application previously exclusive to iOS. Flipboard creates beautifully designed, personalized magazines for all your news fed content. Flipboard comes with support for many popular news websites from around the web. On top of that, you can integrate existing services you use such as Twitter, Facebook, and even Google Reader. With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S3, Android users got their first official look at what this highly successful news reader app can do. Besides the Galaxy S3, Flipboard is in private beta and plans to make their application available on a much larger scale via the Play Store in the very near future.

Google has been very selective with granting full API access to Google+ in the past. What’s truly exciting about the announcement of Flipboard getting official Google+ integration is that up until now, this sort of API treatment wasn’t available to the masses. For example, users had to be part of Hootsuite’s Enterprise program, a task that the average Google+ user could not tackle.  The API access will allow true Google+ integration with Flipboard users allowing them to Google+ comment, +1 Flipboard items, and share content directly to their Google+ Circles. Horowitz said "It works like it should" and "Flipboard has done an amazing job. "

If you want to give Flipboard’s latest beta version a try, you can snag it here. Please note, Google+ integration is not available at this time. However, you’re welcome to try it out anyways. Enjoy.

 


This article, Flipboard to get Google+ integration , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Bluition Bluetooth ignition device controls scooter from Motorola Droid 4

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 10:05 AM PDT

In addition to the plethora of apps and utilities current smartphones can offer, they can be further customized to aid us with various daily routines, such as starting and stopping the engine of a scooter or popping open the seat latch. That's exactly what Brad Nelson, an ingenious Android smartphone owner who also happens to be a Kymco ZX50 scooter driver, did. He customized his scooter to respond to gesture-based commands issued from his Motorola Droid 4 via Bluetooth. Thus, the Bluition, or a Bluetooth Scooter Ignition was born.

The home-made Android application / scooter tweak is shown in the video below, and while there's certain lag involved when passing on the commands from the Droid 4 via Bluetooth, the scooter will start the engine, stop it, and pop open the seat compartment.

The whole project cost from $75 to $100, as various parts had to be purchased and installed in the scooter in order to control it from the smartphone. Besides the three-weekend job to customize the wiring of the scooter and make sure everything works properly, Nelson also had to program the Android smartphone to respond to his gestures and send them to the scooter.

Here's how it all works:

• My Droid 4 runs a program called Tasker. Tasker is an AMAZING program that can run applications or other actions given specific events or states. I've put instructions for it to call a specific Python script given a specific gesture is detected.
• Python for Android provides a very simple scripting system. It was amazing how few lines of code were needed to open up a Bluetooth connection and send commands to the bluetooth module on the scooter.
• An RN-42 Bluetooth module from SparkFun receives the commands from the Android phone. The commands include instructions to set GPIO pins high or low.
• The RN-42 outputs are then connected to MOSFET drivers, which in turn drive mechanical relays. Again, SparkFun parts.
• The mechanical relays are connected into the scooter ignition, starter as well as a solenoid that pops opens the seat lid.
• The solenoid was purchased from SparkFun also. While it provides precious little force, I managed to eek just enough out of it to pop the scooter seat lid (which encloses the glove/helmet storage compartment) by connecting the solenoid plunger to the connector up through a bowden cable.
• And foot bone is connected to the knee bone…

In case you have similar home-made smartphone-based projects give us a nod, as we're certainly interested to see similar endeavors!


This article, Bluition Bluetooth ignition device controls scooter from Motorola Droid 4 , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Plenty of Android apps that should save power are battery killers, study shows

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 09:05 AM PDT

Battery life is of utmost importance especially in new smartphones that come with 4G LTE support – LTE is already a battery hog, and there's only so much space inside a smartphone that can be used for the battery, but it’s not just LTE that consumes plenty of juice. You'd think most app developers would try to make their apps as efficient as possible when it comes to smartphone and tablet power usage. But apparently that's not the case, and there are plenty of Android apps that aren't as efficient as one would think.

A recent study conducted by researchers from the Purdue University shows that many Android developers mishandle certain Android APIs, which prevent the phone from going into sleep mode until the app completes the action it’s supposed to perform periodically in the background, and thus these apps become silent battery killers.

Various apps need to be awake at certain times in order to perform certain tasks, but once that happens they should be automatically turned off in order for the smartphone to get back into sleep mode. Y. Charlie Hu, a Purdue University professor of electrical and computer engineering explains:

[…] smartphones are always in a sleep mode, by default. When there are no active user interactions such as screen touches, every component, including the central processor, stays off unless an app instructs the operating system to keep it on.

Researchers found that out of the 187 Android applications that used "Android's explicit power control APIs, called 'wakelocks,'" 42 of them, or around 22%, had bugs in the wakelock code which prevented them to engage the sleep mode again after accomplishing their interactive tasks. The report doesn't mention the actual names of the apps that were found to be "battery killers" but researchers confirmed that such battery issue affect other mobile operating systems not just Android, even though their study focuses only on Android apps.

All this happens without users being aware of what's going on with their smartphones that appear to be turned off, so next time your battery dies unexpectedly you may want to check whether the apps you're using in the background are efficient enough for your device. In fact, we have already shown you an application that analyzes the activity of your smartphone and could help you determine ways to improve battery life on your Android device.


This article, Plenty of Android apps that should save power are battery killers, study shows , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Best Android apps to wow your friends

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT

When smartphones were still emerging in the tech scene, anyone with a smartphone was considered cool. People would crowd around that person, asking all sorts of questions about what you could do with it. Nowadays, almost everyone has a smartphone and unless you’ve got the newest one released, it’s pretty hard to impress people.

But, if you want to grab a little limelight and show off to your friends just what you’re doing with your Android device, we’ve put together a list of some of the best Android apps to wow them with. We’re not talking about apps that are just for show, but apps that are handy for you, too. Show off some of these apps, tell your friends about them, and watch them turn green with envy.

Carrr Matey

Oops, did you forget where you parked your car? Don’t be embarrassed if you do. When you’re tired from a long day at work or when you were too happy to be reunited with friends after ages, remembering where you parked your car can be a trivial thing. But, instead of combing every single corner of the parking block, take a deep breath and launch Carrr Matey. This app will never let you lose your car in a parking lot or a street again. It’ll guide you back using a compass or walking directions.

Keeping with its pirate theme, when you launch Carrr Matey, you’ll be given the option to Drop Anchor to pinpoint your location, use the swords to zoom in and zoom out, and tap Find Vessel to get back to your car. Never fear having to go and park your car at an airport, stadium, or shopping mall. Since Carrr Matey relies on GPS, it will work best in outdoor areas and may not be able to provide you accurate information when in a parking garage.

Funny Facts Free 8000+

What better way to wow your friends than by telling them little factoids that they didn’t even know about? With Funny Facts Free 8000+, your friends will be in awe with how much you know. The app puts all the craziest and funniest facts out there in the palm of your hand. It’s a great way to break the ice with friends you haven’t seen in a while and it’ll certainly keep the conversation going.

You can learn and share all sorts of hilarious facts about the human body, science, nature, celebrities, world records, strange laws, and sex facts. Swipe left or right through facts, but if you feel like being random today, swipe down to get a random fact. If you’re still preparing to impress your friends at your next get-together, mark your favorite facts  and easily access them through your favorites list. Tell your friends about Los Angeles’ full name, or about Johnny Depp’s weird eye. You can even tell them about the number of neurons the human brain has and just how fast a sneeze travels out of your mouth.

Mixology Drink Recipes

Don’t just settle for the same-old, same-old instant coffee and beer when you invite company over. The Mixology Drink Recipes app is the ultimate drink recipe and bartending guide. Whether you’re a seasoned mixologist or you’re an amateur bartender, your friends will surely be impressed with how you make them drinks. You can browse and search through more than 7,900 drink recipes and easily switch between metric and imperial units.

Want to find the closest liquor store to buy something you don’t have on hand? Mixology Drink Recipes lets you easily search and find liquor stores in your area.

If you’re too lazy or you’ve got no time to run to the store, simply enter all the liquor and mixer types you have in the Liquor Cabinet and you can search for the cocktails that you can make. Make sure you not only impress your friends with what you’re serving them–throw in some bartending terminology and techniques that you can learn through this app.

Light Grid Live Wallpaper

Prettying up your phone with a static wallpaper can get boring and not all live wallpapers fit your style, but for those of you who still want to find an interesting way of decorating your phone, this app may be for you. Light Grid Live Wallpaper displays a grid of light, fading in and out, and gives you the option to customize it to your heart’s desire. You can tweak the colors, size, and speed.

If you’re worried about the app consuming your battery, calm yourself; some users have reported that Light Grid Live Wallpaper runs light, so it doesn’t gobble up your battery life too quickly. The light grid also changes colors as your battery slowly discharges, which makes for a very interesting sight.

Go crazy with Light Grid Live Wallpaper’s settings. Customize it to match your outfit or your mood for the day. If you’re hankering for more shapes, theme management, and more effects, you can also get Light Grid Pro Live Wallpaper for a small fee at the Google Play Store.

Gesture Search

Instead of spending so much time sorting through your contacts list or your apps, why don’t you use Gesture Search to find what you need? This app, developed by Google, lets you find a contact, a bookmark, an application, or a music track by drawing on your screen. Draw the letter “A” and everything that starts with and contains the letter A will be filtered for you.

Letters aren’t the only things that Gesture Search recognizes; you can also enter numbers, too. Search results are updated as you add each letter or digit and becomes better by learning from your search history. It’s perfect for those days when you don’t feel like typing things into the search box to find them and it’ll save you more time when you could be doing something else.

Gesture Search requires Android 1.6 and up to run, which should be no problem for most Android devices out there. You can download Gesture Search for free from the Google Play Store.

SkEye Planetarium | Astronomy

The next time you’re getting together with your friends, try something new like stargazing. If you think stargazing is only for people with telescopes, think again. Though you can use SkEye Planetarium | Astronomy as a PUSHTO guide for telescopes, this app can be used as an advanced planetarium to help you identify stars, constellations, and deep sky objects from the Messier and NGC catalogs. Jump into any date in the past or future with SkEye’s Time Machine and get real time Alt-Azimuth and Equatorial coordinates.

You can also look up Messier objects and the mini-NGC catalog with a subset of about 180 bright objects. You can also view the solar system, including all 8 planets and 5 Galilean moons. SkEye also comes with Night Mode and allows you to search with a guiding arrow. This app is fantastic for amateur and beginning astronomers, allowing them to get a better idea of those heavenly bodies. Get SkEye Planetarium | Astronomy today from the Google Play Store.

Google Goggles

If your friends haven’t been impressed yet, explore the world around you using Google Goggles. Another app developed by Google, it lets you Google the world around you with the use of your phone’s camera. Instead of typing something into the Google search bar, take a picture! It could be of a book or of a landmark and Google will use image recognition technology to recognize the subject and return relevant search results.

Learn more about places through the links that Google gives you and surprise your friends. You can easily identify products, famous landmarks, storefronts, artwork and popular images found online. Scan a product’s barcode to find out more about it. Google Goggles also easily lets you add contacts by scanning their business card.

If you and your friends are at a restaurant with a menu that isn’t in English, no problem. Let Google Goggles translate it for you. At the moment, Google Goggles can only translate words in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian.

Shazam

Whenever you’re listening to the radio, you’re bound to hear a song that you just can’t name. You might have heard it the other day, or on a commute, and you can certainly sing it but you just can’t put a name to it. The urge to find out its name is gnawing at you and by the time you get to a computer to Google whatever bits of lyrics you could remember, you’re already overwhelmed with other things to do.

With Shazam on your Android device, you won’t have to worry about not knowing a song’s name. Simply hold it up to the speakers and Shazam will give you the song’s title in seconds. When you’re at a party with your friends or when you’re watching a TV show and someone asks the magical question, “Does anyone know what song this is?” simply whip out Shazam.

To make your song experience even better, Shazam can show you streamed lyrics in time to the music. If you’re gaga over the song, you can share it with your Twitter and Facebook friends. But if that isn’t enough for you, you can purchase the song from Amazon MP3.

Chordbot Lite

Maybe you’re secretly a musician but you haven’t got the tools to let your talents shine. Instead of waiting around and saving for instruments, there’s an app out there that’ll get you jumpstarted on your rise to music stardom, even if it is in your dreams. Introducing Chordbot Lite, a songwriting tool and electric accompaniment for the musician on the go.

With just your phone, you can create and play advanced chord progressions as accompaniment for your guitar, saxophone, and theremin solos or just as a backing band for when you’re unleashing your inner singer in the shower. The app features 60 chord types in all keys and inversions, slash chords, transpositions, automatic inversion selection and an automatic song generator.

If you’re itching for even more features, you can purchase Chordbot Pro for a small fee and get access to more than 50 comping styles and MIDI/WAV file export. Impress your friends by making your own song and letting them hear it the next time you have a get-together.

Songify

Okay, so maybe your music skills aren’t really that awesome, but there’s hope for you yet. If you’re looking for that one last shot at impressing your friends, show off your singing skills with Songify. Don’t worry if you don’t actually have any singing skills because Songify lets you turn your spoken words into song. Speak into your Android device and pick a tune. Voila! You’ve now got your very own song.

You don’t have to limit yourself to reading lyrics of existing songs. In fact, burst out that speech you made for a class and recite it into the app. Surprise yourself and your friends with what you can do with the Songify app. Get your friends to join in, too, and churn out the Internet’s next big viral hit. Or, at the very least, have yourselves a great time fooling around with Songify. Get Songify from the Google Play Store today and create your own songs with just speech.

With all those apps, surely your friends will be impressed. If they aren’t, at the very least, you’ll have had a great time using your Android device. What about you?  Have you ever bragged about your Android phone and what it can do?  What apps help you in getting that “Wow!” out of your friends mouths?


This article, Best Android apps to wow your friends , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


LG puts tablet development on hold, will only concentrate on smartphones in the near future

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 08:57 AM PDT

LG hasn't exactly been the most successful smartphone manufacturer these past couple of years and has been constantly overshadowed by the likes of Samsung or HTC (not to mention Apple). Tablet development has gone wrong for the Koreans, who've only released one such product during 2011, unveiling another one this year.

Last year's 8.9-inch Optimus Pad has been almost completely ignored by Android tech users, while the new Optimus Pad LTE, who still doesn't have a release date attached to its name or an official price. It has even less chances of achieving any kind of success while in the wake of the aforementioned marketing disaster.

Although we've been suspecting LG to up its ante in the tablet world in the near future, a Bloomberg report seems to shatter any hopes we might have had for seeing a truly competitive slate from the Seoul-based company anytime soon.

"We've decided to put all new tablet development on the back burner for the time being in order to focus on smartphones." said Ken Hong, one of LG's spokesmen, in an exclusive talk with Bloomberg. While Hong didn't want to elaborate on what "time being" could mean, it's safe to assume that we won't be seeing LG unveil or release any new tablets aside from the Optimus Pad LTE at least by the end of 2012. It’s also possible that LG has even pulled the plug on the second-generation Optimus Pad, but it’s doubtful.

And while on one hand we're a bit shocked to see them give up so easily on a market niche growing at an accelerated pace, we can understand the strategy LG is trying to follow.

Aside from Apple, who's been dominating the niche practically from its inception with the iPads, the tablet market is set to face greater competition than ever this year, with the Windows-powered Surface being unveiled yesterday, Google's Nexus Tablet closing in on its introduction and Amazon prepping a new line of Kindle Fires. Would have LG had a shot in such a crowded group? Probably not, which is why it's probably for the best for them to give and concentrate on a market they can possibly win.

LG's most recent Optimus L line of smartphones, as well as the Optimus LTE2, the Optimus 4X HD and the "Eclipse" are the devices that could drive sales forward for the company's mobile department.

Do you think that LG is doing the right thing by putting tablet development "on the back burner"? How about the company's current and future line of smartphones? Could they help close the popularity gap between LG and the likes of Samsung, HTC or Apple? Let us know your opinions in the comments section below.


This article, LG puts tablet development on hold, will only concentrate on smartphones in the near future , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Name your price for 4 exciting Android games in the new Indie Gala!

Posted: 19 Jun 2012 08:39 AM PDT

Do you guys remember the Humble Bundles that let you pay as much as you wanted for a bunch of exciting and cool indie games for Android and PC? Of course you do, which is why I'm sure you'll want in on the new Indie Gala, which offers you the chance to get as much as 10 cool video games for a rather small investment.

The Indie Gala targets Android users, who can get their hands on 4 mobile games for just a dollar. Great Little War Game, Cardinal Quest, Smiles HD and Legends of Yore can be yours right now if you head on over to the Indie Gala official website and make your bid.

While I'm sure most of you might be tempted to only pay $1, and get the four games, you should think really hard before making your offer on the bundle. Why is that? Because if you forget all about stinginess for a moment or two, you'll get some additional rewards that will certainly be worth your money.

By paying more than the average (currently $4.38, but it might go up soon), you'll get the 4 Android games mentioned above, as well as six PC games. Cardinal Quest, Smiles HD and Legends  of Yore can be on your desktop, too, in addition to Turba, Pitiri 1977 and Manor of the Damned. Still not convinced to get a tad over 4 bucks out of your pockets for all these games? Maybe two "magic music albums", also included in the "deal", will help seal it once and for all.

Furthermore, you can decide for yourselves where the money goes and you can split them up between game developers, IndieGala and two charity causes that really need your help. One is "AbleGamers", a foundation that helps people with disabilities and war veterans to find moral support in video games, and the other is Emilia Romagna, an Italian region recently hit by a terrible earthquake.

The Indie Gala bundle for Android will be available for three more days and, for the time being, there have been 2,100 game packages already sold, which has raised a little over $9,000. That's not bad, but it's clear that we could do a lot better, especially considering the fact that all of those games' retail prices would be around $150 (if purchased separately) and the current top contributor has only donated $51.

How about it, folks? Are you willing to make a good deed and at the same time get some nice cool games for your Android device and PC?


This article, Name your price for 4 exciting Android games in the new Indie Gala! , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.