Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous 3 weeks or so.
This is the app roundup. The game roundup from this week can be found here.
Today's roundup is sponsored by Tasks N Todos, a TODO manager from Handy Apps, the developer of such well received apps as Easy Money and Tip N Split Tip Calculator.
There's little denying that Apple rules the smartphone world. The company sells just one phone model, yet that sole model constitutes 8.8% - or roughly 1 in 11 - of all worldwide smartphone sales and 73% of profits. iOS is the second most popular smartphone OS in the US after Android with 31.4% of the market (Android has 50.8%). Windows Phone 7, on the other hand, has just 4% of the US smartphone market, yet it's Microsoft that we have to worry about. We're witnessing a Kansas City Shuffle; while everybody is looking left, Microsoft is going right.
Microsoft is a lot like a freight train: it may be fat, bloated, and heavy, but once it finally gets up to speed, it's a force to be reckoned with.
When on{x} showed up as an Android exclusive from Microsoft, we figured it was just a fluke. Then Android got its own Xbox LIVE app straight from MS, and things got interesting. Now, Microsoft has launched its first Android game: Kinectimals. Sure, it's not Microsoft's most popular game, but it does show that the company is willing to take Android more seriously. Even at the risk of its own mobile OS.
The game itself costs $2.99 on the Play Store. If you already own Kinectimals on the Xbox 360, this app will let you unlock five new animals on your console.
Everyone loves Amazon, and thankfully for Android owners, their app has always been pretty solid. Thanks to an update to version 1.6 that was pushed to the Play store last night, it's now even better:
What's in this version:
- Brand new ways to sort and filter your search results.
- Faster, easier navigation with a Cart shortcut and drop-down menu of the most popular pages.
- Launch barcode scanning directly from the home screen.
- Add items to any of your existing wish lists.
- Additional country support – shop Amazon across 8 countries, including Spain and Italy.
- Bug fixes and performance improvements.
Back in February and shortly before MWC, developer Scalado unveiled an app called Remove. Put simply, the app allowed you to remove unwanted objects from images - for example, if your significant other is posing in front of the Louvre, you can remove other tourists from the picture. It works by taking multiple photos of the scene, then determining which ones moved through, and removing them at a touch.
As you can see in the video above, Remove was demoed on an Android device, suggesting with relative certainty that an Android app was near. Unfortunately, Nokia has acquired the company (you know, with all that spare cash they have), meaning it's unlikely Remove for Android will ever see the light of day.
Well, this sure came out of left field. Microsoft has released an official Xbox LIVE app for Android! The app can be used to view and modify your 3D Xbox avatar, track your achievements, connect with Xbox LIVE friends, and even get news and information from the Xbox Spotlight feeds. Color us surprised at how fully featured this app is.
The app has a distinctly Metro UI feel to it, which is unsurprising as Redmond has been keen to slather the vector-based UI on all of its properties these days, but the theme definitely clashes with Android. Functionally, however, it's very robust.
Frisbee Rush is undoubtedly one of the most original games we've seen in ages. The story is simple - the city has been invaded by aliens, and only you and your awesome frisbee-wielding abilities can stop them - but the mechanics are anything but. See, your phone is only the controller; the game is played on your TV or PC.
Getting started with the game is about as easy as it gets: download the Android app, and load up http://www.frisbeerush.com on your TV or PC. Choose how many players you want (1, 2, or 3) and the game mode you want (training or arcade), then just enter the sync code.
It's inevitable that, when a new version of iOS or Android gets released, the fanboys will come out of the woodwork to mourn the death of their beloved rival. In most cases, it's best to ignore them. However, in most cases, they also aren't the founder of a major tech publication. As such, it feels like Mr. Geller's premature funeral service for Android deserves its own bit of attention because, in the immortal words of Monty Python, Android isn't quite dead yet.
In times past, I've written pretty extensively about Apple and Google's habit of copying features from other places.
We already knew that today was the big day for T-Mobile's Galaxy S II to receive Ice Cream Sandwich. T-Mobile has just let on that the rollout will begin tonight at 11pm EST. The update will be done via Kies, so unfortunately the update won't be showing up over the air. Hope you've got a microUSB cable handy.
The update is just slightly behind the 4.0.4 that other devices have been receiving, but users probably won't be complaining too much. So, if you've got the T-Mobile Galaxy S II, be standing by your desktop tonight. If you don't already have Kies installed on your machine, now would be a good time to get a jump on that.
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous 3 weeks or so.
This edition focuses only on new games. The app roundup is coming up soon.
Today's roundup is sponsored by HeroCraft, a popular Android developer, and their new game Dragon & Dracula.
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