17
Feb
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Welcome to the weekly 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 2 weeks or so.

This edition focuses only on new games. The app roundup is coming up soon, and you can find the tablet app roundup here.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Featured App

Tasks N Todos - ToDo List Manager

Tasks N Todos is a TODO manager from Handy Apps, the developer of such well received apps as Easy Money and Tip N Split Tip Calculator.

16
Feb
new_android_apps_thumb1_thumb_thumb3

Welcome to the weekly 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 2 weeks or so.

This edition focuses only on new tablet apps or ones that added tablet support. Regular apps and games are coming soon.

As was the case with the previous tablet edition, tablet-only apps are a dying breed, as almost every app works on tablets to a degree and with ICS, this distinction is now even further washed out. I will likely stop the tablet series in the future and go back to apps/games as it's becoming superfluous.

15
Feb
fb_app

An update to the Facebook app just hit the Market, and looking at the changelog, you'd think it's a major update:

What's in this version:

  1. Navigate anywhere, fast: Get to your groups, apps, pages, and settings with a single press
  2. Search and you will discover: Look through friends, subscribers, apps, and pages
  3. See your friends tags on pictures and zoom: New photo viewing experience
  4. Faster notifications: Get alerted in real time with new push notifications
  5. Games & Apps: Play games and access your favorite apps on the go
  6. Access to mobile timeline (If you already have a timeline)
  7. Access to friend lists and subscriptions

Huge, right?

15
Feb
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A little over a year ago, developer Doug Melton delighted us with Android emulators for three popular TI calculators - TI-83, TI-85, and TI-86. Nostalgic and surprisingly useful, they resonated with many of you, but, unfortunately, TI forced Doug to take them all down a short while after.

You see, Doug actually shipped them with the original ROMs included, which was great for one-click installations, but apparently not so great for intellectual property. Oh, and he did name them TI-83, TI-85, and TI-86 originally, giving Texas Instruments an even simpler reason to have the apps removed.

In addition to all of the above, TI-89, the king among TI calculators and one of my personal favorites, has never (to my knowledge) existed on Android.

09
Feb
realsoccer3

Mobile gaming giant Gameloft has released yet another new title to the Android Market, and this time it's a soccer simulator: Real Soccer 2012. The game packs impressive graphics and customization options, and is even licensed by FIFPRO - meaning real players and leagues are used. Perhaps one of the most impressive features, though, is the ability to replay real-life games through an in-game news feed.

realsoccer1 realsoccer2 realsoccer4

The official market description:

Real Soccer is back for the new season, bringing soccer on mobile to a new era! Join the community of fans as you create and share content with the Custom Kit Editor.

08
Feb
googleplustiny

Google just dropped an update to its social networking app for mobile. Unlike some other apps, Google's brought a ton of new features that are actually useful. The Stream is now faster, doesn't immediately jump to the top of the feed when the app automatically refreshes, and shortens entries so you can see more of them at once.

google update screenshot

A few other improvements have been made. A new What's Hot! section allows you to follow what everyone is talking about, in an obvious attempt to compete with Twitter's trending topics. You can also see who +1'd a post or comment. Unfortunately, Google still hasn't brought a proper tablet interface to Google+ yet, leaving it in the company of many of Google's other apps that can't quite keep up with their own style guidelines.

04
Feb
new_android_apps_thumb1_thumb_thumb3

Welcome to the weekly 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 2 weeks or so.

This is the app roundup. The game roundup from this week can be found here and the tablet app roundup here.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Featured App

Tasks N Todos - ToDo List Manager

Tasks N Todos is a TODO manager from Handy Apps, the developer of such well received apps as Easy Money and Tip N Split Tip Calculator.

02
Feb
French_Flag

Let this be a lesson to all major tech companies: if you have a ton of users and you want to enter a new market, you'd better charge some kind of arbitrary fee, lest you end up in trouble with the French judicial system. Google is feeling that sting this week, as a French court ordered the company to pay €500,000 in damages to Maps competitor Bottin Cartographs as well as a €15,000 fine.

The plaintiff claimed that Google was using its market dominance to muscle out smaller competitors in the mapping software market. Here's what Bottin Cartographs' lawyer, Jean-David Scemmama, had to say on the ruling:

"We proved the illegality of (Google's) strategy to remove its competitors...

02
Feb
bouncer

As Android has grown from a small hobbyists OS to the mainstream-conquering behemoth it is today, so has the amount of malware directed towards it. A large chunk of the problem comes from malicious apps that make it into the Android Market - often times, duplicates of popular apps with a few strings of code thrown in that allow the app to transmit personal information or hijack the device.

Makers of anti-virus apps claim that there's more malware in the market than ever, painting the picture of a wild west-esque place that's ever-more attractive to the scum of the app universe.

02
Feb
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The Facebook app received an update to v1.8.2 today, but since its developers neglected to include a changelog, millions of users found themselves wondering what exactly this version brought to the table. Thankfully, the Facebook for Android page on Facebook (you still with me?) released the following blurb:

We just released Facebook for Android 1.8.2 with better memory management, and all kinds of bug fixes. Please download it and post your feedback!

So, no major changes (a nice tablet interface would be great), but fixes to "all kinds of bugs" and a smaller memory footprint are always welcomed. You can tell Facebook what you think about this update here or, you know, just download it and go about your day.