25
Feb
image

If you remember, during Google's Honeycomb showcase in the beginning of the month, one of the tablet-optimized apps demoed was made by CNN. Considering CNN is one of the Honeycomb/XOOM launch partners, the new app showed up in the Market like clockwork for an easily digestible price of free. For those who need a refresher, here's the video from the presentation again:

The CNN app features a swipable navigation bar on the left-hand side and a grid story layout on the right side. For video junkies, live video broadcasts as well as pre-recorded video segments are provided. Vocal activists among you will find the ability to leave comments satisfying.

24
Feb
buy_1

You read that right: the Market now includes a totally awesome Books site. To be honest though, none of us is really sure what all has changed, since none of us really used it before - but it doesn't seem like a lot, other than a flipped switch. Let's start with what it looks like:

market_books

Notably, there's now a dropdown to sort by genre (to the left of the search box, above). When you select a book (protip: Sherlock Holmes is free... or if you're like Artem: Walden is free.), you're presented with the option to read it on the web or, assuming you already have Google Books set up and synced, on your Android device.

23
Feb
image
Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Lookout Labs

Lookout Inc's Lookout Mobile Security app is one of the most popular and trusted security apps on the Market, and while the company is going to continue active development of its flagship product, today it is launching Lookout Labs - a separate Android Market developer account dedicated to "pushing the bounds of mobile apps."

Plan B

Introduction

The first fruit of Lookout Labs' labor is a brilliantly simple yet very useful app called Plan B. Plan B was only made possible recently, after the release of the official Android web Market. The app is designed to be the last resort for finding a lost (or maybe even stolen - more on that later) phone and getting its latest position emailed to the account associated with the Android Market.

23
Feb
gmail

In a minor update to the official Gmail app, Google has addressed one of "the little things" that have been plaguing Android since the beginning. In this case, a lack of uniformity for copying text.

In all previous versions of the Gmail app, a user would have to press Menu, More, and then Select Text. Fortunately, this update fixes that issue by making copying text the same as in the Browser or a textbox: by long pressing it. It's not a huge addition, and is only available for those with devices running Gingerbread, but it is definitely a step in the positive direction.

22
Feb
Catfight1

Today, Google got the ball rolling on Gingerbread updates for the two official "Google phones", the Nexus One and Nexus S. While this is exciting, long awaited news for owners of the Nexus One, the Nexus S crowd may have some reason for disdain.

One of the things that got me really excited when I bought my first Android phone was the ability to import the numbers and email addresses of all my Facebook friends to my contact list automagically. No longer did I have to look it up on the Facebook webpage or, God forbid, call them and ask.

facebook

With the Gingerbread update for the Nexus S, Google has disabled this feature.

22
Feb
hi-256-0-015677df10a9974d5e378efdac04fe73a031a4e2

Ever heard of MenuPages? I hadn't until today, but I guess I live in a cardboard box. The popular website now offers an Android app for your convenience - but what's MenuPage's big feature when competing against the likes of UrbanSpoon and Yelp? You may have guessed it has something to do with menus.

snap20110222_154009 snap20110222_154029 snap20110222_154107

MenuPages indexes the (wait for it, it's mind-blowing) menu contents of any restaurant their service lists, meaning you can search by the exact food you want, as opposed to browsing through broad genres of cuisine. Pretty nifty for foodies like myself, and I can say right now that this app has made a home on my phone for the foreseeable future.

22
Feb
image

Anti-virus and anti-malware products by Kaspersky Lab are known as some of the best computer protection solutions for your desktop and notebook, and today the company announced availability of Kaspersky Mobile Security for Android.

The features of Mobile Security include:

  • anti-theft protection (including SMS Find, Remote Block and Delete, and SIM Watch)
  • anti-spam protection
  • privacy protection
  • anti-virus protection and firewall

The app can be downloaded from Kaspersky's servers and isn't available directly from the Android Market. The cost is rather high - $29.95 per year, although it is still comparable to products like Lookout Premium.

Official press release follows:

Feb 22, 2011 10:36 ET Kaspersky Mobile Security Expands to Support Android and BlackBerry

WOBURN, MA--(Marketwire - February 22, 2011) - Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of Internet security solutions that defend against computer viruses, spyware and all forms of malicious software, now offers protection and peace-of-mind for BlackBerry and Android smartphone owners, in addition to Windows Mobile and Symbian devices.

21
Feb
new_android_apps_thumb1_thumb_thumb3
Last Updated: April 13th, 2011

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 week or so.

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 week's roundup? Find it here: 32 Best (And 2 WTF) New Android Apps And Games From Last Week (2/9/11 – 2/15/11)

Apps

MapQuest

MapQuest's answer to Google Maps. But is it enough? (Probably not)

--

  • Absolutely FREE – There’s no trial period, subscription, or upgrade necessary.  You get all these capabilities absolutely free!
21
Feb
adobe-flash-logo

Good news, Tegra 2 users: you can now obtain a version of Adobe's famous (or perhaps infamous) Flash Player compatible with your devices. The leaked beta APK comes courtesy of XDA user rothnic, who received it "from the Malata Zpad owners."

As always, proceed with caution - and be sure to let us know how it works for you!

Download Link

Source: XDA Developers via Droid Life

21
Feb
image

Whilst browsing the Apps and Games section of XDA-Developers we came across an interesting thread about a relatively new application from Samsung, for the Galaxy S. This simply-named Video Editor looks to fill the void until the delicious-looking one from Honeycomb trickles down to our  phones' OS versions.

image

Strangely enough, the app appears to only work on 2.2+ devices, limiting it to the i9000 and Vibrant when it comes to Samsung's own devices. The XDA devs have unsurprisingly gotten it working on a bunch of non-Samsung devices too, so check out the source thread beneath for that. Along with this thread also came a highly informative walkthrough from Aatif Sumar at ZOMGitsCj.com, so we'd suggest you give it a read before having a go yourself.