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Jan

13 Best New Android Apps And Games From Last Week (1/13/11 - 1/17/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Last Updated: April 13th, 2011

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications and games that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. The list is pretty short, mostly because last week's roundup was a couple of days late, thus eating into this week, and January in general seems like a slow month for the Market.

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: 20 Best New Android Apps And Games From Last Week (1/4/11 – 1/12/11)

Best New Android Apps

ABBYY Business Card Reader

ABBYY Business Card Reader (BCR) offers an easy way to add a new contact to your smartphone’s address book: simply take a picture of a business card and save the contact.

Jan

Nostalgic And Awesome: Fully Working TI-83, TI-85, And TI-86 Android Emulators Hit The Market

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Sure, there are some excellent calculators in the Android Market, but do any of them make you hesitate for a minute when looking at them to figure out whether you are staring at a phone or a smaller version of your favorite Texas Instruments machine? Doug Melton's ports of the popular AlmostReal TI-83, TI-85, and TI-86 emulators to Android are so successful, most of your professors wouldn't even know the difference if they saw one of these on your desk. The buttons, the layout, the graphics, TI-BASIC program support - it's all there. Awesome.

I'm not sure whether Texas Instruments goes after emulators of its calculators, but I would download these ASAP if I were you.

Jan

TurboTax Launches SnapTax - A W2-Scanning Tax Filing Android App

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Nobody likes to do their taxes but, unfortunately, the tax season is almost upon us, and I'm dreading and counting down the days until April 18th (this year's tax day is not the 15th). However, those of you who have relatively simple taxes have a new option to file this year, one that wouldn't even make you touch a computer - TurboTax SnapTax for Android.

If you've made less than $80K, the income was all a result of W2s, interest, or unemployment, and if you don't claim any dependents or real estate, SnapTax is for you. Not only can you e-file your Federal and State taxes straight from your phone but snap pictures of your W2s too - just like those mobile banking apps help you deposit checks, SnapTax helps you scan your income form.

Jan

Now THIS Is How Android Theming Is Done: Tron Legacy Pro Theme For ADW Launcher

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Development, News

Android is known for its customizability and freedom, therefore it's not a surprise that it supports a variety of theming methods. Unfortunately, the vast majority of themes are either low quality or incomplete, which is a natural side effect of what happens when everyone is given a chance to contribute. When a truly great theme comes along, one worthy of changing the default launcher, it needs to be given credit. And the Tron Legacy Pro theme by Mariux is definitely one of those themes.

The theme doesn't just change the wallpaper or a few icons - it is what the author describes as "ultra-detailed." What this means is Tron's infamous neon effect was actually studied by Mariux to match the movie, a ton of icons have been changed, including popular applications outside of what ships stock (Angry Birds, Aldiko, Foursquare, Facebook, Goggles, etc), and even widget styles match the overall theme.

Jan

20 Best New Android Apps And Games From Last Week (1/4/11 - 1/12/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Last Updated: April 13th, 2011

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications and games that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. This week is relatively boring - don't shoot the messenger!

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: 30 Best New Android Apps And Games From Last Week (12/28/10 – 01/03/11).

Best New Android Apps

Rope Cut – Cut The Rope clone

Cut the rope by simply swiping your finger across them to deliver the candy to that little python.

Jan

Viper SmartStart Allows You To Remotely Start Your Car, Arm Your Home Alarm, With Your Android Device

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games

I'm not really sure how we missed this app when it was released way back in July, because it's damn cool. A company called Directed Electronics produces an automotive remote start kit that's called Viper SmartStart, and the kicker: it's controlled via smartphones. The app was available on iOS and BlackBerry for some time before being released for Android in July, and it's some pretty neat kit - check out the video (sorry, it won't embed because it's unlisted).

You can start your car from your house, then when you get inside your (now warm) car, you can arm the alarm on your house.

Jan

SwiftKey Teases A Tablet-Specific Version Of Its Keyboard Software, Promises So Much More

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Applications, News

By now, you've probably heard of SwiftKey, an alternative keyboard that predicts what you are typing based on statistics and personal history. The company is planning on making an ever bigger splash in the world of Android by going the same route as Opera: creating an app specifically for Android tablets.

Still in prototype form, the keyboard includes the same text prediction that has made SwiftKey so popular, but takes advantage of the tablet's larger screen size (in this case, a Galaxy Tab; we'll have to wait and see how it works on upcoming 10" tablets) by splitting the keyboard into two sections, with a keypad, including arrow keys, in between.

Jan

Google Translate For Android Hits Version 2.0, Receives Conversation Mode, Updated UI

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Google, News

As far as Android translation apps go, Google Translate is still among the best available - sure, it isn't perfect, but it's free and for the occasional translation it'll suffice. To celebrate the app's first birthday, Google has updated it to 2.0 and added a new feature called "Conversation Mode."

Image Credit: Engadget

Conversation Mode allows you and your foreign friend to speak in two different languages before having Google Translate display the words you say onscreen in your native languages (as seen in the second screenshot above). For now, it only works with Spanish and English, and it has problems with regional accents, background noise, and rapid speech, but it's a start.

Jan

Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About, Part 2: Apps 9-16

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Best Apps For Rooted Users Series, Development, Reviews, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Introduction

About half a year ago, my friend and colleague David Ruddock posted an article showcasing his eight favorite root-only apps.

Many of you read it, enjoyed it, and found the information contained within quite helpful, so we've decided to make it an Android Police series.

Part deux begins right now.

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

adbWireless

Love the geeky freedom of connecting your computer to your Android device via ADB but wish it could all be done wirelessly?

Jan

Distimo Pegs Android Market At 130,000 Apps - A (Nearly) Six-Fold Increase Year-Over-Year

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, Games, News

App store analytics company Distimo has released a report reviewing the changes in the Apple, Android, Blackberry, and Nokia app stores in 2010, and the results are impressive for all four. To highlight a few points from the 28 page report:

The Apple App Store is still by far the largest, with roughly 300,000 apps. The Android Market is second at 130,000, the Nokia Ovi Store checks in at 25,000, and the BlackBerry App World manages a respectable 18,000.
In all 4 stores, free app growth outpaced that of paid apps. The App Store doubled in size, while the Market experienced nearly six-fold growth.