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.
After reading your comments from last week, I've raised the standards for apps that make it into the list and split them into 3 sections: Apps, Games, and Live Wallpapers. Remember, I don't make the apps, so if you don't like any of them, don't shoot the messenger (although feel free to leave a comment and tell us how you feel about that).
I've also modified the template to include both AppBrain and official web Market links.
Update: Whoops, 4 apps got away at first but have now been added to the list. They are Bar Bird, Robo Defense FREE HD BETA, Garmin Tracker, Weight Loss Biometric.
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: 44 Best (And 7 WTF) New Android Apps And Games From Last Week (1/25/11 – 1/31/11)
Apps
Experience the official version of the Blogger app. You can easily publish posts with pictures, labels and location information. Also, you can view the list of posts and if you have multiple accounts or blogs, you can easily switch between them.
Android Police coverage: Official uTorrent Remote App Debuts – Manage All Those Perfectly Legal Downloads From Your Android Phone
Remotely access and manage µTorrent 3.0 Alpha from anywhere. Users running the free µTorrent 3.0 Alpha client on their home PCs can take advantage of the µTorrent Remote service for secure access and control of their home machine to add, remove, start and stop torrents from anywhere. Check your RSS feeds and start downloads on the go. Completed files can also be shifted directly to the device for local playback.
**Usage**
µTorrent Remote works with µTorrent 3.0 Alpha running on your PC. You will need to download the uTorrent 3.0 Alpha from web.utorrent.com and create a login account (Preferences/Web).
RedWall is a social wallpaper app, Powered by the great community at Reddit.com
RedWall works by grabbing the top links(wallpapers) from the subreddit /r/redwall, and give you the option to download and set your phones wallpaper.
If you would like to submit wallpapers to redwall please visit us at http://www.reddit.com/r/redwall
Root FTP is an utility for Android to remotely access the file system with root privilegies over FTP protocol. You can access everything, even your data folder with read-write permissions. For that to work, you need a rooted phone. It really wont work without it. You also need to connect your mobile to the network (probably by wifi).
Android Police coverage: Official RealVNC Viewer For Android Hits The Market – And It Doesn’t Come Cheap
VNC Viewer is made by RealVNC, the inventors of VNC.
* Interact with your computer as though sitting in front of it.
* Give connections user-friendly names, and see desktop previews.
* Pinch to zoom in to a specific area, or out to see the whole picture.
* Easy navigation, scrolling, dragging, and selection using standard touch, tap, and drag gestures.
* Mouse button mode for precise control over mouse button and scrolling operations.
* Easy text entry using on-screen keyboard with preview.
* Important non-character keyboard keys (function, modifier, and so on) available on a scrolling key bar.
* Automatic performance optimization.
* Support for screen resolutions up to 5120 by 2400 pixels (though the actual resolution is limited only by the memory of your device).
Users connecting to VNC Enterprise Edition also enjoy the following significant benefits:
* Connections encrypted using up to 256-bit AES technology.
* Authentication credentials protected by 2048-bit RSA public keys.
* System authentication to connect using computer log on credentials.
* Enhanced performance.
* Support for non-US keyboards.
* Transfer text between applications on your computer and device.
Gingerbread added support for a system-wide built-in equalizer, and this app from the creators of AudioManager, is one of the first (if not the first) to utilize this functionality.
Note: that it only runs on Gingerbread and above, so you may not even see it in the Market unless you have 2.3+. Also, AppBrain didn't seem to grab it either for some reason.
Equalizer app and widget to control your sound effect levels on your phone.
The first true Equalizer app and home-screen widget is here. Equalizer lets you adjust sound effect levels so that you get the best out of your Music or Audio coming out of your phone. Apply Equalizer Presets based on Music Genre, or quickly create your own custom preset with the 5 band Equalizer controller. Additional Audio Effects supported include: Bass Booster, Virtualizer and Reverb Presets.
Features:
* 10 Stock Presets
* 5 Band-level Equalizer Controller
* Audio sampler to test your Equalizer settings
* Bass Booster
* Virtualizer
* Reverb Presets
* Power Mode options to enable/disable effects
* Beautiful 4x1 Equalizer widget for your home-screen
* Notification shortcut available for quick access
* No root required
Use the Dropcam Android app to remotely view and access your personal Dropcam system or public Dropcam cameras from your phone in full resolution with smooth video (and audio) playback over Wi-Fi, 3G, and 4G.
Dropcam is an intelligent Wi-Fi camera (IP camera) accessible via the web or mobile device. Check out Dropcam Original and Dropcam Echo Wi-Fi cameras at www.dropcam.com.
With this Android app, use your Dropcam camera to:
* stream live video securely and see every minute of action
* check alert notifications (both motion and audio-based) quickly and see recordings from Dropcam's cloud DVR
* receive instant activity alerts over email
Get fast access to your Favorite contacts right on your home screen.
Tired of going through multiple steps to just to make a phone call? Put a Fast Favorites widget on your home screen and get one touch access to your favorite contacts. The Fast Favorites Widget will let you step through your Favorites list, then just select call, text, or e-mail.
To keep your home screen uncluttered, use just one widget to access all your Favorite contacts. Or, for one touch access, set up several widgets for your most frequently called (texted, emailed) contacts.
* Home screen widget
* One widget can access any Favorite contact
* Use multiple widgets for one touch call, text, or e-mail to several different contacts
Android Police coverage: The Race Is On Again – Fast Web Installer Returns To AppBrain
It's finally back as v2.0! Install apps directly from appbrain.com in your web browser to your phone. Uninstall supported as well.
Songbird, previously available in a blog post on their site, is now in the Market.
Songbird (beta) for Android is an elegant music application, giving you the best access to your music collection on your Android device (version 2.1 and greater).
Another free texting app - the only reason I'm including this is because it seems to be already quite popular with iOS users.
- Get a free REAL phone number
- Send via your regular number too
- Text from your computer at pinger.com/textfree
- Supports ALL US carriers
- Fastest, most reliable texting app
Android Police coverage: American Airlines Lands The Official App In The Android Market
With the American Airlines app, you can view personal flight details such as your gate, seat and flight status info at a glance.
You can access your Mobile Boarding Pass – the app saves it for you so it’s always easy to find.
You can also monitor your place on the standby and upgrade list, track your elite status progress, play Sudoku, set parking reminders, and much more.
This app is a simple and elegant solution for your homescreen clutterness!
There could be so many things on your smart phone desktop: apps, widgets, shortcuts, folders. No one can remember all the items on their home screens. You have to swipe through many home screens, check out all the nested folders, and scan rows after rows of icons to find what you are looking for. You want to use the phone to make your life easier, not worse!
With our app, you are in control. We divide your big home screen to multiple smaller and more manageable areas. Each category has its own area. No more complicated maneuvers. No more docks or panels or sub menus!
Free version of the Blackbox app that we featured earlier, which the author put out after my request on reddit.
This program records sound continuously to a buffer when active. By pressing "Save latest"-button the buffer is saved to memory card and is then accessed through a list where you may play it back. You may choose the recording interval between 1 and 60 minutes by pressing the minutes.
If you're into the bar scene, this app and their site BarBird.com are actually not bad at all.
Happy hours? Drink Specials? Ladies Nights? Live Music? No Cover? If any of these phrases put a smile on your face, BarBird is the app for you.
Launched in 44 cities nationwide and 6 cities worldwide.
Don't dismiss the old grandpa Garmin just yet - this app's description makes it rather attractive. One of the better app descriptions out there.
Garmin Tracker is a free, unique app that will help keep tabs on whatever is important to you. Got a little one walking to school? No sweat — clip a Garmin tracking device to their backpack. Got a frisky mutt with a specialty for sneaking out of the yard? (Bad Rex!) Attach a Garmin tracking device to Rex’s collar. You’ll be able to see the location of all of your devices using the handy dandy Garmin Tracker app.
Not only does the app let you view your device’s location directly from your smartphone, it also lets you navigate to it with turn-by-turn directions.
You can also draw geofences, view track history and adjust your tracking device settings. (Let’s review: A geofence is a virtual boundary around an area of your choosing. When you set up a geofence for your tracking device, you can set a preference to notify you by email and/or text message when it enters or exits.)
So, back to your little one — say you want to know when they arrive safely at school. You can use the app to draw a geofence around the school and set your preferences to receive an email and/or text message once they enter that geofence. It’s that simple.
And then there’s Rex, your sneaky mutt. Using the app, draw a geofence around your house and yard. Once you get the notification that Rex has left the yard for a stroll through the neighborhood, grab your smartphone and go. Finding him is a breeze because Garmin Tracker will show you his location on a map. Catching him and bringing him home — that may be a different story.
Games
The unrivalled and award-winning football simulation is entering its first season on the Android platform!
Immerse yourself in unprecedented football atmosphere and the true PES experience with PES 2011.
Features:
- Unrivalled realism: Experience incredible gameplay and focus on tactics, goals and winning trophies while competing against the most advanced team and player AI on the market.
- Exclusive UEFA Club Competitions: PES 2011 includes many of the best European club teams in the officially licensed UEFA Champions League™ and UEFA Europa League™ modes.
- Outstanding Accessibility for Beginners and Experts: The uniquely designed true flowTM control system provides instant access for players of all levels by utilising the accelerometer and AI-supported touch controls. More advanced players are presented with unlimited freedom of play by being able to master classic console-style controls with virtual pad and buttons.
- Stunning graphics: Detailed stadiums and pitches provide the perfect visual environment for exciting matches
PewPew is a multidirectional shoot them up akin to Geometry Wars, where you move and shoot using two virtual joysticks.
You won't find a story in PewPew, this game is for serious gamers.
Physics based 3D action puzzler with two game modes!
Tales of Pocoro is a nice puzzle game with gorgeous RPG graphics. Enjoy more than 200 levels and 3 levels of difficulty. Unlock new characters and random mode for unlimited fun.
Tales of Pocoro is a pure indie game.
Take a spin and solve the puzzle in the all new Wheel of Fortune. America's favorite game show is back and better than ever!
Made by Sony Pictures Television (does it make this app official?), which is why its price is set at a whopping $5.
HD version of the most popular tower defense game on the Market. Right now, it's in a limited beta test and will go official after all bugs are squished.
3D Golf, which looks pretty well done.
Lite version of HeroCraft's newest game that we introduced in the previous roundup. Now you can try it for free and decide if you want to pay the $3.
Townsmen 6 is a strategy game set during the French Revolution. It was a GetJar exclusive when it launched but is now available on the Market. This is a free version with ads, like Angry Birds.
Live Wallpapers
Look at cool Android Bees flying in your home screen with a beautiful blue theme. There is a digital clock and calendar embed in the wallpaper too.
If you like this FREE version, please get our donate version which include:
♦ touchable bees
♦ bees noise
♦ show battery level
♦ use own image as background
♦ in-phone editor to change bees location, size, etc
♦ it is less than USD0.99
WTF Apps Of The Week
Bears need love too. A few months old but definitely a nice entry.
"Do you think you can guess what a babe looks like? Here is your chance. Does the carpet match the drapes?" - uhh, totally appropriate. Anyone dare try this? Also, why does the internal program name have "firefox" in it?
Skiver allows users to select how many days off they fancy, delivers a selection of plausible illnesses and even lists symptoms to ensure the user has a full cover story to spin to their boss. There is even a pre-filled email function that can be sent directly to a user’s boss to inform them of their absence.
From the app description: "This app was rejected by Apple, get it now on Android. Because you can." Enough said. We can stare at our own blank screens all we want - take that, iOS users!
In times gone by books and printed manuals had blank pages, these pages were generally left blank due to technical reasons with the printer, yet now as a sign of progress these pages are mostly gone or replaced by "comments" or "notes" pages.
This app allows you to visit your own blank area whenever you like and wherever you are. Use this area to rest, contemplate your life, collect your thoughts, plan world domination or simply do nothing.
This app was rejected by Apple, get it now on Android. Because you can.
The description is pure gold. Auto-translate ftl?
this app is Just to "Broadcasting ban sound" player.
If you using it in the other ear, say may not have purposely small voice on secret keyword.
This app was submitted to our WTF list but I think it's actually pretty awesome. It seems I can just watch that counter forever... hey, look, it finally reached $3.
Everyone knows that you lose weight by getting fingerprinted by your phone. Clearly. Wait, what?
Weight Loss Biometric is guaranteed to help you lose weight if you follow the directions given within the application.
Tired of being bigger than the moon? This app is for you...
Tired of being mocked all the time for having extra pounds? This app is for you!!!
I guarantee you will lose weight if you follow the simple steps that are generated based on your finger press.
Want to point out to a friend they need to drop some pounds? let this app do the work for you. Also good for a party trick on your guests.
Know A Worthy New App? Let Us Know!
If you have an application in mind for the next issue of the roundup, feel free to send us an email and let us know.
Important: there are 2 requirements in order for the app to be considered, listed below.
- the app's launch date has to be between Monday and Sunday this week
- it has to be original, ground-breaking, well-reviewed, interesting, fun, etc - the cream of the crop
Now, if and only if the above requirements have been satisfied, fire up an email to this address: oh.no.its@androidpolice.com.
1 sponsored placement per week is available (your app would be featured at the top and marked as sponsored) - please contact us for details.