Living Social and Groupon have some pretty formidable competition in the form of Google Offers. The web giant has joined other websites in providing flash-sale events to you right to your Android phone. Google Offers deals are easy to sort, and there are usually many specials available in multiple cities. You can choose the city to browse from a drop down box of major metro areas, or you can let Google Offers access your phone’s GPS capability and find the deals closest to you. Right now, Denver is the nearest city represented in this app, but I’m sure that if anyone can incentivize local participation, it’s Google.   Less

Listen to subject-specific podcasts or music on your android phone, with Stitcher Radio. Search for audio content by keyword or subject, or listen to featured content. Select from subjects like Lifestyle & Health, Spirituality or Politics and let Stitcher aggregate content it thinks you’ll like. Once Stitcher adds stations to your feed, you can easily remove them and add new content, just by using the app’s editor.   Less

Instagram, the newly Facebook-acquired photo sharing site, becomes pocket-sized with this app for Android. Take pictures and share them to social media like Facebook (though you don’t have to), Twitter and Tumblr, and follow friends’ photos more easily than ever. Instagram uses your phone’s camera to take pictures, and can also access your photos from your gallery. The app for Android offers users the free customizable filters and backgrounds veteran Instagram-users have gotten used to, now with the added bonus that you can edit photos saved to your phone.    Less

Listen to all the music you want, on multiple devices, with a monthly subscription to Rhapsody, a free music app for Android. Sign in with your Rhapsody account or create a new one, and access a library of over 5 million MP3 music files. Rhapsody comes with its own integrated music player where you can play your purchased downloads.   Less

Listen to more than 50,000 radio stations from all over the globe, with TuneIn Radio for Android. Input a favorite city or just browse by category. You can even input a search term, whether it is a zip code, type of music, or a station name, and TuneIn will generate a list of options for you. Then select the radio stations you like and either stream them or add them to your list of presets.   Less

CTime-stamp your journal notes with this free Android app. This app shows you a calendar, and you can select a date to attach your observation to. Just click the date you want, and then select whether you want to compose a note, or take a photo. Whatever content you save will be time-stamped so you know exactly when it happened when you reread your diary later. A search feature lets you search through your own notes for keywords, and you can also back up any of your content onto your SD card.   Less

Gift-giving just got a lot easier, thanks to Karma for Android. Karma accesses your contacts so you can send gifts to them easily. Just browse Karma’s product database, with items filterable by price, and sortable product categories. It’s easy to purchase items just by clicking, inputting the recipient, and customizing your card. Karma’s social features mean it can even remind you in advance to purchase a gift for a Facebook friend’s upcoming birthday.   Less

Put your city on the map, with Woomark, a crowd-sourced venue ranking app for Android. Woomark collects user rankings of stores and businesses, then catalogues these reviews into a global database. The best thing about Woomark is that it’s social. Connect to contacts via Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz and StumbleUpon. The app uses GPS to calculate your location so you can rank local businesses and share you preferences with the world. Unlike the more popular crowd-sourced social venue apps, though, Woomark is not a very intuitive app to use, and has a host of non-universal symbols and very few text directions to help you navigate it.    Less

Upload, save and print files from Google Documents, Picasa and Flickr, with Fiabee for Android. Fiabee lets you take pictures or share them over a data or wireless connection, so you can access all your multimedia from any device. You can use Google's Cloud Print with this app to remotely print any images saved to the app. Fiabee will also save edited images across devices. There are a few UI issues; for instance, each time you close the app, and it times out, you must reenter your login ID and password. If you're not close to a computer, and you forget your password, woe is you. There is no password request option in this app.    Less

Discuss Android with other Google enthusiasts with this free app for Android. Browse by device name or topic category, and read and contribute to user-generated threads. And as someone who reviews 5 apps a week, some in not-so-perfect working order, I appreciate that, in case of a hiccup, you can always access this forum on your browser. Other users have complained about the barren interface; all topics are listed vertically, with a grayscale background. But this format, while unattractive, is not difficult to navigate. Android Central Forum will ask for call permissions, but the developer explains in the Google Play store that this is just so that the app can pause when you receive incoming calls.   Less

This is the first time I've ever lived in an NPR desert. Until downloading this app, I didn't even realize our closest NPR station was located 55 miles SW, in Greeley, Colorado. I did notice, however, how grainy and impossible it was to listen to 90.1 or 91.5 during my 3-mile cumulative daily drive down the city's one major street. NPR for Android lets you read stories from the nationally-syndicated organization, stream content from other NPR stations over a data or wireless connection, or create a playlist, where you can search for content by popular stories or topic. You can even set up a playlist for drives through 4G-country.   Less

Track scores and game schedules with ScoreMobile for Android. Pick your favorite NHL, NBA, NFL, NCAA or other team to follow, and the app will populate relevant score and schedule information for you. This March, ScoreMobile is particularly handy, with an overall NCAA bracket you can check yours against. The app also streams video and aggregates online news content relating to your selected teams. This app even has a widget, or notification options, so you never miss a beat.   Less

Notate pictures and share them with your friends, with Skitch by Evernote Corp. Take photos and edit them through the app, or access your photo gallery and select what you want to edit. This app lets you draw freehand on pictures, or overlay text, with several customization options. A staff and editor’s favorite, Skitch makes edited images easy to share via social media or messaging.    Less

Pinger, for Android, lets you send text messages to contacts over a data connection. After you submit your name and a user ID, age (to ensure users are at least 13 years old), and a valid email address, Pinger will assign you a phone number in your area code which you can use to send text messages to contacts. Recipients will see your user name, and they won’t be charged for data usage (although if they have to pay for text messages, they will be charged a fee for receiving a Pinger message from you). You can even sync your Android text messages with this app, so you don’t have to check two texting accounts. The layout of the app looks good from what I’ve seen, and you can also synchronize Pinger with Facebook chat.   Less

If you’re anything like me, it can get pretty hard to remember all the passwords I’ve selected for my various password-protected email, banking and even shopping accounts. With UPM for Android, you can safely store all your user ID, password and other log-in information, then password protect that database. In case you have security questions you doubt your ability to answer consistently, there is even a notes field where you can input random information like this. I don’t know how secure, in today’s age of celebrity hackers, this app really is, so if you have incredibly important information that might allow someone to steal money or other assets from you, I suggest locking that information up in your brain-box.   Less

Any.DO for Android is an app that to help you create memos. You can either dictate a message to your assistant via Google Voice, or you can manually input what you want to create, like a memo, a list or a reminder. Once you’ve recorded your memo title, and the app has converted your voice command to text, click your new memo to add notes to it. Although this app allows you to set alerts or reminders, the layout is far from intuitive, and there is nothing unusual about how you can access your information. In my opinion, you’re much better off creating a memo in Taskos, where the process of creating and saving memos, then setting reminders, is intuitive and uncomplicated.   Less

Designed as a later substitute for Siri- as opposed Wolfram Alpha search engine’s pre-Siri offerings- Cluzee for Android is purportedly a multi-functional voice-recognition personal assistant app. Interestingly, using the app’s speech recognition causes it to force-close! So while this app may work as well as Siri for some users, I don’t know of any iPhone 4S owners who have had to perform hard resets on their phones simply because converting speech to text caused a force-close. This may happen because downloading this app requires a great deal of memory, but when an app requires so much memory that it is unable to run, I can’t give it anything but a bad review. Sorry, Cluzee.   Less

PhotoWall Live Wallpaper by Android pulls photos from your phone’s gallery or camera, or your Facebook or Picasa accounts, then randomly generates them to display as live wallpaper on your home screen. Though you can customize how you want your pictures to display (grid pattern vs. puzzle layout), the pre-loaded “Polaroid” layout is the only free option. My friends- and family-heavy photo albums make for an extremely cluttered background, though, and the only way to select which photos you’d like displayed is to dedicate an image folder for wallpaper images, and select that alone to display.   Less

Android supports many browsers, available free on the Android Market. This week, I downloaded Boat Browser Mini, a typical browser app that works a lot like the one preloaded onto all Android phone. This app is unique in some respects. For instance, unlike Dolphin Mini Browser, Boat does not let you open new pages in a tab view. You have to open new windows, when you open a link in a new window, you’re redirected to that page. There are options at the bottom of your browser window that let you view a list of your favorite pages, see all your windows, or go back or forward in your session. Adding bookmarks is slightly different with Boat Browser, but the interface is still pretty intuitive. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough differences between this browser and the one already pre-loaded on my phone, and since Google Chrome is only available in beta for devices running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, I’ll probably end up downloaded Dolphin Mini Browser again.   Less

Browse the web differently with Google Goggles for Android. This app lets you photograph a product, then uses Google’s image search filter to find similar web results. Besides scanning your snapshots, Google Goggles can find image matches of any pictures from your library, or scan item barcodes. Google Goggles has an easier time identifying branded products, I discovered out while photographing my lunch, and as it will tell you itself in a guided introductory tour. If Google Goggles is unable to locate a logo or text (Google Goggles likes text) in your image, Google Goggles will find images with the same coloring or motif.   Less

This browser has almost too many features to mention, in addition to the usual functions you’d expect from a mobile browser. Skyfire offers users unique Facebook and other social media dashboard functions, and completely supports Flash. One neat feature is that the app won’t load videos on your web page unless you prompt it to. This means that your pages load faster (and you don’t get that annoying screen jump when the video loads long after you’ve started reading the text), but the downside is you have to prompt it to display video in order to know whether there is one there. The home page is pretty busy, and since it’s a free, upgradable browser, there are a lot of ads. I prefer the cleaner layout of Dolphin Mini Browser and even Opera, though it’s very easy to bookmark pages on Skyfire, and the browser has the most social media shortcuts of any mobile browser I’ve ever used. After I downloaded Skyfire this week, it crashed almost immediately after its first open, but made a good recovery.   Less

After Dolphin Mini Browser, my go-to browser, unexpectedly crashed before mysteriously disappearing from my hard drive, I downloaded Opera for Android. What's nice about this app is that it's easy to scroll through your tabs, even to see which tabs are loaded, and which pages are still loading. If you close your tabs or windows, your bookmarks page appears. I liked this browser, though there isn't anything groundbreaking here. It's easy to bookmark sites, and Opera claims to open websites faster than other browsers, and while I thought pages did load quickly, I can't confirm that claim.   Less

Convert attachments to PDFs on your Android device, with CamScanner PDF Creator. This free app lets you snap images of documents, then converts it to PDFs for easy viewing and sharing. Aggregate your memos, receipts and more with this easy-to-use app.   Less

Though Alarm Clock Plus has lasted me a long time and has never let me oversleep (including when I accidentally set it to ring on the weekends), I am tired of the relatively few alerts available, and I lost a lot of tones when I switched from the Motorola XT720 to the Samsung Galaxy Ace. AlarmDroid has a ton of ringtones, some good, some bad, and some customization features that have become fairly common in alarm clock apps. You can set timers for naps, adjust whether you'd like the tone to ring softly then crescendo gradually, and set alerts from your music libraries, a playlist, or even from streaming music sites like Pandora.   Less

The best child-rearing tool, in my opinion, is communication, but sometimes a young person’s moral compass requires some parental fine-tuning. Make sure your child isn’t browsing unsavory websites on his or her cell phone, with Mobiflock for Android. This app logs your child’s browser history, regardless of whether he or she is savvy enough to clear a cache, cookies or browsing history. Mobiflock also shows you your child’s GPS coordinates on a handy web dashboard downloadable to your PC, call and SMS logs, and even lets you block certain phone numbers and websites from your child’s device.   Less

Never run out of milk (or at least replace it faster) with Out of Milk Shopping List for Android. There are a couple of ways to add items to your list, like manually inputting a product or scanning an item with the app’s built-in barcode scanner. If the app isn’t able to recognize your product, which happens often in the case of gluten-free and other niche products, it will prompt you to manually input the item. The app also lets you input pantry items, and you can input them the same way as in your grocery list, or pick from a very diverse offering of pre-listed spices. The paid version of this app, which runs a somewhat hefty $4.99 pricetag, hosts your list on its website, letting you access your database from your PC, or to share it with roommates or significant others.   Less

Clear your browsing, texting and call history, cookies and anything else that might be slowing down your operating system with one tap. 1tap Cleaner for Android will boost your phone’s speeds by eliminating data you no longer need. This app has a handy screen with a few cache-clearing options, like browser history, or call and text history. You can also scan your existing apps for ones that save search histories, and clear those.   Less

Though I don’t suffer from it myself, I know that iPhone-envy is a serious and widespread condition. I do understand that there are those who would like to make their Android phones look as much like an iPhone as possible, and so, for them, here is iPhone Lock Screen Theme Pro. This app makes your lock screen look just like the lock screens you’d find on an iOS device, and doesn’t seem to do much else. This app offers 10 wallpaper images with matching sliders, all available in high-definition.   Less

Sync memos, snapshots and audio recording to online storage site Evernote with this app for Android. Evernote consolidates all your notes and uploaded files into an easily-searchable app, then backs up your information to an online account accessible from your PC. The app’s smart technology filters keywords for easy searches, and, according to the app’s description, is able to parse text from photos. However, this feature did not work for me, whether I took a photo of hand-written or printed text. Evernote recommends using this feature to sync whiteboard content with memos, but this feature unfortunately lacks functionality.   Less

Consolidate all your business contacts with CamCard for Android. The free version of this app lets you photograph business cards, then auto-fills the information into a contacts database. Since business card layouts are hardly standard, this app doesn’t always get it right, but each field can be easily edited, and doing so is probably far more convenient than carrying around a wallet bursting with other people’s business cards.   Less

I downloaded this app for inspiration while making hand-made holiday cards. There are almost 500 images in this wallpaper library, and I feel truly prepared for future craft endeavors after scrolling through about ten pages of them. Designs run the gamut, from kitschy to avant-garde to… parade photos. It’s easy to download the themes and set them to display as wallpaper right from the app. Oddly, the wallpapers I downloaded stretched to fill all my desktop screens instead of just displaying completely in one.    Less

This season, save when you do your Christmas shopping with Amazon’s Price Check app for Android. Find items in-store, then scan their barcode’s with Amazon’s Price Check app. Amazon will find you that product in its database, then issue you one $5 coupon good toward any purchase from their website.   Less

If we could figure out a way to force kids onto Glympse, all the time, this might be a good location-tracking app for parents. But Glympse is pitched as a business app- and I can think of very few scenarios where giving clients or coworkers unfettered access to your whereabouts (via a GPS map route) might come in useful. Glympse’s developers claim that the app can help you share your location on the go, without having to text or call while driving, but since setting up permissions for who can and can’t see your whereabouts (not to mention when, and for what duration of time- all customizable options) requires prior planning, this claim seems disingenuous. But even more embarrassing than this line of logic is Glympse’s commercial on the Android Market website, showing a family huddled around the computer, watching Dad’s drive home mapped before their eyes.    Less

Communicate with your friends, across platforms, with HeyTell text messenger. This app can be downloaded on both Android and iOS devices, but be warned- you can only use it with others who have downloaded the app. Inviting them to do so is easy. Just input the contact you’d like to invite, and HeyTell will send that person an invitation to download the app. HeyTell lets you send short voice messages to your friends, and alerts you, in your notification bar, when you receive your own messages.   Less

I don’t like to review things I can’t figure out, but it’s worth being aware that some apps are easier to set up and use than others. For instance, I don’t want to bother with the time it takes to figure out how to enable TouchPal Keyboard, which is, all the same, a seemingly promising app. This app is supposed to work like Swype, but better. Enhanced dictionary and autofill settings are supposed to ensure that normal typos are kept to a minimum (hilarious typos are always a different story), and TouchPal’s developers have also created bonus language downloads, letting you text accurately in Spanish, German, Russian, French, and more. I still do believe this app has a lot of potential, but will just serve better a more technically-savvy and patient downloader than I am.   Less

Memory Trainer by Urbian purports to improve your spatial reasoning and memory by providing you with a series of memory-enhancing modules. Perform a sequence of actions, Simon-style, pick out the extra tile from a series of images you had only seconds to memorize, or try remembering relevant information from a paragraph. I don’t know if games like this actually enhance memory or not, though many experts have claimed that repetitive mental stimuli should help. This app for Android is pretty fun, though, and as long as you make sure to read the directions before you get started on your training, it’s very likely you’ll notice some positive effects from using this app.   Less

Since the introduction of Siri, I’ve gone a bit crazy trying to find ways to make my Android phone as hands-free as possible. Text to Voice for Android is a free app that converts a dictated message to text, then delivers it to your contact. Actually, the recipient doesn’t need to be your contact- you can also text to a phone number, but just be sure you read the number fast enough or risk being cut off by a voice with an authoritative British accent trying to send a text to a three-digit area code. Text by Voice also reads incoming texts aloud to you (though it ignores emoticons). Unfortunately, this means the app is always running in the background, though it doesn’t seem to drain much battery. The voice recognition is pretty good, especially when it comes t recognizing your contacts, though I couldn’t successfully dictate a proper name within a text.   Less

This is a very neat app that runs off the Freedictionary.com database. You can dictate terms to it and it will look up its dictionary definition, show you a picture of what you dictated or let you find search results for that keyword on the web. This app is a lot more than a dictionary. It’s really an add-on to your preloaded Google browser, and lets you explore much more than the meaning of a word or place. This app has really good voice recognition (it uses Google Voice). I tried hard to trick it, and I didn’t even faze it with “Mount Kilimanjaro.” In fact, Free Dictionary seemed to relish in pulling up the Google Images results page for this keyword, displaying some very impressive images of the summit.   Less

I’ve been searching for an app like Taskos for a while. Since the release of Siri for the iPhone 4S, I’ve been looking for a way to make my Android phone even more hands-free. Taskos is a memo app that takes dictation and sends you alerts. This app is really customizable as far as letting you set the alerts most helpful to you. You can choose whether to store your memo in the app, or have it appear at a certain time as a status alert. The voice recognition is mediocre, though. Compared to a lot of voice assistance apps, you need to enunciate very clearly with Taskos, and even then, your memo to “buy groceries” can turn into a reminder to “cypress trees.”   Less

Facebook Messenger, an application now available for Android, BlackBerry and iOS, is a chat add-on to the Facebook app that lets you send messages to your friends through their Facebook accounts, or via text message. You can even create group chats, and add new chat members when you want to. The app is a bit slow on notifications, but otherwise, a simple, easy-to-figure-out chat messenger that integrates nearly seamlessly with your Android device.   Less

Edwin, a voice recognition search app like Vlingo (reviewed last week), has been available on the Android Market much longer than Siri has been around, which might explain why Siri is by far preferred over this app. For whatever reason, I’ve had a lot of trouble finding any TTS/voice recognition search app for Android that actually work as advertised (I use the Samsung Galaxy Ace). Edwin was kind of an exception; while the app does recognize my voice, and doesn’t have too much trouble (most of the time) understanding my question or comment, I was not impressed that the app requires you to pay for a search engine download of WolframAlpha (an admittedly cool app; I just hate paying for necessary add-ons to free apps), for $1.99. Considering that without this paid add-on, there’s no way to even test the functionality of this app, it seems like a dubious investment. Vlingo clearly works much better, and uses your device’s existing, pre-loaded search engines.    Less

Since the recent release of the iPhone 4S, a lot of developers are jumping on the “Siri” bandwagon, and trying to come up with a similar voice-recognition search engine app for Android phones. Vlingo comes pretty close to being the best virtual assistant around, though it does have some limitations. The voice recognition is pretty accurate, although I do find myself enunciating better when talking to it. Like Siri, Vlingo will even take on some existential baggage, like attempting, in a computer’s analytical way, to divine the meaning of life. More practically, Vlingo can perform some really basic commands, like to search for keywords on your Google browser, text or send emails to contacts, and make outgoing calls. One of the best features about this app also drains a lot of battery, though. You can make Vlingo even more hands-free by using a feature called “SafeReader.” Supposedly, it is the app’s driving mode, but it’s not that hands-free. I was also disappointed that I couldn’t figure out a way to sync my Outlook calendar to enable a Siri-esque “tell me what I have to do today” conversation. Also, even though my GPS “nerd setting” was enabled, the app was not able to pick up on my current location, and instead, mapped all search results by proximity to my home. Otherwise, this is a really neat app, and while I think the advent of Siri will result in a greater market of voice-recognition assistants, Vlingo has been around for a while, and it works. Vlingo is modest, too. When I told my new app, “Good job, Vlingo,” it responded by finding me a list of gun shops in Lincoln, Nebraska.   Less

GO Launcher EX makes your Android phone customizable in an unprecedented way. Go Launcher Ex’s app drawer also has a built-in task manager, though you can also download a task manager widget for your home screen. It’s easy to customize your menu, including adding extra docks, using the app’s “Edit” option, which also lets you view each window independently and select the one you want to edit. You can add apps to your home screen, but you have to make sure that when you select them from your app drawer, that you drop and drop it into a screen with capacity. Otherwise, the action will just fail. Another nice feature about GO Launcher EX is that it’s been around for a while, and there are a lot of developer’s who have created free downloadable themes for GO Launcher users.    Less

Since getting my first Android phone, I’ve come to rely greatly on memo apps. I liked Catch Notes, which I reviewed in the past, and use ColorNotes on a near-daily basis. I hoped, based on the screenshots, that GO Note Widget, an add-on to GO Launcher, could replace my reliable and otherwise predictable ColorNotes. There’s not ever much to say about memo apps (except Catch Notes, which is so much more than just a memo app), and GO Note Widget has a fun doodling option, but as far as functionality and customizability, I think I will stick with my ColorNotes for now.   Less

Never miss a beat, with iRecord, for Android. This app lets you turn your wireless device into a handy voice recorder, with features that help you record lectures, memos and more. The easy-to-use application lets you begin recording with the single push of a button. Once you’ve completed your recording, you can assign it a title and save it to your phone. The only menu option that exists in this app will take you to your list of recordings, which will play with just a push of a button.   Less

Arriving at a vacation destination can be disorienting unless you have an experienced, well-traveled guide. TripAdvisor for Android is your pocket-sized guide to various cities around the United States, helping you find the best hotel rates, local restaurants by category, and even plane tickets. This app doesn’t differ from other crowd-sourced navigation apps or websites in many ways, but it does have a “save” feature, something even my well-beloved Poynt app lacks. There is nothing more frustrating than performing a search, navigating directions, then answering a phone call- only to return to your reset app.    Less

Popular photo-sharing website Flickr goes one step further with their app for Android. Flickr for Android lets you take pictures with an in-app camera, lets you adjust your image with Flickr’s filters, then post them directly to your Flickr feed. With easy “share” options, Flickr for Android lets you post or send pictures to friends on Facebook and Twitter, or by email or SMS. The app lets you set your privacy guidelines right from your phone, so you only share pictures with people you want seeing them. Another nice feature is that Flickr uses your geolocation to tag your photos- so that even if you don’t remember where you took them, Flickr will.   Less

Post your own Craigslist content, or search for items to buy or trade with Craigslist Mobile for Android. This app lets you search your area for deals on products just like the Craigslist website. Pictures of products can be opened to fill your screen for maximum resolution and clarity, and this app syncs to your email and outgoing calling, letting you contact posters directly. Posts also fit to your screen flawlessly.   Less

Get ready for the Halloween season by downloading spooky wallpapers to your desktop, with Halloween Live Wallpaper II for Android. This simple app lets you download your wallpaper, and customize the animations to suit your device and battery requirements.   Less

Although we’d like to always assume that our family members are making safe, sane decisions, we can’t always do that, especially when there are children involved. Family Locator for Android lets you keep an eye on your family’s whereabouts through the GPS on their cell phone, or through external tracking devices available at Life360.com. Your app will show you on a map exactly the coordinates of family members based on their device location, and even highlights threats like sexual offenders whose homes might be close to where your child is.   Less

Add special effects to your photos with Pixlr-o-matic, a fun, free app from Android. This pretty neat- though definitely limited- app lets you edit pictures stored in your gallery, or you can edit a picture you take while using the app. With options to “sepia tone” your image, or add a variety of tints, to letting you choose a frame for your image, to offering a variety of other unusual special effects, your boring cell phone snaps can get the Hollywood treatment, with Pixlr-o-matic for Andriod.   Less

We all want to get the most out of our Android phones, and apps are often the way to do it. You have to be careful, though, that the app you downloaded doesn’t contain viruses, and Lookout Security and Antivirus can help you with that. And with the ability to bypass your device’s GPS settings, if your phone is ever lost or stolen, Lookout Security and Antivirus will help you locate it, even if your GPS is turned off. Lookout allows you to trial their app for free for 14 days, and after that, the app costs I don’t know how much it costs. As soon as you initialize your trial, Lookout Security and Antivirus will go through your downloaded apps and scan them for malware or spyware. I was happy that of my 141 applications, no malware or spyware was detected (I was surprised to have so many applications on my phone, too) and the test took less than a minute. You can use advanced location features from the Lookout website, which will help you do things like find your phone on a map (this won’t help you if you’ve just lost your phone in your house, though I recommend checking the washing machine), or emit a loud “scream” from your device to scare the fiends who stole it. If, however, the situation becomes dire, and you need to lock your device, or completely wipe clean your hard-drive, you will need to cough up for the Premium version of this app, but at that point, protecting your privacy from shady characters will likely be worth the cost.   Less

Save your voice minutes and talk to your friends with TiKL – Touch to talk for Android. This easy, walkie-talkie-style app lets you make VoIP, push to talk calls to other Android and iPhone, iPad or iTouch users who have the Facebook app. Just like Google Voice or Skype, TiKL uses data to let you talk to your contacts, which is useful for those of us without unlimited voice time, but not so much for people with limited data. What makes TiKL special is that it allows you to easily talk to multiple contacts at once, and the touch to talk feature is designed so that it’s pretty hard to be on a call without realizing it.   Less

Browse in style with the Dolphin Mini Browser for Android. With easy tab navigation, and a customizable homepage layout, browsing on Dolphin Mini is just like browsing the web on your PC. You can create your own touchscreen symbols to help you navigate to your favorite pages, and setting up all these customizable features is really easy. Plus, the tab navigation is easily the best part of this application- and there are even on-screen shortcuts that let you go back of forward a page. Dolphin Mini Browser is definitely better than the preloaded browser on Android phones, with more easily-customizable features and intuitive navigation.   Less

While most Android phones have a setting that allows your phone to detect open, available WiFi networks for your use, WiFi Finder for Android has a somewhat more sophisticated interface than an alert appearing on your status bar. For one thing, the app creates a map to help you find open networks that may not be in your immediate area. You can even input an address and find open wireless networks within miles of your location. However, listings for local rural and farther metro areas seemed scant, so I wonder how comprehensive or current this list can be. I also had to force-close the app once after it stopped responding, probably because I had multiple apps running. A nice feature of WiFi Finder is that it does not require a network connection if you have downloaded its World Wide Database.   Less

Although this app does offer seven handy tips to help you optimize your phone’s battery performance, the majority of their tips are simple commonsense (turn off your GPS to save battery life, switch off your WiFi when not using it, put your phone into airplane mode whenever possible), the main way to “optimize” your battery using this app is to allow it to force-close all running applications. Given that this is easily done using your phone’s preloaded Task Manager, or any task killing app, I can’t help feeling this app is extraneous for most Android users. However, opening the app offers a detailed graph showing the amount of battery life you have left, as well as a widget that tells you, at any time, the number of active tasks running on your device.   Less

For tech enthusiasts, APPY Geek for Android lets you customize your tech news alerts, helping you stay ahead of the tech curve. Add an APPY Geek widget to your home screen get updated on your subscribed feeds, or just open the app and view articles on your home page. The layout of this application is busy, but I guess that goes with the territory. Given that technology is so dynamic, it’s not surprising that “smart phone” or “Android Market” feeds have a tendency to fill up during the day. Easily add subject feeds to your list of “favorites,” and filter posts based on keywords. APPY Geek also lets you share articles and other content with your friends through social media, like Facebook, your email or via text message.    Less

Including a surprisingly vast list of quotes by the late, great Jimi Hendrix, Quotes Mania for Android lets you generate quotes by searching a catalog of well-known sayings from your favorite public figures or from a list of categories, with obvious ones like “Death,” and “Love” and some more baffling ones like “Failure,” some of which still manage to be uplifting. There are a few amateurish features of this app- for instance, there are three categories for “Truth & Peace,” “Truth & peace,” and finally, “Truth and Peace,” but overall, this is a fun app that lets quote-seekers find something appropriate for self-edification or to share with friends via email and other share features, and lets you post your favorite quotes directly to your Facebook status. You can also comment on quotes within the app’s social networking forum, but at the moment, the feature seems to be unpopular or at least underused.    Less

I had gotten used to the texting function on my last phone, a Motorola Milestone, when I started using the Samsung Galaxy Ace and realized the text message feature was completely different than what I had gotten used to. For one thing, no matter what my Settings, I could never get the QWERTY keypad on my Ace to go into portrait mode when it was turned horizontally. Downloading this app and setting up the portrait feature in Handcent SMS fixed that problem across the board for me- now I can use a sideways QWERTY keypad when browsing the Internet, while texting, and searching for apps in the Android Market. There is also a nice, large field in which to compose your texts (if you need) and a smaller one for quick messages, that doesn’t have a spellcheck, or a text to speech function. Though I haven’t managed to figure out how to turn off my original Android texting just yet (meaning, I get two alerts for every text I receive) I have every intention of keeping this app, and sending all of my texts with it.   Less

Although I laughed a little at this app developer’s claim that downloading matching wallpaper can rekindle romance with your significant other, Backgrounds for Android does offer a variety of wallpaper options for your device. Set your background to a variety of historical architecture images, landscape photography and more, all in high definition. User reviews in the Android Market back up that this is a good, solid wallpapers app, with periodic updates to add new image categories, and to fix bugs reported by users.   Less

When it comes to spending money, I think we can all agree that less is better. Turn your cell phone into a deal-stealing machine with GeoQpons for Android, and start shopping! The GPS-based app first locates deals in your area, then lists them in an alphabetized results list. Go through and find your favorite retailer, and pull up a variety of coupons codes available for online and in-store shopping, and share them on social media, by SMS, email it yourself to have a printable copy, or open and scan your coupon in-store. Some reviewers claimed that previous versions of the app didn’t allow for easy sharing, but newer versions have corrected that bug.   Less

If you’re a compulsive note-taker, or just a student who finds himself unable to type or write as fast as a professor can lecture, try out the free, LITE version of AudioNotes before deciding whether or not to commit to the $4.99 paid version. Like other memo apps for Android, AudioNotes lets you input text into a lined-paper format using your device’s keypad, then lets you organize and label your information. Unlike basic memo apps, though, AudioNotes lets you record meetings or class, then input the sound bite into your notes by letting you highlight relevant text and appending the playback feature to that.   Less

This app is a lot like CardStar, which we reviewed last week. However, the main feature of this card is that you can upload your Starbuck’s card credentials, and use it to pay for coffee. Like CardStar, you can use this app to consolidate your Safeway and Target frequent buyer card information into one place, making it easier and more convenience to cash in on your gas or grocery rewards.   Less

In this age of innovation, while many of us lament the lost art of conversation, others revel in the new art of texting. Test how fast you can complete a thought with myTextSpeed for Android. This simple app tests your texting speed by timing how fast you can type tropes onto your keypad, or paragraphs designed to trip up the average texter. Once you’ve completed your test, and your time and accuracy results generate, you can, of course, check your results against local and international players. One interesting feature is that while the app maintains a database of speed results, you can’t share your results with friends via your Facebook or Twitter apps. Whether this limitation is good or bad, though, is totally subjective.   Less

Some phones that use the Android platform don’t allow you to configure exchange servers to receive automatic email updates. Luckily, Corporate Addressbook for Android provides an easy fix. Download the app, and then it’s a simple matter of configuring your exchange account. If you use Microsoft Outlook for work, and still can’t figure out how to set up your Corporate Addressbook app, contact your system administrator and ask him or her to write you log-in instructions. Once you have the app on your phone, you can search for contact information, then add those contacts to your device. This app could work better, though, if it could integrate better with your exchange email account; for instance, BlackBerry users will easily be able to search for contacts within their email, but if you are writing an email to a new contact, you will have to open this application, find the contact, then save his or her information separately before it will generate in your recipients list.   Less

Maybe “Denver” isn’t a big enough city for these app developers to have heard of, or the state name “Colorado” is something only a fraction of us knows. Though I would have argued to the contrary, that was before I downloaded this app, which has a nice interface, and unfortunately refuses to recognize anywhere in the United States as being a valid departure point. It is pretty hard to provide a review of an app that fails so dismally and immediately, so I’ll just stop here. If you’re looking for a flight, out of one of the many airports that do in fact exist in the world, consider downloading Kayak or FlightTrack. It’s too bad, though, because the marketplace screen caps of Skyscanner really look very nice, and many other users have given the app great reviews. But not recognizing my closest metro area does not bode well for its future on my device.   Less

As a chat feature, Skype has become a very popular tool for individuals and companies alike. With Skype for Android, you can stay connected with your Skype contacts wherever you go. Since Skype app users are still charged for VOIP calls, it doesn’t make sense to use this application for calls to phones, but you can use the app to chat with contacts, manage your profile, or view recent threads. It also has customizable chat settings that will either autocorrect or autofill, which makes detailed communication easier on the hands.   Less

Google Translate lets you input phrases and have them translated into 50 foreign languages. While at least one non-Latin-based language was translated slightly incorrectly, and there’s no way to differentiate formal conjugation, this is a pretty promising, functional application. Simply input a phrase or word into a translation field, select what language you’d like to translate to (or from) and Google Translate will generate a phonetic translation. While the app admits some of its language translations are in alpha or experimental mode, others, like English to Spanish or French, work relatively flawlessly. While it’s unlikely that downloading this app will make word travelers of couch potatoes, exposure to new cultures and language is always invaluable, wherever you get that from.   Less

A lot of us iPod users also find ourselves, now, with Android phones. Easy Phone Tunes, by Media Mushroom, lets us sync our iTunes library to our Android phone by installing an app onto our devices, and software onto the PC that houses our iTunes library. First, visit the Android Market link and download Easy Phone Tunes to your phone, then download the app’s software onto your PC from http://www.easyphonetunes.com/. Once you’ve begun to initialize the app, you’ll be prompted to configure your phone to your PC by plugging it into your USB port. Then select what you’d like to import, and it’s easy as that. All your files can be located in your phone’s “Music” menu- meaning you’ll always have your library at your fingertips, even when you leave your iPod behind.   Less

Even though you can’t go everywhere with your kids, you can be sure they’re driving safely with Speedbump for Android. Speedbump is a newly-developed app that tracks your child’s speed, route, and cell phone activity, allowing you to customize the information you think is most important. Best of all, Speedbump won’t distract your teen driver with unnecessary messages or spam. All of your child’s driving data can be easily found in your secured account on the website, or you can request the app send you text messages or emails when your child breaks one of the rules you’ve set up in your customizable account settings. This app is worth more than its cost of $9.99 a month, but Viaero customers can try it out for free for 15 days by entering “VIAERO” into the affiliate code field.    Less

This simple widget, which is added to your home screen, tells you what percentage of your battery life you have left. Without many options to customize your existing battery life settings, this add-on is a useful feature, letting you know exactly how much battery is depleted by your apps, browsing or even voice use.   Less

Wikitude for Android provides users with an alternate reality (AR) experience from their phones, while connecting them to other Wikitude social media users via GPS-based check-ins. You can use this app to track nearby Twitter users, find out about local towns on Wikipedia, and pretty much locate any type of business that has ever been checked into on Foursquare. Wikitude uses your device’s built-in camera to augment your surroundings, like overlaying a list of places you can get pizza, or by showing you widgets of points of interest nearby. If you have shaky hands, or like to see things in list form, you can view business or social media results that way. Since this app requires both your camera and your GPS coordinates, it is a drain on your battery life. But it’s also a really cool way to view local businesses and points of interest, whether you’re a tourist or a townie.    Less

ColorNote is a simple memo app that integrates well with the Android OS. You can make a checklist or just a memo, and then set an alert to appear on your status bar. Notes themselves are customizable by color, and once you’ve read your alert, it’s easy to dismiss and delete them.   Less

It’s important for any flashlight app to perform two functions: to create a bright enough light to see by in the dark, and for it to not drain your battery too much. Tiny Flashlight + LED for Android uses your device’s LED camera to create light, with power saving options so you don’t necessarily burn through your battery. You can customize your light- you can shine different colors, police flashers, or stoplight colors, and you can always adjust your brightness to conserve your battery.   Less

Waze, for Android, uses crowd-sourcing, like a lot of Android apps, to help you map a trip, provide you with traffic reports, and to let you submit your own reports. This easy-to-use app uses GPS to pinpoint your location, your drive, and that way, filters feeds of other “wazers” in your vicinity. Waze is also social media-friendly. You can post your location from Facebook or Twitter, and the app will add your GPS-based coordinates to the Waze map.   Less

In response to criticism about its application for Android, Twitter has just announced a few necessary add-ons. In addition to providing push notifications, which will alert you to Twitter activity whether you’re browsing the Internet, texting or talking on the phone, now you can set up multiple Twitter accounts on your device. For more information about this application, visit the developer’s website by clicking here   Less

At first glance, the concept of this application is interesting, and no doubt, if your contact list was filled with Internet personalities, it might work very well. This application for Android advertises an ability to sift through your contact list, and use that information to search for images of your friends. Of my 100+ contacts, images could only be found for three of them (one of them actually a well-known philanthropic organization). One image may have been a contact’s Google profile image, but the app didn’t manage to capture accurate images for the other two- not even the organization’s logo. But this app’s failure may have more to do with my social failings, so if you have famous friends, or friends whose pictures are all over the Internet, this might be a really fun application. Let me know if it is.    Less

Every so often, I start reviewing an application that is so buggy that I feel like I should give up and download a completely different one. At first, I thought Mobile Queue for Android was going to be that app. But once I got past the initial Javascript error message, a page that refused to load, and finally managed to enter my login information, I realized that the account page is actually very nicely, and sparsely, laid out, letting me access my DVD queue, my Instant queue, Suggestions and even my viewing history. Since I’m the kind of person who adds a bunch of movies to her queue at once, then promptly forgets ever having added them, I’m always surprised when I get the email from Netflix that tells me what to expect. Mobile Queue is the perfect application for me, then, since I can always access my queue and use the app to rearrange it if I’d like, or click on any DVD in my queue and get its Netflix synopsis.   Less

Competitive cyclists, take note: now you can download this social app and keep up with your friends’ workouts, with Strava Cycling for Android. This app uses GPS to track your bike rides and intensity, then posts the results of your workout onto the social forum, strava.com. Using the social feature, you can compete with your network by seeing who can ride longer or faster, or whose ride was most difficult.   Less

Video to Facebook for Android lets you upload videos stored on your phone directly to your Facebook account. This may not be the most useful, or commonly-used, Facebook function, but if you do upload videos to your Facebook page straight from your phone, this app is a convenient way to do it. There isn’t much more to say about this product; it works as advertised (except, apparently, on some Samsung devices), and lets you easily title and upload your video to your Facebook profile. This app works as an add-on to Facebook for Android.   Less

This application is only a “utility” in the broadest sense of the word; while Kid Mode for Android is a great way to lock your phone while letting your kid play with it, it actually offers a series of child-friendly, educational games, too. I had a lot of fun with this app- you can use the paint function to draw freehand on your device (fun), view videos appropriate for kids, or have a book read to you. Parents can even visit the Zoodles website and record themselves reading e-books to their child. However, with the exception of one free book included in your download, the rest of this content is paid. Also, be aware that you must submit an email address to log in to this app, and that your child’s actions can trigger a series of messages to be sent to you. And while Kid Mode can be used to lock your home screen, this function must be set up in independently, through your settings; if you don’t do this, be prepared to receive prompts from the application until you manually kill it.   Less

US Bank customers used to using the bank’s convenient, user-friendly iOS application can now bank from their Android devices. Mobile Banking is a simple and useful way to track savings and checking accounts from a number of banks, including US Bank, Regions Bank and SunTrust. Signing up is easy— securely supply your bank account information and soon the app will populate and aggregate your accounts. Navigating the application is easy, and you can see all your view options by clicking your device’s menu button. Sometimes your balances won’t update until you refresh your account by clicking on it, but otherwise, Mobile Banking by Firethorn Holdings LLC. is a secure, convenient way to access your personal financial information from the privacy of your phone.    Less

For the last few years, there has been an urban legend floating around that apps like this one can help you avoid speeding fines, elevate you to the level of public defender, all while you “wow” an entire courtroom of awed spectators. Too bad then, that for the most part, much of the third-party data this app will record (speed levels, GPS coordinates) are inadmissible in court. But if what you’re looking for is an app to track, for your personal information, where you’ve been, how fast it took you, and a play-by- play of your drive, this app offers all that and more. It even has a speedometer, which might be a useful feature for cyclists.    Less

The reason I chose to download this tuner as opposed to any of the many free string instrument tuners out there is because I don’t like chromatic tuners. If you do, then you may not like this app because this isn’t one- all it does is play all four open string pitches for the violin, which is admittedly overkill for skilled players. This is the definition of a no-frills app, yet its accurate, standard 440 Hz A pitch playback proves its functionality. I also thought the application’s display was very attractive, featuring a shadowy violin against a black background. The colors and theme reminded at once of William Michael’s Harnett’s iconic “The Old Violin,” and that it’s been a while since I’ve practiced.    Less

Many of our customers have the luxury of being able to use the mountains as a marker, while others of us can’t see a landmark for miles. Compass, a utility application developed by popular media storage website catch.com, instantly impresses with its accuracy, and clean design. There is nothing remarkable about this app; it works consistently and accurately, and like most of Catch.com’s applications, is easy on navigation, and the eyes.   Less

Though I’ve only used the free version, and the paid, $9.95 version of Easy Money by Handy Apps Inc. promises even more features, Easy Money Free for Android offers all the bill-tracking assistance I need, in a neat, easy-to-navigate package. While this is an app with many bill pay and banking-related features, the feature I find most valuable are the apps’ bill pay alerts, which are easy to add and customize.   Less

Track your mileage, get service updates for your car and export mileage expense reports to an Excel spreadsheet easily and convenient with aCar, a free app for Android. While this application is designed for people who travel in their personal vehicles for business, certain features, like service updates and fuel tracking are useful for all of us, especially when we use it in conjunction with money-saving apps like GasBuddy.    Less

I have my phone synched to my Gmail account, so I was able to easily sign up for service with Gist using my Android device. The dashboard view lets you customize your contact list by importance, and includes updates from your contacts’ social media. The calendar feature also lets you consolidate contacts that will be attending professional events, so that you can send mass messages, or just to receive publicly-available information about new business contacts.   Less

None of us wants to think we’ll ever need an application like this one, and luckily, it’s unlikely we ever will. However, in case you did find yourself in an emergency, wouldn’t it be nice to able to post your GPS coordinates in a place where lots of people could see it? Red Panic Button, a free app for Android, lets you do just that. Any terrifying scenario becomes less scary when you know that your GPS coordinates, once you’ve hit your panic button, will be sent via sms to a list of emergency contacts. Get the paid version for $2.17, and your GPS coordinates will be posted to your Facebook page, your emergency contact(s) will receive a “panic” email, and more. However, requiring users to open the application and then hit the panic button (which doesn’t, by the way, emit any kind of sound) might be too many steps in a moment of real emergency; instead, if you ever find yourself in a potentially dangerous situation, open the app, and hover above that big red button.   Less

Whether you have a TripIt account, or you use this app to sign up for one, TripIt for Android is navigable enough to let you easily sign up for (or into) your account. I set up my account on my Android phone, and verified it by logging into Gmail. Instead of using the import feature, though, which would have automatically forwarded my trip itineraries to my account, I forwarded my travel itinerary to plans@tripit.com from my PC. Less than a second later (seriously) I received an email confirmation that no only had my trip been added to my account, but also weather information and local maps of my destination city. The app also advertises a tempting paid feature that tracks flight delays, a service add-on available through the website for an annual fee of $49. When I reopened the app on my phone, my trip itinerary and local navigation resources were already visible on my account page.   Less

If you’re disappointed in your preloaded, Android alarm tone choices, you’re not alone. Chime Time, by Hyperfine Software, lets you download an old-fashioned chime tone to your phone, with a beautiful display screen, which you can set to ring at chosen times. The downloadable content contains an Aberdeen timepiece display and chimes, and additional clocks and their respective chimes can be downloaded by clicking on the developer’s website link within the app. However, this application did not work well with my device, a Motorola XT720, and uninstalling the app cleared up some minor glitches the occurred in my operating system. The issue was likely due to a problem with my device, however, since no other reviews of this application have mentioned anything like what I experienced.    Less

If you are a compulsive phone picture-taker with a yen for organization, I doubt you could survive without this application. Not only is any content saved to your Catch Notes application, but your media are also backed up on the catch.com website. The app’s main page is laid out well, letting users choose how they use the application- to take notes, save a picture with GPS coordinates, tag existing media from your gallery, and more. Also, there is no paid version of this application, so you can expect Catch Notes for Android to already contain all the features you might need. You can even save your media by using hashtags as a filtering device. Tagging your photos or notes lets Catch Notes organize your content in an easily-searchable way.   Less

After weeks of perusing the Market, Alarm Clock Plus was by far the most reliable free alarm clock available. This application integrates very well with the Android operating system, providing you with the option of using the app as a widget on your home screen, or relegating it to a spot in your menu. When the alarm rings in the “gentle” setting, the tone gradually increases in volume, and the home screen displays a huge, hard-to-miss “Snooze” button. You can even easily set multiple alarms to ring on specific days, much like my original, preloaded alarm clock. However, if you’re not a snoozer—and especially if you’re not a glasses-wearer—the small “dismiss” button might be easy to miss first thing in the morning.   Less

Whenever I’m playing Scrabble a little competitively with my friends, it’s nice to have some proof that my opponent’s 50-point word isn’t actually a real word. Well, if you use Dictionary.com as your reference, you’re not likely to make many points, either. Oddly enough, even though the application was created by the popular reference website, there are lots of words you can find on the website that just never made it into the app. Graham Greene fans will know the word “glabrous” but Dictionary.com for BlackBerry doesn’t. “Descant,” meaning to expound upon a theory, and “aphonous” (easy to define based on the root) are also not available on this app, though strangely, “descant” has not one but four definitions on the website. Why the limitation? If you really need a reference app that defines all real words, cough up and buy a dictionary app. But for the casual, unsophisticated etymologist, Dictionary.com for BlackBerry is good enough.   Less

Compile all your personal media with Dropbox, an app that lets you password-protect your photos, videos and documents. Store your media in easily created folders, and have it backed up on the Dropbox website, and your PC, which makes file-sharing a snap. Some users in the Android Market have complained about force closes, but updates to the app seem to have remedied that.   Less

Customize your phone by turning your favorite songs into ringtones. Ringtone Maker, a free, ad-supported app by Mobile 17, lets you create your own ringtones from MP3 and M4A audio files. Drag and drop your music onto Ringtone Maker’s easy-to-use timeline, and edit your clip. Plus, the tones you create can be used for a variety of alerts on your Android device.    Less

This basic weather-tracking app also includes a variety of not-so-basic features, like voice searching, animated radar maps, and of course, detailed and accurate weather alerts and updates. Customize your phone with the Weather Channel’s mobile widget, and stay notified of weather updates.    Less

Killing your tasks is an easy way to save battery life, until you kill one that you need. When the operating system needs to reboot a task you killed, it actually drains battery life. Watchdog Task Manager, by Zomut, LLC., solves this problem. Instead of killing your tasks, Watchdog lets you monitor CPU-killing apps. Watchdog will alert you if an app begins using more battery than you enabled, letting you decide whether or not to kill it.   Less

We all know someone whose phone we’d never dare peruse lest we find a picture or video we would rather have not seen. We all know: once seen can never be unseen, no matter how many sessions of therapy. For those friends? Please recommend they download Vaulty Free by Theron Rogers. This application lets you password-protect images in your phone’s picture album. You don’t have to password-protect everything- just the things your coworkers and casual acquaintances may prefer not to view. Considering all the potential embarrassment this free application could avert, I would recommend everyone download it, especially if the alternative is to reserve all your racy photos to an actual camera.    Less

Barcodes are turning up all over the place, from bills from your utility company to billboard ads in cities, and they’re still being used to price products in retail stores. This last feature allows users to scan prices on a product, then be taken to a page that lists different product prices from other retail locations. This app will also allow your phone to scan QR codes, which can expose you to company promotions, coupons, product information and more. Use Barcode Scanner by ZXing Team to view a variety of landing page content right on your phone.   Less

In a perfect world, your phone is always on-hand, and you can trust other people not to relieve you of it. In this world, however, it pays to secure your belongings as much as possible, and Lookout Mobile Security, by Lookout, Inc., has a unique way for you to protect your phone and data. You can use the app to back up your contacts, pictures, call history and more, and if your phone is stolen, you can use the app’s GPS feature to locate it. You can even remotely set an alarm to alert others to your phone’s location.   Less