Top 10 Android apps I can’t live without

In its short lifespan, the Android OS has gone from a tiny blip on the radar to the most used mobile operating system in the world. The OS itself is growing like wildfire and while iOS still holds the largest amount of applications in the mobile space, Android certainly isn’t in short supply. I’ve owned seven Android handsets since it debuted in late 2008 and have grown fond of many apps. While I love many more, the following ten Android apps are the ones I just can’t live without.

In no particular order…

1. ADW Launcher (EX)

ADW Launcher has been around for a while and it’s one of the best Android home replacement applications available today. You can make this launcher as simple or complex as you’d like and with the large amount of themes available for it today, you can have a new look to your home screen every day of the week.

ADW Launcher itself is free but there’s also a paid version (ADW Launcher EX). The EX version brings more customization options, so if you’re a fan of the free version it’s worth the money.

While many people may not bother with home replacement application, those who love the hardware of, say, the HTC Sensation, but would rather a stock look than HTC Sense and want a more stock Android look then ADW Launcher would be a great alternative. And since ince it’s open source, it’s the default launcher on the popular custom ROM CyanogenMod.

There are many, many different home replacement applications but ADW is at the top of my list.

2. Colorize Widget

Colorize Widget is a simple application that’s  best paired with a home replacement application, like ADW Launcher. In fact, a home replacement is required. It’s simple in function but provides a feature you simply won’t find on stock Android: scrollable widgets.

The application offers up many widgets, including GReader, Twitter, Facebook, Calendar, Contacts, Messages, and more. I rely on widgets heavily in my homescreen setup and some applications include a scrollable widget but may not be all that nice. Colorize Widget fills that gap with style.

The app is free but a paid version is available on the developer’s site. If you’re one who craves the look of stock Android but admires HTC Sense’s scrollable widget, Colorize Widget will help you have the both of best worlds.

3. Mobile Buzz Widget (Taptu/Pulse)

Mobile Buzz Widget is a simple news aggregator that may not be the prettiest out there but I’ve always come back to it. The developer (mippin.com) has many other widgets for different subjects but since we’re sort of Into Mobile this is the widget I used daily.

The widget itself could really benefit from a cosmetic update but the simplicity of it is what makes me love it. It’s a 4 x 1 widget that shows you the latest news from the category you’ve selected, a direct-share button to the left, and settings on the right. You can choose how often the stories refresh within the settings and change the sub-category. That’s it and we’re ok with that.

When you tap the story a small windows will pop up, displaying the story, a link to the original post, and 19 more stories that you can access by just swiping.

There are other, similar applications available that both look better and are much more functional. Taptu and Pulse come to mind, and while I enjoy both, Mobile Buzz Widget is the one for me.

4. SoundHound

When you ask average Joe about music discovery applications, SoundHound likely won’t be the first thing that comes out of their mouths. That one goes to Shazam. If you ask a geek or someone in the mobile industry, most will say they prefer SoundHound. Most of the IntoMobile team does, and I’ve asked handfuls of others.

So why is SoundHound my top pick? Well, it offers up just about everything you’ll get from Pandora and more, without having a cluttered UI. One of the standout features SoundHound offers is the fact that you can hum a song into the microphone and have the song identified. Even better, it works pretty darn well.  As gimmicky as it sounds, how many times have you had a song in your head that you don’t know the words to and only know the tune? Exactly.

Of course, you won’t be able to use SoundHound on TV ads like Shazam, but I’d take the humming feature any day since it has a real use case that you’ll likely find yourself in one day. Either way, both SoundHound and Shazam are great music discovery apps and it’s really up to personal preference. This is mine.

5. Plume

There are countless Twitter clients available in the Android Market and I ended up usingPlume simply because it included a scrollable widget. Now I don’t think I’ll ever use another Twitter app ever, as Plume is easy to use and included intuitive features that many will like.

With the exception of the nice scrollable widget Plume comes with, my favorite feature is how you actually go about composing a tweet. Plume mimics Android’s notification panel, and you simply drag down the panel from any screen to compose a tweet.

There are many other features that Plume just does right but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. That said, most of my wishes for Plume have nothing to do with its functionality. As far as aesthetic customizations go, Plume only offers up three themes, normal, light, and dark. Twidroyd on the other hand has about ten different themes you can choose from and look great. Still, that’s just another personal preference I’d like to see but Plume will likely always remain my go-to Twitter client.

6. HBO Go

While not everyone will be able to use this application, HBO Go is definitely one of my favorite apps around for killing time. I honestly never thought I’d use HBO Go all that much but I’ve found myself catching up on an episode of Game of Thrones when I’d usually waste time playing Angry Birds or Cut the Rope.

Unfortunately, HBO Go isn’t supported on all devices right now but there’s a tweak in the browser you can do to get it running using Flash.

As long as you have a HBO Subscription and a compatible handset, you’re good to go and can watch most of anything the premium channel offers.

If you don’t have HBO, you can always just use Netflix.

7. Amazon Appstore

There’s only one reason I have the Amazon Appstore installed on my phone. Of course, it’s because everyday there’s a paid app available for free. That, and Amazon does have some exclusives you won’t find on the Android Market immediately.

Amazon’s strategy has certainly received the attention of users and while I have my doubts that most people will choose it over the Android Market, having both on your phone is definitely a nice match.

Even if you have no intention of really searching for apps within Amazon’s Appstore, it’s worth to have, as one day the application you couldn’t justify spending $5 on may be free.

8. Slacker

Slacker is the SoundHound of online radio apps. Pandora rules the roost, but those who do their research can see the benefits of Slacker. Most of these benefits aren’t apparent unless you use Slacker Plus, the subscription service but it’s nonetheless worth every penny.

The best feature that Slacker’s subscription service offers up is the option to cache radio stations to your phone. This makes the station itself available when you don’t have a data connection, or a finicky one.

Internet radio is now best for finding new music you may not have heard before, as services like Amazon’s Cloud Player and Google Music allow you to take your music with you and stream directly to your phone, and the latter allows you to directly download specific songs your handset.

If you’re looking for an awesome internet radio app, look no further than Slacker Radio. Wen recently reviewed Slacker and you can check it out here to see what the fuss is all about.

9. Google Maps

Does this one even need to be explained? Google Maps for Android is simply the best option available on a mobile device today and is updated frequently with new features.

From 3D maps to viewing maps offline, Android’s official Maps application remains unrivaled from any mobile offering today and it will likely stay that way for some time going forward.

Google Maps for Android has become more and more like the online version you’ll find on a computer and things like Labs is just another cool feature that extends Google’s offering over the competition.

10. Google Music

So you’re not looking to listen to internet radio but would rather rock out to some of your own tunes, eh? Well, Google Music will let you do that without filling up your memory card. While still an invite-only service at the moment, Google Music is an cloud-based music storage locker that allows you to upload your music to cloud and listen to it when you’re on the go.

The service is currently free while the beta tags remains but we could imagine big G will price the service competitively once it more widely available.

One of our favorite features of Google Music is that you can download track directly to your handset if you want access to it at all times, no matter what kind of data connection you’re working with. Another solid feature is that you can access your music from any computer, given it has an internet connection.

While Google Music isn’t necessarily novel, it’s definitely a great option that’s natively integrated into Android’s new, sexy music application and it will remain a favorite for a long time.

Select HTC phones to get unlocked bootloaders starting in August

HTC made a bit of a splash late Sunday night with an announcement on their official Facebook page that a few select devices will have their bootloaders unlocked via a two-part over-the-air update.

Owners of the global HTC Sensation, the HTC Evo 3D for Sprint and the HTC Sensation 4G for T-Mobile will be the first to get the two-part update starting in August. The first part of the update is considered a maintenance release which more or less will prepare each device for the major update. 

Part two will be the actual unlocking tool which will finish sometime in September, making this update a little bit of a dragged out process. The biggest hurdle of course is what the carriers will do. Will Sprint and T-Mobile allow devices with unlocked bootloaders on their network? That remains to be seen. 

HTC not only made it clear that other devices will receive this update sometime down the road, but we can all expect to see devices shipping with unlocked bootloaders in the near future. Tell us what you think in the comments below. 

Americans replace their cell phones every 2 years, Finns – every six, a study claims

How often do you replace your cell phone? Most of you will say that as long as their 2-year contract ends, they ditch their old handset for a brand new state-of-the-art phone, but you probably didn't know that this habit has helped rank Americans as the people who change their phones the most often in the world, according to latest data from Recon Analytics.

It shows that Americans change their cell phones every 21.7 months, while Finns in contrast have one of the oldest devices in their pockets and are changing phones every 74.5 months. The UK and Korea also treat cell phones like disposables with a 22.4-month and a 26.9-month handset replacement cycle, respectively. 

The countries where consumers used their cell phones the longest were Brazil and India, where people reportedly change phones every 80.8 months and 93.6 months. That translates into a 7.8-year replacement cycle for phones in India, which has the lowest standard of life among the 14 compared nations. The analysts couldn't prove a direct connection between the low number of pre-paid subscribers in a country, and the slow replacement cycle, but nevertheless countries where 2-year plans were prevalent scored the shortest in changing devices.

Interestingly, though, stateside people didn't completely fit into the two-year change a phone concept as on average they replaced phones three months prior the end of the contract, ensuing an early termination fee. This statistics spurs thoughts about just how much changing our cell phones has affected the growth of the industry. Just four years ago when the original iPhone launched, touchscreen devices were practically unknown, while now we're speaking about 4G and dual-core phones. How often do you find yourself changing phones? Feel free to chime in and leave a comments below!

US carriers driving a hard bargain over the Samsung Galaxy S II, says executive

"Negotiations with American telecom companies have dragged on" about the Samsung Galaxy S II arrival on US shores, one Samsung executive was quoted saying. 

It turns out that Motorola's handsets are preferred due to more experience with the all-important CDMA connectivity, which Verizon and Sprint are using, or at least that's the effort to justify the delay.

Still, that doesn't explain the suspicious lack of rumors on AT&T or T-Mobile versions of the Samsung Galaxy S II. It took just a month after the Korean launch for its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S, to appear in the US last year, although Verizon got it later than the others. Now we are two months and a half and more than 3 million Galaxy S II phones sold after the release, and nary a mention about a timeframe for bringing it to the US.

The whole situation seems pretty weird, making the conspiracy theorist in us wake up from the slumber. Granted, carriers now have much more choice of quality Android handsets from Motorola and HTC than a year before, and the radio has to be reworked for Verizon and Sprint, but for one of the best, if not the best Android handset out there, and by a company like Samsung, these shouldn't be major issues for the carriers. Plus, it should be up to the consumer to decide which handset is more attractive.

Apple filed an ITC complaint against Samsung recently, and also asked for an August 5th hearing on a Samsung products ban, like the Galaxy S II, or the Galaxy Tab 10.1, in the US. The court said August 5th seemed too soon, and asked both companies to comment on the proposed date, with today being the deadline for those comments. It is expected that Samsung would request a later date, so as it has time to prepare, while Apple will insist on a hearing as soon as possible. If Apple drags this thing enough, it might just become time to announce the next iPhone in September. 

It's speculative if these lawsuit tactics are affecting the carriers' decisions about the Samsung Galaxy S II, but who would want to deal with sudden legal issues over a newly released handset, for instance. There is also the issue with larger subsidies for high-end smartphones by the carriers, though, and the Galaxy S II doesn't come cheap. Until you wait for Samsung and the carriers to figure it out, the only thing that can be done is splurge for the handset unlocked, and use it on AT&T or T-Mobile as is.


There is $719.98 USD unlocked Samsung Galaxy S 2 on http://www.m2cmobile.com

Half of handset industry profits belong to Apple

In it hard to believe that 5 years ago, the Apple iPhone did not exist. Now, 50 cents out of every dollar in handset industry profit belongs to Apple in the first quarter of the year, according to Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley. He also notes that the handset is the top selling phone at both AT&T and Verizon despite strong sales by 4G enabled devices and recently launched high-end Android models at both carriers. 

The analyst mentioned that at Verizon, where some strong Android models like the HTC ThunderBolt and the Motorola DROID X2 have recently been released, the Apple iPhone "by far" remains the top-seller. The analyst expects iPhone sales at Big Red to continue to be strong as more customers' 2-year contracts expire allowing them to purchase the subsidized version of the Apple handset. 

Besides raking in half of industry profits, Apple is poised to sell 100 million Apple iPhone units during 2012. Ironically, Walkley expects the Apple iPhone's share of smartphone sales to drop from 16% last year to 15.2% by the end of next year. Still, with the increasing number of smartphones being bought, that 15.2% share will still add up to more than 100 million units of Apple's touchscreen handset being sold in a year.

Nokia is expected to be on top of the global handset market by the end of next year

Canaccord Genuity also sees a sharp drop in RIM's slice of the smartphone pie from 12.6% in the current quarter to 8.6% at the end of 2012. Android will have a 49.9% share at the end of next year, according to the estimate, while Microsoft's mobile operating system will be a big winner. A chart prepared by the securities firm shows Windows Phone having an 11.2% reading at the end of next year, up sharply from the current 4.9% stake.

According to Canaccord Genuity, by the end of 2012, Samsung will trail Nokia by just 1.3% for the position on top of the global handset market. Nokia is expected to have a 23.3% share vs. 22% for the Korean manufacturer. No other OEM will be close to the top two by the end of next year with fellow Korean firm LG estimated to have a 6.4% slice of the pie, good enough for third place.

Judge Rules Okay to Track Spouse With GPS

Tracking your spouse by GPS isn't an invasion of privacy, according to a New Jersey appellate court ruling today, clarifying the often gray space between what technology can do and what is legally protected.

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The case originated when Kenneth Villanova's wife suspected he was cheating, but the private investigator she hired was unable follow the suspected husband, who is a Gloucester County sheriff's officer.

Reportedly, the investigator suggested the wife put a GPS unit in the car in order to track her husband and find out if he was seeing another woman.

Villanova's wife placed a GPS tracking device in the glove compartment of the car that she jointly owned with her spouse and was then able to follow him -- right onto the driveway of another woman's house.

Villanova complained the action was an invasion of his privacy and sued the private investigator in a 2007 lawsuit. In the first state ruling on the issue, the N.J. appellate Judge Joseph Lisa, Jack Sabatino and Carmen Alvarez decided Villanova he had no right to expect privacy because the GPS tracked his movements on public streets.

"There is no direct evidence in this record to establish that during the approximately 40 days the GPS was in the... glove compartment the device captured a movement of plaintiff into a secluded location that was not in public view, and, if so, that such information was passed along by Mrs. Villanova to Leonard," Lisa wrote.

It was important that it was Villanova's wife, and not the private investigator, who placed the GPS in the car. But other GPS-related cases may expand the issue in other ways.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case involving whether or not law enforcement needs a warrant to install a GPS tracking device on a suspect's car, and this ruling may have important and far-reaching privacy implications.

The case against Washington D.C. nightclub Antoine Jones is being appealed to the nation's highest court because the original conviction was based on data collected from a GPS tracker police installed on his car without a warrant.

Both cases illustrate how the legal system usually catches up with the latest technological advancements with court rulings and decisions that usually reflect society's values, although it does take time.

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