What is Google Android™?
Android™ is an open source operating system which can be used to control all types of mobile devices. Google lead the development on this platform along with HTC, T-Mobile, Qualcomm and Motorola. All these companies are under the Open Handsets Alliance umbrella.
The main goal of the Open Handsets Alliance is to drive forward technology within mobile technology and produce a platform that will give a better user experience. Due to the open door policy of OHA many third party companies and developers will be able to get involved by building various plugins, helping improve the user experience. Many heads are better than one! We should see massive improvements in speed and performance of mobile devise over the next few years due to the openness of the platform offered by the Open Handsets Alliance.
Android is the first open source platform released by the OHA. Having this platform will allow manufacturers to react a lot quicker to the users needs and drive down the costs involved in developing a new handset. The android platform is made up of a operating systems, middleware (this helps connect software like the OS to applications like GPS navigation), GUI (graphical user interface) and many powerful applications. The number of applications will grow considerably as more third party companies jump on the android wagon!
The android platform is freely available to operators and manufacturers to build upon and distribute with their products. The Open Handsets Alliance have release a Software Development Kit to allow developers to begin developing applications with the platform. The release of this open source platform is really exciting times for mobile devices and we are expecting a massive surge in development over the next 18 months.
Google Android mobile phones
T-mobile in partnership with HTC released the first Android operated mobile phone, the G1. This was a very good first attempt and the response by users has been good. There are sure to be more Android powered mobile devices hitting the market in 2009, we will keep you posted as they get confirmed.
Best Google Android Apps List
1. Wave Security
Wave Secure is the mobile phone security system that enables you to secure your phones data in case of theft or prying eyes and helps with the possibility of recovering the phone if stolen.
Secure your Phone – Wave Secure enables you to automatically lock your phone once a SIM card has been changed rendering a phone worthless if stolen. It also allows you to sound an alarm to alert the thief that it has been reported as stolen.
Track and locate your phone – When a new SIM is detected in the phone, Wave Secure enables you on a map to enhance the possibility of it being recovered if lost or stolen.
Backup your phone – Wave Secure allows the user to store any important information, including texts and contacts, on a private location on the internet.
Remote Data Wiping – If you are unable to recover your phone you can automatically delete any private or confidential information by using a remote wipe. Data on removable storage devices can also be deleted ensuring that all of your documents and photos are safe.
Wave Secure is definitely one of the most useful Android applications available. You may not be directly using it all of the time but it´s good to have peace of mind should anything ever happen to your phone.
In these grim financial times Money Manager is possibly one of the most useful Android applications to help you keep track of your finances. Using the app you can specify how much cash you get rolling into your bank account, giving you a total figure that illustrates perfectly the limits of your cash reserves. You can even note where it comes from, using the pre-determined list of options.
Money Manager has the ability to show you your daily, weekly, monthly and even annual spending so that you can keep up to date with bills and any other financial decision. It has no complex or over complicated functions and is quick, easy and simple and that´s why it deserves a spot in our top ten Android Apps.
This is definitely one App that you cannot do without on your Android phone. Pandora is an application that allows you to create your own radio station of music you like for your own personal use. Simply type in the name of the artist, band or composer that you like and Pandora will create you a playlist of their music and similar music absolutely FREE!!
If you are already a user of Pandora on the Web you can simply log in to the Android application on your mobile and access your existing playlists and features. Then you can add to these by making extra playlists on your phone.
The Pandora application is a fantastic way to enjoy the type of music you love and this is why it’s included in our top ten android applications.
GangWars is a huge multiplayer mafia game and is fast becoming the biggest online mafia game in the world. It is the fastest growing game for Android phones and is completely FREE.
Gang wars is a strategy game where crime, assault and robbery are the aim to increase power and money. The player must take part in missions to receive guns, property and respect to become one of the big gang leaders. You can buy respect points from the God Father and by attacking rival gangs using weapons and vehicles and can grow your own gang by recruiting other members.
The online capability of this game means that you can recruit friends or strangers into your gang and can aim at being the gang ´Don´. You can also look at score boards from all over the world to see your rankings and can see where any gang is by using maps to locate them.
This is truly one of the best games available for Android phones and will amuse you for and endless amount of hours.
We all now know that the more we use our brain the more we improve our memory and that´s what Memory Trainer sets out to do. It helps you expand your spatial memory by providing daily mental exercises that are fun to do as well as useful. The basis of Memory Trainer came from studies at UCLA University that concluded that regular mental and physical exercise helps you to remain healthy and reduces the risk of getting Alzheimer's.
Memory trainer isn´t just a load of questions, it provides sections showing why memory training is useful and teaches you the best ways to increase your spatial memory. It provides varying tasks such as tile selection games and statistics to help you improve your memory score. It is a very useful and effective tool and should be used as often as possible. This is why we are remembering to put it in to our top 10 Android apps (excuse the pun).
One of the best and most fun sources of knowledge and stats available for Android Phones. WorldStats is a huge compilation of statistics from all over the world and gives you facts and figures taken from hundreds of interesting sources.
Want to know what the population of a country is? What their military expenditures are? How many people own a mobile telephone? it’s all there, and more. WorldStats contains vast amounts of data from the CIA World Fact Book and from the United Nations world data. You will find a wide range of information on every country in the world, grouped into the general categories of Geography, Population, Geography, Government, Transportation, and Military, all in the palm of your hand.
The information is not the only good thing about WorldStats, its user interface is fantastic and easy to use, making information quickly accessible. It will compare statistics from around the world and will present them graphically in all sorts of different ways.
This application is not only a good source of world information, it´s a good bit of fun too.
AroundMe helps you to put your Android phone into good use. It helps you locate anything useful around you, from fast food restaurants, sports shops to the nearest emergency dentist.
However, don’t be fooled AroundMe is not your normal street and business finder. It is integrated with other functions and websites that makes it one of the best and most useful applications to date. You can locate photos on Flickr for the place that you are in and can look at YouTube videos from the spot that you are standing in or for where you want to go. You can find Wikipedia landmarks and get directions to places for driving, walking or public transport. And if you see anything interesting on your travels you can upload your photos or videos to Facebook, Flickr or YouTube.
This Application is definitely a must have for travellers and is useful in everyday use, fantastic!
Scan Barcodes on books, CD´s, DVD´s and other products and Barcode Scanner will give you information on Price and content. This is a truly amazing application as it can be put to many uses. Use the scanner to compare prices of items on the internet to see if you can get it cheaper in a different store or online shop. Scan books for useful content that you are looking for and check online reviews. You can also scan QR codes which can store pieces of information such as calendar events, contact information, email addresses, Geo location, phone numbers, SMS text messages, plain text, and URLs.
This is a fantastic app for any product you want to buy or just look into.
Logging in to a computer remotely from another computer isn´t a new idea, but logging in from your phone is. LogMeIn have adapted their system for Android phones, so now you can access your desktop at home or work from anywhere on your mobile phone. This makes everything accessible from music and videos to documents. So if you accidentally leave something on your PC at home you can simply get it on your phone.
LogMeIn Ignition is useful to business professionals, sales people, travellers, techies or those that need to access files and information from home or work PCs while on the go. Expect to pay around 25 Pounds Sterling for the application, which is pricey for the average consumer but not recommended for the average user, plus the features it offers out-weigh the cost.
This app is definitely the best Remote access applications and deserves to be in our top ten.
10. IMDb
IMDb is the world’s largest collection of movie, TV and celebrity information. Features include Finding Showtimes, Watch trailers, Browse photos, Get TV listings, Track DVD/Blu-ray releases, Explore pop charts, award winners, IMDb top 250, and much more and Search over 1.5 million movies and TV shows.
Under the ´Movies´ tab you can find a wealth of resources like most reviewed movie titles with trailer, user and critic reviews, US showtimes near your location, upcoming movies, box office results, MOVIEmeter which ranks top ten movies against rankings from weeks prior.
Under the ´TV´ you will find repeats and airing times of top US TV shows, and under the ´People´ tab you can find out facts about actors and actresses and catch up on all of the celebrity gossip. There’s even a neat feature to see what actor was born on a given day with their age.
This is a great application and will wind away hours of fun.
