Lifestyle, Travel, Shopping: >>>
Unofficial Amazon Buzz
Free
Buzz shows you Amazon's hottest bargains of the day and bookmark them to buy later. As an Amazon devotee, I find this app very addictive despite its singular functionality. I wish Amazon would acquire it already so we'd be able to buy items from within the app.
ESPN Score Center
Free
ESPN's free app lets you check the game quickly, and discreetly when necessary (i.e., with your phone under the dinner table), for your favorite teams in more sports than most other apps. It can pull game data from baseball, basketball, American football, the sport the rest of the world calls football (soccer), ice hockey, cricket, rugby, and more. For stat lovers,ScoreMobile is a fine option, but only if it has the sport you follow, as it misses a few, like rugby and boxing, that ESPN covers.
FxCamera
Free
Not every smartphone running Android has a great camera, so get better photos with the help of a little software. The free app FxCamera adds filters and effects, like "toy" and fisheye lens, to enhance even modest pictures. It also helps to arm yourself with some additional tips for getting better photos from your phone.
GateGuru
Free
GateGuru (for Android) is an app to pack. It helps you navigate airport terminals, anticipate wait times, find the freshest airport food, and travel with greater confidence. It also has airport maps and checkpoint wait times. And GateGuru integrates with Tripit and Kayak for flight details, as well as Gowalla, Foursquare, Twitter, and Facebook for sharing.
Google Goggles
Free
Similar in some ways to the Layar app (see below), Google Goggles is an augmented reality experience that layers additional information from the digital world onto the physical world. Use the phone’s camera to take a snapshot of anything from a painting in a museum to a placard that’s written in a language you don’t understand, and Google Goggles will give you more clues to help you figure out what’s in front of you, or why it’s important.
Groupon
Free
Some of the deals that crop up on Groupon are just too good to pass up, like 50 percent off that take-out place where you eat once a week anyway, or a one-month gym membership for 20 bucks. The Groupon Android app lets you not only snag deals, but cash them in, too, so you don't have to print any paper vouchers or coupons.
Google Offers
Free
Google Offers for Android is the mobile companion to Google's daily deals site, which is still in beta. For a relative latecomer to the Groupon-forged category, its offerings are surprisingly solid (I bought a 50 percent discount to Katz's Deli's online store). The app itself is very slick and making transactions is seamless for Googlebots who use other Google services.
iOnRoad Augmented Driving
Free
This driving app uses your smartphone's camera and GPS sensors to warn you of upcoming collisions. It's innovative and actually works, but not foolproof. You still have to keep your eye on the road.
Kindle
Free
Read books, magazines, and newspapers right on your Android phone without ever buying an e-reader. The Kindle app is by far the most popular reading app in the Android Marketplace because it gives you access to buy or download for free hundreds of thousands of books, and more than 100 different newspapers and magazines. And while some users have complained that they can't uninstall Kindle once they've downloaded the app, it is possible (but it takes a little effort).
MLB.com at Bat 12
$9.99
A premium account lets you stream every MLB game live. You also get a repository of baseball goodness: game highlights, radio broadcasts, pitch trackers, detailed reporting, widget. For Android 2.2 and 2.3 users (probably most of you) the live video feed requires Adobe Flash, a plug-in that Adobe removed from Google Play in August. So if you didn't already have it downloaded, you won't be able to watch live games.
Layar
Free
Layar is an augmented reality app, meaning it gives you extra information from the digital world “layered” on top of something real in this world. Point it at a landmark, and the app will share interesting facts about the destination. Layar works best when you think of it as a travel app. It works very well in big cities and top destinations, but can be middling or even useless in lesser-traveled spots.
Noom Weight Loss Coach
$9.99/month
Noom is a comprehensive weight loss app that bills itself as a weight loss coach in your pocket. Every day, the app feeds you customized suggestions on how many calories you need to eat and burn to meet your goals. This involves a calorie counter, a daily Noom score, and an online community for additional support.
NASA App
Free
Consider it the next best thing to being an astronaut or astronomer. The official NASA app features thousands of NASA photos (gorgeous as wallpaper), streaming videos, shuttle launch information, and countdown clocks.
Pixlr-o-matic
Free
iPhone-wielding Instagram users think we're "polluting" their photo streams? Screw them. Android has Pixlr-o-matic, a far superior photo editing app with hundreds of effects and a much smoother social sharing experience. The randomnizer, which chooses a random effect for you, provides hours of fun.
Yelp
Free
As the most comprehensive review app, Yelp is an invaluable tool for finding businesses nearby, especially when you're in a town you don't know well. The quality of the reviews can be touch and go, but for finding businesses and services, and vetting out ones that are very poorly received, Yelp's the app you need.
Yahoo Sportacular
Free
If you're looking for a quick and dirty way to check scores, Yahoo Sportscaster is one to download. You can choose which leagues and teams to cover and opt to receive live score alerts and news, plus stats and play-by-plays. It has offers less customization than ESPN ScoreCenter, but is excellent for sports enthusiasts who don't care for the latter's bells and whistles.
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