+101 - Vote for the best Android Apps

We all know Android is a big competitor to the iPhone, and that is  good because we needed a fresh new competitor that did what the iPhone could and was more open. So would an Android tablet be likewise to the iPad?

Making an alternative to an iPad is a very exciting prospect but it will be hard to convince the average Joe to buy one. Most will probably be looking at an iPad but if there are competing tablets they will have to either be much cheaper or offer something significantly more appealing to the mainstream user, otherwise mostly techies and the anti-apple crowd will be the only ones buying them.  Look at the explosion of Android phone models. In a few months I can’t see how there won’t be a flood of Android tablets in all shapes and sizes and prices and carriers all shooting directly at the iPad and trying to one-up each other.

The market got its bell rung when Apple hit with the iPhone. It set the bar very high and the market responded with android. Well, with the iPad Apple didn’t set the bar as high, and I think other companies have learned their lesson and the sleeping giants have been awoken. I’m just not convinced that the same market need exists. There are already loads of media rich devices but is there a need for an android iPad killer. I believe it is less about the tech specs of any future pads and more about the applications so watch this space…….. :0)

Every day thousands of visitors come to this site looking for new applications to add to their Android phone so I thought I’d save some of them the trouble of searching too hard and give a list of the top ten searches we receive on the site. So, here we go:

GPS

This is our top search query but the results aren’t always what you expect – top of the list at the moment is for the perfect eggs timer which calculates the exact length of time to boil an egg based on everything from your altitude, taken from the GPS and how hard or soft you want your egg. I think the FourSqaure application and Google maps is more the sort of thing people are looking for…

GPS Android applications

Calendar

Our second favourite search generally throws up some more specific results with myDAY journal coming out top at the moment. It might not be a standard calendar but with Google Calendar built into the Android OS there’s scope to try all sorts of new ideas to make things more interesting.

Calendar applications

Facebook

No surprises here, everyone wants Facebook on their phone and the Android Facebook application is very easy to use and does almost everything you’d want – except dealing with messages very well. What is surprising is that Trip Journal comes out top of our list with its Facebook integration for sharing photos and updates from your holiday.

Facebook applications

Golf

Yes, that’s right: Golf. It’s a popular game but judging from our results not too many developers seem to think so. Only two results on our list – there’s got to be more than that. So if you know of a great golf application for Android please let us know or submit it yourself! There’s a lot of people wanting golf applications…

Android Golf applications

Browser

Well, we can’t all be happy with the built in Android browser but there aren’t many other choices. The recently released Opera Mini 5.0 has just come out as a Beta version for Android.

Browser apps for Android

Radio

This is more like it, a few good choices here but the big three really stand out: Spotify, Pandora and Last.fm. I actually use two of these myself, Spotify for listening to music regularly while working – but only on my desktop. And Last.fm on my Android phone for scrobbling what I’m listening to and finding new tracks while I’m out and about. The radio stations on Last.fm work really well over 3G so it’s possible to keep on listening while out in town or hooked up to the car stereo. Pandora is only available in the US so I haven’t been able to test it myself.

Android radio applications

Keyboard

I’m not really sure what people are searching for here! But there’s a few choices to make, any comments would be really useful…

Keyboard apps

Skype

Well, there are three results but only one that anyone is looking for. Skype is a “voice over I.P.” or VOIP system that allows you to make and receive phone calls over your internet connection. this is often a lot cheaper than standard calls – particularly on an Android phone connected to a good wireless broadband.

Skype on Android

Twitter

It’s the talk of the moment – if you discount the location based social networks Everyone is on Twitter these days and there are plenty of Twitter clients to try out. My own personal favourite is Twidroid which gives me everything I need to keep up with my friends and contacts and that’s just the free version.

Android Twitter applications

Contacts

This is another search where I’m not sure what people are looking for… but there’s a few choices on offer: contact security, favourites and syncing. Again, if anyone knows of some great Android contacts applications please submit them and let these people find the app they’re looking for!

Contacts on Android

So that’s the top ten searches on 101 Best Android Apps – if there’s something here that you’re looking for and you know of a better application than the ones we have featured on our list, please let us know or submit it yourself. I’ll have a look through our other searches and see if there’s anything that really stands out – that’s for another day, another post…

The LG InTouch Max (also known as the LG GW620, the LG Eve, and the LG Etna), is the first Android powered handset from LG.

Similar to the popular T-Mobile G1, the T-Mobile InTouch Max also features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard designed to help users easily and quickly type up text messages, emails and other data input.

The LG InTouch Max also features a 3-inch touchscreen display, a 5 mega-pixel camera (with LED flash, video playback, and auto-focus), and the usual Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, and Micro USB data connectivity.

Other notable features of the LG InTouch Max include a threaded text message system where each text is grouped by sender and displayed like a message board for easy-to-follow reading. The Android phone also includes a 3D gallery for quick photo viewing and sorting. The 3D gallery enables users to quickly find and tag their favourite photos, or by using the filter tool to sort snaps by tags, facial recognition or by the date.

The LG GW620 has been designed specially for social networking, with its QWERTY keyboard making updating, editing and managing social network profiles effortless, the GW620 enables users to easily connect and manage their Facebook, MySpace and other social profiles from any location.

T-mobile US reported last week that T-Mobile will be the network powering Google’s new phone, which is apparently going to make its debut on Jan. 5.

A T-Mobile USA support page found by the blog says Google will sell the new Android-based device directly via the Web, confirming the story that emerged a few weeks ago in the Wall Street Journal. Bellevue-based T-Mobile will handle billing and rate plans for the device.

Manufacturing the new Google phone will be HTC, the Taiwanese phone maker with U.S. headquarters in Bellevue and its software lab in Pioneer Square.

The trio introduced Google’s first Android phone, the HTC-manufactured G1, in September 2008.

Google also scheduled an announcement at its headquarters on Jan. 5, the day before the Consumer Electronics Show begins in Las Vegas.

The HTC-built and (soon to be) Google-sold device runs Android 2.1 atop a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, a 3.7-inch, 480 x 800 display, has 512MB of ROM, 512MB of RAM, and a 4GB microSD card (expandable to 32GB). The phone is a T-Mobile device (meaning no 3G if you want to take it to AT&T), and includes the standard modern additions of a light sensor, proximity sensor, and accelerometer. The Nexus One has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA™ X10 introduces an open and integrated world of social media, communication and entertainment

The first Android phones, the G1, will be released in a couple of weeks and according to t-mobile all 1.5 million pre-ordered phones have been sold. This is going to be a big release and all those Android applications have to be ready for download straight away.

We’re getting a lot of interest already so if you have an application or know of one that isn’t featured on this site, why not submit it now to get things started – the next few weeks are going to be busy!