10 Amazing Android Apps

From the FinallyFast help desk:

Although Apple’s iPhone is arguably the most popular handset currently available on the market, phones like the Samsung Galaxy S are picking up speed due to Google’s popular Android OS and its many applications. Here are ten Android Apps you should download the minute you buy your phone.

Phonebook: Phonebook is a contacts app that displays your contacts with pictures and contextual information like birthdays, missed calls, and unread text messages. The app comes with a landscape view & a dialer, and also allows you to synchronize and back up your contacts to your home computer.

Last FM Personal Radio: Last.fm is a personal radio station for your Android. Choose an artist or genre and the app builds a personalized playlist. The app also allows you to skip songs and pull up concerts.

Hi AIM: Hi Aim is an AIM chat client for the Android. The app sends your data through the network, resulting in no SMS fee. Hi AIM also supports smileys and chat bubble styles.

Nightclock: Great for travel, Nightclock turns your Android into a bedside alarm clock that also plays your MP3s. You can customize the color and brightness of the large numbers as well as adjust the volume. The app also comes with a snooze option for those of you who need a few more minutes of sleep.

Twidroid: Twidroid is a full-featured Twitter client app for the Android that features native photo posing, location support, auto-completion, fully integrated notification, and news updates from Twitter Buzz.

Sudoku: Sudoku brings the world famous puzzle game to the Android with four difficulty levels and an intuitive interface. And if you don’t have time to complete your game, you can exit the app and it will save the puzzle to finish later.

NBA Gametime: NBA Game Time is the NBA’s first, official live basketball app for the Android. Check out games for any day arranged by their start times. The app also includes detailed scoring, a playoff bracket and stats.

Calorie Counter: Calorie Counter is a food and nutrition app that allows you to scan any barcode to find calorie and nutrition info. The app also has a searchable database for restaurants and a function that allows you to record and track what you eat.

Pacman: If you grew up in the 80s — or just wish that you had — then Namco’s Pacman is the game for you. The Android version even comes with TrackBall Mode.

Ringdroid: There’s no sense paying for ringtones when you can just use Ringdroid and create your own ringtones for free. Ringdroid also lets you edit any mp3 on your phone via its graphical waveform editor, which is currently the only waveform editor available for the Android phone.

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City and Regional Magazine Publishers Using Mobile Apps

Members of the City and Regional Magazine Association are growing their respective use of mobile apps as an added real-time extension to each participating magazine’s print messaging and influence.

Dining, entertainment, attractions, nightlife, accommodations, shopping, and local sightseeing, as well as the ‘best of,” are among the many categories at the real-time fingertips of both visitor and local iPhone users.
“Many of our association’s members are offering their readers the opportunity to engage with their respective magazines anywhere, any time; providing well-researched and accurate information covering the full gambit of products, services and events available in their respective communities,” explained C. James Dowden, CRMA’s Executive Director.
In addition to iPhone mobile apps, publications like D Magazine are reaching out beyond iPhones into the bigger world of mobile web app providers.
“We realized early on in the mobile app process that when you’re serving a community as big as a city, you can’t focus on one platform and expect to hit the majority…to advance our reach we are expanding into the wider world of mobile web app providers,” explains, Jennifer Erwin, D Magazine Publisher.
“We’ll be able to provide nearly the same rich experience as within an iPhone App, but via the browser across the majority of smartphones.” Erwin added, “Not to mention the fact that we won’t have to deal with lengthy approval processes – or be beholden to any of the providers’ terms – expanding to more mobile web apps also means we can develop these completely in house with our current team…Long term, we’ll be able to react quicker with better mobile products and serve a greater number of users. It’s a win all around.”
“New Orleans Magazine has been utilizing mobile Apps for four months now….the app is from CRMA associate member, Godengo, and is tied to the publication’s website,” said Todd Matherne, CEO/Publisher. “We offer ads on the apps and promote with print ads as an added value to our buys…we are still experimenting with ways to increase even more value to our advertisers…and the increased use of mobile applications, is part of that expansion,” added Matherne.
New York’s Buffalo Spree Magazine, is currently working with Zinio, their digital publisher and associate member of CRMA, to get Buffalo Spree digital on the iPhone/pad/touch up and running. “We’re also working with Godengo (on-line publisher) that is developing a mobile version of Buffalo Spree’s website…with the implementation of these two initiatives, we’ll soon be joining the ranks of the growing mobile community,” said Matthew Cirillo, Director of Information Technology for Buffalo Spree Publishing.
Honolulu Magazine publisher, Alyson Helwagen, said their app, developed with Godengo, basically delivers information from their website via an app rather than a browser. “We have maybe 2,000 downloads, which is a lot since we’ve done nothing to promote it — people are just finding it in the iTunes store, explained Helwagen. “We’re still refining, and haven’t done much promoting; we’re waiting until we have the product fine-tuned…We do have a digital edition on sale on the Honolulu site that allows users to read the magazine in any browser, or on any tablet or phone. We’ve been promoting that heavily online, a little bit in print,” added Helwagen.
“As with these magazines – and other titles in various stages of app development – the hands-on convenience of various mobile apps, ultimately provides immediate gratification for consumers making daily and immediate decisions about where to go and what to buy. Their continued and expanded use is projected to increase throughout the CRMA membership, offering both advertisers and users maximum benefit,” stressed, Dowden.

Cyber Security Bill Forbids ‘Internet Kill Switch,’ Senators say

The sudden trend to shut off internet access in response to civilian unrest and opposition protests, which has recently emerged among Middle Eastern governments, will not extend to the United States. That is the aim of new legislation proposed by Senators Joseph Lieberman and Susan Collins, which will prohibit the idea of an “internet kill switch” in the U.S. government.

The Cyber Security and Internet Freedom Act of 2011 comes in response to recent government discussion about power over the internet. After governments in Egypt and Libya disconnected the internet in their respective countries, and cyber security officials continue to warn about growing threats facing government networks, some high-ranking military and political officials had weighed the option of providing the federal government the power to cut off internet access. This bill appears to be the first sign of action in the debate and is vehemently opposed to the measure.

“While the United States must ensure the security of our nation and its critical infrastructure, it must do so in a manner that does not deprive Americans of the ability to lawfully read or express their views,” Collins, a Maine Republican, said in a statement delivered on the floor. “Neither the president nor any other federal official should have the authority to ‘shut down’ the internet.”

Senator Lieberman stressed that point even further, explaining that the bill was proposed quickly as part of an effort to dispell any rumors or misconceptions about the approach the federal government should take toward cyber security.

“We want to clear the air once and for all. As someone said recently, the term ‘kill switch’ has become the ‘death panels’ of the cyber security debate. There is no so-called ‘kill switch’ in our legislation because the very notion is antithetical to our goal of providing precise and targeted authorities to the president,” Lieberman said.

The debate has been ongoing for weeks, apparently set off by the measures taken in Egpyt. Earlier this month, Gregory Nojeim of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a watchdog organization, testified before the House Armed Services Subcommittee about the dangers of shutting off U.S. internet access. Congressman Mac Thornberry, a Republican from Texas, favored the option to shut off internet access and compared it to the military power required in the face of a weapons strike. Nojeim, however, maintained that unforeseen effects could make a situation worse, as the internet is also the main medium of modern communication.

Collins, in promoting the Cyber Security and Internet Freedom Act of 2011, appears to have heard Nojeim’s call to protect free speech, even on the internet.

“Freedom of speech is a fundamental right that must be protected, and his ban was clearly designed to limit criticisms of his government. Our cyber security legislation is intended to protect the United States from external cyber attacks,” Collins said.