6 free Android apps that challenge iPhones market - International Business Times

Android operating system’s strong integration with existing Google products and the wide offering of devices and carriers, makes it a strong challenger for Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

With Blackberry’s market share dropping, Android has stacked up head to head with Apple’s iOS in terms of its offering of a handful of free apps.

Android is an open source that also allows the apps to change the appearance and functionality of the OS. Google’s OpenHome, which works as a replacement for the default home screen, is one of the best leading customization app available in the market. It also allows you to load customised skins, icon packs and fonts, most of which are freely available in the market.

You can also set up Google Voice and use the Android app to get missed call alerts to a Google generated number that you can check in the web, in your email or via the app. The app also lets you stream audio messages from the web, without wasting any mobile minutes. Google Voice’s deep integration with Gmail offers a great advantage compared to the voicemail alternative for iPhone.

Unlike the iPhone maps app, the free, voice-guided GPS in Android phone does not need you to read out the directions from the handset while driving. Android's built-in method allows users to jump directly into navigation from address links in other apps, whereas with the iPhone, you must manually copy and paste the address into your app of choice.

The Android app syncs directly with Google Finance, which enables streaming of live financial data right into your hands by way of quote updates, charts, and financial news.

NEsoid, Nintendo ROM emulator for Android is a software which interprets ROM files — the format of choice for hacked console games. The lite version of NESoid comes free, but prevents you from loading a “saved-state” of a game. The full version will cost you $3.49.

Winamp, the media player for android, can be wirelessly connected with your desktop and you can move iTunes library to Android, Playlist support and also SHOUT cast radio.

Must Read: Top 5 features that make Android a better choice over iOS 5

Must Read: 5 best Honeycomb Apps for business purposes

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Yahoo builds app to search for new smartphone apps - ZDNet (blog)

Undoubtedly, most of us have heard the phrase, “There’s an app for that,” whether it be serious or just in jest. But finding the app with the functionality we’re looking for might not be easy. Now Yahoo has an app for that.

In fact, Yahoo has built two apps for different platforms with the purpose of searching for iOS and Android apps. Both programs are touted as special (at least more than just search directly from a regular app store) as instead of promoting top selling apps first and foremost, Yahoo’s apps will offer personalized suggestions and “more precise results” based on matching app titles and related keywords.

The first one is Yahoo! App Search on the PC, which is a desktop-based program that is relatively straightforward. In fact, it works much like any other mobile app store such as the one seen in iTunes as well as the Android Market and the Amazon Appstore for Android.

However, Yahoo! App Search not charge the user but rather leads him/her to the source of the app, whether that be the iTunes App Store or the Android Market. Yahoo! also provides a QR code when applicable and the option to send the link directly to the user’s mobile device.

Then there’s the second option: Yahoo! AppSpot, a mobile search app for the iPhone, iPod touch and Android smartphones. This option is also free to use and works much like the desktop version. However, remember that when downloading apps on a smartphone, it could eat up your data plan when connected via 3G/4G.

Related:

Rachel King is a staff writer for ZDNet based at CBS Interactive's San Francisco office.

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Otterbox cases offer robust smartphone protection - FireRescue1

With each new iteration of the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry or Android phone, consumers are faced with the same question: "How will I protect this device from the inevitable drops, falls, bangs, dings, and scratches that inevitably arise from daily use?"

That is even more relevant for first responders who, with the ever-growing use of fire, EMS and police apps, are becoming increasingly dependent on these pocket-sized computers to do their jobs.

For civilians, a broken smartphone means an interruption in their quest to defeat Angry Birds. For first responders, a broken smartphone could mean a lost life or a hamstrung investigation.

OtterBox, with their heavy-duty Defender Series cases, has created a level of smartphone protection that will keep your mobile device well protected through month after month of heavy-duty daily use.

OtterBox sent me a Defender Series case to try out with my new iPhone 4, but they also manufacture models for Blackberry, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, HTC, and LG smartphones, as well as the Apple iPad.

The effectiveness of the Defender Series comes from its layered design. Instead of a simple plastic or rubber case that clips around your phone, the Defender has several layers of protection to keep the phone safe from drops and scratches.

The first layer is a polycarbonate shell that clips snugly around the phone. A plastic membrane on the front of the shell offers durable screen protection, making an adhesive screen protection film unnecessary.

Installing the shell took less than a minute and, once in place, it felt totally secure; pulling on the front and back of the case didn't offer any give.

Surrounding the base shell is a silicon cover that smoothes over the base layer's hard edges and creates another level of shock protection. The silicon layer has flaps that cover all the iPhone's ports and clip securely shut, but can easily be pulled open for access to the charging port, headphone jack, and volume buttons.

With the first two layers in place, the protected iPhone then clips into a polycarbonate holster that holds the device face in or face out.

The holster is, essentially, a case for your case, and with the phone clipped into all three (polycarbonate shell, silicone layer, and holster), the phone feels extremely secure.

It's bulky, but not overly so, and for the day I wore it clipped to my belt it never felt intrusive or uncomfortable. Firefighters, Medics or cops — who are used to having gadgets hanging from their utility belts — won't notice the added bulk.

But the real question when it comes to smartphone cases is: How far can you drop it?

I tested it for myself, dropping my Defender-wrapped iPhone from waist height, and then chest height. No damage whatsoever. I was tempted to drop it off our balcony, but the memory of replacing the glass backing of my iPhone a few months ago stopped me.

I asked OtterBox' Public Relations Specialist Kristen Tatti about the case's dropping capability, and she said their rule is "Three feet to concrete," meaning you can drop it from your pocket without risk of damage.

Tatti added that local firefighters in Fort Collins, Colo., (OtterBox' home) have been outfitted with the cases, and all have raved about the Defender's durability.

"They say it's nice to have something sturdy so they don't have to worry about their phones," she said. "With more and more firefighters getting emergency pages on their smartphones, a broken device can really ruin your day."

OtterBox also makes lines of cases more sleek than the Defender, including the "Commuter" (a simpler polycarbonate and silicone combination) and the "Impact" (just a silicon shell). Visit OtterBox' website to learn about all their smartphone and tablet cases.

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25 Free Tools To Manage Your Spending - Caribbean Media Vision

How do you track your spending right now? Using an Excel spreadsheet or maybe a pen and paper? These methods work for some for sure, but I personally prefer more advanced and user-friendly tools. Software is useful not only to track your expense. It can help you manage your saving, calculate your driving costs, figure out better prices and so on. If you are not using personal finance tools you are simply losing sight about what happens with your cash.

Here I have collected 25 tools of various kinds but with one main purpose: to help you manage your money and spending better. Best of all, you don't need to spend anything on these tools - they all are either free or have a free version.

Web Apps

Web apps are great because you don't need to install anything on a particular computer. You can access your data from anywhere at any time with any device. Here are some of the best personal finance and spending related web apps:

1. Mint is perhaps the most popular free app used by more than 5 million people. Mint is simple and has modern user interface. It helps you do your budgeting, track your savings, sends timely alerts, and allows easy personalization.

2. Thrive brings together all your financial information, assigns overall Financial Health score, creates monthly budgets, spending goals, and offers pay off debt wizard.

3. Budget Your Trip is a different thing. It's strongly focused on travel and lets you figure out how much you are going to spend on a trip to a given country or city. Then you can plan your travel budget and track your travel spending. The app has pro version for businesses.

4. Texthog is focused on expense reports. You can categorize your expenses, tweet them, run reports. Texthog is available also as an iPhone app.

5. Spendji offers budgeting, cost research, expenses tracking, and collaboration with other users of a group to make easier group decisions.

6. Finance for one is a personal finance app that will be liked by the tech savvy users. It supports tags, quick insert in a single input field, easy in-place edit and is installable as Google Chrome app.

7. SpendBrite is another "budgeting made easy" app with very nice user interface.

Online Calculators:

The financial calculators are simple tools but often can help you make financial decisions that can change your life. For example if you don't plan a debt well you may have to struggle paying it for years to come.

8. This lease calculator will help you figure out monthly lease repayments. It's a good idea to try it before you get a leasing.

9. The gas mileage calculator helps you figure out the cost of any trip with your car. It can be very useful especially if you wonder whether to take a better paying job with longer commute.

10. Here is a mortgage calculator that shows you how much you are going to pay for a mortgage loan. Always compare its results with the numbers that your bank gives you to figure out whether there are any hidden fees.

11. Similarly, the car payment calculator will show you how much you'll have to pay on your car. Use it together with the mileage calculator to figure the total cost of owning your car excluding the maintenance costs and taxes.

Browser Extensions

These little tools can often do great work. One of the main advantage of browser extensions is that they are always handy - you don't need to open a specific web page or a program as long as your browser is open.

12. Quickrr Currency Converter is a simple currency converter for Google Chrome. The exchange rates come from Google Finance.

13. Price Droid gets the lowest price from hundreds of sites while you are shopping online. It's an excellent way to save money. Just don't forget price isn't everything and buy only from reliable suppliers. Extension for Google Chrome.

14. Ciuvo works in simlar way. It provides the best price, relevant information, pictures, customer reviews etc. Ciuvo is a Firefox extension.

15. Firebux is a Firefox extension that works with the Buxfer web app. It downloads information from your banks and credit cars and allows to track your accounts through the Firefox sidebar.

16. Savings Account Rates Monitor tracks savings rates from a bank. It's a Firefox extension.

Desktop Apps

The good old well known "programs" that we install on our computers are still here. With all the web and mobile apps they are no longer the only option for tracking your spending, but desktop apps often remain the best in terms of speed, performance and user interface. Here are some good free ones that will help you manage your spending:

17. Buddi is free GPL licensed software for personal budgeting. The program is available on Windows, Mac, Linux and even as source code.

18. PLCash helps you manage personal finance accounts, create and run reports, track investments, print checks and more. It has versions for Windows and multi-platform Java version.

19. AceMoney Lite is the free version of AceMoney. It is very useful to track your spending habits, create and manage budgets, and even do e-business. The software is available for Windows.

20. Grisbi is yet another personal accounting app. It's simple and easy to use but still allows managing multiple accounts, financial years, and more. Grisbi is available on many Linux platforms, on Windows, on Mac, and as source code.

Mobile Apps

Mobile apps are getting more popular with every day. I have selected few of the best ones for the most common mobile platforms - Android and Apple's.

21. Expensify lets you import expenses from a credit card or bank account, use automated receipt scanning, and run reports. It's actually a web app which is also available on iPhone/iPad, Android, WebOS and BlackBerry.

22. Balance is an app for iPhone/iPad/iPod that lets you keep track on the balances of all your accounts. The basic app is free and there is a paid Pro version.

23. Expense Manager is a free app for Android. It lets you track incomes and expenses, schedule payments, import and export activities, and more.

24. Money Manager is a small finance apps showing how you spend your money. It is ad supported, available for the Android plaform.

25. Financial calculators is an Android app that combines currency converter, loan calculator, credit card payoff calculator, and more.

There is no shortage of free tools and apps out there and you risk nothing by trying them, so just go ahead.

About the author: Bob manages The Shark Investor blog where you can find another free financial tool - the investment calculator

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Why is Apple winning? See white iPhone debacle - ZDNet (blog)

When Apple released the white iPhone 4 in April, a lot of people were scratching their heads. Others simply snickered. The product suffered a 10-month delay and a string of broken promises from Apple that it was “coming soon.” That’s not like Apple, which is usually as efficient as a blood-thirsty dictator.

At the time the white iPhone arrived, most in the tech industry were expecting the next iPhone to be released just a couple months later in June/July, since that’s been Apple’s pattern for the past four years. In retrospect, the launch of the white iPhone in April along with the launch of the Verizon iPhone in January should have been clear signs that pattern wasn’t going to continue this year. The current expectation is thatthe next iPhone will arrive this fall, potentially sporting Verizon LTE 4G connectivity.

The change in release schedule has certainly given the white iPhone 4 a longer shelf life. But, the significance of this product has nothing to do with the fact that it will likely be on the market for just 5-6 months. It’s about the power of “No.”

This email promotion for the white iPhone 4 even has Apple poking fun at the delay. Photo credit: Apple

The significance of the white iPhone 4 is that Apple didn’t release it until it got it right. The company apparently said “No” to the product over and over again because it wasn’t quite right and Apple felt that customers wouldn’t have been happy with it.

Apple has never specifically said what problems it had with the white iPhone. Its primary statement was a terse press release on June 23, 2010 that stated, “White models of Apple’s new iPhone 4 have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected.”

However, the most common theory is that the white iPhone 4 suffered from light leakage, due to the fact that white materials are a little more transparent than black. It sounds like Apple experimented with different materials, pigments, and designs to make it look right so that it didn’t turn yellow instead of white.

In the grand scheme of things, that doesn’t sound very important, and it isn’t. But, what is important is that Apple said “No” to the product repeatedly, swallowed its pride, and endured ridicule over the delay. Apple waited until it got it right, or at least right enough.

The same can’t be said for many Apple competitors recently. Google, Motorola, and Verizon released the Xoom before the Honeycomb UI was finished and app developers had time to rework their apps. Research in Motion released the BlackBerry PlayBook before Flash, the Android emulator, and several promised apps were ready. Last fall, Samsung released the Galaxy Tab before there was even a version of Android that worked well on tablets. This week we have another good example with Nokia announcing the Nokia N9 running Meego, an OS that Nokia has spurned in favor of Windows Phone 7. Why even release a product running a platform that you don’t intend to support in the years ahead?

I review a lot of products every year — most of the best products in tech. However, I also have a lot of products that come across my desk that I never review because they aren’t finished or because they are obviously patchwork products designed by committee or because I simply want to ask myself, “Why would anyone actually release this?” or “Who would use this?”

In recent years, Steve Jobs has famously said, ”I’m actually as proud of many of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done.”

Jobs has said this numerous times and to various audiences. However, this is not a recent conclusion. If you go back to when Jobs first returned to Apple in the late 1990s, he loudly proclaimed that the key to turning things around at Apple and releasing better products was learning how to say, “No.” Here’s what Jobs told the audience at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in 1997:

“When you think about focusing, you think focusing is saying, ‘yes.’ No, focusing is saying, ‘no.’ You’ve got to say, ‘no, no, no, no, no.’ And, when you say ‘no,’ you piss off people and they go talk to the San Jose Mercury [News] and they write a shitty article about you. And, it’s really a pisser because you want to be nice… So, you take the lumps, and Apple has been taking their share of lumps for the last six months in a very unfair way and has been taking them like an adult, and I’m proud of that… But, focus is about saying ‘no’ and the result of that focus is going to be some really great products.”

The lesson here is not that companies should always wait until their products are absolutely perfect before they release them. If that were the case, very few products would ever make it to market, and many of them would be too late to make a difference. The key is knowing when a product is perfect enough and when you should hold a product for improvements versus releasing it to get it in the hands of eager customers. That’s the hard part, but it’s also the thing that great companies do well.

Another tech company other than Apple that may get it right in 2011 is HP. Since the company bought Palm last year, it has been working on a tablet that marries the goodness of webOS with the tablet hardware expertise of HP. The HP TouchPad officially arrives on July 1 and the company has taken some heat for the extended delay. But, CEO Léo Apotheker recently said, ”We will not release a product that isn’t perfect.” Given the trail of incomplete tablets that have littered the market so far in 2011, that could bode well for the TouchPad (look for TechRepublic’s full coverage of the TouchPad next week, including a business-centric review and an extensive hardware analysis).

This article was originally published on TechRepublic.

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Oracle Ignored Facts While Claiming Damages From Android? - Muktware

The websphere is full of mis-information about the Google-Oracle court battle with most information being pumped from the FUD machines trying to spread confusion and uncertainty around Android.

Many journalists are picking the baits, ignoring the facts, as it gets them more eyeballs. It has happened before between SCO and Linux. SCO was backed by many Linux-haters, which I would not like to name here. Today once again the monopolies are attacking Linux.

One of the most talk about topic is the damages Oracle is seeking from Google over Android. Oracle (which was sued by the US government for overcharging the government) hired Boston University finance and economics professor Iain Cockburn to serve as its expert witness on damages it is asserting in its patent infringement claims against Google.

Groklaw has explained in detail what's going on behind the scence. Many readers may not want to get into legal details so I am mentioning 3 points that Groklaw highlighted which Cockburn ignored in his reports.

Just in case you missed it (or simply don't want to spend your time searching for it, there are at least three important takeaways conveyed in the Google brief and related documents:

Cockburn ignored prior negotiations between Sun and Google in which Google was offered the opportunity to license these and other patents for a fraction of Cockburn's present estimate;

Cockburn ignored other licensing transactions in which Sun licensed these patents for a fraction of Cockburn's present estimate (and these other licensing transactions will almost certainly become a limiting factor on any royalties Oracle may be awarded); and

Cockburn bases his estimate on worldwide sales of Android devices and Google revenue, despite the fact that the devices are made and used (and thus the infringement occurs) outside the U.S. and is not subject to a U.S. patent claim.

All of this serves to indicate that the Cockburn report, while sensational, has little or no bearing on a likely outcome of this case."

Those who are interested in reading more about the progress of court battle post Cockburn's analyisi, I would heavily recommend this article from Groklaw "Oracle v. Google - Posturing Over Damages - UPDATED."

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Mangospring Announces Four Major Additions to its Collaboration & Social ... - San Francisco Chronicle (press release)

MangoSpring today unveiled the version 4.0 release of its popular business communication, collaboration and social networking suite. Designed to help teams collaborate more effectively, the new and improved version includes WYSIWYG Wiki, online document reader with support for over 300 file formats, new project management features (Gantt chart and time tracking), additional task management tools and new mobile applications for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

"Everyone wants to work in an environment where they can easily share and collaborate with coworkers across the company," said Anup Kejriwal, CEO of MangoSpring. "We believe that true collaboration occurs only when employees' communication is integrated with daily workflow applications. Packaged in a highly intuitive user interface that requires zero training, MangoApps 4.0 is the industry's most advanced productivity suite."

MangoApps 4.0 adds over 100 new features and improvements to its previous release. Some of the key features that are new to version 4.0 include:

Hierarchical wikis: Create professionally formatted web documents for project collaboration cleanly in MangoApps 4.0. A simple, full featured WYSIWYG design console and the ability to save documents to PDF makes this the preferred method of web document authoring.

Document reader supporting 300+ file types: Open the most popular file types inside MangoApps with no supporting software to download or install. All versions of Microsoft Office, all common image file types, and even AutoCAD documents can be quickly opened and viewed with zoom and document search capability inside MangoApps.

Gantt chart: The Gantt chart is the most prevalent visual analysis chart type for scheduling and time management and it makes its debut in MangoApps 4.0. See when tasks start, finish and overlap, then quickly view the entire task details in a single click.

Recurring tasks: Everyone has tasks they do repeatedly as part of their daily workflow. MangoApps 4.0 now supports creating and managing recurring tasks from the web or from the Desktop Client.

New MangoTalk & MangoTask Applications for iPhone, iPad and Android devices: When users are on the go and just want to access their status updates or task updates, MangoTalk & MangoTasks stand-alone applications for iPhone, iPad and Android are a great solution.

"MangoApps has become core to our workflow and has been integral in enabling our team of 300+ people to collaborate more effectively," said Andi Sherwood, Co-Founder of Choffy. "As Choffy is dispersed over 5 time zones, MangoApps really is a life-saver. Best of all, since the entire MangoApps suite is fully hosted, we don't have to worry about maintaining hardware, which has helped to significantly reduce our total cost of ownership."

MangoApps 4.0 is an integrated suite of social communication and productivity applications, which includes its flagship communication platform, MangoTalk. In addition to MangoTalk, MangoApps includes several other powerful collaboration tools to help teams manage tasks, projects, documents, ideas and events.

MangoTalk - Provides microblogging and secure instant messaging that allows users to communicate and share information within a powerful, private and secure social network.

MangoDocs - Provides document management functionality to the entire company. Employees can upload documents, leave comments for authors, request updates, or follow a document, knowing that they always have the latest version.

MangoTasks - Provides task management for every employee. Knowledge workers can keep track of their specific tasks and managers can assign work and follow employee progress, making status reports a thing of the past.

MangoProjects - Provides project management capabilities, allowing employees to focus teams on a specific goal, assign tasks, and upload documents. Teams can chat publicly, instant message privately or create instant polls all with a single click of the mouse.

MangoIdeas - Provides a workflow to capture ideas from across the company, allowing public discussion using microblogging while encouraging fresh and innovative ideas to new projects.

MangoEvents - Allows companies and employees to plan and organize events like team summits, company meetings, training sessions, business trips and office parties.

In addition, unlike other collaboration solutions, version 4.0 of MangoApps allows users to purchase applications in an a-la-carte fashion. Since many teams are not comfortable committing themselves to an entire suite of products all at once, this allows them to use just what they need and add more functionality as desired.

About MangoSpring
Founded in 2007 in Bellevue, Washington, MangoSpring is a privately held company that transforms the way teams work together. The company's suite of online applications called MangoApps enable businesses to improve productivity and execution. MangoApps currently serves over a million unique users a month and have already been adopted by over 3,000 businesses and departments within enterprises in a wide range of industries, including technology, media, finance, health, education, non-profit and government. For more information please visit www.mangospring.com.

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