Pinball for Android by Magma Mobile touts itself as one of the first pinball game for Android.  As such its a pretty big deal; any gaming foray on the Android platform is a big deal in my book.  This game is pretty fun, providing several boards to choose from for varied game play.  Each pinball stage has its own goals and associated strategy, giving each level its own character.  As a whole, the game is definitely worth checking out.
 

Pros

• One of the first Android pinball games
• Fun.  Definitely entertaining
• Customizable controls

Cons

• As one commenter stated, “Unpredictable physics make for frustrating gameplay.”  I couldn’t agree more wholeheartedly.  Some of the levels have some funky spots / physics, so it doesn’t feel like a real game of pinball which is what I was expecting.  For that the gameplay leaves you wanting and my overall impression takes a hit.

 
Rating: 2.5 / 5 Droids

 

QR Code

Screenshots

The application sits neatly on one of your homescreens  It takes up a 1×4 block of space on the screen and looks good with vibrant colors.  These colors do much more than just look good: they are functional, informing you of the volume levels in the categories of:

• Alarm
• Music
• Alerts
• Ringer
• System
• Voice

Clicking on the widget will fire the console window.  From here you can use sliders to set the volume levels for the alarm, medial player, alerts, ringer, system, and calls.

And that’s about it for the program.  Its simple, yet effective.  And in Android that usually makes for the best applications.  Get AudioManager from the Android market by searching it or scanning the QR code below:

That’s right ladies and gentlemen… Now you can point your phone at an object and run searches on it.  Right now the service is in its infancy so all the bugs aren’t worked out, but boy is it cool!.  I’ve scanned several things and am getting a feel for what works and doesn’t work.

What Works Well With Google Goggles

• Books: Pick a book, any book.  Scan it.  Google Goggles will recognize it.  For example, I scanned one of my textbooks, and Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics.  They worked very well with Google Goggles.

• Well known commercial products in their original packaging
• Large Landmarks
• Well known things with a large Internet footprint

Tips for using Google Goggles

• As with most image processing programs, make sure the picture is well lit, but not to the point of glare
• Take the picture with the camera facing the object as squarely as possible.  An angle change of 15 degrees was the difference between the phone picking up on a logo and not

This picture returned no results

  While this one did.  What a difference an angle makes!

• While in image capture mode, pay attention to the screen.  Helpful popups will appear as items Google identifies (by GPS and compass) objects in your view.  An example of this happened as I was testing the app inside a dorm room out of all places.  A popup came for University Housing.  Clicking on this returned the phone number, the location and website of the Universities housing department.
• When scanning an object, think about its connotation.  Is it a tree, or is it THE TREE.  Google Goggles is much more likely to recognize THE TREE, especially if the picture you take shows why its THE TREE.

Screenshots

Below is the home screen for the application, providing access to the main control and setup functions for the program.

Stop: This starts and stops the wallpaper changer program.

Time Settings:  This accesses the time settings for the program, accessing the screen below:

Here you can determine how often your android wallpaper should be changed.  You can choose as often as twice a day, which isn’t nearly often enough for my tastes (Back when i had a desktop wallpaper changer I changed every 5-20 minutes). 

Wallpaper Gallery: This is one of the things this program got right.  You can browse wallpapers in a neat scrolling gallery.  Long pressing an item selects it for further actions.

By default, the wallpapers included with the phone are the first entries into the gallery.  You can add entries by pressing the menu button and selecting add.  After attempting to add each item you are given the opportunity to resize the picture to a default 640×480 size before adding them.  If only there were a batch upload mode for those of us who have a lot of wallpapers…

Pros:  Easy to use; Great screen for browsing wallpapers.  Also is simply works!  There’s something to be said for software that meets expectations.  Works well with the clean, simple UI.

Cons: Would like to see more features.  For example, Batch uploading of photos would be nice.  As would an option to pull photos from an external source, such as flickr or something.

Rating: 3/5 Droids

Download Information

This program comes in two editions, a free trial version and a $0.99 full version.  Enjoy!

Name: Wallpaper Changer
Developer: FaYnaSoft Labs
Price: $0.99

Name: Wallpaper Changer (Trial)
Developer: FaYnaSoft Labs
Price: Free (Works for 15 days)

WaveSecure is a utility that does just that.  From their blog, TenCube has developed an application that allows you to:

1. 1. Lock your phone remotely to prevent unauthorized access to your phone
   2. Track your phone’s location and the SIM changes in your phone (even if your phone is not with you!)
   3. Backup your contacts, SMS, media and call logs
   4. Restore your contacts and SMS
   5. Remotely wipe your data on your phone and memory card

After registering your phone you can log into your account at www.wavesecure.com to remotely control your phone.

Current the application is in a stable beta version; you can grab the application right now for free from the Android market.  Tencube would greatly appreciate any user feedback to perfect this application.

Screenshots

Bonus: Video!

Pros: Provides comprehensive security in one convenient android security suite.  Also, more features are being added as we speak.  This program is still a work in progress and is open to your suggestions!

Cons: Some features I’d like to see include:

1. Support for users without SMS capabilities
2. Stronger anti-hacking support.  Right now you can just manually uninstall the application if you hook the phone up to a computer and have some Android know how…

Rating: 4.5 / 5 Droids

Download information:

Name: WaveSecure Beta
Developer: Tencube
Price: Free!

Lets start with Chess for Android.  Simply named, this is another chess game for Android.  What sets this apart from other games is that it has a sleek interface, good chess engine (I used to play frequently so I know), and is easy to use.  The board is a little small because of screen constraints, so the best way to play is by using the trackball to make moves.  There are various skill levels you can play, ranging from random play to expert.  Acess these play levels by pressing the menu button.  Some features of the program include

• Switch sides (You can play as black or white)
• Take back moves (For when you make a mistake)
• Moves list
• Different Levels of play
• Show valid moves
• Highlight opponents last move

Screenshots

Pros: Great interface, good engine.  Great gameplay experience, especially for those who have actually played chess before.  Would pay for this game.

Cons: There are a few petty features I’d like to see, like saving the moves for a game and export the moves list.  Also would like an option to rotate the board when playing black.

Rating: 4.5 / 5 Droids

Download information:

Name: Chess for Android
Developer: Aart Black
Price: Free!

E-mail from the Insyde Market

The Insyde Market is gearing up for the age when Android is available on netbooks.  They’re making a separate market for Android apps purely for netbook platforms.  This market will provide the same apps as the Android market, but it will provide versions of these applications optimized for a netbook platform.  Insyde Market offers to work with developers to revise their applications for a netbook platform.  Revisions can include:

• adjusting to the different sizes of netbook screens
• running on vastly different hardware than that provided by Android powered cell phones.  These hardware differences can include:
• Full keyboards
• Multi-touch screens
• other IMEs

Creating an account allows you to upload applications to the Insyde Market.  Other than that the site looks pretty simple.  Expect more additions in the future, especially when more applications are submitted.  Check out the Insyde market here.

You’ve got a homework assignment that you missed the handout for because, well… you slept though the last class.  It is due tomorrow and it is 11:35.  You need sleep.  What do you do?

If you’re me, you find a friend who is in the same class, scan their copy of the page and then settle down to working on the assignment and be done by 1.  Disaster averted.

Case 2:

You just got a letter that you have to share with someone.  But they’re kinda far away…say halfway across the nation away.  What do you do?

Again… scan said document, click the e-mail button, and get back to playing Team Fortress 2 (or doing that homework assignment you should have been doing)

As you can see this program is quite useful. 

Pros: Turns your phone into a scanner… what could be better?  Application works well and is easy to use.

Cons: Sometimes crashes, could use a little more image processing to make into seamless pdfs.  Right now you can still tell that a given document is a picture of a document and not just the document.

Rating: 4/5 Droids

Screenshots

     Homescreen:  This is where it begins.  Scan pages into a document that you can later turn into a .pdf file.

Making the pdf: Here you can make the pdf file, give it a name, and decide what to do with it after creation.

QR Codes

Lite Version:  This free version watermarks all documents created.

Full Version: This version for £3.99 drops the watermarking

Who said Android doesn’t have good games?  Whoever he or she is has obviously never played Colorix.  This game is a melding of two classics into one for a quality gaming experience.

Details:

The objective of this game is simple, clear the screen of marbles by setting up chains of 3 or marbles of the same color.  Earn bonus points by setting up combos and special chains of marbles.  See video below for gameplay…

Screenshots:

Remarks:

Professional looking game that’s easy to play and fun while progressively challenging.  Perfect formula for an addictive game.  Well worth the purchase price.

Rating: 4.5 / 5 Droids

Now you can place the news feeds of your favorite Android sites directly on your Android Desktop.  This application is brand new, so expect updates in the future to include more sites and features. Currently this app supports the following sites:

• Android And Me
• Android Guys
• Android Bloke
• Android Tapp
• Android Lib
• Androinica
• Droidweb
• Google And Blog
• HTC Source
• Open Intents
• Point GPhone
• AndroidWorld
• AndroidLab.pl

Show your support for the Android Network by downloading this app today!

Screenshots!

***UPDATE***

The newest version (3.9) is out.  Check it out for an updated interface!