GroupMe Android Application

GroupMe Android Application

GroupMe is a free app that allows you to message multiple people at once. I know what you're thinking: Yes, you can already text-message multiple people at once--all you have to do is add multiple numbers to the 'To:' field in your texting app (even non-smartphones have this ability). GroupMe is different, though. Instead of just letting you send messages to multiple people, it also allows you to have a group conversation.

Let me explain. When you text multiple people at once, all you're really doing is sending the same message to a bunch of different recipients. However, if any of those people text you back, then their response goes only to you--text messages don't have a 'Reply All' button.

GroupMe is like a default Reply All button. GroupMe sets up a dedicated number for each texting conversation, so when you text multiple people at once, they get a text message from that number. Then, when they reply to the text message, their reply goes to everyone in your GroupMe conversation. So it's like a group-chatting app, except via text message.

Your friends don't have to have GroupMe installed for it to work--which is a good thing, because it means that people who don't have smartphones can also partake in the fun. Only the conversation starter needs to have GroupMe installed. However, if you want to message someone directly through GroupMe, the recipient of the message will need to have the app installed on their phone.

GroupMe isn't just about texting, though; it also has conference calling, a mapping service (which gives the approximate locations of the other chat participants), and a still-in-beta 'Ask a Question' feature.

GroupMe's main screen looks like a texting app--it has all of your grouped conversations, a search button, a prominent 'Start a Group' button, and buttons for Home, Contacts, Featured, and News. The Featured button takes you to a list of GroupMe "partners" (such as the TV show Dexter and the artist Ke$ha) and lets you start groups focused on said partners. The News tab is just a random newsfeed of sorts.

Starting a group is as easy as pressing the green plus button at the bottom of the home screen and adding a couple of worthy contacts. Message them once, and your contacts receive a couple of texts, including a note declaring that they have been added to a group, as well as a list who else is in the group with them. Any member of the group can start a conference call by dialing the phone number your group has been assigned for the duration of your group conversation.

The original conversation starter can also disband the group--but once a group is disbanded, its private group number ceases to exist.

GroupMe is an innovative way to get multiple people involved in one conversation. It can be annoying to have your phone constantly go off whenever someone replies to the group, but the tool and service are great if you're trying to get a group of people together to meet, or if you have a bunch of friends who really love to talk to one another.

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Hipster Application for Android

Hipster Application for Android

If you took a picture on your smartphone but nobody sees it, did you really take it? Hipster lets you solve that particular philosophical dilemma by offering a simple way to customize an image into a funky digital postcard and upload it for the world to marvel at.

To get started with Hipster, you'll need a picture that you want to customize. You can either take a new picture--using whichever camera app you have installed--or you can choose a picture from your gallery. Once you have an image to work with, you pick a look: Hipster contains a long list of preset styles, each with its own color effect and frame. Each preset has space for a caption which, by default, contains your location. You can easily edit the caption, and your text will carry through all of the presets as you pick and choose the one that's right for you.

Despite its variety of styles, image customization in Hipster ends up feeling limited. You can't mix and match frames or styles, and you can't control how the text looks on an image.

On the plus side, Hipster's community is fun and active. Both the app and the Hipster.com website contain a gallery where you can view and comment on other people's public photos. Several of the photographs I came across in the gallery looked quite beautiful, and you can spend a fair amount of time browsing the works of other Hipster savants. From the Hipster app, you can comment on images, follow other users, or "like" photographs--the same basic things you can do on the Hipster website.

Hipster may not rival other image processing apps for power and flexibility, but its vibrant community makes it a fun choice for sharing photos, and for looking at beautiful, spontaneous pictures from all over the world.

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Speaktoit Assistant Android Application

Speaktoit Assistant is an Android app that in many ways resembles Apple's Siri for iphone4s. It acts as a virtual assistant that can respond to voice commands and perform Web searches and other simple tasks. You can use Speaktoit Assistant to launch apps, find contacts, compose email or text messages, create calendar events, give directions, and more.

Speaktoit Assistant uses Google's voice transcription service to understand your spoken commands. The app lets you choose from among several iSpeech voices, all of which sound a bit more natural than Google's robotic-sounding text-to-speech (TTS) service. I ended up settling on a female voice with a British accent that I found quite pleasant and easy to understand.

The app has a fun feature that allows you to design a custom avatar for your assistant. The avatar doesn't do anything functional, but it does give the app a bit more personality and puts a face on screen to go along with the app's voice.

Speaktoit Assistant is easy to use: Simply press the onscreen microphone and tell the app what you'd like it to do. Like Siri, Speaktoit Assistant has a sassy personality and will occasionally offer somewhat snarky responses.

But even though Speaktoit Assistant is one of the best and most versatile voice-powered apps I've used, it had some hiccups and limitations. At times I had to repeat my commands multiple times or manually type them in, in order for Speaktoit Assistant to understand me. Also, the app could not read email or text messages aloud--a feature I had hoped would be included.

Still, overall, Speaktoit Assistant is a good voice-controlled app that supports a fair amount of integration with other Android apps. If you want a Siri-like app on your 'droid, this is one of your better options. Though Speaktoit Assistant doesn't work as a truly hands-free means to control your phone, it's a step in the right direction.

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GasBuddy Android Application

GasBuddy Android Application

The days of cheap gasoline may be gone for good, but the free GasBuddy app for Android can help you find the best fuel deals in town. GasBuddy is very easy to use: The app uses your GPS location to search for nearby gas stations, then returns a list that you can sort by price or distance. The list is conveniently organized into tabs for Regular, Mid-Grade, and Premium gasoline, as well as Diesel fuel. Clicking on an item gives you more details such as the gas station's phone number, services offered, and directions to help you get there.

You can also switch to a view that shows the gas stations and their prices as thumbnails on a map, relative to your current position. Click a thumbnail to go to a page with more details about the gas station. I prefer the map view because to me it feels more visually intuitive than the list view.

GasBuddy has some other nice features like the ability to filter results by gas station brand, toggle between metric and imperial distance units, save searches, and save individual gas stations as Favorites.

I tested GasBuddy in Oakland, CA and soon discovered a spread of 32 cents per gallon between the cheapest and most expensive gas stations in my area (a radius of approximately five miles). That means that I could save as much as $3.84 the very first time I fill a 12-gallon gas tank. Think about it. Here is a free app that actually can save you a significant amount of money on a recurring expense. How awesome is that?

GasBuddy uses crowd-sourced reports from users to provide up-to-date prices, and each price listing also shows how recent the price report is. If you register an account with GasBuddy, you can join in on reporting gas prices for a chance to win a $250 gas card. It's worth noting that you can also log in to gasbuddy online with any Web browser to access your Favorites and saved searches. It's definitely worth checking out, as the Website has some interesting features, like regional and national gas price “heat maps,” that complement the mobile app nicely.

I uninstall many apps after I review them, but I like GasBuddy so much that I plan to keep it on my phone. The only thing it lacks is the ability for a user to rate or review an individual gas station. Such a feature could be helpful to warn other users of potential problems such as poor service, unsafe conditions, or bad gasoline.

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DroidWall Android Firewall

DroidWall Android Firewall

I review a lot of Android apps: Many of them are junk, some are so-so, and a small number are great, providing functionality that should be included in every Android device. DroidWall is among the elite few. Why? Because DroidWall allows you to specify which apps can access the Internet--giving you more control over your phone and enabling you to protect yourself against unauthorized data connections.

Unfortunately, many apps misuse their permissions in order to upload your contacts list without asking, report your physical location to third-party advertisers, or abet other invasions of privacy. DroidWall puts the power back into your hands. The app's simple dashboard controls how your installed apps can access the Internet. Each app is listed with two checkboxes: One is for Wi-Fi data access (useful for keeping apps that use a lot of data from eating up your cellular data), and the other is for cellular data. Check the box to allow access; leave it blank to deny access. When you're done, activate the firewall.

Of course, many apps (for example, your Web browser) have legitimate reasons to access the Internet. Blocking these apps may cause them to behave erratically or may prevent them from working altogether. If an app doesn't have any obvious legitimate reason to connect to the Internet, however, you can probably block it without adverse effects. If you do experience problems, you can always go back into DroidWall and re-enable an app's network connection if you must--or turn off the firewall entirely if you don't plan on using it.

It's worth noting that many free apps rely on in-app advertising for revenue. In such cases, the app may try to connect to the Internet in order to serve up advertisements. Using DroidWall to block the app will block the ads--but it will also block the app developer's revenue stream. On the other hand, many advertisers track your location and other information, and DroidWall can put a stop to that unwelcome behavior.

The privacy and security benefits of DroidWall are comparable to desktop PC firewall and justify the effort it takes to root your phone.

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Lookout Mobile Security Application

Lookout Mobile Security Application

Lookout Security & Antivirus provides free security protection, contacts backup, and remote locating and screaming for both phones and tablets. The app requires you to create a free Lookout account, which can be accessed by going to mylookout.com and signing in with your account credentials. Upgrading to a premium account ($2.99/m or $29.99/yr) adds safe browsing, a privacy advisor, backup of pictures and call history, and remote locking and wiping.

The security protection automatically scans apps you install and update and (optionally) new files for viruses and malware. By default it also performs a full scan weekly, which you can schedule for a particular time or day, or turn off if desired.

The backup feature saves your contacts and, if you have a premium account, your pictures and call history to your online account. There you can view them and restore them to the same device should you accidentally erase your data. Premium account holders can choose to restore their data to another tablet or phone, a handy feature if you're migrating to a new device.. Lookout makes backups daily by default, though you can adjust the frequency in the settings menu.

The missing device feature lets you remotely control your device from your online account. By logging in to the Lookout website, you can locate your phone or tablet on a Google Map or make it scream so you can find it even if the device volume is set to low or silent. If you have a premium account, you can remotely lock your tablet or phone to prevent someone from using it, or wipe it to erase all your data in case you have no hope of ever getting it back.

If a thief replaces the SIM card in your phone with their own, the Lookout app will detect the change and show the new number on your online account. You can then use the number to help in catching the thief or, if you are especially devious, you can prank call them at all hours of the night--making them really regret stealing your phone.

If you upgrade to the premium account, the safe browsing feature automatically detects and alerts you if you visit a phishing or malware site. And the privacy advisor helps you identify apps that may be invading your privacy by listing apps that have sensitive permissions, such as those that can read identity info, access messages, or track your location.

When evaluating this app on my Android phone and tablet I didn’t find any major issues. Setting up the app was painless and took only a few minutes. By default, Lookout appears on the notification bar, offering a quick way to open it. Once you open the app, you find a simple, inviting, and user-friendly interface that is extremely easy to navigate.

Though Lookout uses the same uninstall protection as other security apps (setting the app as a device administrator), it would be great to see additional uninstall protection so it’s harder for thieves to remove it.

Overall, this is a great app to help protect your Android smartphone or tablet. However, it’s hard to recommend the premium upgrade for everyone given there are other cheaper or free apps out there that can provide similar protection. For most, the free version will be adequate and you can always upgrade later should you ever need to take advantage of the paid features.

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Snappy fizz for Android

Snappy fizz for Android

















This app lets you add a number of effects to your camera, making the pictures more interesting. There are various colour effects that you can add even while taking a picture. And these are not just the normal sepia, grayscale, etc, but some clever ones too. For instance, the magic colour feature lets you highlight just one colour in the picture. So if you choose jungle, only objects with green colour will remain coloured. Then there are various effects like ghost, four posters, and sketch, that are fun to use. One of the highlights of the app is Scenes, that lets you use interesting props like a painting canvas to take a picture.
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Skifta Application for Android

Skifta Application for Android














This is the app that brings your Android smartphone into the home entertainment setup. A quick handshake with most media streaming devices on the network, and you will be enjoying videos, pictures and even music on the television. However, this doesn't hide the fact that Skifta will play limited video formats.

It has always been a mood spoiling factor when you realize that you want to watch a video on your phone on a big screen television, but don’t have an HDMI cable lying around or your phone doesn’t have the HDMI out anyways. However, if you are using an Android phone, there is a solution.

How to get it

This is a 4.5MB download available on Android Market. All you need to do is search for Skifta. The app is made by Qualcomm, and is free to download. Works with all phones having Android 2.2 and beyond. You should ideally be connected to Wi-Fi, saving you from extra data charges in the mobile bill. And also because you will need to be on the wireless home network anyways for this to work post install.

What really matters

This is the app that allows you to stream videos, pictures and music from your phone to any DLNA capable network device. Till now, you had to scramble for an HDMI cable to connect to the TV, and there was certainly a bit more teeth gnashing when the realization struck that there was no mini HDMI cable.

Setting it up

Once the installation is done, you need to connect the phone to the same network that the other devices will be connected to. It doesn’t matter whether the other devices are connected wirelessly or on a wired network.

Once connected, the app will do an update. For the first time, this update may take about 5 minutes, but for every subsequent launch, this process will only take a few seconds. The next screen is where you select the source the media is coming from. It can be your smartphone, or any DLNA capable PC on the same network. In case it is a PC on the network, Skifta will work as a remote.

The next step is to select the device that the media will be sent to for playback. Any network capable DLNA device will show up on the list - network media players, streamers, televisions, Blu-ray players etc.

Once the app ensures the handshake with the network device is successful, the next selection is activated. For simplicity, the content is cleanly separated into three categories - videos, music and pictures. The content lying on your device’s internal memory and memory card will be listed automatically in the correct place.

How it works

We connected Skifta to the WD Live media player, on the same home network. Once that was done, it is as simple as tap file to play. Since you have already preset the destination device in the first menu, there is no need to do that every time you play any media.

Audio playback was quite smooth, and it took a second from the time you clicked the file on the phone to the time the playback started. There is a similar waiting period for most high res images. The playback was smooth, and even selecting different media at quick speeds generated a smooth and sure response. Since it does not do any processing on any media being played back, the quality will be the same as what is on the original content.

Video playback is good for the most part. Select a video and it takes about 2 seconds before the playback starts on the device. Let us state here that this time is also dependent from device to device, and will vary a bit. All SD files in AVI format played back effortlessly. However, the playback of MKV and the M2TS files was disappointing. While you can see these files within the app, most HD containers aren’t supported. And since Skifta doesn’t rely on any third party media player for the playback needs, installing any media player on the phone wont help.

We say

This is the app that brings your Android smartphone into the home entertainment setup. Quick handshake with most media streaming devices on the network, and you will be enjoying videos, pictures and even music on the television. However, doesn’t hide the fact that Skifta will play limited video formats. But then again, there really isn't any good alternative that does what this app does - makes your smartphone the hub in the home theater setup.

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The Braveheart Sports Ticket for iphone/android

The Braveheart Sports Ticket for iphone/android

The Braveheart Sports Ticket mobile ticket app has brought the power of buying tickets for all sports events right to the palm of your hand.

Interested in seeing an NBA, NHL, NFL, MLS or MLB game? Now you can buy tickets to see your favorite Basketball, Hockey, Football, Soccer or Baseball team straight from your iPhone or Android phone. Purchase day of game tickets with a 125% delivery guarantee right up to kickoff or opening pitch!

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Samsung Galaxy S II Android 4.0 ICS

Samsung Galaxy S II Android 4.0 ICS













The world’s most fabulous Android smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S II, is set for an upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on March 10th. That’s just two days away for the international edition of this hero phone of Samsung’s, with the rest of the versions – namely the USA editions on each of the top four carriers in the country – still under wraps. Of course they should be getting and update sooner than later, but its now the carrier modifications that Samsung will have to work with to get this software bump added.













This update will come in the form of an over-the-air update which will be slowest if you’re upgrading just using your mobile data, a bit faster if you’re on Wi-fi, and even faster still if you simply grab the update with Kies. For those of you that’ve never used Kies, it’s the Samsung-made desktop interface you can use to interact with your Samsung device with great ease. This upgrade will bring everything that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has to offer including advanced multitasking and a modded Samsung TouchWiz user interface.
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ANDROID MOBILE iLauncher v2.1.1.3 Apk App

ANDROID MOBILE iLauncher v2.1.1.3 Apk App

Requirements:

Android 2.1+
Overview: iPhone style home screen launcher
This is an iPhone style home screen launcher. The launcher makes your phone work just like a real iPhone.


iPhone style home screen launcher
This is an iPhone style home screen launcher. The launcher makes your phone work just like a real iPhone.
- Smooth scrolling.
- Icons have rounded corners and gloss effects.
- Long touch icons to move them around and position them as you like.
- Supports a customizable dock-bar.
- Easily uninstall apps from your home screen.
- Press the back hardware key to exit editmode.
- Spotlight search

v2.1.1.3

- Bug fix
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ANDROID MOBILE iMediaShare Premium v3.7 Apk App:

ANDROID MOBILE iMediaShare Premium v3.7 Apk App

Requirements:

Android 1.6+
Overview: Find and play personal and online video, music and photos

Enjoy watching multimedia on your large-screen TV.
iMediaShare transforms your smartphone into a remote control, allowing you to seamlessly stream and watch online media on the big screen TV.
It also streams videos, music and photos stored locally on your phone directly on the connected TV.

Advantages over iMediaShare Lite:

- Ad-free experience
- Video playback from YouTube links
- Video playback of arbitrary mpeg4/mpeg2 files from the internet
- Opportunity to support the future product development

iMediaShare requires no additional hardware and no cables. All you need is your Android phone, internet-enabled TV and a WiFi network.
iMediaShare also supports connected audio systems, blu-ray players, game consoles (Playstation 3, XBox360), as well as other DLNA/UPnP media players.

iMediaShare lets you take your favorite content everywhere with you making it easy to share it with friends at any time on any connected screen.

Supported online content channels: Animal Planet, Bild, Beet TV, Break.com, CBS News, CNBC, CNET, CNN, COIN-OP TV, College Humor, Dailymotion,
Deutsche Welle, Driving Sports, Earth Touch, Engadget, Euronews, Facebook, France 24, Funny or Die, G4, Harvard Business Review, HDNet, Les Debiles, MaYoMo, Motorz, NASA TV, NY Times, Picasa, PR Newswire, PSN, Revision3, Showtime, Spiegel Online, TED Talks, The Onion, TWiT TV, VideoBASH, Vimeo, White House, YDN Design, YouTube and more to come.

With iMediaShare you can play your digital media on a variety of media devices:
1) Televisions from Samsung (w/ AllShare), LG, Sony BRAVIA (experimental video support), Philips, Panasonic Viera (experimental video support), Toshiba
2) Game consoles: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsof(t) XBox360
3) Network Media Players: Sony Blu-ray, LG Blu-ray, WD TV Live, Popcorn Hour, Xtreamer, Marantz, DirecTV, Logitech Revue (Google TV), etc.
4) Audio/music players: Denon,Sonos, Onkyo, Linn, Philips Streamium, Yamaha, etc.
5) Apple TV or other AirPlay-enabled devices
6) Other DLNA/UPnP compliant media players.
7) PC/Mac media servers: Twonky, Skifta, Window(s) Media Player, etc.

NOTE (1): For best playback performance on PS3, please, ensure that your PS3 is WIRED and not WIRELESS.
NOTE (2): Videos recorded with the phone's camera are not playable on some TVs and game consoles.

What's in this version:

-Video playback directly from YouTube links
-Video playback of arbitrary mpeg4/mpeg2 files from the internet
-Content playback from other apps using Share Via iMediaShare
-Video playback in the background
-Faster app launch
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ANDROID MOBILE 360 Guards v2.1.0 Apk App

ANDROID MOBILE 360 Guards v2.1.0 Apk App

Requirements:

Android 2.1
Overview: It is a real ALL IN ONE mobile phone application. Protect your phone in and out. And it is easy to use. Don't forget to leave me a comment and share this out if this is a useful app.

Features:

What happen if you lost your device
Anti-theft protection
Backup SMS / contact to its cloud
Block incoming call
Block spam message
Virus scanner with cloud killing features
Data/Traffic monitor with daily/ weekly/ monthly data limit notifier
One-click clear cache
One-click free memory
Check your available credit
Firewall
Floating widget for easy access
Battery saver optimization
One-click boost your device
Show system information, better, resolution, CPU, etc
Hardware testing including pixel test, SD memory, etc
Document management
File explorer
etc... [tell me ]

It is a real ALL IN ONE mobile phone application. Protect your phone in and out. And it is easy to use. Don't forget to leave me a comment and share this out if this is a useful app.

Initial release: 360_Guards_0
- Every word in language file is being translated into English. Do let me know if I missed out something somewhere or it show something that shouldn't say in there.

Initial release: 360_Guards_1
- Translated a file that I missed into English language.
- Translated pictures into English language.
- Introductory page is not translated as I cant find the location of the file
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