Welcome to Bubble Android

Android Apps – News360

Posted by Padeanu Adrian on February 15th, 2012

There are a lot of things that you can do with an Android-running smartphone and one of them is to stay up to date on current events. A good way to do this would be by downloading and installing News360 which is a simple application developed to aggregate news from all over the world, giving you the possibility to search the information that you need.

Staying up to date with the latest news can be somewhat a tricky task, especially when some of the apps don’t have all the important stories which are relevant to you. This is not an issue you will encounter if you will be using News360 as it provides a constant stream of news from more than four thousand sources.

News360 (Source: i1-news.softpedia-static.com)

This news aggregator will list all of the relevant and important news events that are divided by news outlet, location and subject. In addition, you have several features at your disposal which will help you find particular stories. It is safe to say that this is a pretty robust application which is capable of covering most of the subjects that you are interested in, and you also have the possibility to pinpoint the news stories to where you live.

As far as its interface is concerned, News360 is simple to use and understand. After you launch the application you will be greeted with a generous photo of the first story. You will also notice a category button located at the bottom of the page, while on top you will find a bunch of settings/features buttons. In order to read a story you’ll have to tap the image, while moving to the next story is done by swiping your finger. Needless to say, you can choose the category for changing the aggregator to show you only a certain type of stories. This application offers no less than 14 predefined categories and aside from this you can save your own search terms as categories.

News360 (Source: smartkeitai.com)

With News360 you will notice that the app can automatically highlight specific words in the news, like important names of places and people. If you tap on those names you will be redirected to a Freebase entry for that subject in order to obtain additional info on the subject.

If you tap on the GPS icon which is located on the top of the main screen, News360 will compile a list of news stories which will be centered on where you are. The application can also be paired with Triplt in order to obtain news from destinations that you have included in your itinerary.

We end by mentioning that News360 needs at least Android 2.2 to work and it is free to download from the Market. The current version of the app is 2.2.2.

Did you like this? Share it:

Android Thesaurus Apps

Posted by Padeanu Adrian on February 15th, 2012

If you are on the look for a tool that can provide information regarding synonyms and antonyms, you might want to consider one of the following Android thesaurus apps for your smartphone that’s running on Google’s mobile operating system. Don’t confuse a thesaurus that contains synonyms and antonyms with a dictionary because the latter contains definitions and punctuations.

One of the best applications of this kind is simply called Thesaurus and it can very well be your useful reference guide to search and find multiple synonyms for a certain word. All you have to do is enter the word in the search box and you will be able to obtain a list of the words that have a similar meaning. It is worth mentioning that each of the synonyms provided by the application has a link to a broader meaning. Thesaurus offers support at the moment for eight languages. In order to change the language you’ll have to go to the settings menu and choose your preferred language. You can download Thesaurus for free from the Market and you don’t have to worry about ads.

Thesaurus Free (Source: cdn2.staztic.com)

Another ad-free application that you might want to consider is Thesaurus Free which works just about the same as the previous app we’ve mentioned. The user has to open the application and after that type in the word for which you will be getting several synonyms and antonyms. We should mention that the software has separate “similar terms” and “related terms” sections in order to broaden the result of the searching, providing more options for the Android user to obtain more definitions. You can also tap the word in the aforementioned similar terms section in order to obtain a new search table for the word you’ve selected.

Probably one of the most comprehensive applications of this kind would have to be Advanced English and Thesaurus which has more than one million words and 140,000 entries. Powered by WordNet, the available lexical database can provide you with a very easy and convenient way in order to search cognitive synonyms, hyponyms and also antonyms. You will probably enjoy the fact that it provides a dynamic search function which means that you will be getting results as you type a word in the available search box. It also comes with a handy filter mode which can correct spelling errors.

ColorDict (Source: tech4world.net)

We end with the ColorDict app which is suitable for students because it is very simple to use and it has a clutter-free interface. It has a generous WordNet-powered dictionary and thesaurus, along with a separate entry for Google Translate and Wikipedia. You can search for words in both the online and offline dictionaries, plus you also can download dictionaries for free from the Internet.

Did you like this? Share it:

Android Apps – Virus Protection

Posted by Padeanu Adrian on February 14th, 2012

On the Android Market you will find several anti-virus solutions that you could install on your smartphone to protect it from various virus threats. Even though you might think that the virus threat is not significant, you never know what might happen while you are surfing the Internet with your smartphone. One of the best anti-virus solutions developed for the Android platform would have to be AVG Security Pro.

First of all, we have to mention that this application is not free as you’ll have to pay $4.99 to download it from the Market. You should know that Security Pro wasn’t always an AVG application, but it was purchased later. Since AVG has its own software available, on the Android Market you will notice two Pro apps that basically share the exact same functionality. The other app you’ll find is called AVG Anti-Virus Pro and will set you back $9.99.

AVG Security Pro (Source: byemobile.com)

What Security Pro can do is scan a rich variety of content on your Android-running smartphone. It is able to check settings, content (contacts, SMS and bookmarks), apps and media (audio, video and images). During the scanning, the application can look for viruses, malware and OS exploits. Another function is “FindR” which is an online service that can help you detect the handset if you lose it or when it gets stolen. It has a backup feature that will give you the possibility to store away your data and applications. One other thing that the application can do is to lock your applications by using a password to secure them.

Every time you will install a new application on your Android smartphone, AVG Security Pro will scan the APK to check and see if it has any viruses. This is a great feature especially for those users that choose to sideload Android applications on the handset.

AVG Security Pro (Source: appandroid.org)

The purchasing cost of this application is in our humble opinion justifiable since you get more than just a simple anti-virus solution. You also are able to use it as a phone locator software and it is also possible to scan for malware. Aside from this, with AVG Secrutiy Pro you have a reliable backup tool and it will also provide the necessary operating system exploit protection.

On the Android Market you will find several applications but only a few of them are as complex as this one. You will be able to download several anti-virus solutions for your Android smartphone that are free on the Market. If you are willing to pay $10, you might want to consider the aforementioned AVG Anti-Virus Pro which is probably one of the best solutions for protection against anti-virus, malware and other similar issues related to the vulnerability of the Android operating system.

Did you like this? Share it:

Android Apps For Fathers

Posted by Padeanu Adrian on February 14th, 2012

In this article we are going to have a look at some of the best Android applications that fathers can use. The following software can be considered as a great gift for fathers that own a smartphone running on the Android OS. Here are our favorite apps:

FuelLog (Source: searchandroid.com)

We begin with an application called Fuel Log which will help fathers keep an accurate track of the costs related to fuel consumption and car maintenance. The app will aid fathers keep track of services, maintenance and costs of the car, and it is also capable of calculating the total cost and mileage, average cost on a monthly basis, gas amount, present stats through graphs and also the average cost per distance. Fuel Log also features a built-in calculator for calculating the costs and distance to be covered by the vehicle as well as the necessary volume of gasoline. It is worth mentioning that it supports multiple cars and also offers useful stats that will certainly come in hand.

If your father enjoys playing Golf, you might want to get him the Golf GPS Range Finder application from the Android Market. With the help of this software, the user has the possibility to browse through more than 20,000 golf courses. As you would expect, the finder is GPS-enabled and offers a satellite image of the hole and the user can identify the design of the course easily, along with finding out which are the obstacles and hazards. We should mention that Golf GPS Range Finder comes with a very useful pan and zoom feature that give the permission to the user to zoom in and out on the course. With this application, the Android user can add his greens by using the mapping system. You will find the app for free on the Market, but there’s also a paid version which adds a stats and scorecard module.

To help your father organize better, you might want to have a look at an application called Jorte Personal Organizer that can manage to-do lists, important schedules, along with storing important notes and events. The application is customizable and the lists, schedules and events can be synchronized with Google Maps.

Android Beer Guide (Source: cdn.androidblip.com)

We end our list of Android apps for fathers recommendations with Android Beer Guide, designed for those fathers that enjoy this type of drink. This software allows users to browse all of the available beers by name, brewery, country and type. It can automatically list some of the highest-rated beers according to the reviews and ratings shared by various users. Your father will be able to write down his personal comment that other users will be able to see. Android Beer Guide can be downloaded for free from the Market and it is updated on a regular basis.

Did you like this? Share it:

Android Apps – Hiding Photos And Videos

Posted by Padeanu Adrian on February 13th, 2012

On the Android Market you will find several apps that you can use in order to hide your personal multimedia content. In this article we are going to offer a small review of some of the most important apps of this kind.

Kii Safe (Source: images.brighthub.com)

We start with Kii Safe which you can download for free from the Market and gives you the chance to hide all of the multimedia content in your Android gallery. Personal images and videos can be password-protected by transferring them to the application’s special “safe” and you can view them later on by entering a PIN number. In order to hide videos and images, you will have to open the gallery, select the ones that you would like to hide, and after that select Kii Safe by pressing Share. The images that you have selected have been moved to a special folder and if you want to unhide videos and images you’ll have to access the Kii Safe special folder after entering your PIN number and tapping “unhide”.

Another app that you might want to consider is Data Valut. With this one you won’t have to enter a password because all you need to do is select the images and then press “Start Encrypt Data” in order to store these in fake pictures. You will need to be careful and not delete these fake images due to the reason that the data of all the hidden pictures is encrypted within the fake ones. For viewing the hidden photos, you must decrypt them through the application without selecting a file as all your files will be decrypted right away.

For hiding videos we recommend Video Safe. It is very easy to use as what you have to do is select the video and after that press the hide option in order to transfer it to a private folder. To unhide the video, you have to select it and press the restore video as public sub-menu. You need to know that the app restricts users to hide up to five videos only in the free version, while the paid version of the app will allow you to hide unlimited videos. We should warn you that the app does not have a batch conversion option so you’ll have to hide the videos file by file which might take a while.

Gallery Lock (Source: media02.hongkiat.com)

The last application of this kind that we want to recommend is called Gallery Lock and it can hide your images and videos from the Gallery by using two encryption methods. The software allows two different password-protection features as you can encrypt the multimedia files by entering a PIN number or you can also use the pattern password feature which will allow you to make your own pattern. It is available in both free and paid versions on the Android Market.

Did you like this? Share it:

Android Podcast Widgets

Posted by Padeanu Adrian on February 13th, 2012

One of the best ways for keeping up to date on your favorite blog or online show is with podcasts. These have become widely available for smartphones and in this article we will go through some of the best Android widgets that you could try.

BeyondPad (Source: cdn.techprone.com)

We kick things off with BeyondPad that is available on the Market in both free and paid versions. It offers a significant amount of podcasts that are separated in a few categories like comedy, entertainment, technology and others as well. The widget can link with your Google Reader account so you’ll be able to listen to your favorite podcasts that you have stored there. The paid version costs $6.99 and the major difference between the two versions is that with the free one you will have to download each of the podcasts separately if you want to listen to them when there’s no Wi-Fi connection available or you are not in range of a cell tower. With the free version you get a 7-day trial of the paid features.

G Reader (Source: appstorehq-production.s3.amazonaws.com)

G Reader is considered to be the unofficial application for Google Reader. It is quite a good podcatcher for RSS feeds in your personal Google Reader and it will give you an intuitive listing of all the topics that you have; topics which are separated into their appropriate categories. The paid version of the app gets rid of those annoying ads and you also get more choices as far as screens are concerned. The widget is in fact an icon that will tell you how many unread items you have.

Another similar widget that you might want to consider installing on your Android smartphone would have to be RSS Demon. At the moment there are two free versions and two paid versions of this app. This one is also capable of linking to your Google Reader user account. With this software you are also able to add and delete feeds that are synchronized to that account. We have to say that the widget will open to that particular content area, whereas the aforementioned BeyondPad can actually play the podcast. All four versions of the RSS Demon can be accessed from the official Android Market.

Did you like this? Share it:

Android Calendar Widgets

Posted by Padeanu Adrian on February 7th, 2012

On the official Android Market you will find more than just a few calendar widgets that you can install on your smartphone. Here are our favorite ones:

Pure Grid Calendar Widget (Source: cdn5.droidmill.com)

Pure Grid Calendar Widget is our first recommendation. It can display a calendar month on the phone’s homescreen which can be populated with events and details. It works with LG Exchange, Samsung Exchange, Motorola Exchange TouchDown Exchange and Google Agenda. From the widget you have the possibility to input events directly.

Those who created the previous app also developed Pure Calendar Widget that can show you on the homescreen information about the date and time, details concerning upcoming events, along with display events that are in TouchDown Exchange, Google Agenda, Motorola Exchange and LG Exchange. Directly from the widget you can add new events as well as details about it. You also can set repeating or routine events to display every few days weeks or even months.

We should also mention Smooth Calendar Widget that comes with a bunch of options, including which calendar to derive from, along with the number of events to display and how many days in advance it can display.

Another Android calendar widget that we enjoyed using is called Android Agenda Widget that is capable of displaying the time & date and event details on the smartphone’s homescreen. This one works with several apps like Google Exchange, Google Calendar, Dato GTask, SSI gTask, Astrid and Motorola Exchange. As you would expect, the widget is available in various sizes and for each of these widgets there are different types of calendars to choose from. You also are able to customize the widget by changing text options, color of the widget and also how the date is displayed.

CalWidget (Source: fs01.androidpit.info)

On the Android Market you will also find CalWidget which will automatically update the information on an hourly basis and it can display events up to a month in advance. The user of this widget has the possibility to select which type of calendar the widget will display the info from. In addition, you are able to change different settings for each of the available widgets.

Last but certainly not least, we end our list of Android Calendar Widgets with another one called What’s Today Calendar Widget. This one works together with Stock and SenseUI in order to display on the smartphone’s homescreen the date and day. Those who want to open the full calendar have to press the date display. This widget comes with approximately 25 different colors to choose from, but keep in mind that these are available exclusively to those users that select to download the “donate” version of What’s Today Calendar Widget.

All things considered, these are some pretty interesting Android calendar widgets. For a more comprehensive list, do a quick search on the Android Market.

Did you like this? Share it:

Android Weather Widgets

Posted by Padeanu Adrian on February 7th, 2012

One of the main things that you can do with your Android smartphone is to check out weather information. In this article we are going to go through some of the best Android weather widgets that you can download and install on your smartphone.

Weather Widgets by Pixelspore (Source: pixelspore.com)

We kick things off with Weather Widgets by Pixelspore which is one of those widgets that has a long list of options to play with. It has 18 different widgets that are available in three different sizes; all of them being able to display the forecast for the day, along with the week’s forecast as well. Some of the widgets also feature a clock, while one of the options that you have is to set the level of transparency for the background. In addition, you have the possibility to select how often the weather forecast will be updated.

Needless to say, you can modify the date and time format, along with the weather units. This application is also capable of displaying wind direction, wind speed, barometric pressure, number of hours of sunlight per day, along with the time when the sun rises and sets. You can download this app from the Android Market where it costs only $1.36.

We continue with Animated Weather Widget which offers an appealing and lively display of the weather conditions. This widget features very nice rendered clouds, snow and rain. As you would expect, the forecast is updated automatically and it is specific to your area. It can also display the time of the day and you are able to choose a background and size of the widget. The best thing about this one? You can get it for free from the Android Market.

Weather Forecast Widget is capable of displaying weather info grabbed from Weather Underground and Google. It displays the low and high temperatures of the day, plus you have the ability to customize the way in which the widget displays the info. On the Android Market you’ll find both a free and paid version of the widget. The latter brings a calendar feature and additional skins to choose from.

You also might want to consider Weather Widget which is a fairly basic and informative weather widget that displays the day’s weather and also info about the weather in the upcoming three days. This one offers info about temperature (high and low), along with weather condition which features images of clouds, sun and rain. We should also mention that it shows you the sunrise and sunset times as well. You can get it for free from the Market.

Snowstorm Weather Widget (Source: androidfreeware.net)

We end with Snowstorm Weather Widget displays the weather conditions and temperature of the day. It comes with a bunch of backgrounds that blend seamlessly with the weather info. It’s free on the Android Market.

Did you like this? Share it:

Android Apps – PowerPoint Applications

Posted by Padeanu Adrian on February 6th, 2012

In this article we are going to have a look at some of the best applications developed for the Android platform which support PowerPoint presentations.

QuickOffice Pro (Source: geeky-gadgets.com)

We start with probably the most popular of them all which is QuickOffice Pro. This one offers support for various Microsoft Office formats, including PowerPoint. With this software you have the possibility to access your files remotely from Dropbox, Google, Huddle and your own SD card. You are able to create, edit and view your presentations in PowerPoint and also you can include info for you presentations from several storage points.

QuickOffice Pro also has a thumbnail preview feature that you can use when scrolling multi-page documents. In addition, you have the chance of editing speaker notes in the presentation, or you can insert images from the phone’s gallery.

Another app that we want to talk about is Remote For PowerPoint which much like the other apps of its kind it can be used as a remote to control PowerPoint presentations. The application can connect to the host via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Once you are done installing the application and manage to get it working, you will be able to use it for controlling slides, including annotations and animations. There’s also the black screen toggle feature which can be used if you want to black out the screen so that the audience will focus on what you are saying.

Docs To Go (Source: dnewandroidapps.com)

Docs To Go (full version) is another example of a fine PowerPoint application. You need to get the full version because only this one offers PowerPoint features. As you would expect, you have the possibility to create, edit and view presentations. Some of the features include the possibility to make timing adjustments, reviewing the notes, flicking through the slides and also sending & receiving attachment from not only Gmail, but also other e-mail apps so that you will be able to send and/or receiver PowerPoint presentations or even attachments that can be used in a presentation.

Let’s not forget about i-Clickr PowerPoint Remote which gives you the chance of controlling your PowerPoint presentations from your Android smartphone through a Wi-Fi connection or Bluetooth, without the need of configuring a network between the device and the PC. With this one you can completely take control of the slides, including animations. The app also can help you stay within the time allotted for you to do your presentation as it comes with a presentation timer option which is configurable.

We end with Presenter which works just about the same way as i-Clickr PowerPoint Remote. With this one you can swipe or make other gestures in order to navigate through a PowerPoint presentation or control the host computer’s volume. It also comes with a presentation timing feature and it can wirelessly switch between slides, OpenOffice and PDF presentations through Bluetooth-enabled Windows, Linux and Mac computers.

Did you like this? Share it:

Voice Recorder Android App

Posted by Padeanu Adrian on February 6th, 2012

In this article we have a look at one of the standard Android apps that Google has developed for its OS. It is the voice recorder which even though it’s one of the simplest apps out there, it still has quite a nice user interface with generous touchscreen-friendly icons and a search function. It has the same black background that you get on many Android applications and offers simple yet appealing visuals that make the app a delight to use.

Voice Recorder Android (Source: androidfreeware.net)

Once you have reached the main recording screen, all you have to do is tap on that big Record button and the app will start recording what you are saying. That large numbered counter will tell you for how long you have recorded a message which is a great tool especially when you want to keep the messages short so that you can e-mail them to someone. The application will show you the last five messages that you have recorded with titles, date as well as the time contained in each of these messages that you’ve recorded with the app.

What the application is recording is stored on the microSD card so you won’t have to worry about running out of internal memory plus taking into consideration that the recent Android phones offer support for cards up to a capacity of 64GB, you will be able to record messages for an extremely long time until you run out of available memory.

The application is capable of more than just recording messages because it can also send them as well. To do this, you’ll have to sign up for a Gmail account (free) and after that select to send the message and it will then send it as an attachment through your personal Gmail account. It is very simple to set up as all you have to do is enter in your Gmail login info and you are now ready to go.

Voice Recorder Android (Source: demo.smartnetzone.com)

The Voice Recorder standard Android application can also give you the permission to select when you want the recording to start. All you have to do is enter the time of the day, a title (not mandatory) and the duration of the recording. After hitting the Set button, the app will start recording at the time that you have selected, based on the smartphone’s own internal clock. To stop this operation you will have to tap on the Cancel button.

One feature that is very useful especially if you have a lot of recordings saved on the phone is the search function which gives you the possibility to search for the recording that you like based on the name you have entered for that recording.

The best thing about it? In case you already don’t have it on your smartphone, it is available for free on the Android Market.

Did you like this? Share it:

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Feb
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31

Android Apps – News360

Android Apps – Virus Protection

Android Apps For Fathers

Android Apps – Hiding Photos And Videos

Android Podcast Widgets

Android Calendar Widgets

Android Weather Widgets

Android Apps – PowerPoint Applications

Voice Recorder Android App

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

Calendar

Archives

Blogroll

Resize Text

GTranslate

Top Commentators

Upcoming

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

Categories

Calendar

Archives

Blogroll

Resize Text

GTranslate

Top Commentators

Upcoming