8 Must Have Business Applications for the Android

In today’s technological advanced world, if you own a smart phone, an Android, or even an iPhone, you’re going to want to take advantage of all the applications that are out there. If you own a business, there are so many cool applications that I use on a daily basis that not only help me with time management, but also help me save money as well!

Listed below are some great applications that you can consider, if you don’t already have them. You will find that many of them are going to be a great asset to you, and your business.

• Documents to Go – I absolutely love this application, and while it costs around $30+, it’s a great application that allows you to edit, as well as view any Microsoft Office application such as Word, PowerPoint and more.
• ActionComplete – For those that are busy, and have lots of things to do, you’re going to need a task manager. This simple, free task manager allows you to upload tasks, as well as check them off as you complete them. It’s very easy to use.
• GDocs – If you’re a fan of Google documents, and you tend to use them a lot, you will find that this free application is a great way to create, as well as upload your documents straight through your phone. This is great if you want to take your documents on the go.
• Cashbook – I love cashbook, as it is a great expense manager. You can input any expense into your phone as you spend money. You will find that it is a great way to budget your money, as well as keep track of expenses, and more.
• VNC Viewer – If you want to reach your desktop remotely, this is an awesome application. With VNC, you can connect to any desktop with the VNC software on it. Once connected, your Android will act just like your desktop.
• Locale – This is a unique application that is great for those that want to turn phones off during a certain time period. Let’s say that you have meetings every day around 1pm – 3pm. With Locale, you can tell it to not ring during that time period, and it will forward all calls to your voicemail.
• Intuit GoPayment – This application created by the popular company, Intuit allows you to accept credit card payments on the go. This is great for those that want to have businesses that are mobile. There are transaction fees that are associated with it, but may be well worth it for those that are doing heavy transactions monthly.
• Meebo – The last application on my list is Meebo. This application allows you to connect all of your instant messenger accounts. You can then instant message those on platforms such as Yahoo! Messenger, AIM and more.

Android Applications Warriors Ranked in CES 2011

The Android applications store is perhaps the biggest reason for the great business that Android phones are doing. Globally, this miracle Google mobile OS has almost taken over the mobile industry. Perhaps one of biggest factors in this great race was the OHA. The Open Handset Alliance is a cooperative market monopoly coalition of some of the biggest names in mobile telecom. Brought together by Google on the 5th of November 2007, their cooperative performance gave Android phones much more variety over their competitors.

When Google’s mobile OS arrived in the market in 2007, other giants like Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia, and Symbian already had great smart phone OSs. Google strategically involved handset manufacturers like Samsung, LG, Motorola, HTC, Dell, and Sony Ericsson to use their product. To boost their technology capability, they involved Intel, Nvidia and, other processor manufacturers like Media Tek. Soon, the Android applications became more popular than other competing products. The battle between Android apps v/s iPhone apps soon became the talk of the industry.

CES is the biggest technology fair in the world. The biggest names in the industry come together to launch their products at this annual event.  Let’s check out the official CES list of 2011′s top ranking Android phones:

The LG Optimus 2X – This is a much awaited model from LG. The Optimus 2X is set to become a popular gadget. It has GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G HSDPA, and GPS. It also packs an 8 mpxl camera with autofocus capability. Its 1 GHz Nvidia processor is among the fastest in mobile technology. Over all, CES rates it 7.7/10.

Samsung Infuse 4G – Samsung Galaxy S became one the most popular Android phones ever, with over 100 million units sold. This year, the Infuse 4G is set to take world of Android applications to better heights with 4G technology and super fast Wi-Fi and mobile Internet empowerment. It was rated 7.8/10 in the CEs rankings, and is one of the few Samsung entries this year.

The Motorola Atrix 4G – The Motorola Atrix 4G was the best ranked Motorola phone in CES ‘11. It is ranked 8/10 above the other Motorola phone ranked within the top 10 models. It has a 16 GB in built memory, extendable up to 32 GB and Webtop dock. With this neat smart phone, you can run Android applications like in a netbook.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc – In one word, the Xperia Arc is closest to being perfect. It is ranked 9.8 /10 in the CES lineup and is the top phone this year. The Xperia Arc is set to win against the i5 as technology capacity comes, and definitely takes the cake for its great looks. It comes ready with Gingerbread 2.3, 4G empowerment, and upgrade capability. Sleek and feline, this phone is as powerful as it is exotic. Apart from boosting Android success better, this device is made to make you drool.
With such a powerful line up of great phones from Google’s mobile OS, who can stand in the path of the OS’s success? Developers of Android applications are creating model specific software to capture the market.

Asheley Forrester is a prolific technology and software development writer. She discusses the latest market trends and buzz in devices and technology industry in simple terms. 

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Top 5 Best Android Phones at CES 2011

CES 2011 was a great success. It was like having a massive geek-gasm, seeing all those awesome smartphones and tablets in one place. If there were two words that one got to hear a lot at CES, they were Android and Tablet.
There were a lot of new tablet announcements, most of them powered by Android. Besides these, there were also many good Android smartphones unveiled at CES by the likes of HTC, Samsung etc. In this article, I will take you through the list of the top 5 best Android smartphones showcased at CES 2011.

LG Optimus 2X

If there is one device which was highly anticipated, with fans dying to finally see it at CES 2011, it was the LG Optimus 2X. It is the first dual core smartphone which comes with a 1 GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core processor.
It has 1 GB RAM and comes with an 8 MP camera with autofocus and LED flash. It will run Android 2.2 Froyo and will launch soon. It has a 4 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display and can record 1080p video as well. It has all the basics in place - GPRS, EDGE, 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS etc.
Read our full LG Optimus 2X Review for more details.

Motorola Atrix 4G

The Motorola Atrix 4G is also a dual core Nvidia Tegra 2 toting Android smartphone which runs Android 2.2 Froyo with an Android 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade in the pipeline. It comes with a 1 GHz dual core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and 512 MB RAM. It has a 4.0 inch display with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels. It has a 5 MP camera and can record 720p videos at 30 FPS.
It comes with 16 GB internal memory and offers 3G HSDPA connectivity with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS etc. It comes with the Webtop dock, which you can use to convert it into a netbook.
Read our Motorola Atrix 4G Review for more details.

Motorola Droid Bionic

The Droid Bionic was one of the most impressive phones at CES 2011. It comes with a 4.3 inch qHD display with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels. It has an 8 MP camera with autofocus and dual LED flash and can record 720p videos at 30 FPS.
It is powered by a dual core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and 512 MB RAM. It will come with Android 2.2 Froyo but will receive some Gingerbread goodness soon. It comes with both 3G and 4G LTE connectivity.
Read our Motorola Droid Bionic Review for more details.

Samsung Infuse 4G

Ever since the Galaxy S launched, Samsung has become the leader in Android smartphones. The Galaxy S is easily the most popular Android phone yet. At CES 2011, Samsung showcased the Samsung Infuse 4G, which takes it a step further.
It is like an improved, upgraded version of the Galaxy S. It has a huge 4.5 inch SuperAMOLED Plus display with a 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor. It has 1 GB RAM and comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the latest version of Android. It also has an 8 MP camera with autofocus and sports GPRS, EDGE, 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.
Read our Samsung Infuse 4G Review for more details.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

The Xperia Arc was one of the most stylish phones on show at CES 2011. It has a very sleek design and comes packed with power. It has a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, 512 MB RAM and an Adreno 205 GPU. It comes with 16 GB internal storage and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
It has a 4.2 inch LED backlit capacitive display and comes with an 8 MP camera with autofocus and LED flash. It can record 720p HD video and includes GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS etc.

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Battery Booster

Battery Booster maximizes battery’s running time & battery life.
-Battery status/usage tracking
-WiFi/BT/Screen Brightness/Timeout Shortcuts
-Calibration Notification
-WiFi/BT setting on device lock/low battery
-Beep on low battery
-Built-in smart task manager
-Show % of battery left on notification bar
* Widget support *
Recent changes:
New Features in Version 2.3
-Add “On Device Unlock” option to open WiFi/BT when device is unlocked
-Smart Battery Saver function optimized – now fully compatible with Memory Booster
-Speed up operation performance
-Screen Brightness setting readjustment
Latest version: 2.3 (for all Android versions)

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ANDROID 2.4 ICE CREAM COMING THIS SUMMER

Android 2.4 will be announced somewhere around Google’s IO conference at the beginning of May 2011, and will launch in June or July.

As you may know, the name fits as the alphabetical names do add up to an I: Doughnut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, then Ice Cream.

If history repeats itself, most other Android phones won't get the update until the fall or winter, if at all. So what's actually new in Android 2.4? No one really knows. If Android 2.4 arrives this summer, it will compete with the anticipated iPhone 5.

What about Honeycomb (3.0)? Many believe that Android Honeycomb will never make it to smartphones in it’s current form, and that it will stay solely on tablet devices. That leaves the door open for a different OS version for smartphones later on down the line. Splitting Android like that isn’t likely to quiet those decrying fragmentation. But at this point, it’s nothing more than speculation save for the new information regarding Android 2.4 (Ice Cream). Stay tuned, the announcement for Ice Cream is rumored to be at the Google I/O conference in the not too distant future.

source: androidcommunity.com, gadgetsteria.com

Gingerbread 2.3.3 Gives Developers NFC Read/Write Capabilities

In an post on the Android Developer Blog, the Android team announced an update to Gingerbread, Android 2.3.3, that gives the developers the option to both read and write to any standard NFC chip. Previously, only read access was possible.

NFC (Near Field Communication) was one of the big things that was introduced in Android 2.3. I am sure most of you have heard enough about the feature and how it works, so I will spare you from all the technological mumbo-jumbo about it. If you're not familiar with it, check out this video.

Along with giving developers read/write access to the NFC chipset (on phones that have one, currently just the Nexus S), it also gives apps more control over how and when they are launched when a NFC chip is nearby. It will also support limited peer-to-peer connections with other devices with NFC chips; think more bluetooth than torrents.

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