We’ve got time for one more best Android apps weekly roundup before the 25th. It’s hard to believe that Christmas is only around the corner, but even more mindblowing is that we Android fans haven’t been offered the ridiculous wealth of cheapie games as our iPhone cousins have this week. Where are our 59p games, Gameloft and EA? Hmm? Before we sink too deeply into a pit of iResentment though, let’s check out this week’s best apps that Android comrades can consume.
Before we start, search for, download and install Barcode Scanner, then point the Barcode Scanner app at the QR codes on this page to zip straight to the Android Market to install everything listed. Chop chop!
Chumby
Don’t you find that it’s often the most useless of gadgets that are somehow the most desirable? Take Chumby – a box that costs more than a hundred quid and simply streams content over the web using Wi-Fi. It has some the functionality of a smartphone, with the slight downside that you’ll need MC Hammer trousers if you want to carry it around with you.
Best Android apps of all time: Top 100
The folks at Chumby HQ seem to have realised this though, as they have released a version of the Chumby UI for Android phones. There are more than 1000 Chumby apps available, primarily concerned with getting content to your eyeballs, simply. You’ll need an Android 2.2 or up handset to use the Chumby app though. This is no cheap date, but is one of the best Android apps for consuming web content.
mTrip Travel
If you’re going on holiday, what better accessory is there to match with your oversized “steal me!” SLR and bumbag filled with traveller’s cheques and five different types of currency than a massive travel guide?
Yes, unless you want to become a pickpocket’s victim, strolling around with these mugging-enticing artefacts can err on the dodgy. Flashing around your smartphone isn’t a great idea either in some areas, but at least you’re not screaming your tourist status out loud with an Android travel guide.
mTrip has released a handful of digital travel guides for some top European cities, and they only cost a few quid each. With the info incorporated into the initial download, there’ll be no expensive roaming charges either.
Google Maps 5
Google Maps is already one of the best Android apps (if not the) and updated pretty frequently, but we thought this latest update deserves particular mention, because it really adds an extra dimension to this top Android app. Literally – Google Maps has only just gone and gotten itself all 3D’d up.
Using a two-fingered gesture (no, not that one), you can alter the angle of the horizon in the app, revealing the 3D buildings you’d miss in a full top-down view. Is it desperately useful? Not unless you’re Spider-man and need to scale tall buildings rather than pedestrian crossings, but version 5 also adds an Offline mode, storing data in case you lose your connection, plus vector graphics so you’re not left waiting for your netowrk to catch up and the images to deblur when you zoom. Now that’s useful. Not very cool though…
Posterous
If you’re one of those insufferable people who can’t live without updating their status every 45 minutes, whether in the cinema or sitting in Church next to their weeping mother as a sibling is wedded off, Posterous will help to minimise the offensiveness you inflict on the world. It lets you link in with a handful of different online sources, including obvious choices like Twitter and Facebook.
Posterous sets up a blog space for your self-obsessed musings, pinging off a heads-up to your Twitter and Facebook followers when you post anything new. Because your social networking buddies are on tenterhooks, wondering what the next thing you eat will be. Obviously.
Game Dev Story
Becoming a game designer may be the dream of millions of youngsters, but just imagine if you spent four years working on a game, only to have it panned by every game critic in the world, and only bought by bargain bin crawlers. Not a nice prospect, is it?
We don’t mean to put a damper on your dreams, but maybe you’d be better off with Game Dev Story, because it’ll only eat up hours of your life, not years.
You start off with a tiny design studio, ready to employ your first team members and embark on your first game project. You can choose just how much money to spend, what platform to develop for and what kind of game to make. As the years pass, new consoles will start appearing and, with any luck, you’ll get to go to game conventions and awards ceremonies.
