Tom’s Two Cents

I recently came across a couple of Android apps with huge potential. Here is a quick review:

Parallel Kingdom

Parallel Kingdom is a location-based Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game (MMORPG) developed for Android. Parallel Kingdom uses real world prompts as its basis for the virtual world, giving users the ability to attack, dance, hug or team up with anyone around then.

Parallel Kingdom allows you to mine resources, build buildings, craft items, trade goods, meet new people, found kingdoms, lead wars, and explore the real virtual world around you. Here is a video review done by AndroidApps.com:

http://www.parallelkingdom.com/

City Audioguides

This one looks very interesting, but it appears that the project was dropped. If anyone has information about this project, please let me know. Here is some information on it:

By using the Android framework positioning tools and other technologies the developers City Audioguides are aiming to improve your travel experiences by delivering relevant audio content information for historical venues, museum, and any other location of interest.

“Turning streets into museums and creating an environment where it’s easy to learn and share and to get the most out of our travels. This project is based on the belief that access to culture should be freely available to everyone.”

“Bringing museum-like audioguides to a larger scope.”

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pounamu/

My name is Tom and I am an Android app addict. I currently have over 150 apps installed on my G1 phone. So here are my top 20. I haven’t included any games in my list, since that is more a matter of personal preference. I also find that the more games I install on my G1, the less I end up using my own phone. My kids use it the rest of the time. So here are my top 20 apps in no particular order. Sorry I don’t have links. You’ll can search for them in the Android Market.

• Picasa (a great tool for uploading and viewing Picasa photos)
• JET CET PDF (the only PDF viewer currently available)
• iSkoot (Skype client. Check the fine print though — it does uses you cell phone’s minutes)
• GPS Tracker (post your current position to hidden or public URL — even has a Facebook plugin)
• fBook (Facebook app)
• Android File Manager (good app to have)
• Twidroid (currently the best twitter client for the G1)
• Orienteer (displays compass and GPS coordinates — a must for geocaching)
• Power Manager (shows battery life — must have)
• Yellowbook V2 (search for a business and it presents you with Google maps and phone numbers)
• Video Player (best video player, IMHO)
• ShopSavvy (barcode scanner app that allows you to compare prices and read reviews)
• Compare Everywhere (other barcode scanner app)
• DoggCatcher (Podcast app — still very beta, but very cool in that it allows you to update podcasts over wifi. So iPod Touch, why can’t you do this?)
• TunesRemote (controls your iTunes via your wifi network)
• textonphone (access 1000’s of free books — search and download books to your phone’s local library)
• Shazam (analyzes and (somehow) recognizes songs being played on radio, TV, anywhere you can get a 10 second sample)
• Ringdroid (make your own ringtone by clipping out a snippet from any MP3)
• Voxofon Call Router (VOIP client)
• Toggle Settings (a great app for dimming the screen and turning off the ringer, etc). Keeping the screen brightness down is a great way to save your battery.

If you have other favorite Android apps, I would like to hear about them.