Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Best New Android Apps for 2009 Announced

The Google Android Developer Challenge for 2009 is complete with the announcement of the winning applications. The Challenge kicked off last year and awards gobs of money to the winners: $150,000 for the top overall app, for example. Eligible software titles mustn’t be in the Android Marketplace prior to August 1, so the apps are relatively new. That being the case, the entire list of winners is worth a look for Android handset owners because of the top-ratings from the Challenge and the relative newness of the titles.

I’ll let you scope out the list on your own, but here are the top three overall titles:

  • SweetDreams – this utility allows you to go to sleep without worrying about changing your phone settings in order to avoid unwelcome late night calls. You can set inactivity periods to save juice and power down your WiFi and Bluetooth radios as well.
  • What the Doodle!? — in a real-time, online scenario, you draw a phrase while other players try to guess what it is. I’m a sucker for multiplayer games of any type on my handset, so I’ll be hitting this one first.
  • WaveSecure — this security solution protects your device, data and privacy.  You can remotely track your phone’s location, lock it down, backup or wipe your data.

One other title out of the many winners that caught my eye is Celeste. This augmented reality application is one I’d actually use, as I enjoy stargazing. Celeste uses your Android handset’s camera to look at the night sky and then adds information on the Sun, Moon and planets, showing their paths and other useful info. It’s probably best suited to basic astronomy, but I like the use of augmented reality in it.

[Via http://jkontherun.com]

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