Get started with apps for your Android Phone

Your android phone isn’t all play and no work. To get you started on using the phone for more day-to-day use, here are a few apps you may find interesting.

Video playback

MoboPlayer

Not only is it free, it is a powerful media player that can process most video formats. You may need to download the player and the codec depending on how your phone reacts.

Tip: Set the decoding default to 'soft decoding' for smoother playback of mkv files.

Browser

Opera 

I used to be a devotee of the Opera browser for the PC. I switched over to Firefox primarily because there were so many add-ons for all my needs and I haven’t looked back since. I was let down though when I went back to Mozilla for a Firefox version for the Ace. There is a Firefox mobile but that is incompatible with the Ace.

So I went back to Opera. I had used the browser on the K750i and was fairly happy with the super responsive browser. The user experience remains the same. The settings are quite uncomplicated to customize. Pages load quickly, you can ‘pinch’ to zoom, the text looks crisp and pictures are sharp. You can open multiple windows/tabs to get plenty of views on the latest celeb gossip – or that may be just me. Bear in mind that the Ace doesn’t support flash content. Hence, I wasn’t able to test that functionality and even the Javascript capability wasn’t all to my liking. But in all, this is a neat little app that meets the needs of the average surfer.

Now, if I could only sync this browser with my PC’s Firefox, I would feel perfectly happy.

QR code reader

Barcode Scanner

The QR – Quick Response – code is that square barcode that peeks out from newspapers, billboards and magazines with increasing frequency these days.

lithium-ribbon.blogspot.com for your phone!

As per Wikipedia

Although initially used to track parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR codes are now (as of 2011) used over a much wider range of applications, including commercial tracking, entertainment and transport ticketing, product marketing and in-store product labeling. Many of these applications target mobile-phone users (via mobile tagging). Users may receive text, add a vCard contact to their device, open a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), or compose an e-mail or text message after scanning QR codes. They can generate and print their own QR codes for others to scan and use by visiting one of several pay or free QR code-generating sites or apps.

While that complex looking diagram sure doesn’t say anything to the human eye, a barcode scanner can intelligently process it and decode the message and direct your phone to perform the relevant action.

To have some fun and generate your own abstract QR codes to share with your friends visit

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Aesthetics

Wallswitch

I get bored of the same background picture glaring back at me all the time. On the PC, I use Webshots to keep refreshing the desktop with my personally picked pretty picture gallery. I was looking for something similar on the phone.

Wallswitch is a nifty little app that does the job. It doesn’t eat up too much space on the phone or SD card. It is easy to setup – you basically direct the app to the folder and set the refresh rate. 

I have set the refresh rate at 10 minutes but if you want to keep looking at your vacation pictures at work you could set it to 1 minute. 

You will find all these apps on the Android Market for free.