10 Android Apps Which I couldn’t Live Without
I had been wanting to put this list out since a while, but somehow never got to it. It’s interesting because I guess about 6 months back, the lineup would have been different. It speaks volumes of the tremendous growth both in the quantity and quality of Android apps. Far from being an distant cousin to the Apple store, Android has come of age. From the freckles to the thin mustache to the roughening voice to finally the first official glass of beer, Android has finally grown up. Without any further ado, here we go:
Newsrob: It is probably the best free RSS reader in the market. And even the paid version(ad-free) is well worth the price. They have done frequent updates to keep the app bug free and up to date. For a Google reader addict like me, this app is indispensable.
Cube Music Player: Android’s default music player is one of the best examples of a bare bones product. It is not going to win any brownie points for its looks for sure. Even the features are very limited. There are a few alternatives in the market, but the Cube player is probably the most pretty among the lot. It’s still in beta, so one could expect some more improvements.
Aldiko Reader: This is my favorite Ebook reader app. Now reading books on a 3in screen is definitely not one of the best experiences in life, but for those moments when the phone is your only companion and you need to read that story of Sherlock, Aldiko serves you well. It has a nice clean interface and beautiful wooden style display of your library. It accepts a variety of formats and has an in -built search functionality to find and download publicly available books.
Advanced Task Killer: When Steve Jobs took a dig at Android during the launch of the Iphone 4g OS, one didn't feel the usual indignation at his comment. At least owners of older Android devices like the G1, myTouch, Cliq etc will agree that the Android OS does tend to get sluggish when you have multiple apps open. Although there quite a few task managers, I like this one the best. The best part about it is the widget on the home screen which lets you kill all running apps with one click.
Opera Mini 5: For a firefox like experience with tabs and speed dial on your phone, Opera is the best you can get. Opera is also blazingly fast even on 3g and edge connections. Although I haven’t found a way yet to make it the default browser. Maybe once it comes out of beta, we should be able to do it.
Google listen: This is by far the best podcast app in the market. Although it bears the Google mark of minimalistic design, it is perfectly functional. It' is easy to search for podcasts and subscribe to them. A recent allergy attack had my eyes red for a week. This led to a rediscovery of sorts of the Listen app. Just the right app for those lazy afternoons to spend listening to ‘This American life’.
Google Maps Navigation: This is definitely the crown piece of the Android ecosystem. The one app which the Iphone doesn’t have in its arsenal. Complete voice guided navigation, with turn by turn directions, text to speech and live traffic updates. Best of all, it’s completely free. Google has effectively made all existing GPS systems obsolete.
Pandora: The best internet streaming app across appstores. Pandora’s huge music database is available to you from the convenience of your handset. It runs fine even on 3g and Edge. Also you can run it at the background while doing other activities(Hint: subtle dig at Iphones)
Shopsavvy: There are a bunch of shopping apps on the market including Google’s own Shopper. The best ones have more or less the same features viz. barcode scanner, product comparisions and prices matches from nearby stores. Shopsavvy is one of the older ones and they have updated constantly to keep the product in good shape. Personally I’ve always found the cheapest prices through Shopsavvy.
Sportstap: This is a must have for any sports lover. Got all your scores covered. Instant real time updates and the ability to follow your favorite teams. Simple, elegant and highly functional.
Newsrob: It is probably the best free RSS reader in the market. And even the paid version(ad-free) is well worth the price. They have done frequent updates to keep the app bug free and up to date. For a Google reader addict like me, this app is indispensable.
Cube Music Player: Android’s default music player is one of the best examples of a bare bones product. It is not going to win any brownie points for its looks for sure. Even the features are very limited. There are a few alternatives in the market, but the Cube player is probably the most pretty among the lot. It’s still in beta, so one could expect some more improvements.
Aldiko Reader: This is my favorite Ebook reader app. Now reading books on a 3in screen is definitely not one of the best experiences in life, but for those moments when the phone is your only companion and you need to read that story of Sherlock, Aldiko serves you well. It has a nice clean interface and beautiful wooden style display of your library. It accepts a variety of formats and has an in -built search functionality to find and download publicly available books.
Advanced Task Killer: When Steve Jobs took a dig at Android during the launch of the Iphone 4g OS, one didn't feel the usual indignation at his comment. At least owners of older Android devices like the G1, myTouch, Cliq etc will agree that the Android OS does tend to get sluggish when you have multiple apps open. Although there quite a few task managers, I like this one the best. The best part about it is the widget on the home screen which lets you kill all running apps with one click.
Opera Mini 5: For a firefox like experience with tabs and speed dial on your phone, Opera is the best you can get. Opera is also blazingly fast even on 3g and edge connections. Although I haven’t found a way yet to make it the default browser. Maybe once it comes out of beta, we should be able to do it.
Google listen: This is by far the best podcast app in the market. Although it bears the Google mark of minimalistic design, it is perfectly functional. It' is easy to search for podcasts and subscribe to them. A recent allergy attack had my eyes red for a week. This led to a rediscovery of sorts of the Listen app. Just the right app for those lazy afternoons to spend listening to ‘This American life’.
Google Maps Navigation: This is definitely the crown piece of the Android ecosystem. The one app which the Iphone doesn’t have in its arsenal. Complete voice guided navigation, with turn by turn directions, text to speech and live traffic updates. Best of all, it’s completely free. Google has effectively made all existing GPS systems obsolete.
Pandora: The best internet streaming app across appstores. Pandora’s huge music database is available to you from the convenience of your handset. It runs fine even on 3g and Edge. Also you can run it at the background while doing other activities(Hint: subtle dig at Iphones)
Shopsavvy: There are a bunch of shopping apps on the market including Google’s own Shopper. The best ones have more or less the same features viz. barcode scanner, product comparisions and prices matches from nearby stores. Shopsavvy is one of the older ones and they have updated constantly to keep the product in good shape. Personally I’ve always found the cheapest prices through Shopsavvy.
Sportstap: This is a must have for any sports lover. Got all your scores covered. Instant real time updates and the ability to follow your favorite teams. Simple, elegant and highly functional.
Turtles Can Fly
To be honest, this is the year I finally managed to catch a bunch of good international movies. Some of the really small gems which get lost. That is where Netflix comes in, gathering all of those great films in a nice HD streamable format.
‘Turtles can fly’ is the story of a Kurdish village ravaged by Saddam and his army. Its basically a refugee village with only kids and a few old men left. The kids are led by Satellite, a dynamic 12-13 year old named after his ability to install and configure satellite dishes. Satellite also leads the kids on mine clearing missions. He then sells the mines, thus providing the only source of employment. Its a relentless tragedy as one observes kids without an arm or a leg most likely from accidents during the picking of mines. However life must go on and Satellite and his group treat the missing limbs in a matter of fact fashion.
Satellite has his eyes for a pale beautiful girl who lives with her armless brother and an small kid presumably their brother. The armless boy is supposed to have some powers of clairvoyance. And the predictions he makes aren’t always pleasant. There is a lot of pain in the girl’s eyes and as the horror of her past is relived, one realizes the pain and agony that people and specially kids have to go through each day in that region. As everyone around prays for American intervention, war ironically seems to be the panacea to all their problems.
The movie starts off at a meandering pace letting us into the lives of the kids and their suffering. But pretty soon, the story grips you and one is inevitably tied in to each of the characters and they all mean something to you. The music is haunting and the children's performances are scarily natural. It helps that the kids aren't actors but mainly real children from the region. The film takes an tragicomic sort of approach, dealing with the destruction in a nonchalant sort of way. Its been directed by Bahman Ghobadi, an Kurdish Iranian filmmaker and the music is by Hossein Alizadeh. Probably one of the finest movies of the decade; one that is chilling in the effect it leaves on you.
