Android Central | Android Central

Tapatalk Forum App

| $2.99 | Quoord Systems Limited

Tapatalk Android forum app updates for Ice Cream Sandwich | Android Central - Android Central | Android Central

Tapatalk is one of the more popular ways to use the Android Central Forums from your smartphone. One problem though -- it wasn't playing nicely with Ice Cream Sandwich. But we've been working with the developer for a couple weeks now and can happily report that the app was just updated to fix the crashes in Android 4.0. So now you can browse and post in the Best Android Forums Anywhere™ from the Best Android Smartphone Yet™. Huzzah! We've got download links after the break. And be sure to check out Android Central on it. Read More

Sonic CD™

| FREE | SEGA of America

Time stones at the ready -- Sonic CD now available for Android | Android Central - Android Central | Android Central

SEGA has just released Sonic the Hedgehog CD on Android, as well as a few other platforms. The Android version is available for $1.99 on the US Market, or £1.29 in the UK. Sonic CD, which first appeared on the Mega CD (SEGA CD) back in 1993, is fondly remembered for its fast platform gameplay and over-the-top, J-Pop-inspired soundtrack. A few words of warning, though -- some users are reporting slow playback on certain devices, including the Droid Bionic and the shiny new Samsung Galaxy Nexus. So you may want to hold off if you're planning on playing it on one of those devices. The game worked flawlessly on the handful of Gingerbread devices we tried, however. SEGA has enabled widescreen support too, so you won't have to deal with any black bars. There's also the option to forego the English soundtrack in favor of the crazier Japanese original. Trust us, that's a good thing. Why? The answer, along with the Market link and QR code, lies after the break... Read More

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

| $4.99 | Oceanhouse Media, Inc.

Android Central Editors' app picks for Dec 10, 2011 | Android Central - Android Central | Android Central

Ready for another dose of awesome applications? We thought you were, so we put a few together for you after the break, so join us there! With holidays now in full effect, it's time to take How the Grinch Stole Christmas out for a reading. Luckily, this year you can grab it on your android phone or tablet and have it digitally stored thanks to the folks from Oceanhouse Media. Whether you're a child or an adult, the Grinch is a great read and a classic holiday tradition for most. With the digital version kids can now follow along as the book reads to them, they can read it themselves or make use of the auto play mode -- which lays it out as if it were a movie. Very cool and must have for Christmas time and a great way to help kids learn how to read without them even knowing it. [Market Link] My app pick this week is a true, real world application of how Smartphones grow more and more a part of our daily lives. Hailing a taxi in London can be a nightmare, and sometimes very dangerous. The idea behind Hailo is so simple, but so incredibly effective that it's actually surprising it hasn't been around longer. By locating you via gps, you are able to view, book and pay for nearby taxis all within the application. You can also view your drivers photo, and track his location until he picks you up. With the backing of Transport for London and 23000 cab drivers, this is serious stuff. What's more, the intention is to roll out beyond London. I spend a fair bit of time in our nations capital, and my smartphone is now an essential part of each trip thanks to Hailo. [Market Link] While the weekly Read More

ASTRO File Manager / Browser

| FREE | Metago

ASTRO File Manager updated, brings themes and cloud backup registration with it | Android Central - Android Central | Android Central

With 19 million downloads from the Android Market, it might be easy to get complacent. Not so in the case of ASTRO File Manager which today received an update to version 3.1, and brought a couple of big new features along with it.  The first of these are the new themes functionality, allowing you to download various different themes to customize the app with including the "classic ASTRO" theme from version 2.0.  The other big new feature is the ability to pre-register for a free ASTRO backup account. There's no further information at this stage on this part of the service, but registration is as simple as entering your email address from the splashscreen.  Other notable updates include Honeycomb support, various fixes, drag and drop capabilities and tablet users are now able to set the external SD and USB directories.  Check out a selection of screenshots along with the download links after the break.        Read More

Apparatus

| $2.45 | Bithack

Day 10 of Google's 10-day, 10-cent, 10 billion app download celebration | Android Central - Android Central | Android Central

Here 'tis, folks. The final day of Google's 10-cent app promotion, celebrating (more than) 10 billion downloads from the Android Market. The final day sadly has a couple more repeat apps, but we're not about to turn down a 10-cent app. Here you go: Read More

Ozzy's Odyssey

| $1.99 | Carbon Crystal Games

Android Game Review: Ozzy's Odyssey | Android Central - Android Central | Android Central

Everyone, meet Ozzy. Ozzy, meet everyone. Ozzy is your typical robot (almost looks like a long lost cousin of Andy/Bugdroid), just floating around and doing his robot thing. Unfortunately for him, whoever built him left off that whole "ability to jump" thing. In its place, they gave him the power to suck things into his head using some robot technology, then dump it out at will. It is this that powers the engine that is Ozzy's Odyssey. Ozzy's Odyssey is a physics-based platformer that puts you in control of the aforementioned Ozzy. Your goal in each level is to reach the exit while collecting as many batteries as you can. Batteries are what contribute to your score, so without them, you're just a jumpless robot bouncing from level to level. The physics come into play namely when you've sucked something into that noggin of yours. The first one you come across is a barrel or a coin. (Something brown.) There's a switch somewhere you need to activate, but of course, you're either too tall to fit in the passage or you can't jump. Simply drop the item, push it, and sweet physics will send it careening into the switch, opening your path. Like all games, the challenges and levels start off simple then become more and more difficult as advance through the levels. A few levels in you're presented with deadly spikes on the ground, but seeing as you can't jump, you've got to come up with a more innovative way to not get impaled. If you do happen to lose a level, you're treated to a sad but goofy animation of Ozzy's head popping off, then you're free to restart the level. As far as I can tell there's no limit on how many lives you have, so you're free Read More

Apparatus

| $2.45 | Bithack

Day 5 of Google's 10-day, 10-cent, 10 billion app download celebration | Android Central - Android Central | Android Central

We're now into Day 5 of Google's 10-day, 10-cent, 10 billion app download celebration. Here's what we're seeing so far on this fine Saturday: Still one more to go. Thats 10 folks. Google's got its official list up, and for some reason, Asphalt 6 is back after appearing on Day 1. Read More

Zynga Poker

| FREE | Zynga

Zynga Poker becomes latest addition to the Google TV library | Android Central - Android Central | Android Central

Zynga become the latest developer to throw their hat into the Google TV ring, as Zynga Poker is now available for the platform.  The social poker game is now playable across multiple Google platforms, via Google+, their Android app and now their Google TV application. The Google TV version features custom optimisations for the TV with custom graphics, and a control system to take full advantage of the Google TV remote. Download links after the break. Read More

Voice Search

| FREE | Google Inc.

Google adds Arabic and Hebrew to Voice Search | Android Central - Android Central | Android Central

Good news for many of our readers in the Middle East: Google has announced that its Voice Search service now recongnizes Hebrew and Arabic if you're in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, the UAE and Israel.  It'll understand Gulf, Levant and Egyptian dialects. And the more people use the service, the better it'll recognize voices in the future. (Google says it used 1 million "utterances" to train the system.) If you're running a phone with Android 2.2 or above, you're good to go. Otherwise, you'll need to download the Voice Search app from the Market. We've got download links after the break. Read More

Asphalt 6: Adrenaline

| $0.99 | Gameloft

A slew of popular apps suddenly are 10 cents in the Android Market | Android Central - Android Central | Android Central

Something interesting is going on in the Android Market this morning. A bunch of our favorite apps are suddenly going for a dime, with no real rhyme or reason for the discount. @dirkyd3rlc and @Pat_Huey on Twitter alerted us to SwiftKey and Minecraft on sale for 10 cents, and we've found others. (Update: And in the UK, the apps are going for 10p each, not 6p, which would be converted from 10 cents U.S. We definitely smell a trend here.) Here's the list as it stands. There may be others. (Sing out in the comments if you spot any.) Can't tell if this is a glitch (which seems a tad unlikely), or some sort of coordinated effort. Regardless, might as well take advantage. Read More