Lifehacker

Sparrow

| $2.99 | Sparrow

You Should Forget About Push Notifications for Your Email [Productivity] - Lifehacker

...weeks ago, the popular Mac-only desktop email client Sparrow released the iPhone app, and it is really, really good. It does, however, have one catch: It doesn't (yet) support push notifications. To that I say: Who cares?... Read More

Skitch

| FREE | Evernote Corp.

Skitch for Android Adds Maps Annotation, SD Card Saving, and More [Skitch] - Lifehacker

...Photo-taking and annotation app Skitch has added a new feature that lets you annotate maps and send them to your friends—perfect for giving directions or pointing out specific locations with a picture message... Read More

Google Drive

| FREE | Google Inc.

Google Docs for Android Adds Collaborative Editing [Video] - Lifehacker

...latest update to the Android version of Google Docs adds what might be the best feature of all: collaborative editing. While you've always been able to edit a document along with many other people in the web app, now Android users can join in via the native app on their phones or tablets. Additi... Read More

Circuit Playground

| $2.99 | Adafruit Industries

ElectroDroid Is a Reference for All of Your DIY Electronics and Circuit Building Projects [Android Downloads] - Lifehacker

...Last week, we discussed Circuit Playground for iOS, a comprehensive electronics reference manual. Android users can get in on the action with ElectroDroid, a collection of electronic reference information and tools available now in the Android App Market... Read More

Google Wallet

| FREE | Google Inc.

How to Install Carrier-Blocked Market Apps on Any Android Phone [How To] - Lifehacker

...carriers these days are blocking apps from the Market, like Google Wallet or Wireless Tether. Droid Life shows us a super easy way to install them on your unrooted phone... Read More

Tasker

| $6.49 | Crafty Apps

Make Your Android Wallpaper Depict the Weather with Tasker [Friday Fun] - Lifehacker

If the standard weather widget is a bit boring for you, you can use our favorite Android automation tool, Tasker, to display weather conditions using your wallpaper. It isn't so much a "live wallpaper" as it is a slideshow that changes with the weather conditions. When it's cloudy, your wallpaper will show a cloudy landscape photo, and when it's clear, it'll show a clear weather photo instead. You can even set it to stop after your battery reaches a certain level, if you'd rather not spend it on the slideshow. Check out the entry below at the Tasker Wiki, which contains step-by-step instructions and a set of images to get you started. Of course, you can always find your own images on the net if you don't like them, or take some with your own camera. Thanks, Graham! Read More

LauncherPro

| FREE | Federico Carnales

The LunarUI Home Screen - Lifehacker

Reader hybridr6 put together this stylish home screen with a unique theme for CyanogenMod, a unified icon set, and a few widgets. Hybridr6 is using these tools to get the job done: Do you have an awesome, tweaked-into-oblivion home or lock screen of your own that you'd like to share? Go ahead and post it on the #homescreenshowcase forum with a description of how you made it and it may be the next featured home screen. Read More

SoftBox Pro for iPad

| $0.99 | EggErr Studio

Turn Your Tablet into a Simple Softbox [DIY] - Lifehacker

The folks over at Unplggd noticed an iPad app called SoftBox Pro, which attempts to turn your iPad into a softbox you can use in your photography. While the app does offer some nice options, it costs $3 to do something you can pretty much accomplish on your own with any tablet. Here's how. Essentially all you need to use your tablet as a light source is a blank white image and display it. What SoftBox Pro offers, however, are patterns that can add some nice effects to your photos. So I made some tablet-friendly softbox images for you. All you have to do is download these images and sync them to your tablet, then display them on the screen and point them at the subject of your photo. You can also rest them beneath your photo as well. Another thing that SoftBox Pro does is allow you to add color to these patterns. You can also do this yourself pretty easily by opening up any of these images in Photoshop (or some other image editor), adding a layer on top, and filling it with the color you want. Once you have your color layer, set its blending mode to Multiply and adjust that layer's opacity as desired. Now you'll be able to save out a color-tinted version of the pattern. Obviously this is a bit more work than adjusting a few sliders on an app, so if you'd prefer not to do it yourself, have an iPad, and $3 to spare, you can always just grab SoftBox Pro on the iTunes App Store. You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.  Twitter's the best way to contact him, too. Read More

StreamToMe

| $1.99 | Matthew Gallagher

Boxee for iPad Streams Videos from Your Local Network and the Web [Video] - Lifehacker

Boxee for iPad is another live-converting, video streaming app (like our favorites StreamToMe and Air Video), but it also lets you collect videos from the web that you want to watch and does all of this for free. The app itself isn't terribly useful on its own, so you'll need to install Boxee Media Manager (also free for Windows and Mac) to stream videos from your local computers to your iPad and the Watch It Later bookmarklet to collect videos from the web. The Media Manager software lets you add directories on your computer with video inside and access them from the iPad app. You'll then be able to watch those videos on your iPad. If the format isn't compatible, Boxee will convert it in real-time. In our tests, we found that lower-quality AVIs tended to look better perhaps because converting a 720p MKV required a bit more power—which is to say that a higher quality source may not be better for live conversion purposes. Also, while conversion was quick it took quite awhile to load the actual video prior to playback. Currently there is no AirPlay support but Boxee is working to add that feature. The Watch It Later bookmarklet is really handy as you can surf to any page with a video on it, click the bookmarklet, and save that video to your iPad. All the collected web videos were quickly available to watch right from the iPad. While the feature set is pretty good, and the interface is beautiful, the first release has some quirks that might make it a little problematic for some users. If you're patient, however, it's a good local streaming option for all kinds of video. You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.  Twitter's the best Read More

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

| FREE | Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Official Merriam-Webster Dictionary App Arrives on Android, Allows Easy Referencing [Downloads] - Lifehacker

Android: Globally respected dictionary Merriam-Webster recently launched their eponymous dictionary on Android devices, joining their iPhone and iPad apps already available. The app offers many great features on both Android and iOS devices: The official Merriam-Webster Dictionary is a free Android app supported by ads. Read More