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KakaoTalk Mes​sen​ger

| FREE | kakao

Best Android apps: Five free messenger services - PC Advisor - Technology reviews, advice, videos, news and forums - PC Advisor

There are a number of apps available for smartphones, including those that run Google's Android operating system, which utilise the handset's Wi-Fi and 3G connection to send messages, pictures, video and voice clips to other smartphone users. This can potentially save you money, as if you have unlimited 3G or Wi-Fi in your mobile phone package, you can utilise this in place of traditional text messages which your operator will charge you for. Many of these are cross-platform as well so you're not restricted to only talking to friends that have the same type of phone as you. Here's five of our favourite free messenger apps for Android. Save money on texting Send text, pictures, audio or video files to other WhatsApp users on the Google Android, iOS, Nokia or BlackBerry platforms using Wi-Fi or 3G with this app. Working across Android, BlackBerry and iPhone, PingChat. lets you send text messages, photos, videos and voice notes, all using your data or Wi-Fi connection rather than you SMS allowance. There's also support for group conversations. Similar to the other messengers we've listed here, iGotChatMessenger offers a 'poke' feature similar to the one seen in Facebook. It only works on Android and iOS devices however. Similar in look and feel to RIM's BBM that only works on the BlackBerry platform, LiveProfile is another cross-platform messenger that will ensure you can message friends on Google Android, iOS and BlackBerry devices. Kako Talk Messenger is another similar messenger service that uses 3G or Wi-Fi to send multimedia to other smartphones featuring the app. It works on Android or iPhone and even has emoticons that work on both platforms. Read More

iGotChat Messenger / Free Text

| FREE | Cantcha, Inc

Best Android apps: Five free messenger services - PC Advisor - Technology reviews, advice, videos, news and forums - PC Advisor

There are a number of apps available for smartphones, including those that run Google's Android operating system, which utilise the handset's Wi-Fi and 3G connection to send messages, pictures, video and voice clips to other smartphone users. This can potentially save you money, as if you have unlimited 3G or Wi-Fi in your mobile phone package, you can utilise this in place of traditional text messages which your operator will charge you for. Many of these are cross-platform as well so you're not restricted to only talking to friends that have the same type of phone as you. Here's five of our favourite free messenger apps for Android. Save money on texting Send text, pictures, audio or video files to other WhatsApp users on the Google Android, iOS, Nokia or BlackBerry platforms using Wi-Fi or 3G with this app. Working across Android, BlackBerry and iPhone, PingChat. lets you send text messages, photos, videos and voice notes, all using your data or Wi-Fi connection rather than you SMS allowance. There's also support for group conversations. Similar to the other messengers we've listed here, iGotChatMessenger offers a 'poke' feature similar to the one seen in Facebook. It only works on Android and iOS devices however. Similar in look and feel to RIM's BBM that only works on the BlackBerry platform, LiveProfile is another cross-platform messenger that will ensure you can message friends on Google Android, iOS and BlackBerry devices. Kako Talk Messenger is another similar messenger service that uses 3G or Wi-Fi to send multimedia to other smartphones featuring the app. It works on Android or iPhone and even has emoticons that work on both platforms. Read More

Christmas Greetings

| FREE | Value Apps

Best Android apps: Five free Christmas apps - PC Advisor - Technology reviews, advice, videos, news and forums - PC Advisor

We're six days into December already and Christmas is looming on the horizon. There's plenty of free apps that can bring some festive cheer to your smartphone too. Here's our five favourite free apps for Google Android devices that allow users to do everything from tracking Santa to keeping an eye on their Christmas shopping list. Get festive cheer on your smartphone Bring the tech revolution to Christmas cards by sending festive cards straight from your mobile phone with this app. There's 100 designs to choose from. With this app you can listen to festive songs till your heart's content. Christmas Radio for Android offers over 40 radio stations across the world playing nothing but seasonal songs. There's even a station broadcasting from the North Pole. Using this free app you can track the gifts you plan on buying your friends and family as well as monitoring how much its costing you to spread festive cheer this year. And with a password protection feature you can ensure no-one can be snooping at your phone in a bid to find out what they're getting. With this app, you can write to Santa and even receive a response straight to your mobile phone. As it gets closer to Christmas Eve, you can even see Santa's location. Outfit 7, the develop behind Talking Tom Cat, have launched a festive version of the fun game featuring Farther Christmas himself. With Talking Santa Free you can tickle Old Saint Nick and give him milk and cookies, or if you're not feeling so nice, give him a slap or a poke or even run him over with a giant snowball. Be warned, this might result in no presents come December 25th however. Read More

Wine and Food Pairing

| FREE | Brian Call

Best Android app: Five free android apps for eating out - PC Advisor - Technology reviews, advice, videos, news and forums - PC Advisor

You may not think it, but your smartphone can be an asset when you're eating out. Whether you want to locate your nearest restaurant, work out what's in the meals offered or even just decide what wine to drink with your meal, there are plenty of apps to help you. Some are even free. Here's five of the best for Google Android devices. Improve your dining experience via your smartphone We love this app that has a unusual way of offering users a list of restaurants in the nearby area. Simply shake your Android handset and UrbanSpoon will utilise the phone's GPS to suggest restaurants nearby. If you don't like the choices offered, just shake your phone again. The app's developers say it covers most major cities in the UK. EatOutApp offers nutritional values, allergen information, and suitability for vegetarians and vegans, about food served in popular UK restaurant from Burger King to TGI Friday's. It's a trial version so there's a restriction on the number of times it can be used. Confused about which wine you should be drinking with your meal? Fear not, this free app has over 75 foods, listed into different categories. Simply select the food you eating to see which wine pairs with it perfectly. You can even search by wine, if you'd rather choose your meal around you favourite vino. A great way to impress your friends. Lost of the UK's popular restaurant chains frequently offer two-for-one (or similar) deals ensuring you save money when eating out. But what happens if you've forgotten to print a voucher? Fear not, with VoucherCloud you can find a suitable offer and then get a code on your handset, which will be accepted in place of a printed voucher. If you fancy a quick beer either before or after Read More

Tesco Calc LITE

| FREE | CloSoft

Best Android apps: Five free Android supermarket shopping apps - PC Advisor - Technology reviews, advice, videos, news and forums - PC Advisor

The weekly grocery shop is time-consuming and for many can even be a source of great frustration. However, your smartphone can help alleviate this. Whether its finding your local store, making a shopping list or even adding up the cost of your groceries as you wheel your trolley round. Here's five free apps for Google Android devices. Use your smartphone when shopping for groceries With this app, you're shopping list is always close to hand. As well as making list of groceries you need to buy, or things you need to do, you can keep a Pantry list so you know what's in your store cupboard already. Furthermore, we love the fact you can scan groceries or eneter them onto your list manually. Thanks to Ocado on the Go you can browse and buy from thousands of groceries stocked by the online supermarket connected to John Lewis and Waitrose. You can even organise you delivery slot and check prices against the same items in Tesco. While Aldi won't let you shop online through this app, you can check out the latest special offers in-store, write a shopping list and find your nearest branch. If you're sticking to a tight budget, then this app can help you avoid any embarrassing incidents at the check out if you've over spent. Simply use Tesco Calc Lite to scan items as you put them in the trolley and the app will keep a total of how much you've spent. The app only works in UK branches of Tesco and it's worth noting the free version is limited to £30 worth of good per visit. The paid-for version, which costs £1, is limit free. We love the Sainsbury's app because not only does it let you shop online (although its currently restricted to non-grocery items at Read More

First Aid

| FREE | Health Team

Best Android apps: Five free medical apps - PC Advisor - Technology reviews, advice, videos, news and forums - PC Advisor

There are hundreds of app for smartphones that let you monitor your health, as well as offering helpful advice should you need to administer First Aid or look after yourself. Here's five of the best free medical apps for Google Android devices. Use your smartphone to monitor your health Whether you find yourself in a situation where you need to administer First Aid, or perhaps you're just offering help and advice to someone else, this app offers illustrations, videos and short texts that show you how to take the necessary action in the right order. Concerned you might be colour blind? Then take the test offered by this app to find out Just like the NHS Direct helpline, this app will allow you to identify what potentially may be the problem if you're feeling unwell as well as offering you advice on how to look after yourself. Want to know whether you're a healthy weight? Then use BMI Calculator Pro to workout your Body Mass Index (BMI). The app is suitable for children, teens and adult and allows details to be saved to the handset for future reference. You can even work out the BMI for multiple users. Use this app to work out your 'hearing age'. 25 tones will be played in the test, which takes around 10 minutes, and users must identify whether they can hear them or not. Read More

WhatsApp Messenger

| FREE | WhatsApp Inc.

WhatsApp Android app review - PC Advisor - Technology reviews, advice, videos, news and forums - PC Advisor

WhatsApp is a cross-platform app that lets you send messages to other mobile phone uses without incurring a charge like traditional SMS. The software uses a handset’s Wi-Fi or a mobile data connection to send messages containing text, pictures, audio or video files to other WhatsApp users. WhatsApp is available for devices running Google Android (although not the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 as we discovered) as well iPhones, Nokia handsets and BlackBerry’s.  There’s no limit on the number of messages that can be sent, or the amount of characters that can be used. This means those with a mobile tariff with unlimited mobile data or a Wi-Fi network in regular reach, can save money on SMS and MMS. The app is free for Android users to download but after a year you’ll be charged $1.99 (£1.25). Although on some other platforms you must pay for the app outright, but it’s a small one-off fee (69p on iPhone for example). We found WhatsApp was very easy to use. As soon as the app is launched, the main Chats screen that shows all the conversations between the smartphone owner and other WhatsApp users is displayed. To read or reply to any of these messages simply tap the message. A text box is located at the bottom of the screen, pressing on it allows the user to start typing their message. Meanwhile, to attach images, video or audio to a message, simply press the menu button and select attach. Once the type of file to be attached has been identified, the user will be able to trawl the handset looking for the file. To read previous messages, simply scroll up or down on the screen. Contacts don’t need to be manually added either. The app accesses the smartphone’s phone book and identifies other WhatsApp Read More

Pulse News

| FREE | Alphonso Labs

Pulse Android app review - PC Advisor - Technology reviews, advice, videos, news and forums - PC Advisor

The idea behind the app Pulse, is that it is a one stop shop for all your favourite sites on the internet. Pulse will gather all of your favourite site's news stories and display thumbnails of the stories to give you a quick overview of what's happening in your world. Which is perfect for whether you are on a quick break and want  a snap shot of your world at large or if you want to want to do some serious surfing and don't know where to start. When you first open up the Pulse app for Android, there is a lot to get your head around. Your first impression is that the app is incredibly busy and and unruly, but if you resist the urge to exit the app and delete it straight away, you just might like it…and use it every day. The app comes preloaded with a bunch of generic sites that unless you are the extremely middle of the road person that they've tailored these suggestions for, you are going to want to get rid of some of their suggestions and start personalising it to suit your browsing interests. These sites can be arranged in order of your preference very easily and can be organised into further genres by creating new tabs at the top of the page. Credit has to be given to this app for the ease of usage, as setting up and configuring Pulse is a piece of cake. Although there are now almost a billion apps and sites that collect all your social media feeds in once place, the way Pulse does it, is in my opinion, the right way. Instead of displaying all of the feeds in one big feed that confuses the hell out of you, Pulse displays all your social Read More

HP ePrint Home & Biz

| FREE | Hewlett Packard Development Company, L.P.

Five of the best free Android apps for printing - PC Advisor - Technology reviews, advice, videos, news and forums - PC Advisor

Whether you've been taking plenty of digital snaps with the camera on your smartphone, or you're working on the go and have been sent an important PDF you need to print out, here's five free apps that'll let you print from your Android smartphone without the need to connect the device to your PC. Share and print pictures from your smartphone without a PC This app lets you print photos and PDF files stored on your phone as well as PDF attachments in your Gmail account from your handset to any HP printer, as long as your Android smartphone is also connected to the same WiFi network. The Canon Easy-PhotoPrint app not only lets you print photos stored on your Android smartphone, it also lets you scan documents from compatible Pixma multifunction printer and save them to your handset via a Wi-Fi network. With this app you can print photos and web pages to an Epson all-in-one printer on your local Wi-Fi network. You can also scan images and documents to be saved on your handset, access and print files from online storage services including Box.net, Dropbox and Evernote and even configure your printer's settings remotely. Brother printer owners don't need to despair. You too can print from and scan to your Android device with the help of this app and a local wireless network. Not to be left out, Kodak has also developed an app for its printers and digital photo frames so smartphone owners can print or share digital snaps direct from their smartphone. Read More

Photo Grid

| FREE | RoidApp

The five best free Android apps for digital photos - PC Advisor - Technology reviews, advice, videos, news and forums - PC Advisor

More and more smartphone owners are making use of the camera on their handset, and those with devices running Google Android are no exception. But before you think about transferring your digital snaps to your PC to edit and generally having fun with, check out these five Android apps that will let you edit photos, share them and more, all from your mobile phone. Make the most of your photos FXCamera enables you to add fun effects such as fish-eye or an Andy Warhol style to photos you snap with your camera. You can even save share the results with friends and family on social networks. We love this app that lets you create collages from the photo galleries stored on your Android handset. An unusual way to view your collection of digital snaps. This app ensures you can access files, including photos, on your PC via your handset's web browser anywhere there's a Wi-Fi connection. Furthemore, you can even transfer files between your smartphone and your PC. There are plenty of photo editing apps available in the Android Market but we particularly love BeFunky as along with basic edits such as cropping and rotating, there are 20 effects to chose from that can be added to your digital snaps including Vintage, Grunge and Sketch. We love this app from Touchnote, the online service that lets people print their digital snaps in the form of a unique stand-up greetings card. Users can send images taken from their Android smartphone directly to the photo printing service and customise them before they're printed. Read More