Smartphones are the best friends of the modern, multitasking, information-overloaded, always-on-the-run man (and woman). Not only are these phones great for doing business and having fun anytime and anywhere, but you can also make them work even harder by downloading mobile phone apps!
Smartphones are the best friends of the modern,
multitasking, information-overloaded, always-on-the-run man (and woman). Not only are these phones great for doing business and having fun anytime and anywhere, but you can also make them work even harder by downloading mobile phone apps!
The trouble is, with the gazillion apps available out there, some good and some bad, who has time to sift through the muck to find the gold nuggets?
We do. And here's what we have found: the best mobile apps you can find in the market today. And by the way, they are all free!
1. Pixelpipe Post & Upload Pro. Here is a great time-saving social networking app: Pixelpipe Post & Upload Pro lets you upload your pictures and videos, as well as update your status messages, in multiple sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and Picasa, all in one blow.
Pixelpipe Post & Upload Pro is free on Android, iPhone, Symbian, and WebOS.
2. Vlingo. Who enjoys typing on a smartphone? Not us, and we guess, not you either.
Vlingo lets you minimize typing on your smartphone by letting you use voice commands instead, to create text messages, update your Facebook status, or create personal notes. And if you're using an Android or a BlackBerry, Vlingo can also read your messages aloud for you.
Vlingo's basic version is free on Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, and Symbian. If you wish to get the premium version, you'll have to pay a fee, which varies depending on which platform you're using.
3. Evernote is another app that tries to spare your fingers from pressing those tiny buttons. Find a job ad on the newspaper that you would normally clip out? How about that grocery list on the ref door that you would normally need to type into your phone's note-taking feature?
Don't clip that add, and don't type in that grocery list. Take a picture of them and save into Evernote. This app finds the words inside images and turns them to searchable text so that, if you want to search for that job ad or grocery list later on, you can type in the text you remember from them, and Evernote will find your note for even if it's in not in text format, and even if you have dozens of other notes saved in your account.
Evernote is free on multiple platforms.
4. Bump. Of all the cool apps we've ever seen, Bump is the coolest by far. This one-of-a-kind app lets you share photos, contact data, videos, and bookmarks with other mobile phone users simply by bumping your phone (literally!) against theirs. You can also use this app to become Facebook friends or initiate a chat session with others.
Bump uses GPS technology to detect the other phone and establish a direct Web connection with it so that they can share data.
Unfortunately, though, this excellent, free app is only available (so far) on Android and iPhone platforms.
5. Pandora. For the music lover, this app detects your music preferences then automatically streams the tunes it thinks you will like into your smartphone. This keeps you from listening to the same songs over and over again. One other nice thing about this app is that it lets you do streaming while you do other tasks on your phone.
Pandora is free for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, WebOS, and Windows Mobile.
