Unfortunately, you’re also in a position where you can be taken advantage of. For example, Verizon likes to load “bloatware” onto their phones that charge monthly fees for services you can get for free just by downloading and app on the Android Market. They don’t have an exclusive on this kind of greedy behavior, they’re just among the worst offenders.

I put together this quickstart guide to help you determine which apps you should be using and that I would consider essential.

You’ll notice there aren’t any games on the list as those are far from necessary and are really a matter of personal preference.

One other thing you’ll notice about this list of Android Apps you need is that all of them are FREE! If you’ve come from the world of the iPhone, you’ll probably see there

Of course there are plenty of apps worth paying for in Android, but I’ll save those apps for another time.

Here’s the list of what I consider to be the 10 essential Android apps. Several of these apps are already installed on your phone.

Google Voice – The first app you’ll want to download for your phone is Google Voice. Some phones have this pre-installed but many do not. Google Voice will provide you with completely free visual voicemail and completely free text messaging when you send and receive texts through your Google Voice phone number. Not only that, but you can make heavily discounted international phone calls when you make calls through your Google Voice number. You’ll have to make sure your phone carrier knows to use Google Voice as your voicemail provider instead of the default installed on the phone, but it only takes a few minutes to get everything set up.

Google Maps Navigation Beta – You’ll find this app is already installed on your phone. It’s built into the Google Maps app. If you look in your app drawer, you’ll see a shortcut called “navigation.” I recommend putting that shortcut on your home screen so that you always have fast and easy access to the excellent (and again, totally free) turn by turn navigation feature built into your phone. With this app, there’s no need to pay for services like VZ Navigator. Google Maps Navigation is a better app and it comes free with your Android phone.

Carr Matey – If you’ve ever parked your car and forgotten where in the heck you parked it, this app is for you. When you park your car, you can just open this app and it will remember your location and when you’re ready to go back to your car, just open up the app and it’ll bring up a map for you to follow straight back to your car. It also has a built in timer in case you’re at a parking meter so you know how long you have until you need to get back to plug the meter.

Barcode Scanner – Did you know that your phone’s camera has the ability to scan and read barcodes? You just need an app like this to take advantage of the capability. While you might scan a barcode at the store once in a while to read reviews of the product, you’ll likely use this app more often as a QR Code reader. So if you ever seen one of those funny looking square boxes that say “scan here”, just open up this app and point your camera at the box and you’ll be able to scan that QR Code like a champ.

Messaging – Your phone already has a built in text messaging app and it can get the job done. However, better apps like Go SMS Pro and Handcent are available that provide more features and a better user experience in my opinion. I recommend downloading both of them and trying each one out to see which you prefer.

Google Talk - If your phone has a front facing camera, then this app is probably already installed on your phone. Google Talk is the Android version of Apple’s Facetime. In other words, this is the app you’ll use for video chat.

Flashlight – You’d be surprised how often a simple flashlight app comes in handy. Since most of us don’t actually carry a flashlight on us at all times, having a flashlight app on your phone will shine some light on your situation. It uses the LED flash on your phone’s camera to provide the light and most of the time, it’s surprisingly bright.

Weatherbug – Don’t be surprised if you use this app every single day. I remember when I was a kid my dad always had to watch the weather when he got home on the news. I hated watching the news but in order for my dad to see the weather forecast, we had to watch it until the weather came on. We recently took a road trip together and I was able to use my phone to provide real time weather updates as we drove across the country. I could check the current radar and temperature and could check the weather of where we were headed at any time. You can even get an hour by hour forecast with this app so you can know what to expect.

Google Calendar – With the busy lives we all lead these days, it’s hard to beat the ease and simplicity of having the calendar on your phone sync up with the calendar on your computer. Personally, I like having one of those old school planners – you know the ones that use use a pen and paper and physically write in. However, I make sure to put all my appointments and activities into my Google Calendar on my computer. With the calendar app (should be installed on your phone already), it syncs up without you needing to do a thing.

Where’s My Droid – Last but certainly not least is the Where’s My Droid app. This is the app you’ll need if you phone ever gets lost or stolen. I tend to be a forgetful person and forget where I put my phone all of the time. While most of us can just call our phones (you can do this in Gmail, Skype or Google Voice if you don’t have another phone – just use your computer) to find the phone, when the phone is on silent, it won’t work. Fortunately, apps like this will allow you to text a special phrase to your phone that will turn up the volume to max even if the phone is currently on silent. It also allows you to text a phrase to your phone and the phone will text you back with it’s location and a link to map so you can navigate straight to your phone. It does require your phone to be turned on, however. If the power is off, this won’t work. Note: If you don’t install an app like this and you’ve lost your phone, you’ll need to use the app “Plan B” to track your lost phone.

JustAddMoney Expense Tracker

One of the best such apps for the iPhone is the JustAddMoney Expense Tracker by Rich Media Technologies, Inc. This app not only helps you keep track of your money but to share this information with others as well through its multiuser online tracker. You can track your expenses as you go along by entering in your receipts, credit card and cash outlays at the time of each purchase. And of course, the app will keep track of how much cash you currently have on hand.

You can add additional users to the tracker to see how much your teammates have spent before making the next big purchase. There will be no need to wait for your checks to clear the bank or to be surprised when you receive your credit card statement.

In addition, you can transfer money from one account to another, organize expense categories and create date-based financial reports to keep your financial data organized. This app can manage your expenses no matter how complex they may be.

Mobile Password Safe

Another great app for those who want to keep information private (in other words, everybody) is Mobile Password Safe by Market Acumen, Inc. What better place to store all of your sensitive passwords than on the iPhone you always have with you?

With this app you, and only you, will have access to your passwords. For extra security the passwords are decrypted in your browser. This means that plain text is never sent to the server. In this way, you can be assured of 100% security because your passwords cannot be hacked.

The app also allows you to create labels for your passwords so that you can search for them interactively. For any business person who has multiple passwords and other sensitive information, including online banking information that must be protected, this app is essential.

Salesforce Mobile

Salesforce Mobile by Salesforce.com allows users to access their sales force information instantly from their iPhones. There are two versions: “Lite” and “Full.” The Lite version is free for Salesforce.com customers, who will have full edit and create capabilities with the standard CRM data. The mobile Lite version can be enabled for an organization by the Salesforce Admin.

The full version allows users to build their own mobile Salesforce app, with fully customizable objects and configurations. The full version requires an unlimited edition license or an add-on mobile license.

LinkedIn

The free LinkedIn app brings the power of the professional networking site to your iPhone. It gives you the ability to look up the details of over 100 million worldwide professionals for any client meeting or interview. You can get the latest updates and news on your network, make new connections or reconnect with old ones, send invitations or check your inbox. Or keep all your contacts up-to-date with your own status while on the go. You can do it all on LinkedIn.

The smoothness and slick design of the iPhone and the over 350,000 apps that are available for it means that Apple’s popular mobile product will continue to be an indispensable business companion.

You might get the impression that the Mac is the forgotten stepchild of the Internet marketing industry. But did you know that some of the top names in Internet Marketing use Macs? Visit internetmacmarketing.com and get a FREE 75-page ebook that covers everything you need to know about running your Internet business using a Mac, iPhone and iPad here: http://internetmacmarketing.com/10tools.html

By: Timothy Arends

Softphone Apps for the iPhone can vary in service, quality and savings. Some of these apps actually run on your phone while others are internet hosted. Some VoIP providers have apps you can use for free if you are already a subscriber.

Here is a list of the Top 10 VoIP apps for your iPhone:

SKYPE

The original Skype iPhone client came out just over 2 years ago. It was awesome then, and it is awesome now. They have added a handful of new features like 2-way video calling, which makes use of the front camera on the iPhone 4. Skype lets you use both 3g and Wi-Fi to make calls, including video calls. You can mute a call, accept calls only as audio and switch between both cameras on the phone. Through the Skype app you can also instant message, and chat via SMS.

Google Voice

With much anticipation from consumers, much uproar from phone companies and a little interference from the FTC, the Google Voice app is now available for iPhone. Unlike some of Google’s other applications, the Voice app runs native on the iPhone. The app lets you thread communications, so you can follow conversations. You can look up history. The app will also transcribe your voicemails so that you can read them as texts. Importing contact from your iPhone contact list is easy. Like with Skype, you have to be set up with the Google Voice to use the app.

Truphone

This was one of the first mobile VoIP applications offered in the app store and it remains one of the bestselling. Calls you make over a Wi-Fi network are free, as are calls between Truphone users. Calls to landlines are pretty cheap, even for VoIP service, so this is a great app if you make a lot of international calls. Installation and setting up an account can be a little tricky, but the call quality and customer service are above par. Plus, the app integrates with the iPhone GUI, so accessing contact and call information from your phone is easy.

Fring

Fring is more of a mobile aggregator since the app lets you access your various communication services. You can use Fring with your Skype, Google Talk, Twitter, AIM and Yahoo accounts. You can make calls either through your Skype account, or you can use SIP (a protocol) to make calls through any of a dozen VoIP service providers. Fring has a list of VoIP providers they work with, and signing up is easy and the calls are ridiculously cheap.

iCall

iCall lets you make calls from your phone that won’t count against your phone’s minutes, when you are connected to a Wi-Fi or 3G network. One of the major advantages with iCall is that if a phone call comes in to your phone over the regular cellular network and you are connected to Wi-Fi, you can transfer the call over. iCall is one of the few VoIP apps that is fully integrated with the iPhone. So you can easily access your phone’s contact lists.

About the Author: When he’s not out skiing the Utah powder, Greg Buckskin is a writer and blogger for Comcast.USDirect.com – home to  Comcast Deals.

Today, I thought I’d change things up a little and do a post on apps that aren’t necessarily essential to any Android owner, but these are some of the coolest Android apps out there that really show you what your phone can do.   There aren’t any games, but these 10 apps sure nifty.

Tasker – Tasker is the only app on this list that isn’t free, but the $6 or so you’ll have to spend on it is well worth it.  Tasker is pretty much the Swiss Army Knife of the app world – it can do pretty much whatever you want it to.   Read more extensive reviews here and here.  To sum it up, this app will allow you access to 160 built-in actions to help you automate frequently performed tasks on the phone.   For example, this app will put your phone into airplane mode at night to save batteries but will turn the antennas back on every 15 minutes to check for email, text messages, and voicemail.   You can also use it to launch your music player (whichever one you choose) when you plug headphones into your phone.  There are thousands of different uses for this app and plenty of profiles pre-made for you so you don’t need to know how to program at all to get a ton of use out of this app.  Note: If you have a Droid Razr, you probably don’t need this app as the Smart Actions functionality built into the phone is very similar to what Tasker does – Tasker is a bit more powerful while Smart Actions are a bit more user friendly.

Soundhound – This is a music identification app which really isn’t anything new.  Shazam has been identifying songs playing on the radio for a couple years on Android now and even longer on the iPhone.  However, Soundhound can identify songs much faster, sometimes in as little as four seconds.  Of course, my favorite feature is that if you have a song stuck in your head and just can’t think of the name of it, just load up Soundhound and sing a few lines or hum a few bars.  It’s not perfect, but it can get you the song in most cases if you can remember 10 seconds or more of the song.

Google Maps – While I’m still waiting for a speedometer in my Google Maps Navigation, there is plenty to like about Google Maps on Android.  First and foremost – free GPS navigation which saves you a bundle over similar apps on the iPhone.   While every GPS navigation system can do driving directions, Google Maps Navigation also does walking directions, bicycling directions (using bike trails whenever possible), and can even help you take the bus by telling you which bus to take to get where you want to go as quickly as possible.  If you ever leave the house, make sure you’ve got this app installed on your phone.

Google Googles – Google Goggles is an app that has been around for a while now, but they keep adding in new features that really make you say wow.   Google Goggles has a built in barcode scanner for finding information about products (came in handy at Sears a couple weeks ago – we found out the item we were thinking of buying didn’t work as advertised), can translate street signs and restaurant menus, tell you what a product is by taking a picture of it and can help you identify art, locations, landmarks, and products just by taking their picture.  Oh yeah, and if that’s not enough, just for fun they threw in the ability to solve Sudoku puzzles and it works great on those extra hard puzzles you just can’t solve.

Google Translate – While there are plenty of other good translating apps out there, the new Google Translate app for Android takes the cake with its new real time translations by voice.  It’s not perfect yet, and it only does English and Spanish, but real time voice translation on your phone is certainly could certainly come in handy in a pinch and it sure is gosh darn cool to play with.

Google Skymap – This is the last Google made app on the list, but it does go to show you that Google has gone through great pains to make sure some of the best apps available are available on Android.   Google Skymap is one of those gee-wiz apps that you never knew you wanted, but once you’ve tried it out, you want to show it off to everyone else too.  Google Skymap will tell you where the constellations are and what their names are.  If you’re looking for the planets, it’ll tell you where they are as well.

Glympse – This app is actually pretty simple.  It allows you to be tracked.  Of course, you get to say who and when someone can track you and how often it updates.  For example, let’s say you’re planning on meeting a group of people for lunch but you’re coming from out of town.  Well, now you can let those contacts track your location so your friends can see how far away you are so they know if they’ll be waiting for you or if you’re running late.  This app would have been helpful a few months ago when I had to go help out a friend who got stranded on the interstate.  It was dark and I wasn’t exactly sure where he was (he didn’t know what mile maker he was near either) so  I had to drive along until I could find him.  Had we had this app at the time it would have told me exactly where he was.

Gmote – There are plenty of remote control apps for Android.  Heck, I’ve devoted one of my screens just to various remote controls for different devices.   This neat little app allows you to use your phone as a remote control for your computer (you’ll have to install a program on your computer too).  For example, you can launch and control a movie remotely or launch and stream music or control a Powerpoint presentation.

FXCamera – While the standard camera app on Android is a little lacking, you can dress it up by installing the FXCamera app on your phone.  This app gives you several different settings for taking pictures.  For example, there is a Polaroid mode that you can use for vintage film, faded, aged, and mono effects.  Stop taking boring photos and install FXCamera and then share them on Facebook using the button within the App.

Easy Metal Detector Lite – Does just what it says.  It turns your phone into a metal detector.  Your phone does have the equipment inside it to do the task, but it doesn’t have a very strong magnet so you do have to get pretty close to metal for it to detect it, but it’s still a cool way to show off some of the lesser known capabilities of your phone.

He spent a good part of last night playing around with my phone (a Droid, not an iPhone) trying to learn how about everything these phones can do.

So since I know I’ll be getting asked about which iPhone apps are the best, here is a list of 10 must have apps for the iPhone 4 for everyone to see (but no games, you can find people more qualified to give you game advice than me – I don’t do games).

Pandora (free)

With iOS 4, Pandora can finally run in the background so you can listen to music on your phone and do other things, like jot down notes, play games, send texts,  read the New York Time, and so on and so forth.  Pandora is a great way to discover new artists that you might not know you like so if you’re sick of the same old 40 songs being played on the radio, this free apps should be one of the first you download from the App Store

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stADpDu-z3c

The Weather Channel (free)

There is no shortage of weather apps available for the iPhone but this one is largely regarded as the best.    My favorite part – the ability to view and animate the radar so you can track the path of a storm.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a29uRtKdaLk

Find My iPhone (free – MobileMe Membership Required $99/yr)

Coming to the realization that you lost your iPhone really does give a person a sinking feeling in their heart.  Find my iPhone, developed by Apple allows you to remotely track down you iPhone if you lost it or if you think it might be stolen.  It also allows you to remotely wipe the phone to protect your personal information.   The best part is that even if you don’t have the app installed before you lose your phone, you can still use this program – all other lost iPhone apps need you to be prepared and have these programs installed before your iPhone is lost or stolen.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-wCuA6CgeE

Car Locator ($1.99)

For those who can’t remember where they parked (like me), this app is for you.  Just fire up this app when you park and tag your location.  When you’re ready to find your car later, just tell the app and it’ll guide you right back to it.  I use a similar app on my phone frequently when I park downtown as I often don’t remember exactly where the heck my car is – saves me a lot of time wondering around lookin’ like a fool.

Shazam

One of the greatest apps ever created.  If you’ve ever wanted to know what song is playing on the radio, this app will tell you.  You’d be amazed how often you find yourself using this app.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkFTcbC9jnk

Evernote

This is a great app for jotting down notes, ideas, voice recordings, pictures, and videos.  And the great part is that it will instantly sync to your computer so you have all the info is there for you when you’re ready to act on it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMbh_nGduJY

OpenTable

With this restaurant you can find a restaurant with open tables and make a reservation all from your phone without making a single phone call – just push a couple buttons and you have a reservation… it’s that simple.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxFgw86ghJc

Taxi Magic

While this one probably isn’t applicable to people in all parts of the country, this app allows you to hail a cab from your iPhone and if you’re in a supported city, it’s extremely useful.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvClBbpP5es

Remember The Milk

This is an online to do list and task manager and a sweet one at that.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJXRzZUtuAE

AroundMe

Need directions to the nearest airport, police station, or coffee shop?  Then you need AroundMe as that’s exactly what this app does.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x0omiP99qE

Looking for even more great iPhone apps?   Here are some more lists:

• http://news.cnet.com/8301-13556_3-20008296-61.html
• http://techexposures.com/2010/01/top-10-ipod-iphone-apps-must-have-february-2010/
• http://www.technoprimer.com/2010/03/10-free-must-have-iphone-apps.html

The Apple iPhone 4 - Now With Multitasking!

One thing that business users expect on a smartphone is the ability to record a phone call.

There is plenty written about the legality of recording phone calls, and if you’re trying to secretly record calls, you could be asking for trouble.  However, not everyone wants to record phone calls for nefarious purposes.  Here’s a good resource about recording calls.

For example, I was just on a call this morning with a client and he wanted to know how we could record the conversation because he couldn’t keep up with everything I was saying and wanted to be able to go back and review the apparent wisdom I was pontificating.

We were on Skype at the time, so I just turned on Pamela (that’s what the software suite I used is called) and recorded away.

But how do you record a call if your on an Android powered phone?  There is no built in functionality to do it, but fortunately a few apps have come to the market that get the job done nicely.

But first let’s start with the free option.

Free Call Recording With Google Voice

You can record calls with Google Voice.  Unfortunately, that means you can only record incoming calls, not outgoing.    However it’s simple to do –  just press 4 on your number pad and it will start recording the conversation.  You’ll find the conversation in your Voice control panel within a few minutes and you can send the recording to the other party easily from the control panel.

Best Call Recording Android Apps

There are a lot of so called call recording apps on the Android Market.  The problem is that a lot of them don’t work.   I’ve found that none of the free apps on the market are worth downloading and after testing out several different call recording apps have settled on AllCallRecorder Deluxe.  It’s a $2.95 app and there’s a free trial version you can test out before you have to buy anything.  Keep in mind it doesn’t work with all phones, but it does work with a lot of them and works well with almost all of the popular devices.

One other app you may want to take a look at is Super Call Recorder – I haven’t personally tested it out but it has good reviews and might work for you in case AllCallRecorder Deluxe doesn’t and also has a free trial version so you can verify that it works before you pay for it.

While paying $2.95 for functionality you think should be built into your phone isn’t ideal, I think it’s a lot better than having a Blackberry because then while you can easily record phone calls, you have to suffer with having a Blackberry.  :)

I’ve seen a lot of people making lists of “must have” Android apps, and then they go and include stuff you definitely don’t need, but is certainly cool.

For example, on my phone I have the Tricorder and Lightsaber apps.  While they’re both cool, if you deleted them tomorrow, I’d be sad, but I’d survive.

On the other hand, if you took away my Google Voice Visual Voicemail (note: this is how you get Visual Voicemail for free – don’t pay for it, just get this App and a Google Voice account), I’d be without Voicemail.

So here is my list of what I think are some “must have” Apps.  Keep in mind that while I’m fairly tech savvy, I’m no expert on what should or shouldn’t be on a smartphone – I think all the features are cool.

Oh, and one more thing.  I’ve seen some people complain about how the phone (Motorola Droid and other Android phones like the Nexus One and HTC offerings) lacks certain features out of the box.  That’s the cool part – if you want to do it, there’s probably an App for that, and if there isn’t, you can create one!  It’s infinitely customizable to you.  That’s the real appeal to the iPhone and Android phones.

Anyway, must have Droid Apps…

1. ChompSMS or HandSent2 – The built in SMS on Android sucks donkey balls.  It didn’t allow me to send a text to multiple people at once or to groups.   ChompSMS fixes that little snafu.  It’s the app I use most often.
2. Contact Owner – Ever left your phone somewhere, but can’t for the life of you remember where it is?  I know I have.  And if not for the person how found it being ambitious enough to call contacts in my phone, I wouldn’t have found it.  This app is quite simple – it displays your name and contact info (including alternate phone number and email address) on the phone with an “if found, contact” message.  If someone finds your phone, they’ll know how and who to contact to return it.
3. Wave Secure – Smartphones are expensive even when heavily subsidized by your phone company.  What would you do if it got stolen?  Well, being careful is the best way to make sure nobody steals your phone, but if they do, you’ve got WaveSecure.  If your phone is stolen, this App can help track it back down and will even notify people (that you pick) that your phone has been stolen.  It can even lock the phone down so that the thieves can’t access your personal information.
4. Home++ – Android has three screens by default for putting shortcuts and icons on.   Honestly, once you start playing around with your phone, you’ll find yourself wanting more screens to better organize the apps you use most often.  For example, on my phone I have a screen just for music programs and one just for all the various programs for going online.  Home++ allows you to have up to seven screens and it does some other cool stuff too, but all I use it is for the extra screens.
5. Pandora – While Android is certainly not iPhone for music, it’s certainly a capable device.  I really like my customized Pandora radio stations and being able to listen to them while I’m driving in the car (or wherever I happen to be) is awesome.  Last.fm and Slacker are also both good music streaming clients if you’d like more options.
6. Voice Recorder – The Droid has no built in voice recorder.  No problem, just download “voice recorder” or “rehearsal”, problem solved.
7. FoxyRing and Locale – There are two apps that have a similar function and Locale is definitely the more ambitious of the two, however I don’t need all the features and find FoxyRing is exactly what I need.  You’ll probably want at least one of them if not both.   FoxyRing is an app that measures ambient noise and adjusts the ringer volume accordingly.  In a loud bar?  Then the ringer will go off at it’s loudest volume so you can hear it.  Sitting in your living room reading a book?  Then the ringer will go off at a much lower volume so it doesn’t scare the bejesus out of you.   It also features a “silent” mode.  You can set times when the phone simply won’t go off.  In class at a certain time every day?  Just set the phone to be in silent mode.   Don’t want to take phone calls in the middle of the night?  Again, silent mode.  However, you can set the phone to allow certain emergency contacts to get through.  So if you want your mother to be able to call in case of a family emergency, but not your drunk friends, this is the perfect app for that.
8. Mototorch – This is another simple app.  It uses the LED flash on the camera as a flashlight.  It’s simple, but handy.
9. Gtask – Another simple app that synchs to Google tasks in your Gmail account.  There are a ton of “to do list” apps and really cool ones like “don’t forget the milk.”  For me, this simple one is all I need and the fact that it synchs to Gmail, which I use all day long is why I chose it.
10. KeepScreen – This is an ultra handy app – and all it does it keeps your screen from turning off.  For example, if you’re playing music, but want to keep the controls up without having to unlock the screen every time, this program will do it.  You can set it so that when certain programs are running, the screen simply doesn’t turn off.  Be careful as leaving programs run will drain your battery faster than two shakes of a lambs tail, but it’s great when you just need the screen to stay on without having to touch it every few seconds.

Oh, and while this one is built in, if you use Google Calendar, you can have it text you a reminder if you have anything scheduled you don’t want to forget.  I didn’t know about it until recently, but now I use it regularly.

Those are some of my favorite “must have” apps.

I’ll probably make a list of ones that are “nifty” and “spiffy” but not quite as practical in the future, but that’s all I’ve got for today.