TR Dojo: Five free must-have Android apps

Background noise

>> Bill: With tens of thousands of apps in the Android market it could be hard to find useful tools. Well, I'm Bill Detweiler and during this episode of TR Dojo I'll show you 5 free apps that made blogger Jack Wallens must-have list.

Background noise

>> Bill: As of this show there are over 200,000 apps in the Android market and you can spend hours installing and then removing apps looking for ones that are truly useful. To aid your search for handy Android apps Tech Republic blogger, Jack, Wallen, has put together a list of 10 indispensable applications some free some paid. Now, during today's show I'm just going to cover the free apps. I'll link the full list in the TR Dojo blog. So first on our list of free apps is Dolphin and according to Jack it's one of the best mobile web browsers out there. It's fast, reliable, has real tabs and supports gestures and multi-touch. Until Google releases a Chrome browser for Android you should definitely give Dolphin a try. Second on our list is Chomp SMS which Jack thinks is the best texting client for Android phones. Not only does it have great features but it can also save your battery. The default Android text app especially in pre 2.0 releases has a problem going to sleep so it's constantly draining your battery. Chomp doesn't have this problem. Third, is Feeder an RSS reader that works both as an app and as a widget. Feeder can add preconfigured feeds or you can add your own personal favorites; this app beats the competition with its ability to truly auto-update. Many other feed readers especially those in the widget category require manual updates to function properly. Feeder handles all the updates in the background with no user intervention required. Fourth on the list is Connect Bot which is an opensource secure shell client for Android phones. Now, it's a great tool for managing remote machines. This client can manage simultaneous SSH connections and supports copy and paste between apps. It also has shortcuts for control sequences. Now, there is one caveat I should mention about Connect Bot. As of this taping the control key function is mapped to the track ball so if you have a device without a track ball like the Motorola Xoom you won't get that functionality. Last on our list is Evernote which basically allows you to create notes, which can include photos, audio clips and even file attachments from your mobile device or PC. The notes are accessible from all your devices. I personally use Evernote to keep track of my notes across my phone, tablet, and laptop. Now, the free version of Evernote lets you create an unlimited number of notes but you only get 60 megabytes of uploads each month. You're also limited to the types of files you can upload and whether you can access them when you're offline. Now, if you want more storage space and more features you can upgrade to Evernote premium for $45.00 U.S. a year. These are just half of the must-have Android apps on Jack's list. I encourage you to check out his full list which I'll link to from the TR Dojo blog. You should also check out the discussion thread attached to his list; there Tech Republic members have shared their favorite Android apps such as WiFi Analyzer, Mobile Defense, and ES File Explorer. And, as always, for more teachings on your path to becoming an IT ninja visit TRDojo.techrepublic.com, sign up for our twice weekly e-mail newsletter or you can follow me on Twitter. Thanks for visiting the TR Dojo.

Background noise << Bill: Last on our list is Evernote which -- ah -- Evernote, okay. Am I too happy? laughing Do I look too happy today? That's too happy. The free version of Evernote let's you create an unlimited something or other. The script just ran off. Uh oh, laughing.

==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====