Top 5 Android Apps I Can't Stop Using

I've been fiddling around with my HTC Tattoo for close to a month now and have had a chance to experiment on it in the last few weeks. Just like the way I distro-hop from one Linux distro to another, I just had to try and look for Android apps that would fit my needs. Here are 5 free apps that I have found useful for my mobile needs:

ASTRO File Manager- Just like FileZ on my Treo, I find I must have some sort of file manager to see what's taking up space, delete file I no longer use. ASTRO is a lot more useful than your vanilla file browser because of one simple feature -- cut and paste! I can cut (or copy) a file and move if somewhere else. Even more useful is the ability to choose multiple files to cut (or copy) and paste. It just makes managing files on the phone itself a whole lot easier. Another feature I appreciate is it's built-in ability to zip files. Makes emailing multiple files all the more easier. And yes, it supports attaching files to email, too!

Aldiko - An eBook reader is a must for me. I had 2 on my Treo (Adobe Reader for Palm OS and eReader) and I would be damned if I can't haz my eBooks. Aldiko has a a good interface that displays a visual bookshelf of the books that I have on my phone. Features that I find useful include the ability to change the reading into day and night mode (black text on white or white text on black) in 2 taps. It's the same with the Table of Contents, 2 taps. Another 2 taps takes me to a link to download books from Feedboks. 2 taps to a feature is always handy, don't ya think? There are some things I still need to get used to. In .epub books there are no page numbers. If I need to skip to a different part of the book, I need to move a bar that shows percentage or (if the book was formatted with chapter info) at the start of each chapter. Not that accurate if you're looking for a particular part of the book. I've started using bookmarks to get around that problem. Another niggle I have is that I have to import books into Aldiko. To import books I need to save them into a specific folder in the media card (ebooks/import). After that, I need to launch Aldiko and import the books before they can be listed in my bookshelf. Kind of tedious. Still, I'm starting to get used to it too.

Seesmic - I Twitter, so I must have a Twitter client. Seesmic has 3 features that I want and need. I can set it up to use my bit.ly account so I can track the links that I shorten. It also integrates posting pictures to Tweetphoto, yFrog, MobyPicture and Twitpic. I can also tweet my location, as it can use the phone's GPS. All three I can do while composing a tweet. That's a compelling enough reason for me to use it over Peep, the default Twitter client on the Tattoo. It also supports linking to videos using a Google/Youtube account, useful if your not shy about sharing your videos.

Handcent SMS - SMS is a given in any phone. Most phones already include the option for threaded conversation-style displays. Handcent ups the ante by giving me more customization options. I can send SMS to a group,very useful when optimizing Unlitext or sending out announcements. It has a handy pop- up that appears over the home screen that allows me to reply right away without going into Handcent itself. I can perform a search for text in messages. The shortcut on my home screen can display how many unread messages I have. It comes with it's own (optional) T9 keyboard. It even has a blacklist function, one feature I wish I will never have to use ;-). Overall, it has very useful features, it's customizable and it looks pretty just doing what it does.

ConvertPad - Who doesn't need to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius or MPG to KM/L from time to time? This app exhaustively covers every possible conversion that I've ever imagined myself asking about, including currency conversions (this requires internet access to update the rates). Kudos to MathPad.com for this great app!

Moving from Treo to Droid is about as harrowing as moving from XP to Windows 7. You stay with what you have because you've grown attached to it despite its age. The heir apparent doesn't offer much. You wait for the next compelling thing to come along. It eventually arrives after a long time. You hold back, thinking twice about moving on. Eventually you make the jump. So my experience has been limited mostly to finding Droid apps that mirror how I met my needs using my trustworthy old Treo. And that was what I was after, waiting all these years. I'm not regretting my decision to go for a Droid phone one bit. I have just what I need and more. The only thing I miss from my Treo use would have to be HomerSays :-)

Top 5 Free Windows Apps I Can't Do Without

USB Guardian - it does one simple thing really well. It stops self-executing files on USB drives you connect to your computer. Most viruses and trojans bypass anti-virus programs by being faster. Auto.inf and .exe files launch faster than your anti-virus can say 'Gotcha!'. USB Guardian stops any executables, giving your anti-virus precious millisecconds to react and can. It's not fool-proof, but together with fast proactive anti-virus software it's a potent line of defense. Download USB Guardian from: http://www.usb-guardian.com/downloads/usb-guardian-setup.exe

7-Zip - not all zippers are created equal. This free and open source tool gives me 2 extra features that other zip software will ask me to pay for -- self-extracting zipped volumes and password protection. You will have to zip using the 7-Zip format, but if you create a self-extracting folder it turns into an .exe file instead of the default .7z. That means recipients don't have to have 7-Zip installed in their computer. I've already shared large photo packages with family using public services like Sendspace without fear for privacy because I can set a difficult password on it too. If you do it the same way, just remember to get them a password in a safe way like through SMS. Start using it today by downloading the latest version from: http://www.7-zip.org/

ImgBurn - free and one of the most reliable burning software I have used, this one has all the features that  I need. I use it mostly to burn images files to disc, create data backups, the reverse. I mean create images of discs and copying data discs, that is. It doesn't suffer from the bloat of some other burning software and it's lightweight. It comes with a few extras that I need, like verify mode and reading information off blank discs. That's useful when your scouting for reliable media -- yes, Taiyo Yuden DVD-R's are still the best! Try out ImgBurn and let me know how it goes for you. Get it here: http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

TeraCopy - Need to speed up your file copying from drive to drive? This is the app for you! So named because it was created to maximize copying speeds for large files, TeraCopy just maxes out whatever available speed there is on your drives. It has made copying large folders a breeze for me. Very useful indeed for that Terabyte of data you've been itching to move from a friend's PC to your portable drive [Seagate FreeAgent, anyone?] ;-) So hurry up and download it already, it's free for home use: http://www.codesector.com/download.php

VLC (VideoLAN Client) - originally intended for streaming media to other computers in the same network, VLC is just as capable as a media player. I like to call it 'codec-agnostic'. Well, not really. But it will play practically anything you throw at it. Mostly because it already includes most codecs in it's plumbing. No more codec hell. Don't let the traffic cone throw you off. This is one very capable media player. Certainly the best media player that I've used in the past 10 years. Go download it now at: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/