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Playback videos in any file format on your Android unit with MX Video Player

MX Video Player is perhaps not the best, but it's definitely one of the better media player apps out there. The app can access all video file formats and includes a lot of options that you can use to change the viewing environment of your videos.

This app offers a very straightforward interface, especially if you're only using it to access mainstream files. At the starting screen you're simply given the set of available videos on your device. The interface of the player has all the standard buttons when playing a file, as well as several other … Read more

Transfer files from computer to mobile iDevice with iFile

iFile is an app designed to allow you to move files from computers (even between different operating systems) and your iPhone or iPad. The iFile app is available from iTunes for $1.99.

To use iFile you need to connect your iPhone or iPad to a Wi-Fi network, then open the iFile app and record the IP address it is using. Then, on your Mac, Windows, or Linux computer, open a browser window and enter the IP address as the URL. If the two can connect cleanly, an upload window is displayed. From there, select the file you want to … Read more

Turn your Android device into a flashlight

Flashlight is a simple app designed primarily for Android devices that don't have a built-in LED flashlight.

It does come as a ZIP file, but the app is easy to install and even easier to use. As soon as you open Flashlight it displays a bright white area that can be stretched or zoomed to fill your screen. If you're happy with the white light, that's all you need to do. To switch your flashlight on and off you tap the middle of the screen. The interface has only three buttons, with only one applying to the … Read more

Bowling game with great graphics and commentary

Gutterball Golden Pin Bowling Free is a bowling game with automated scoring and several powerups to increase your bowling skills. There is a free version of the game, with a paid upgrade to add more features and options. The game installs cleanly.

The Gutterball Golden Pin Bowling Free interface allows you to choose from two different alleys (five different alleys in the paid version), each with their own attractive graphics. To bowl, you use the mouse or keyboard to launch the bowl and add spin, controlling velocity and direction. There's an audio commentary that can be amusing at times, … Read more

Search your Android phone with Google's free Voice Search

Voice search is such a useful smartphone capability that yours may already have it (ours did). Maybe you already have Google's Voice Search, too. This free app integrates seamlessly with Google Search; just look for the microphone icon. Voice Search lets you search your phone or device, the Internet, and nearby locations just by speaking (clearly) into your phone. Even if you're not the best public speaker, Voice Search is smart enough to offer a range of suggestions, and it can learn to understand you, too. If your Android device doesn't have a built-in voice search app, … Read more

Bubble-shooting puzzle strategy game

It might not offer the mental challenges of some games, but Bubble Shooter is a fun, even addictive game that anyone can play.

The basic objective of Bubble Shooter is simple. At the main menu of the app, you are given two main game options. The first one is the puzzle mode. In this mode, you have to complete the level by using the fewest bubbles possible. Don't worry, there are no specific time or bubble limits, but your score or evaluation can be greatly reduced as you use more bubbles. The arcade mode features larger, more general sets … Read more

Play realistic slots on your Android device with Slot Machine Deluxe

It used to be that you had to go to Las Vegas to play the real slots. Then more casinos gave more players access to real Vegas-style slot machines, and online slots just sweetened the pot. Now you can play casino-style slots with Slot Machine Deluxe, a free Android app (you can buy more coins, though). We installed it on a Samsung smartphone running Ice Cream Sandwich.

Slot machine opens with two carousels of Slots displayed, though all but the first are locked. Before we started playing, we tapped the Settings icon, but the only changes involved turning off the … Read more

AutoCAD for the Mac, but in a stripped-down edition

Autodesk AutoCAD is one of the standard applications on Windows for those who need an app for designs. With AutoCAD WS, the application moves to the Mac with support for Mac OS X 10.6 or later. For those who are not familiar with AutoCAD, it is a tool for laying out designs from simple to hideously complex, with the ability to mark up and comment on designs for collaborative use. With AutoCAD WS, those designs can now be portable, allowing you to move them around on mobile devices as native AutoCAD files or PDFs.

AutoCAD WS installs easily and … Read more

Produces fake body part images for amusement

Body Scanner is an entertainment app that supposedly lets you see through clothes and zoom in on body parts. Of course, Body Scanner doesn't really do anything like that, but it does show a representation of what you'd think is an X-ray image based on what the camera is pointing at. There's no real scanning involved, of course, just photo manipulation.

Of course, this wouldn't be entertainment if the app simply showed a skeletal figure or perhaps just a smooth body skin, so Body Scanner spices things up with some imagination. Some images will show a … Read more

Annoyingly addictive introduction to the Angry Birds series

Unless you've lived in a cave with no connectivity for the last few years, you've heard about Angry Birds. Angry Birds Free is the introduction to the series and acts as a teaser for the paid app. Angry Birds Free downloads and installs with no problem.

The goal of Angry Birds Free is to launch birds from a slingshot, aiming them at structures with green pigs scattered about. The birds, some of which have special capabilities, knock over the building structures and kill the pigs. Wipe out the pigs and you pass the level. Sounds simple (and to … Read more