Personally, I like to travel a lot. And when you’re travelling there are two things you can’t forget, a map so you don’t get lost and proper planning as to where you’ll stay, how expensive the food and car rental is etc. Trips can be a disaster if you don’t plan ahead of time. This is where Kayak comes in. With your handy android smartphone or iPhone you can have access to everything you might need on the go.
Previously we had reviewed a similar app, Trip Advisor for android, Kayak has improved on that by a huge margin so let’s get straight down to the review.

Considering how large the application is, we’ll take it in sections from here, first off Flights!

Booking your flight:

The first part of any trip is of course, booking the most suitable flight, normally you’d have to go to  your PC and search the respective airline’s website or worse yet travel to an office yourself. With Kayak, you can easily view available tickets with prices and even book them if you have a credit card (who doesn’t nowadays?). You have options to book a single flight for a one-way trip, a return flight and a third rather unusual “multi-city” option. So if you’re off on a short flight or a huge multi-flight trip, Kayak has you covered. Once you get the search results, you can filter them by price, choose from Economy, Business and First class and book your tickets.

If you’re looking to save some additional cash, tap the price alerts menu, choose a flight in similar fashion and Kayak will notify you regarding price changes automatically! Booking flights is common to every other travel related app, but this feature really adds value to Kayak, shows the developers have put thought into it to make something unique and useful.

You also have two additional menus for tracking your flight by flight number or airport and a My Trips menu that keeps track of all of your bookings whether its  a flight ticket or a hotel room booking.

Accuracy is of course important for flight trackers, and as far as I’ve used the flight tracker it works just as it should and doesn’t miss any flights like Trip Advisor did.

Car rental and hotel booking:

Once you get to your destination, tap the car rental menu and you can search for rental cars by location. You can use the GPS to track your location or manually enter your location instead. Kayak will give you quick and detailed results. You can filter the choices by location, price or car class which is a great feature to have.

Booking a hotel is just as easy. Enter your location or automatically determine it and Kayak will give you results. But this app is by far the best in this category. I have used several other apps for this but the problem is most applications do not list the cheaper hotels you can get, not everyone would be ready to pay 500+ dollars for  a one night stay. Kayak gave back results in every price range ranging from a lowly $73 hotel to more expensive ones.

Airport information, currency converter and more:

With the basics covered, Kayak still has a lot more to offer. You have a built in currency converter, an essential tool for when travelling abroad.  You have more information related to flights. You can for example use the application to find how much cash an extra KG of luggage will cost you with a specific airline. The feature is excellent but not as useful as it could be since you can only search a handful of airlines, not the full list. Hopefully they’ll expand their database in the future.

Similarly the Airport Information menu will give you details regarding everything you can do on a airport, where a certain shop is located, how far are the washrooms or terminals etc. But again, the information is limited to a select few airports which is disappointing.

You can also browse air fare trends in a similar fashion to the  Price Alerts option, share your location with a friend through the Beacon menu incase you need directions and Kayak even includes a packing list!

You have default lists in the menu such as “General” which lists stuff like your cell phone charger, medicine and cash, stuff that you’ll need on any trip. You can edit the lists and add and subtract items ofcourse.

Lastly we have a preferences menu, where you can log-in to Kayak or use the Facebook log in option, change the currency, and select how many results to give when searching in the app. You can also provide feedback through another menu and you even have a handy 4×4 widget to keep track of flights, price alerts and your trips.

I’d say Kayak is by far my favorite app for when I’m on the go. I was very impressed by Trip Advisor which I reviewed sometime ago, it is an excellent app in its own regard, but Kayak is even better. The interface takes very little time to get used to and the best bit is the level of detail in the app. The developer has gone beyond the basic options such as flight and hotel booking and included some new stuff such as the packing lists menu. You have many other small touches here and there that shows how thoughtful the developer has been and it is these things that really make an app great, and in the case of Kayak, it’s a truly marvelous app. After all it has the Editor’s Choice award on the app market for  a reason.  The ONLY problem I’ve had with it is that its not that fast, I have been using it on Wifi over a 20Mbit connection and while its slightly slow here, I suspect using it over Edge or 3G will show signs of slowing down occasionally.

Download Link

Greedy Spiders is possibly the most fun puzzle game on Android. The game revolves around some bugs that go to a bug concert, which turns out to be a trap set up by the Greedy Spiders disguised as bugs. Now its up to you to help these entertainment derived bugs escape the spider infested hall.

After the intro video is over, start the game and you’ll begin on a grid shaped like a spider’s net. The bug has been trapped in this net and you must help it get out. You can do this by using the scissor tool on the right and tapping onto the cobwebs to cut them. You get one turn, then the spider gets a turn to move and so on.

The gameplay is very simple at the start. You only have one attacking greedy (or hungry?) spider and only one bug to save. As you advance along the levels, the number of bugs will increase, you’ll need to plan ahead and strategize to get out of sticky situations. You need to keep in mind potential forks and avoid them, chess places will know what I am talking about. Later on the levels you’ll start dealing with multiple spiders aswell, this is when the game gets really tricky and challenging. Thankfully as the levels progress, you’ll get some new powers aswell to stop those greedy spiders!

These powers are represented by the grayed out buttons on the panel to your right and can be quite the game changers. You can use the flames icon for example to burn down a whole set of strings in the web or deceive a spider and use other godly powers.
The game is A LOT of fun, its very challenging but BLYTES, the developer has managed to make it fun at the same time. Its hard enough to challenge you at every point and easy enough that you don’t get bored of trying, throw it away and try something easier, Angry Birds for example?

Speaking of Angry Birds and other widely popular games on the market such as Cute The Rope or Fruit Ninja, this is easily better than all of them. Angry Birds is awesome, I love the angry little creatures in all shapes and sizes but its never been as challenging as this game is. Greedy Spiders is simply fantastic. And you can play along all 78 levels of the game AND they’ve even added a 30 level Halloween pack into the mix. The developer also mentions on the site that more scenarios will be coming soon in feature updates, so its one game that you will never get bored off and always have a new level to play. And to top if off its just $0.99 on the market.

In Magic Defenders HD, you’ll be playing in a “Plants vs Zombies” type game. As the name implies you can choose a wizard/hero of your choice and use him and his powers to defend your town from the Orc invasion.

First thing I noticed while starting the game is that the Orcs look pretty similar to some goblins in another game, Battle Heart, not sure wether they copied the character or it was just plain chance. That’s a small detail though and the game itself is nothing like Battle Heart.
Just like any other game of this type, you’ll be defending your town from the Orcs in 3 scenarios, first one is in the forest and is quite easy, the second is on your town wall and the 3rd one is inside the town itself. The start is quite easy with only one route for enemies to pour in through.

At the start of the each level you get a basic power such as arcane magic or electricity, once you kill enough of those orcs with it, you can buy upto 3 new powers and upgrade them. Killing enemies give you XP to buy these powers and killing multiple enemies will generate XP faster. Each character has its own set of skills which is nice to see. The basic character for example can start a blazing fire within a certain radius, “infect” a piece of land to damage multiple enemies or order pointed icicles that drop from the storm ridden sky. The powers and your overall damage can be upgraded as you play along.

The thing that I personally love about the game is firstly the graphics and art style. The graphics aren’t the best we have seen but they have a unique feel to them, the animations and power effects (described above) look cool too though its quite obvious there is room for a lot more improvement. There are games out there with nicer graphics after all.

On the gameplay side, I have mixed feelings. The powers system is well executed, using multiple powers at one time has mixed effects, for example if you use a fire storm and then use the ice storm power, they will reduce their overall damage (common sense really). That’s a clever addition and adds a lot of strategy to the game but on the downside you only have 3 powers to play with. If you had twice that or even more, it would make for some seriously cool gameplay. Then we have the levels. Again, they are well thought out (the last two atleast) but once you’re done, you’ll keep wanting for more. 3 levels as I’m sure everyone will agree, is too less for any game. On the bright side, the last level is endless so you can hone your skills, but I am hoping the developers do something about the amount of (or lack of) content in the game.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about it, its not a game that will impress you like some of the other games, its not as dreary as some other games on the Android market. Its “good” to be very fair. And the price is pretty reasonable at $1.36. Try it out for free here first, and as always feel free to share your opinions about Magic Defenders HD.

Lemon is a handy productivity and finance related application that allows you to keep track of where you are spending your money.

Unlike other applications for this purpose, Lemon doesn’t need you to manually enter how you are spending your money. All you need to do is take a picture of your receipts and Lemon does the rest by itself. So when you first launch Lemon, you’ll come to the screen shown below:

This is the main screen for the app, you can scan and view receipts from here, see the stores you have shopped from, view reports and change settings and lastly register/ log in to Lemon. This is the first thing you should do when you launch the application. You can go the Desktop website or register from your smartphone.
Now that I mentioned the desktop website, you should know that Lemon’s Android/iOS/BB Application syncs to the lemon website once you create an account so you can keep all your receipts synced across devices and don’t loose them when you change devices. We’ll come back to the desktop website later, for now lets talk about the Android version of the app we are reviewing right now.

Once you’ve registered and linked your smartphone with the lemon website, find an old receipt from a super market for example, open the Lemon app and scan it. You’ll have to align the edges of the application with the actual receipt. Once you take a picture, you can retake it if you wish, or if the receipt is long, click on Add Part and snap the remaining part of it. After that simply add the desired labels to the receipt such as “personal” if it’s a private purchase for yourself and the picture will start uploading to the Lemon website. You’ll have to wait sometime before Lemon scans the picture, processes it and gives results.
This is one of the most amazing things about the application. Its smart enough to “read” your receipts, find out the items bought and the total price paid and as you add more receipts Lemon will be a great way to know how much money you have spent overall or in a certain month and even show your spending pattern on a graph.
Lemon makes up a report overtime regarding your spending patterns, you can view it in the reports section of the app, on the desktop website and even mail yourself the report for reference.

Other than recording your receipts, registering at Lemon.com also gives you another email address that you can use for your online purchases and deals with businesses to easily manage your digital receipts in a separate account. I personally prefer having a single inbox, but this could be useful for people that like their private inbox separate from their business one.
And now let’s talk about the Desktop website. It has much of the same functionality as the Lemon Application and syncs with it aswell so you can view all of your purchases and reports directly on the website aswell as access your Lemon email inbox.
I don’t usually use applications for managing my finances, they are too complicated and “manual” and not very productive, Lemon is an exceptionally good application though. It hardly takes a minute to take a picture of a receipt and save It and Lemon does the rest of the work. Its like your personal assistant to keep your spending in check. The only problem I have with this app, and its not that big, is that Lemon can be a bit inaccurate or fail to read some receipts, however in most cases it works beautifully.

The basic video player for most Android devices, is quite dull and lacks support for most common video codecs. So if you get an Android phone, you’ll definitely need a third party video players unless you want to spend your life converting videos to your phone’s supported format. Here’s our pick of the top 5 video players for Android.

5: Rock player LITE

The free version of the app has ads and it’s a massive 13MB. That being said it can be moved to the SDcard and it does play all major video formats and automatically loads .srt subtitle files aswell as long as they have the same name as the video file for which they are for. You can also tweak the settings a bit but there is nothing major in there. Basically you can choose to change the subtitle color, display FPS and batter percentage and a few more settings.

4: Mobo Player

Mobo player a bit more up its sleeve than Rock player. It has a software decoding and hardware decoding mode, supports .srt .ass and .saa subtitle files. You can also choose to stream video from an external source such as a PC. This one is free aswell.

3: Act 1 Video Player

I don’t know how they came up with that name or the inspiration behind it, but Act 1 does the job for .3GP, H.263 and H.264 format files. There is also partial support for .MP4 files. It supports .srt files for subtitles, onscreen clock, battery percentage, a iPhone-esque seekbar and plays videos from where you left them off. It’s a tiny 261k player and costs $2.79 which might be a bit steep since it doesn’t support a lot of formats.

2: Real Player

While the previous players may be functional enough, their user interfaces are a bit dull. This is where Real Player comes in. It has a quality feel to it and the blue-ish UI looks cool. It is currently in Beta stage and will play any file format your device currently supports. The app also plays music files so you can use it as a music player aswell.

1: VPlayer

You can get the trial version off the Android market which works for a week after which you’ll need to buy this VPlayer Unlocker for $5.01. This makes it the most expensive video player of the five, but then it is easily the best video player you can find. It supports a wide variety of formats such as divx, wmv, flv, avi, mkv, mp4 and 3gp among others and you can add .ssa, .ass, .srt and .sub subtitle files. The app has a simple interface, opening it leads you to a file manager, you can browse to your video file and start playing it. There is no fancy interface and all you get is the same look as a default File Manager. On the upside, it works without any hiccups and plays every file you throw at it.

MacXDVD Software is a digital media software company that specializes in DVD ripping and video converting software. For the longest time it has been giving you a host of products that have been effective and efficient. Now, MacXDVD Software brings to you the ultimate solution to download online streaming video and convert video formats – MacX Video Converter Pro 3.2.0 for Windows.

If you download videos or stream videos online, MacX Video Converter Pro 3.2.0 is your best options for your windows system. It seamlessly helps you download and convert video formats, supporting many video formats.

The good news is not over yet; MacXDVD Software is actually giving away free downloadable versions of the product from now all the way till June 2, 2011! That’s right! You can get your own free version and start using its benefits starting now!

All you need to do to get your free version of the MacX Video Converter Pro 3.2.0, is:

1. Move to the free giveaway page.

2. Click Download Windows Version and download the file.

3. Enter the licence code provided on the MacX DVD page.

Hurry, the giveaway is valid only till June 2, 2011!

Internet Explorer 9 (IE 9) is the latest version released by Microsoft. The way to install and uninstall IE 9 can be easily understood using this article.

To install IE 9, complete the following:

1.    Open Windows Update, using one of the following option:

• Click Start, select All Programs and then click Windows Update.
• Go to the Control Panel, click System and Security, and then click Windows Update.

This displays the Windows Update dialog box.

2. Select Important, and click Windows Internet Explorer 9 for Windows 7.

3. Click OK.

4. After it is downloaded, click Install in the Windows Internet Explorer 9 dialog box.

Note: All programs must be closed before installing IE 9.

Uninstalling Internet Explorer 9 (IE 9) can be a little tricky because IE 9 is not available in Add/Remove Programs (as displayed in most Windows OS), or in Programs and Features (as displayed in Windows Vista).

Note: Microsoft identifies IE 9 as an update rather than a new application.

To uninstall IE 9, complete the following:

1. Click System and Security, select Windows Update, and then click Installer Updates.
2. Select WindowsInternet Explorer 9, and then click Uninstall.
3. After it is uninstalled, the system has to be restarted. When you are prompted, click Restart Now.

The HTC Holiday, the new AT&T phone, has generated a lot of interest amongst phone enthusiasts and experts. Now, reports suggest that the features of this phone have been leaked. Additionally, reports suggest that AT&T’s HTC Holiday is being built to compete with Samsung Infuse 4G.

911sniper has found out some of the features of the phone, and has again brought to front the much awaited HTC phone and the speculation on features around it. The following are some of the features that have been reported:

• OS: Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread
• Processor: 1.2 GHz dual-core
• Platform: Snapdragon MSM8660
• RAM: 1GB
• Screen: 4.5 inch touchscreen
• Resolution: 960 x 540
• Supports: WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, video calling
• Camera: Back: 8-megapixels, Front: 1.3-megapixels

On the whole, the HTC Holiday promises to be all set to give the Samsung Infuse 4G a run for its money. The speculations will continue to build until the point that an official announcement is made. However, the features reported so far certainly look like they will generate a lot more interest on what the final product will be and look like. These features, therefore, indicate that this is just a tip of the iceberg.

via – [Android Community]

FreeMake Video Downloader is a application that allows you to download videos from the internet for free. This program that is both reliable and comfortable. It provides the option to download videos from over 40 different video sites. This includes sites like the usual suspects, YouTube, Facebook, Google Video, Dailymotion, MTV, Veoh, Megavideo and so on. Additionally, it also provides the option to download adult oriented video sites.

The program, while providing access to all these sites also ensures that the downloading process is easy. The process of downloading seamlessly integrates into the workflow. Additionally, the program ensures that regular updates and ensures that it is compatible with different video portals.

This program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 and requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0. Nevertheless, it is a standalone program for Windows that works on Chrome and Firefox as automatically installable add-ons. Though the usage of the program will be a little different cause the video URL will be required to be added manually.

The interface is simple with all the vital information being displayed. It also offers the flexibility to either download both the video and audio or download just the audio. It also provides the option to select the quality level of the video, before downloading the video, and can be converted to another format.

In Mobile World Congress Barcelona today, Samsung announced its Galaxy Tab 10.1 that certainly comes with some of the most interesting features. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 incorporates Android Honeycomb tablet powered by a dual-core Tegra 2 processor and will run on Android 3.0. The tablet is said to be created in partnership with Vodafone. While Samsung will develop the tablet, Vodofone will be a front runner to cater to customer demand.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet has a 1280×800 pixels discount and will come with two storage options 16 and 32 GB.

Important features of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1:

• OS – Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)
• Network – HSPA + 21Mbps 850/900/1900/2100, EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1900
• Display – 10.1” 1280×800 (WXGA) TFT
• Processor – 1GHz Dual Core application processor
• Camera – Main (Rear): 8.0 Mega Pixel Camera AF with LED Flash, Front: 2.0 Mega Pixel Camera
• Video – Format: MPEG4/H263/H264, Playback: 1080p FullHD Video @ 30fps, Recording – 1080p FullHD Video @ 24fps
• Audio – MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, OGG, MIDI, AMR-NB/WB
• Size – 246.2 x 170.4 x 10.9 mm (599g)

Some of the value added features that the tablet provides to its users is Android Market for more applications and contents, Android UI and browser, and Google Mobile Service. Additionally, it provides connectivity to Bluetooth technology v2.1 and EDR, USB 2.0, and WiFi.

[via - Samsung Hub]

In our busy life it is very difficult to get in touch with our favorite TV program. But internet is the nice medium to catch the TV shows any time you want. There are many sites which offer you to watch TV shows on internet absolutely free. Just visit those websites, select your favorite programs and start watching it right into your browser.

Tech blog Blogtechnika has collected 10 such awesome sites by which you can watch any TV show anytime you want. By using these sites you can watch your favorite TV shows like Heroes, Prison Break, How I Met Your Mother, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty and more programs. All you need to have is a computer, an internet connection and a browser with flash installed (Google Chrome recommended). Check them out.

HTC, Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer, is all set to sell a new tablet PC, named HTC Flyer. The HTC Flyer has generated a lot of interest and some of its features have been leaked over time. The latest being its operating system and RAM details.

According to a tipster of Phone Arena

it now appears that the tablet will be launched with Android 2.3 aboard’. Though they could not confirm on an upgrade to Honeycomb, they said that ‘it seems that getting the Flyer out fast was more important to HTC than waiting for Android 3.0 to be ready for the manufacturer’s use’. The website also confirmed that ‘HTC has added a version of its Sense UI which is supposed to help Android 2.3 work better on a bigger screen rather than on a phone

As of now, it is believed that the HTC Flyer could be released as early as March or April 2011. However, the specific timeline and the pricing of the phone have not yet been disclosed by the manufacturers.

It is speculated that the HTC Flyer will be marketed as a direct competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Some of the interesting features of the HTC Flyer could be:

• Size: 7 inch
• Resolution: 1280×780
• Processor: Tegra 2 dual-core microchip
• RAM: 1GB
• Operating System: Google Android 2.3
• Internal Storage: 2GB
• Extendable Memory: 32GB
• Supports: Wi-Fi , GPS, Bluetooth

The Motorola Xoom is going to be the Android tablet to beat in the current market, and one of it could be yours if you participate in the Android Central and Wyse Technology Contest! To win the Motorola Zoom, all you need to do is answer a simple question.

In the contest add a comment and tell Android Central and Wyse Technology how PocketCloud has helped (or will) help you do what you do better.

Remember that the answer must be added only as a comment on the Contest page, and the comment must answer the specific question of ‘how PocketCloud has or will help you do what you do better’.

Adding any other comments like ‘Yes’ or ‘I would like to win’ will not help you win a Motorola Zoom! The only way to win it is to answer the specific question.

Things you must know about this contest:

• The contest has been developed by Android Central in partnership with Wyse Technology, developer of the PocketCloud application.
• You must be a US resident and over 13 years of age to participate in the contest.
• The contest will give away one unactivated and free Motorola Xoom tablet that will run the Honeycomb version of Android.
• Wyse Technology will purchase and deliver the winner Motorola Xoom only after the Xoom is made available for purchase, possible release date is 17^th of Feb.
• Read through the content rules before taking part
• The contest ends at 7 a.m. EDT Sunday, Jan. 30.

Things you must know about Motorola Xoom:

• Motorola Xoom’s launch date on Verizon is not finalized.
• It will be launched as a 3G tablet.
• This phone is the first Honeycomb (Android 3.0) tablet.

Xoom’s major features include:

• Screen Size: 10.1-inch
• Resolution: 1280×800
• Platform: Nvidia Tegra 2
• Processor: dual-core Cortex A9 based 1 GHz
• RAM: 1GigaBytes
• Camera:
• Back: 5 mega-pixel with dual LED flash
• Front: 2 mega-pixel for video calling
• Supports: high speed Bluetooth, WI-Fi and USB connectives

Happy winning!

KT Corp., the South Korean mobile operator, announced that the Apple iPhone usage has surpassed 2 million in the country. This too after a year’s sale of the smartphone in the country.

According to the Next Web

As of January 20, 1.03 million iPhone 4 devices had been activated, with 977,000 iPhone 3GS units having been activated, with the latter going on sale in November 2009’.

In contrast to the Samsung that is a Korean company; Apple has raised the bar on sales and beat Samsung fair and square. According to the website ‘the country’s smartphone market is estimated to have reaches 6.1 million units in 2010 and is forecast to increase to 16.2 million this year, both Apple and Samsung could find sales will continue to increase.’

Some of the important features of the Apple iPhone are:

• Available in 16GB and 32GB
• Video calling with FaceTime
• Retina display with 960-by-640 resolution
• HD video recording
• 5-megapixel camera with LED flash
• Dual-mic noise suppression
• Apple A4 chip
• MMS
• Voice Control

In the CES 2011, Motorola Atrix was considered the most impressive phone of the year. The launch date of this phone has remained a mystery for a while, However, if sources are to be believed, according to the leaked slide the device may be launched by Bell Mobility on March 17, 2011.

According to the Android Community

The leaked document shows the 17th of March to be the “planned release date,” and states that it may vary across retailers. The phone is set to be carried exclusively by Bell but before this leak all we knew is that it would launch in the “coming months”

Some of the interesting features of the Motorola Atrix might include:

• Touch Screen: 4 inch
• Resolution: 540*960p
• Processor: dual-core 1 GHz Nvidia Tegra 2
• Memory: Internal: 16 GB, Expandable: 32 GB with a micro SD card
• RAM: 1GB
• Camera: Rear facing: 5 mega-pixel with dual LED flash
  • Front facing: 0.3 mega-pixel VGA Camera for video calls.