The 10 best Google Android applications
Late last year, Google announced that it would give $10 million worth in prizes to software development companies to develop innovative and useful applications for their open source mobile Android platform. Â
Roughly nine months later, Google has announced the winners, and the applications it has selected help users do everything from calling their nearest taxi cabs to comparing sale prices at different stores to calculating their carbon footprint.
cab4me
Utilizing Android's Google Maps application, cab4me lets users call a cab to their location with a single click. By using GPS capabilities to locate not only the user's current location, but also the location of the nearest cab company, the application can initiate a call to the cab company with a mere click on the map. The application was developed by Konrad Huebner and Henning Boerger.
Locale
Ever get embarrassed at a company meeting when your cell phone unexpectedly goes off? With Locale, you can make sure  your device knows to switch to vibrate mode the minute you step into your office. With Android's GPS capabilities, Locale adjusts your phone's settings to wherever you're located. Thus, your phone will forward calls to different numbers based on whether you're at work or home, or will send out a status message on Twitter letting people know where you're located. This application was developed by Carter Jernigan, Clare Bayley, Jasper Lin and Christina Wright, with additional contributions from Jennifer Shu.
PicSay
Essentially a drop-and-drag picture editor for your mobile phone, PicSay lets users spruce up their pictures with color correction, highlighting, word bubbles and distortion effects. It also can be used to create event invitations or holiday greeting cards that can be sent out to friends, family and associates. This application was developed by Eric Wijngaard.
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