A news feed for the popular football
blog
Price: Free
Designed for: Phone and Tablet
Requires Android: 2.1 and up
Stories
can be updated by pulling the list down and letting go
Some apps are elegant and clever - they
make you want to pick them up and use them. Others are dull but functional -
you might not have as much fun playing around with them, but they get the job
done.
Caught Offside very much fits into that
latter category. It’s not impressive to look at, and it’s a little clunky to
use, but if you want a stream of all the latest football news, gossip and
videos, then it does a pretty good job to be honest. The app is really just one
screen, a news feed of the latest content from the Caught Offside website.
You can filter the news so that it only
includes information about your favourite team, so long as your favourite team
is one of the 20 in the English Premier League, otherwise you’re out of luck.
The app Isn’t as comprehensive as it likes to think, and some of the news is
pretty badly written. Still, if you’re an avid reader of the site, or just a
football fan in general, there’s enough content here to keep you reasonably
happy.
Ceton Companion
A tool for controlling your Windows
Media Player
Price: $4.99
Designed for: Phone and Tablet
Requires Android: 2.2 and up
The
app displays a decent chunk of info about the content you’re interested in
A lot of people don't watch television on a
television any more. There are so many different options and choices when it
comes to how we consume our media that it’s easy to feel a little bit spoilt,
and a little bit confused as to which is the best.
Ceton Companion Is a new app that links to
a program installed on your Windows 7 PC and lets you control your recorded and
bought television programs and films using Windows Media Player.
It’s an elegant, well presented,
easy-to-use solution, with more than a few tricks up its sleeve once you get it
up and working.
If you’ve got a TVTuner set on your PC,
then you’ll be able to access it remotely (even if you're out and about), set
timers to record shows and manage all of yourvisual media content with a few
taps and swipes.
The app is pretty easy to set up, and the
program you need to install on your PC isn’t obtrusive. Once you’re connected,
you can control all of the PCs on your Media Center network, and even use your
phone as a remote control when you’re watching something.
It’s a clever, useful tool, and one that’s
presented In a really attractive way. Android Jelly Bean and Ice Cream Sandwich
OS users in particular will notice how well the application fits into the
official design scheme of their devices.
Ceton Companion is a joy to use, and makes
managing and keeping a track of your media a real pleasure. The search options
are also great, and the way the application delivers information about the
types of shows and films you’re interested in is second to none.
There are a few problems, and getting the
companion program to work on your PC isn’t always easy, but it’s definitely
worth a shot.
Sleep Time - Alarm Clock
A sleep reader for waking you up
fresh
Price: Free
Designed for: Phone
Requires Android: 2.1 and up
The
Sleep Lab keeps track and showcases your sleeping patterns
Waking up is always awful, but there are
applications out there that are trying to make it slightly more bearable. One
of them is Sleep Time by Azumio, an app designed to recognise your sleep
patterns then wake you up somewhere within a half-hour window to make sure
you’re not dragged out of a deep sleep by the crowing of your alarm.
You leave your Android device on the bed,
and if you don’t knock It off, it will read your movements to get a better
understanding of when to wake you. Best of all, unlike a lot of Its
competitors, the app is free, so you can try it out and see if it works for you
without any outlay.
We cannot guarantee it will be the perfect
solution to that groggy feeling on a Monday morning, but it’s worth a download.
Guitar Jam Tracks: Scale Buddy
Plays a backing track to your guitar
solos
Price: $2.99
Designed for: Phone
Requires Android: 2.0 and up
One of the hardest things about practising
any instrument is finding other people who are willing to do it with you.
Guitar Jam Tracks: Scale Buddy rectifies that handsomely, for guitarists
anyway, providing you with the backing tracks you need to hone your soloing
skills without having to find other human beings to help.
With a few taps you can start playing along
to a professionally recorded backing track in the key of your choice, and even
explore the scales you need to be using to make sure everything you play sounds
great. The app is well put together, with five different styles of backing
track to play along to, and enough information to ensure that once you’ve
played around with it, you’re going to be a better guitarist. Perfect for more
advanced players.
The Mirror App
Android app for the UK tabloid
newspaper
Price: Free
Designed for: Phone
Requires Android: 2.2 and up
Most newspapers are starting to understand
that a strong online presence is going to be essential to their survival in the
coming years, and also that a strong online presence means a decent mobile app
too. The Mirror is the latest UK tabloid to push out an Android app, and it's
actually not that bad.
There are some neat customisation options
that let you create your own front page full of the news you want to read, and
the whole thing is easy to navigate and populated with the sort of news you’d
expect from The Mirror.
In-app photo galleries are simple to browse
through, and while there’s nothing revolutionary about the app, it’s pleasant
enough to use. This is an app that justifies its existence by comfortably
outperforming the mobile version of The Mirror’s website.
Rail Tracker
Keep abreast of the rail network in
the UK
Price: Free
Designed for: Phone
Requires Android: 2.1 and up
Rail Tracker - UK Train Times is an
easy-to-use application that shows J you the schedule at every station in the
UK. With a few taps you can keep up to date with the arrivals and departures,
while easily keeping on top of any train journeys you’re making. The app uses
your GPS to find the nearest station to you as well, which is handy if you’re
ever stranded and in need of a train home.
It also delivers information about delays
and cancellations which is helpful, but it doesn’t really do enough to set it
apart from the official apps out there that also track the train timetable.
Still, if you fancy finding a nearby
station quickly and simply, you could do a lot worse, and while it is ad
supported, it’s an app that’s extremely easy on the eye. For regular train
users, Rail Tracker is well worth a download.
