FBReader
FBReader may not be as flash as some of the iPhone's e-book apps but it does the job and is very simple to use. Files types supported include ePub and Mobipocket - though not PDF. You can set multiple bookmarks in multiple books and can switch between black-out-of-white and white-out-of-black as light conditions dictate. The library layout is foolproof, and you can download directly into the app library from the likes of Feedbooks.
Reg Rating 85%
Price Free
More Info FBReader
GDocs
It seems incredible that Android doesn't include a Google Docs app. Until it does, GDocs will have to do. In free form it lets you read your Google Docs remotely or download them onto your phone, but cough up an extra €1 (90p) for the Extras pack and you can upload and sync documents too. It's not perfect - for instance every time we upload an edited file it appears in the Times New Roman font when we re-open it on a PC rather than the original Verdana - but it's a lot better than nothing.
Reg Rating 75%
Price Free for basic app, £0.90 for Extras pack
More Info GDocs
COMMENTS
My Top Ten
Not being a social network victim and travelling more by public transport than car:
1. Task Manager (Wing Tseng). More sophisticated than ATK and has a handy widget to kill all background tasks.
2. BeebPlayer (David Johnston). No argument there. Top application, and free, too.
3. EStrongs File Explorer (EStrongs). Manipulate files on device, SD card and Windows shares.
4. WiFi Analyser (farproc). Does exactly what it says on the tin, and does it well.
5. Movies (Flixster). What's on, where its on, what time its on. Reviews (Rotten tomatoes) and previews.
6. National Rail (croworc). Train timetables and live times. A bit flaky but the only App available.
7. RealCalc (Brain Overspill). Excellent scientific calculator.
8. MyTracks (Google) Because I sometimes like to know where I've been.
9. BBC News (Jim Blackler). Convenient source of news. Headlines widget.
10. Tricorder (Moonblink). Because I'm a geek.
RE: backup
Nandroid backup. The importance of this facility cannot be stressed enough. It's got me out of a couple of tight holes.
Of course, this requires an unlocked bootloader. If you don't have one of these, please buy an iPhone and stop reading El Reg.
Re: Just shows what a rush job Android is
Quote: "Android's got a long way to go to catch up with iPhone, which has almost pushed me back to the Apple camp."
Get real! The iPhone didn't even have cut'n'paste, video recording, mms, etc etc until relatively recently. If anything is "rush job" it's the fruitphone's OS.
Really useful review, thanks.
Just confirmed once again that I have absolutely no need of a smartphone, whether Android or from the Blessed Jobs! I'll stick to a simple mobile phone (that can both make and receive phone calls and texts - brilliant!) and a real computer for any serious work. Saved me a fortune - ta!
ok but....
would have been nice if for each product you had listed minimum android version. Us poor Hero users are still stuck in the dark ages of 1.5 waiting on HTC so no doubt some of those apps wont work.
