Google announces free Android apps

Can Android's apps beat the iPhone's?
Can Android's apps beat the iPhone's?

Those of you that haven't been on Mars for the last month will know that the new T-Mobile G1 Android phone is coming on 30 October, and from launch there will be 50 free apps for your mobile pleasure.

Many of the free apps are the fruits of Google's Android Developer Challenge, which was designed to get the top developers from the community exploring the possibilities of the new OS.

We all know that paid-for apps are coming in early 2009, and some of these might make that list, so get your hands on them now while they're free and hot. Well, not now, in around a week. Otherwise it would be difficult.

Anyway, here's the list in full, so breathe in and check out all the application-y fun you can have on your G1... we especially like Android Says, though we haven't been able to find out what it is yet. If you developed it, let us know!

Shopping

Barcode Scanner v2.1 - Scans and recognises the barcode of any product

ShopSavvy - Compares prices online and on the high street

CompareEverywhere - Scans barcodes and gives directions to local stores using Google maps

Lifestyle

Mandelbrot Map - Map viewer

Krystle II - Pet your phone

Pocket Seismograph - Monitors the phone's accelerometer

Translate - Translation tool

Pro Football Live! - Football news / information

BreadCrumbz - Navigate via user-generated pictures

e-ventr - Event organizer and friendship scout

iMap Weather - Weather application

Ecorio - Track and reduce your carbon footprint, 'green community'

Cocktail! - Database of cocktails

Cooking Capsules Taster - Cooking application

Wikitude - AR Travel - Mobile travel guide

AccuWeather.com - Global weather

Multimedia

Shazam- Identify music, store and buy music

PicSay - Personalise pictures with text

Panoramio - Finds pictures of interesting places in your area

TuneWiki - Next generation social media player

BlueBrush - Draw with friends, share the same canvas

Video Player v.01 - Plays video files stored on the G1's SD card

Photostream - Photo browser for Flickr

Ringdroid - Create ringtones

SplashPlay - Music application

Productivity

QuickList - To do lists

WikiMobile Encyclopedia - Wikipedia for mobile devices

Maverick - IM compatible to Google Talk

Tools

Radar - Draw a bearing between the user's current location and latitude/longitude

Task Switcher - Search-Space is the new 'Alt-Tab'

Spare Parts - Android developing tool

Text-To-Speech Translator - Text-to-speech services

Any Cut v0.5 - Home shortcuts to "anything" on your web or your phone

Locale - Manages phone settings based on conditions (e.g. location)

Contacts De-Duper - De-duplicate your contacts to streamline your contacts folder

Shutter Spead - Detailed camera settings to make the most of the in-built camera and web access

DiskUsage - Utility to examine SD card content to manage what you store on your phone

Rings Extended - Replaces standard ringtones

Games & Puzzles

PAC-MAN by Namco

Metamath Solitaire

MisMisMatch

Anagrams v0.2

Slide Puzzle

Divide and Conquer!

CB Blackjack

Bubble Bash

Bonsai Blast

Balls 2 The Wall

Tetris

Android Says

Oh, and apparently the Android-powered G1 also makes calls... but nobody uses it for that, right?

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.