Imagine this grim scene: You have a three-hour layover at LaGuardia and the unenviable choice between the Auntie Anne's or the sports bar—which option is least apt to inflict irreversible damage on your stomach lining? With GateGuru (for Android) you can use your smartphone to save yourself the plight of past LaGuardia travelers. User-submitted reviews help you ferret out the best grub, tips enable you to spot a deal on that day-old pretzel, and airport maps and checkpoint wait times will spare you from extending your tenure. Add integration with social networking sites for real-time status updates (to satiate your friends' schadenfreude) and tie-ins to KAYAK and Tripit for flight details, and GateGuru proves a gracious travel companion in the least hospitable airport. Credentials, Connections, and High Flyers Of the app's four main modules—Trips, Account, High Flyers, and Airports—you'll probably spend most of your time taxying the Airports section, but that Read More

If uncomfortable naps, over-priced snacks and boring magazines come to mind when you think of airport entertainment, you might not be getting the most out of your traveling experience. The GateGuru app for your Android phone aims to give users a better understanding of everything that's available at the airport you're spending time at. That way you can locate the best food, shopping and service options. For instance, the app lets you know what meal options are available in pre-security areas or places you won't be able to easily get to when you're waiting to board your plane. Obviously, this app isn't promising you an exciting culinary adventure, and clearly the airport isn't any kind of shopping mall, but it does let you know what's nearby so you can make well-informed decisions about how to spend your time and money during your layover. What's especially handy is the fact that the Read More

Android proves a promising crossroad for app developers expanding beyond iOS. Path has finally introduced its photo-sharing app to the Android Market with an open beta version. A couple of familiar apps were also upgraded this week: Skype added video chat and Foursquare added notifications ahead of iOS users. Path, a California-based startup, has taken a different approach to mobile photo sharing. It’s all about privacy, limiting you to 50 of your nearest and dearest friends. The idea is to have a controlled sharing experience, initially restricting photo-sharing only within its app. Broader sharing capabilities for porting photos to Twitter has been added to the iOS version through an extra app called With, but this week’s Android launch is an early version with fewer features. Add location and friend tags to your photo uploads, with emoticons to indicate how you feel about a posted picture. You can also chat with friends Read More

Boom! We’ve celebrated our independence, now celebrate your freedom to travel, get fit, and have a little fun. I hope you had a wonderful long weekend, I know I did. Here’s a quick tip from your friendly life coach Ian – this is summer, so get out in the world, soak up the sun, and enjoy time with friends and family – just don’t forget your Android. Many apps will help you track your flight details, but any savvy traveler knows the next most important thing about air travel is the area around your airport gate. GateGuru delivers the gate details for over 120 airports in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. View maps of your gate and the surroundings including stores, restaurants, and airport services. Find location specific reviews from other GateGuru users and even get security wait time updates from fellow flyers. The app imports itineraries from Tripit and Read More

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. This is part 2 of the roundup, which features applications and live wallpapers. For games (including a WTF game), see 30 Best New (And 1 WTF) Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (6/17/11 - 7/1/11). If you enjoy these roundups, this week you can say thanks by going to the top of this page and clicking the +1 button: . <3 Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info. Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here: Today's roundup is sponsored by Gameview Studios and their game Tap Fish. Tap Fish, if you haven't picked it up for the name, is a beautifully Read More

GateGuru has made its way onto Android, bringing with it a sort of mashup of Foursquare and travel apps such as Tripit and FlightTrack. When you first launch GateGuru, you'll get a long list of airports, with their three-letter abbreviation. You can flick through the list, or type to drill down through it. The list is long, but not complete. Your airport might not be listed. The GateGuru folks say they're adding airports all the time. Airports that are on the list have pretty comprehensive guides, however. For example: Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has five concourses. And GateGuru's got a map of the entire complex, checkpoint wait times, and breakdowns of the shops, restaurants and services that are available there -- plus photos. For the social aspect, you can check in at various airport locations, leave tips and reviews, and ear points for doing so. GateGuru also serves as a decent travel Read More