Friday, July 29, 2011

How To Secure Your Wi-Fi Network Against Intrusion

Description: wifisecurityheader

Insecure Wi-Fi is the easiest way for people to access your home network, leech your internet, and cause you serious headaches with more malicious behavior. Read on as we show you how to secure your home Wi-Fi network.

Why Secure Your Network?

In a perfect world you could leave your Wi-Fi networks wide open to share with any passing Wi-Fi starved travelers who desperately needed to check their email or lightly use your network. In reality leaving your Wi-Fi network open create unnecessary vulnerability wherein non-malicious users can sponge up lots of our bandwidth inadvertently and malicious users can pirate using our IP as cover, probe your network and potentially get access to your personal files, or even worse. What does even worse look like?  In the case of Matt Kostolnik it looks like a year of hell as your crazy neighbor, via your hacked Wi-Fi network, uploads child pornography in your name using your IP address and sends death threats to the Vice President of the United States. Mr. Kolstolnik was using crappy and outdated encryption with no other defensive measures in place; we can only imagine that a better understanding of Wi-Fi security and a little network monitoring would have saved him a huge headache.

Securing Your Wi-Fi Network

Description: 2011-07-19_151252

Securing your Wi-Fi network is a multi-step affair. You need to weigh each step and decide if the increased security is worth the sometimes increased hassle accompanying the change. To help you weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each step we’ve divided them up into relative order of importance as well as highlighted the benefits, the drawbacks, and the tools or resources you can use to stress test your own security. Don’t rely on our word that something is useful; grab the available tools and try to kick down your own virtual door.

Note: It would be impossible for us to include step-by-step instructions for every brand/model combination of routers out there. Check the brand and model number on your router and download the manual from the manufacturer’s website in order to most effectively follow our tips. If you have never accessed your router’s control panel or have forgotten how, now is the time to download the manual and give yourself a refresher.

Update Your Router and Upgrade to Third Party Firmware If Possible: At minimum you need to visit the web site for the manufacture of your router and make sure there are no updates. Router software tends to be pretty stable and releases are usually few and far between. If your manufacturer has released an update (or several) since you purchased your router it’s definitely time to upgrade.

Even better, if you’re going to go through the hassle of updating, is to update to one of the awesome third-party router firmwares out there like DD-WRT or Tomato. You can check out our guides to installing DD-WRT here and Tomato here.  The third party firmwares unlock all sorts of great options including an easier and finer grain control over security features.

The hassle factor for this modification is moderate. Anytime you flash the ROM on your router you risk bricking it. The risk is really small with third-party firmware and even smaller when using official firmware from your manufacturer. Once you’ve flashed everything the hassle factor is zero and you get to enjoy a new better, faster, and more customizable router.

Change Your Router’s Password: Every router ships with a default login/password combination. The exact combination varies from model to model but it’s easy enough to look up the default that leaving it unchanged is just asking for trouble. Open Wi-Fi combined with the default password is essentially leaving your entire network wide open. You can check out default password lists here, here, and here.

The hassle factor for this modification is extremely low and it’s foolish not to do it.

Description: 2011-07-19_143620

Turn On and/or Upgrade Your Network Encryption: In the above example we gave, Mr. Kolstolnik had turned on the encryption for his router. He made the mistake of selecting WEP encryption, however, which is the lowest encryption on the Wi-Fi encryption totem pole. WEP is easy to crack using freely available tools such as WEPCrack and BackTrack. If you happened to read the entire article about Mr. Kolstolnik’s problems with his neighbors you’ll note that it took his neighbor two weeks, according to the authorities, to break the WEP encryption. That’s such a long span of time for such a simple task we have to assume that he also had to teach himself how to read and operate a computer too.

Wi-Fi encryption comes in several flavors for home use such as WEP, WPA, and WPA2. In addition WPA/WPA2 can be further subdivided as WPA/WPA2 with TKIP (a 128-bit key is generated per packet) and AES (a different 128-bit encryption). If possible you want to use WP2 TKIP/AES as AES is not as widely adopted as TKIP. Allowing your router to use both will enable to use the superior encryption when available.

The only situation where upgrading the encryption of your Wi-Fi network may pose a problem is with legacy devices. If you have devices manufactured before 2006 it’s possible that, without firmware upgrades or perhaps not at all, they will be unable to access any network but an open or WEP encrypted network. We’ve phased out such electronics or hooked them up to the hard LAN via Ethernet (we’re looking at you original Xbox).

The hassle factor for this modification is low and–unless you have a legacy Wi-Fi device you can’t live without–you won’t even notice the change.

Changing/Hiding Your SSID: Your router shipped with a default SSID; usually something simple like “Wireless” or the brand name like “Netgear”. There’s nothing wrong with leaving it set as the default. If you live in a densely populated area, however, it would make sense to change it to something different in order to distinguished it from the 8 “Linksys” SSIDs you see from your apartment. Don’t change it to anything that identifies you. Quite a few of our neighbors have unwisely changed their SSIDs to things like APT3A or 700ElmSt . A new SSID should make it easier for you to identify your router from the list and not easier for everyone in the neighborhood to do so.

Don’t bother hiding your SSID. Not only does it provide no boost in security but it makes your devices work harder and burn more battery life. We debunked the hidden SSID myth here if you’re interested in doing more detailed reading. The short version is this: even if you “hide” your SSID it is still being broadcast and anyone using apps like inSSIDer or Kismet can see it.

The hassle factor for this modification is low. All you’ll need to do is change your SSID once (if at all) to increase recognition in a router-dense environment.

Description: 2011-07-19_143659

Filter Network Access by MAC Address:

Media Access Control addresses, or MAC address for short, is a unique ID assigned to every network interface you’ll encounter. Everything you can hook up to your network has one: your XBOX 360, laptop, smartphone, iPad, printers, even the Ethernet cards in your desktop computers. The MAC address for devices is printed on a label affixed to it and/or on the box and documentation that came with the device. For mobile devices you can usually find the MAC address within the menu system (on the iPad, for example, it’s under the Settings –> General –> About menu and on Android phones you’ll find it Settings –> About Phone –> Status menu).

One of the easiest ways to check the MAC addresses of your devices, besides simply reading the label on them, is to check out the MAC list on your router after you’ve upgraded your encryption and logged all your devices back in. If you’ve just changed your password you can be nearly certain the iPad you see attached to the Wi-Fi node is yours.

Once you have all the MAC addresses you can set up your router to filter based on them. Then it won’t be enough for a computer to be in range of the Wi-Fi node and have the password/break the encryption, the device intruding on the network will also need to have the MAC address of a device on your router’s whitelist.

Although MAC filtering is a solid way to increase your security it is possible for somebody to sniff your Wi-Fi traffic and then spoof the MAC address of their device to match one on your network. Using tools like Wireshark, Ettercap, and Nmap as well as the aforementioned BackTrack. Changing the MAC address on a computer is simple. In Linux it’s two commands at the command prompt, with a Mac it’s just about as easy, and under Windows you can use a simple app to swap it like Etherchange or MAC Shift.

The hassle factor for this modification is moderate-to-high. If you use the same devices on your network over and over with little change up then it’s a small hassle to set up the initial filter. If you frequently have guests coming and going that want to hop on your network it’s a huge hassle to always be logging into your router and adding their MAC addresses or temporarily turning off the MAC filtering.

One last note before we leave MAC addresses: if you’re particularly paranoid or you suspect someone is messing around with your network you can run applications like AirSnare and Kismet to set up alerts for MACs outside your white list.

Adjust the Output Power of Your Router: This trick is usually only available if you’ve upgraded the firmware to a third party version. Custom firmware allows you to dial up or down the output of your router. If you’re using your router in a one bedroom apartment you can easily dial the power way down and still get a signal everywhere in the apartment. Conversely if the nearest house is 1000 feet away, you can crank the power up to enjoy Wi-Fi out in your hammock.

The hassle factor for this modification is low; it’s a one time modification. If your router doesn’t support this kind of adjustment, don’t sweat it. Lowering the output power of your router is just a small step that makes it necessary for someone to be physically closer to your router to mess with it. With good encryption and the other tips we’ve shared, such a small tweak has a relatively small benefit.

 

Sunday, July 17, 2011

How to pin My Computer to Windows 7 taskbar directly ?

Windows 7 has came out with lots of new and exiting features. You may have noticed that, we can't open My Computer directly from Windows 7 Taskbar aka Superbar.

If we drag N drop My computer to taskbar, it gets pinned to windows explorer rather than creating a new place for itself. Windows explorer opens libraries which irritates me and quite a lot of users. So, I've found a simple trick to pin My Computer to Windows 7 taskbar.

Follow the simple steps below to make it work for you:

1) Right click on Desktop, and select New > Shortcut.

2) In location of the item enter the following string exactly as given below:

%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /E,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

3) Give a name to shortcut. For example, My Computer

4) Now you'll see a new shortcut of 'My Computer' placed on desktop. It has the same icon like that of Windows explorer. You can change its icon if you wish.

5) To pin the shortcut to Windows 7 Taskbar, just right click on it and select "Pin to Taskbar".

My Computer pinned to Windows 7 taskbar

6) Enjoy! Your direct shortcut to My computer is pinned on taskbar now.

My Computer pinned to Windows 7 taskbar

How to Find Wallpapers & Themes Hidden in Windows 7

Since the release of Windows 7, I've been a big fan of its awesome collection of wallpapers. I installed Windows 7 RC yesterday, but I was surprised to see only some wallpapers in it.

This is because Windows installs all, but enables only those wallpapers and themes which belong to the region or country chosen by us. Certainly, I've found out a way to use all those wallpapers and themes which we can't see under Personalization as they does not belong to our region.

Hidden wallpapers of Australia

A total of 42 High-resolution wallpaper's can be found inside Windows 7. Don't worry, you don't need to download them. They're hidden inside Windows 7 only.

Follow the simple steps below to find the cool collection for you:

1) Go to Organize >Folder and search options >View tab. Select show hidden files… Also uncheck the option "Hide protected operating system files".

folder options

2) Now open  C:\ Windows\ Globalization\ MCT. Here you'll find a collection of folders.

All hidden region packs

These are the official wallpapers and themes hidden inside Windows 7 directory. They include all regions namely: Australia, Canada, UK,US and South Africa.

3) After opening these folders you'll find some more folders inside them. These folders contains themes and wallpapers. See the example below:

theme + wallpapers

wallpapers (All 1920x1200) size

All the wallpapers included are high-resolution.ie. of 1920×1200 sizes.

4) They also contain the related themes which you can use. Just double-click the theme and it will be added to Personalization under control panel.

add themes using double click

If you want to locate the path of wallpapers that are included by default in Windows 7. Then, just go to C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper and you will see all the wallpapers there.

SMS Backup Sends Android Text Messages to Your Gmail Account


If you want to backup and integrate your SMS messages into your Gmail account, SMS Backup offers a simple Android-based backup solution.

Install the application, enable IMAP in your Gmail account, plug your login credentials into SMS Backup, and you're set to go. All your SMS messages will automatically be dumped into your Gmail account without any further interaction on your behalf.

SMS Backup is free and requires Android 1.5+.

SMS Backup [Android Market via Digital Inspiration]


View contents of ZIP & RAR Files Online before downloading using Google Docs [Chrome Extension]

The Google Docs Viewer allows you to quickly view many file types online, including PDFs, Microsoft Office files, and many image file types. Earlier, it was not possible to preview the contents of ZIP and RAR files online and you had to download the complete archive first to your computer. Fortunately, Google DOCS has now added support to view contents of a ZIP/RAR file online received as attachments in Gmail.

Furthermore, there is an easy way to explore the contents of any ZIP and RAR file online using Google Docs itself. This comes handy when you need to download only desired individual files from a ZIP/RAR file, instead of downloading the full archive.

To do so, visit https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=, add the URL of Zip file to the end of docs link and then hit Enter. Docs will show a preview of all files in that Zip archive.

Example: https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.deviantart.com/download/220725520/_122_by_bo0xvn-d3newwg.zip

googledocs_zippreview

Download any desired file from the archive content list by clicking 'Actions' and choose the Download option. You'll be able to View items supported by Google Docs Viewer, Print (PDF) and Save them to Google Docs. Docs also lets you view ZIP and RAR archives that are embedded inside other archives. It shows the file type and its size too!

To make it more easier, you can use a nice extension for Chrome "Open ZIP and RAR With GDocs" created by our friend Arpit Kumar. The extension lists an option to open the file with Google Docs when you right-click .zip or .rar files inside Chrome browser.

open zip and rar with google docs_chrome extension

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Future of Mobile Payments [INFOGRAPHIC]



   

We know that mobile payments are redefining commerce, but will our phones soon replace our wallets?

PayPal seems to think so. The payments giant boldly predicts that the wallet will be dead by 2015. It's putting its money where its mouth is: it recently acquired mobile payments provider Zong for $240 million.

PayPal isn't the only one getting into the game though. Google recently launched Google Wallet, the search giant's mobile payment system, and Visa recently made a strategic investment in Square, the mobile payments platform now worth more than $1.4 billion.

Professional community service G+ decided to look deeper into mobile payment trends and created an infographic that tracks what experts and analysts believe will happen to mobile commerce in the next four years, including what will happen with near field communication (NFC). G+ also compared some of the current players in the mobile payment space.

Check out the infographic, and let us know what you think is next for mobile payments in the comments.

More About: Google, google wallet, Isis, nfc, Visa

Extend Kaspersky Antivirus Trial Time Period When It Expires



Antivirus software is one of the most important and most demanded software by the users irrespective of the domain in which they work and irrespective of the kind of work or data they have. Every user wants complete security for the data from the virus attack. So, for this reason each user wants that the latest and the updated version of the antivirus-tool must be there in their system. Most of the antivirus software gives free version of their latest version on their websites. But, this latest version can be installed and used only for a limited period of time. One of the such antivirus provider Kaspersky gives this facility for the user to download this software from their website and use it as a trial version for 30 days.

But, now the question is who to continue with this tool after that trial period of 30 days without purchasing it from the company. For this, a nice, small and simple tool has been developed which has been named as Kaspersky Reset Tool which allows the user to reset the Kaspersky license key and thus allows the user to use this software not only beyond that trial period but upto the period of time that the user wants without expiring. With the help of few clicks, user can reset the key using this smart tool.

Kaspersky Trial Reset Tool is a simple and smart tool which has been developed by Nikko and as said earlier it has been designed to reset the kaspersky trial period and allows the user to use Kaspersky free even after the end of that 30-days trial. This tool supports various versions of Kaspersky tool: Kaspersky PURE, Kaspersky Antivirus 2010, Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, Kaspersky Antivirus 2011, and Kaspersky Internet Security 2011. If we go deeper into the working of this tool then we may observe that when the user install any of the Kaspersky product, then automatically it makes an entry in the registry of the system. After this through some counter it keeps a track of the number of days and as soon as the 30 days completes, it expires the trial-version.

But, here comes in the role of this smart tool, i.e. Kaspersky Trial Reset Tool. It automatically finds the entry made earlier in the registry and then simply modifies it, thus registering it once again as a trial version for the next 30 days. It means that the user can go on re-registering the product as trial version whenever those 30 days are over. This process can be repeated after every 30 days to make sure that it never expires.

image

Now, in order to use this tool simply download it from the below given link and install it in your system. After installing, the first thing that you need to do is just Disable Self-Defense (Open Kaspersky settings > Options and uncheck Enable Self-Defense. Click Ok.). After disabling it, simply exit the Kaspersky from the options that you may by right-clicking on the icon present in the system tray. After this simply run this smart tool that you have installed recently and simply click on "Reset Kaspersky" option. Now, simply follow the steps provided by the reset tool and you will observe that the product has been renewed.

image

Download KTR911 Reset Tool v10 [ Via Webtrickz ]


future Gadgets

Cube Electrical Extension Cable Box Design Offers A Clean Cable Management System

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 03:26 AM PDT

Cube is an electrical extension cable box designed to solve the problem of cluttering in the plugging area. No one likes a tangled mess, cords and wires that can drive you crazy. Seriously, this issue can raise your stress levels. If you are a gadget freak, we're pretty sure you own at least 10 gadgets which mean more cords, chargers, and plugs.  Cube offers an effective holding area for the 3 pin plug and allows a cleaner cable management. It might not solve the whole issue as your cables behind the desk might still look like spaghetti, but at least it's a start.

Designer : Basil Jose

Cube Electrical Extension Cable Box

Cube Electrical Extension Box

Cube Electrical Extension Box



Sol-Us Disinfectant Device Emits HINS-Light To Decontaminate The Air

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 01:18 AM PDT

Sol-us disinfectant device aims to create better environment by killing bacteria and germs in the air. This device emits a special HINS-light, a technology that was discovered and developed by Scott MacGregor (an electrical engineer), John Anderson and Michelle Maclean (microbiologists), and Gerry Woolsey (an optical physicist). HINS-light decontaminates the air and any exposed surfaces, it kills pathogens but is harmless to humans.

User has the ability to control how long this device will work from a touch screen panel which reveals different periods of time from 30 mins, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, and "all time". The usage of this device is not limited to only inside a refrigerator or a cupboard, user can also use Sol-us disinfectant device to sterilize desk or work area.

Designer : Gatis Erdmanis

Sol-Us Disinfectant Device

Sol-Us Disinfectant Device

Sol-Us Disinfectant Device

Sol-Us Disinfectant Device

Sol-Us Disinfectant Device

Sol-Us Disinfectant Device



Black Coffin Car Design by Imran Othman


The Black Coffin car design motto is live fast die young. We think the designer is not trying to suggest you to die from speeding. On the contrary, he is trying to warn you. Speed thrills but speed kills if you don't have the power to control it. It can make your car spin out of control. This racing car has been aerodynamically designed in such way to be able to slice the air and minimize wind resistance by either forcing the car downwards or into the air vents. Black Coffin offers provocative elegance, sexy, and "ready to race" design.

Designer : Imran Othman

The Black Coffin Car Design

The Black Coffin Car Design

The Black Coffin Car Design

The Black Coffin Car Design


Kicker Tea Tumbler Concept Blends The Art of Making Tea With Technology

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 08:53 PM PDT

Kicker Tea Tumbler was born out of the imagination how technology could influence an area that purposefully devoid of technology, tea. At the beginning of this project, Kicker Studio did extensive researches. They were interested in the rituals of tea making, learned what works in the process and what components are crucial and should be preserved. They have interviewed experts and aficionados tea drinkers, a barista at Samovar Tea House, as well as interviewed the owners of Golden Star Tea, Leland Tea Shop and the online shop, Andrews & Dunham.

Based on those researches, they have found out the precise art of making tea. There are several elements involved to serve the perfect tea. Tea leaves need to be handled gently. The heat of water must reach the exact temperatures. The steeping requires specific time frames.

Designer : Kicker Studio

Kicker Tea Tumbler

Kicker Tea Tumbler


Kicker Tea Tumbler
Our traditional teapots are not designed to control above elements. This is where technology can be used to solve those issues. They have designed Kicker Tea Tumbler based on a set of design principles:

Respect the Ritual
Re-create the steps without adding anything new. Nothing that feels like a dramatic change.

My Tea, My Way
Allow tea drinkers the flexibility and control to make tea how they like it. Allow for adjustments on the fly.

Not Just Taste
Design for sight, smell and warmth, too. After all, tea is about stimulating the senses.

Digital Enhancements, Analog Experience
Maintain the low-tech process involved in using a traditional teapot. Meaning: No screens, no buttons, only a transparent interface.

Other requirements would be

  • Tea must be visible while brewing (Show off the tea, don't hide it.)
  • Easy to clean and machine washable
  • Easy to stop infusion
  • Easy to restart infusion (No automatic separation of water from leaves.)
  • No drips after infusion or when pouring
  • No need for an additional trivet
  • No plastic touching the tea (Plastic's a no-no. It adversely affects tea's flavor.)
  • Be able to watch the tea leaves expand
  • Indicate suggested leaf amount
  • No "stomping on the leaves" (Avoid French-press style because that's meant for coffee)

Kicker Tea Tumbler

Kicker Tea Tumbler

The result is a tea tumbler with hourglass shaped body. The double-walled glass eliminates the fear of burning user's hands when picking up the pot. It's a combination of tea kettle and pot where water heats on the bottom of the device while tea leaves are placed into an infuser at the top. User can heat the water up to the desired temperature for the type of tea and flip the pot over to let the water lands on the tea leaves. Once the tea is done steeping, user can flip the pot back over. Remove the cap, pour the tea, sip and enjoy. Kicker Tea Tumbler design is simple, clean, and maintains the soothing feeling of the tea making ritual.

Kicker Tea Tumbler


The 100 Best Android Apps



On this page, you will find the best 100 Android applications for all your needs. We've taken the effort to categorize the apps and picked only those we believe to be the best ones and which will most likely be useful to you.

 








Automation Communication Reading Home Screeen
Games Health & Fitness Launchers Music & Audio
Photography Productivity Security Social Networking
System Utilities Web & News

JuiceDefender
Tweaks device settings for maximum battery life.

Download

Llama – Location Profiles
A handy automation utility, less versatile than Tasker, but free.

Download

Sanity
Filters calls, announces callers via audio, records calls, and can even automatically answer calls.

Download

Silent Time Pro
Silences the phone according to a weekly schedule, in case you find Tasker too complex. $1.99

Download

Tasker
The ultimate automation utility — some people buy an Android device just to use it. UK£3.99

Download

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chompSMS
An alternative SMS application with its own optional SMS service for cheaper rates

Download

GMail Label Notifier
Lets you know when any one of your labels receives new email. Customize notifications per-label. UK£0.50

Download

Go SMS Pro
A fancy replacement for the built-in SMS utility, with theme support.

Download

imo.im
An IM client for Skype, Facebook, Google Talk, MSN, ICQ/AIM, Yahoo, Jabber, Myspace. Woah.

Download

Skype
It's bloated, it's quirky, but it's Skype. Absolutely essential for long-distance calls.

Download

SMS Popup
If you don't use Go SMS Pro, install SMS Popup to instantly see new SMSes.

Download

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AnkiDroid flashcards
Memorize information efficiently while on the go with Anki's smart algorithm.

Download

Kindle
A fantastic reading experience. Stays in sync with your "real" Kindle.

Download

Kobo
If Kindle isn't your cup of tea, try this alternative reader.

Download

TED Air
Provides a way to watch TED talks on your device. Get smarter on the go.

Download

Wapedia
Wikipedia's mobile website is good. Wapedia is better. Also supports other wikis.

Download

WolframAlpha
Amaze your friends with crazy facts and figures. How much sodium is in a banana? $1.99

Download

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Beautiful Widgets
Check out the weather or the time in style with these huge, gorgeous widgets. €1.99

Download

Embiggen
Display short messages in huge, full-screen text that can be clearly read from meters away.

Download

Pattern Wallpapers
A collection of beautiful, soothing pattern wallpapers. They say there are over a million of them.

Download

WeatherBug
Check out the weather everywhere in the world in excruciating detail, synoptic maps and all.

Download

WP Clock
A huge, in-your-face, live wallpaper with the time, date, battery and Wi-Fi network. €0.77

Download

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Alchemy
Drag and drop elements to create surprising combinations. Hunter + mouse = cat.

Download

Angry Birds
Needs no introduction. All levels for free. Get Angry Birds Rio too, teach those pigs a lesson.

Download

Bubble Break
Pop those bubbles! Supports multiple color schemes, has color-blind mode.

Download

Chalk Ball Lite
Draw chalk lines to keep the ball from falling off the screen and bounce it onto other balls.

Download

Flood-It
A color-based puzzle/strategy game that's color-blind friendly, too.

Download

Fruit Ninja
An arcade game with fancy graphics and lots of juice splashing on the screen. AU$1.19

Download

Game Dev Story
Grow your game company into an empire. Kept me fascinated for over a week. ¥230 (about $2.85)

Download

Jet Car Stunts Lite
A brilliant use of Spartan graphics to create an action-packed racer.

Download

Kongregate Arcade
Access Kongregate's addictive casual games on your Android device.

Download

Roll It
A brain-twisting puzzle in three dimensions.

Download

Wordfeud Free
A minimalistic take on Scrabble. Supports random boards, too.

Download

Words with Friends Free
Play Scrabble with your iOS-toting friends. Has its quirks, but has improved immensely.

Download

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Endomondo
Social sports training. Compete against your friends, get real-time feedback.

Download

Gentle Alarm
The best alarm clock money can buy, at least for Android. €1.99

Download

Libra – Weight Manager
Log your weight. An essential part of my morning routine. Syncs with DailyBurn and Withings.

Download

My Tracks
Uses the GPS to plot your whereabouts on a map. Great for jogging and hiking.

Download

Petometer
Track your walks with your dog — time, distance, pace, and route.

Download

RunKeeper
Fantastic guided fitness training, with a powerful website. Not just for running.

Download

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ADWLauncher EX
One of Android's classic launchers, with hundreds of themes. A must-try. €2.30

Download

Gesture Search
Draw letters on the screen, and it finds the app you want to launch. By Google.

Download

GO Launcher EX
Launcher of choice. Feature-packed, yet still lean.

Download

LauncherPro
Another must-try launcher, lean yet popular.

Download

SwipePad
Launch your favorite apps in a flash, from any app. Transformed my Android experience — a must-have.

Download

Wave Launcher
Similar to SwipePad but with a different look. Supports fewer apps. $1.99

Download

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doubleTwist Player
Sync your Android device with iTunes. Requires free Windows/Mac companion app.

Download

PlayerPro
A powerful, skinnable audio player with advanced filtering capabilities. Pricey. €3.49

Download

Shazam
Competes with SoundHound. Tries to figure out what music is playing in the background.

Download

Slacker Radio
Unlimited, free, customizable radio. US-only.

Download

SoundHound
Identify any song playing in the background. A direct competitor to Shazam.

Download

Winamp
The classic audio player for llama lovers comes to Android. Free and awesome.

Download

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Camera360
A very powerful camera app with built-in effects.

Download

Little Photo
Add funky effects to your photographs. Insanely popular and free.

Download

FxCamera
A free (ad-supported) camera application with several effects.

Download

picplz
Take photos, apply effects, share them online.

Download

Retro Camera
Emulates several old cameras, funky graphics and all.

Download

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Astrid Task
A to-do list manager that syncs with Google Tasks and Producteev.com.

Download

Barcode Scanner
Makes sense of those square squiggles everybody's pointing their phones at.

Download

Call Log Calendar Free
Saves calls and SMSes on to Google Calendar, optionally with location info. Great for billing clients.

Download

Catch Notes
A fast notes application for text, voice, images and locations. Syncs with catch.com.

Download

Dropbox
The official app. Doesn't support continuous sync, but allows access to your files when you need it.

Download

DropSpace
Uploads files from SD onto Dropbox whenever they change. Backup to the cloud.

Download

Epistle
A minimalistic notes app that instantly syncs with Dropbox.

Download

Evernote
The do-it-all notes application. If you use Evernote on Windows/Mac, this is a must-have.

Download

Flick Note
A full-featured notes app with real-time Simplenote sync, tags, and more.

Download

Google Docs
The official client from Google. Edit your Docs on the go.

Download

ShopSavvy Barcode Scanner
Scan barcodes on store products and compare prices on the go.

Download

Springpad
Gives Evernote a run for its money. Has a Web-based client too.

Download

Taskos
A powerful to-do list manager with Google Tasks sync, customized categories, repeating tasks, and more.

Download

Waze
A crowd-sourced GPS app, aware of traffic conditions. For drivers only (not pedestrians).

Download

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App Protector Pro
Selectively block access to certain applications. Can toggle locking as needed. $1.99

Download

Cirrus Manager
Locate, manage and wipe your device if it's ever stolen. Monthly subscription.

Download

KeePassDroid
If you use KeePass on the PC, this is a must-have. Manage your passwords with absolute security.

Download

Lookout Mobile Security
Scan for malware and manage your device remotely.

Download

No Lock
The simplest way to toggle your device's lock-screen. Widget included.

Download

SeekDroid
Find your device if it's ever stolen. $0.99

Download

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GetGlue
A social recommendation engine for books, movies, and more. Available on the Web too.

Download

HootSuite
A single app for Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. The mobile companion for HootSuite.com

Download

Seesmic
Supports multiple Twitter accounts, as well as Facebook and Buzz. Features fast shortcuts.

Download

TweetDeck
Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Buzz in one intense social feed.

Download

Twidroyd
A fast Twitter client with a live preview mode for links.

Download

Plume
A Twitter client with a multi-column mode for tablets and extra-shiny graphics.

Download

WhatsApp Messenger
A messenger application, like SMS but without SMSes.

Download

Twicca
A beautiful, minimalistic Twitter client. Multiple accounts are "experimental".

Download

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Amazon Appstore
An alternative Market; US-only, sadly.

Download

AppBrain App Market
An alternative Market with a smart recommendation engine.

Download

Elixir
Outputs every conceivable bit of information about your device hardware.

Download

File Expert
A powerful file manager with a built-in FTP/HTTP server, SMB client and more.

Download

ROM Manager
Download ROMs and flash your device seamlessly. Requires root access.

Download

SlideIT Soft Keyboard
A fantastic sliding keyboard, supports Colemak, Hebrew, and many other layouts.

Download

Stats Free
Monitors and saves SMS, call and data usage so you don't exceed your plan.

Download

Swype
A sexy sliding keyboard. Currently still in beta.

Download

Titanium Backup
The must-have backup utility. Saved me numerous times. Rooted devices only.

Download

Widgetsoid2.x
A powerful widget engine for creating beautiful, useful toggle widgets.

Download

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Andricious (Delicious)
Manage your Delicious bookmarks on the go. Supports Yahoo! And Delicious accounts.

Download

Dolphin Browser HD
An alternative browser with a dedicated following.

Download

Miren Browser
A fast, effective browser. Lean and quick to load.

Download

Pulse News
A beautiful news reader, can sync with Google reader. A joy to use.

Download

Read It Later Free
Mark things to read later on the PC, read them with this app while on the go.

Download


--
Thanks&Regards 
sravan