Software

Review: Notepad Plus lets users quickly jot down ideas on their device

Notepad Plus separates itself from the Web-connected memo apps pack not by adding a ton of features, but by barely offering any. While that may be a negative for some users, it's a dream for people who just need to quickly jot down ideas.

The app's layout cleverly mimics a yellow memo pad to make pen and pencil fans feel right at home. You can't change fonts or style, but you can create multiple notes and browse them with ease. The app technically works in both portrait and landscape modes, but landscape mode makes the layout behave … Read more

Review: Expense Manager puts users in charge of cash flow

Expense Manager takes a lot of the effort out of budgeting so you can focus on other things. It's a stylish app that lets you clearly figure out where exactly your money is going. The only way it could be better is if it actually helped you make more.

Expense Manager does most of its work from a menu that fits right in with stock Android. It looks like Google, itself, designed it. The app lets you color-code your spending and view it in several different ways. There are a few preset spending options, but there's also an … Read more

Review: OneNote Mobile lets you easily grab your notes from your device

If you need to grab your notes from your smartphone or tablet, you can try OneNote Mobile. It's not as useful as other unofficial Office apps, but it has a layout that you're used to. If you're tied deeply into that ecosystem, it's probably the app you should use.

In order to access this app, you have to log in with a Windows Live account. Once you do, the app only controls stuff saved to your Live account's SkyDrive. It won't open files sent as e-mail attachments. You can create a new note from … Read more

Review: OpenOffice Document Reader lets you scan, but not edit

OpenOffice Document Reader lets you view all sorts of Office documents without paying one red cent. It won't work for everyone and is loaded down with ads, but it's still near the top as far as Office readers go.

OpenOffice Document Reader is just a reader app, so you won't be able to edit any of the files it works with. OpenOffice Document Reader displays text and HTML just fine. If it doesn't work with your file, it briefly displays it on a cloud server so you can read it. The reader slides animated ads into … Read more

Review: Easy Touch (iPhone style) super charges home screens

Easy Touch (iPhone style) adds a super-powered menu button to all of your home screens and even to most of your apps. If you're stuck on Android 2.3 or earlier, Easy Touch (iPhone style) is a solid launcher that taps into some of your phone's hidden powers. However, if you're on Ice Cream Sandwich or later, the app will just get in your way.

Once you go through this app's lengthy tutorial, it sticks a 1X1 button widget on each of your phone's home screens. The button appears in most apps, too. You can … Read more

Review: Chrome 27 is smarter and (5 percent) faster

Chrome is the lightweight flagship browser that originated from an open source project by Google called Chromium and Chromium OS. It is now one of the more widely used browsers thanks to a vast ecosystem of extensions and add-ons, a robust Javascript engine, and a rapid-release development cycle that keeps it on the competitive end of the curve.

Installation

Chrome's installation process is both straight-forward and self-sustaining. After downloading the installer, Chrome's installation process will launch with the standard practices of confirming system directories and a few click throughs. Google will also ask for your permission to anonymously … Read more

Review: Otaku Camera (Free) makes photos "comical"

Otaku Camera makes any photo look like a still from an awesome comic book. In addition to adding style to your photos, it gives you headlines about anime, cosplay, and more. It's certainly a must-have app for any anime fans.

Otaku Camera only gives you a handful of generic overlays to start with, but offers almost hundreds of new things to download in its shop. These feature your favorite characters and stills from manga and anime like Tiger and Bunny, and Berserk. During testing, everything in the store was free. That makes it seem unnecessary to have it all … Read more

Review: Pencil Sketch Free is free of great features

While Pencil Sketch Free is easy to use, it does lack some great features that its competitors have, and the final outcome leaves much to be desired.

The installation of Pencil Sketch Free takes only a few seconds and the program loads very quickly. The interface is very intuitive and well designed. Upon startup users are presented with the option of selecting an image from the gallery or taking a new photograph. When capturing a new photo, users will notice that the camera window does not have all the same features as the stock camera application. This is a huge … Read more

Review: Photo Talks adds bubbles to your photos

Adding text bubbles to a photograph usually involves an overly complicated editing program such as Adobe Photoshop, or at the very least, Paint. Thankfully, there are now a few applications that serve this specific function. Photo Talks is one of the better offerings on the market. It gives the user tons of options and allows them to customize pictures effectively.

Users will have no difficulties installing Photo Talks. It downloads quickly and is fairly light on the device's resources. The main screen opens very quickly and the program seems very stable. The user interface is well designed, featuring brightly … Read more

Review: Picture IQ tests your image savvy

Picture IQ is challenging, thought provoking, and never-ending. Even though it's a basic puzzle game that features a format repeated often on the market, it still executes it very efficiently compared to its competitors.

Picture IQ installs and sets up incredibly fast. Within seconds, users will be playing the game with little or no instruction. The gameplay is very intuitive and the clean user interface adds to the usability. The four pictures that are displayed at the top half of the screen are clear and fairly easy to see. The images are not in the highest resolution and some … Read more