New Android apps worth downloading: Tango update, Personal Capital Investing, Hamiltons Adventure THD

If youre looking to make video calls with your Android device, you might want to check out the updated Tango app. It offers voice-over-Internet capabilities, video calling and free texting. We also have Personal Capital Investing, a financial management app that lists investments alongside your bank accounts and personal spending, and Hamiltons Adventure THD, a top-down action-puzzler in which you explore ancient temples.

Tango update (Free)

Whats it about? Tango lets users send video, text and voice over Internet to connect with people.

Whats cool? The apps latest update brings a bunch of new features, as well, including the ability to play games over voice calls, new video filters for Android 4.0, and new avatars that can be added to your account and your video calls.

Whos it for? If youre in the market to extend the calling capabilities of your device, without having to pay more for the privilege, Tango is for you.

Whats it like? Similar features are offered by the voice-over-Internet service Skype.

Personal Capital Investing (Free)

Whats it about? Combine all your finances and investments in one place with Personal Capital Investing, allowing you to see your full financial profile.

Whats cool? Using the app, you can combine things like bank accounts, investments, bills and more to see what youre making, what youre spending and how your money is doing at any given moment. The cool thing about the app is that it includes features that are more than just about investments, and more than just personal spending by combining both, it lets you see everything about your finances all at once, plus gives you the ability to send people checks digitally and get investment advice.

Whos it for? If youre interested in financial management, organization, and help, this is a good app to check out.

Whats it like? Fidelity Investments offers some similar investment services, as does MyMerrill for Android.

Hamiltons Adventure THD ($3.99)

Whats it about? Action-puzzler Hamiltons Adventure has players running through various tombs and temples as Indiana Jones look-alike Hamilton, collecting treasures and solving puzzles.

Whats cool? Sporting some quality graphics (Hamiltons Adventure was previously a PC and console game), Hamiltons Adventure takes players through 22 different levels in which theyll face booby-traps and other obstacles on a quest for high scores. The game is presented from a top-down perspective and based on a grid, so youll be running around, flipping switches and avoiding certain death while collecting treasures to rack up points. Youll also have different gadgets you can use to complete levels, and can play as Hamiltons bird to get a different take on the experience.

Whos it for? Action-adventure and puzzle game fans will find something to like here. The game is specifically made for Tegra devices, however.

Whats it like? Try Lara Croft: Guardian of Light for a similar, but perhaps more action-oriented, tomb-raiding experience. Theres also Hamiltons Great Adventure, an expansion on the original that adds more levels.

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Android App Video Review: Angry Birds Star Wars

I recently felt a great disturbance in The Force. It was as if a million birds squawked out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happenedexcept not really. I know the joining of Angry Birds and Star Wars sounds like the kind of evil, money making, world domination plot that George Lucas and Emperor Palpatine would come up with together, but Angry Birds Star Wars is actually a fantastic game that builds on the great foundation of two wildly popular properties.

You can join a doubly familiar cast of iconic characters, as red bird Luke, black bird Ben Kenobi, Yellow Han-Solo, Pink Leia, Blue Random X-wing pilot, and Chewbacca go on a classic and beloved adventure. Almost all of the birds get fancy new powers to go with their new duds, and some are unique enough to feel like game changers. Lightsabers, blasters, and force powers enter the fold as you play through Tatooine and Death Star levels based on the first movie. Bonus levels make a comeback, but feature everyones favorite droid duo: R2D2 with electric shock powers, and C-3PO with the amazing ability to fall apart.

The thing that makes this Angry Birds special is the mixing and matching of classic level types, and gravity based levels as seen in Angry Birds Space. This helps change up the pacing and variety of the game in a big way. Yes, at its core, this is the same game weve all been playing for the last three years or so, but it has definitely built on those prior experiences. Things like bouncing blaster fire and aiming attacks from Obi-Wan and Han Solo add to your strategic options too. If youre a fan of classic Star Wars, the visuals, nods, and references should have you grinning like a nostalgic idiot. Every screen is packed with them.

In the end, I fully recommend this to fans of both Star Wars and Angry Birds. Even if you were never all that into the series, or youre jaded by the franchise, its worth a look. As with Angry Birds Space, just enough has been tweaked to make it feel fresh. The first update has already been released. Now you can defend Hoth from the Empire with new snow mechanics and a force pulling Princess Leia bird. Plus, you can visit Dagobah and train with Yoda through an in-app purchase level pack. Star Wars purists can rejoice in the knowledge that there is no content based on the horrible, horrible prequel films. I hope that the force remains strong in Rovio, that they avoid turning to the dark side that is the prequel trilogy. Only time will tellAngry Birds Star Wars is free, with an HD version available for three republic credits.

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Four free awesome location-based games for Android

One of the hot games right now is Ingress, a location-based virtual game that you can play on your Android phone. The app activates the game as you move about in real time, so the playing board is where you are! This is not the only location-based Android game; here are the titles I have played and enjoyed.

Global Outbreak (Free)

Unrest spreads around the world, and humanity is not exactly sure why it is happening. There are these pods. You are the head of Blackhorne Industries, the worlds best and most trusted mercenary outfit. Your mission is to head out and stop the infestation before the need to detonate nukes. This top-down shooter game begins with a quick tutorial and has a minimal menu bar, so it does not take up much screen space.

Once the tutorial is done, you can span the globe and find a spot to set up an outpost. The game will guide you on this. From there you will assemble a team and equipment so you can go out on missions. At first you are limited on what you can access but as you progress in the game you can get more team member, upgrade equipment, etc. The game is fun but I found it a bit glitchy at times. The game is free but has in-game currency, such as gold that can be used to speed up the game.

Plague Inc. (Free)

In Plague Inc., your job is to infest of all mankind with a deadly virus. You start with one country and one virus. As this is a strategy game, your job through the game is to figure out the best way to transport, mutate, and keep your virus going. You even get to name your virus! As you play you earn DNA points which can be used to help modify the transmission, symptoms, and abilities of the virus. Plague Inc. requires a strategy similar to the classic board game Risk.

This is somewhat different game from the others, as the whole world is your game board. The game does allow you to have a saved game, and has three difficulty settings. The game is free, but you can unlock the full game and other items via in-app purchases. If you enjoy strategy games and have a somewhat dark sense of humor, you will enjoy this twisted game.

Sacracy RPG (Free)

Sacracy is an action RPG game set in a Medieval parallel world. It is a top-down game with retro style graphics, simple gameplay and controls. The game has one menu button, which then opens up a series of sections such as diary, inventory, skills, achievements, guide, buddies, store, and more. In the game you experience over 20 monsters, 16 skills, tons of usable items, daily quests and a storyline. The game comes with in-game chat so you can play with others.

Sacracy RPG is free and you can remove the ads via an in-app purchase. The game does have some nice features. It can be played in portrait or landscape mode. The most intriguing aspect is you can play in two different modes: couch mode, where you simply play where you are or GPS-mode where you have to physically move to move your character in the game. When you do this, a current map will become part of the game board.

Parallel Mafia MMORPG (Free)

This is one of the first location-based games that I played and is a lot of fun. Parallel Mafia is based in the future, where criminal organizations run wild. Your job is to control your turf, take over other players areas and stop the Apex Agency. The virtual world the game creates is superimposed on a map of your GPS location. To be able to travel in the game you need to know a real person in that location or physically travel there and turn on the game.

When you begin, you will need to complete the tutorial. During this time, you will build your safe house and a few business fronts. It is at these businesses where you earn experience, build your influence, find items, and fight off computer-generated bad guys. To grow your character, you need to craft items and raise your skills (called augments), plus spend in-game credits. Now, you earn these in-game credits by referring friends to the game or via in-game purchases. The game has an extensive chat system in place to allow you to add friends.

Overall, these are fun games but not quick ones. These are games you can play a little each day and where ever you are, the game is with you. You can play alone or with others. Location based games add a nice dimension to games and I would assume more will be developed over the coming years.

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New Android apps worth downloading: Rhapsody and Angry Birds Star Wars updates, Babel Rising 3D Sponsored

Start the week with the newly updated Rhapsody app, which brings streaming music to subscribers and includes new features for a better experience. Weve also got Babel Rising 3D Sponsored, a free version of the popular god game, and an update to Angry Birds Star Wars that takes players to Hoth, the unforgiving planet of ice.

Rhapsody update (Free)

Whats it about? Streaming music service Rhapsody lets users play millions of songs on their Android devices (and other devices, too), while paying a monthly fee instead of purchasing individual songs.

Whats cool? The apps latest update includes a number of bug fixes and throws in a listening history feature, which allows you to track back the songs youve heard before a good feature if you want to use Rhapsody for music discovery, but failed to mark down your new favorites as you found them.

Whos it for? The app is primarily geared at Rhapsody subscribers, but if youre interested in trying out a streaming music service, you can do that, too.

Whats it like? The beta version of the Rdio app also offers streaming capabilities, as does Spotify.

Babel Rising 3D Sponsored (Free)

Whats it about? In this new version of Babel Rising, players take on the role of a vengeful god, tasked with punishing and eliminating humans attempting to build the Tower of Babel.

Whats cool? The sponsored version of Babel Rising refers to it being free with ad support, so its not quite as robust as the full game you could pay for. That said, developer AMALtd has reworked things to make the game a little more fun. Players start with various god powers, like sending tidal waves or lightning strikes, and more can be unlocked by earning coins throughout the game. Babel Rising packs 15 levels through which to crush the hopes of the human AI, and some pretty luscious 3-D graphics.

Whos it for? Players who enjoy god games will get a kick out of this one.

Whats it like? The original Babel Rising, with its 2-D graphics, is also worth a look, as is Open Sea.

Angry Birds Star Wars update ($0.99)

Whats it about? Angry Birds combines with Star Wars to add new birds with new capabilities to this version of the bird-flinging arcade super-hit.

Whats cool? When Angry Birds Star Wars was first released, it covered the first film in the original trilogy, A New Hope. The newest update brings in a whole new set of levels themed after the big icy Battle of Hoth from the early portion ofThe Empire Strikes Back, and that means a whole mess of new challenges. The update is free if youve already purchased the game, and the snowy terrain of Hoth adds a few new mechanics, like collapsible snow that can destabilize whole structures. Theres also a new bird, the pink Princess Leia, which has a tractor beam power that can take out building supports.

Whos it for? Fans of Angry Birds and Star Wars will definitely have a lot of fun here.

Whats it like? Give Siege Hero a try for an alternate take on the Angry Birds formula, and Angry Bird Space for more sci-fi themed bird-flinging.

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Android App Video Review: Where's My Perry?

Where's My Water? was a delightful physics puzzler from Creature Feep and Disney. It was brimming with that Disney brand of personality and charm, and the gameplay was fairly original for a liquid relocation puzzle game. Now, that game gets a sequel and a brand new skin, themed after the hilarious show Phineas and Ferb. Where's My Perry? brings with it new mechanics and art, and a whole new sense of humor, making it just as refreshing as the first.

Instead of helping a sewer dwelling alligator take a bath, you are helping Agent P, a platypus named Perry who is also a secret agent, get to a secret base. This base is officially over 6,000 kilometers underground according to this game. By guiding the water to Perry's location, you'll activate the pneumatically-opened transport tube. Some of the new mechanics include lasers that turn water into steam or ice and vice versa, and water to confetti conversion devices. Instead of collecting rubber duckies on each level, you are collecting three garden gnomes.

The art is just as good as ever, but with more of a Phineas and Ferb flair. The animations and random voice clips that are played make the whole thing much more enjoyable, and the music matches the game perfectly. This sequel is much more than a cheap re-skin and cash in, and the new mechanics and humorous elements make for a brand new experience. Whether you were a massive fan of the first or missed out on it entirely, I definitely recommend you give this one a go. You can currently download Where's My Perry? for just one dollar.

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Zenonia 5 tops Android Games of the Week

We've got a big week for Android users, and not just because there's another sequel to Zenonia. This past week saw releases like a great multiplayer sequel to a match three, a spiritual successor to Hyperlight, a new indie puzzle adventure from the studio behind Anomaly Warzone Earth, and the craziest blend of tower defense and real time strategy you'll play this year. Oh, there's a mega huge Marvel Games release too, but it's sort of broken...

Zenonia 5 (Free)

Gamevil's biggest cash cow and easily their best franchise has returned in the fifth incarnation of the KRPG, Zenonia. This time around, the ongoing and somewhat convoluted story ceases to be an issue, as we're jumping years into the future and joining an all new Robin Hood style hero on a quest to stop the corrupt elite and underlying darkness that contorts their souls. All the genre staples return, from the dynamic gameplay and leveling to the online PVP, and they even bring four new classes to the fold, being the Berserker, Mechanic, Wizard, and Paladin. You probably already know if you'll be downloading this one, but it's never a bad time for newcomers to jump in either!

Zookeeper Battle (Free)

Zookeeper DX from Kiteretsu Inc. was a stylistically unique and fast paced match-three game. In fact, it's one of my favorites! Though the genre as a whole isn't nearly as popular as it once was, you can now enjoy this new multiplayer edition of Zookeeper, in which you battle for the best combos against your friends in Power Battle mode. All the bells and whistles are here, like avatar customization and unlockable items to collect, all supporting a tried and true combo of solid game design and adorable and colorful cubist art style. Check it out.

Sleepwalker's Journey ($0.99)

After the smash indie success that was Anomaly: Warzone Earth, 11 Bit Studios seems to have been enjoying their cushy financial net, celebrating by releasing other, smaller titles while they work on the Anomaly sequel. First they brought us the bizarre Funky Smugglers, and now they bring us Sleepwalkers Journey, a gorgeous new puzzle adventure. Like Lemmings, or the somewhat popular Xbox Live Arcade title Lucidity, your goal is to place and shuffle objects in the environment to protect your constantly sleepwalking character from enemies and hazards. The gameplay is solid, but what should grab you immediately is the very cool and unique art style.

Hyperwave ($0.99)

My favorite game to come from CatfishBlues Games has always been Hyperlight, a unique take on Geometry Wars with way less shooting and more thrusters and speed boosts. Naturally, I was delighted to learn of this spiritual successor in Hyperwave. They take the same general art style, evolve it to something a bit more unique and modern, and then apply it to an old school shooter in the vein of Space Invaders or Galaga. There are still plenty of innovative mechanics to grab your attention, and all in all this is a great follow up to Hyperlight.

Cubemen (Free)

This is a game I played and loved on the PC. It's a crazy genre bending strategy game featuring cube people, from developer 3 Sprockets. It's mainly a tower defense title, but incorporates real time strategy and multiplayer. Cross-platform multiplayer, to be more exact. Real time multiplayer tower defense against actual living opponents, with no static towers, but rather little cubemen that you can move all around the board, ordering them to attack or defend. This game is experimental and a great success. I can't recommend it enough.

Avenger's Initiative ($4.99)

This game would normally be featured much higher on the list, being that it's a high budget clone sanctioned by Marvel featuring the Incredible Hulk, but unfortunately this port is just all around lazy. The game is solid when it works, with fun powers and unlockables and proven combat mechanics, but the game rarely works. It's incompatible with a laundry list of devices and experiences plenty of game-breaking bugs or crashes on the compatible ones. Definitely add this one to your wish lists and keep an eye out for an update to fix it up. You know? This same thing happened with their older Captain America game too. I don't know why, but Marvel seems to hate Android users.

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New Android apps worth downloading: Google Drive update, Adblock Plus, Littlest Pet Shop

The latest update to Google Drive kicks off todays apps worth downloading, bringing the capability of editing spreadsheets to Android users. Adblock Plus allows users to block ads in apps and browser windows without rooting their devices. Finally, Littlest Pet Shop offers virtual pet care opportunities to players.

Google Drive update (Free)

Whats it about? The Google Drive app lets users view and edit documents saved in the cloud.

Whats cool? The latest update to Google Drive brings users the capability of editing spreadsheets and content tables from their mobile devices. The app already made it possible to see documents shared with you, create new ones, add to and edit them, and now even more document types are available to mobile users. Google also made a few more improvements, like the ability to add shortcuts to Google Drive documents and folders to your devices home screen, and minor things such as better clipboard support and cutting and pasting capabilities.

Whos it for? Avid users of Google Drive will definitely want this mobile version, specifically as it becomes more and more capable.

Whats it like? Try Dropbox for more document sharing and cloud support, and Quickoffice Pro for another document editing solution.

Adblock Plus (Free)

Whats it about? Just like with its PC version, Adblock knocks out ads both in your mobile browsers and in your favorite free apps.

Whats cool? Theres not really too much more to Adblock, except the fact that it works across multiple different applications. The app will block ads in apps, browser windows, and even in videos, and doesnt require your Android device to be rooted. Its not foolproof the app works better on some Android devices than others, and there are some types of websites that Android prevents Adblock from filtering. But for the most part, this is a handy free app that knocks out ads from a variety of sources.

Whos it for? Anybody annoyed with ads should find some use in Adblock Plus.

Whats it like? AdFree Android and AdAway offer similar functionality to Adblock, but youll need to have a rooted device for them to work.

Littlest Pet Shop (Free)

Whats it about? Players collect and care for various animals in Gamelofts Littlest Pet Shop, by playing with them, building houses, washing and feeding them.

Whats cool? For a virtual pet game, Littlest Pet Shop offers quite a bit of content. There are a lot of animals that can be unlocked, for one thing, and taking care of them includes a lot of different activities. Mostly the game is about collecting, and you can unlock new stuff to work with your pets over time, as well. Like many of Gamelofts other casual titles, theres a healthy dose of management, and before long youll be creating your own entire pet town.

Whos it for? Littlest Pet Shop is primarily geared toward kids, but it might appeal to folks who also like pet simulation games.

Whats it like? Try Mini Pets and Pet Shop Story for more digital pet action.

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Pixlr Express leads Android Apps of the Week

Android photographers of the world, rejoice! A new professional-grade photo editor entered the fold; Pixlr Express boasts a crazy number of features and tools. When you're done editing your photos, we've got new ways to send them to people, plus new ways to avoid getting lost in a dead zone, new ways to track big savings, and new ways to keep your LinkedIn profile up to date. Despite all that new, there's a lot of old fashioned to be found in this week's list.

Pixlr Express (Free)

Photography editing apps may not exactly be an endangered species, but that doesn't mean we can't sit up and pay attention when a new one comes along. Especially when that new editor comes from a company as titanic and gargantuan as Autodesk. Pixlr Express struts its stuff with some very impressive assets to show off, including filters, auto-fixes, lighting and coloring adjustments, overlays, and many more. Hundreds more in fact, as the app claims to offer 600 different effects. If you're one of those Android photographers who loves professional-grade editing software, this may be your new mistress.

PostalPix (Free)

When you're done editing your photographic masterpieces with Pixlr Express, you can use this app to have prints of them mailed directly to your door. I know, right? It sounds so quaint. It's kind of poetic that in the age of digital and Internet bytes that a brand spanking new app would offer such an old fashioned service. Once you pick the size of your photos and fill out an order, you simply pay and enter a shipping address, making this a great way to send photos as gifts. In the short term, it is quite a bit cheaper than buying a professional photo printer.

ForeverMap 2 - Offline Maps ($0.99)

Speaking of quaint, old fashioned ideas in a world bustling with technology...When's the last time you read a map to get somewhere? People always say they'd be lost in this world without their smartphones. Particularly if they're in the middle of nowhere with no signal or Internet connection to use Google Maps! Well now you can download and archive dozens of maps, and you won't feel nearly as lost. Like many map apps, you can plan routes and input coordinates, searching the local area for attractions when you DO have wifi, and add those places to your favorites.

LinkedIn update (Free)

Finally LinkedIn, the go-to website for professional networking, gives us all the option to edit our profiles and settings on the go from within the mobile app. If I ever actually remembered to update my LinkedIn profile, I'm sure I would love this new feature! But when it comes to keeping your profile up to date, especially while you're walking the grounds of a conference or convention, where a lot of business cards are being handed out, this new feature offers a lot of convenience! The update also brought push notifications among other general improvements to the table.

Woot Check - Daily Deals (Free)

Woot.com has built a legion of users through their really impressive daily deals, with plenty of sibling sites rising up in the process. Now, with this mobile app dedicated to Woot, you can monitor all of those sites and the many deals with ease through a solid interface. You can also more easily rub your savings in a friend or family members face through social networking capabilities. Or you could just share those deals with them instead. Either or. Definitely keep an eye out for a "Woot Off," which is a 24 hour blitzkrieg period of deal bombardments that shouldn't be missed.

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