Android

Using smartphone applications to learn a language or as a personal translator will broaden your horizons. Take a look at these options. Duolingo is an ambitious Web translation project masquerading as a language-learning app. Dreamed up by a team of geniuses at Carnegie Mellon University, the free Duolingo teaches Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, or Italian while the student translates Web content. The team has promised an Android version this month, but at the moment only an iPhone version is available.

Exactly a week ago, in a cozy theater, it happened: The Apple "cult" got a taste of its own medicine. An ex-iPhone owner - a tech addict who owns more remote controls than kitchen glasses - pulled an Android smart phone out of his pocket and shoved it into the face of a man seated in front of him. The unsuspecting victim, minding his own business, smiled awkwardly as he held up an iPhone that looked oddly peevish against the provocateur's Google-backed...

Near the outset of Making Mr. Right, an android who rejoices in the name of Ulysses spills the contents of a woman's purse onto the floor, and out pops a copy of Smart Women, Foolish Choices. The latter title is a sadly apt summation of what has happened to director Susan Seidelman in her first feature since the delightful Desperately Seeking Susan. Although it seems to offer Seidelman a chance to bring her zanily bemused skepticism and wit to the plight of women in the '80s, Making Mr. Right turns out to be the wrong choice.

Travel and entertainment become priorities as summer approaches. So here are smartphone applications that smooth the way through an unfamiliar airport, or that find your favorite band performing at a nearby venue. Get around unfamiliar airports with Gate Guru by Mobility Apps L.L.C. The free app for Android and Apple devices has terminal maps and a list of eateries, shops, ATMs, and other amenities, including reviews of the food, that you can filter by terminal within an airport.

I am locked in a battle with Google for control of my cellphone, and Google is winning. If you have an Android device (Google's smartphone), it may recently have installed a new app from Google called "Latitude. " It was part of a system update, so I didn't pay any attention when it showed up. But one night, I got an e-mail from Google saying that Latitude was running and reporting my location. The notification was written to be ignored: E-mail from Google usually says it's from Google.

Apps for a pet? You bet. Smartphone applications will help you choose the right sort, find one for you to buy, and then coach you on feeding and training. What kind of dog would suit your lifestyle? Try Perfect Dog - Ultimate Breed Guide to Dogs , for iPhone and Android. The Perfect Dog app opens to an alphabetical listing of breeds, but tap "Group" and you see the breeds listed under categories such as "companion," "herding," and "designer. " To get more specific, tap "Match" and begin choosing the canine characteristics you think you are looking for: size, living space, need for exercise, behavior type, and so on. Then tap "Go. " The results I got ranged from "Pretty good matches" to "So-so" to "Probably not for you. " If you see a dog while you are out and about and are baffled about its breed, you could ask the owner.

T ED MANN, 35, of Haddonfield, is founder and CEO of start-up SnipSnap, which has four employees and operates from an old industrial building on 8th Street near Callowhill, just north of Chinatown. With financial backers including Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin, a mobile app was launched in May. It lets people clip and use coupons on their iPhones. Mann, a Penn grad, has raised $1 million for his company. Q: So how did you come up with the idea for SnipSnap? A: I was working for Gannett in Web and mobile strategy and got enamored of mobile coupons.

A proliferation of place-specific apps can help you catch a bus, stop blight, or drop the dime on municipal fraud. Many cities have released "311" apps that help individuals report potholes, illegal dumping, and the like to the proper authorities without a lot of phoning, running around, and filing of forms. There are NYC 311 , Baltimore 311 , Grand Rapids 311 , and so on. Philly311 is a free app for Android and Apple devices. Its maker, PublicStuff, has a roster of apps for municipalities around the country under titles such as Fix It Plano for that North Texas town and DigiTally for the good citizens of Tallahassee, Fla. With Philly311, if you spot an eyesore - say graffiti on a building or a mattress by the roadside - tap the "New Request" icon on the menu screen.

Philadelphia Media Network Inc. released its 2012 Philly Pro Baseball app for the iPad, iPhone, Android phone, and Android tablet Monday. The publisher of The Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com said the app, which was developed in-house, will provide Twitter updates, blogs, columns and articles from the newspapers' Phillies' sportswriters. It also incorporates a play-by-play feature that will enable Phillies' fans to follow the progress of a game. The price of the app is 99 cents for the iPhone version and $2.99 for the iPad on Apple's iTunes, free on the Google Play app store, and 99 cents for phone and $1.99 for tablet on Amazon's Appstore for Android.

Do you have iPhone dreams but not an iPhone budget? You want an iPhone. Your kids want an iPhone. But your budget is tight. As you debate whether you can afford the new iPhone 4S, you see that the iPhone 4 is only $99 and the iPhone 3GS is free. A price of $99 for an iPhone sounds cheap and free is even better, but before you rush out to get one, consider the cost of the plans. The iPhone has serious competition from other smartphones with plans that will make your wallet smile.

Travel and entertainment become priorities as summer approaches. So here are smartphone applications that smooth the way through an unfamiliar airport, or that find your favorite band performing at a nearby venue. Get around unfamiliar airports with Gate Guru by Mobility Apps L.L.C. The free app for Android and Apple devices has terminal maps and a list of eateries, shops, ATMs, and other amenities, including reviews of the food, that you can filter by terminal within an airport.

Apps for a pet? You bet. Smartphone applications will help you choose the right sort, find one for you to buy, and then coach you on feeding and training. What kind of dog would suit your lifestyle? Try Perfect Dog - Ultimate Breed Guide to Dogs , for iPhone and Android. The Perfect Dog app opens to an alphabetical listing of breeds, but tap "Group" and you see the breeds listed under categories such as "companion," "herding," and "designer. " To get more specific, tap "Match" and begin choosing the canine characteristics you think you are looking for: size, living space, need for exercise, behavior type, and so on. Then tap "Go. " The results I got ranged from "Pretty good matches" to "So-so" to "Probably not for you. " If you see a dog while you are out and about and are baffled about its breed, you could ask the owner.

Using smartphone applications to learn a language or as a personal translator will broaden your horizons. Take a look at these options. Duolingo is an ambitious Web translation project masquerading as a language-learning app. Dreamed up by a team of geniuses at Carnegie Mellon University, the free Duolingo teaches Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, or Italian while the student translates Web content. The team has promised an Android version this month, but at the moment only an iPhone version is available.

Next week, Amazon will start to sell Philips' new, personal control, Hue LED bulbs. Boasting a built-in microprocessor and Wi-Fi receiver, each Hue can be remotely triggered to turn on, dim, and change color from a free app loaded onto an iOS, Android or Kindle device. A starter bundle of three "60-watt equivalent" Hue bulbs and (Internet linked) base-station module will go for $199.97 at the online retailer.

Now that it's baseball season, smartphone applications are making it easy to check scores during important meetings and dinner dates. Just keep nodding. ESPN ScoreCenter , free for Android and iOS from ESPN Inc., lets you check any score, anytime, for virtually any sport. To set up the app for your favorite sports and teams, you'll need to log in with a Facebook account or register at http://espn.go.com . Then log in from the app and start selecting. While following a live baseball game, you can see who's at bat, check stats, tap on "game feed" to read about each pitch, tap "social" for a Twitter feed, or comment in an area called "Section 140," where you are warned that your posts "may be used on TV and other ESPN media platforms.

Peter Beik, 16, has noticed an ad campaign from Samsung for its Galaxy S III smartphone, but the iPhone user doubts that it will dent Apple's dominance of the industry. "Samsung's ad campaign for the GS III, it's not so much saying, 'Look at how cool our product is,' but rather, 'Hey guys, we make phones, too,' " said Beik, a junior at Masterman High School. Like many consumers, he believes that Apple will continue to dominate the global information technology race, with other companies playing catch-up.

MENLO PARK, Calif. - With its new "Home" on Android gadgets, Facebook aims to put its social network at the center of people's mobile experiences. If users choose to download Facebook's Home software starting next Friday, the social network will become the hub of their Android smartphones. A phone from HTC that comes preloaded with Home will also be available starting that day, with AT&T Inc. as the carrier. The idea behind the software is to bring Facebook content right to the home screen, rather than requiring users to check apps.

If the world ever seems to be spinning too fast, my advice is to stay away from the latest crop of smartphones: Apples, Androids, Windows, probably even the latest BlackBerry. If you're not keeping up, the pace of progress can make you dizzy. The LG Spirit 4G, debuted in January by MetroPCS, is a case in point. For just $199 (after a $70 rebate), you get a responsive, full-featured Android smartphone with a 4.5-inch screen - longer and wider than an iPhone 5, yet less than four-tenths of an ounce heavier.

A proliferation of place-specific apps can help you catch a bus, stop blight, or drop the dime on municipal fraud. Many cities have released "311" apps that help individuals report potholes, illegal dumping, and the like to the proper authorities without a lot of phoning, running around, and filing of forms. There are NYC 311 , Baltimore 311 , Grand Rapids 311 , and so on. Philly311 is a free app for Android and Apple devices. Its maker, PublicStuff, has a roster of apps for municipalities around the country under titles such as Fix It Plano for that North Texas suburb and DigiTally for the good citizens of Tallahassee, Fla. With Philly311, if you spot an eyesore - say, graffiti on a building or a mattress by the roadside - tap the "New Request" icon on the menu screen.