The Droid 3 is the third iteration of Motorola’s flagship Android device. With its 4″ qHD display, 5 row slide out keyboard, dual-core 1Ghz processor and 1080p video camera, which also take 8 megapixel photos, it is definitely a choice phone. As with any new smartphone, it needs apps to truly take advantage of its capabilities.
All of the apps below can be loaded directly from the Android Marketplace by clicking install on the web page or by loading them via the Marketplace app on the phone. Most of the apps are free, so no cost is incurred downloading most of these applications.
Apps
- Angry Birds – The popular game is a quick addiction and a great way to pass the time while knocking down the pigs.
- Advanced Task Killer (ATK) – ATK is a great way to kill apps when not in use to free memory and save battery life.
- Astro File Manager – An easy way to view the file and directory contents of the Droid.
- Barcode Scanner – When you come across a UPC or QR code and want to look it up, this is the best app for scanning and reading them.
- Bump – A fun way to share contact information with people by bumping your phones together. The future of business cards.
- Connectbot – SSH client to connect to remote servers.
- DroidLight – For those times when you really need a flashlight, instead of using the screen to illuminate, use this app to turn on the LED flash on the back of the Droid,
- Evernote – Stay organized by writing and syncing notes with the Evernote website and apps for desktop and other mobile devices.
- Google Goggles – A cool app that lets you take a picture and then scans the picture and runs searches based on it.
- Google Sky Map – The app I always use to demo the phone. Run the app and point your phone at the sky to get an Augmented Reality view of the constellations overhead.
- HBO GO – If you subscribe to HBO, you can watch the Sopranos, The Wire, Game of Thrones, True Blood, Sex and City and all your other favorite HBO original series, in addition to select movies, streaming directly to your phone.
- Key Ring – This great app scans the barcodes on your rewards cards (or any card with a barcode, like a gym membership), so you don’t have to carry the cards. When checking out, just hand the phone to the cashier and let her scan the UPC from the phone.
- Kindle – For those times when you want to read and don’t have a book available, the Kindle app has a built-in bookstore and can whisper sync with your Kindle and other Kindle apps.
- Layar Reality Browser – A variety of information can be seen by activating layers in this browser to gain all types of information around you.
- Mother TED – Mother TED gives streaming access to every TED Talk released online, sorted by name, category, etc. and streams them to the phone in very clear audio and video.
- Netflix – Watch all the streaming movies and television programs with your Netflix streaming account.
- Pandora Radio – A streaming music app, like Last.fm, that allows me to listen to radio stations based on a band or song I like.
- Seesmic – A nice looking Twitter client that allows the monitoring and posting of tweets from multiple accounts.
- Shazam – When I am listening to the radio or in a store and wonder what song I am hearing, I let Shazam give it a listen and it comes back and tells me who I hear.
- Shop Savvy – When you are shopping and want to compare prices, scan the UPC barcode with this app and get prices from around the web and local brick and mortar stores to see where you can find it cheaper.
- TV.com – Streaming access to clips to CBS and Showtime shows are how the app is promoted, but the real lure is the classic TV shows you can watch. MacGuyver, Beverly Hills 90210 (classic), Twin Peaks, Family Ties, and others to select from make this a worthy app to install.
Android phones just keep getting better and better, and the Motorola Droids are no exception. And as the phones continue to come out, so do great apps.
