Best Productivity Apps

Vlingo Virtual Assistant  Vlingo provides Siri-like functionality for your Android. It’s the absolute best virtual assistant app on the market. Simply speak to Vlingo to perform countless tasks like texting, Facebook updates, mapped directions & plenty more. (Free)

Quick Settings  This app lets you access and toggle your 3G, Wifi, GPS, Bluetooth and other settings to help conserve your battery. (Free)

GO Launcher Ex This Android app lets you completely makeover your Android interface with plenty of options to customize, thousands of themes, some great widgets, better transitions and functionality improvements. It’s the best home replacement app in the Market. (Free)

Evernote  Evernote is my favorite app, regardless of platform. It’s available on just about every mobile device and syncs your notes on the Evernote server. You can organize notes by notebooks or tags, create and edit text notes, to-dos and task lists and more. The search functionality is great and the shortcut the app comes with lets you put a quick link to specific notes. (Free)

USAA If you bank with USAA, as I do, this is one of the very first apps you should download. It’s loaded with the ability to scan and deposit your checks with your Android and the functionality to pay your bills, transfer funds and even trade stocks. There are other goodies such as insurance claims, loan calculators, etc. (Free)

Dropbox Dropbox is one of my most used apps and favorites. You can add any files to Dropbox and access them on your computer, iPad, tablet and any device loaded with the free Dropbox app. It’s a perfect solution for sharing large files too. (Free)

Best Tools & Communication Apps

WhatsAppMessenger  WhatsApp Messenger is a messenger available on Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone 7 and Nokia phones. The app uses your 3G and Wifi connection to send messages to your friends and family, regardless of platform. It’s a cheap alternative to the SMS plans, but your contacts will need to have the app as well. You can send and receive messages, pictures, audio notes and video messages. The first year of use is free, then it will cost you $1.99 per year after that. (Free)

Quick Profiles Create profiles for various times/events by choosing ringer & volume settings, the ringtone, brightness, timeout, Wifi, Bluetooth, etc. You can also use the shortcut for quick link to profiles. (Free)

Thumb Keyboard  This keyboard app is the best in a strong class of keyboard apps. It provides several advanced customization options, a split display for thumb typing, 10 layouts to choose from, more than 25 themes & more. ($2.29)

EasyTether Pro  EasyTether Pro lets you tether your phones connection with PS3, Wii, XBox, Ubuntu, Mac & Windows PCs. ($9.99)

Dolphin Browser HD  Dolphin Browser HD is a great browser alternative to the stock Android browser. It uses gestures, webzine for fast page loading and there are a ton of add-ons you can grab to extend its’ functionality. (Free)

Best Music Apps

TuneIn Radio This app gives you instant access to more than 50K live radio stations. Find all the local stations based on your location, search for your favorites and save them to your presets. I use this app to catch all the local Chicago Bears stations, even though I’m in Florida. Works great! (Free)

Spotify With a premium ($9.99 per month) account, you have instant access to 15 million tracks on your Android. Spotify is everything I wanted Pandora to be and it’s the future of music. (Free)

MP3 Music Download Pro – V7 This app lets you load up your Android device with music by searching and downloading free music, lyrics and even album art. Once downloaded, you can play, delete and set as ringtone. (Free)

Best News Apps & Readers

Read It Later Free - Save any webpage or video on your phone to view later or offline. The reader automatically syncs your queue across all every platform to include Android, iPhone, iPad, Chrome and Firefox. (Free)

Pulse News- Pulse creates a mosaic view of all your favorite websites. Tap on an article and read it in the clean Pulse interface. You can save stories and read them from other platforms, sync with Instapaper, Read it Later and Evernote. Sharing is also simple with Facebook, Twitter and email buttons. (Free)

Best Games

Apparatus (Brain & Puzzle Game) This addictive game challenges you to setup mechanical structures to move marbles to the goal. ($2.45)

Blood & Glory (NR) (Arcade & Action) Blood & Glory is a game that puts you in the arena to battle and entertain blood-thirsty crowds in a fight to the death. This unrated version is full of blood and gore, which looks great in HD. The game uses a swipe and slash fighting style. (Free)

Assaulter (Arcade & Action) Assaulter is a arcade shooter game, with plenty of weapons, upgrades and levels. (Free)

What’s your favorites Android Apps of 2011?

1. Video Killed the Radio Star – The Buggles – The very first music video ever played on MTV. This song is one of the best songs of the 80′s. Who would have guessed that 30 years later, MTV Killed the Video Star.

2. You Better Run – Pat Benatar Sassy Pat Benatar lookin and sounding great!

3. She Won’t Dance With Me – Rod Stewart Rod Stewart rockin the mullet and dancing in front of the all-poked dotted room.

4. You Better You Bet – The Who Shot in black and white for artistic reasons. Not much more to say.

5. Little Suzi’s on the Up – Ph. D This guy scares me. He dances with meat then gets a rating from the judges. Not sure how that relates to Little Suzi.

6. We Don’t Talk Anymore – Cliff Richard (Live) Some funky, herky-jerky dancing.

7. Brass in Pocket – The Pretenders Not sure what’s stranger, the beehive hair due or when Fonzi and his crew points to the menu and says “Special”

8. Time Heals – Todd Rundgren Despite the funny black suit and the funky dance, this is a pretty creative video using surreal art and creative background images.

9. Take it on the Run – REO Speedwagon (Live Version) Heard it from a friend who, heard it from a friend who… Yep, that song. Not a bad tune, but check out the hair due.

10. Rockin the Paradise – Styx I couldn’t get past this guy’s tight red pants to take this video seriously. I think he was smuggling some berries.

11. When Things Go Wrong – Robin Lane and the Chartbusters – This video was pretty boring, but I love the name… The Chartbusters.

12. History Never Repeats – Split Enz – This crazy video consists this guy singing to himself on tv, mostly while in bed.  Looks like the guy from Can’t Buy Me Love.

13. Hold On Loosely – 38 Special Forgot all about 38 Special. Solid song that I think I’ve listened to on a few 8o’s soundtracks.

14. Just Between You and Me – April Wine (Live Version) I was expecting to see a female, when I saw the artist. Recognizable song though.

15. Sailing – Rod Stewart - A young Rod Stewart singing this soft love song. Uggh

16. Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden – One of the earliest hair metal bands.

17. Keep on Loving You – REO Speedwagon One of the most recognizable songs on the list. This is from their album, titled “You can Tune a Piano, but You Can’t Tune a Fish.” Hmmm

18. Bluer Than Blue – Michael Johnson This guy spends half the video laying on the couch.

19. Message of Love – The Pretenders (Live Version) This performance was on the 1981 show, The Fridays.

20. Mr. Briefcase – Lee Ritenour Trying to figure this video out was quite difficult. Still wondering why he was laying on the table with high heels.

21. Double Life – The Cars (Live Version) I’m always up for listening to The Cars, but this video is an 80′s video if I’ve ever seen one.

22. In the Air Tonight – Phil Collins – (Live Version) One of my favorite songs! This is live, but I had to post the video of this classic song.

23. Lookin for Clues – Robert Palmer Robert Palmer dances around looking for clues that aren’t too difficult to spot.

24. Too Late – Shoes (Live Video) What a creative name for a band. Guess The Cars and The Doors were taken.

25. Stop Draggin My Heart Around – Stevie Nix & Tom Petty A young Tom Petty singing with Stevie Nix in this masterpiece.

26. Do You Think I’m Sexy – Rod Stewart (Live Video) Sexy Rod Stewart rocks the makeup and blouse like no other in this video.

27. Surface Tension – Rupert Hine Perhaps the strangest video of the list. I dig the surreal art in the background though.

28. One Step Ahead – Split Enz I think they are trying to sound like the Beetles.

29. Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty Great song with some fancy saxaphone play.

30. I’m Gonna Follow You – Pat Benatar A pretty cool song by the great Pat Benatar.

Other notable song I had to mention:

47. Rapture – Blondie – I admittedly still have this song on my iPod. The dancing guy in the white suit and top hat is kinda funny.

I hope you enjoyed the listing of videos. Unfortunately you’ll have a tough time finding these videos on MTV. In fact, I was only able to find about half the videos on MTV.com and they seem to have difficulty keeping the videos online. Guess where you’ll find each one of these videos whether live or the official? Yep, YouTube. YouTube picked up the ball that MTV dropped.

Dipset attacks a rival gang in the crowd

Tool’s Maynard uses brazilian jui jitsu on a fan and doesn’t miss a beat

Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain gets in a fight with a fan

Henry Rollins unleashes a series of punches on an irritating fan

The Rolling Stone’s Keith Richards whacks a fan with his guitar

Pitbull clocks some guy in the face for making it rain

Greenday’s Billy Joe Armstrong jumps out at a fan

Akon throws a kid off stage

Today, I wanted to highlight one of my favorite music mashup albums I’ve heard in the last few years. About seven months ago, DJ Stroke released the album DJ Stroke Presents Rap Vs. Rock, which consist of 12 tracks of mashup art.

Whether you’re a fan of mashups or just want some new tunes, Rap vs. Rock is definitely worth a download. I’ve now listened to the album three times and am particularly fond of Fly Away Forever With Drake, Jordan And Wayne and Remember To Get Back From 10 Bull. To play and download the tracks, visit DJ Stroke Presents Rap Vs. Rock.

Let me know what you think of the album. Feel free to share your favorite tracks. I’m now a DJ Stroke fan and can’t wait to check out his new release Mixing Up A Baker’s Dozen.

Remote for iTunes ($4.99)

4.51 Stars, 1400 ratings, 10k to 50k downloads | Remote for iTunes is exactly as the name suggests. By using your Wifi, you can control your iTunes library from your playlists to individual artists. Additional features include adding tracks to DJ and the ability to rate music from your phone.

Easy Phone Tunes Plus ($3.14) or Easy Phone Tunes (for iTunes) (FREE)

4.60 Stars, 87 ratings, 1k to 5k downloads | Easy Phone Tunes Plus syncs your iTunes music, album art, podcasts and playlists with your Android. It’s compatible with both PC and Mac, but will not sync copy protected tracks and isn’t currently supported with Samsung devices.
iSyncr for PC ($2.99) or iSyncr for Mac ($2.99)

4.64 Stars, 5k ratings, 50k to 250k downloads | iSyncr for PC/Mac lets you sync your Android device with your iTunes playlists. It provides album art, the ability to rate and sync both the ratings and playcounts with iTunes and with the iSyncr Wifi Add-on (below), you’ll be able to sync your music via Wifi. In addition to the iTunes syncing, this app also lets you sync up your Amazon MP3s you purchased back on your iTunes library. As with most other apps, this device does not play songs with copy protection.

iSyncr Wifi Add-on ($0.99)

4.57 Stars, 600 ratings, 5k to 10k downloads | This app is an add-on for the iSyncr for PC/Mac and provides the added ability to sync your iTunes via Wifi, rather than the USB syncing. It also syncs your videos and photos on your Android to your computer. You can even set a time to sync automatically.

doubleTwist Player (FREE) doubleTwist AirSync ($4.99)

3.94 Stars, 1k ratings, 1ok to 50k downloads | doubleTwist AirSync syncs your iTunes music, videos and photos with your Android via Wifi. You can import and sync your music playlists, iTunes ratings and playcounts from both PC and Mac. You can automatically sync pics and videos on your phone back to your PC. This app also lets you import MP3 purchases and downloads from your phone to your PC or Mac.

Do you still use an iPod? Have you tried out any of these apps? Have you found any better than the ones mentioned? Let me know your thoughts or experiences with those mentioned.

Some of the music you’ll find in the sites below will blow you away. Check it out.

Deezer - Deezer provides instant access to 7 million tracks, with themed radio, artist news/albums/tracks, playlist sharing, personalization and the ability to watch videos and find new artists.

Grooveshark - Grooveshark lets you search, stream and upload music free. The recommendation system is cool, similar to Pandora, but with a smiley face or sadpanda rather than the thumbs up or thumbs down approach.

The Hype Machine – The Hype Machine is an MP3 Aggregator. It’s a “one stop shopping of postings from thousands of MP3 Blogs,” according to Wikipedia. It displays the latest songs from the top 25 blogs and consistently updates the entries and songs onto it’s site.

Jamendo - Jamendo is a community of free, legal and unlimited music published under Creative Commons licenses. Share your music, download your favorite artists!

Last.fm - Last.fm is an internet radio site that claims to have over 21 million users. They use a music recommendation system called an Audioscrobbler and build a detailed profile of each user’s taste, based on the songs you choose. They have social networking features and you can save playlists and share once you register.

Musicovery: Interactive WebRadio – Musicovery is interactive and customized so you can find music based on which type of mood you are in. According to Wikipedia, this is a good site to find rare and undiscovered music. The more you listen and rate songs, the more personalized it gets. You can just choose the genre of music, 80′s/90′s/etc. and mood. It will then show a graphical mapping display of the songs that will play.

Pandora - Just type in an artist or song you like and Pandora responds by playing similar music. You can give feedback by approving a thumbs up or down and Pandora takes it into account for future songs. You need to register to save your playlists that Pandora creates.

Pitchfork – Pitchfork is a really cool guide to independent music, news, music discovery, album reviews and so much more.

TheSixtyOne - This site gives new artists the ability to upload and share their work and let you decide if you like it. You then have the ability to purchase their albums and merchandise within the site. This site is great for new artists in that they receive atleast $7 per album, as opposed to record labels.

Songza: The Music Search Engine & Internet Jukebox - Songza is a big internet search engine that plays the songs and artists you type in by searching files on the net and playing them. It’s not an internet radio station, it specifically plays what you request. You can still rate songs, create playlists and share them.

Did I miss any of your favorite sites? Which sites do you use for discovering new music?

Best of Bootie 2010 is a compilation of the best music mashups of the year, compiled and mixed by one of the absolute best mashup DJs A Plus D. This years album contains 23 brilliant tracks, along with 10 bonus track. Start loading up your iPod.

To download, you can grab the continuous mix of 23 tracks and artwork in a zip file and get the other 10 bonus tracks in a zip file. Just right click and save. If you prefer to download the tracks individually, visit the Best of Bootie 2010 link and right click and download each of the 33 tracks individually.