Note: Descriptions [...]]]> Spending your hard earned cash on apps can get a little pricey, but you don’t have to pay. Not only is the Android Market packed full of free high quality apps, but sometimes developers slash the price to make their app free. Below is a quick list of apps you can now snag for free.

Note: Descriptions and information provided by AppBrain.com.

ADW pink theme ($0.99 to Free)

Pink Glowing dockbar/searchbar and icon pack. Very pretty and very girly looking theme. 2 different dockbar colors! Landscape is purple. Includes 7 Beautiful wallpapers that enhance the beauty of the colors in this theme.

Android Vision TV Pro ($4.99 to Free)

Watch your favorite TV Series straight from you android device! Always up to date with the most popular shows. We accept requests to add the shows that you like. Soon will accept all android devices! Soon will allow users to use HDMI Out to view on television!!! Yearly fee $4.99.

Doublemill (Free)

The famous Nine Men’s Morris game in the palm of your hand. The game features local player vs player, player against AI and and even an online gaming mode! Play with people from all around the world to score more points or simply enjoy a round of Nine Men’s Morris, Morris, Mill, Mills, Merels, Merelles or Merrills.

Tesla Plushies ($1.11 to Free)

Help the plushies to the goal by guiding them with your finger. Tap on any wall to attract nearby plushies, while avoiding dark flickering haze. This version features 34 levels divided into three difficulties; easy, medium and hard. Also featured is 7 tutorial-levels on how to play the game.

ZombieBooth ($1.40 to Free)

ZombieBooth transforms you and your friends into horrific 3D zombies that moan and groan looking for human flesh. From a single portrait photo, you can instantly create an interactive zombie that will react to your tapping and swiping gestures – it might even try to bite off your finger! You can also shake the phone to transform into different zombies.

My favorite from the list is ZombieBooth. Have you tried any of the apps above? Do you typically pay for your Android apps? Let me know what you think.

Note:  There are several different devices and applications to use, but I chose to share [...]]]> Earlier this month, I made the decision to cut my cable. I now save approximately $123 per month by dropkicking my Direct TV out the door in exchange for Roku, my computer and an Internet connection.

Note:  There are several different devices and applications to use, but I chose to share the ones that have worked the best for me. Just last month, I had a DirecTv Bill that cost me $140 per month and another $60 for cable internet. $200 a month is a ridiculous bill to have with all the free alternatives available. I kept my cable internet and now only pay $17 per month for movies and tv shows using the options below.

Devices To Hookup To Your Television

Though I have both a Roku and Apple TV, there is no way I would have cut my cable without Roku. This device requires a high speed wireless connection. It connects directly to your television and streams content to your television from countless channels that include Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon On Demand, Pandora, Flickr and more. While you won’t find YouTube in the channel lineup for the Roku player, you can manually add this awesome channel using these simple setup steps. You could get by with the Roku alone, but let me show you some more options.

I keep my laptop connected to my television using a HDMI cable. You would be amazed to see how many of your favorite shows are available for free online. I am a big Survivor fan and can simply go to CBS.com the day after Survivor airs to stream the newest episode. With my computer connected to my television, it’s just like watching it on TV.

Roku cost me $100 to purchase and there is no monthly or additional fees. Some of the channels available requires a pay subscription to use. I pay $9 per month to stream movies from Netflix and $8 each month to stream television shows. If I can’t find content on either of these channels, my next option is to see if it’s online.

You can turn your computer into a media server by downloading some pretty awesome free applications such as Windows Media Center or XBMC. Windows Media Center has an Internet TV window channel does the work for you by finding great shows from online sources.

If it’s not online and it’s a show or movie I really want to see, I can pay to rent it from the Amazon On Demand channel. An episode typically cost $1.99.

Want to still get free local channels? By using the AntennaWeb tool, you can see what the ideal Antenna would be for you to purchase. Based on my area, once I have my Antenna set up, I should get more than 20 channels (including HD) free. My Antenna cost $35 from Amazon.

Want to Stream More Free Movies And Television?

While I could provide an exhaustive listing of free movie and tv sites, I’m going to instead point you to an amazing resource. OVGuide shows you all the best free movie sites and by using the useful search button, you can find movies and television shows you want to watch.

A Last Resort

If you decide you just can’t cut the cord on your cable or satellite, at least take some time and search online for better deals than you’ll get through Best Buy or over the phone. Many third party service providers like TvByDirect.com offer local specials that include free channels. While not as cost effective as going full-streaming, you can definitely cut a large portion of your bill.

*Updated: August 2011 update! Now includes more than 35 [...]]]> I’m fascinated with the true depth in applications and quite intrigued with both Android devices and the amazing, open Android Market. With the popularity of this post, originally published in January, I thought I’d give it yet another update for Aug 2011.

*Updated: August 2011 update! Now includes more than 35 streaming video apps, with updated ratings, direct links and descriptions from AppBrain. To learn more about AppBrain, take a look at the AppBrain review.

Essential Apps

Netflix – 4.3 stars, 61K ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Just download this free app and you can instantly watch TV shows & movies streaming from Netflix.”

Hulu Plus – 3.6 stars, 1K ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Stream thousands of episodes from hundreds of current and classic TV shows and movies to your Android device, computer, TV, and other devices with a Hulu Plus subscription. Download the app now to sample content from our Free Gallery. Subscribe to Hulu Plus for $7.99 a month at http://www.hulu.com/plus”

Crackle – Movies & TV - 3.5 stars, 6K ratings, 250k downloads

(FREE) “Watch FREE movies on your Android phone. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. MEN IN BLACK. BAD BOYS. GRIDIRON GANG. GLORY. THE PATRIOT. JERRY MAGUIRE and hundreds more: full-length, uncut and FREE. Plus, top rated TV series like SEINFELD.”

jetflicks! TV - 4.5 stars, 250 ratings, 10k – 50k downloads

(FREE) “Jetflicks is the most reliable mobile HD Video On-Demand service available to stream all your favorite TV shows over 3G, 4G, or WiFi internet connection directly to ANY smartphone…. $9.99 monthly, $19.99 tri-monthly, $29.99 semi-annually, $49.99 annually.”

vee – 4.4 stars, 75 ratings, 5k to 10k downloads

(FREE) “Watch live broadcast on your handset 24/7 for free.”

FOX News - 3.8 stars, 13k ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Introducing the first and only news application for Android from the #1 name in news, the FOX News Channel. With the FOX News Android App – receive FOX News Alerts, read headline news stories, stream the latest video clips, listen to FOX News Radio, and browse through photo galleries, all for FREE!”

How To Videos from Howcast.com – 4 stars, 2k ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Howcast for Android shows you fun, useful how-to videos wherever you are — when you’re out and about or just too lazy to get to your computer.”

NFL Sunday Ticket – 3.7 stars, 2k ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Watch Live streams of every NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ game & Red Zone Channel(Requires NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go subscription)”

TV.com – 3.8 stars, 35k ratings, >250K downloads

(FREE) “TV.com brings personal TV to your phone on WiFi and cellular networks. Access the videos you want anywhere you go including full episodes…and it’s free! Get video from CBS, The CW, CNET, ET, Showtime, CBS News, CBS Sports and much more! Watch your favorite shows anywhere, anytime on TV.com. No subscription fees apply.”

NASA App – 4.3 stars, 2300 ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Come explore with NASA and discover a huge collection of stunning images, videos, mission information, news, NASA TV and featured content with the new NASA App for Android.”

VEVO – 4.1 stars, 23k ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Discover, watch & share your favorite music videos wherever you want, whenever you want. Use voice-activated search to find your favorite artist or song, be the first to see exclusive new video premieres and watch live streaming concerts.”
Features:

DoggCatcher - 4.5 stars, 4500 ratings, 10k to 50k downloads

($6.99) “Manage your podcasts and RSS/news feeds with the most highly rated Podcatcher in the Market. Podcast – Audio and Video.”

Giant Bomb Beta (FREE) 4.6 stars, 700 ratings, 10k – 50k downloads

(FREE) “Get the latest video game reviews, info, videos and more from GiantBomb!”

Notable Apps

Arabic Cartoons - 4.5 stars, 1K ratings, 50k to 250k downloads

(FREE) “Watch Captain Majed, Nimer moqana3, Sasuki and more of popular Arabic-dubbed anime!”

UStream Broadcaster - 3.9 stars, 4600 ratings, 250k downloads

(FREE) “The Ustream Broadcaster for Android allows users to stream live mobile video to Ustream from their devices via 3G or WiFi or record high-quality videos offline and upload to Ustream later.”

EZ Stream TV for Android - 3.9 stars, 190 ratings, 1k to 5k downloads

($7.50) “EZ Stream has a stored database of all the major TV Series, from all time, a total of 2,340 titles are available.”

ImgoTV – 4.1 stars, 900 ratings, 50k to 250k downloads

(FREE) “ImgoTV is an online-videos and network-on-demand platform that offers commercial-supported streaming video of TV shows and movies from GBS and many other networks and studios. We provide best Internet, Mobile 3G, IPTV service, contains NEWS, TV Play, Movie, Music video and TV Show.”

SPB TV 2 – 3.8 stars, 9900 ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Use SPB TV to watch live and video-on-demand TV channels on your device. You can use a 3G or Wi-Fi connection. More than 150+ channels from 20+ countries. No subscription fee! ”

CNLive – 3.9 stars, 5k ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Dopool TV is an app which provides hundreds of live video and audio programs, for enjoying and sharing. All the satellite channels, local programs including news, sports, films, entertainment, documentation, education, and food can be watched on Dopool TV. ”

Online Sports – 4.4 stars, 220 ratings, 10k to 50k downloads

(FREE) “Watch online matches from livetv.ru and rojadirecta.es on your mobile. Online Sports shows you the matches listed on the web pages. Will find you the ones you could see (wont appear P2P links nor Bwin links, for example). Also shows you, if avalible, the language of the broadcast, the quality, and will open it in fullscreen directly.”

QVC – 3.6 stars, 1700 ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Take the Q with you – fashion, beauty, jewelry, electronics, and more! Speed Buy® in stock & Wait listed items, Today’s Special Value®, One Time Only Values, Item On Air, Items Recently On Air, Full 16:9 HD live stream, Customer ratings & reviews, Search by category, Create an account and Order status.”

Rev3Remote - 4.5 stars, 340 ratings, 10k to 50k downloads

(FREE) “Helps you keep track of all your favorite shows on the Revision3 network. Find all the latest show updates, keep track of your favorites, and enjoy streaming video with saved progress!”

TED Mobile 4.1 stars, 2400 ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “TED Mobile allows you to watch the latest TED videos based on Themes, Talks and Tags.”

WEEI Live – 4 stars, 450 ratings, 10k to 50k downloads

(FREE) “The WEEI Live Android app is now available. Features Live Streaming, Audio & Video on Demand, Breaking News, Live Scores, Columns & Blogs.”

FUEL TV – 3.2 stars, 600 ratings, 50k to 250k downloads

(FREE) “FUEL TV is the only sports and entertainment television network inspired by a new generation of adrenaline and thrill-seeking sports where the consequences of failure are real and risk is the only rule. The FUEL TV app brings it all to your mobile: 9 video channels, live event streaming, news, TV show info, PhotoBlog, Ringtones/Wallpapers & more.”

KidsTv - 3.4 stars, 570 ratings, 50k to 250k downloads

(FREE) “Kids Tv – Kids Videos made simple. Simple way to watch Kids Videos. Watch continuous stream of kids favourite shows like Barney, Dora, Rhymes, cartoons and lots more. Kid friendly – Easy to use by kids and Fun to watch. Lets your kid learn and play.”

Stream Media Player – 3.5 stars, 1400 ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Stream Media Player is an application that provides the ability to play video from web cameras, watch Internet TV, and play locally stored files.”

theChanner – TV goes social – 3.4 stars, 830 ratings, 50k to 250k downloads

(FREE) “Love TV? theChanner is the way to enjoy live Internet TV and take part in it. Discover your next favorite song watching NRJ Hits and tweet it! Watch and compare news from a different perspective with Press TV and France 24, and share your opinion on Facebook. Give your say to a broadcaster, tag a channel, and write a better profile to help the community identify each channel. Or, just follow your financial news with Bloomberg or enjoy watching TV Scuba and Massive Mag Xtreme Sports. TV goes social and theChanner is a mobile Internet TV tuner where you influence the television for the future.”

Other Apps Worth Checking Out

Buzey Tunes – 4 stars, 80 ratings, 10k to 50k downloads

(FREE) “Free music videos (over 20,000 of them), radio stations and mp3s streaming to your phone. (Requires the Adobe Air Runtime).”

WatchESPN - 2.6 stars, 2400 ratings, >250k downloads

(FREE) “Stay connected to live sports and shows from ESPN – wherever and whenever you want them. Download the FREE WatchESPN app to your Android device and get 24/7 access to live streaming feeds from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU.”

FilmOn - 3.2 stars, 15 ratings, 1k to 5k downloads

(FREE) “Watch Free live TV in HD on demand, with the convenience of an app. The ultimate virtual TV experience. Select from thousands of movies, linear channels and live user generated broadcast. If you can mix Live TV, Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Ustream and JustinTV in one, you get FilmOn.”

Youtube Stream - 3.6 stars, 700 ratings, 50k to 250k downloads

(FREE) “Search & play Youtube videos continuously. Offline playing from cache.”

Crystal TV - 3.3 stars, 3200 ratings, 50k to 250k downloads

(FREE) “Crystal TV is television box in your pocket. Powered by Crystal adaptive bitrate switching technology it presents TV channels with crystal clear picture. NOTE: Only Russian channels.”

Gizmo - 4.5 stars, 190 ratings, 10k to 50k downloads

(FREE) “Stream music, video, and photos from J. River Media Center to your Android. Or control playback of MC library on your TV. DLNA Controller plays to any DLNA device. JRMC required on server ($49.98).”

SC2Casts - 4.6 stars, 430 ratings, 10k to 50k downloads

(FREE) “You know Starcraft 2 right? But did you know it’s an actual professional sport, where pro players are battling each other in big tournaments for huge amounts of money and fame? It’s also quite spectacular to watch. It’s actually sometimes televised, and there are real TV channels out there, dedicated to broadcasting Starcraft 2 events.”

Universal Manga - 4 stars, 210 ratings, 10k to 50k downloads

(FREE) “Fan of Naruto, Bleach and One Piece? Latest episode video streaming(HD), last scan, now in English, good connections to the network is recommended. For One Piece: touch screen and slide it upwards. To change the page pressing left and right sides of the screen.”

Looking for Apps in the Android Market can be a bit overwhelming since the pool of Apps is growing exponentially. This gives me a very good excuse to continue to cover all the best Android Apps. Expect to see quite a few Android related posts in the near future. What’s your favorite App? Did I miss any that deserve a mention?

The Community, [...]]]> Being a fan of free stuff, I wanted to search through iTunes and pull the very best free television shows available for download through iTunes. The episodes below will give you almost 4 hours of free entertainment to watch on your computer or load up your iPod.

The Community, Season 1: Pilot – 25:25 – Smart comedy series about a band of misfits who attend Greendale Community College. Starring Joel McHale and Chevy Chase.

Parks & Recreations, Season 2: Pawnee Zoo – 21:34 – Amy Poehler stars as Leslie Knope, a mid-level bereaucrat in the Parks and Recreations Department of Pawnee, Indiana. She attempts to beautify her town and further her career taking on neighbors, politians and anyone else in her way.

The Good Wife, Season 1: Pilot - 46:45 – Julianna Margulies stars as a wife and mother who boldly assumes full responsibility for her family and re-enters the workforce after her husbands public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 5: Film Students Interview Rob McElhenney – 25:41 – Sunny is a crude, outlandish, controversial  and downright hilarious comedy that centers around self-centered owners of Paddy’s Pub in Philadelphia.

Mercy, Season 1: Can We Get that Drink Now? – 49:16 – Mercy is a hospital series seen through the eyes of it’s nurses. Veronica Callahan is a nurse who just returned from a tour in Iraq and is more experienced of all residents combined. Together they face daily traumas.

Accidentally On Purpose, Season 1: Billie Has a Fling With a Young Guy – 22:07 – Comedy starring Jenna Elfman, a single woman who accidentally finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand with a younger guy. She decides to keep the baby and the guy.

NCIS: Los Angeles, Season 1: Identity – 42:51 – Drama about the high-stakes world of the Office of Special Projects (OSP), a division of NCIS that is charged with apprehending dangerous criminals.