1. 7 Little Words

This little app has got me losing sleep and seeing word combos everywhere! (Similar to when you play Tetris for too long, you start seeing Tetris shapes in your head. ) I’ve gotten a bunch of my friends hooked on it too, including J, who usually hates word games.

I’m going to let the following screenshots do the explaining for you:

I highly, highly recommend this game for all my readers…even if you normally don’t like word games!

Get the Android version here.

Get the iOS version here.

2. Divergent

Last month, I fell on The Hunger Games bandwagon…and I fell hard. So much so that when I finished the trilogy — literally within days — I began to exhibit symptoms of withdrawal. So when I posted on my Facebook page, asking for books that are similar to The Hunger Games, I received a bunch of great suggestions.

The best so far — and the book I am currently reading — is Divergent by Veronica Roth. I’m only a few chapters in, but I already love it for its fast-paced, action-packed storyline that draws the reader right into Roth’s dystopian Chicago.

I will be out of new books to read after I am done with Divergent — does anyone have any other suggestions for fast-paced, adventure books?

3. Up All Night

I just caught this new NBC series on Hulu and I couldn’t help but fall in love. And I won’t lie — there were moments when I couldn’t help but think to myself, ‘Ohmigawd…THIS is my life!’

I knew that the show couldn’t be horrible by just looking at the cast (I *heart* Will Arnett…I want to be his and Amy Poehler’s child!), and I am guessing that it will get better and better as the season progresses.

Maybe then might I finally forgive NBC for canceling Outsourced.

Androidify is a free app in the Android Market which allows you to craft your own version of the Android robot. Yes, it is yet another “create your own avatar” application, but it’s pretty amusing for Android fans such as myself.

There is even an option to add a baby Android robot —

Here is my own Androidified self, complete with a steaming cup of coffee and a book. And I just couldn’t resist the shirt with the Korean flag on it.

Watch the video below to learn more about Androidify. Have fun Android-ifying yourself!

Via Engadget.

Ever since I got my first Android phone I had been wondering if there is a way (outside of hacking the phone) for me to customize the color of the blinking LED notification light depending on the type of notification.

Well, as they say, there’s an app for that. Blink, released last week, allows you to customize the LED — from a choice of twelve colors — for SMS/MMS, Incoming Call/Missed Call, and Low Battery/Memory. What’s more, you can also customize the frequency of the flashing light.

The only thing missing is that you can’t customize the LED settings for email. However, the team behind this awesome app assures us that the option will be available in a future update.

Blink is a FREE app that is publicly available on the Android Market. If you are reading this post from your Android device, you can use this direct download link: http://downloadandroid.info/download/Blink.apk

Or you can be cool and use this QR code:

Now excuse me while I change my text notification light to a pretty purple.

P.S. — Thanks to my geeky husband for giving me the heads-up on this app!

Remember when I wrote about Swype? Since downloading what has been called “the fastest keyboard for mobile phones” my mobile life has unquestionably changed for the better. And I wasn’t the only one; I have since received many comments, emails, and tweets thanking me for writing about Swype.

So imagine my surprise to learn that there are some people who hate Swype’s gliding input system. One prime example resides right in my household. That’s right. My own husband — *gasp* — hates Swype.

Now there may be an alternative for people like J. Introducing SwiftKey, which is being touted as one of the best predictive text input methods out on the mobile market. SwiftKey has an uncanny ability to guess what your next word will be, and delves into your SMS history (if allowed) in order to “learn” how you converse.

Since SwiftKey, like Swype, is still in its beta phase, the keyboard is available for FREE to Android users running all the main releases of Android — 1.5 (Cupcake), 1.6 (Donut), 2.01 (Eclair), 2.1 (Eclair) and 2.2 (Froyo).

You can find it by searching for “SwiftKey” in the Android Market, or, if you’re reading this post from your phone, just click on this download link.

Still not convinced? Take a look at SwiftKey in action:

Via Engadget.

This morning, Google announced the App Inventor, a new tool in Google Labs that lets anyone create an app for Android phones.

While Google has been testing App Inventor in classrooms for a year, it is now available for the public via an online form.

I personally think that this is a very smart concept. Not only will we see a vast array of specialized apps built by non-developers (and sometimes, a non-techie has better perspective on what what kinds of apps might be useful), but it also has the potential for the general population, especially children, to become more interested in programming and become creators of mobile technology as opposed to just a consumer. In addition, this free and easy method will encourage small websites and business owners to create mobile apps and remain competitive in their markets.

At the same time, I can definitely see a downside — mainly, that the quality of apps in the Android Market will start to suffer. Furthermore, the App Inventor seems very basic. Many of the best and most popular mobile apps require much more complex functions than those currently offered by the App Inventor.

All this being said, you can’t help but admit that this is a great move by Google on behalf of its mobile market share.

Via The Official Google Blog.