The Daily App Deals post is a round-up of the best app discounts of the day, as well as some notable mentions for ones that are on sale.
SoundHound 8 (Android Market) Previously $4.99, now 10¢ . SoundHound 8 for Android identifies songs for you instantly, whether you are listening to them through speakers, singing them yourself, or even humming a tune. You can also get song lyrics and song previews as each tune plays. Get it for 10¢.
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The Android Market web interface just got an update that brings extra filtering powers to the user reviews section, letting you filter by the device of the reviewer, the star rating they gave, and the version of the app they used.
User reviews can be extremely helpful in deciding whether to download an app, but when half of them say the app is awesome and half are having trouble, sometimes it would be nice to filter some reviews out to get more detail about who's having problems. Now, the Android Market lets you do just that. Say you have an HTC Thunderbolt (also known as the HTC Mecha, as shown above), and an app isn't working on your device—you can filter the reviews and view only those written by Thunderbolt users (or Thunderbolt users who gave the app one star) and see if others are having problems too. Right now it only lets you filter by devices you own, which is kind of strange and annoying, but isn't likely to be a problem for most people. Hit the link below to read more, or head over to the Market to check it out for yourself.
Kick-Ass! Web Android Market Now Allows App User Review Filtering By Device Model, Latest Version, And Specific Star Rating | Android PoliceRelated Stories
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Google just unveiled their new Nexus phone, the Galaxy Nexus, along with a preview of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, coming to phones next year. Here's a look at the creamy new update to the Android operating system.
Most of what's gone into Ice Cream Sandwich is polish, making Android slicker, easier to use, and (finally) more consistent across the board. It's mostly filled with small improvements and tweaks that Google rattled off pretty quickly, so we've listed our favorites here in bulleted form. This isn't a comprehensive list; this is just what Google demoed at today's event—so there's probably even more to come.
Google's made a lot of improvements in the way Android looks and feels, from the home screen to the notification drawer to the keyboard, including:
A new stylish lock screen, complete with facial recognition features that let you unlock your phone with a front-facing camera, as well as the ability to launch right into the camera with one gestureA bigger emphasis on consistency with the way gestures work. For example, in the app drawer, you now swipe left to right to see other pages of apps, more like the home screens.Widgets are now stored on another tab in the app drawer, making them easier to add to your home screen. They're also resizable.Folders are now easier to create and use. Just drag one app on top of another, iOS-style to create a folder. You can rearrange them in the folder the same way, and it's all very fluid.Ice Cream Sandwich's dock is customizable, and you can even put folders into it for quick access to apps and contacts.Screenshot taking is now built-in. You can snap one by pressing Volume down + Power. Finally.
Notifications (pictured) are prettier and a tad more useful, showing small contact pictures next to notifications pertaining to email, SMS messages, and so on.You can swipe from left to right to clear single notifications from the drawer, so your notifications aren't so cluttered. CyanogenMod users will be quite familiar with this feature.You can open the notification drawer from the lock screen, without unlocking your phone. This is actually very convenient.The new keyboard has better targeting, a simpler recommendations bar, and inline spell checking. Copy and paste has also been improved, and you can even select text and just drag it around within your message fluidly.Speech-to-text now decodes your phrases in real time. When you say a word, you see that word show up in the window, before you move on to the next one—you no longer have to finish an entire sentence before seeing it show up in the text window.A new default typeface, humorously labeled "Roboto" (but that actually looks pretty good)Ice Cream Sandwich also sets the stage for button-less phones, à la the Honeycomb tablets. The Galaxy Nexus has no buttons on the front; it's all built-in to the OS. It also raises icon resolution, among other things, so it'll look good on higher-res phones—again, like the 4.65 inch, 1280x720 screen on the Galaxy Nexus.
The browser has a few nice features, but the biggest is certainly bookmark syncing with Chrome. Now, Android's browser will automatically use your Google account to sync all Chrome bookmarks to your phone. It also has a feature that'll take you from a web site's mobile page to the desktop page in one tap, which is really great. Tab management is similar to the old browser, but you can now "flick" tabs away to close them, which looks almost WebOS-like. And, lastly, it has a new "save for offline" feature for those articles you want to save for later. It won't tear out the article and make it more "readable", like Read It Later does, but rather save the entire page in its current state for offline viewing.
Gmail's entire interface has been revamped, featuring a very large, easy-to-read inbox with 2-line previews so you can more easily view your messages without even opening them. The action bar at the bottom has also improved, with simple buttons for creating a new message, viewing your labels, searching your inbox, and more. And, speaking of inbox search, Gmail now downloads the last 30 days worth of messages for searching, a value that you can change as much as you want in the settings. Lastly, when you're viewing a message, you can quickly transition to the next message with a swipe gesture—going back to their whole point of "making gestures consistent across the OS". It's a nice touch.
The new calendar app is also nice, mostly in the realm of touch gestures. Like Gmail, you can swipe from side to side to move from day to day, and you can even pinch to zoom in on a specific block of the day. The whole thing is very smooth and fluid, moving as your fingers pinch to the exact block you specify.
You can now track your data usage from Android's settings, and it looks really slick. Not only do you have the typical "this is how much data you've used this month" chart, as well as app-by-app usage to see which apps are the worst offenders, but you can pinpoint any block of time on the graph and see data usage for just that timeframe. For example, if there's a huge jump in data usage over a two-day period of time, you can "zoom in" on those two days and see which apps were using the most data during just those two days. It's a really effective way of tracking your usage. You can also add warnings for when you reach a certain threshhold, or even cut off data usage entirely when you go over a certain level—ensuring that you never go over your data cap without your say so.
The new camera app is designed to be fast and easy to use—they've minimized shutter lag, meaning the camera opens quickly and takes pictures instantly, without any loading time between shots. It's difficult to tell how well this will work on non-Galaxy Nexus phones, but the demo on the Galaxy Nexus looked fantastic. You can also access the camera right from the lock screen, making taking those spur-of-the-moment pictures near instantaneous.
The camera also has a built-in panorama mode, in which you just scan the camera from left to right to take a panorama shot—none of this taking-multiple-images-that-sort-of-fit-together business. It'll automatically stitch them together for you. Video recording has also improved, with continuous focus, zoom-while-recording, and time lapse features, not to mention the ability to take snapshots while you're recording video.
As far as the Gallery goes, you get this great "magazine-style" view with large thumbnails for your albums. You can browse your library by album, by location, or even by the people you tag in your photos. It also includes a simple photo editor, letting you remove red eye, crop, tilt, and even add Instagram-like filters to your photos.
The new contacts app—dubbed "People"—also brings this "magazine style", large-thumnailed view to Android. It almost looks Metro-like even, with the solid colors and giant tiles. Even clicking a contact card in another app will bring up their quick contact card with a giant picture of their face, which is pretty good looking. And, when someone calls you, you'll see a full screen image of their face, not this tiny-low-res-thumbnail crap that's been in Android for so long. Google Voice messages seem to show up directly in the people app, hinting that Google Voice integration might be much tighter in Ice Cream Sandwich.
One of the cooler new "people" features is the ability to send canned text messages when someone calls you. If someone calls you and you're busy, you can just send them a text message that says "I'm busy, call you later" (or whatever you want) with a simple swipe gesture. There are currently apps that'll do this for you, but it's really nice to have it built in.
Last, but not least, is Android Beam, a new "Bump"-like feature built into Android. If your phone has near-field communication (NFC) capabilities, like the Galaxy Nexus, you can just touch two phones together to send data instantly. You can send articles, maps, or even Market links from one phone to another just by opening it up on one phone and touching the two together, back-to-back. It's one of those features that's very cool, but not so practical yet—especially since not a lot of phones have NFC built-in.
That's probably not everything you'll see in Ice Cream Sandwich, but it's a hell of a good start to a seriously polished iteration of Android. It may not have the most new features, but what it lacks in new, snazzy features it more than makes up for in ease of use and fluidity—I have a feeling this will reinvigorate my love for Android. We'll post the video of the presentation as soon as Google does, but for now, discuss your favorite new features (or the things you wished you'd see) in the comments.
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Android has some great advanced features, but if you prefer the simple, beautiful home screen look of iOS, Espier Launcher gives you the best of both worlds by recreating the iOS experience on your Android device—without Apple and their walled garden.
Espier is actually a very solid launcher for Android. It's smooth, has lots of nice features, and does a remarkable job of looking exactly like iOS. You don't have an app drawer, which may be annoying for some, but you get iOS-style icons in a 4x4 grid with a dock at the bottom. If you swipe up on the home screen, you get an iOS-style fast app switcher, where you can close running apps and, if you swipe to the left, even change brightness, Wi-Fi, volume, and other quick settings. Even the folders work exactly like they do in iOS: just drag one icon onto another to create a folder, and when you tap on it, it'll pop up in true iOS style. It also has a search function in the same place you'd find Spotlight on iOS, though it didn't work quite as well as we'd have liked, putting apps all the way down at the bottom and filling the results with unimportant things (like tracks on Last.fm, if you have it installed).
Overall, though, if you like the freedom that Android gives you but prefer iOS' somewhat more polished interface, you won't be disappointed by this launcher. I'm pretty stunned at how well it imitates iOS, where many other theme packs and similar apps fail. Although, if you're looking for a slightly more Android-like experience with iOS-like looks, you can't go wrong with the previously mentioned MIUI ROM, either.
Espier Launcher is a free download for Android 1.5 and up.
Espier Launcher | Android Market via AddictiveTipsYou can contact Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page. 3 
Android/iOS/Blackberry: Private location sharing app Moby has been available for Blackberry and iOS for some time, but an Android version was released today.
Moby is a private system, so you only reveal your location to people you trust. It's a simple setup that's easy to turn on and off, and now that it's cross-platform, your friends and loved ones don't need to have the same type of phone for it to be usable. Unlike similar apps, Moby is billed more as a safety app than a social one, so many of the features are geared toward families.
Moby | Android MarketRelated Stories 2 
The Daily App Deals post is a round-up of the best app discounts of the day, as well as some notable mentions for ones that are on sale.
Read It Later Pro (Amazon Appstore) Read It Later Pro is a billed as a "DVR for the web," and it allows you to save content you find on the web to read later (even offline). You can save articles from any computer or device and Read It Later will make them all available on your Android device where you can organize and share the content right from the app. Read It Later Pro, usually $4, is free for today in the Amazon Appstore. (via LogicBuy)
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Android: There are a lot of apps out there that can send text messages using your voice, including Google's own in-built Voice Actions. However, not many read your incoming messages out loud when they arrive. That's where Sonalight's new app, Text By Voice, comes in.
Once the app is running, Text by Voice is completely hands-free. It's similar to Vlingo in that it listens for a specific trigger phrase, and when you speak it the app jumps into action, acknowledges that you spoke to it, and waits for a command. Tell the app who you want to send a message to and what that message should say, and the app will send it. When you get a response, the app will alert you to the incoming message and speak it aloud as well, giving you the opportunity to reply right away or wait.
Text by Voice stands out because it makes the entire process of sending and receiving texts completely hands-free, which is perfect if you're driving and want to tell someone where you are or how long it'll be until you arrive without touching the phone. Even Google's own Voice Actions require that you tap the screen or long-press the search button to send a message, and it won't read your incoming messages to you. Some Bluetooth headsets include an app that will read incoming messages aloud, but you still have to tap the headset to respond.
Text by Voice is a solid addition to Google's own Voice Actions, but you have to have it running for the app to help you, so remember to start it every time you get in the car. For more voice-activated and hands-free Android utilities, check out our list of Siri-like apps for Android. Do you have a preferred app that will send and receive text messages aloud? Let us know in the comments below.
Sonalight Text by VoiceYou can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+. Related Stories 4 
Android (Rooted:) If you use ROM Manager to do full-device backups of your Android phone like we explained, there may be times when you need to dig into one of those old backups to find something you deleted. With AppExtractor, you can selectively pull apps, data, SMS and MMS messages, and other files from your ROM Manager backups.
It requires your phone be rooted to use, and it only currently works with ROM Manager backups, but if you meet both requirements, you can use this new app to dig into your old backups to find apps you may have uninstalled that are no longer available, or to pull messages from old friends that you may have lost. The app is free in the Android Market, but the free version only allows you to restore MMS and SMS messages. You'll have to pay $1.99 for the unlock key to get the app's full functionality.
If you're looking for ways to back up your device without doing whole-ROM backups, check out our guide to using Titanium Backup to set up an automated, foolproof backup process for your Android device. Titanium Backups are also a bit easier to selectively restore from as well. Still, ROM Manager can be great if you're flashing a new ROM and forgot to restore something from your backup, or if you get a replacement phone of the same make and model and use ROM Manager to move all of your data.
Thanks to Andy, the app's developer, for sending in the tip!
AppExtractor | Android App Market via Handy Andy AppsYou can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+. Related Stories 19 
Android users with front-facing cameras looking to make video calls from their phones have a lot of great options, but we found that Skype is the most mature and feature-rich video chat application for the job.
Skype's biggest strength is the wide breadth of its audience. There are Skype users who use their Android phones, Android tablets, iPhones, iPads, desktops, laptops, even their televisions to communicate, and with Skype for Android you can videochat with all of them. Skype may have its faults (and we'll get to some of them in a moment) but after all, the best video chat application is the one you can actually use, and it's a pretty fair bet that your friends and family have either heard of Skype or have Skype accounts already.
The Skype mobile app is incredibly easy to use, and comes pre-installed on many phones (which is both a pro and a con.) Video call quality was good in our tests even over 3G, although it was clearly better over Wi-Fi and 4G when it was available. It doesn't hurt to also be able to voice call or IM with other Skype users through the app as well.
Skype's biggest problem is that its support is a bit spotty on some Android devices. It only supports Android 2.1 or higher, and only devices using Android 2.3 or higher even support apps that request permissions to access their front-facing cameras. Video quality can be a bit spotty as well, especially over 3G in places where signal strength is weak. You can toggle quality manually, but it would be nice if the app would adjust based on available bandwidth.
Fring (Free) is easily Skype's biggest competition, and rightfully so: it does beat Skype at a few things: it supports group video chat, and the developers want to eventually make the utility a universal video chat client that supports multiple application protocols. Still, even though it supports video chat, its user community just isn't as broad as Skype's, and you're limited to mobile to mobile video calls, although you can call Fring users on iOS from Android. Fring supports more devices, bumping down the OS requirement to 1.6, instead of 2.1, and video call quality with Fring was solid, even over 3G. Audio quality was a little spotty though.
Tango (Free) is a rising star in Android video chatting, and supports video calls to other Tango users on Android, iOS, and even users who have Tango installed on their Windows desktops. Tango lets you place regular voice calls and switch to video calls when you want to share something. Unfortunately, even though Tango is growing, it's audience is still relatively small, and you can only call other Tango members. Video call quality was good, albeit a bit stuttery, but it's a great and growing alternative to Skype for mobile to desktop video calls. When it grows a bit and supports Mac OS, we'll give it another look.
Qik (Free) is another alternative, and while its focus isn't on video calling, it does video chat with other Qik users on iOS and Android just fine over 3G and Wi-Fi. The app works well, and allows you to place video calls to Qik users on select iOS devices as well as Android ones.
Google+ (Free) The competition wouldn't be complete without mentioning Google+. The Google+ app for Android allows you to join hangouts using either your front-facing or rear camera, but like its iOS counterpart, you're unable to start a hangout from your mobile device—a missing feature we expect Android to correct very soon. The app does let you video chat though, and depending on how Google+ evolves, Google+ on Android and hangouts could be big—assuming Google puts some feature into the app that let you know the app even supports hangouts. Right now you wouldn't know you could join one unless you saw one in progress and tried it.
Google Talk has the benefit of being pre-installed on every Android device, and supports video chat on most Android devices as well. It has a huge audience by nature that every Gmail user and every Android user automatically has an account and signs in when they use a Google service, so it would be a natural competitor for the top spot, right? Here's the problem: in our tests, Google Talk video quality was horrible, suffering from stuttering and drops even over Wi-Fi, and the fact that Google doesn't have a Google Talk app for iOS cuts out an entire group of people. Plus, Google Talk's broad audience doesn't equate broad use, and more people still turn to an app like Skype or Fring for video chat than think to just fire up Google Talk, even if they already have it installed - many Android users don't even know they're logged in to the app right now. Still, if Google decided to push Google Talk as the Facetime competitor it really is and get people using it, it could take the top spot quickly.
Lifehacker's App Directory is a new and growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools in a number of given categories.
You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+. Related Stories
If you watched last week's iPhone 4S announcement with your Android phone and went a little green with envy when Siri, iOS's new voice-recognizing personal assistant, was announced and demoed on stage, buck up. You've got a lot of great voice recognition apps to choose from on Android that can help you keep up with friends, look up the weather, find local businesses, and more. Here are a look at your options.
If you haven't looked into voice recognition apps on Android before, you may be surprised at how many applications get the job done. None of the apps currently available for Android are quite as well integrated with the OS as Siri is be with iOS (sorry), but some of them come closer than others, and you can bet that all of them will be updated and improved now that Siri is available for iOS. Best of all, they're all free.
If you have an Android phone, you already have Google Voice Actions for Android installed. When everyone got their first look at Siri on the iPhone 4S, most people jumped to the assumption that Siri was just Voice Actions for iOS. That's not true—Siri does more than Voie Actions, but Voice Actions is the closest thing Android users to a voice-operated personal assistant.
Pros: Voice Actions can control a large swath of Android functions. You can place phone calls, listen to music by track name, artist, or album, send SMS or email messages, get driving and turn-by-turn navigation directions, search the web, and more. If you're clever, you can get information like weather, word definitions, maps and information about local businesses, and more just by using voice actions intelligently. For example, tap the Voice Actions icon and speak "weather in Washington, DC," Voice Search will do a Google search for it, and Google's mobile page will give you an interactive display of the weather forecast.
Cons: The trouble with Voice Actions is that it's only well integrated with core Android functions. You won't be able to schedule calendar appointments, schedule appointments with other people, update Twitter or Facebook, or issue complex commands that require passing information to any application other than Google Search. Additionally, you need to actually tap the Voice Search icon (or long-press the search key) every time you want to issue a request, which makes it less than ideal for hands-free situations, like when you're driving. Finally, Voice Search is a simple command-response application, as in, you speak a command and it replies with whatever it has. If it's wrong, you reissue the command by starting over. There's no back-and-forth with Voice Actions.
Vlingo has been around for a long time, much longer than voice control has been in-style on smartphones. Vlingo has text-to-speech and speech-to-speech clients for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia, and Windows Mobile, and while none of them have particularly deep integration with their respective operating system, the app does reach beyond core applications and comes closest to the kind of back-and-forth with advanced commands that Siri offers.
Pros: Vlingo allows you to do all of the basics: you can send SMS messages and emails, place phone calls, and search the web. You can also search for local businesses and restaurants using natural language, so saying "find pizza" will search for local pizza delivery restaurants. Saying "taxi" will search for the nearest cab company. You can also launch applications through Vlingo by speaking their name, or update Facebook and Twitter through the app. It's speech-to-text engine is good, and unlike Voice Actions, it rarely misinterpreted my contact names or spoken words.
The developers behind Vlingo have even tossed in some tie-ins to other applications: if you say "find hotels in New York City," the app will ask you if you want to install Kayak or if you just want to search the web. Say "Buy movie tickets for Real Steel in Washington DC," the app will open your default browser, go to Fandango, bring up the page for Real Steel, and offer me showtimes at nearby theaters.
Finally, Vlingo's strongest suit is that you can tell it to start listening as soon as you open the app, and when you enter Vlingo's "in-car" mode, you can say "Hey Vlingo," out loud and the app will accept commands. It's Vlingo's depth of features and its ability to have a back-and-forth conversation with you that make it the closest thing Android users have to Siri. Check out this video to see Vlingo in action.
Cons: The only real problem with Vlingo is that too many of its commands shunt you to other applications that have no voice-activated features. When you're using "in-car" mode, Vlingo will ask you if you want to leave Vlingo to open your browser or another app to complete the action, but it doesn't let you say yes or no from that screen, and you have to touch the screen to either go forward or cancel the operation. The same is true for a number of Vlingo's other features as well. Saying "Check in to China Garden" simply opens Foursquare and does a search for China Garden, which saves time, but falls just a little short.
Also, if you stray too far from any of Vlingo's known search and command terms, you'll confuse it and it'll shunt you to a web search. That's fine in some cases, but the fact that you can't just ask what the weather is without doing a Google search is a little disappointing. Vlingo is great, but the most frustrating thing about the app is that it seems to go so far, only to stop short of perfection.
Edwin is a utility we've covered before, and while it's lacking the bells and whistles of its competition, it adds voice response and speech-to-speech to Google's native voice actions. It also allows you to make your voice commands a bit more conversational. Most of its commands are passed through to Google Voice Actions, where they're executed or the results are spoken back to you.
Pros: Edwin's strength is in how conversational the app is. If it has a direct response, it'll speak it out loud. Ask "What's the weather in Washington DC," and the app will respond aloud with current conditions. Ask about another city, and the app will look it up and respond there as well. You can even ask the app "Where am I," and it'll respond, right down to your block number. The app has a large button you press once to make the app start listening. Best of all, if it understands, it'll respond. If the app needs to do a web search or open an application, it'll prompt you to select an app, or it'll go to the browser and perform a search.
Cons: The big problem with Edwin is that it doesn't have a rich command list of its own, and when it doesn't understand something, it suffers the same problem Voice Actions does: it just fails. The app also has a difficult time processing some commands, like navigation and SMS messages—it'll understand that you want to navigate, and it'll understand that you want to send an SMS message, but it won't pick up where you want to go or who you want to send the message to. The app definitely needs some improvements, and when testing it, I ran into a number of bugs and errors. In some cases, Edwin forgot my location and couldn't retrieve weather information, and in others it stopped being able to obtain weather information entirely. Your mileage with Edwin may vary, but at the very least it'll talk back to you.
SpeakToIt Assistant is a relatively new speech-to-speech and speech-to-text assistant in the Android market. The app prides itself on being customizable, and on giving you a cartoon avatar that you can customize and configure to be your personal assistant. (If you don't like the default sexy librarian, you've got an absurd amount of options for customizing your assistant with a range of other fantasy cartoon options.) The app does have some back-and-forth conversational abilities, and it definitely recognizes a wide array of phrases and commands. The developers behind SpeakToIt claim that it's always learning, and they're working to give the app more commands that it can directly respond to with each update.
Pros: SpeakToIt definitely understands everything that Voice Actions understands and then some. You can ask it to find stock information for you, what the weather is in a far-off place, to send an email or SMS, update your social networks, check-in to a location on Foursquare, and more. The app can also post items to your Evernote account, and it greets you—sometimes with your name after you've said it aloud—when you open the application.
Unlike some of the other applications, you can make your assistant male or female, customize their appearance, and change their voice, albeit slightly. It wins for being the most customizable, and the app with the largest library of in-app commands and pass-through terms. It's clear that the developers of SpeakToIt want you to be able to get as much information as possible inside the app before being shunted to another application or to a Google search. It can even update Facebook and Twitter on your behalf. Check out this video to see SpeakToIt Assistant in action.
Cons: Unfortunately, SpeakToIt Assistant tries very hard to be a personal assistant on the surface that some of the finer touches are lost. SpeakToIt's chosen voice is the default Android voice synthesizer, making it sound more stilted and unnatural than the others, especially when it's trying to hold a conversation with you. Grammar errors in the on-screen text make it difficult to work with at times, and the fact that you have to tap a small microphone button on-screen every time you want to speak to the application difficult to use when driving or if you want a hands-free experience.
Still, SpeakToIt Assistant is in beta, and most of its shortcomings can be easily overcome with additional development. Given that development, the app could grow to be more useful. As it is, it's a touch gimmicky.
If we could only suggest one, Vlingo is definitely the most mature application with its hooks into the most services. It's also the one under the most active development, and the one with the best hands-free and speech-to-speech functionality. However, its competition is hot on its heels.
Google's own Voice Actions is built-in to every Android phone, and its unlikely that Google has any intention of holding still now that Siri will be deeply integrated with iOS. Similarly, SpeakToIt Assistant may be new and still rough around the edges, but it has a lot of potential and it gives you a very personable and customizable caricature to interact with.
The good news for Android users watching Siri's development is that there are plenty of alternatives and options that bring the promise of text-to-speech and speech-to-speech to Android devices. None of them are perfect, and they're not deeply integrated with all of the common features and functions that you would expect from a real voice-activated assistant. Still, there are plenty solid options to give Siri a run for its money, and expect them all to improve very shortly.
You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+.
The Daily App Deals post is a round-up of the best app discounts of the day, as well as some notable mentions for ones that are on sale.
C25K Pro (Amazon Appstore ) C25K Pro is an app companion to the popular "Couch to 5K" running program. The app contains details about the runs for each week, and it has helpful timers, voice cues, and a music controller to help get you through the runs. Previously $1.99, the app is available for free from the Amazon Appstore for today only. (via LogicBuy)
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Android (rooted): The latest version of CyanogenMod, the popular Android ROM, doesn't include any groundbreaking changes, but instead focuses on adding small tweaks and settings that make your Android device more configurable and perform better.
CyanogenMod 7.1 updates your phone to Android 2.3.7, and brings in a ton of small changes and conveniences, which are what really make custom ROMs great. Some of our favorite changes in this release include:
Improve ADWLauncher scrolling/zoom performanceOption to disable vibration while in-callImprove notification swipe-to-clearWake on volume key optionSupport for revoking application permissionsControl brightness by sliding on statusbarOption to hide hold button during callSupport for launching apps via gestures in the backgroundScreenshot feature via power menuMute camera shutter option
In addition, this release brings CyanogenMod to a ton of new devices, both old and new, like the Samsung Galaxy S, the Motorola Droid 2, and the Motorola Droid X, among others. Check out the blog post below to see all the new supported devices, and hit up the changelog to see all the new features in version 7.1.
CyanogenMod is a free download for Android devices.
CyanogenMod-7.1 Released! | CyanogenMod BlogYou can contact Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page. 51 
Nokia may have released a dubstep version of their iconic ringtone, but undoubtedly the coolest ringtone you can have is one you made yourself. Here's how to turn any MP3 into a ringtone for free on both the iPhone and Android.
Bell Icon by Everaldo Coelho via Iconspedia.
While you can convert songs to ringtones in iTunes for $0.99, you can just as easily do it for free with a few more clicks. you'll need an unprotected song in iTunes for this to work (that is, a .m4a or .mp3 file, not .m4p). To turn it into a ringtone:
Find the section of the song you want to use as a ringtone, and mark down the starting and ending time of that section. It should be less than 30 seconds long.Right click on the track and hit "Get Info". Under the Options tab, set your Start Time and Stop Time to the correct values for the ringtone, and hit OK.Right click on the song and choose "Convert Selection to AAC". If it says "Convert Selection to MP3" or "Apple Lossless" instead, head to iTunes' Preferences, hit Import Settings, and switch it to the AAC Encoder, and try again.
You should see the newly converted file pop up in iTunes, and it should be much shorter than the original. Right click on it and pick "Show in Windows Explorer" (or "Show in Finder" if you're on a Mac). Change the extension of the file from .m4a to .m4r.Head back into iTunes and delete the shortened version of the song you just created. Since you changed the extension, iTunes won't be able to find the file and will just remove it from your library. Then go to File > Add File to Library and navigate to the .m4r file you just created. It should show up in the Ringtones section of iTunes.The next time you sync your iPhone, your new ringtone should show up in Settings > Sounds > Ringtones. If you want to set different ringtones for specific contacts, you can head to the Contacts app, edit the contact you want to change, and choose a ringtone for them under "Ringtone".
If you want finer control over when your ringtone starts and ends, you can use GarageBand too, but only if you're on a Mac. The above instructions should work for users on both Windows and OS X.
On Android, you can download one of many apps to create a custom ringtone. We're going to use Ringdroid. After downloading and installing it from the Market, the process is simple:
To set the ringtone for your entire phone, just head to Settings > Sound > Phone Ringtone. If you want to set it for a specific contact, you can just open up that contact in the Contacts app, hit the Menu button, choose Options, and tap Ringtone.
There are many ways to create your own ringtone on both platforms, but these are two pretty simple options that don't require paying money. Just make sure that you keep your phone on silent or vibrate when necessary—there's nothing more embarrassing than being the guy who's pocket starts singing Miley Cyrus in the middle of Starbucks. Got your own preferred ringtone creation method? Let us know about it in the comments below.
You can contact Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page. 11 
If you're getting a call from someone you haven't added to your address book, sometimes you can determine who it is by looking up the number's area code. Caller Info displays a small popup with incoming calls letting you know the number's origin.
Caller Info doesn't show you where the call is coming from, per se—it just shows where the area code is from. So, it isn't a creepy way to pinpoint someone's location, but rather a way to see that if a call is coming from Minnesota, and you only know one person from Minnesota, that you can determine who's calling you. Caller Info also lets you look up area codes on demand from the app's minimal interface, on the off chance you missed the call. It's a really handy little app to have, if you run into this problem often.
Caller Info is a free download for Android devices.
Caller Info - ID: Call Area | Android MarketYou can contact Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page. 13 
Windows/Android: If you've ever wished you could test out Android apps before installing them on your device or just want to use the same apps on both your Android device and your computer, check out the free BlueStacks App Player.
Currently in alpha stage, BlueStacks runs Android apps in full screen on Windows 7 and comes preloaded with 10 apps, including news reader Pulse and several games like Bubble Buster. You can install up to 26 more apps, but will have to connect to the BlueStacks App Channels with Facebook.
I tested BlueStacks on a tablet PC and the apps worked, though a bit slowly probably due to it being an older netbook. Having a touch interface is ideal for running Android apps on your computer, but without one you can still get a feel for an app with your keyboard and mouse.
The App Player also syncs apps between your PC and your phone or tablet if you install the BlueStacks Cloud Connect App from the Market onto your Android device. This could be useful when you want a (sort of) seamless experience going from your Android device to your computer and back.
A version for Mac is in the works, as is a Pro version of BlueStacks App Player will let you play premium apps like Angry Birds.
BlueStacks | via CNetYou can follow or contact Melanie Pinola, the author of this post, on Twitter or Google+. Related Stories 7 
Web/Android/iOS: T-Mobile's free VoIP app Bobsled debuted back in April as a way to make free calls via Facebook Chat, but now that Skype is offering that functionality, Bobsled has expanded to offer free calling to US, Canada, and Puerto Rico from a web browser.
Similar to other VoIP apps, all you need is an Internet connection to make calls to mobile or landline phones through your desktop browser, after installing the plugin. Facebook friend calling and voicemail pinning to your friends' walls are still features included.
It looks like the mobile apps, however, currently only support dialing your Facebook contacts, although you can make Bobsled to Bobsled calls with other Android or iOS users.
The service seems particularly useful if you're traveling and only have a Wi-Fi connection on your laptop (and also because Google Voice's free calling through Gmail may be free only until the end of 2011).
Bobsled | on iTunes App Store | on Android MarketYou can follow or contact Melanie Pinola, the author of this post, on Twitter or Google+. Related Stories