Awesome Apps

AirBeats is a virtual drum machine designed to work with the Leap gesture controller. It lets you make and record beats just by tapping on air. You can use your hands or any stick – drumsticks, chopsticks, pencils etc.

An amusing app for your smartphone that lets you drop the Kool-Aid Man into your photos with ease. We hope they get to work on a video version so you can smash him through walls. Android version here.

Aside from providing turn-by-turn directions to your car, Valet also has a neat trick. Pair it with your car’s Bluetooth audio system and it will automatically remember your car’s location even if you forgot to open the app.

Tall Chess is the app equivalent of the vertical chess set. It’s neat and simple, and it’s free-to-play if you just want to match wits with one person at a time. If you upgrade to the paid version, you get to play multiple games at once.

Keeping track of the serial numbers of software and gadgets can be a pain. That’s where Serial+ comes in. It’s an easy to use app that can store the serial number, length of warranty, pictures and other info about your items.

Filedrop is a free file-sharing application that lets you share files wirelessly between devices on the same local network. It also lets you stream photos and music. Available for PC & Mac, with iOS & Android apps coming soon.

Google Keep is a note-taking service much like the popular Evernote. Make a list, save links or images and rearrange them as you see fit. Available as an Android app as well as a web service.

Minuum is a keyboard for Android devices that compresses the traditional QWERTY layout into one row that you can drag and resize. The quality of its predictive text input will make or break this app.

A Bluetooth device that connects to your car’s OBD-II port. Along with an iOS app, Automatic will help you monitor your car’s health and your driving habits. The check engine light has met its match.

Gain access to over 13,000 titles on the go with the mobile version of the Marvel Unlimited all-you-can-read service. The subscription itself costs $10 a month or $60 a year. Android app coming soon.

The latest version of YouTube’s mobile app adds a “send to TV” feature which allows you to wirelessly beam and control videos from your iOS or Android devices. You can also pair with an XBox or PS3.

Instashare is like AirDrop that works with iOS devices. It lets you wirelessly transfer files from an iOS to an OS X device and vice versa via LAN or Bluetooth. Android and Windows versions coming.

Vladimir Tomin reimagines the fate-deciding Rock, Paper, Scissors as an application in the style of a tower defense game. It kind of takes chance out of the equation, but maybe that’s a good thing.

Looking forward to March Madness? Studio Neat’s iOS app makes it easy to place bets with friends and has a scoring system that amply rewards picks. The app will only be available in the US App Store.

Tracks airplanes using ADS-B and FAA data. You can also view details – airline, destination, etc – for each plane it tracks. The site is free to use, but you’ll get more out of its desktop and mobile apps.

Samplr is an iPad synthesizer designed to make it easy for the user to manipulate samples via multitouch. The user can use up to 5 sound effects and 6 samples at once in 7 different play modes.

(NSFW: Language) A local multiplayer space sim. Players man the ship’s control panel, but the orders for one player are shown on the other player’s screen, so you have to tell each other what to do.

Four of the most addictive, token-devouring shoot ’em ups in one mobile package. Raiden Legacy includes Raiden, Raiden Fighter 1 & 2 and Raiden Fighters Jet. Available for both iOS and Android.

William Shatner proudly presents his official app. Create Shatisms alone or with friends using 400 recorded words and emphasis options, and share your melodramatic masterpiece with the world.

Developed by Ollix, Fog of World uses the fog of war from videogames to gamify traveling. Leave it running in the background and earn achievements while traveling.

Thanks to Jason Morrissey, we don’t miss the iOS YouTube app at all. Jasmine has a clean interface, a night mode, built-in brightness control and can keep playing audio even when you switch apps.

Burner is an iPhone app that lets you buy temporary phone numbers so you can send or receive calls and SMS without exposing your actual number. Walt and the Barksdales would love this.

Chameleon is an alternative to the vanilla home screen on Android tablets. It lets you place groups of apps and then switch to different home screens based on location, Wi-Fi network or time.