The rise of the cell phone is often blamed for the explosion of helicopter parenting — it has been called "the world's longest umbilical cord"^[2].

Writing a Best Android Apps list is never an easy job. Android inspires passionate fans who believe their favorite app should be named, so no list will please everyone. Though voters selected their favorites in the Android Network Awards, these are my picks for some of the best Android apps. The apps are listed according to category, not merit.

[#1 - 15] Lifestyle and Productivity Apps
[#16 - 24] GPS and Location Apps
[#25-39] Media and Entertainment Apps
[#40-50] Tools and Utility Apps

Children carry security blankets and adults carry their smartphones.

The stakes are high. Research firm comScore estimates that more than 63 million people accessed online news and information from their mobile devices at least once in January 2009, up 71 percent from January of last year. During the same period, the number of consumers who used their mobile device to access online content daily doubled to more than 22 million.

“[Apple and Google] are certainly competing,” says Kendall Whitehouse, director of new media at Wharton. “Everyone senses a shakeout in mobile platforms.” Whitehouse said he didn’t think Android could completely upend Apple’s iPhone, which had 13 of the smartphone market in the second quarter of this year, according to research firm Gartner. However, he points out that Google could certainly steal market share from Apple in the mobile market.

“The reason the battlefront has moved to mobile is that most businesses see this as the future of advertising, person-to-person [social networking] and even consumption,” says Eric Bradlow, a marketing professor at Wharton. “In many people’s view, what is most important is having access to consumers often and in contexts in which they are receptive to advertising and likely to purchase. Mobile access is that venue.”

One complaint takes issue with Android Market's payment options and Google's return policy. Currently, all Android users must purchase apps through Google's own payment system Checkout. But according to a recent IDG report, some developers would like to see other payment options that users might find more convenient. Developers are also up in arms over Google's 24-hour return policy, which they say makes it too easy for users to return an application after using it for just a few hours. Apple's App Store, by comparison, does not grant refunds for any reason except in cases where a purchased product is not delivered within "a reasonable period."

The upgrades are much needed but this is one wacky policy that needs fixed. Especially since the model is free first and then get users to upgrade to a paid version.

People want to bring their physical and online worlds together via the Internet," said VP Jonas Geust of Nokia N series. "The Nokia N97 mini is designed for this new social internet and to help navigate people and places. With lifecasting, the Nokia N97 mini and Ovi usher in the next chapter of personal and location-aware Internet.

T-Mobile has announced an addition to its line-up of smartphones based on Google's Android platform, and said that it expects Android to become the dominant phone platform in the near future.

Available from October, the T-Mobile Pulse is the first Android handset available on a pay-as-you-go tariff, the company said, and is intended to be a more affordable mass-market device than the earlier G1 and G2 Touch models.

It will be interesting to see the impact of pay-as-you-go on the adoption of Android.

One thing working in the myTouch's favor is the recent backlash against Apple for its failure to approve the Google Voice iPhone app and other applications. Since Android's app store, the Android Market, doesn't have the same strict approval process for apps as Apple, it's much easier for developers to distribute their apps.

And since Android is made by Google, the Google Voice app - which lets you have one number that rings all your phones - is very slick and useful. It basically takes over your existing phone number so calls you place come from your Google Voice number.

Do you see where this is going?

We chose Android because we didn't need to do a lot of additional work on it. The kernel is there, the software is already done. We just optimized it for our PID," said Wu Cheng-wen, general director of ITRI's SoC (system-on-chip) Technology Center. ITRI spent nearly a year tweaking the Android OS on the board and will pass it out freely to developers.

People are starting to pick what platform they want to build for, and that's the only one that they build for," Krishnamurti said. "From a consumer's standpoint, what happens is when they buy a phone, they are kind of stuck in an island of apps that are built for just one platform. That's kind of silly. Why can't I just run whatever app I want on my phone?

I second that question.