Android Tips and Tricks.

DoubleTwist lets you search and download from Amazon. It also lets you convert your existing media to the proper format and puts it on your phone.

The steps use your android phone’s internet connection on your laptop are not straightforward, but hey, now you can tether!

- Allow install of non-market apps: Settings>Applications>Enable unknown sources
- install TetherBot and follow the steps described here.
- The steps involve installing android sdk/emulator on your laptop and enabling USB debugging on your phone.

If your phone is rooted, Android Wifi Tether provides an easier way. It converts your phone into a wifi hotspot.

I do not recommend rooting your phone for this feature. Get an Android Phone with a bigger screen! Motorola Droid, Nexus, the Google Phone and HTC Bravo are a few.

Or hop on a Wimax network if its available near you.

Yelp lets you search and find good places to eat near you. Don’t forget to check out “Hot on Yelp” thats where the user generated reviews make a difference.

It you just want to see places near you, just long press on any location in google maps (version > 3.3).

The easiest way to search. Google Goggles lets you take a picture and search for it. Install it from the market.

• FoxyRing analyzes the ambient noise and adjusts the ringer volume.
• It sets your phone in silent mode during sleeping hours and disables wifi/bluetooth to save battery life.
• You can use Foxytunes to set your phone to vibrate or change ringtone by location, ex: at work. Locale already does this one already though.
• It also comes with two widgets, to silent your phone easily and the other to set it in vibrate mode.

FoxyRing was a winner in  the “Android Developer Challenge“, lifestyle category. I’m sure it would have won the entire competition if it had a better logo.

You can find all the winners here. You will surely find a few that you like!