Whether looking to shake things up a bit, or help file your taxes there are plenty of application options available in the Android market. Lucky for you we take the time to check them out and see what's best, so let's hit the break and check out some of our favorites.

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Gameloft is jumping head-on into social gaming once again with the release of their freshly released Gameloft LIVE! application.  They revamped the whole idea while adding some new features to the mix:

• An all-new 3D interface that enables players to create and customize their own unique avatar and develop it in an interactive, full-3D environment that’s full of surprises.
• New social components that will allow you to make friends and stay in contact with them, invite them to play, send them messages, and chat with them in real-time for an even livelier experience than before.
• More trophies and rewards to unlock through our games that will give you access to new items for your avatar and environment. Try your best and get the highest score!
• Direct access to Gameloft’s product catalog offering exceptional offers and exclusive info, ensuring that you’ll always be the first to know about our upcoming releases.

Achievements, leaderboards, rewards and challenges are all built into the app now and currently, Gameloft has a few free games available for download just for signing up. You'll want to mind the download process though as you have to hand over your phone number plus, it's around 230MB in additional data. Still in? Hit the source link to get it downloaded.

Source: Gameloft

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It's sounds like a gimmick, right? "Mobile Nations Fitness Month." Never mind that we picked the shortest month of the year to do it. Never mind that the last week of the month, we're going to spend upwards of 18 hours of travel sitting inside little metal sausages to get to Mobile World Congress and back. (Once we're there, however, we're going to walk our asses off through Barcelona.)

Gimmick or not, for the first time in a long, long time, I'm taking exercise a little more seriously. And I'm bringing my Android smartphone phone along for the ride. 

Hit the break to see what I'm doing to get my fat butt out of the office, onto the streets and, more important -- what's I'm doing to keep it consistent.

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While most of us aren’t surprised by this move, I’m certainly not, Google has dropped official support for the CDMA (Verizon) Galaxy Nexus as a developer device. They did the same for the LTE Xoom and Nexus S 4G as well. At first folks thought was in regards to Google Wallet not being officially supported [...]

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Okay, I’ll admit it. I love anything and everything that is Android. I have the figurine, key chain and the Dark Knight Andy tee shirt and even went and purchased a new Android mousepad last night. Well I feel bad for my wallet because the folks at Droid Loot have created some really awesome tee [...]

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Although it's not Ice Cream Sandwich update we're all waiting for, we've known for a while now the Droid RAZR was due for an update of some sorts -- and Verizon now has the details posted for all.

Applications:

• Mobile Hotspot will now successfully allow other devices to connect to all Internet websites.
• Improvements in the Mobile Hotspot security. + VZ Navigator® has been updated with the latest 3D map improvements.

Visual Voice Mail Updates:

• Visual Voice Mail messages can be marked as read.
• Visual Voice Mail message playback resumes when audio is switched to speaker.
• Visual Voice Mail will successfully subscribe or unsubscribe while connected with Wi-Fi.
• Successfully press back key after playback in Visual Voice Mail without error.

Data Connectivity:

• Improved stability of data connectivity after Airplane Mode is disabled. + Improved data throughput performance in low-signal 4G environments.

Device Operation:

• Improved Battery life when using Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP) Bluetooth® headsets.
• Successfully save multimedia ringtones.
• Favorite Contacts widget has been updated.
• Improved device stability when moving between home screen panels.
• Email icon has been updated for improved visibility.
• When performing an Over the Air (OTA) update, the display will correctly show the remaining download time.
• CMAS (Commercial Mobile Alert Service) feature has been added.

Aside from getting Android 2.3.6, you'll also get some VCast apps now pre-installed plus, MotoCast installation steps have been improved for ease of use.

Source: Verizon; Thanks, Kris!

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The latest ComScore numbers are out, and it looks like the predicted death of Android still hasn't happened.  During October, November, and December 2011, Android still experienced more growth than any other platform in the US.  Keeping the top spot with 47.3 percent market penetration (that's about 45 million and counting), Android grew another 2.5 percent overall.  Apple, on the success of the iPhone 4S and iPad2, also experienced growth during the period, albeit not as much as Android.  Just as interesting, but in a different way, is the fact that the rest of the players in the game lost market share.  Reasearch In Motion, Microsoft, and Symbian, who were once the big three, all lost market share and only hold about 22 percent of the market combined.  WebOS, once again, was a no-show. 

The number of smartphone users in the US also grew, reaching their highest ever point.  ComScore calculates that 97.9 million people now use a smartphone of some sort or another.  We expect that number will also continue to climb, as you can now get an Android or Apple smartphone for free with a new contract.  

On the manufacturer front, things also look much like the last go around.  Samsung still makes the most phones in the United States (25.3 percent of all phones), followed by LG Electronics, Motorola Mobility and Apple.  There's no data about how many smartphones each vendor sells, but we imagine more than a few of Samsung's sales were Galaxy S and Galaxy S II devices.  

We're used to this by now.  Android, with the might of Google and their online services, makes a very compelling argument to choose their products.  We couldn't imagine using any other product.  

Source: ComScore

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Mint, Intuit's popular personal finance app and long-time favorite of ours here at Android Central, has finally been given the Honeycomb treatment in its latest update. Available now in the Android Market, Mint's tablet attire has all of the features included in the smartphone version, along with a few extra goodies, including an updated overview page, spruced-up spending graphs, and a very handy offline mode.

For those unfamiliar, Mint is a free app that aggregates your financial accounts into an easy-to-read layout. Mint shows you when your money is coming in, when it's leaving, and exactly where it's going. All information is updated in real-time, and with the tablet version's new offline mode, you'll be able to access all of your financial information as it was at your last online sync.

If you've already been using the Mint app on your tablet, simply upgrade from the market for the new Honeycomb-optimized version. Intuit's full presser, along with a market link, is waiting at the jump.

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