With Easter upon us, we tend to expect things to be full: Baskets full of candy, yards full of eggs, collection plates full of cash, and our stomachs full of Sunday brunch. You wouldn’t want your mobile device to miss out on that action. Give it a little Easter basket of its own, full of some brand new apps or great updates for it to run. We’ve collected the best of the new and improved offerings to hit the various app marketplaces during the week of March 25-31, 2013. Get to downloading, because what else are you going to do during that three hour sermon?
Speakerfy (new app for iOS)
This app was one of the finalists in the SXSW 2013 “Pitch Shaq” competition. If it has the stamp of approval from Shaquille O’Neal, do you really need to know anything else about it? Just in case you’re more of a Kobe fan, we’ll fill you in a bit. Speakerfy is a tool that allows you to sync media across multiple devices and play it at the same time. It allows users to “socialize sound” and create a unique audio experience. It gives everyone on a Wi-Fi network the same media experience, so you’ll no longer have to worry about blaring your sound system so loud that the room with the speakers becomes unusable.
Need for Speed Undercover (new game for BlackBerry)
The Need for Speed series has been through many different iterations, but this marks its very first appearance on BlackBerry’s new BB10 operating system. Hop behind the wheel of some absurdly fast vehicles and whip around tracks in a variety of different game modes. Take to the highway and outrun the 5-0 or spin your wheels on some more traditional tracks. With twenty different cars and multiple tracks across three unique environments, this is a great way to take up all your pent up road rage without actually running someone of the road.
TheScore (update for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry)
Most people view these spring months as a bit of a lull in the sports world. Football and baseball are in their offseason, hockey and basketball are still grinding out regular season games, and March Madness gets too spread out by the end of the tournament. TheScore, a feature rich sports app, begs to differ. With up to the minute stats and information delivered in app and through push alerts, live coverage of nearly every professional league of every major sport, and fantasy sports tool, it can make even these slow stretches seem interesting.
Tamagotchi L.I.F.E. (new game for iOS)
After making its debut a few months back for Android, the Tamagotchi has finally had its second resurgence, this time on iOS devices. Tamagotchi L.I.F.E. brings the old virtual pet idea back to life, letting you take care of a digital creature. It’s a bit more feature rich then those old keychain games, though. The app version is available in full color and with new, collectable characters. If you’re old enough to remember these and have a kid, this app is a great way to show them how easily entertained we were back in the 90’s.
Flipboard 2.0 (update for iOS and Android)
If you do a fair amount of reading on your tablet or smartphone, you’re probably already a Flipboard user. If you haven’t gotten around to grabbing the social reader app yet, there’s no better time than right now. With the introduction of Flipboard 2.0 comes a new magazines feature that allows users to curate content and produce their own, custom magazines that can be shared with friends and the general public. Be your own editor-in-chief and create a new publication of your very own. (Read our full hands on with Flipboard v2.0.)
Critical Missions: SWAT (new game for iOS)
First person shooters can be hard to pull off on a mobile platform, but the folks behind Critical Missions: SWAT think they have a winner. In a rather innovative move, they have made the mobile version of their game playable cross platform against Mac and PC users. No matter where you play from, you will have access to tons of weapons, six different game modes, and tons of action. Play by yourself or online against friends and strangers from across the globe.
Shopster (new app for iOS)
Grocery shopping is never as easy as it probably should be. You run out of the same stuff on a regular basis, yet you’re still constantly making a list to remember the things that you buy every time you go to the store. Shopster would like to help you out with that problem. It will learn your grocery list as you enter it and will start automatically generating lists with your common items on them, as well as where you prefer to buy them from. It will basically act as the responsible, sensible shopper that you pretend to be.
BlackBerry Travel (update for BlackBerry)
Business people have to get away from the office every now and then. Of course, they aren’t going to leave their phone behind. Especially not if it has BlackBerry Travel installed. This travel app helps users find the best deals on hotels and car rentals, gives notifications on flights and travel plans, and keeps them up-to-date on every bit of trip information. It even lets them share travel information via social networks to keep friends and colleagues in the loop – or to rub it in a bit.
