1) Dolphin Browser HD – Free
Dolphin HD knocks other Android browsers into a cocked hat, with all the features most people could want supplied as standard: tabbed browsing, pinch to zoom and Flash support top the list. Assuming you’re running Android 2.1 or above, download it before you do anything else.
2) DataViz Documents To Go – $30
Documents To Go lets you create and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, while taking full advantage of a 1,024 x 600 resolution. It can even open files in your Google Docs account, although we hit a problem when we tried to save our changes. That niggle aside, it’s a great way to turn an Android tablet into a proper business machine.
3) Let’s Golf HD – £3
Perhaps we’re just suckers for golf games, but this version is so simple – point, tap, tap again and the ball will sail towards the hole – that we were soon addicted. Developer Gameloft uses all its graphical skill to exploit a 1,024 x 600 resolution, and it also offers HD strategy, action and driving games for the same price.
4) Amazon Kindle – Free
There are plenty of free book readers available – of which Aldiko is our favourite – but the way this Kindle app ties in with your Amazon account makes it the best choice for bookworms. Even if you don’t want to pay for new books, the free selection of popular classics is just as easy to browse – and they look great.
5) Financial Times – Restricted, available with Samsung Galaxy Tab
Whether it’s watching chief executives being grilled in video interviews, using the interactive market data or reading analysis about a FTSE 100 company’s strategy, the FT app, currently exclusive to the Galaxy Tab, has it all. Navigation is elegantly simple and content updated throughout the day, but you get to view only ten articles per month before a steep £3.79 per week charge applies.
6) Angry Birds – Free
This dangerously addictive game made its name on the iPhone, and now it’s available for free in high resolution on Android tablets. There are onscreen adverts but they never get in the way of the action. Just expect to lose an awful lot of your free time.
7) TweetDeck – Free
This app isn’t designed for Android tablets – it’s just an enlarged version of the phone app – but it handles all the basic tasks with aplomb, copes well with multiple accounts and makes it easy to flick between lists. It’s a superb download for Twitter power users.
8) Sky+ – Free
Caught away from home and realise you’re about to miss the latest episode of Damages? Fear not: this app works in tandem with your Sky+ box, so you can set it recording even if you’re up a mountain. The only feature this remote recorder misses is Series Link, but even without that, it’s a powerful part of any Sky subscriber’s armoury.
9) YouTube – Free
A neat app that showcases the most popular recent videos and lets you search the vast collection held on YouTube. Loading videos is as simple as pressing Play, and if you’re on a fast connection the HQ mode is superb quality. You can even shoot a video using your tablet’s camera and upload it.
10) Google Maps – Free
Google may not have adapted any of its apps for a 1,024 x 600 screen, but Maps benefits from the extra space anyway. With turn-by-turn directions and integration with services such as Google Latitude, many people will wonder why they should ever pay for a satnav again.
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