For audio book fans, Audible is often the preferred place to go to, likely due to the wide selection of new and old titles. Audible (an Amazon company) offers more than 75,000 books in audio format and currently works with more than 500 devices. Now we can add Android to the list.
New to Android, the Audible app is currently only available in beta but is a great start for Android users who can’t live without their Audible content, even though they’ve yet to launch the app in the Market.
Audible (beta) gives members the ability to download and listen to purchases made at audible.com – eventually opening the gates to the entire Audible store.
After signing in to Audible using the app, you’ll have access to your personal library of audio files. At this time, you can side-load the Audible files on your SD card or simply refresh the app after completing a purchase. Titles can be sorted by recent downloads, by author or length, as well as by the item type; audio book, newspaper, speeches, etc.
When you launch an audio file, you’ll be able to add notes, bookmark a specific spot in the file, read book description, send out a post to social networks or jump to a chapter. Audio books can be played on the fly while the download is still in progress, which is a great feature considering the sizes of the files.
The reason for large file sizes is this: the Android version currently only downloads titles in Audible’s enhanced audio format, which means, on average, you’ll need around 30MB of storage per hour of audio. Needless to say, you’ll want to use a WiFi connection when downloading. Users would benefit from having a choice between downloading the enhanced audio format or one of the three other smaller Audible formats.
There are quite a few features missing in the beta app but they’re promised soon. Audible is looking into adding playback speeds (to speed up or slow down the narration) as well as possibly increasing the volume level.
The beta also doesn’t give you access to shopping or direct purchasing from the online store. All audio purchases must occur at audible.com. To download the app you’ll need to join the Audible Google Group and allow your Android to download apps outside the Marketplace. To do this go to Settings > Applications then check the box that says 'Unknown Sources'.
A membership to Audible.com is required. Packages start at $7.49 for the first three months. This will give you one credit (1 book) per month. A good price considering the cost of a hardcover.
It requires an SD card, 15MB of available internal storage and an Android handset that supports Android OS v1.5 or greater
Head to head: Time-suck games
If you crave the simplicity of old school gaming over the complex and highly rendered console titles, then look no further than your mobile device.
This game is so addictive you’ll almost feel bad recommending it. This app offers more than 100 cartoon levels of bird-flinging fun. Green pigs have stolen the birds' eggs and your job is use a slingshot to catapult birds at the enemy. The problem is, the pigs have built fortresses around themselves for protection. But with clever strategies and savvy geometry skills, you can destroy the forts, ultimately leaving the pigs vulnerable. But you’ll need to make every shot count as you’re only given a limited number of birds to fling.
