Where do iPhone users get their apps?  iTunes app store.  Where do Apple users that don’t want to buy from iTunes app store get their apps? Nowhere!  And this is where Android lives up to its open sharing claim.  Not only is Android available on more devices than I can even want to name right now,  now if you don’t want to buy directly from the market you have a choice.

I got the email today telling me that the long rumoured Amazon App Store was officially open for business.  So I pulled into a Starbucks (can’t browse apps and drive) and quickly dialled up the Amazon website on my Captivate.  There it was all shiny and new.  At first glance it just looked like a website version of the Android Market with Amazon emblazoned on everything but its much more.  It truly is an appealing alternative to Market.  Some of the pricing is slightly different, overall comparable but still different none the less.  The first thing you notice is a special edition of Angry Birds for the new animated film RIO.  Take that iPhone users with your no Rio Branded Angry Birds. And to boot its free for a limited time to new users of the app store.  Its smooth informative has much more app detail than the little market on you phone.  If only for researching apps its good stuff.  Plus there is a little link on the side where they send a market link to download the Amazon App store on your phone.

Overall I found this much smoother than the Market more detailed and informative.  Even the rating system is better instead of an app showing a number of stars it has a small chart showing what rating the app received and how many people rated each level.  So one person might give it 5 stars and three people give it 2 stars so it shows a 4 star rating.  Not so on Amazon you see that 1 person rated it a 5 but that the majority rated the app low.  This is a definite plus.  So check it out you just may like it better.

Ever played risk?  Or Starcraft? Or even the original World of Warcraft games?  well here is the game to make up for not having those on your phone.  The set up is simple you pick one of 3 races, Sapiens, Khraleans, or Titans.

The game is more closely related to Starcraft in concept but it plays a lot closer to risk.  You choose your race by preference, however if your the invitee you can pick your race as to which will fight better against the challenger.  For example the Titan Assimilator has the ability to damage all Sapien and Khralean units by 1 hit point within a large range.  As well it can turn a Khralean Underling to fight for the Titan side.  Obviously best used against the insectoid  Khralean race.  Each race has a similar feature and slightly different costs.

You can only do so much for each turn so plan very carefully and read fully the details of each race before you play otherwise you will be like I was at first… dead a lot.

Here’s the gist of it: you’re given the four elements I mentioned earlier, and add them together by dragging one over another to create more than 300 different elements. Now, hold up for a second; not every element will combine with another (such as ash [fire + moss] and fire), so this game will keep you entertained for quite some time.

Having downloaded this game only twelve hours ago, I’ve unlocked a meager 58 elements, leaving the other 72% of the elements to laugh at me as I scratch my head, pondering the different element combinations that may be possible. After about 20 combinations, you get to some pretty funky elements, such as a whale, a zombie, an alcoholic, and even “sex”. Also, if you get stuck, there are plenty of “cheat sheets” all over the web. Definitely at least an 8.5 out of 10.

The speed, distance covered, tempo, pace, altitude, calories burned and many such info is displayed to the user to know how well, or bad the user is doing it. You will get good graphical charts on the screen for your performance. Through these graphs, you can easily know where you are good, and where bad. You can share all these info you got with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers with just a tap of a button.

If your friends are using the same app, you can compete with them with the app, no matter how far they are from you. You even have voice feedback from the app so that you dont have to look at the screen of the phone each time. You can download Sporty Pal for your Samsung Captivate or other Android phones from the Android Market for free. Discuss the app on our forum.

So what exactly does Hungry do? It helps you not forget what all things you have to buy at the super market. You can create a list of all the items you are planning on planning on buying the next time you run to the supermarket. You can then check the list of items when you are at the supermarket so that you dont leave out anything important. You may say that the traditional method of paper and pencil is better. But there is more to this app.

The app remembers the items that you usually buy when you go to the supermarket every time. It also remembers the list of items that you last created. This way, it will make easy for you to create the next list. So you dont have to remember the items each time. They are all there.

You can download Hungry for your Samsung Captivate or other Android devices from the Android Market for free. Discuss the app on our forum.

On top of that, the app is free. The user interface is highly customizable. You can make it the way want and also make it look the way want. Below is a list of features that this apps packs in it.

Features:

• Integrates seamlessly with any home-replacement app!
• Launch any carousel simply by double-tapping the home button.
• Give each carousel its own name.
• Create home-screen shortcuts to specific carousels.
• A unique and highly customizable user-interface.
• Excellent replacement for Live Folders.
• Create as many carousels as you wish! (Requires activation)
• Each carousel can hold up to 16 items.
• Beautiful fast animation with OpenGL graphics!
• Control the carousel with your finger, trackball or D-Pad.
• AppManager Plugin – Carousels that show recent tasks / current running tasks. Kill running tasks applications, uninstall applications, etc.
• Settings Plugin – Enable/Disable Wifi, 3G, ringer, vibration, airplane mode and more in a single click!
• Launch from the notification tray.
• Launch using the camera button.
• Auto-launch on start-up.
• Custom carousel speed and icon size.
• Custom screen orientation (portrait / landscape / automatic).
• Customize background.

You can download Ultimate Faves Pro for your Samsung Captivate for free from the Android Market. Discuss the app on our forum.

The app allows you to find caches or trackables near your place instantly and easily. You dont need any exports for this. The app indicates the caches and trackables searches from the company’s online servers and based on your current location. The app even gives you some details about the cache too. You will get the direction in which you have to head to the cache. The direction is displayed using a digital compass on your phone’s display. You will even get a live map.

You can save all your caches on your phone and also upload them to the online server. The stored caches on your phone can be viewed later on. The app even tells you the size of the cache, like small or regular or large and stuffs.

C:geo is a free app for your Samsung Captivate and you can download the app from here. Discuss about this app on our forum.

Emo Cube is an Android app for your Samsung Captivate or other Android phones. This is more like a personal dairy of your everyday life which records all your emotions. You can express your feelings and emotions to this app with very cool looking emoticons present in the app itself. Then, you can share it with your friends online through Facebook or Twitter.

The app uses cubes to represent different emotions. You can see in the image a yellow cube is used to represent the emotions, in this case, its a wink. Like this, different emotions can be expressed with this app. You can download EmoCube for your Samsung Captivate or other Android devices from here. See more of this app on our forum.

You can then measure other stuffs with this scale. You can even change the scale, like centimeters, meters, millimeters, etc.  You can make the app to run in full screen mode. This will hide the menu bar and the tool bar and you will get the scale in the full screen mode. You can even set the app to display two different scales on each side of the display.

You will get a basic protractor on your display and, as with the scale, the precision is very high. You can use your stylus to dynamically measure the angles on the protractor. When you touch your stylus to the screen, the app displays a red line from the center of the protractor helping you measure the angle.

You can buy Super Ruler for your Samsung Captivate or other Android phones from the Handango for just $2.99 from here. If that link does not work, use the link here.