Dolphin Browser

Alternative browsing on your Android phone? Sure, you've got a choice. Opera Mini (version 4.2) and Dolphin Browser are two free browsers you can use to replace Google's default. Yet with tabbed browsing and a straightforward interface, Dolphin is our pick. At least until Opera Mini 5 leaves beta and brings Speed Dial and tabbed browsing to its app, along with the ability to download programs. Dolphin Browser also supports gestures, find-in-page, RSS feeds, marking a page to read later, and sharing a link via social networks.

Voice Recorder

Want to take a voice note? This free, standalone app is one good way to do it. Voice Recorder simply, intuitively lets you record a voice note and save it, or send it on from your Android phone's default Gmail account (no SMS attachments or uploading to social networks yet).

If you're disciplined enough to shut down your apps at a specified time of day, you can set an alarm that turns on Voice Recorder for a predetermined duration. You can also choose to turn any recording into a ringtone, for instance, if you favor singing into the mic or performing some spoken word arrangement. Launch a recording from the app or from a widget you can pin to the start screen. Performance was mostly good during our tests, though the app did crash once.