So Foursquare is not your thing? Maybe you will like its almost identical counterpart Gowalla. Good news is that Gowalla is now available as a beta for Android devices.

What is Gowalla you ask? It’s a location aware social networking platform that lets you share where you currently are and the activities you are currently doing with your friends. Almost exactly like Foursquare, Gowalla lets you check into places and earn stamps on your virtual passport as you go along.

Gowalla is currently gaining more and more popularity to its counterpart Foursquare due to the manner in how it lets users check in to places, share locations, experiences, and pick up stamps for their virtual passport.

If you would like to help test out Gowalla’s beta Android App head on over to http://static.gowalla.com/gowalla-android-20100212.apk from your Android phone or alternatively if you have a barcode reader installed just scan the barcode below.

Word out is that Google just released Google Maps 4.0 to the Android Market, but what makes this version of Google Maps so significant than the others? A simple answer really, Google Buzz support.

I searched the Android Market just now but unfortunately could not find the new Google Maps 4.0 with Google Buzz. After some further investigation I found that you need to run Android 1.6 or higher to be able to use Google Maps 4.0 and Leaf South Africa has not yet released a new ROM with the latest Android software for the HTC Hero.

If you have a rooted Android phone with Android 1.6 or higher go check out the Android Market for Google Maps 4.0 with Google Buzz and let us know how it is.

WordPress just released their WordPress for Android application to the Android Market for download. WordPress for Android will enable bloggers to manage their blogs while on the go.

If you are used to the popular wpToGo application for Android you will feel right at home with WordPress for Android as it was built on the foundation of wpToGo. WordPress for Android is open source, if you would like to contribute to the project please visit dev.android.wordpress.org

Features include:

• Manage multiple blogs
• Comment moderation and ability to reply to comments
• Create and edit posts as well as manage categories, tags and photos
• Create and edit pages
• Get notified of new comments in the Android notification bar

Here is a short video demonstrating WordPress for Android

To get WordPress for Android search the Android Market for WordPress and install the application published by Automattic, Inc.

If you have a barcode scanner install just scan the barcode below.

Since I got my HTC Hero in December last year I have always been browsing the Android Market and Web for some cool apps, and I think this is really one of the coolest apps out there. Cool and extremely geeky.

So you are in a hurry and you lost your keys somewhere in the couch where you were chilling, no problem! Just get your Android phone and fire up the Metal Detector app and swipe it over the couch, it will start vibrating when it passes the keys.

The Metal Detector app works on all Android models that has the built-in magnetometer that is used for the compass. Wow sorry normal Apple iPhone users, I believe only the iPhone 3Gs has this functionality.

Here is a video demonstrating the Metal Detector App

Android users get your Metal Detector App for free from the Android Market, just search for “metal detector”. BTW if you haven’t got a Google Android based phone yet, you can win one at Web AddiCT(s);

A few days ago I showed you how to take screenshots with your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, doing it on Android is a bit more difficult if you do not have a rooted phone. Here is how to take screenshots with your non rooted Android phone.

1. Start by downloading the Windows USB drivers for your Android phone.

2. On your Android phone go to Settings

3. Select Applications -> Development and check the enable USB Debugging field

4. Now you need to download the Android SDK. Select the Windows version and save the file.

5. Once the download is completed unzip the file to your C:\ drive or somewhere else you would like.

6. After the unzip you will need to download the Java Developers Kit (JDK). Only download the Java SE Development Kit (JDK).

7. Run the JDK installation clicking next all the way through.

8. Now its time to plug in your Android phone via the USB cable.

9. Locate the folder where you unzipped the Android SDK, open the Tools folder and double click ddms.bat

10. A splash screen should pop up for first time users, just click proceed.

11. You should now have the Dalvik Debug Monitor open, select your phone, there should only be 1 listed.

12. After selecting your Android phone go to the device menu at the top and select Screen Capture, or alternatively press Cntr+S

13. The screen capture app should open up and allow you to take screenshots of whatever your Android phone is displaying on the screen.

As you can see it is a whole lot more hassle at first to get this up and running and the drawback is that you can only take screenshots of your Android phone when it is plugged in via USB.

Good news for Android users with rooted phones is that there is several apps available on the Android Market that will enable you to take screenshots without all the hassle as above.

PS. If you don’t own a Android phone, Rafiq over at WebAddict(s) is giving one away.

We all know the well know SpeedTest.Net website where you can check the performance of your connection, the site allows users to log on and test their connections upload / download speeds and latency. The only drawback was that you had to log into the SpeedTest.Net website to be able to use the service.

Good news for Android users is that there is now a Android App available in the Android Market. Simply search for speedtest on the Android Market and install the SpeedTest.Net App. Fire it up and test your 3G or HSDPA connection speeds. You can also use it over your wifi connection.

It saves all your connection results on the phone for future reference with icons showing if it was conducted over WiFi or GSM network. See screenshot below.

I installed the app and fired it up conducting tests on my HTC Hero over WiFi and GSM on MTN.

Head on over to the Android Market and install the SpeedTest.Net App and post your results here. I got 2Mbps download and 556Kbps upload with 150ms pings on MTN network to a server to Cape Town. Whats your results?

PS: There is also a iPhone App available.

Gone are the days of typing your search queries into Google, Android users now have the ability to just take a photo and search the web with that.

Google Goggle is the latest hip among Android users, imagine you are in an unknown city having a look at landmarks and have no idea what the landmark is you are looking at. Just fire up Google Goggles, take a picture and it will tell you exactly what landmark it is that you are looking at. Same goes for books and art. Want to know some information about local businesses? You don’t even need to take a photo, just point to the business and Google Goggles will display information regarding the business on screen.

To get yourself a copy of Google Goggles, open up the Android Market and search for Google Goggles. Just note that it is only available for Android 1.6+ so no luck for South African Hero owners for now. Have to wait for Leaf to give us the latest Android firmware, scheduled for release somewhere in December.

Just saw that Chris over at iMod did a post about setting up MXit on your iPhone so I decided I might as well do one about setting up mxit on Android seeing that I just got my HTC Hero yesterday.

So for those of you using a Android based phone, here’s how to get MXit on it.

Open up your browser and head on over to http://www.mxit.com/wap

Follow the link to the Android Market where it will show you the MXit download

Choose MXit from the Android Market

Choose install and wait for the notification that it downloaded successfully then open it up.

Thats it folks, now enjoy MXit on your Android based phone.

Last week I got the news that I was eligible for an upgrade, at first I wanted to port to Vodacom to get the iPhone as I have played around with a few of them and love it, but after some consideration and a hefty price tag my attention turned toward the HTC Hero or iPhone killer as some say.

It was a mission to get hold of one, as everybody is either out of stock and only expects new stock in the next year or does not get the phone until next year. Lucky for me the guys at Durbanville MTN shop got hold of an HTC Hero in only one day, great service from them, and I picked up my Hero yesterday.

The phone is absolutely superb, I’m loving every aspect of it and can see why people are saying that it’s the iPhone killer. The HTC hero is lightning fast with applications and menus opening instant without any sign of hesitation. A nice feature is the Accelerometer, one example I tested was with Google Maps in street view. Enabling the digital compass feature and physically moving around with the phone in your hand made the street-view move around as if you where standing in the street and looking up, down, left or right.

Out of the box the Android operating system asks you for login details to social networking sites like Facebook, twitter and Flicker and integrates it into your home screens if you would like to. Importing contacts was a breeze specially since I had all my contacts in Gmail, Android just asked me to sync with my GMail account and voila there all my contacts was imported.

The Android market place is also a breeze to operate with all the apps you can think of, 99% of the kind of apps I searched for where free.

The 5 mega-pixel camera of the HTC Hero is also very nice, it takes very high quality images that is sharp and crisp. One downside of the camera is I would have liked a flash, but its not the end of the world.

I’m definitely a Android fan now, and won’t turn back anytime soon. The Hero is sure to give Apple iPhone a run for its money.

If you are due for an upgrade have a look at the Hero, I’m sure you’d like it. I’ll be writing more about Android and Tips and Tricks for the HTC Hero and Android marketplace from now on here.

Leaf, the South African distributor of HTC phones has recalled 3000 Google Android phones from Service Provider MTN.

Quinton Leigh, the MD of Leaf, says that the handsets has been recalled to undergo updates to the latest Android Operating System and to provide them with easier access to Google’s Android Market, similliar to the Apple iStore to download applications.

The software update wil also includes support for Microsoft Exchange, making things a little bit easier if you are in the Corporate World.

The recall came after MTN decided that it would be allot easier to just recall all the phones than explaining to customers how to update themself. The HTC Dream, sold exclusively by MTN, should be back in stores by September the 16th, customers who have already purchased the phone can take it to any of Leaf’s branched to get it updated. Alternatively users can get hold of the firmware on Leaf’s website and flash the handsets themselfs.