Amazon has recently pushed out an update to their AppStore client that brings an exciting new feature. Now in version 2.6.53, the Amazon AppStore on you Android device now has the Test Drive feature built into the app. Test Drive allows you to try out apps before purchasing and installing them, a handy feature if you’re on the edge about getting a new app. This feature has been available on the desktop version of the Amazon AppStore for a while and is rolling out as a beta on the Android client, initially only available for a handful of devices and applications.

Additionally, there’s also some fixes for 3G/4G downloads and stability enhancements. If you already have the Amazon AppStore installed on your device, you may receive an update notification, or you can update from the Settings menu. If you don’t have it, head on over to the Amazon AppStore to download and install it.

A newspaper in the UK recently published a story that the Google Play Store was about to surpass 15 billion apps downloaded. Google’s last published numbers were 11 billion downloads as of January 2012, so it seemed about the time to hit 15 billion. TechCrunch reached out to Google, and a spokesperson confirmed the Play Store already hit 15 billion apps downloaded “a few weeks ago”.

With Android stomping out market share over Apple, it’s no surprise that the Play Store is closing the gap on the iPhone App Store. Currently the Google Play Store has around 500,000 apps, while Apple has 600,000 apps in their App Store. Meanwhile the Play Store is averaging about 1 billion app downloads per month verses about 1.25 billion from the iPhone App Store. Of course these numbers don’t include other app markets such as the Amazon App Store and other outlets, so it’s entirely possible those numbers could be higher.

It might have taken them a week or two to realize it was a bad idea, but Facebook has finally removed those annoying Camera and Messaging shortcuts from the Android app with the latest update. Sure it makes sense if you’re trying to force users to use Facebook more, but the shortcuts were overkill and redundant. It’s not all that hard to share a picture to Facebook from the stock camera or gallery. And Facebook has had a stand-alone Messenger app for quite a while, perfect for those that use Facebook as a primary communication.

If you haven’t already, head over to the Play Store and update to get rid of the extraneous icons. Or if you just couldn’t stand it and uninstalled, feel free to reinstall at will.

[via Droid-Life]

The blogging platform Tumblr has just updated its Android app with a completely new look. Users will notice a complete visual change to the UI that Tumblr called a “new, beautiful interface.” Additionally, they’ve improved response time in the dashboard for faster load times. There’s also improved photo browsing, Tumblr Radar and better notifications as part of the update.

The new update is now available in the Google Play Store.

Sometimes spam can be a good thing, right? I never thought I’d hear myself utter those words, but after turning on my Asus Transformer a little while ago, I may have just experienced one of the very few instances of “good spam” one can come across on the Internet. As my tablet booted up, I was met by the Mario Kart icon you can see in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture below.

Two things about this icon puzzled me. First, where did this mysterious icon come from? I hadn’t installed Mario Kart that I could remember. Perhaps the night before took more of a toll than I had initially given it credit for. Secondly, when did Mario Kart come out for Android and how could I have possibly missed this news?

From a quick glance at the comments on the Google Play Store, it looks like I’m not the only person with a TF101 who had this icon pop up. See Dave’s comment below:

Now, even though they tell you not to click on mysterious icons that appear on your homescreen, my curiosity got the best of me and I did just that. What happened next was quite a surprise. I ended up in the Google Play Store with Mario Kart staring me in the face. I figure, what the hell?  I have Lookout installed. I’ll give it a go. Sure enough — the game installed and I now have a working version of a classic game on my Android tablet.

Do I know where the push notification came from? I haven’t the slightest. Typically, I’d be irritated about something like this happening, but in this instance the spam actually notified me of something pretty cool. So for now, I’m not going to lose any sleep over this one.

The game has already managed to get a 4.5-star rating with 1,020 reviews, so it looks like a lot of people are already enjoying the game. There are, however, comments from some folks who’ve reported issues like lag and force closes. If you’d like to give Mario Kart a try for yourself, hit up the link below to head over to Google Play. The game is 14MB, so you might want to use WiFi and save some of that “unlimited” data.

Download Mario Kart 

Developer: Nintendo Classics

Like what I have to say? Follow me on Twitter!

The newest game in the Angry Birds saga is finally available for Android devices, Angry Birds Space. Featuring 60 levels of play in an outer space setting, the game also has a bunch of new birds, and the physics are either zero gravity or influence by the gravity of planets. A whole new twist on the familiar bird-flinging fun, and it’s no less entertaining.

The game is now available from the Google Play Store and the Amazon AppStore as a free ad-supported version, $0.99 ad-free version, or $2.99 HD tablet version.

[Google Play Store] [Amazon AppStore]

There’s no shortage of apps in the Android Market Google Play Store that allow you to access videos from TED Talks. Today TED Conferences launched their official app for Android devices. It features over 1,200 audio and video presentations for easy viewing and sharing on your Android phone, tablet or Kindle Fire and more content being added all the time. The app also has the ability to save content for offline access, which is great for a subway commute or airplane trip.

TED for Android features:

• Up-to-the-minute videos: TEDTalks are published daily, and Android app users can see the latest TEDTalks videos as soon as they’re available online.
• Browse + search: Whether they’re online or off, users can browse the entire TED library – by theme, tag, rating or popularity – and search for a talk by speaker name or topic.
• Easy sharing: Users who are inspired by a talk can share it easily over Facebook, Twitter or email.
• Bookmarks.  Users can mark and save talks for viewing later within their “My Talks” tab.
• Offline viewing: The app is designed to support a mobile lifestyle, in which users move fluidly between online and offline use. Users can download video and audio directly to the device to watch on the plane or other locations where Internet connectivity may not be possible. The full library is searchable in offline mode.
• Curated audio stream. Out for a jog, multi-tasking, or just interested in listening, TED app users can listen to TEDTalks, either on an individual basis or through TED’s curated audio stream.

Download the official TED app in the Google Play Store for devices running Android 2.1 or higher.

It’s hard to believe the Amazon AppStore has been around for almost a year already. 360 days ago Amazon launched their own AppStore and kicked it off by giving away Angry Birds Rio for free. Since then, they’ve had a different free paid app every day, including some really top apps such as Plants Vs Zombies, SwiftKey and Angry Birds Seasons (ad-free). All the way up to today’s free app, Trial Xtreme 2.

To celebrate their birthday, Amazon is offering discounted apps starting with 67% off Plants Vs Zombies ($0.99) in case you missed it when it was free. Now through the 22nd, they’ll be adding more apps to the birthday discount list, keep an eye on this page for all the birthday deals as well as free customer favorites.

In addition to the discounted apps, Amazon is also giving away a Kindle Fire to eight lucky winners. It’s a Facebook contest, so all you need to do is “like” their page, then fill in your name, email and phone number. Easy as pie.

So why is Amazon in such a good mood to give away tablets and discount apps? It could be attributed to their growth jumping from 4,000 apps to over 31,000 in a year. It’s not quite as big a the Google Play Store, but it’s quite a substantial number. For those of you interested in some more facts and stats, here’s a look at the Amazon AppStore over the past year:

Highlights & Tidbits: 

• In its first year, the most downloaded paid app in the Amazon Appstore was Cut the Rope, followed by Angry Birds (Ad-Free) and Where’s My Water?; the most downloaded free app was Angry Birds Free, followed by Netflix and Solitaire by MobilityWare.
• Amazon Appstore offers a paid app for free every day. If a customer had downloaded every Free App of the Day since launch, they would have saved nearly $1,000.
• The paid app with the most 5-star reviews in the first year of the Amazon Appstore was Where’s My Water?, with over 3,000; the free app with the most 5-star reviews was Blood & Glory, with over 4,000.
• In the Amazon Appstore’s first year, customers spent more than 7.7 million minutes test driving apps; Bubble Buster was the most test-driven app, followed by Amazon MP3 for Android with Cloud Player and Memory Trainer.
• Over the past year, the most popular app category for customers is games, followed by entertainment and productivity. Some of the most popular apps include Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, QuickOffice Pro, CalenGoo and Exchange by TouchDown.

Top Paid Apps (over the last 12 months)

1. Cut the Rope
2. Angry Birds (Ad-Free)
3. Where’s My Water?
4. Angry Birds Rio (Ad-Free)
5. Angry Birds Seasons (Ad-Free)
6. Plants vs. Zombies (Kindle Fire Edition)
7. Fruit Ninja
8. SCRABBLE (Kindle Fire Edition)
9. UNO (Kindle Fire Edition)
10. TETRIS

Top Free Apps (over the last 12 months)

1. Angry Birds Free
2. Netflix
3. Solitaire
4. Fruit Ninja Free
5. Angry Birds Seasons Free
6. Bubble Buster
7. Little Piano Free
8. Roller Lite
9. Jewels
10. Hangman Free

You can order from almost all of Domino’s nearly 5,000 locations, so your favorite store is almost certainly included. Access the full menu and even search for coupons to create your order, then the app remembers your preferences such as local store, and you never have to log in. Then comes everyone’s favorite part, the app also has the Pizza Tracker functionality so you can know the exact moment your pizza goes into the oven and the moment it’s on its way to you or ready for carry out.

The app is of course free and now available in the Android Market for devices running Android 2.1 or higher.

Google Maps for Android has recently been updated bringing with it some minor changes, but significant nonetheless. Version 6.3 of Maps now promises battery life improvements for Latitude users and location services. So pretty much if you use Maps, your battery life will get a little better. There certainly won’t be anyone complaining about that. There’s also some minor bug fixes in tow, probably to insignificant for Google to detail for us. If you haven’t already updated, the latest version is now available in the Android Market.

[Android Market]