Today, Google announced version 4.2.1 of its Gmail app for Android via its Gmail profile on Google+ giving us some pretty nifty new features.

Amongst the new features:

• You can choose to have emails automatically resized to fit your screen with the ability to use pinch to zoom for closer looks.  No more annoying cutting off of emails and scrolling left and right.  I’ve given this a try and it makes my emails look tidier, but in some cases I’ve needed to pinch to zoom.  You can turn this on via Settings > General Settings
• You can choose to swipe to archive or delete from your inbox, making it quicker and easier to manage your inbox on the go.  If

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Do you ever feel that the predictive keyboard on your phone just doesn’t understand you? Like it’s not even speaking the same (sub)-language? Well apparently SwiftKey understands, and is now offering Australian English as one of the language packs available for download.

For those that don’t know, SwiftKey is a replacement keyboard for your Android phone. What makes it special is its predictive features that take the sentence structure into account and also learn from your own typing style. This usually allows it (in my personal experience and after the keyboard has had some time to learn your habits) to often correctly predict the next word you’re going to type within one or two letters being entered, if not just …

Have you been waiting to bring out the inner hoon in Need for Speed Most Wanted?  Or are you the quiet productive type who values an office suite to keep up with some serious portable word processing, spreadsheets and presentations?  Perhaps you value a launcher that has big simple buttons to keep you from squinting at the screen or staring at it 5cm from your face?

Well, if you’re like me and like saving a quick buck, head over to Google Play today for a sale on a huge list of apps!

If you’re wondering why all the sales happiness, it’s because overnight the USA went into crazy Black Friday mode – a day when huge retailers put on …

Written by Richard Taylor

Back in 2009 the tech world went crazy when a start-up company called Square announced they were alpha-testing a small credit card reader that could plug into the iPhone, giving any business the ability to accept credit card payments on the go.

While Square still isn’t available in Australia, we now have the ability to accept mobile card payments on Android or iOS devices. Thanks to two companies who have released mobile credit card reader dongles: Paymate with their OnTheGo product, and PayPal with PayPal Here.

Both of these solutions offer almost identical functionality and work in the same way: as the seller you enter transaction information including customer details if required, swipe the customer’s credit …

Many of us love Google Drive and many of us love Microsoft Office (and the few other offerings). However, up to this date there just hasn’t been an Android application for lovers of Microsoft Office’s powerful tools. SkyDrive is out and lets you access some of the features, but a Mobile Office app would just bring so much more to the table.

Well, it appears as though the app may in fact be coming to Android in early 2013. The Verge has done some solid ground work and are hearing from multiple sources that the app could be available for iOS and Android as early as the beginning of next year. The images below are of the iOS app, but …

Editor’s Note: Please officially welcome Basil Loupis to the Android Australia Team!

I’m all for an uncluttered desktop, so I am constantly on the lookout for apps that will allow me to open my apps quickly, without having to fiddle with searching through folders and screens. Google Now seemed to have some potential, but although it will find the nearest Pizza bar, it will not launch my mail, find a contact, or open an application. I have tried most of the so called ‘assistants’ but they are gimmicky, clumsy and have a less than 50% success.

My ultimate aim is to have no shortcuts or folders on the desktop and only a few widgets so I may instantly check mail, …

Us Melbournians on Android have been unfortunate enough to be without one of the most useful iOS apps out there. This comes in the form of tramTRACKER and I’m sure you can guess what it is used for. The app itself has been very widely used on iOS devices and something that Android sorely lacked – an official tram tracking device. On iOS tramTRACKER has been downloaded 20,000 times a month and enjoys 800,000 tram requests per day.

Yes, we’ve had Tram Hunter that I have personally used almost on a daily basis and works quite well, but an official app is always welcome.

The tramTRACKER application comes with a whole host of welcome features. It allows you to locate …

Well after running a very successful Kickstarter campaign, then cancelling that campaign, then starting another campaign, the tablet-centric launcher replacement Chameleon Launcher has finally launched on Google Play!

For those that haven’t been following the saga, Chameleon is a launcher that aims to completely rethink the Android tablet experience. It prominently features  large widgets designed specifically for Chameleon launcher and are designed to give your tablet homescreen a unified look. The developers hope that third parties will expand on the range of widgets available, but currently the widgets offered are:

• Calendar
• Clock
• Facebook
• Google+
• Instagram
• Media Player (Coming soon)
• RSS News Reader
• Switches
• Twitter
• YouTube

It also features a mini-app tray for those apps you find yourself using …

If you’re looking for an alternative to the default Twitter for Android client, Dots and Lines, the developers behind the upcoming Carbon Twitter app (which is found on other mobile platforms such as Windows Phone and webOS) have teased on their Twitter account of an imminent launch, with video and Google Play links incoming.

Their message was:

Matter of a few dayz now…yea, still alive and kicking! Next up will be a full video and our Google Play link…

The developers have previously announced that Carbon for Android will be available free of charge. Personally, I’ve found Carbon to be a strong Twitter client on other platforms, so it’s a good thing to see another option for power users to …

Samsung have today announced they will continue the partnership with Dropbox, to provide 50GB free Dropbox accounts to Note II and Camera buyers for two years. This is fantastic news as especially with the Camera you will need every bit of it!

The only issue here is, and the same with the Galaxy S III, the 50GB free is only available to new accounts, meaning if you already have a 2GB free account, you must setup a new email address and new Dropbox account, then jump through a further 8 step process to claim the 50GB free.

No one still knows what Samsung and Dropbox are going to do, at the end of the free period either. Presumably it will …

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has recently launched an app that looks to really be quite handy.  It picks up on things that the consumer watchdog has been conducting recalls for and pushes the information straight to your phone. Quite handy if you ask me.

ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard has said:

The launch of this free app means people using an Android phone can now quickly and easily check Australian product recalls from their mobile phone.

She goes on to speak about the potential benefits in the home and in the business place:

Knowing when products are recalled means consumers can act quickly to remove potentially harmful products from their homes … Businesses will also find the app

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Westpac has in the last few days been testing out their Android mobile payment app. They have invited 100 individuals – from Westpac staff and business partners – to begin trialling the app.

With the addition of NFC-enabled payment, Westpac is doing what CommBank failed to – utilize the NFC features of Android.  The Westpac Bank’s Android application does what we have all been waiting for. It allows you to make payments with your NFC enabled phone simply by touching it to a PayPass terminal. After entering you bank card details it will engage with your account and allow you to make transactions directly.

Axel Boye-Moller, Westpac’s head of mortgages, cards and merchants said:

Effectively, we put the Westpac Debit

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