Fresh Android Apps for June 14: U.S. Open Golf Championship, Max Payne, Songbird update

Fresh Android Apps for June 14: U.S. Open Golf Championship, Max Payne, Songbird update

We’ve got a very handy Fresh App for golf fans today as the U.S. Open Golf Championship gets underway. Meanwhile, gamers will want to get their hands on Max Payne Mobile and relive this classic first-person action adventure that started the whole ‘bullet-time’ phenomenon. Finally, music lovers should check out the recent overhaul to Songbird. More than just a music player now, it adds personalized sharing and discovery features.

This app emerged last week, but the first round of the U.S. Open starts today for the pros in San Francisco, so grab this app if you’re a fan. The official app of the tournament includes everything you need to enjoy the 2012 U.S. Open Golf Championship at The Olympic Club, including live video streams for those in the United States.

There are also on-demand highlights, real-time score updates, photos, course information and biographies of all the players involved. Video is viewable over 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi connections (even Edge, apparently, but good luck with that), and the app even offers the ability to live-stream ESPN Radio commentary if you’re on the move or video bandwidth-impaired.

After its iOS release in April, Rockstar Games brings the classic third-person action PC game to Android at last. This cinematic shooter was a huge hit back on PC, and it was one of the first games to introduce the notion of Bullet Time® (yes, it’s a registered trademark), which slows down the action so Max can avoid gunfire while getting in his own shots. It’s a feature that’s been used (and abused) in many games ever since.

May Payne transfers well to the Android’s smaller screen. You play as Max himself, a fugitive cop framed for murder. Not only must he clear his name, he also must discover the truth about his slain family. Potential buyers should be aware that the game isn’t supported on every tablet/smartphone just yet and requires a huge download. But sharp graphics and plenty of action await in this title that remains faithful to the original.

We’ve certainly had our fair share of top music apps in the past few days, what with the release of Magic Piano^[1] and Songkick Concerts^[2], plus a nice overhaul to the Spotify^[3] app. Though it has received less fanfare, the already-popular Songbird app on Android also just got a big update that’s worth mentioning.

With a new pink icon and grey/pink color scheme, the app now focuses a lot more on music discovery. Songbird will keep track of which songs you play and use the play counts to better recommend music to you on the Songbird.me^[4] web site. Songbird is keen to stress that their recommendations are truly based around what you already like or own, plus it’s really easy to share your favorites with friends.

Find more great Android games here^[5]

References

1. ^{^} Magic Piano (www.androidapps.com)
2. ^{^} Songkick Concerts (www.androidapps.com)
3. ^{^} Spotify (www.androidapps.com)
4. ^{^} Songbird.me (songbird.me)
5. ^{^} Find more great Android games here (www.androidapps.com)