Yes folks, if you’re running Android 1.6 or above then you should head to the Market and update your Google Maps as you will find that they are now much more bike friendly and there are a few other nifty features too.

As all you cyclists will know, not all roads are particularly friendly for bikes and if you’re tired of almost being flattened by lorries then try the new bicycle directions feature which will highlight any road with bike lanes in green as well as show you bike-only routes in a darker green colour.

As well as finding you a less stressful route to work Google Maps will also let you share your location by sending your location to any others via email, text or via third-party apps. Rather handy if you’ve gotten lost on a walk in the country and need to be rescued by your friends isn’t it?

There’s also the Google Navigation Shortcut feature which has now been moved from the depths of the menu onto an optional homescreen shortcut which will take you directly to the Navigation feature and now has one-click access to directions either by speaking or typing in your contact name, destination or recent destinations.

Yes, you can now translate English, French, Italian, German and Spanish language text with Google Goggles v.1.1 for mobile phones with Android 1.6 and higher.

As far as apps go the Google Goggles format is pretty simple and features a point and shoot type action, where you can point and shoot at a word or phrase by drawing a box around your chosen snippet and taking a photo of it. The rather nifty app will then run through Google and if it is recognizes then you can select the translation button after defining you language and the language you wish it to be translated into.

Google have gone so far as to update the app with enhances photo recognition as well as barcode recognition, which will help in identifying things like logos and product.

There are endless applications for Google Goggles – found something and don’t know what it is? Run it through Goggles and see what it comes up with. On holiday and want to eat with the locals but can’t read the menu? Lost in a foreign country and want to figure out where you are? It might be hit and miss sometimes but that’s all part of the fun.

Ebuddy

Starting with the basics this rather nifty little app will handle all of you IM needs and will work with MSN, Gtalk, AIM and ICQ amongst others. The interface is user-friendly and attractive and makes the whole business of chatting so much easier.

Google Goggles

Google bring together their new OS with their legendary search skills and this is one smart little app that will analyse photos and will then search its databases to help you compare prices and will also help you to identify unknown objects. It can be a bit temperamental but then again that makes it all the more fun. It is also hoped that you will soon be able to take pictures of text and then translate it too but there are no details of this yet.

Talk to Me

Talking of translation, this is a handy app which can translate either the text you input or your speech and then translate it into over 40 different languages as well as repeat your translations back to you. It’s as simple as Google’s translation tool online and all you need to do is input the text, choose the language and then hit the green button to start the speech recognition. This could be a handy app for those travelling abroad or are hoping to learn a new language.

Shazam

Ok, so this isn’t exactly new but it is rather fun! Listening to a song and can’t remember what it is or who sung it? Power up Shazam and it will identify the song for you and will also link you to places where you can buy it if you feel the need!

Android Lightsaber

For all you star wars fans out there this is the ultimate app for anyone who’s ever wanted to wield a lightsaber. The app is officially sanctioned by LucasArts and lets you channel the force by selecting one of five characters (Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Mace Windu, Master Yoda or a Sentinel Jedi) who each have a different coloured lightsaber and then tap the screen to unleash your deadly weapon.

Cue lightsaber sound effects when you swing and move your handset and it will flash and crackle. Turn on the epic one-click music for a true battle feeling. Perfect for defeating those invisible foes or perhaps when with other like-minded Jedi’s.

London will be home to the headquarters of the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC) which will include O2, Vodafone, Nokia and Orange who are aiming to work together or producing a platform for apps which would be downloadable across all networks and phones.

The WAC are hoping that the group, which now has over 40 members, will be able to produce a working platform that will be completed before the end of 2010 and will let them introduce it across all brands and ranges of phone, thus creating a formidable competition in the app market for the likes of Apple and Google.

Since the launch of the iPhone the demand for apps has grown significantly and with Android phones now accessing them as well, it is understandable that the networks want to cash in on the app market as well.

Apple has sold over 3 billion apps on their iTunes platform in the past 18 months alone and with the introduction of more and more Android handsets, which will appeal to all levels of mobile users, the WAC are seeking to creating a balance in the app markets.

For those of you that don’t know Glee is a new TV show that has fast become a hit, with pretty much everyone actually, it’s almost impossible not to like its cheery outbursts of song and complicated yet completely transparent characters.

So if you’re a bit of a singing fan and fancy forming your very own Glee club or if you just want to have a bit of a sing-song then this is the app for you.

The Glee Experience app lets you download some of the songs featured in Glee and then you sing along with the lyrics, you can even set pitch control or auto-harmonizing to polish your performance, or just sing as you normally would.

But the real fun comes from the Smuleverse where you can share your recordings with friends or the whole of the Smuleverse if you wish. You can listen to other performances and add your voice to theirs or you can create your very own Glee clubs and perform tracks with your friends, or those with similar tastes to yours.

Smule will help you to harmonize all of your voices so they work well together in the performances and you can share them via social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook too if you like.

So if you fancy indulging your inner Gleek and belting out a few tunes then this is the app for you, it’s fun and original and highly addictive (a bit like the show itself!)

The news could come as a blow to satnav manufacturers who could see sales drop and thousands of Android customers use their phones as a satnav rather than investing in a sole satnav model.

The new service will run on Android 1.6 or above and can be found in the Google Maps app. The free service will offer regular map updates, street view and satellite view as well as estimate journey times and voice prompts to tell you when to turn. As well as this, the application will automatically switch to street view at the end of your journey to guide you to your exact location, which is something that many satnav’s do not feature.

The free service will also be at an advantage in being directly linked to Google search, so if you’re in need of a specific location, local business or the nearest petrol station then you can also search for these.

There’s always a downside of course; although you can pre-download the route you’re taking, the service will not pre-load the entire regional map, so it will still work best with a constant connection, which could lead to a massive drain on your phones battery.

It also only features routes for cars so cyclists and walkers are out of luck for now, but there should be an upgrade coming soon.

Warner Bros have already signed up for the service which is good news for movie fans. HTC Desire customers will be able to download two free movies in the first month and can choose from titles including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Hangover and Interview With The Vampire.

The movies can be watched via your PC or on your HTC mobile phone and you can watch them for 48 hours after download. The Video-On-Demand (VOD+) service will then start charging for downloads, with older movies being priced at £2.49 a film and £3.49 for newer films.

Nicola Shenton, the head of handset and device marketing at T-Mobile said: “We anticipate the Desire being one of our most popular handsets of 2010 and the VOD+ service makes it even greater value for our customers.”

It will be interesting to see how popular the service is but with newer titles gradually being added by the likes of Warner Bros it could well prove popular with film buffs who want new movies on the go.

Apple founder Steve Jobs stepped into the limelight to demonstrate some of the multitasking capabilities of the 4.0 OS which should see users have an altogether smoother experience.

Jobs said that they hoped the new functions would make an impact, despite not being by any means the first developer to display these capabilities and he said it was going to be the best “just like cut and paste.”

As part of the new multitasking skills of the iPhone OS you will be able to play music using your Spotify application, while still surf the web and you will also be able to control your music even if your homescreen is locked, so handy for those on the move!

You can also receive instructions from your satnav application, even if you’re listening to music and you can constantly have apps like Skype running in the background so you care constantly connected, and will just receive a notification when someone calls you.

If you’re uploading pictures via an app like Flickr you should also be able to leave it running while you move onto another task. Faster switching between apps and an auto-save feature should also speed up the processes.

Not only that, but Apple is adamant this will all occur without putting a dent in your battery power – so far so good.

Of course there’s always a downside and unfortunately this applies to 3G S and 3^rd generation iPod touches, so all you 3G owners out there will miss out on the new features which is a tad upsetting. iPad owners can also expect to access 4.0 this summer.

Co-pilot Live UK and Ireland

This is one app that will make a mean rival for the TomTom iPhone app, not to mention the fact that it’s a whopping £33 cheaper as well. The multitouch screen will obviously ensure that you don’t get lost on your travels but more than that it is also regularly updated and has live traffic updates so you don’t get caught in a traffic jam.  You can also play and control your trips music from within the app via the iPod functionality. So why not make your trips a little easier? This is a great option for those without a fully fledged sat-nav, but make sure you invest in an in-car charger for your iPhone as it will drain the battery rather quickly.

Jamie’s 20 Minute Meals

The iPhone has an app for anything so if you’re wanting to decide on something for your dinner then this rather good app from Jamie Oliver is one for all you budding cooks out there. The premise of the app is to show people how to create healthy and fresh meals in twenty minutes, rather than people opting for ready meals or that indulgent takeout. There are ten categories to choose from including pasta dishes, curries, soups and salads. The app is clearly laid out and has pretty pictures for each step of the way so it should turn out the way it looks on the screen.

RunKeeper Pro

This is one nifty little app for all you runners out there or indeed any wannabe runners who are thinking of getting into it. The GPS tracker will let you know where you’ve run (or done any other activity that takes you from one place to another), how long it took and the route you took. You can also view your entire history, complete with maps so you can track your performance and see if you are getting any better at it! You do need to take the iPhone with you, but you can get a number of cases that will attach to your clothing, so there’s no excuse!

Spotify

Well actually this technically is a 2009 app but seeing as it’s so popular and rather nifty it can certainly have a place on the list. This music streaming app let’s you access over 4 million songs and create personal playlists for when you’re on the move. The Spotify app is well designed, easy to use and lets you share your playlists with other users. You can stream music immediately via 3G which is super speedy and works well. Not only that but you can also play over 3,000 songs offline when you have no Wi-Fi connection! Yes, ok you have to pay but for access to a massive song library that you can access most of even when you’re offline, we say it’s worth it!

2010 World Cup

So, you might be a huge football fan or perhaps not. But if you, your partner or your friends are fans then this is the app to help you get all the info you’ll ever need for this year’s World Cup championship. This unofficial app features regular live updates and you can easily flick between different groups as well as knockout stages to follow any team you like.

The Digg app is designed to let users look at the most popular stories floating about on the web, as voted for by Digg’s millions of users.

The app will let you browse and search for content and you can bookmark pages as you go through, so that you can come back and read them later if you’re in a hurry.

In order to vote on the Digg app however, you will need to be logged into your Digg account (or indeed create one) and the stories that are most Dugg can be searched by category or by keyword.

The app (which is free) has been available since Wednesday in Apple’s European store according to an Apple spokesperson and will be available on the US store very soon as well.

Digg will also be releasing a new app for the Android platform and will also continue to improve the iPhone app by collating user feedback.

There’s also a handy share function which will allow users to send the stories via Twitter or Facebook.

No doubt the millions of Digg users will already be downloading the app and Digg might well see a fair few more people signing up to access news on the go, it’s a nifty little app and it will be interesting to see how the developers improve it in the future.