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From keeping track of workouts to keeping track of your groceries, here are the Android apps worth downloading

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Pulse is a free app that presents your favourite web sites in one place, in a colourful and interactive mosaic. Tap on a headline to see the story laid out in a clear and readable format. Discovering new sources is easy; Pulse features new publishers each week, and you can also search for news by key words. When you find something interesting, it takes just two taps to share via email, Facebook, or Twitter. If you don't have time to read, you can send stories to Evernote, Instapaper, and Read it Later. No Internet? No problem. Pulse loads the news stories you read, and makes them available even when you're offline.

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Seesmic (free) Facebook and Twitter have dedicated apps for Android phones. Seesmic gives you both in one app, plus the ability to manage multiple accounts for each social network. Features include full integration with Facebook, including account management and posting to any Facebook pages you administer, and a full-featured Twitter client with everything you need to manage multiple Twitter accounts. Seesmic also supports Salesforce Chatter, the enterprise social network, and Google Buzz (which was recently folded into Google+). See seesmic.com for more features and options, including web synchronization and integration of your social network accounts.

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Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro ($4.18) Endomondo is a sports tracker app that goes with you when you run, cycle, or play. It's like having a personal trainer or fitness partner with you, measuring your progress and challenging you to do better. The free version of Endomondo includes real time GPS tracking of your time, distance, and speed on a map. Your history is saved (with lap times) so you can compete against yourself or against a friend. News feeds show which of your friends are currently active, and keep a record of your friends' latest activities. Endomondo works with popular exercise monitor accessories including Wearlink+ (for running) and ANT+ (for cycling). An optional profile at Endomondo.com gives you further analysis, statistics, social challenges and sharing features. The Pro version of Endomondo adds several premium features including graphs and analysis of your activity, audio coaching to help you compete with your previous workouts, and a low power mode that increases battery standby time.

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Glympse (free) Glympse is a safe way to share your location in real time. Running late? Send a Glympse message to let family and friends know where you are, and track your progress. No signup or special account is required. Glympse can send messages using email, SMS, Facebook, or Twitter. Your location is only known to people you contact, and only for a set period of time. When your Glympse message expires, your location is no longer visible.

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PowerAMP Music Player ($4.99) PowerAMP is a music player that adds many features missing from the basic Android music player. PowerAMP supports multiple types of music files including open source OGG and FLAC files. PowerAMP gives you a 10 band equalizer, separate bass and treble controls, gapless playback, and optional crossfade playback. You can play songs from folders and from the system media library. PowerAMP downloads missing album art and comes with themes or skins you can use to customize its look and feel. Download the trial version of PowerAMP for free, then buy the PowerAMP unlocker ($4.99) to get all features.

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Out of Milk Shopping List Pro ($4.99) Out of Milk is a shopping list, pantry list, and To Do list maker, all in one handy app. When you use Out of Milk, your lists are always in your pocket. Features include multiple shopping and To Do lists, the ability to scan or manually enter items on your lists, and a shopping list history that remembers what you've bought before and how much you paid. (You can copy and paste items from one list to another.) Out of Milk Pro costs $4.99 and includes web storage, backup, and synchronization of your lists, plus a coupon tracker and list sharing (so more than one person can edit your lists). If you don't need these features you can get the basic version of Out of Milk for free.

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Quickoffice Pro ($19.99) Quickoffice Pro makes it possible to open and edit Microsoft Office documents from anywhere, at any time, right on your Android phone. Create, view, and edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations in the file manager. Open and save files from Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net, Huddle, SugarSync, or from your SD card. Sort files and folders by name, type, size, or date to easily rename, copy, or delete them. Searching for files gives results for your phone and your connected storage accounts. Quickoffice also works with PDF and Zip files, so you can open and work with files that might not otherwise be accessible. You can download Quickoffice for free to try it out. When you're ready, upgrade to Quickoffice Pro for $19.99.

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RedLaser Barcode and QR Scanner (free) This app never fails to impress. Point your phone's camera at a barcode or QR code and push the button. RedLaser will look up and identify the product, then provide useful information about it. Scan with RedLaser while shopping for TVs to compare prices. Scan grocery items to pull up nutritional facts and food allergy information. RedLaser recognizes UPC codes, QR codes, and more. Just point and scan. RedLaser also offers a software development kit, so other people can use RedLaser technology in their apps. See RedLaser.com for details.

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Score Mobile (free) You want sports news? This is the app for you. Get real time scores, breaking news and updates from all major leagues, college sports, mixed martial arts, and more. Score Mobile gives you quick access to live stats, game videos and blogs. Coverage includes hockey (NHL), football (NFL, NCAAF, CFL), basketball (NBA, WNBA, NCAAB, NCAAWB), baseball (MLB), PGA golf, MMA (UFC, Strikeforce), auto racing (NASCAR Sprint Cup, F1), tennis, cricket (ICC and IPL), and soccer (EPL/Premiership, Champions League, Serie A, La Liga, MLS). Footie fans should also check out ScoreMobile FC, an app that focuses on The Beautiful Game.

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Shazam Encore ($4.99) Shazam Encore is the quickest way to discover more about music. Hold up your phone when you hear a song and press the Shazam button. The app listens, then identifies the track, displaying the artist and song name on the screen. You can then check out videos, get the lyrics, share with friends, and even buy the song right from your phone. The free version of Shazam displays ads. This premium version, Shazam Encore, is ad-free and includes LyricPlay, a feature that displays lyrics while the song is playing.

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