Looking for some cool apps for your Android phone? Google's Android phone OS is just a couple of years old but has already captured users' minds. And in the less that 18 months since the launch of the Android App Market, more than 30 000 applications for the platform have been added to the marketplace. This is not nearly as many as Apple's iPhone app store but it is increasing rapidly.

Android is maturing, both for developers and consumers. Will it dominate the mobile market? 2010 may bring the answer. Two years ago I began writing a book about writing applications for Android. Back then, most people had not heard of Android — in fact, unless you’re a phone-geek or a Linux fan, you may still not have heard of Android.

According to AndroLib, Google's Android Market for mobile applications has surpassed 100,000 applications, although Google's most recent numbers from mid-July put the figure closer to 70,000

Google just wrapped its Android Developer Challenge, with judges awarding $25,000 for each of the 50 best applications created. No one can be sure whether these apps will catch fire and gain traction when Android handsets hit the market later in 2008, but here is a sample of what to expect.

I am on a quest to rid the android market of certain apps. For the past year I have seen the Android Market fill up with apps of lascivious and copyrighted content.

Google will give $10 million to the developers who build the best applications for Android, the open source platform Google designed for building mobile phones. Google says it hopes to spark innovation with the so-called Android Developer Challenge, announced today concurrently with the release of Android. The software development kit is now available for download on the Android site.

The Android Market features a few tethering applications, so it should be easy to use your Android phone as a wireless modem.

Google's Android OS has been pretty well received thus far, and the presence of the Market, where users can download applications, has fared pretty well except it has missed one thing: paid-for apps.

Android's been around for more than a year, and in that time developers have whipped up some great apps. Whether you're a new Android owner or a pro looking for new tools, these 10 great and free apps belong in your arsenal.