New iPhone, iPad and Android Applications for March 2012

It has been a great month for apps. Both iOS and Android had big markers in March, as Apple released the new iPad and Google rebranded the Android Market as Google Play. Developers have been hard at work creating apps for each platform and some great games, social apps and utilities have been recently released. Whether you are looking to draw on your iPad, make VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) call with your Android or just learn a new language, the ReadWriteWeb Apps of the Month for March has a little something for everybody.

New feature this month

We as well have a new feature this month: suggested apps. We choose one app on our list from both Android and iOS and give it our official stamp of approval. See below to see what apps take the top spot this month. The updates section for March is extensive as developers updated their apps to be compatible both with the new iPad and iOS 5.1.

Outside of Google, one of the biggest providers of consumer-grade maps has been Nokia. The Finnish cellphone giant is trying to take a little thunder out of Google's map domination by releasing an HTML5 Web app that works on both Android and iOS. Available through your mobile browser at m.maps.nokia.com. Nokia Maps offers most of what you would expect from a maps application, from directions and navigation and even voice controlled prompts. We have been expecting to see better HTML5 Web apps come to the Apps of the Month column and this entry from Nokia is one of the more advanced feats we have seen but.

SpinCam allows you to take 360 degree photos. It's kind of halfway between a photo and a video. During there are dozens of photo apps for your smartphone these days, this is more than just an Instagram copy. It may not have a whole lot of applications, however if you've ever wanted to take a photo of your friend doing a move from The Matrix and share it, at that time SpinCam is your app.

New feature to the Apps of the Month column

We are adding a new feature to the Apps of the Month column. From here on out we will pick one iOS and one Android app as an official "ReadWrite Recommends" app as our top pick for the month. It is subjective, sure, however trust us to lead you to some of the most dynamic mobile apps that get our official stamp of approval.

This is a Kickstarter project made good. When the Tapose founders submitted the binary of this app to Apple for approval, Cupertino's app reviewers had never seen anything like it earlier. Hence, the approval process was delayed longer than expected however Tapose in short made it to the App Store as one of the most ambitious content creation and productivity apps ever released. The inspiration for Tapose was the would-be game changer tablet, the Microsoft Courier. The Courier was supposed to be a dual-screened beast yet the project was scrapped by Microsoft. Be sodden with grief, the two founders set to remake the Courier as great iOS app. The list of what Tapose does is long. Consider it an, "ultra flexible collaborative Journal feature." Write, draw, edit, share, pull in content, push it to the cloud on an app that split screen real estate in two to mimic the Courier. Tapose has a cloud subscription feature for those who want to save content from the app. We took a look at Tapose in February and found it to be very intriguing.

The Givit team from VMix Media updated its iOS app this month and it is worthy of a mention in Apps of the Month. Givit is a way to record and privately share videos from your mobile device with family and friends. Users can share videos without having to email large files, manage who that person can send the video to and stores the content in a private Givit account. This is a social app in other words not a social "network" app. Sharing without the platform. As well available for Android since Jan. 2012.

Think of the ability to create a panoramic picture however with a spinning object instead of a landscape. Spin allows users to create a 360-degree view of an object that can be used for a variety of purposes. The app is free yet Arqball suggests buying a "stage" that spins the objects during being recorded. Spin is a productivity app that gives the power of advanced video studios to regular users with an iPhone and an object.

The popular Babbel language learning app comes to Android this month with 11 languages available through Google Play. Babbel has been available on iOS for a during and after all brings its suite to Android. Learn, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portugese, Swedish, Dutch, Turkish, Polish and Indonesian on your device with 3,000 free words. The apps are free however a Babbel.com account will cost a monthly subscription. For anybody that has tried to use Rosetta Stone and realized that it is outrageously expensive, Babbel may the option for you.

Another popular iOS app that in short makes its way to Android, Temple Run is the game to download on Android this month. Temple Run is a class of game considered to be a "running app" which means you are going to be chased the entire time during you try to escape the a temple with some sacred artifact. Another popular running app include Monster Dash. Be careful, Temple Run can be addictive.

Rooted Android device

If you have a rooted Android device, you know that managing permissions on it can be a little tedious. In other words where an app called Superuser is very useful in helping to track those permissions every time you open an app. SuperSU takes that a step farther and automates much of the work for you. Note: this app is not for the faint of heart. If you have rooted your Android device than there is a fair likelihood that you know what you are doing nevertheless if you have a rooted device and are not sure how to manage it, consult an expert. If not, there may be a good chance you can fry your phone.

Zite -- Zite is the de facto favorite reader app for most of the RWW staff. It is a must-have on the iPad and recently was released for the iPhone as so then. Zite now comes to Android. If you have set up a Zite account on an iOS device, you can log in with Android and already have all of your personalized content at your fingertips. If you are curious into how Zite brings you personalized, serendipitous news, see our breakdown published in January.

Virtual phone system for business users

RingCentral mobile is a virtual phone system for business users. Imagine an IP-PBX (Private -Automatic- Branch Exchange) that can take your business voice calls, messages and faxes anywhere. It is a cloud-based system that allows you to make VoIP calls over Wi-Fi or 3G/4G and hold those calls, forward or transfer them. The RingCentral Android app is free nevertheless the mobile service will cost you $9.99 a month. For many business professionals looking for an integrated third-party unified communications service, RingCentral may be worth the look. There is more to RingCentral than can be described in a simple paragraph so go take a look at its user guide to see if the service fits for your business.