Regular readers of this blog know that I am a big fan of Android and I’m forever trying out new apops on my G1, which is sadly getting a bit tired now that faster beefier phones are out.  That said, it is still holding on just fine and the market is still offering me enough goodies to customise it to my needs.

Recently I got hold of two very nice apps that have come to the market as part of the Android Developer Challenge 2 (ADC2).  The challenge encourages innovation and challenges developers to push the boundaries a bit further with the Android Framework.

Hoccer and FlickIt Lite are two apps that are set to add something interesting to the mix.

Both apps have the same aim – transfer data between users without the aid of wires, yet both achieve this in very different ways and with interesting results.

Hoccer allows you to broadcast an object to a group of people or a single person by either flicking your phone like throwing a frizbee or tapping it respectively, the recipient simply flicks the phone up to catch the ‘thrown’ item.  The idea is simple and yet very effective.  They have a test website that allows you to pick an item from your PC and throw it to an area (say the area you are in) defined by a radius selected on a google map. as soon as you send it you should be able to flick your phone up and catch the item.

I don’t know exactly how this works but a best guess would be that Hoccer broadcasts the data in a short data burst that allows people to catch the data within the short lifespan of that data, and it is short, if you are too slow the data is gone.  Obviously this helps get round a security issue as you won’t want your data floating about in the ether forever waiting for someone to grab it.

FlickIt also allows you to send data to other users, but this time via GTalk.  To send data you simply pick the contacts from your Gtalk contact list, they get added to a desktop surface on your phone you then pick either a contact from your phonebook or a picture (I expect the choice will expand sometime in the future maybe), this gets added to the desktop surface too and you then simply Flick It onto your chosen contact to send it to them, like flicking a disk on an air hockey table.  If the recipient does not have FlickIt installed they get a message letting them know you tried to send them something and encouraging them to go get FlickIt.

Initially I thought the look and feel of the FLickIt was a little boring but after using it a bit it actually grew on me and I like it for what it is, a very handy and very functional product that just works.

I see Hoccer appealing to many people because of the neat, though risky, gimmick of frizbeeing data around to groups of people, on the website they suggest sending out PDF’s during a presentation as an example, and tapping data like contact details between two people adds functionality that the iPhone folks have too.

FlickIt adds to that by allowing you to send data wherever you are to any of your Gtalk friends wherever they are and doesn’t require excellent timing or the risk of sending your phone on a one way trip without you ;0)

I like them both as it means I can transfer contact details about effortlessly and it makes my G1 even more useful than it already is.

Both are available on the android market.

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