Free and Bargain Apps for 1/6

Now that the weekend is here we can kick off our shoes and relax a little. To start off with some pleasure reading, David Pogue has a fantastic article debunking all of those teardown analyses stating the cost of the Kindle Fire or iPad or what-have-you. He's absolutely right to say that so much more goes into these devices than just the bits of hardware. Software, shipping, marketing, hours and months and years worth of work went into them too. So the next time someone says Amazon is taking a loss of a few dollars on the Fire, tell them that's not even close.

A nice new addition to the lineup of parental control apps out there, Smart App Protector lets you password protect certain apps, making it easy to hand off your Fire to kids or anyone else. Big thanks to Billy Crow on Facebook for tipping us off about this!

Name: Smart App Protector
Rating: 4.8 stars over 4 reviews
Price: 1.50
Description: Protect your Android device from prying eyes with Smart App Protector by Sputnik. Smart App Protector allows users to register certain applications to be password protected--keep your photos, messages, call history, and other areas secure. You can also set certain apps to prevent the screen from turning off when they are active, as well as block your device's auto-adjust for landscape and portrait orientation. Turn your settings on and off easily with the included home screen widget and notification bar.

Get your copy of Smart App Protector!

This next one is a texting app that similar to others we've featured on here before, but this one is specially designed from creating and sending little drawings. I'm not sure how that works on the Fire, but check it out!

Name: Doodle Text
Rating: 4.3 stars over 25 reviews
Price: 0.00
Description: Doodle Text! allows you to send free SMS and MMS multimedia text messaging. The e-mail messaging provides picture image quality to the recipient receiving your doodle messages. Use this app to send funny caricatures, drawing on top of your pictures, mustaches, funny talk bubbles, annotate with funny remarks your favorite basketball, baseball, football, or other sports photos. You can also chat in a fun way with all your friends and family. You can even create your very own custom greeting cards for that special someone.

Get your free copy of Doodle Text!

As for this last app, I'm not sure I've ever seen such a highly rated game with so many reviews in my life. There are 410 of them, and only 14 are below 4-stars! How could so many people be wrong? Check this game out now for free!

Name: Castle of Shadows
Rating: 4.9 stars over 410 reviews
Price: 0.00
Description: Castle of Shadows is a challenging fantasy action game for your Android device. The app features powerful weapons, magnificent skills, smooth operation, and high-quality graphics.

After the end of war, devils built a castle to dominate mankind. They want to wage war again! A hero is born to save the world...redemption or doom, it's all in your hands!

Get your free copy of Castle of Shadows!