Top 10 Android business apps

Cab4Me Free

Staying with location-based apps, Cab4Me enables you to find the number of a local cab firm based on where you are at the time using the power of Google Maps. This could prove very handy when you've just stepped out of a late night business meeting and you don't really know where you are. It can automatically detect where you are, but in the event of a poor GPS signal you can give it a location, in case you do know where you are. Also, if you're planning ahead, it will pick up an address from your contacts. Once you've located a company, you can see reviews of that firm from other users and then call them directly once you've made your choice.

ServerUP $2.99

This is one for the IT manager in a business ServerUP simply enables you to check the status of your network and web servers. If your office network goes down, you'll know about it before you get a panicked/angry call from your boss. It works over 3G and Wi-Fi and Ping, Trace Route, and WhoIs are all supported. You can even set how often you're sent updates. If you're SysAdmin for your company, this is a must-have little app.

Stocks Free

Like to keep up with your stock options? Don't we all. However, while the iPhone has a stock market app built in by default Android does not. Stocks, from Japanese developer Dato looks to remedy that, with a simple straightforward application that gets the job done.

The data, as with so many things, comes from Google, so if that's not your preferred source you'll have to look elsewhere. We like Stocks as despite being free it supports most of the world markets, unlike some of the other trading apps available .

Hello Expense Free

Thanks to our esteemed elected political representatives, keeping tight tabs on your expenses is very much on people's minds these days. Therefore a simple, easy to use, does what it should application, like Hello Expense is highly recommended. It might be oddly named but otherwise it fits the bill nicely. It can even export to CSV for when you need to total things up in Excel.

Nimbuzz

Nimbuzz is a combined messaging app that supports pretty much all major instant messaging platforms Windows Live Messenger, AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo!, ICQ, Facebook and Skype are all covered and more. Skype gives it the advantage over rival Android apps, and in particular means there's no need for the official Skype Lite app which many use just for chat as it doesn't support free VoIP calls. Nimbuzz works over Wi-Fi and 3G networks and will run in the background so that you can do other things and still stay connected, displaying notifications on your home screen when you get a message. It can feel a little bloated though, so if you don't need Skype chat then eBuddy might be a better way to go.

Benny Har-Even

Benny Har-Even is a twenty-year stalwart of technology journalism who is passionate about all areas of the industry, but telecoms and mobile and home entertainment are among his chief interests. He has written for many of the leading tech publications in the UK, such as PC Pro and Wired, and previously held the position of technology editor at ITPro before regularly contributing as a freelancer.

Known affectionately as a ‘geek’ to his friends, his passion has seen him land opportunities to speak about technology on BBC television broadcasts, as well as a number of speaking engagements at industry events.