The age of the smartphone is upon us. In fact, it is estimated that the total number of mobile devices in circulation

will soon surpass the total population of the United States! Pretty incredible stuff, considering the first ever touchscreen

smartphone device hit the consumer market in 2000.

There are a number of benefits to everyone carrying a miniature computer around in their pocket these days. People are

more connected, productive, and enabled than ever before. Our personal favorite benefit of the growing popularity, is the

rise of the smartphone app. Phrases like "there's an app for that" quickly became engrained in pop culture, and became less

of a quirky joke and more of a reality.

With so many useless, or downright clunky apps available on the Android market, we wanted to take a look at five of our

current favorites.

Urban Spoon: This app is a great way to answer the age old question "What should we have for dinner?" Simply input your

location and Urban Spoon will quickly and easily help you find a great place to eat. One of our favorite features is you can

sort your recommendations by price, food type, and location. Great for traveling!

Shazam: Have you ever wondered what song was playing on the radio, just to have the DJ skip right along without saying

who it was? Never again with Shazam! This amazing sound matching technology will help you discover your favorite songs by

simply holding your phone as close to the speaker as you can. Give it a few seconds and it will display the results, along with

convenient links to listen to, or purchase the song. Incredible!

Price Check by Amazon: Stop paying too much on your shopping spree! By simply scanning the bar code, taking a photo, or

typing/talking into this app, you can quickly and easily check prices on over a million products. This is especially handy when

retailers offer a lowest price guarantee. Leave it to the folks at Amazon to help you save money, even when you are away from

your computer!

Lapse It: Unleash your creative side by making a beautiful time lapse video right from your phone! Capture anything from the

setting sun to speeding traffic with this easy to use app. This easy to use, fun app allows you to add video effects, capture

unlimited frames, and upload directly to YouTube or Facebook straight from your Android device!

Words With Friends: If you haven't at least heard of Words With Friends, you may have been hiding under a rock. In all

seriousness, this app from popular game developers Zynga, has literally taken the world by storm. Challenge your friends to

a colorful, Scrabble style word game, but be warned, it is addicting!

Until next time, enjoy!