If you are unfamiliar with the phrase ‘Augmented Reality,’ aka A.R. you’d best learn it before 2011.

This application is a prime example of Augmented Reality, and is almost enough to make me want to switch from Android to iPhone.  Almost.

Are you ready for the next decade?

Usually we try to bring to light any application which might be useful for a nerd to install on his/her phone, but today let’s discuss something different:  spyware and malware.

There is a traditional snake game in the Android Market called ‘Tap Snake,’ which is part of a ruse to spy on your whereabouts.

The premise is pretty simple:  

1. Install ‘Tap Snake,’ on an individual’s phone (would obviously have to be someone who trusts you, perhaps a mate you think is cheating?)
2. Install a separate application called ‘GPS Spy’ on your device, and configure it with the same code as the one used to register ‘Tap Snake.’
3. Use ‘GPS Spy’ to see where the ‘Tap Snake’ phone travels for a week at a time, in 15 minute intervals.

In my opinion, you should never trust makers of spyware to begin with, and should probably avoid both of these applications.  Android fans are already speculating that Google will soon pull these applications from the Android Market.

But in the meantime, if you like snake games (and I know you do), avoid ‘Tap Snake,’ since even if no one has the matching ‘GPS Spy’ application installed, your data is still being collected and stored by a company that develops spyware.  Additionally, the application never really closes, and auto-launches every time you start your phone.  GPS is a drain on the battery in the first place, and having it run all the time would absolutely suck.

To be completely frank, my inclination when downloading applications to my phone, is to stick with reputable manufacturers, and if I need to stray from that, applications with positive reviews, and many of them (say 5000+).

Am I just being too paranoid about sharing my personal information?

Having had a Motorola Droid for a few months now, I’ve sampled my fair share of applications-all of which have been free to download, and I’ve purchased a couple of full versions after trying them. One thing they’ve had in common is they all came from the Android Market—until now.

A fellow nerd encouraged me to open my Droid to third-party downloads, something I’ve been reluctant to do. Being that the Android OS is open source, I feel the opportunity for a breach or virus is a legitimate concern, and haven’t found any reason to risk infection or worse, especially since many free applications are absolute garbage.

That said, I ventured outside my comfort-zone with a little coaxing, and I’m glad I did. I downloaded Swype, and to say I’m impressed is an understatement. The keyboard is easy to figure out, and the best part is it works well one-handed. The predictive text is pretty good at ciphering what I’m trying to say, and I don’t consider myself exceptionally coordinated. There have been a few instances where I have switched back to the regular android keyboard (usually if I am using a lot of non-words, like a ticker symbol), but I always find myself switching back.

The more I use the Swype keyboard, the faster and more accurate I become with it. It feels partly because I’m more proficient as I use it, but also it seems to be learning a little, especially as I add words to the dictionary. (Press and hold the correctly spelled word to find the option to do this).

In summary, I’m really impressed with the Swype application, and even more so, since it is still in beta. Droid-X will come with Swype as a native application.  I can’t wait to see if it gets even better.

NOTE:  I blogged this on my phone, while sitting on a flight :-)