How do you compete with free ?

With free.

With better.

I think they're preloading the 'suggested' photos and data.

for how long ?

I don't see Android overtaking iOS paid downloads anytime soon. The customer core is much different (I'm talking average Joe) and the Android market is a cluster... for many reasons.

This might change with the Kindle Fire though, and I actually expect that market to grow very quickly. Question is, does that count?

cyanogen on Desire HD

Go dev team suite: - Go launcher Ex : great customizable launcher with lots of themes and great transition effects http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5LISE8BU_E - Go dialer Ex, Go contacts ex , Go sms : themable contacts and messages apps. Using the dark theme for both - Go twitter widget : nice twitter widget (transparent theme) - Go calendar widget : click on a day to see the details of that day (transparent theme) - Go keyboard: nice keyboard with lots of themes, and swype input - fancy widgets (free) : the clock/weather widgets. Get the MIUI themes.tried beautiful widget but didn't like it.

- Juice defender lite : great app for reducing power usage.turns off radios(wifi/data, but can still receive calls) when screen is locked, and turns them back on regularely(every 15min). Didn't try the premium/ultimate versions.

- 2 player reactor: very fun multiplayer game. nice to play in a bar. gets harder with every beer ;)

- Grocery smart: shopping list app that sync with the web(http://www.grocerysmart.net/).

- TuneIn radio: lots of webradios from many different countries

- my data manager: monitor how much data your apps are consuming

- Google sky: nice app for astonomy lovers. point it at the sky, and it tells you what starts/planets you're looking at. mostly an app to impress other people. - Google goggles : take a pic of something and your phone will analyse it to detect what it is. tested on monuments in paris. works well enough.like google skyp,mostly used to impress people, no practical use.

- yata: simple countdown timer

-Google reader/ gReader for rss feeds. I think the google app is good enough. gReader brings more features to the table. Try the free version (ad supported) or 5$ for the full version.

-Brilliant quotes: nice widget to show some inspiring/funny quotes.

-Changelog droid: keep track of what's changed in your apps after every update.

-Spotify (subscription 10$/month): music app.supports offline playlists.works on windows/mac/linux.can use the desktop client to choose which playlist will be available on your phone.can play songs already on the phone.nice widget.

-imo.im : good im client. you can start a conversation on your phone, and then continue the conversation on your pc if you go to their site. http://imo.im. iOs clients available too. -Trillian: switched to this im client for their features. continuous chat like imo.im but with a nice windows client and your chat logs get automatically saved to the cloud ( requires subscription)