Android is taking the books and the teachers out of music lessons. The newest way to learn music – via your cell phone (as long as you have Android).

Among the first of many Android applications is SplashPlay Mobile Music Maker, an instrument learning and music sharing tool. Wherever your phone goes, SplashPlay goes with you to learn, listen or share music anywhere. Right now, guitar is the only instrument compatible with the software. Continued after the break.

In what has to be the worst name ever for any app, not just Android, Wikitude by Mobilizy offers something extremely unique: augmented reality. In addition to being a POI (point of interest) search companion, the tool makes use of all the on-board hardware on the G1: GPS, accelerometer, data connection, camera among others. In my opinion, this is the coolest thing on the G1 phone.

The remarkable augmented reality is basically like looking through a pair of binoculars that identifies landmarks and provides snippets of information from Wikipedia about them (video below). Imagine you are traveling through Europe, as you are prone to do, and whip out your G1 and activate Wikitude which tells you the bar you are drinking in was visited by Napoleon. Instantly, you’ve got your own tour guide.

See what else this cool piece of software does.

With the release of the iPhone App Store and the Android Market, a lot of apps are trying to become the next social networking app. E-ventr for Android tries to accomplish this goal by managing your free time. With E-ventr you can create ope events, or join open events that your friends that are attempting to do something.

Sure, E-ventr requires everyone else to have the same app, which as of now means they also need to have a G1 phone. So, assuming that is the case, you’ll be able to coordinate events easily.

For many people, the G1 isn’t even so much about the phone as about the apps. And one of the cool applications the G1 sports is called “Breadcrumbzs.” Remember Hansel and Gretel? Following the trail? Well, hopefully this one won’t lead you into a oven to be eaten by some big-nosed witch, Halloween right around the corner or not. But, it does sort of work the same way…well, if Hansel and Gretel would have had a G1 complete with camera phone that is.

With Breadcrumbz, you take pictures with the camera phone to give directions. You can add tags or little arrows or other signs to help direct your viewer. You can also use voice markers. The program uses GPS, Google Maps, and, of course, your phone’s camera to map the route. Keep reading for more after the break.

LifeAware, a new app for the Android OS, is a locator service that allows users to create a network to keep tabs on the locations of friends and family and share their own. Once created, LifeAware provides the last known location of anyone in it, even if their cell phone is off or out of range.

Another feature, sure to be popular with parents, is the ability to create “safety zones.” Once someone enters or leaves the designated zone, the user is notified. For example, a parent could set up a child’s school as such a zone and would be notified when that child arrives at or leaves that area. Bad news for any kid thinking of skipping school! Users can also share their locations with members of their network and tag places they visit. More after the break.

With the amount of available Google Android Apps out there, it is important that you know what each app does and how it works. I was looking through a list of Android Apps and one that I found particularly interesting was Compare Everywhere.

I’m not that big of a shopper, but when I buy something big such as a TV, laptop, or a MP3 player, I like to compare the prices to find out where I can get the best deal. Sometimes, I am already out looking for something I really need, and I don’t have the time to research to find the best prices, and here is where Compare Everywhere would come in handy.

Basically, the purpose of Compare Everywhere is to help you, the shopper, find the best deal around on a certain item. For example purposes, let’s say you are interested in buying some new Nike shoes. You would begin buy pointing your camera at the barcode. Once the picture is saved into your phone, you access the barcode picture within the App itself and you can compare the price from the store you are in to stores nearby. Then, you can even call the store directly, or use the GPS in the G1 to find directions to that store. More after the break.