As Turkey Day approaches, so does the arrival of the much-dreaded shopping season with its onslaught of store "deals" and half-sales competing to pry you away from your hard-earned cash. But if you're anything like me, then you probably still haven't even gotten your Christmas shopping strategy together yet. That means venturing off into the unknown and hoping that you won't get ripped off too badly.

But this year I made a commitment to myself to get my act together and shop sensibly. Armed with my trusty iPhone 4S, I managed to compile a list of apps that will allow me to find the best deals on presents without dipping into my life savings once again.

Arm yourself with these apps and you, too, will be ready to tackle the shopping frenzy with these trusty discount trackers.

1. Flipp

Save money by browsing flyers from your favorite stores across the U.S. and Canada on your mobile devices. Flipp (iOS) is a beautifully designed app that puts the best sales right at your fingertips. Check out selections from popular brands and retailers. Set your favorite stores for quicker navigation or clip out deals on things to purchase at a later date. My favorite feature is the discount slider that lets you narrow down the best deal based ... [Read more]

With Thanksgiving planning upon us, Hanukkah starting tomorrow, and the rest of the holidays right around the corner, there's a lot of pressure to cook, bake, and show up to events bearing food and drinks. Luckily, all the recipes and drink suggestions you could ever need can fit on your Android phone, thanks to a plethora of cooking apps in the Play Store.

From the many options out there, I've uncovered three of the most useful Android apps that can help you prepare a fabulous meal no matter if you're a pro in the kitchen or barely know your way around a whisk.

Editors' note: For iOS cooking apps, check out Jason Parker's holiday roundup.

Find all the recipes you could ever want on In the Kitchen.

Food Network In the Kitchen (Free) With its extensive database of recipes and general food knowledge, it's hard to go wrong with the Food Network. The Web site and TV channel's mobile app, In the Kitchen, makes it simple to browse and search for recipes by keyword or dish type, such as appetizer or drink. If you're like me and have a favorite Food Network chef (mine's Alton Brown), you can also browse recipes straight from their kitc... [Read more]

Montage CEO and co-founder Andrew Laffoon

Google's Dart programming language, an attempt to outdo JavaScript for writing Web apps, has had a polarizing effect on the Web.

Mozilla and Microsoft don't like it, preferring to focus on improvements to the incumbent technology, JavaScript. But Google, which just released Dart 1.0, aims to speed up Web-based software and the programmers who write it.

One company, Mixbook, which is firmly in the pro-Dart camp, is betting on Dart with a service that stands to offer millions of dollars in annual revenue.

"Google has set up a perfect storm for a new language," said Mixbook co-founder and Chief Executive Andrew Laffoon. The company picked Dart to power Montage, its new online tool for creating photo books, after comparing it to JavaScript and Microsoft's TypeScript, which extends JavaScript with more advanced programming options.

The Dart debate may seem like something only coders need to care about, but it affects anyone who uses the Web.

Annoyed at how primitive a Web ... [Read more]

Google is now letting developers get their hands (and eyes) on Glass.

The search giant on Monday sent out invitations to developers to purchase Google Glass. Google hasn't said how many developers were included or whether the offer will be extended to more developers.

The move follows the company's recent launch of its Glass Development Kit. Google has also offered its Mirror application programming interface to developers who want to create apps for the hardware.

CNET has contacted Google for more details. We will update this story when we have more information.

(Via Engadget)

[Read more]