A free Android app every day at Amazon's Appstore!

Yesterday, Amazon launched their new Android Appstore (that's a lot of A words!), which gives Android smartphone-havers an easy way to browse, try out, and download apps within the familiar Amazon interface.

To encourage people to come and check it out, they're giving away a different free paid app every day! Yesterday it was Angry Birds Rio, which I downloaded successfully. Today it's some poker game, which is less interesting to me.

The process is a bit convoluted: when you go to the appstore home on Amazon and click "Get app," it will ask for your email or cellphone number, and send you a link to the appstore app download. You need to have your Mobile 1-click Amazon settings turned on, even to "buy" a free app, but once you've done that, it works pretty seamlessly.

What will you download for your Android phone?

Virgin Mobile Slash $29 at Walmart.com.

OK, I know this may not be relevant to you fancy iPhone and BlackBerry owners, but Walmart has a special deal on the pay-as-you-go Virgin Mobile Samsung Slash. It's $29 + $0.97 shipping, which is a remarkable discount off the $79 price tag on Virgin's website.

If you're holding out for the texter-friendly XTC or Rumor2, I bet there will be holiday markdowns a-coming, so hang in there.

20% off Virgin Mobile phones through August 9.

Just in case you're a cheapskate Virgin Mobile pre-paid cellphone user like me: Virgin is having a 20% off sale on six of their pre-paid phones through August 9. Just enter the promo code “EXTRA20” on the checkout page and click “redeem.”Your 20% discount will be applied to your shopping cart.

Of course, I'm still using the same trusty clamshell I've had for almost 3 years now, which I realize makes me an embarrassingly antiquated anomaly among consumers. What can I say, I watched that horrifying documentary about disfigured and sickened Chinese disposal workers scrounging through heaps of electronic trash to strip out wires and components, and vowed to use my phone until it broke...

Energizer Energi To Go® phone charger, $-0.01.

Attention, Motorola and Blackberry owners: have you ever had your phone die on you at a crucial moment, and wished with all your heart that you had just a SMIDGE of extra power to help you make that essential call? The AA-battery-powered Energi to Go can make that happen for you in a pinch.

Click here for the offer page and a list of compatible phone types. Use coupon code: Energi2009 to get free shipping. Once you've received the item, there will be a keyword and serial number in the package, and you'll take a short survey and get a $10 rebate. The charger is $9.99, the rebate is $10, so you're actually making a penny on this deal.

This might be a handy thing to tuck into your glove box or your bag, in case you're traveling or on the road when your phone unexpectedly dies. The last time my phone died completely, I was stuck in a parking lot with a dead car battery, frantically trying to get AAA on the phone, and I would have been plenty thrilled to have a battery-operated power source on hand.