While the tech-loving world continues to debate the merits of the Droid following its launch on Friday, it’s pretty safe to say that the Android platform has seen a pretty hefty influx of users as of late. In the past two weeks alone, we’ve seen the aforementioned Droid, it’s cheaper, younger sibling, the Droid Eris, and the Sprint Moment all hit the shelves; if any of them sold even reasonably well, there’s a lot of new folk cracking open the Android Market for the first time right now.

Whether you’re an iPhone convert, an ex-Nokian, or just a stranger to smartphones as a whole, the Android Market can be a pretty daunting place. While Android might not have quite as many apps as the leading competition, it still has a bit over 10,000 – and that’s a hell of a lot for any newcomer to weed through.

For the sake of these nascent newbies, we’ve thrown together a list of a handful of apps we think are worth checking out right off the bat. Got a favorite of your own? Throw it into the comments below.

In no particular order:

Twidroid
What is it?: Twitter Client
Price: Free; “Pro” version available for around €3.39 (around $5)
Description: We’re seeing more and more Twitter clients hit the Android Market as of late, but Twidroid still seems to be the crowd favorite. The free version offers up all the basics (Tweeting, mentions, DM, search, image uploading, etc.), while the Pro version adds video, multi-accounts, and theming support.

Qik/Ustream/Bambuser/etc.
What is it? Video Streaming
Price: Free
Description: The plethora of video streaming applications on Android serves as a fantastic example of the strengths of Android’s open market. While such video streaming clients have been floating around in Apple’s moderation queue for over a year now (and are still only available on jailbroken iPhones), they were made available on Android almost immediately after launch. There are a ton of options available here – I’d recommend starting with Qik or Ustream.

Flyscreen
What is it? Lockscreen replacement
Price: Free
Description: You see that lockscreen each and every time you pull your phone out of your pocket – might as well put it to use, right? Flyscreen replaces the default lockscreen with a user-customizable canvas for widgets, with everything from Twitter to TMZ. It’s a wee bit buggy on the Droid, primarily because of its high resolution – but the Flyscreen guys have already confirmed that an update is on the way.

Nesoid
What is it? NES emulator
Price: $1.99, Lite version available
Description: It’s an NES emulator, and it works damn well – do we really need to say anything else? For obvious legal reasons, you’ll need to provide your own ROMs – but once that’s out of the way, it’ll handle just about any popular NES game you can throw at it. We’ve heard mixed reports as to how well this (primarily the Lite version) is working on Android 2.0, but I’m not seeing any issues with the paid version.

Meridian
What is it? Media player
Price: Free
Description: As we mentioned in our Smartphone Showdown, media playback (especially video) on the Android platform is rather lacking. We’ve yet to find any third-party applications that really pull it off well, but the Meridian player is about the best we’ve seen so far. It’ll play back MP3, OGG, MP4, and 3GPP files, and offers up basic playlist and gesture support. It’s pretty dang ugly, but it gets the job done.

Flixster:
What is it? Movie times/trailers/DVD info aggregator
Price: Free
Description: Flixster does one thing, and it does it well: Movies. It keeps you up to date on everything new in the movie world, be it for the box office or the rental store, complete with movie times (by way of GPS), community-driven user reviews, and trailers. Flixster is one of the most well-designed applications I’ve seen on the Android platform, and is one of very few I find myself using regularly.

Barcode Reader:
What is it? Its.. a barcode reader.
Price: Free
Description: Barcode reader is pretty much an Android must-have at this point. Lets say you’re perusing a book store and stumble across a book you’re interested in reading – but is it really worth what the nearest big chain book store wants for it? Scan the tag on the back into Barcode Reader, which will pass the details into Google Product Search for a price comparison. At worst, you’ll find out that you’re getting a deal; at best, you’ll save a ton. I’ve saved a few hundred bucks overall by way of Barcode-based comparison shopping.

TED
What is it? Tons of amazing content, crammed into one app.
Price: Free
Description: This one serves as our reader’s choice app, so to speak. I reached out to my Twitter posse for some insight on their favorite apps, and the TED application was a resoundingly popular result. The Android TED application brings together a huge number of lectures from the annual Technology, Entertainment, Design conference, with talks from the likes of Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Larry Page, and more. Next time you’ve got 10-15 minutes free, why not spend it gettin’ some smarts?

3Banana
What is it? Notes syncing
Price: Free
Description: Sign up for a free account, then punch your credentials into both the Android client and your browser. Bam, note syncing! It’s not a substitute for a full-fledged file syncing service like Dropbox, but 3banana is a drop-dead easy way to keep your notes/images synced between your Android handset and your computer.

Power Manager
What is it? Battery life assistant
Price: $0.99, Lite version available
Description: While it’s getting better over time, the Android platform isn’t exactly known for its killer battery efficiency. Android allows users to run apps in the background – and a running application gobbles up battery, whether it’s visible or not. Power manager helps to improve your device’s battery life through profiles. Running on the battery? Dim the screen. Battery down below 30%? Kill the WiFi and the Bluetooth. The free version comes with 4 profiles (Battery powered, low battery, A/C powered, USB powered), while the 99 cent pro version allows you to build you own.

Know any apps that Android users ought to check out on day one?

Our favorite live video-broadcasting service just upped the ante last night. Qik has gone ahead and introduced not only support for Android 2.0 and the Motorola DROID, but the capability to stream 720×480 video live right from the handset. Because the camera supports that resolution, dummies. We’ve taken it out for a spin and have been pretty blown away by the video quality and also the updated interface and UI. If you want to download the DROID-specific version, you’ll need to shoot an email over to Qik

Our eyes popped a few weeks back when we first learned about the powerful Motorola Droid and the potential it has with its amazing camera. We set out to enhance our Android client to not just have the basic Droid and Android 2.0 support – but also showcase the power of the device. Today we are really excited to announce that no only can you download the Qik client from the Android Marketplace that supports Droid, but also request early beta access to a high-res Qik client for Droid that can capture videos in DVD resolution.

Share your experiences in DVD resolution

With this device we are raising the bar on quality – yet again! Qik for Droid can now capture of DVD resolution (720×480) video – first ever by any live mobile video provider. If you are interested in giving this beta version a try send an email to droidbeta@qik.com

Droid and Android 2.0 support

We have reworked our UI to support Droid’s amazing new high resolution screen.

Sharing gets more personal with improved Speed Sharing Ribbon
The Qik Speed Sharing Ribbon(TM) makes it easy to share what you are seeing with your friends. You can create shortcuts to select contacts from your phone and place them in the Speed Sharing Ribbon so that the next time you Qik you can share your Qiks with them with just a tap on the screen. You can even record your Qiks as private and share them privately just by selecting a person from the Speed Sharing Ribbon. Also, you can setup your sharing preferences for your favorite social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube right from the phone and have them appear on the Speed Sharing Ribbon enabling you to share your Qiks with ease.

So, equip your new Droid device with Qik by downloading it from the Android Marketplace and let us know what you think by sending an email to android@qik.com.