Android Phone Fans
Android Phone Fans |
- The SNES classic Secret of Mana is now available for Android, but you probably wont like the price
- Android founder Andy Rubin is no longer working at Google
- Angry Birds Transformers run-and-gun shooter is now finally available for Android
- Inbox by Gmail invites are going out to existing Inboxers
- You can barely see the bezel on LG’s latest display
- Google Glass is now formally and officially banned in 56,000 movie theaters worldwide
- Samsung Gear S trots over to the United States starting next week
- Devs: “OK Google” search command works with any app with 6 quick lines of code
- Motorola and Lenovo are officially an item
- Any.do 2.0 update brings cloud-driven collaboration to the superstar to-do list app
- Motorola DROID Turbo now available from Verizon, watch it save James Franco’s life [VIDEO]
| The SNES classic Secret of Mana is now available for Android, but you probably wont like the price Posted: 30 Oct 2014 06:28 PM PDT There’s nothing that brings back feelings of nostalgia like firing up a good old fashioned Super Nintendo game. The combination of 16-bit visuals and old-school soundtracks can instantly teleport you to a time when life was all about pogs, slap bracelets, and memorizing time tables. After launching for iOS back in 2010, Square Enix was kind enough to finally bring the 1993 classic Secret of Mana to Android devices. Featuring a Zelda-like top-down view and real-time battle system, Secret of Mana was a breath of fresh air from Square Enix’s typical turn-based RPGs. The release shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, Square Enix announced an Android port was due sometime in the fall back in August. Available for a cool $9 on Google Play, Secret of Mana features a slightly tweaked interface (perfect for potato fingers) and 360-degree character movement (original game only had 8-directional movement). No fancy high-res visuals here, this is 16-bit gaming at its finest. Link down below. |
| Android founder Andy Rubin is no longer working at Google Posted: 30 Oct 2014 05:29 PM PDT After Andy Rubin helped build the best mobile operating system the world has ever seen, it took many by surprise when he decided to leave Android last year to pursue other ventures, building robots within Google’s secretive X labs. Today, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Android co-founder is now leaving Google entirely, creating an “incubator” for new hardware-based startups. It’s not really directly Android-related per se, but given Andy Rubin is the Godfather of Android, we’re sure this comes as a major blow to Google and the people who’ve worked closely with him for so many years. Google CEO Larry Page had this to say on Rubin’s departure:
According to Jessica Lessin of The Information, Rubin was looking for more freedom from his robotics unit, similar to the independent anti-aging company, Calico. Best of luck to him. |
| Angry Birds Transformers run-and-gun shooter is now finally available for Android Posted: 30 Oct 2014 03:57 PM PDT Some of you were less than enthusiastic to hear that Rovio, in their insatiable lust to acquire larger stockpiles of money, were teaming up with Hasbro to develop what else, but a new Angry Birds Transformers crossover title. Adding insult to irony was the fact that, despite Android’s dominance in the smartphone market, iOS was given a 2 week exclusive on the title. For all those waiting to exhale, Angry Birds Transformers is now officially available for Android.
This isn’t even the first time Rovio has teamed up with other popular franchises for a mashup (Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Star Wars) but let’s just call it what it is: a money grab. That’s not to say the game is bad, it’s actually quite fun. More of a run-and-gun shooter, the game accomplishes what it set out to do: provide Android users with an easy pick-up-and-play time killer. You control the blaster of a chosen Transformer as he bolts down a level, blasting pigs in the background as they balance on physics-based platforms. Our only complaint? Angry Birds Transformer doesn’t make a lick of sense. In an, admittedly, pretty rad 80’s style intro cartoon, the birds and pigs have melded into cybernetic, transforming bodies thanks to the “EggSpark.” I think Rovio said it best: they’re birds/pigs disguised as robots, disguised as, well…. other things. Don’t even get us started on the fact that the Grimlock bird — which is a bird, disguised as a dinosaur robot — now transforms into a motorcycle. For all that is holy, it seems like every year someone just keeps sh*tting on everything we knew and loved as a kid.
But it could always be worse. They could have went with Michael Bay’s Transformer character models. What’s that you say? Ah, yes. Bumble Bee and Megatron are both Michael Bay designs, not the 80’s cartoon the game is loosely based off of. For the love of Pete. The worst part is despite all this, we’re still going to download and have a blast with this game. Maybe that’s the real point. You can download Angry Birds Transformers for free from the Google Play Store below. |
| Inbox by Gmail invites are going out to existing Inboxers Posted: 30 Oct 2014 02:06 PM PDT Last week the tech community went nuts after Inbox by Gmail — Google’s radical new vision for the future of email — was officially unveiled. The only problem is it was only sorta available to the general public, requiring early adopters to send an email first to Google in order to get invited. For all those invited, we originally got word that those selected would soon be able to send out their own invites to friends, family, and/or acquaintances. Today, Inbox by Gmail is letting all current Inboxers know that they now have 3 invites to give out. Simply select the big red “+” button and you’ll find the option for “Invite to Inbox” waiting for you. Choose wisely, because you only have 3 invites to give out until Google sends out more sometime later. Because we’re good sports, anyone looking for an invite can simply leave a comment to this post and maybe some good Samaritans will send you one. Good luck! UPDATE: All of our invites have been taken. Thanks for playing! |
| You can barely see the bezel on LG’s latest display Posted: 30 Oct 2014 12:09 PM PDT LG Display has announced a remarkable achievement for folks who can’t stand those annoying black bars bordering their screens. The company has developed a 5.3-inch full HD LCD panel that has a bezel width of 0.7mm, which is said to be thinner than the width of a standard credit card. That mark gives them the title of thinnest bezel in the industry, and there are some pretty darn thin ones out there. LG gave us a pretty good rundown of how they were able to achieve the feat:
LG’s all set to begin mass production of the display this November, with Chinese markets set to get first dibs on distribution (mainly due to the advent of demand for displays by many of the country’s up-and-coming OEMs). LG says they’ll also be promoting it and shopping it out on a global scale to anyone finding themselves in need of such a display. We imagine the company will eventually want to get one of these things loaded up into their own smartphones, though they certainly aren’t talking about any possible internal uses today. |
| Google Glass is now formally and officially banned in 56,000 movie theaters worldwide Posted: 30 Oct 2014 10:19 AM PDT Can’t say we didn’t see this coming, but Google Glass is now banned in a wide range of movie theaters worldwide. The Motion Picture Association of America and the National Association of Theatre Owners have announced a new policy that would effectively land you in a world of trouble if you’re caught with Google Glass on your head during a movie showing. The duo also bans the use of cellphones and other video recording equipment while viewing a movie. It’s a move that doesn’t surprise us in a tug-of-war between content makers and content consumers. Alongside the Recording Industry Association of America in the music realm, the MPAA has fought quite diligently to make sure their members’ copyrighted material is kept from being illegally copied and distributed. Piracy is illegal, and it’s in their right to protect their interests at whatever cost. The MPAA makes up six of the largest movie studio companies around the world and are responsible for a vast majority of blockbuster films that release every year. NATO, on the other hand, represents over 56,000 movie theaters worldwide. Many of these theaters have already began to ban the use of Google Glass at their own discretion, but making it a worldwide policy makes it somewhat officially official. It’s a very interesting policy that might spark some controversy among Google Glass enthusiasts. Many would argue that having a recording device on their head doesn’t automatically mean they’re using the device’s recording features and that the wearable should be an acceptable accessory to use. Some would liken it to smartphones being allowed in a theater, except it’s pretty obvious when a smartphone is being used to record a huge display — not so obvious when or if it’s Google Glass. Do Glass owners have reason to be upset? Maybe, but they knew what they were getting into when they joined the Explorers program. Heck, Google even warned you about some of the troubles you’ll come across as you champion the wearable flag to help this new emerging tech category find its way. Fight the new policy if you so wish, but don’t be surprised if theater staff end up calling the authorities over it because that is now their right. [via Hollywood Reporter] |
| Samsung Gear S trots over to the United States starting next week Posted: 30 Oct 2014 08:50 AM PDT Samsung has announced that sales of their standalone Gear S smart watch will begin in the United States starting in November. The earliest known availability is from AT&T, who will have the smart watch on November 7th. [Update]: Sprint has also confirmed November 7th availability. For AT&T it’ll run you $200 on a two-year contract, and the watch can be added to a Mobile Share plan for just $10 more than what you’re currently paying. T-Mobile and Verizon are also confirmed to be carrying the smart watch, though we’ll have to wait for word regarding those individual carriers’ plans. Unfortunately its status as a standalone smart watch doesn’t change the fact that you’ll need a Galaxy smartphone to use it, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 or the Samsung Galaxy S5. Needless to say, you’d basically be wasting $200 if you don’t already have one. Should you be fully involved with Samsung, though, the smart watch will enable data without the need to be paired with a smart phone so you can use all your data enabled apps even if you leave your smartphone behind. It also enables calling and texting that is routed through your smartphone so you can get all of your communication without having to have the phone on you. Not a bad set of functions at all. Let us know if you’ll be grabbing one once they’re finally available. [via Business Wire, AT&T] |
| Devs: “OK Google” search command works with any app with 6 quick lines of code Posted: 30 Oct 2014 08:30 AM PDT Google has just publicized an awesome feature for developers who want their apps to be searchable using the “OK Google” voice command. Putting 6 simple lines of code in your manifest file will enable Google Search to allow voice searches that originate from users using the command. Here are a couple of examples:
And here’s the line of code you’ll need to add to the AndroidManifest.xml file: <activity android:name=".SearchableActivity"> <intent-filter> <action android:name="com.google.android.gms.actions.SEARCH_ACTION"/> <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/> </intent-filter> </activity> And that’s it. As long as your app has a searchable activity users can initiate the command and search like they would through Google’s own search engine (though you’ll need to be using English and have Google Search version 3.5 or higher installed on phones or tablets with Jelly Bean or higher). Can’t wait to see this make its way into many of the great apps in Google Play! [via Google] |
| Motorola and Lenovo are officially an item Posted: 30 Oct 2014 06:47 AM PDT Motorola and Lenovo today announced that they have completed a deal for the latter to acquire the former. Motorola is now a Lenovo company, and what that means for the future is still very unclear at this point. Much like when they were acquired by Google, Motorola has been working in an independent capacity and have carried on business as they always have. The acquisition didn’t change anything about Moto’s plan to seed the market with two of the most exciting smartphones in 2014 with the Moto X and DROID turbo. Lenovo’s original statement on the acquisition is that they’re hoping to be able to leverage Motorola’s global market share and mind share to help them perform better outside Asian markets. Lenovo has been known to take global brands and succeed with them over time, such as the ThinkPad and IdeaPad business they bought from HP a while back. They continue to command a significant portion of the notebook PC market all this time later. We’re not sure if we’re to see the same with Motorola. We’d imagine they’d want to keep Motorola’s iconic name attached to the wonderful products they’ve been launching as of late, though if the IBM transition is anything to go by then we wouldn’t necessarily be worried if they decided to scrub Motorola’s name off all their products, either. Lenovo executive Liu Jun commented on the acquisition:
Of course, it’s much too early to be thinking about any of this considering the ink probably has yet to dry. Let’s hope to hear more about Lenovo’s plans for Motorola in the near future. [via Business Wire] |
| Any.do 2.0 update brings cloud-driven collaboration to the superstar to-do list app Posted: 30 Oct 2014 06:01 AM PDT Any.do is one of the best to-do managers we’ve used in a long time. The company stresses simplicity over complexity, and feels that less is more when it comes to trying to organize a busy life or work schedule. Today’s update makes the experience even better for those who work with others to accomplish their daily tasks in life. Any.do 2.0 brings a cloud-driven collaboration engine that allows you and your spouse (or classmates, or coworkers) to organize important tasks and help keep you on track to completing your goals every day. Your wife might create a grocery shopping list, but she can’t get there herself. She can simply add you to the list and have you take care of it while you’re out. Real-time collaboration allows her to add or remove items that she thinks of and it’ll update on your phone pretty much instantly. Apply that to multiple students working on a school project or a project manager at work having to divvy up tasks between employees. The free version offers one-on-one collaboration, but the premium subscription ($5 per month/ $45 per year thereafter) will allow you to bring as many people on board as you need. Any.do 2.0’s goal is to make sure anyone and everyone tuned into that list knows exactly what’s going on at all times. They’ve also taken the simple to-do list a step further by introducing attachments, so you can attach images, audio, photos and video to a note or task list item to make sure whoever is looking at it has any relevant information they need. That particular feature allows files up to 5 megabyes for free users, though the premium experience wipes away that limit and lets you upload any type of file you want. Folks using Dropbox can even pull files straight from their Dropbox account in case they store things in the web (and we hope more services will be supported in future updates). Finally, today’s update brings custom backgrounds (just in case the typical day/night themes aren’t doing it for you) and fine tuned reminders that give you the flexibility to create any type of reminder as frequently or infrequently as you want. You can find it all in the Google Play Store right now, and be sure to watch the video above to see how it might help enhance one’s life |
| Motorola DROID Turbo now available from Verizon, watch it save James Franco’s life [VIDEO] Posted: 29 Oct 2014 09:43 PM PDT After a series of teaser videos starring movie star James Franco were uploaded to YouTube, tonight, as the clock struck midnight, the full ad has finally been revealed. This time uploaded onto Verizon’s YouTube channel, the video — which is now prominently featured on the DroidDoes website — finally shows off some of the Motorola DROID Turbo’s best features (like the fact that it’s fast and can deliver 8 hours of battery life from a 15 minute charge). Verizon drives home the point with Franco free falling from a building but not giving AF thanks to his blazing fast DROID Turbo which he uses to change his trajectory. In fact, the phone is now officially available for purchase from Verizon’s website in black, red, or ballistic nylon. The 32GB model will run you $200 with a 2-year agreement ($25 a month on payments), or 64GB for $250 ($27.08 on payments). If you’re looking to go the full price route, 32GB is $600 and 64GB is $650. Keep in mind the only color option/finish for the 64GB model is ballistic nylon.
We’ll admit, we tried to hold off on purchasing (weren’t a fan of the looks) but in the end, there’s just no denying 2-day battery life and a near stock Android experience. You win, Verizon. We’ll bite. Expect our full Motorola DROID Turbo review in the coming days. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Phandroid To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
