Android Phone Fans
Android Phone Fans |
- Disney’s sudden removal of Star Wars Assault Team and Tiny Death Star leaves developer perplexed
- HTC Desire 612 appears out of nowhere on Verizon’s site, announcement imminent?
- From the Forums: October 3rd
- Google working on standalone messaging app that wont require a Google login [RUMOR]
- Deal: Nexus 7 2013 going for $130 on eBay
- Mobile Roar 64: Nexus 6 leaks, Moto 360 update, and Adam Sandler
- Phan Favs: The best sports app for Android [RESULTS]
- Moto X (2nd Gen) now available at US Cellular for $100 on contract
- Rounds is a pretty beautiful way to keep score of all your games [Material Design Update]
- OnePlus giving away 20,000 invites to buy the OnePlus One, and there is no nonsense to be had
- HTC beats Q3 2014 expectations with modest profit of $21 million
- Rumor: Verizon to carry the Nexus 6
| Disney’s sudden removal of Star Wars Assault Team and Tiny Death Star leaves developer perplexed Posted: 03 Oct 2014 05:17 PM PDT Less than a year since they arrived on the Google Play Store, the sudden removal of 2 Star Wars titles — both Tiny Death Star and Star Wars Assault Team — is leaving some scratching their heads. This includes Tiny Tower developer NimbleBit. According to the Tiny Death Star developer, Disney (whom recently acquired the Star Wars properties) didn’t do them the courtesy of so much as shooting them an email or giving any kind of warning what-so-ever that their game would be taken down. A pretty sh*tty thing to do considering the title was so well received and no doubt generated a good amount of revenue for the company. NimbleBit issued the following statement to Game Informer:
After doing some digging around, it appears the game is still very much live under Disney’s Google Play developer account where it now remains. Sometimes these things take some time so if you were interested in checking out Tiny Death Star, download it now and it’ll forever remain available to you, even if you uninstall down the road. So what about Star Wars Assault Team? Disney says they removed both titles so they can focus on their other [Game Informer via Gamezebo] |
| HTC Desire 612 appears out of nowhere on Verizon’s site, announcement imminent? Posted: 03 Oct 2014 02:58 PM PDT Once rumored to be hitting Verizon Wireless in mid-September, it appears the release of the HTC Desire 612 is inching ever closer. Thanks to a tip, we now find the device listed on Verizon’s Equipment Guides page plain as day, for all to see. Diving through the HTC Desire 612’s documentation, it’s pretty much the standard setup information (powering on the phone, button placement, how to insert SIM card, that sorta thing), with no word on actual hardware specs. We’ll assume this is a slightly higher end version of the HTC Desire 610, once rumored to hit Verizon after an HTC device carrying the model number OP90300 passed through the FCC last month. Expect this phone to become official in the coming days.
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| Posted: 03 Oct 2014 01:38 PM PDT Is Android ruining one of its most underrated features? What's up with the next version of Windows? What should a tourist do in the US? All those questions and more in this week's look at top posts from Android Forums. Pop-up notifications: distraction or advantage?Android users have long had the luxury of receiving notifications without forcing any immediate action — an incoming call or text message would not interrupt video playback or butt in during a game. Things look to be changing in Android L, and it's kicked off a bit of a debate. Unobtrusive notifications were once a selling point of Android, is Google really doing away with them? Android Forums users react. Poll: How do you connect to the internet?Wired broadband has been king for the past decade, but as cellular technologies evolve mobile connectivity is becoming an increasingly tempting option. Android Forums member itsmicaiahdude dares to ask the question: what is your main means of connecting to the World Wide Web? We're interested to see the answers, especially considering the high price of mobile data. Bye bye, windows 8; hello Windows…10If you are a Windows user you have no doubt heard the news: Microsoft's next version of their desktop/mobile OS is on its way. And no, it's not called Windows 9. The decision to shake up the naming scheme and announce Windows 10 left some questions, but it appears MS is pretty serious about consolidating their efforts to create a true everywhere OS. Thoughts? Must-see sights in the US of ARoad trip time! You're traveling to the US from out of the country for a three-week excursion. Moving coast to coast, what are the must-see sights along the way? What is absolutely worth visiting during your travels? If you have a favorite hometown attraction, now is the time to share. With any luck, you’ll catch AF user 64MarcoV during his time abroad. And more…
That right there is a solid week of forum talk. Keep up the good work, guys, and remember to sign up for an account if you don't have one already. Perhaps we'll catch up with you in next week's From the Forums.
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| Google working on standalone messaging app that wont require a Google login [RUMOR] Posted: 03 Oct 2014 01:11 PM PDT We’ve seen Google make small steps towards detaching Hangouts from Google+, a move welcomed by just about everyone. But it seems that ain’t nothing compared to what they could be planning for emerging markets: a messaging client that doesn’t even require a Google account. This is exactly what the Economic Times is reporting, with sources claiming Google has already begun testing in parts of India and could launch as early as 2015. This Google messenger — still in its early stages of development — is Google’s way of recouping users lost to rival services such as Whatsapp, Viber, and Line. India is poised to becoming the world’s 2nd largest smartphone market just under China with Android One already looking to take the sub-continent by storm. A messaging service everyone can and will actually want to use by forgoing a Google login could be their next big strategy. You may remember reports of Google looking to acquire Whatsapp (whom later accepted Facebook’s offer of $19 billion). It’s clear Google takes messaging very seriously, but without a Google account to siphon data from its users, it’s not entirely clear why. |
| Deal: Nexus 7 2013 going for $130 on eBay Posted: 03 Oct 2014 12:01 PM PDT Looking for a quick deal on a 2013 Nexus 7? This isn’t the first time they’ve gone on sale, nor will it be the last time, but in case you’re ready to commit to one now then you’ll love this eBay deal from Newegg. The company is offering the tablet for $130 and free shipping. It’s worth mentioning that the unit is manufacturer refurbished, but our experience with refurbished units tell us you shouldn’t have any qualms with its quality. Unfortunately the listing doesn’t have any information about its warranty, though these things typically come with a one-year deal from manufacturers to ensure you won’t be SoL if they crap out on you. Newegg is limiting orders to 5 per customer so keep that in mind if, for whatever reason, you were looking to buy them in bulk. Head to the eBay listing right here to get started. |
| Mobile Roar 64: Nexus 6 leaks, Moto 360 update, and Adam Sandler Posted: 03 Oct 2014 11:47 AM PDT This week we’re talking about LEAKS. So many LEAKS! The Nexus 6 hype has reached critical mass as leaks, renders, and mock-ups are pouring in. We’re also talking about the Moto 360 update that fixes everything, Samsung’s #GapGate, the prospect of a LG webOS smartwatch, and more! Thanks for watching/listening! Big News Quick Hits
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| Phan Favs: The best sports app for Android [RESULTS] Posted: 03 Oct 2014 10:44 AM PDT Phan Favs is a recurring feature that turns the tables and asks you, the readers, about the best apps and games. It's your turn to drop some knowledge on us! Read more. This time of year is great for sports fans. The MLB playoffs are heating up, the NFL and college football seasons are well under way, and basketball is coming soon. The best way to track all the action is with your trust Android device. Last week we asked you to tell us what Android sports app is the best. Over 200 votes were spread out across 40 different app nominations. Here are your best sports apps for Android! 1. theScoretheScore was the winner by a healthy margin, and it’s easy to see why. A problem some sports apps suffer from is usability. They have too much information, and it’s poorly organized. theScore has a clean and easy to use experience. Setting up your favorite teams and sports is super easy. Other great features include alerts, a customized stream of news, and player profiles. 2. Yahoo SportsYahoo has quietly made a suite of excellent apps for Android. One of those apps is Yahoo Sports. The look and feel of this app is reminiscent of theScore. It’s very clean and easy to navigate, plus is has all the bells and whistles you’d expect. Get alerts for game times and scores, follow live games, and see all your favorites in one place. 3. ESPNIt’s no surprise that ESPN is on this list. They don’t call themselves the “worldwide leader in sports” for nothing. We received votes for a few different ESPN apps, but the main one was SportsCenter. This app provides live scores, breaking news, video highlights, expert analysis, alerts, and much more. It’s everything you would expect from ESPN. 4. Team Stream by Bleacher ReportTeam Stream is all about providing news about your teams above all else. First you pick the teams you love, then the app is completely customized to your choices. Breaking news, scores, social media, videos, and more from the people you know, about the teams you love. Team Stream may lack some of the hardcore features, but if you really only care about certain teams it’s great. 5. CBS SportsLast, but not least, is CBS Sports. This app is a lot like all the other sports apps we’ve mentioned, but it’s by a different network. The design is clean and easy to use, plus it has all the features you’d want. Stats, scores, tweets, gametrackers, and more. If you’re a fan of the way CBS does sports you’ll like this app. — Those are your picks! Do you agree with your fellow Phandroids? Let us know in the comments if you use any of these apps. If not, which app do you use? Thanks for participating! |
| Moto X (2nd Gen) now available at US Cellular for $100 on contract Posted: 03 Oct 2014 10:39 AM PDT We fell in love with the new Motorola Moto X (2nd Gen) and gushed about it in our review last week. An amazing combination of premium build quality (that doesn’t bend), top notch hardware, and a near stock Android experience — quite simply, the phones exists in this sort of space normally reserved for Nexus or Google Play Edition devices, only it’s available with subsidized pricing through carrier channels. Today, US Cellular is announcing the all new Moto X is now readily available for their network, both online and in-store. At $99 with a 2-year agreement or $0 down with a US Cellular’s equipment installment plan ($20 a month for 2 years), the black version of the phone wont break the bank. Those looking for something a little more premium will have to wait until October to get their hands on either bamboo or black leather for $150 on a 2-year contract or $21.67 per month on payments. According to the press release, it appears US Cellular will only offer the 16GB model which may be limited for some but at $480 straight up, it’s cheaper than if you bought the phone direct through Motorola. No word on when (or if) we’ll see the US Cellular model appear in Motomaker for customers to custom build their own, but we’ll keep you posted. |
| Rounds is a pretty beautiful way to keep score of all your games [Material Design Update] Posted: 03 Oct 2014 10:25 AM PDT A great new update for a great app has crept into the Google Play Store and we think it’s worth you taking a look. Its name is Rounds, and it’s quite simple at its core: a digital way to keep track of score for any game you’d play where you’d need such a thing. Whether you’re playing cards with your family, mini golfing with some buddies or something as silly as what these guys were doing in Samsung’s latest Galaxy Note 4 ad, it makes it easy to tally up points and declare a clear winner. We wouldn’t highlight such a simple app except for the fact that it’s been designed like no other of its kind. The developer takes full advantage of Material Design and presents a user interface that is not only beautiful, but also extremely intuitive and fun to use. Upon inputting all of the players’ names, you’re taken to a screen with a wheel akin to Simon Says. Each player has a point on the wheel, and you simply touch their name and spin it to give them however many points they’ve earned. The score table below it will update in real time to show you who’s in the lead, and if that’s not simple enough the status bar of the app will change to the color of whoever’s winning — simple enough, eh? The app adds a couple of cool functions for helping you get your games started, including a “spin the bottle” randomizer that will choose one person to go first in the event that you don’t use the roll of a die. You can also choose between two different scoring standards: highest number wins or lowest number wins. Topping all that off, you can easily share your game results with anyone using a built-in feature. It’ll generate a neat looking table of scores to show whoever cares exactly what went down. Don’t worry, folks — Rob would never beat me at any game. Ever. Even with the great job the developer has done to this point, we wish to see see some additions over time. One such addition could be virtual dice that’ll let you customize the number of sides and what the sides of the dice count or stand for. This would make it a one-stop tool for playing pretty much any table-top game out there. We also wouldn’t mind being able to customize the amount of steps points are increased by for games where scores can only increase by 5 or 10 points, or what have you. We’re sure the developer isn’t done delivering all that they can so we’ll certainly be looking forward to future updates. Give the app a shot in the Google Play Store (it’s a free download, though you have the option of paying $.99 for additional player colors if you’re interested) if you’ve been looking for something like this in the wake of laziness or the untimely absence of pencil and paper. |
| OnePlus giving away 20,000 invites to buy the OnePlus One, and there is no nonsense to be had Posted: 03 Oct 2014 08:55 AM PDT While OnePlus doesn’t expect to be able to provide handsets on order until early next year, the company has given plenty of chances to receive an invite to buy the phone. The latest chance pops up today as they’ve decided to give away 20,000 new invites. Unlike contests past, this one requires no tricks, catches and no nonsense. All you have to do is head to this Google form and submit your email address. An email address from a forwarding service won’t do, so make sure yours is real and active. The first 20,000 to do so will receive an invite — that simple. The only caveat is that the event you get is only valid for 24 hours, so unless you plan to purchase one right away then we suggest you don’t horde invites that someone else could use. OnePlus says the invites will be issued within 48 hours of the beginning of the “warm up” for their new pre-order system kicking off this month. Be sure to act fast. [via OnePlus] |
| HTC beats Q3 2014 expectations with modest profit of $21 million Posted: 03 Oct 2014 07:50 AM PDT HTC has once again kept their head above water as the company has performed better than expected in Q3 2014. $1.37 billion in revenue drove the company to $21 million in profit. That’s not the most amount of money you can stuff into the coffers of a company the size of HTC’s, but the goal is to make money and they did that this quarter. It was a down period for HTC as the company goes from $75 million in profit last quarter to today’s result, but those numbers could be seen as a surge as the HTC One M8 was released throughout that period. Aside from the “One M8 Mini” (which is sold on Verizon as the HTC One Remix) HTC hasn’t had any notable handset launches since then. It would be unfair to leave out HTC’s sound strategy of getting back to filling out the market with entry-level and mid-range offerings to target a large array of wallets as a key factor in the company’s continued success. They haven’t quite gotten back to the same levels of efficiency as they enjoyed earlier this decade or late last decade, but with time they should be able to spring back to former success and keep the ball rolling. [via HTC] |
| Rumor: Verizon to carry the Nexus 6 Posted: 03 Oct 2014 06:32 AM PDT After the rodeo that was the Galaxy Nexus and the controversy behind the LTE version of the Nexus 7 not being “officially” supported on Verizon’s airwaves until well after its launch, we’d forgive you if you thought they’d never get another crack at a Nexus device. But it appears the company could be ready to give it another go. According to a source of PocketNow’s, Verizon is ready to go all in on the next Nexus handset. They described Verizon’s attitude as “really ready to embrace” it, which we hope means they’ll let Google have their way with handling software upgrades and device features. The Galaxy Nexus was a really bad black eye on Verizon’s Nexus history. The device was loaded up with a few of Verizon’s apps out of the box, and it took ages for the device to receive the latest upgrades compared to other handsets in the series. It didn’t help that the underwhelming, battery-guzzling TI OMAP processor inside made it one of the most miserable Nexus devices to use for its time. Following that debacle, the LTE version of the 2012 Nexus 7 had support for Verizon’s LTE network and was supposed to be approved for use by Verizon, but the company was actively blocking activations of the device for a long time. They cited critical software issues that could affect their network as part of the reason it took so long for them to finally begin accepting activations again. Regardless of motive, intent or reason, it turned a lot of people off and we thought it might spell the end for Nexus on Verizon. Should this rumor pan out then you can bet we’ll be watching closely to see if the company is truly ready to embrace Nexus and treat it the way it was meant to be treated. Would you give another Nexus device a shot if it makes its way to Verizon?
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