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May

Dan Rosenberg Releases 'Loki', A Tool To Allow ROM/Recovery Developers To Bypass The Bootloader On The Verizon And AT&T Galaxy S4

Posted by Cameron Summerson in AT&T, Galaxy S4, News, Verizon Wireless

When news broke that Verizon's and AT&T's versions of the Galaxy S4 would ship with locked/non-unlockable bootloaders, people were... upset. This sort of action was basically expected from Verizon, but AT&T had historically left its device's bootloaders unlocked, allowing users to do what they wanted with their own handsets. To make matters worse, the Galaxy S4's bootloader signature verification is nearly impossible to crack.

Then, at the first of the month, all-around genius hacker Dan Rosenberg released a teaser for his upcoming tool that would "hack" the AT&T's versions bootloader. That tool, now knows as Loki, is finally available for download, and it also works on Verizon's version of the device.

May

[New Game] Total Recoil Rewards Players For Shooting Both Everything That Moves And Whatever's Left

Posted by Bertel King, Jr. in Games, News

There are just two rules in Total Recoil: shoot everything that moves - and shoot everything that doesn't. This top-down shooter is all about blowing stuff up and making money. Get your fingers back on those virtual joysticks, soldiers, because there's shooting to be done.

Total Recoil looks to be a soothingly mindless action game that doesn't purport to be about anything more than shooting as many things with as many bullets from as many guns as possible. Your soldier will wield upgradable assault rifles, chain guns, cannons, missile launchers, flamethrowers, and whatever else it takes to mow down unrelenting enemy combatants.

May

BBC iPlayer Updated To Version 1.7 With Tweaked User Interface, Support For 10" Tablets

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

The UK citizens have sounded off on the BBC iPlayer's Play Store reviews, loudly and often: it's sitting at a depressing 2.9 stars, with more 1-star reviews than any others. The Beeb has been slowly improving the streaming video app, and today it gets a long-overdue update to version 1.7, finally including support for 10-inch tablets. I honestly have no idea why that was such a hurdle for an international media company, but hey, there it is. The app is still free for UK citizens who've paid their television licence, and forbidden to everyone else.

The user interface on phones and smaller tablets has been adjusted slightly.

May

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7" And 8.9" Pre-Orders Open In Over 170 Countries, Ships Out June 13th

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Amazon, Kindle Fire HD, News

Amazon tends to be a bit focused on the United States because, well, it's a US company. But they're expanding the reach of both the Amazon Appstore (which now works in almost 200 countries) and the Kindle itself. A press release this morning announced that the Kindle Fire HD is now available for pre-order in more than 170 countries, in both the standard 7" model and the premium 8.9". Hardware will begin shipping out to customers on Thursday, June 13th.

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To say that they're a bit late is an understatement - the 7" tablet has been available in the US since September of last year, with releases in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Japan before the end of 2012.

May

[New Game] EA's Tetris Blitz Scores Worldwide Release, Uses The Long Piece In Celebration

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Games, News

Last month we let you know about Tetris Blitz, a surprisingly good update to the original falling block puzzle game that sadly hadn't landed on our fair shores just yet. Today Electronic Arts has expanded the game rollout, and it should be available wherever the Play Store is. Tetris Blitz is a free download for devices running 2.1 and up. You can play the whole game for free, but the standard currency-based in-app purchase model is present.

Blitz ain't your daddy's Tetris. The game is limited to two-minute sessions, and Instead of the blocks falling at a sedate pace, they hang out at the top of the play field, waiting for you to choose where to place them.

May

[Update: NFS Most Wanted $0.99] Thursday Game Sales: AVP: Evolution $0.99 (80% Off) And Fieldrunners 2 $0.99 (66% Off)

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Deals, Games, News

Ready for some top-notch game titles for a buck each? Great, because we've shortened the deal list to just two extremely worthy titles today: AVP: Evolution and Fieldrunners 2. Both have been knocked down to a mere dollar for Memorial Day weekend, and both are excellent games.

AVP: Evolution

For the uninitiated who may not be familiar with AVP: Evolution, it's the next stage in the murderous battle for supremacy between the two other-worldly titans of our time: Alien and Predator. The basic gist is that the Super Predators have taken the Aliens captive to harness them as weapons against the Jungle Predator clan.

May

[New Game] Combo Crew Review: An Old-Fashioned Brawler With New-Fangled Controls

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

The arcade-style brawler has a long and storied history. From the X-Men to Double Dragon, nothing has quite the same feel as a good button-mashing beat-em-up. The main problem with these titles on mobile devices is the lack of buttons to mash. Sure, there on on-screen thumbsticks and attack buttons, but it's just not the same. Combo Crew comes to Android in hopes of getting you (and your friends) hooked on its fluid gesture controls and slick presentation. Let's take a look at this just-released fighter.

Controls

Each stage in Combo Crew takes place in a single room with wave after wave of bad guys dropping in from above.

May

Verizon's Samsung Galaxy S4 Available Today, AT&T Shows Off Aurora Red Version Ahead Of June Launch

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in AT&T, Galaxy S4, News, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

Attention, Verizon-shackled Samsung fans (like me): the Galaxy S4 is available today. Like, right now - you could probably drive down to the Verizon store and it would just be sitting there, waiting for you to fondle its 1080p screen. If you want to take it home, it'll cost you $199.99 with a new or extended two-year contract. Still clinging to that unlimited data like the last slice of pizza in the frat house? You can purchase the contract-free version for $649.99. Naturally, you can buy one online as well.

The Verizon GS4 comes in the standard ~~blue~~ black and white shades, but carrier rival AT&T has decided to glitz things up a bit with an Aurora Red version.

May

[Bonus Round] Blip Blup, What's The Phrase Free, And Gameloft's Epic

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Games, News, Roundups

Welcome to the latest entry in our Bonus Round series, wherein we tell you all about the new Android games of the day that we couldn't get to during our regular news rounds. Consider this a quick update for the dedicated gamers who can't wait for our bi-weekly roundups, and don't want to wade through a whole day's worth of news just to get their pixelated fix. Today we've got a new puzzle game from noted developer ustwo, Zynga's latest attempt to enslave minions via word games, and another licensed title from Gameloft. Without further ado:

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Blip Blup

Developer ustwo has cultivated a reputation for simple, unique titles, and Blip Blup is no exception.

May

[How-To] Root The Verizon Galaxy S4 With No Device Wipe Necessary

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Galaxy S4, News, Verizon Wireless

Give the community enough time and almost any device can be cracked open, no matter how determined a carrier or OEM is to keep it locked down. The Verizon Galaxy S4 has proven a tough nut to crack, but a new root method is much less convoluted than previous ones. Just flash a kernel, run some tools, flash again, and you're done! Well, it's a little more involved than that, but not much. Here's how you do it.