Eric Ravenscraft
Eric is a snarky technophile with a taste for the unusual. When he's not obsessing about Android, you can usually find him obsessing about movies, psychology, or the perfect energy drink. Eric weaves his own special blend of snark, satire, and comedy into all his articles.

27
Nov
playbookslogo

Now You Can Pre-Order Books On The Play Store

Posted by in Google, News

When Ron tore down the most recent Play Store APK, he discovered references to pre-orders hiding within. It wasn't clear at the time just what this option would apply to, but now we know! It's books! According to a new help page, if an item on Play Books is not yet available, you may find a pre-order option that you can use to place a reservation. Neat!

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The page also states that when you place a pre-order, your credit card will not be charged until the book is available. This may be nice for some people who would prefer to pay later rather than sooner.

27
Nov
2012-11-27_11h03_27

The Nexus 4 Is Back In Stock At T-Mobile For The $200 Subsidized Price, $500 Off-Contract

Posted by in News, Nexus 4

The Nexus 4 has been in-and-out of stock like a California burger joint, but today it's back—as long as you don't mind getting it from T-Mobile. The subsidized hardware with a two-year contract is available again from everyone's fourth-favorite carrier. If you want one without a contract, though, that's still an option. It will just run you $500.

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Of course, there's no knowing how long this will last. We'll update this post if the device well dries up, but if you really want one before the holidays, ordering sooner would be better than later. Get a move on.

Source: T-Mobile

26
Nov
2012-11-26_12h14_52

What Hath Science Wrought: Behold Samsung's Phone-Crushing Automatic Ass-Bot

Posted by in News, Samsung

It seems to be a growing trend among manufacturers to show off the process behind creating their products. Today, Samsung joined the ranks, bringing us an inside look of the stress test process that the company's moneymaker undergoes. To ensure that every Galaxy S III can stand up to all the punishment you can throw at it, there are a number of machines that attempt to scratch, crack, or soak the handset to see how well it can hold up. Oh, yeah, and there's an automated ass that sits on the phone over and over again.

If you've ever seen a stress test video, there won't be much here that's entirely shocking, though this clip is in Korean.

26
Nov
sprintlogothumb

Sprint Turns On Several LTE Networks In Virginia, Massachusetts, Indiana, And More

Posted by in News, Sprint

Those of you who are on Sprint and thus have no need for opinions on the Nexus 4's lack of a 4G radio will probably agree: more LTE coverage is more gooder. Well, the Now Network concurs and the carrier is opening up the airwaves in a few more cities and areas, including Anderson, Indiana; Harrisonburg, Virginia; and Peabody, Massachusetts.

Here's the full list of cities that launch today (with coverage expanding in these areas over the coming months):

  • Anderson, Ind.
  • Clarke County, Va./Jefferson County, W.Va.
  • Harrisburg/Carlisle/Hershey, Pa.
  • Hagerstown, Md./Martinsburg, W.Va.
  • Harrisonburg, Va.
  • Muncie, Ind.
  • Peabody, Mass.
  • Salina, Kan.
  • Shenandoah County, Va.

21
Nov
court

Samsung Adds New iPad, iPad Mini, And iPod Touch To Its Current Lawsuit Against Apple

Posted by in Legal, News

It was bound to happen. Really, it was inevitable at this point, however today we've gotten official word that Samsung is requesting to add the newest iPad, the iPad Mini, and the latest iPod Touch to its lawsuit against the Cupertino company. This isn't shocking so much as it is entirely expected. Still, while HTC and Apple are busy settling their differences and the patent wars seemingly cooling off—if only a bit—this is a solid reminder that the two manufacturers with the most to gain (and lose!) from this fight aren't backing away from each other.

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No new patents are being added to the case, so it's simply a matter of including as much ammunition as possible to lob in Apple's general direction.

21
Nov
2012-11-21_15h59_18

Google Acknowledges 2.5-Year-Old Networking Bug, Promises Fix In Next Android Version

Posted by in Android OS, News

This likely won't affect too many average users, but if you happen to work in a business or university with an open wireless network that relies on an internal hostname within a domain for any redirection, you're in a bit of luck. Up until this point, there's been a bug in Android that makes it impossible for the system to resolve a hostname on a local domain to its proper IP address.

Here's the bug report filed by a user back in April 2010:

Shortly: When connected on WiFi to a network which specifies a domain name, hostnames in that domain do not resolve without appending the domain to the hostname.

21
Nov
spiderman

Gameloft's Black Friday Sale Offers Several Games For $0.99 Including Spider-Man, Gangstar Rio, And Backstab

Posted by in Games, News

Were you hoping to score some sweet new games this holiday season? Gameloft's got you covered. For its Black Friday sale, the developer will be offering several of its wares for just $0.99. Among the titles in the promotion are The Amazing Spider-Man, Gangstar Rio: City Of Saints, Backstab, and The Adventures Of TinTin.

spiderman1 backstab1 gangstar1

If you happen to have a Kindle Fire of some kind, you can still get in on the action via the Amazon Appstore with Kindle Tablet editions of Backstab HD, The Amazing Spider-Man, and N.O.V.A. 3. These deals will be going on all weekend, so you've got a bit of time to do your usual shopping first, then grab a few games for any phones/tablets you may be gifting this holiday season.

21
Nov
avengerstiny

The First Avengers Initiative Game Finally Goes Live On The Play Store, Launching With $5 Promo Price Tag

Posted by in Games, News

It's been a couple months in coming, but the first in an episodic series of Avengers games is live on the Play Store now. In case you've forgotten, this edition features the Hulk, leading the effort to round up a number of supervillains that escaped during a breakout of The Vault. To celebrate the launch, Marvel and NVIDIA are offering the game for a special promo price of $4.99 (normally $6.99).

Owners of Tegra 3 devices will notice some extra effects and battle damage, but the chipset is not strictly required. However, there is a pretty sparse collection of supported devices.

21
Nov
dragontiny

[New Game] Dragon Slayer Is A Magical Showdown Against An Army Of Ancient Reptiles

Posted by in Games, News

Forget ye old days of knights and nobility when you had to stick a dragon with a sword to slay the beast and win yonder fair lady. These days, medieval mythological warfare can be done via the comfort of your own phone. Dragon Slayer fulfills your fantasy by allowing you to engage in magical combat with a host of dragons, and dragon-like creatures.

As with most fantasy-based games, you can collect and upgrade equipment to become more efficient at ending the lives of rare, gargantuan reptiles. Each dragon has its own set of skills, magical abilities, and weaknesses to challenge you.

20
Nov
ingresstiny

[Review] Ingress Is, By Far, The Best Augmented Reality Game A Curious Explorer In The City Can Play

Posted by in Games, News, Reviews

If you've been paying attention to the news cycle lately, you've probably heard that Google—by way of the obscure "Niantic Labs"—released a game of some kind. You saw a trailer that depicted people discovering hidden energy fields within statues, landmarks, and artistic sculptures. You had no idea what was going on. You signed up for an invite anyway, because like any other weird Google product, you want in regardless of what it is. Well, I got my invite a couple days ago, and I'm happy to tell you, it's absolutely worth it.

To say that Ingress is amazing would be an understatement.

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