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.

21
Dec
springpadtiny

Springpad Update Brings 'Board' Support For Tablets, Several Tweaks And Bug Fixes

Posted by in Applications, News

I have a confession to make. I don't care for Evernote. 'Hang him from a gibbet!' I know, but I just prefer Springpad. Which is why I was excited today to see that the newest update brings tablet support for one of the coolest features: Springpad Board. This view allows users to look at all the elements of their notebook—be they text, photos, maps, to-do lists or whatever—as though they are sitting on a table. You can slide and move them around as you will. It's a lovely interface.

springpadboard

The new feature works on any Android tablet, though as you'd expect it's a little cramped on devices like the Nexus 7.

20
Dec
puddingtiny

'Cut The Rope' Creators' Newest Game, 'Pudding Monsters', Encourages You To Save Pudding From Being Eaten, Piss Off Bill Cosby

Posted by in Games, News

One of the bigger mobile games that still somehow manages to disappear under the marketing behemoth of Angry Birds is Cut the Rope. Now, the company behind that title has released a new adventure: Pudding Monsters. The basic gist is, there is red, gelatinous pudding in the fridge, and man is the guy who owns that fridge a jerk. He keeps eating all of these clearly-sentient and terrified desert creatures. Help them!

The game is played in stages, much like Cut The Rope, and requires some problem-solving skills to get the job done. You move, manipulate, and merge the wiggling piles of goo, all while avoiding dangerous baddies on the kitchen table until your googly-eyed friends escape to safety.

20
Dec
archosvideotiny

ARCHOS Releases Its Custom Video Player App To The Play Store, Charges $5 For The Privilege

Posted by in Applications, News

You know, if I'm honest, I feel a little sympathy for Archos. While they don't usually stand out as a manufacturer of the best tablets, they've gotten a decent reputation as being good for the low-end. Then the Nexus 7 came out and redefined what "budget tablet" means. Still, the company has to make money somehow, and putting its custom video player on the Play Store is as good a way as any, right?

archosvideoplayer1 archosvideoplayer2 archosvideoplayer4

The player is decent enough as a video player. Cover art and meta data is aggregated to create a pretty nifty-looking library with slick animations.

20
Dec
callofdutyzombiestiny

Game Fire Sale Bonanza Extravaganza: Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies, Need For Speed, Zombie Driver THD And More All Marked Down

Posted by in Deals, Games

Hide your wallets, folks. Every dang game on the Play Store, it seems, is on sale today. Whether you're looking for a FPS, racing games, or something with the word Zombie in the title, there are plenty of options for you. For example, Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies which manages two out of three of those qualifies at once! Normally, $6.99, this one's been dropped to $2.99. This sale will be going on through January 3rd.

blackopszombies1 blackopszombies2 blackopszombies3

Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies

Download Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies from Google Play
QR code for https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.atv.blackops

Alright, okay, let's take a break from shooting zombies, shall we? What ever happened to old-fashioned, wholesome street racing?

20
Dec
aidetiny

AIDE - Android Java IDE Goes On Sale For 75% Off, Develop For Android On Android For $2.49

Posted by in Applications, News

We've talked about AIDE, the mobile developer toolkit that allows you to write Android apps (almost) entirely on your phone or tablet. In those past discussions, we've mentioned that you can probably get by with just the free version. The premium key offers a few nice extra features, though, like APK publishing, Git push/commit, and saving large project files.

aide1

Most of the features of the premium version are handy if you want to code entirely on your mobile devices which, admittedly, most of you probably won't want to do. Ideally, this app works as a companion to your typical IDE (like Eclipse), but while this sale is going on, it's a small price to pay for a little extra convenience.

19
Dec
vudutiny

VUDU Releases Android App, Gives All Those 'Digital Copies' You Keep Getting With Your Blu-Rays A Tablet-y Home

Posted by in Applications, News

Chances are, even if you haven't heard of Vudu (though that's a little hard at this point), you might just own some piece of content that can be used with the service. Vudu is a digital movie locker that allows users to rent or buy movies online and have them streamed to their computers, or a number of set top boxes and Blu-Ray players with internet connectivity. This is all pretty standard fare. The standout feature, though, is Ultraviolet support, which happens to be one of the preferred methods of offering 'digital copies' for Blu-Ray multipacks.

vuduapp1 vuduapp2

Once you sign in,  you'll have access to your entire library (if you have one), as well as the ability to shop around for anything you'd like to watch.

19
Dec
2012-12-19_17h29_28

Millenial Media: Samsung Ad Impressions Market Share Doubled In Last Year While HTC And Motorola Halved

Posted by in Android OS, News

If you needed any clearer indication that Samsung basically owns the Android world while HTC and Motorola are in trouble, maybe this will help. According to Millenial Media, a mobile advertising firm, ad impressions on its platform from Samsung handsets shot up from 23% to 46% in the last year. Meanwhile, HTC plummeted from 32% to 16%, while Moto dropped from 22% to 11%. This is a massive change.

2012-12-19_17h38_23

Now, before we go getting bent out of shape over this, let's clarify a couple things. First off, this is coming from ad impressions. What that means is that it has no tangible relationship to units sold or profits made by a company.

19
Dec
2012-12-19_13h45_54

Galaxy Note II Developer Edition (16GB) Shows Up On Samsung's Site, Proves Its Existence

Posted by in Galaxy Note II, News, Samsung

One of the biggest frustrations of dealing with Verizon, if you're someone who likes to tweak their phone, is that the carrier insists on locking the bootloaders on its phones that otherwise would not be locked. Samsung has offered Developer Editions of its phones in the past, including the Galaxy S III, largely to avoid that problem and appease the dev crowd. Today, that tradition continues with the Galaxy Note II which has now appeared on the company's site in a similar hacker-friendly model.

2012-12-19_14h20_53

Samsung hasn't announced pricing or availability for this model just yet, but if previous patterns hold, you can expect this to take a bit of a toll on your wallet, as it's going to be sold off-contract and unsubsidized.

19
Dec
2012-12-19_11h03_27

Snubbed By NORAD, Google Builds Its Own Santa Tracker, Personalized Message Builder, And Other Awesome Christmas Stuff

Posted by in Google, News

You've gotta hand it to the folks in Mountain View. When NORAD decides to pass Google over for Santa tracking data, the company isn't one to sit on its hands and let someone else handle Christmas. This isn't the first year that the data giant has kept you up to date on the comings and goings of everyone's favorite fat bearded man in a red suit, but this Santa tracker may just be the best yet.

santa dashboard santatracker

The desktop interface is alive and kicking, as it has been in Christmases past. This new iteration brings new and familiar features like Reindeer games for the kids to play, customized voice messages from Santa and, when the clock strikes 2AM PST on Christmas Eve, kids and parents alike will be able to follow His Jollyness around the world.

18
Dec
2012-12-18_17h23_14

My Fingers Are Threatening Legal Action Against Me After Trying Snapkeys Si, Another Failed 'Invisible' Keyboard

Posted by in Applications, News

Developers, repeat after me: invisible keyboards never work. Do you understand? Good. I hope we're clear on this. Because after trying to use the ridiculous "invisible" SnapKeys Si, which blocks more on-screen crap than any other input software I've ever seen, I'm ready to throw my beloved Nexus 7 through the next wall to look at me funny.

Here's the basic idea behind how SnapKeys Si works: Instead of being given a full QWERTY keyboard, you get a selection of twelve letters, divided among four colored blocks. If you want to type one of these letters, you just hit its block.

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