Jeremiah Rice - 19/46 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jeremiah Rice

Jeremiah is a US-based blogger who bought a Nexus One the day it came out and never looked back. In his spare time he watches Star Trek, cooks eggs, and completely fails to write novels.

Feb

Pebble Notifier Now Works Without Tasker, Adds Selective App Notifications

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

Last week we told you about Pebble Notifier, an app that allows Tasker to send updates to the Pebble smartwatch over Bluetooth. Developer Dattas Moonchaser has updated the plugin to a full, independent app: you no longer need Tasker to send updates to your watch. (You'll still need the official Pebble app.) As you probably know, while Tasker is an incredibly powerful piece of software, it's also very difficult to learn and master, so the update should make it useful for a larger percentage of Pebble owners.

Even better, the app can selectively include or exclude apps from its "watched" list, a great help to anyone who was inundated with relatively useless updates when they tried it out.

Feb

AOKP Jelly Bean 4.2 Release 3: Galaxy S II And Note II Support, Auto-Hide Nav Bar, Tablet Mode Lives!

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News

The Android Open Kang Project ROM developers are taking longer and longer in between updates, but when they post one, it doesn't disappoint. The third official Jelly Bean 4.2 release includes support for the Acer Iconia Tab A510, the international Galaxy Note II LTE, and T-Mobile's Galaxy S II. (Owners of the international Galaxy S II and the Texas Instruments i9100G variant: check AOKP's website tomorrow for an updated version.) There's also a lot of new features in the build, most of them centered around the user interface.

First and foremost: tablet mode is back! For those of you scratching your heads, "tablet mode" is the colloquial name for the combined tablet navigation and status bar introduced in Honeycomb 3.0, and officially abandoned by Google with the release of the Nexus 10.

Feb

Google Now Update: NCAA Basketball Teams Can Be Manually Added To Sports Card

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Android OS, Jelly Bean 4.1, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

Good news, basketball fans. Google has been gradually upgrading the Now service to include a wider range of sports teams, and today Division I NCAA basketball teams from all over the US can be manually added to your personal Now results. Go into the Google Now settings page, tap "Sports," and search for your favorite school. Only basketball is supported at the moment - here's hoping that football teams are added before the season starts.

Previously, a few NCAA teams were showing up in the Sports card dynamically, if you searched for them enough. Now you can make sure that you'll be alerted whenever your guys hit the boards.

Feb

Google Shows Off The Cooler Parts Of Now And The Nexus 4 You Don't Have In The Latest TV Spot

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Google, LG, Nexus 4

Yes, we know - the Nexus 4 is still thin on the ground basically everywhere. (Americans, both the 8GB and 16GB versions are currently shown as "ships in 2-3 weeks" on the Play Store.) Even so, the LG flagship is the logical showpiece for Google Now, and it's doing some fine service in Google's latest mobile search ad. This one shows off Now's ability to automatically bring up contextual information for your time or location. It seems that Google is also pretty sure that American tourists don't know what sea urchins look like.

This commercial makes a little more sense than previous Now spots, since it's displaying the app's ability to predict the topical information you want as soon as you perform that distinctive swiping function.

Feb

[New App] NBA All-Star 2013 Is Exactly What All Sports Apps Should Be

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Apps/Games, News

If you're headed to Houston next weekend for the NBA All-Star Game, do yourself a favor and download the official app. It functions as both an event guide and a nifty preview, for those NBA fans who can't make it to the game. What's surprising about the All-Star app is that it's really, really well-done: there's a ton of free content, the interface roughly follows Holo guidelines, and it's available to everyone. Hey, Verizon and the NFL: take some notes here.

For those who'll be at the game itself, there's an event guide for the entire weekend, as well as a map of the relevant venues in Houston, their surrounding parking options, and places to pick up official memorabilia.

Feb

[New Game] Everyone's Favorite Sentient CRT Is Back In SilverTree Media's Cordy 2

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Games, News

If you haven't checked out SilverTree's previous Android titles, the Cordy series and Sleepy Jack, you're missing out on some fantastic mobile games. The graphics and music are excellent, controls are tight, and each one deserves its 4+ Play Store rating. Now you've got a chance to rectify your mistake with Cordy 2, the sequel to the original platformer. Anyone who has spent hours engrossed in a Mario or Rayman title will find something to love here.

Cordy is a living mishmash of wires and buttons, tasked with saving other automations from the evil Boogaloo. (Is anyone else getting a Brave Little Toaster vibe?) Gameplay will be familiar to just about anyone who lived through the 16-bit era, with running, jumping, double-jumping, stomping on enemies, and collecting various bits providing most of the mechanics.

Feb

[New Game] Roller Rally: Snake Pass Mixes Racing, Endless Running, And Ingratiating Cuteness

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Games, News

Endless runners a la Temple Run are fast becoming the default genre for mobile games, and with good reason. Their one-touch play style is perfect for touchscreens, and the short levels work well for bite-sized sessions. That said, it's always nice to see a little innovation, and iOS pilgrim Roller Rally has that in spades. In addition to a competitive racer format, it's got great graphics and tight controls.

If you've ever played the console snowboarding game SSX, you'll be on familiar turf here. You race head-to-head with three other critters, collecting coins and performing stunts throughout the level. The tricks are limited to in-air spins, but be careful - you'll have to land on your skates to avoid a speed penalty.

Feb

[Editorial] Gamevil's Cartoon Wars: Blade Shows Other Developers How Not To Make A Fremium Game

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Editorials, Games

Look, Gamevil, we need to talk. You folks have been doing some fine work in the mobile gaming world, you really have. Zenonia, Baseball Superstars, Colosseum, well-made titles all. And I'm sure plenty of cash-strapped gamers appreciate that the vast majority of your games can be played for free. But in the last few months, you've become the poster child of everything that's wrong with mobile gaming.

Case in point: your brand new entry in the much-loved Cartoon Wars series. Cartoon Wars: Blade takes a more old-school approach to the action genre, with simple Battletoads-style 2D fighting. There's a pretty interesting inventory and weapon system, too, with two active melee weapons and a ranged weapon functioning as a special attack.

Feb

[Deal Alert] Garnet Red Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 Is $179.99 ($40 Off) With A Free Case On eBay

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Deals, Galaxy Tab 2 7.0

Attention, husbands and boyfriends: unless your significant other explicitly states that she wants a red Samsung Galaxy Tab for Valentine's Day, do not rely solely on this deal to please her. Add some chocolate, roses, a spa treatment, et cetera to sweeten the pot. That said, this eBay Daily Deal from Adorama is pretty good, if you want a small tablet that isn't the Nexus 7. $179.99 will get you the Garnet Red Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and a matching case, normally a $220 package.

As we stated earlier, there's no difference between this Garnet Red Galaxy Tab and its less flamboyant predecessor - you still get a somewhat dull 1024x600 screen, 1Ghz dual-core processor, 8GB of storage with a MicroSD card slot, and Android 4.1 with TouchWiz.

Feb

[New App] Pebble Notifier Tasker Plugin Makes The Smartwatch Approximately 300 Times More Useful

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Apps/Games, News

We love Tasker. And we mostly love the Pebble Smartwatch. But there's no denying that the utility of the Pebble is somewhat limited - right now you get calls, emails, texts, Facebook, and a few more remote notifications. With the Pebble Notifier plugin for Tasker, the Swiss Army knife of Android apps can send alerts for anything and everything happening on your phone. It may be the single most useful thing that could happen to Pebble.

Naturally, the official Pebble app is necessary to make use of the bridge, and the Tasker accessibility service needs to be enabled. (Settings>Accessibility>Set Tasker to "On.") Developer Dattas Moonchaser (yes, really, we couldn't make that up) has kindly released the plugin free of charge, along with the source code and a few basic Tasker profiles.