Jeremiah Rice - 21/49 - 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

[New App] Valarm Pro Monitors Sensor Data Remotely, Uploads For Detailed Tracking And Study

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Apps/Games, News

Smartphones have a staggering amount of data they can monitor, and not just in terms of the Internet. Position, orientation, speed, sound, light, g-force, the list goes on - that's why academics are using them as self-contained sensor stations for cool stuff like blasting into space. If you need to monitor data remotely for decidedly less cool reasons (like seeing if your CDL contractor got four tons of gravel to the worksite without stopping at Arby's first) Valarm might be the right service for you.

Valarm monitors a handful of variables on a remote Android device: Accelerometer, GPS, light sensor, and other variables like battery life.

Feb

[New Game] They're Comin' Out Of The Walls - Alien Breed Lands On Android For $4.99

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Games, News

Alien: Colonial Marines is getting positively face-hugged in the reviews, and Alien Vs Predator: Evolution appears to be weeks or months away. So why not dig into gaming's past for a bit of unofficial space marine action? 1991 Amiga shooter Alien Breed has been re-released on Android in all its top-down, pixelated glory, for the not low at all price of $4.99.

Alien Breed is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to James Cameron's Aliens. You move through each level exterminating aliens like seven-foot cockroaches, collecting money and ammunition. You then descend to the next level down, upgrading or buying new weapons, et cetera.

Feb

Opera Buys Skyfire In $155 Million Deal, Looks To Improve Mobile Video

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

Opera and Skyfire have a lot in common: specialized use cases, small, dedicated populations of users. That appears to be enough for the desktop browser to swallow the mobile one. Opera Software ASA announced via a press release this morning that it is acquiring Skyfire and its assets, in a deal worth $155 million USD. The sale price includes a mix of cash and stock, $50 million of which will be delivered up front.

While its market share is small in the desktop world, Opera's userbase is incredibly dedicated, and many don't realize that the software and the company have been offering surprisingly advanced browsing for nearly two decades.

Feb

Bump Adds "Bump Your Computer" Feature - Tap The Spacebar With Your Phone To Send Files

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

When Bump showed up on the smartphone scene, it was something of a novelty, but at the time it delivered file sync and transfer faster and easier than anything else. But with the proliferation of Dropbox, Google Drive and innumerable others, the game has changed. Bump plays a bit of catch-up today with an updated Android and web app, which allows users to send files between PCs (web) and mobile devices with ease.

They call the new capability "Bump Your Computer". Far from an invitation to laptop catastrophe, it's every bit as simple as the app itself: go to the Bu.mp website, select a file, picture, contact, etc.

Feb

WhatsApp Messenger Beta APK Released With Snazzy Holo Interface

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

Popular cross-platform messenger service WhatsApp is a little behind the times. It's part of the depressingly huge collection of Android apps that ape their iOS counterparts, never aspiring to anything higher. That appears to be close to an end, as the latest beta release of the Android client has a new user interface, and it conforms to the Holo guidelines that the rest of your phone (hopefully) uses. Google+ user Jose Luis de la Torre took some shots of the updated interface. Observe:

The version in the Google Play Store hasn't been updated yet, so you'll have to go off-market to try out the latest release.

Feb

[Deal Alert] HTC One VX In Red And White Is $.01 From AT&T And Amazon Wireless, Respectively

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in AT&T, Deals, One VX

Want An HTC One VX for V-Day, for practically nothing? Then head to AT&T's website or Amazon, depending upon which color you prefer. Both have the device on sale for $.01 with a new or extended contract, but AT&T has the red version, while Amazon has the white. The regular subsidized price from both retailers for the phone is $49.99. I'd go with the white ( it looks a little more snazzy) but there's no accounting for taste. It's the cheapest we've seen this model, and both phones come with free shipping.

If you need a memory refresh, the One VX is an updated version of the original One S, with a dual-core 1.2Ghz Snapdragon processor, 4.5-inch 960x540 LCD screen,a 5MP camera, Ice Cream Sandwich (with 4.1 Jelly bean promised), and 8GB of storage.

Feb

App Roundup: Here Are Four New Valentine's Day Apps That Don't Suck [Update]

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, Roundups

Last Updated: May 13th, 2013

Around the offices of Android Police, we go through a lot of apps. We're talking hundreds or even thousands every week, to bring you the best in our app and game roundups or (if they're good enough) individual posts. Before every major holiday, we are inundated with more themed applications than we know what to do with. And to be honest, most of them are terrible. But we've found four Valentine's apps that are bearable, even interesting. So put on your white sportcoat and pink carnation and download a few, if the holiday spirit moves you.

Rebtel Re:Beat

Rebtel is an otherwise unremarkable VOIP service, offering the usual cheap international calls and the like.

Feb

The Curious Case Of The Brazilian Android-Powered iPhone: Apple Loses Trademark Suit

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News

International trademark, patent, and copyright law is a bit of a legal minefield, and Apple has proven itself to be among the best in navigating it these last few years. But there is one exception to their otherwise impressive track record: the lucrative South American market of Brazil. While Apple iPhones have been sold in the country for years, Apple has never owned the trademark for the name. A regional phone manufacturer, Gradiente Eletronica, registered the trademark for "iphone" way back in 2000.

That didn't stop Cupertino's legal bulldogs from suing Gradiente after they released the iPhone Neo One, a ~$300 mid-range Gingerbread phone, in December.

Feb

Roller Rally Snake Pass Review: A Fun Mashup Of Racing And Platforming

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Games, Reviews

It's surprisingly hard to make a mobile game, or at least, a mobile game that's worth playing. Mobile developers are still in their infancy, at least compared with their console and PC counterparts. So when someone manages to release a fun, polished game that works well on smartphones and avoids some of the more glaring pitfalls of the platform, we sit up and take notice. Such is the case with Roller Rally: Snake Pass, an Android port of a popular iOS title from MilkyTea.