Jeremiah Rice
Contributing since July, 2012
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1288articles
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About 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.
Latest Articles
According to Googler Virgil Dobjanschi, there's a new version of Google+ for Android rolling out the Play Store right now. While there's no official changelog and the Play Store entry doesn't seem to be telling much, the biggest addition is a new notification for when your photos have been given the "Auto Awesome" treatment. If you'll recall from the 2013 Google I/O presentation, Auto Awesome is a processing feature that automatically turns similar photos into collages or animated GIFs.
Nearly all the attention for reader-tablet hybrids goes to Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but today the Toronto-based Kobo is making a compelling case for their share of the market. The company announced three new tablets: the Arc 7, Arc 7HD, and Arc 10HD, set for release on October 16th. The three models are roughly analogous to the latest Kindle Fire, Fire HD, and Fire HD 8.9, but they've got two distinct advantages: they run Android 4.2.2, and they've got access to the Google Play Store.
If you're a dedicated PC or console gamer, odds are pretty good that you've at least heard of The Walking Dead from Telltale Games. It's an old-school adventure game with a coat of current-generation polish, set in the comic book universe that inspired the smash-hit AMC television series. And sometime later this year, it's coming to OUYA.
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 universally famous beat-em-up, a physics puzzler with an obvious inspiration, and a unique platformer with marble game roots. Without further ado:
Gameloft has released eight games in the Asphalt series in just under nine years. If practice makes perfect, then Asphalt 8 should be nothing less than the greatest racing game ever made. It doesn't quite live up to that lofty goal, but as a top-tier Android game and an impressive arcade-style racer in its own right, it's worth your attention even if you're only casually interested in racing games.
It's not often that you'll see executives of multi-billion-dollar international companies speak frankly about unannounced products, but The Korea Times managed to get a few gems of information out of Samsung Executive Vice President of Mobile Lee Young-Hee. She confirmed that the Galaxy Note III will be unveiled at the upcoming September 4th "Unpacked" event (which is hardly a surprise), and also that the often-rumored Galaxy Gear smartwatch will be in attendance.
A couple of weeks ago, Play Store users started receiving frustrating errors when downloading or updating apps. The bug flashed a dialog reading "Package file is invalid" after refusing to download an app. It seemed to affect people and apps randomly. Google marked the issue as "resolved" on the Play support page on August 13th, but it has been moved back into the Known Issues list.
In case you haven't heard yet, there's this thing in Berlin next week. It's called IFA. It's a bit of a big deal, been going for about 90 years now. And between now and then, every single major manufacturer is going to remind you that they have new stuff to show off in Germany. Today it's Sony, teasing what appears to be the Xperia Honami (AKA the Xperia i1), the successor to the Xperia Z, in a short but sweet sizzle reel.
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
Update: The Verge has a response straight from the horse's mouth. It doesn't completely dismiss the idea of local content playback, but it doesn't exactly justify Google's disabling of the feature, either. Basically it's a "hurry up and wait" situation - we won't know exactly how Google intends to go forward until the developer preview for the SDK ends.
Update: It turns out you can get a Samsung HomeSync in the US... if you live in the greater Chicago area. AT&T is selling the devices at its flagship store on Michigan Avenue, and only at this store. We called up the location for information about pricing and availability, here's what we were told: the HomeSync is $299 (no contracts or anything), is currently in stock at that location, and you do not have to be an AT&T customer to purchase one.
So it's been a while since LG made a tablet. They aren't the only ones that have been skittish in a market dominated by the iPad and the low-margin Kindle Fire (I don't see Motorola or HTC rushing to make anything new). But as an in-country rival to Samsung, LG's absence has been felt more than others. It looks like the company intends to make a return with the G Pad 8.3, a sequel to the original Optimus Pad.
We've been keeping an eye on the Samsung registration page for a while now - it's got some nice perks for owners of select tablets. Yesterday a new device was added to the short list, the Samsung HomeSync. If you'll stretch memory a bit, you'll recall that the HomeSync is a combination home server and set-top box revealed back at MWC in February. You can register a new purchase on the page to get $50 of credit for the Media Hub, Samsung's alternative to the Play Store.
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 an interesting take on Advance Wars, an atmospheric puzzle game, and a Humble Bundle pilgrim. Without further ado:
Those of us who've managed to hang on to Verizon unlimited data after the tiered plans started showing up are not going to give it up lightly. We buy unsubsidized phones at ridiculous prices to stay secure in the knowledge that we can gobble as many gigabytes as we want for $30 a month. This does not please Verizon: unlimited data is not conducive to profits, and unsubsidized customers are more likely to bolt. So they're trying to bring grandfathered unlimited customers back into the fold with a "deal" for Verizon Edge, codenamed Verizon Max.
We like to feature at least one or two kid-friendly games in our biweekly roundups, but this one looks so good that we had to give it its own post. LEGO DUPLO is the famous company's line of brick sets for kids age 5 and under, with easy formations, bright colors, and big, swallow-proof pieces. The Android DUPLO game focuses on the branded train sets.
If you're in the habit of using the fancy-pants Chrome Beta to get access to the newest features for your browser of choice, try this handy zoom gesture out. On any desktop page, double-tap anywhere, and on the second tap keep your finger on the screen. Then slide your finger up and down for a quick and easy zoom. It works the same way that the "pinch to zoom" function does, but with a single finger.
AT&T just launched a large amount of phones all at once, but none are so large as Samsung's Galaxy Mega 6.3. This relatively low-priced alternative to the Galaxy Note and Optimus G Pro is the largest phone in AT&T's lineup, and at the moment, also the largest carrier phone anywhere in America. The device is available now at 9.99 on-contract or $479.99 unsubsidized.
Pandora's Android client gets a small update today. The first new feature is something that everyone can use: a sleep timer. In the main station view, tap the Menu icon to find the new "Sleep timer" entry. Tap it, then choose between 15, 30, or 60 minutes. After the set time Pandora will cut off, letting you drift into the arms of Morpheus without killing your battery.
Words are awesome. For writers they're meat and drink, bread and butter, and everything else that goes on the dinner table. But even writers run into words we've never seen before, and at times like that Google Search is an awesome tool for expanding my vocabulary. Google Search just got a little better, because the definition cards have been updated to include word origins and their usage over time.