Jeremiah Rice - 25/49 - 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] Foursquare For Business Checks Into The Play Store To Attract Customers On The Go

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

Believe it or don't, Fourquare has grown beyond hipster urbanites who desperately want to be the Mayor of the 6th Street Starbucks. More than a few businesses - independent or otherwise - are seeing the value in the location-based service. To that end, Foursquare has released its free business app on the Play Store, allowing local managers to update their business status for single or multiple locations.

Within the Foursquare for Business app, you can keep tabs on recent check-ins, set specials for users, and look up in-depth statistics for your business's performance on Foursquare. You can also update your location's status and send it out to Facebook and Twitter.

Jan

Because No Games Are Better Than Crappy Games: Zeboyd Calls It Quits On Android

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Editorials, Games, News

Though you may not have heard of them, Zeboyd Games is something of a darling in the world of indie gaming. After scoring hits with the quirky neo-retro RPGs Cthulhu Saves The World and Breath Of Death VII, the two-man studio made it big by landing a contract with webcomic giant Penny Arcade. The third game in the series, On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness III, abandoned the 3D style of the previous entries for a sprite-based, pixelated throwback to 16-bit gaming goodness. Zeboyd's entries in the PC and downloadable market have garnered near-universal applause.

When the games started racking up sales on Steam and XBLA, demand for Android and iOS versions skyrocketed.

Jan

NCAA College Basketball And Football Are Finally Starting To Appear In Google Now, Still No Manual Team Selection [Update]

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News

One of the most often requested additions to Google Now's card system is college sports for the US, and it looks like at least some people are finally starting to see it. A very small number of Google Now users have seen cards appear for their favorite NCAA football and basketball teams (sorry, women's ice hockey fans, no dice). The results seem to be entirely contextual at the moment; you can't add college teams in the settings menu yet, but a few sports fans are seeing the relevant cards appear after they search for their team.

Unfortunately, even that little bit of information doesn't seem to be live for everyone.

Jan

NVIDIA Project Shield: Built On Blood, Sweat, Tears, And Fried Chicken Grease

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News, NVIDIA, Project Shield

Just in case you slept through the first week of January, take a peek back at our coverage of Project Shield, NVIDIA's attempt to inject the Android gaming market with a Tegra 4-powered supersoldier serum. There's still no word on exactly when shield will hit the market, but the boys in green want to make sure it stays in your mind. To that end, they've just posted a short run-down of a year's worth of Shield development on their blog, including the frantic construction of show-ready units less than two weeks before NVIDIA's CES presentation. Fried chicken was apparently a vital component of the limited manufacturing process.

Jan

Pebble Smartwatch Review: A Rough Diamond In Need Of A Little Polish

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Reviews

If there's one product from the last year that's managed to capture the attention of just about everyone in the tech arena, it's Pebble. Between the somewhat tenuous underdog status of all Kickstarter projects, a general swell in "wearable tech" interest, and months and months of frustrating delays, it's proven to be even better fodder for bloggers than speculative hardware backers. Finally, 8 months after being successfully funded (and four months after the initial ship date) I've got one sitting on my wrist.

So, is Pebble worth the wait? Putting aside the fact that the wait isn't over yet (most Kickstarter backers are still waiting, and it'll be a couple of months at least before you can buy one outright) the answer is a resounding "maybe." While there are some serious deficiencies in the design of both the hardware and software, the idea and the execution of Pebble are solid.

Jan

[New Game] Kairosoft's Dream House Days Mixes Apartment Management With Matchmaking

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Games, News

Psst. There's a new Kairosoft game out. For some of you, that's all the urging you need to make tracks to the Google Play Store. For the rest of you, how about the fact that it's a free game in the seemingly popular "building manager" mold? Dream House Days puts you in control of a high-rise luxury apartment complex. Which might not sound as exciting as running a game studio or colonizing a planet, but Kairosoft tends to get a lot of fun out of even the most mundane premises.

You're in charge of managing the complex's finance, developing and furnishing individual apartments, and attracting new and desirable tenants.

Jan

NVIDIA Metals Up Your Homescreen With The Official Hawken Live Wallpaper

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

If you've got a decent gaming PC and you haven't tried Hawken, you really should give it a try. The free-to-play online shooter captures the atmosphere of a gigantic, hulking death machine in a way that doesn't have an equal, and the first-person perspective and customizable mechs make ita nice tribute to the old Mech Warrior series. And if you've already tried it and liked it, NVIDIA has a promotional live wallpaper that's right up your rusted, diesel-splattered alley.

The Hawken Live Wallpaper is pretty similar to NVIDIA's previous freebies for Skyrim and Mass Effect 3. There are two or three horizontal planes of sprites, some special effects, and a little animation to spice things up.

Jan

Glu Mobile Shows Off More Muscle-Bound Meatheads In Gun Bros 2 Trailer

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Games, News

If there was ever a contender for mobile game with the highest mullet to tact ratio, it's Gun Bros. The top-down shooter made a splash when it released on Android in 2011, sitting atop the Market charts for months. Now it's high time for the lads of F.R.A.G.G.E.D. to head back into battle, this time in a full 3D smorgasbord of Arnold-grade action. Glu Mobile has released an early trailer for the game, and while there's no date, it should be enough to thoroughly whet the appetites of the game's current fans.

There's plenty of information to be gleaned from the 75-second trailer: there are more and bigger characters, more and bigger guns, more and bigger enemies...

Jan

[Deal Alert] The T-Mobile Nexus 4 Is In Stock And Just $149.99 With Free Shipping At Wirefly - Almost Worth The Two-Year Contract

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in LG, News, Nexus 4, T-Mobile

We know, we know - the Nexus 4 is still awfully hard to come by. If you haven't already rushed to your nearest Best Buy, you might want to run over to WireFly, where T-Mobile's version of the N4 is just $149.99. That's $50 less than T-Mobile's retail price, and the lowest we've ever seen for the 8GB model. The deal is good both for new contracts and 2-year renewals. FedEx shipping is free.

Of course, that contract means that this still isn't practical for those who want an unlocked model. If you're hoping to avoid signing on the dotted line, your best bet is still to wait out Google and LG's current supply issues.

Jan

34 Best New Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (1/16/13 - 1/28/13)

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

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.

This edition focuses only on new games. The app roundup is coming up soon.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Featured App

Prehistoric Park

Today's roundup is sponsored by Prehistoric Park by Gear Games. There is no fossil evidence that early homo sapiens or Neanderthals enjoyed theme parks.