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
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 Joe Dever game from the mind of Joe Dever (presented by Joe Dever), a puzzler with a Geometry Wars visual style, and a free-to-play strategy game. Without further ado:
The day you've been waiting for is here, "phablet" fans... assuming you're a prospective or current Sprint customer and you haven't already bought a Galaxy Note 3. The Now Network has launched its carrier-branded version of the HTC One Max (or "One max" if you're a brand manager) and it's currently available on the official online store for 9.99.
Redesigned Nest Thermostat App Adds Nest Protect Functionality, Landscape Support, Push Notifications, And More
The new redesigned Nest Thermostat app adds Nest Protect
The Nest Learning Thermostat gets a major update to its Android app today, mostly to add support for the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector. The Protect now ties into the Android app (assuming you have one, of course) with status checks for both sensors and multiple units in your connected home. You can add new thermostats or smoke detectors right from the app.
If you're not an IT manager or an employee of a company with a sizeable tech infrastructure, feel free to skip this post. But if either of those descriptions fit you, you may be interested in Amazon's latest foray into B2B services. Amazon WorkSpaces is a remote, virtualized desktop - basically your own personal Windows machine that lives in the cloud - and it's got an Android client just one day after the service was launched.
Gameloft introduced us to GT Racing 2 two months ago with a strange focus on Mercedes-Benz cars, but now the full game is available with a full complement of manufacturers. GT Racing 2 is a free download in the Play Store for devices running Android 2.3 or higher. You'll need just under a gigabyte of free storage to download it (not to mention a decent connection).
ISIS Mobile Wallet Finally Launches On Verizon, AT&T, And T-Mobile, Probably Wasn't Worth The Wait
ISIS Mobile Wallet Finally Launches On Verizon, AT&T, And T-Mobile, Probably Wasn't Worth The Wait
Remember when everyone was pissed off that the Verizon version of the Galaxy Nexus couldn't use Google Wallet because of "security concerns"? ISIS Mobile Wallet, the alternative carrier-sponsored NFC payment system (and the reason that last sentence was equipped with sarcastic quote marks) is finally available, just two years after Google Wallet was coincidentally blocked by the carriers that are pushing ISIS. Nice work there, fellas.
So far Samsung has been right on the money when it comes to the much-anticipated Android 4.3 update for its major phones. Today customers with the AT&T model of the Galaxy S4 are getting the last version of Jelly Bean, according to this (very long) thread on XDA. It looks like the update file started going out to customers a few hours after midnight, so technically Samsung is a day late - then again, the schedule was leaked, so it's hard to hold that against them.
Motorola has made a splash in the mobile world today, thanks to a ridiculously cheap phone that appears to be pretty good. (Shocking!) The $179 Moto G was announced in a live event this morning, with availability in Brazil and parts of Europe today, and a worldwide rollout continuing into early 2014. The company published the first ad for the Moto G on its YouTube channel.
Update: Welcome back to Android Police. And now, here's an AT&T representative with a report on the recent Galaxy Note 3 software update.
The words "no compromise" and "mid-range" would seem to be mutually exclusive, but Motorola would like you to think otherwise. The company announced the Moto G in a live event, promoting a cheaper and slightly lower-spec version of the flagship Moto X. This phone is Motorola's wide-ranging model, the first that's been introduced since the X, and it's intended to be cheap enough to be purchased without a contract.
Update: Sprint has confirmed the November 15th date for the HTC One Max, as well as the $249.99 on-contract price.
Google's long, slow journey towards bringing Play Store media to all corners of the globe has advanced another step today: the Movies section has opened up to Android and web users in Italy. Italian readers can check the Play Store on their phone, tablet, or PC to see what's available for rent or purchase. At present it looks like most of the major American studios are on board for the new territory.
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.
After months of AT&T exclusivity, the Moto X can now be customized on all four major American carriers. The Moto Maker website now includes models for AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint, with custom color choices for the front panel, back panel, and accents. The Moto Maker tool also includes the engraving option for the rear panel that was heavily promoted during the device's reveal.
Have you noticed that sometimes your Nexus 5 reverts to the old Ice Cream Sandwich-style pop-up for voice dictation in some apps, as opposed to the less disruptive "endless dictation" on-the-keyboard style? You're not alone. Our fearless leader Artem found that his N5's microphone icon was missing from the default keyboard, and using contextual mic icons (in search boxes and other places) caused the aforesaid behavior. It was also affecting third-party keyboards like SwiftKey.
At some point in your childhood, one of your parents may have warned you against making faces - "knock it off," they said, "or your face will freeze like that." That sound advice might not actually be true, but it seems to have a pertinent application for the latest versions of the Hangouts app on Android. Reddit user Recon2012 found an app-killing bug within Hangouts relating to the new emoji functionality in the Android keyboard.
Whenever there's a new version of Android on the block, you can bet that custom ROM makers will be some of the first to push it out - for example, the Paranoid Android team had an AOSP build of KitKat available the day after the code was published. This weekend the makers of four of the most prolific custom ROM families out there, CyanogenMod, Android Open Kang Project (AOKP), Paranoid Android, and Omni ROM, have shared their plans for Android 4.4.
Update: Motorola posted the following tweet earlier today, which indicates that the engraving feature is coming soon to Moto Maker. The custom engraving option was removed shortly before the device launch after being heavily promoted.
Blizzard is a game developer and publisher - maybe you've heard of them. They're responsible for little series like Diablo, Starcraft, and World Of Warcraft, among others. The company's latest effort is an online, multiplayer trading card game called Hearthstone, currently in an invite-only beta on PC. Polygon reports that at the annual BlizzCon in Anaheim, California, the company announced that Hearthstone will be released on Android in 2014.
Remember when people used to tape point-and-shoot cameras to their Nokia candybar phones and jokingly call it a "camera phone?" If you'd like to see the modern incarnation of that bad joke, you can but it on AT&T starting today. The Galaxy S4 Zoom, a mid-range smartphone with an admittedly decent point-and-shoot camera strapped to the back, is now available for purchase.