John Thompson - 2/22 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

John Thompson

John's been addicted to technology ever since he tinkered with his first custom built PC when he was 10 years old. He's also the proud owner of seven Amazon Kindles, but only because he destroyed the first six.

Follow @british_geek

Mar

[New Game] NAMCO Brings PAC-MAN + Tournaments To Android For Free

Posted by John Thompson in Games, News

Last Updated: March 28th, 2013

Sometimes, classic games are just better. If you're tired of playing through endless variations of Temple Run and flinging animated birds across your smartphone display, then you'll no doubt be glad to hear that NAMCO has just released PAC-MAN + Tournaments on Android.

The app has been designed so that it remains very similar to the original arcade version of the game, and you'll be able to play PAC-MAN Classic to your heart's content with a virtual joystick at the bottom of the screen. If you want to try something a little bit different, you'll find new tournaments and mazes to play through too, with achievements available throughout the game, bringing PAC-MAN into the 21st century.

Mar

YouTube Hits 1 Billion Monthly Users, With More Traffic Coming From Smartphones Each Year

Posted by John Thompson in News

YouTube announced something fairly incredible yesterday: it now has more than 1 billion unique visitors to the site every single month. That's a LOT of people, almost half of everybody around the world with internet access, in fact.

What's even more interesting is how people are reaching the site. A post on Google's AdWords Agency blog took a look at how the current generation, or 'Generation C', accesses content on YouTube, and found that a lot of the traffic is coming from smartphones, as opposed to traditional PCs. When looking at the current generation, they found a 76% increase in smartphone traffic, year-on-year, with only a 33% increase in traffic from desktops.

Mar

Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code' Book Available For Free From The Play Store For A Limited Time, With An Excerpt From The Upcoming 'Inferno'

Posted by John Thompson in Deals, News

Ten years have passed since Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code' took the world by storm, with the book selling over 70 million copies worldwide. If you're one of the few people not to have read the novel since its release, now's your chance to get it for free from the Play Store.

With the release date of latest Robert Langdon novel, 'Inferno', fast approaching, fans of the series have the chance to re-read The Da Vinci Code for free, before diving into the prologue and first chapter of Inferno, which will be released in May this year.

The offer will only be available until March 24, so if you want to see what all the fuss is about then you'll have to act quickly.

Mar

Jawbone UP App Available For Android - Lets You Track Your Daily Exercise, Sleep Patterns, And Calorie Consumption

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, News

Did you enter 2013 with visions of eating healthily, becoming more active, and staying fit? Not so easy a few months down the line, is it? The good news is that Jawbone may have just provided you with that extra boost that you needed, as the UP app is finally available for Android.

On the surface, the Jawbone UP wristband is comparable to the Nike+ Fuelband, although with the app in tow it allows you to take a more holistic view, tracking your sleep patterns, looking at how you eat every day, and how much exercise you do.

The data regarding your daily exercise and sleep is stored within the wristband and will transfer to the app whenever you sync, but if you want to check your eating habits you'll have to put in a little bit of extra work.

Mar

Leaked Samsung Galaxy S III ROM Screenshots Show Smart Scroll And Smart Pause Features Rumored For The Galaxy S IV

Posted by John Thompson in Galaxy S III, News, Rumors, Samsung

We heard rumors at the start of this week that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S IV will feature eye tracking technology to scroll through pages as you read content, and now it looks as though those features could be heading to the Galaxy S III as well.

Screenshots published by SamMobile this morning, from a leaked version of Android 4.2.1 intended for the Galaxy S III, show the smart screen features in more detail, with some previously unseen additions. These include 'smart pause', which pauses video content when you face away from the display, and 'smart rotation', which can adjust the rotation of the display to match the direction in which you're looking at the screen.

Feb

HTC Releases Kernel Source Files For The One SV

Posted by John Thompson in Development, News, One SV

We've got some good news for the open source development community today: HTC has released the kernel source files for the One SV, in 16 different varieties to account for slight differences between carriers and countries.

Although this may not be of immediate interest to consumers, as developers get their hands on the source, it should result in faster and more stable ROMs for the device in the future.

If you want to download the kernel source, which is around 100MB in size, to check it out for yourself, you can download it from the HTC Dev Center.

Source: HTC Dev Center

Feb

EE Launches 4G In Nine More Towns And Cities Across The UK, Including Coventry, Preston And Walsall

Posted by John Thompson in Everything Everywhere (EE), News

Continuing its rollout across the UK, Everything Everywhere has expanded its 4G service to nine more towns and cities. As a result, superfast mobile broadband is now available to 45% of the UK.

The following nine towns and cities will see 4G service turned on today:

Barnsley
Chorley
Coventry
Newport
Preston
Rotherham
Telford
Walsall
Watford

As Everything Everwhere's monopoly over 4G in the UK will soon be coming to an end, following successful bids for spectrum by all of the major mobile carriers in the country, the network is continuing to aggressively rollout its service to as many people as possible, promising 4G in 72 towns and cities by summer 2013.

Feb

BBC Sport Mobile App Launched For Android, Just In Time For Six Nations And The End Of The Premier League Season

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, News

The BBC finally launched an Android version of its BBC Sport app today, bringing all of the content from the BBC Sport website to you without making you visit through the browser.

The app has arrived just in time for "squeaky bum time" in the English Premier League, and the score of every single game that is being played in the Football League will be available to view as each game progresses.

Just like on the BBC website, live text commentary will be available for big games, such as Champions League and Premiership clashes, with video clips being made available to play through the app too.

Feb

ZTE Launches The Blade III With Virgin Media In The UK For £79.99 PAYG Or £18 On Contract

Posted by John Thompson in News, Virgin Mobile, ZTE

The ZTE Blade III has been available outside of the UK since September of last year, but it's only just making its official appearance on British shores now, as a Virgin Media exclusive, for now at least.

The budget smartphone, which comes with a 4-inch capacitive display, 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM and 2.5GB of internal storage, is available for just £79.99 through Virgin Media on pay-as-you-go. If you'd prefer to be on a monthly contract, prices start at £18 for non-Virgin customers, whilst those who have an existing Virgin Media package can get it for £13 a month.

On the lowest monthly tariff, you'll receive 500MB of data, 200 minutes and 500 texts.

Feb

Channel 4's 4oD Comes To Android In The UK, Provides You With Your Inbetweeners Fix On The Go

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, News

If, like many people in the UK, you like to sit down to a bit of The Inbetweeners or The IT Crowd in the evening, or maybe you just like your news delivered by Jon Snow, you're going to like what we're about to tell you: Channel 4 has finally made its 4oD app available on Android.

Using the app, you'll be able to watch content from Channel 4, E4 and More4 without paying a penny, although like most other catch-up TV services, the content will be ad-supported before you begin to watch your show. Like the web version of 4oD, you can access shows for 30 days after they air, and go through the archives to pick out memorable episodes from the past 30 years.