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Today Amazon popped its yearly Kindle Fire update unannounced, showing off no less than four new models of its customized Android tablet family. The Kindle Fire HD Kids is being covered in this post, but the main event is the refreshed versions of the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, Fire HD7, and the "all-new" Fire HD 6. These will make up Amazon's new line, scheduled to go on sale in October.
Football season is back here in the United States - there were two, count 'em, two NFL apps in the last game roundup alone. But if you didn't get enough of the other football during the World Cup, EA would like to provide a digital alternative. At least if you live in Canada, that is - the company just published the Android version of FIFA 15 up north. Canucks, all the soccer you want is free for the asking... plus whatever in-app purchases you choose to expend.
Before today, the official Starbucks app was perfectly serviceable - in fact, I'd say it was better than most retail apps. You can store pre-paid Starbucks cards in the app and pay with them, see your rewards for being a loyal customer, and find coffee shops with the built-in map (in case you can't see one by turning your head from side to side). But today's sizeable update from version 2.4 to 2.7 adds some neat stuff, most notably the ability to tip your coffee minion. I mean, your barista.
Android users have yet another option for data-only calls and text messages today, as BitTorrent Inc. posted an alpha version of its Bleep communication client to the Play Store. Bleep is designed to be an alternative to conventional calling and texting systems like Skype or WhatsApp, and requires no central server or service. Bleep has been invite-only since July, but now it's ready to go public. Clients are also available for Windows and OS X computers.
In addition to a handful of new Chromecast-supported apps announced by Google, Sling Media is getting in on the action. According to this blog post, the Slingplayer app for Android smartphones now has Chromecasting capability. Though the latest update for the app itself was way back in July, Chromecast support is often enabled via a server-side switch, so it should be working now. Compatible Sling hardware includes the Slingbox M1, 350, 500, and SlingTV.
The original Beach Buggy Blitz was one of the first graphically-intensive games on Android, a frequent install for people who wanted to show off the power of their new phone or tablet. That being said, it was a bit simplistic: you "raced" along an endless beach, more or less playing catch up until you ran out of time. The sequel, Beach Buggy Racing, is much more of a conventional kart racer. It's got full races, power-ups, multiple characters and carts, and even single-device split screen multiplayer.
It looks like Republic Wireless is going for the Motorola hat trick: in addition to last year's flagship Moto X and mid-range Moto G, the American hybrid MVNO is now planning on selling the low-end Moto E to its customers. According to this post on the official Republic blog, the carrier's customized version of the Moto E will go on sale next month for $99, $30 cheaper than the retail GSM model.
Take it from a guy whose entire professional life is digital: backups are kind of important. Off-site backups are ideal, at least if you can get a decent connection and a reliable service, since it mitigates the risk of a local failure. Online storage and backup tends to get expensive once you go past 5 gigabytes or so, but today StackSocial is offering a terabyte of storage from the IDrive service, accessible for a year, for twenty bucks. That should be enough for most of you to backup everything on your PC, with access on any Android device.
It seems like we've seen every possible iteration of the Guitar Hero style of musical game. But thanks to the creativity of developers, we're caught off guard on occasion. Case in point: R.G.B. It's a pretty simple rhythm game with only three lanes, making it technically much easier than the games that it imitates. But a deceptively slow pace and an addictive main mechanic mean it's more than the sum of its parts.
Getting the kernel source code for devices is something of a rite of passage for new Android phones. In the United States and other parts of the world with heavy smartphone penetration, the focus is on the big, flashy flagship models - the sooner the kernels are published, the sooner those ROM makers can get cracking on custom ROMs and kernels. But considering the immediate response that Google's Android One program has received, I think those phones may turn out to be some of the most popular ROM recipients around.
People seem to love gigantic screens on their phones - just ask Samsung (or Apple). And of course, plenty of customers want phones that are cheap, or at least cheaper than the flagships. And the one thing that everyone wants is longer battery life. ZTE and T-Mobile are going to try to please the intersection of these market segments with the ZMAX, a big phone with a big battery and (impressively) a small price tag.
Tactical strategy is an interesting hybrid game genre, combining the thinking and placement of a strategy title with the turn-based combat and slow burn improvements of an RPG. AntiSquad Tactics is the first original take on squad strategy we've seen in a while, and unlike games such as X-COM, it's designed for mobile first. But what might interest the purist gamers in the audience is that AntiSquad is available in both a free-to-play and a premium version.
There are simulation games that strive for perfect duplication of their source material, whose developers will accept nothing less than factual and technical excellence. This is not one of those games. Say hello to Goat Simulator, part physics sandbox, part tongue-in-cheek gaming commentary, and all completely balls-out insane. You are a goat, and you do goaty things, which mostly involves flinging your thick and smelly body around a 3D environment and seeing what happens.
The stable of apps that support Google's Chromecast device just seems to keep growing. In addition to NPR One and Watch ABC last month, Google just announced a handful of new apps that have been enabled today. The biggest additions for our readers are probably Twitch, the online game stream broadcasting service, and iHeartRadio, the radio streaming service from ClearChannel iHeartMedia. Both of them should be ready to stream content to your TV now.
As someone who spends all day in front of computer screens, I'm somewhat picky when it comes to input devices. I prefer Logitech mice, but their keyboards are always too mushy and over-designed for my taste - I'll take a chunky, clicky Microsoft keyboard every time. This being the case, I more or less ignored Logitech's admittedly cool K480 universal Bluetooth keyboard, which is designed to work seamlessly across Windows, Android, and iOS. Now that Microsoft is making essentially the same product, I am officially interested.
It's that time of the month again, CyanogenMod ROM fans. In fact it's a bit past that time of the month, reportedly thanks to a heavy workload and the Labor Day weekend, but now that the CM11 monthly update is up to the M10 release, we won't hold it against the CyanogenMod Team. The biggest change to the M build is a brand new bug tracker app, which makes it easy for users to submit anonymized bug reports to CM along with a stacktrace whenever a system app crashes.
If you like LG's style but aren't ready to pay for a top-of-the-line smartphone, AT&T and Sprint would like a word. Both of them have announced carrier-customized models of the LG G3 Vigor, which was launched this summer in international markets as the G3 Beat. The 5-inch phone is decidedly mid-range (stretching to low end for some specs), but it's got the same look and layout as the full-sized G3, complete with rear-mounted buttons. At least they didn't call it "mini."
Samsung's Android-based Galaxy Zoom phones haven't exactly been a runaway hit. Maybe it's because no one really wants a massive camera strapped to the back of their phone, or maybe it's because they're lumpy and expensive. Whatever the case might be, Panasonic is throwing its hat into the super powerful phone-camera with the LUMIX Smart Camera DSC-CM1, a gorgeous little point and shoot that hides a full Android phone (including calls and data) on its back end.
Update 2: Google has updated its official list of countries with access to paid Newsstand content, and it looks like Spain is the only other country to get in today. Enjoy your magazines and newspapers, amigos - better luck next time for everyone else.
23 Best New Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (9/2/2014 - 9/15/2014)
The best new games on Android.
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.