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Emulating games is hard, y'all. There are a ton of classic game emulators for Android, and most of them work really well... replicating relatively ancient, low-power hardware for two dimensions. Even something like the 20-year-old PlayStation is difficult (but not impossible) to emulate on the latest mobile hardware, which is objectively about a hundred times more powerful. That's what you get when console makers create more or less customized hardware and software that doesn't have to play nice with any other platforms.
Ah, work scheduling. I recall with fondness long hours spent in the Texas A&M Commons building trying to schedule two weeks of 24-hour emergency desk service around the personal and scholastic lives of a dozen sophomores. No wait, not fondness, that's not right. What's the word I'm looking for? Ah, that's it: abject loathing. Maybe if we had something like Doodle, I wouldn't have spent four hours playing Time Slot Monopoly every other Wednesday.
The new unlimited upload function in Google Photos is undeniably generous. But the old saying that your mother taught you, "if something seems too good to be true, it probably is," would seem to be in effect. Android Police has received reports from multiple users that photo uploads from the desktop and various mobile apps have hard data restrictions, suddenly cutting out in the middle of the upload process after users pass an unspecified data threshold. That's kind of the opposite of "unlimited."
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 black-and white puzzle/adventure game, a directional puzzler with community levels, a twitchy minimal game, a horror title with "escape the room" elements, and a shooter with lots of boats. Without further ado:
There is no shortage of third-party browsers available on Android. While most of us use Chrome, there are plenty of worthy alternatives and valid reasons to choose them. The CyanogenMod team (notably distinct from, but connected to, the Cyanogen Inc. company) is throwing its hat into this crowded ring. The new project is called Gello, it's based on Chromium's open-source code... and that's about all we know for sure at this point.
June didn't see any huge releases in terms of Android apps, though we did finally get a publicly-available version of the Kodi Media Center, and Photoshop for Android (yes, yet another version of Photoshop). There are also some new tools for cloud storage fans, and probably the best cooking app on the Play Store. We've got some notable extras (especially if you're a Stephen Colbert fan). Here in no particular order are the best seven new apps from June, along with some honorable mentions.
We've seen a ton of Android games launch in June, but even so there are some clear standouts. There are true premium games for fans of top-down shooters, space flight games, tactical RPGs, and crafting... and that's without even dipping into the Honorable Mentions section. On a technical level we've got everything from 60fps 3D masterpieces to a game that looks like it was made in Microsoft Paint. Check out the best offerings from an extremely generous month on the Play Store below.
Look, I've got nothing against the pixelated graphical style, sometimes erroneously referred to as "8-bit." But for the last few years it's often been used as a crutch for developers who can't be bothered to make truly good 2D graphics. That doesn't apply to Sword of Xolan, the latest game from developer Alper Sarikaya of Manuganu fame. The environments, enemies, and main character have enough definition that you can actually see what's happening on screen, and the excellent animations make the world come to life in ways that developers could only dream of back in the old SNES days.
Birds gonna fly, fish gonna swim, dogs gonna bark, and unscrupulous people are going to find ways to steal digital content. Video piracy is more or less unstoppable (though reasonable prices and more convenient streaming have taken it down a peg), but if you brazenly sell gadgets with the sole intention of stealing TV shows and movies, expect a visit from Johnny Law soon enough. Several shady retailers in the United Kingdom have reason to reflect on this today, after police raided multiple locations selling "Android TV" set-top boxes designed more or less as piracy machines.
This is a short story, and it's kind of boring. Pretty much everything is up there in the title, in fact: the Verizon-specific versions of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge are both receiving updates, at least according to Verizon's support websites. They enhance the Reactivation Lock anti-theft feature in Samsung's software build, which needed tweaking for some reason, and allow Verizon roaming when visiting Puerto Rico. That's it. No 5.1 bump, no extra features. That's all there is, there isn't any more.
It's honestly kind of surprising that a company as huge and far-reaching as Amazon hasn't made a more serious effort to sell things in Mexico yet. After all, there are over a hundred million people in the country - surely a few of them want to buy some books and phones and such, and Amazon already sells to much smaller markets in Europe. The company announced today that it's expanding its online retail services to Mexico, including both conventional sales and its Marketplace program.That will make the Amazon Kindle e-readers available in Mexico, but oddly there's no mention of the Kindle Fire, Fire TV, or Fire Phone lines (you never know, someone down there might actually want one). The press release does mention that residents in Mexico are welcome to use the official Amazon Android app to shop and access what few digital services are being launched - Mexico doesn't get Amazon Instant Video or Amazon Music either. The Amazon Appstore has been active in Mexico for years (Amazon has made a steady effort to reach app users worldwide), so users can download the Amazon app from the company store or from Google Play.It seems unlikely that Amazon will resist expansion for too long, and I wouldn't be surprised to see this year's Kindle Fire hardware updates available in Mexico at some point. The Fire TV and company may take a little longer. Amazon's Mexico storefront is Amazon.com.mx.
YouTube is just over ten years old. That's about the time that a global and ubiquitous web service oughta straighten up and stream right, throw off adolescent comforts and maybe start considering some branch-off services, like Music or Games. The development team has decided to release news of upcoming features in that time-honored and totally not aggravating format, the video list. The following is specifically for "creators" (read: people who upload regularly and/or try to make money with videos), but some of the information is interesting for mobile users.
It's only been a few days since we heard of the soak test, but it looks like it's been successful enough for Motorola and Verizon to fast track the latest Moto X 2014 update. Verizon announced the Android 5.1 over-the-air update in its usual way, so at least some users should see the update alert by the end of the day. The rest of you will be waiting for up to a week or more, unless you manage to track down the OTA ZIP file from a user forum.
If you're a fan of the super-popular top-down MOBA genre (think Dota, League of Legends, and Heroes of the Storm), you'll want to sit up and take notice of a little game called Vainglory. This mobile interpretation of the well-known formula has been built from the ground up for touchscreens, and the experience has been praised on iOS since its launch back in November. It's available for free today on the Play Store.
Are you going on a trip soon and need some extra power to both your phone and your tunes? Then make a pit stop at Amazon first. Today the ubiquitous retailer is offering a discounted combo to US customers: a "ruggedized" and semi-waterproof Omaker M4 Bluetooth speaker plus a 5200mAh Omaker external battery for $31.98. That's $20 off of the retail price for both of them combined - you're basically getting the charger for free, and the speaker at a tiny discount.
We've seen an oddly isolated Nexus factory image update today, for one and only one device: the N7 2013 Wi-Fi. It's been bumped from version LMY47V to version LMY48G, with no update to the Android version number - it's still Lollipop 5.1.1. You can download the image and flash it right now, but you might as well wait for the over-the-air update, because you're not likely to see anything new in there.
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.
Sprint would really like you to buy a phone. Really. So much so that they're willing to throw a salesperson and a bunch of phones in a branded car and drive to your door to sell it to you, preferably along with a service contract and a $30 case. The new Direct 2 You service will also offer assistance to existing Sprint customers; the example given in the press release is moving data from one phone to the other.
Remember Bomberman? You know, that cute little maze-based puzzle game that got infinitely more fun when you played it with friends? Right, well imagine a Bomberman game... set in a schlocky slasher movie. That's basically BRAWL, the latest console pilgrim to come exclusively to NVIDIA'S SHIELD Tablet and SHIELD Android TV. It's also notably the first Android game we've seen on the Play Store with an "Adults only" 18+ ESRB rating, though that might be a mistake - the game's trailer (which looks like it's taken from the PS4 version) brands it with the slightly less salacious M rating.
Volvos often get a bad rap. The running gag in the 80s and 90s was that the Swedish automaker known for some of the highest safety ratings on the road made boring cars for boring people. But these days Volvo offers a wide range of cars and SUVs, from mid-range to sport to luxury, with styling and features that meet or beat most competitors - all without sacrificing safety. That makes Volvo pretty cool in my book... but its Android apps still suck.