Ryan Whitwam - 10/30 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Ryan is a freelance tech writer, skeptic, lover of all things electronic, and Android fan. In his spare time he reads golden-age sci-fi and sleeps, but rarely at the same time. His wife tolerates him as few would.

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Feb

WordLens Gets A Huge 2.0 Update With A Holo UI, No More Flickering Issues, German Translation, And Bug Fixes Galore

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

WordLens is one of those borderline-magical apps that make me feel like I'm living in a scifi novel. The initial release was a little buggy, and the UI made it clear the app was a direct port from iOS. The 2.0 update just dropped, though, and it takes care of a lot of those issues.

If you've never heard of WordLens, here's the deal: hold your phone up to a sign or some other thing with words on it, and WordLens uses your camera to translate those words to another language of your choosing in real time. The translations are overlaid on top of the live camera feed, which is kind of a wow moment (when it works).

Feb

HBO GO And MAX GO Apps Updated To v2.0 With Support For HDMI Out

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

HBO has been completely uncompromising in its approach to locking up content in pay-for-TV. If you want to watch what are arguably the best TV series currently running, you need to pay your cable provider. The HBO GO and MAX GO apps have provided a little more choice for existing subscribers by streaming to tablets and phones, but the new 2.0 update finally unlocks HDMI video output.

Before this update, the ability to output video over HDMI was blocked for both these apps, so this is kind of a big deal. Anyone with an HBO/Cinemax subscription already has at least one TV with access to on-demand content, but this app update lets you take that programming with you to any big screen – be that elsewhere in your house, on vacation, or whatever.

Feb

T-Mobile Announces New GoSmart Mobile Brand: Contract-Free, Low-Cost, "DUM" Slogan

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Carriers, News, T-Mobile

Little T-Mobile already has a reputation for being the carrier for budget-conscious consumers, but it's taking things even further with the new GoSmart service. The plans are cheap, and there are no annual contracts to worry about. Service starts at $30 per month and customers get access to the full T-Mobile network. It sounds like a solid deal if you can get past the contrived marketing lingo that would insult the intelligence of a third-grader.

Like other pre-paid brands, you can plug in a compatible phone that you already own, or buy one from GoSmart. There is a $49 Alcatel dumbphone, and a $99 ZTE device running an ancient version of Android.

Feb

Nexus 4 Wireless Charging Orb Review: The Best $60 You Can Spend On A Wireless Charger Right Now

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Google, LG, Nexus 4, Reviews

Google's Matias Duarte elicited some knowing chuckles when he revealed the existence of a wireless charging orb shortly before the Nexus 4 launched. Duarte came over to Google from Palm, which developed a similar accessory for the Pre called the Touchstone. The Nexus 4 Orb took its sweet time showing up in the Play Store, but it's finally on sale for $60.

Is there any universe in which spending that kind of cash on a phone charger is reasonable? Well, maybe.

Design

The Orb is true to its name – it looks like a spherical object that's been flattened on one end, or a Nexus Q that has been cruelly sliced in half.

Feb

[New App] AnyDash Displays Notifications From Any App In DashClock

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

More DashClock extensions? Well, people are pretty excited about the functionality DashClock brings. So yes, more DashClock extensions. The AnyDash extension actually opens up a world of possibilities by piping notifications from any app into DashClock. There are a few caveats, but it looks like everyone's favorite clock widget just got much more useful.

AnyDash has to be registered as an accessibility app before you can use it. This allows it to sweep up notifications from the Android system and display the appropriate icon in DashClock (nothing nefarious going on here). All you have to do is pick the app you want monitored and choose an icon.

Feb

[New App] DashClock Facebook Extension Makes Your Clock More Social

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

DashClock is definitely the flavor of the week. Developers are falling all over themselves to build extensions for this multi-talented clock widget, and here's an interesting one. Whether you use DashClock on your lock screen or home screen, the new DashClock Facebook Extension could save you all kinds of frustration.

This app is simple – it displays your unread messages and notification count on the DashClock widget so you don't have to pop open the Facebook app as often. You will need to have the DashClock app installed, but Facebook itself is actually optional. You'll log in via the extension and can set the refresh interval from there.

Feb

[New Game] Hexen GLES Brings The Classic Shooter To Android, But Bring Your Own Game Files

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Apps/Games, Games, News

Gamers in the mid-90s might remember spending hour upon terrifying hour playing Hexen: Beyond Heretic. The technology might have changed, but now you can get reacquainted with the realm of Cronos in this port from the same developer that brought us the Doom and Heretic ports. However, this game only comes with demo files – you have to provide the genuine article.

Hexen GLS is still the game you remember, but it's been cleaned up a little around the edges. It supports high-resolution screens, dynamic lighting, enhanced particle effects, and controller/Xperia Play input. The dev also plans to keep adding improved graphical effects in future releases.

Feb

[New App] Tapestry Is A Collection Of Short Stories That You Read By Tapping, But You Can't Go Back

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

There are plenty of ways to read books, blog posts, and essays on a mobile device. Although, nothing has quite the same feel as a new app called Tapestry. This app offers a cool reading experience for exclusive short stores written by professionals and random people around the internet. Just tap to advance, but there is no going back if you miss something.

Tapestry is whimsical from the start when it makes the tapping mechanic clear by having you tap on specific locations around the screen, only to reveal that you can actually tap anywhere you want. The app lists a handful of quirky little tales that are updated regularly.

Feb

[New App] Market Helper Lets You Download Incompatible Apps Without Changing The Build.prop (Root Only)

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, Galaxy S III, Kindle Fire HD, News, Nexus 7

One of the more annoying things about the Android app ecosystem is that there are loads of apps and games that are needlessly restricted to one device or another. If you care to get down and dirty, you can edit the build.prop file on rooted devices to make your device appear to be something other than what it is. Market Helper gets you the same results, but it doesn't touch the build-prop and it's easy to revert to your original profile. For obvious reasons, this app is not in Google Play. It is, however, just a sideload away.

Market Helper is a very new app, and it only has a handful of profiles.

Feb

[New App] Neatly For Twitter Releases Beta App For Your Sideloading Pleasure

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

It's hard for a Twitter client to make a name for itself with the market so saturated with competitors, but maybe Neatly has a shot. This Twitter client isn't just delivering your Tweets; it lets you sort, filter, and highlight tweets in your timeline so you see more relevant information. This app has arrived on basically every other platform (even Symbian and BlackBerry 10), but the developers have now offered up a beta Android version for you to try in advance of the actual release.

Neatly claims to be a smarter Twitter client. It scans your timeline and can build you an interest-based experience rather than just showing you everything.