Ryan Whitwam - 5/30 - 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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Apr

AT&T HTC One X+ Updated To v1.19.502.1 With Bug Fixes Galore, Full ROM Download Available

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in HTC, News, One X+

Even though HTC is now focusing on its new baby (and possible savior) the HTC One, that doesn't mean the company has completely forgotten about the last generation. AT&T's HTC One X+ has just gotten an update to v1.19.502.1. Sadly, this is still Android 4.1.1, but it does fix a few nagging issues.

The full change log is straight to the point. HTC is fixing bugs, and not much else:

AT&T Address Book Fixes
Bluetooth fixes
Wi-Fi fixes
Other minor bug fixes

One X+ owners can pull the update down manually, or wait for the OTA to show up on its own.

Apr

LG Announces New York Event May 1 – Get Ready For The Optimus G Pro In The US

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in LG, News, Optimus G Pro

If Samsung makes a UI overlay for Android, LG will make a UI overlay for Android. If Samsung starts making bigger phones, LG will start making bigger phones. And if Samsung announces its new flagship device at a big New York City event, you can bet LG is going to announce its new flagship device at a big New York City event. Yes, the time has come for LG to (almost certainly) reveal the Optimus G Pro for US carriers.

The LG Optimus G Pro is very similar to the Note II in many respects. It has a 5.5-inch 1080p screen, big honking 3140mAh battery, and a quad-core Snapdragon ARM chip.

Apr

Google Updates Developer Guidelines For Tablet-Optimized Apps – Separate Screenshots And Verification Of Tablet UI

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Google, News, Nexus 10, Nexus 7

Google has been pushing developers to build tablet-optimized UIs for their apps since the Xoom was the hot new challenger to the iPad (haha). Okay, so that didn't work out very well, but with the release of devices like the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, devs are finally starting to see the value of building a great tablet experience. Of course, it's not like you'd know. The Play Store is terrible at showing off tablet UIs, but that's about to change. Google is updating the developer console to verify tablet compatibility and break up screenshots for tablet/phone interfaces.

From now on developers uploading apps will have the option to verify they have adhered to the tablet UI guidelines for 7 and/or 10-inch slates.

Apr

[New Game] CSR Racing Revs Its Engine On Android As A Free Download

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

There's nothing like sliding in behind the wheel of a finely tuned automobile for a little drag race. Odds are you have neither the inclination nor the resources to do that in real life, so why not enjoy the experience in a video game? CSR Racing has been released globally on Android, and it's got more officially licensed cars than than you'll be able to properly drool over.

CSR Racing is still a racing game, but it doesn't have the same level of interaction as something like Real Racing 3. All the races in this title are of the "drag" variety.

Apr

[Update: It's Back] Google Boots New Game Hazard Rush From Play Store For SEO Joke, Reminds Us Not To Mess With The Google

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

It was just five days ago that Hazard Rush was released to the Play Store. The developer took to Reddit to make the announcement and offer some freebies. Well, the community was into Hazard Rush, which (according to the app description) is a little like Snake and Geometry Wars. It's the next part of the description that got Hazard Rush banned from Google Play. The developer made a cheeky SEO joke, and that was enough for it to get swept up in Google's Play Store purge.

The description read:

Sit on the edge of your bus, train, subway, office or toilet seat as you evade enemies, trigger bombs, and collect multipliers in pursuit of your high scores.

Apr

[New Apps] Wolfram Alpha Releases Calculus And Algebra Course Assistants On Android

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

If math is the bane of your existence, Wolfram Alpha has probably been of great use to you. It's a powerful tool, but it can be a pain to enter mathematical functions. The newest apps from the Wolfram Alpha team take a more focused approach to helping you with your homework. The algebra and calculus course assistants put all the operations you need right up front so you can get the right answer faster than your stupid meat-space brain can ever hope to.

Both apps have a handy home page with links to the functions you're likely to need.

Apr

Dynamite Jack Review: So Good I Won't Cheapen It With A Pun About 'Explosive Fun'

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

In Dynamite Jack, you play the part of a space marine that has been captured by the enemy and forced to work in the Anathema Mines. You don't have time for that nonsense, so escape it is. It seems like your alien captors are not the brightest stars in the cosmos – they leave explosives, flashlights. and keycards laying around everywhere. Lucky for you.

Gameplay And Controls

You start at the lowest level of the mines, and your goal in each stage is to find the exit denoted by a shimmering point of light. You wander around the top-down maze of tunnels and facilities in search of the necessary tools to take you to the goal.

Apr

[New App] Chainfire's Hotspot Control Harnesses The Latent Power Of Your Device's Tethering Menu

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

Stock Android has had built-in tethering since version 2.2 way back in 2010, but most carrier-branded devices in the US have the option disabled. Sure, there are root apps and various workarounds, but they can be a mess. If you don't need web access, but want your devices on a local network, you're often out of luck. A new app from well-known developer Chainfire gives you back some control (on some devices), and it doesn't require root.

The app is designed to be simple – just pick a network name and a password, then activate. WPA2 AES + TKIP is always enabled in the interest of security and ease of use.

Apr

[New Game] Hills Of Glory 3D Lands On The Shores Of Android, Takes The Fight To Your Device

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

If there is a parallel universe in which World War 2 didn't occur, I'd bet there are far fewer games there. Well, like it or not Hills of Glory 3D is a WWII-themed title that's part strategy and part "castle defense." On the upside, it's pretty enjoyable.

This is a follow up to the original Hills of Glory, but this time with a whole extra dimension. The graphics are clean and cartoon-y – it actually looks surprisingly good for only being a 49MB download. You're basically tasked with taking out enemy troops using a variety of weapons and abilities, but they are determined to destroy your bunker and go on to conquer Europe.

Apr

[New App] Dolphin Gamecube And Wii Emulator Arrives In Google Play As A (Very Buggy) Pre-Alpha

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

The Dolphin Emulator on the desktop has breathed new life to old Gamecube and Wii games by making them playable on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. It works with almost all retail games, upscales to 1080p, and even supports the Wiimote. The newly released Android port is basically lacking all of that, but at least it's here!

In its current state, Dolphin Emulator on Android is not viable for playing games. Think of it as a proof of concept. Games are going to crawl along at about 1 FPS, and crashes will be common while we wait for OpenGL ES 3 to be implemented (it's entirely CPU rendered right now).