Welcome to the Android Police Podcast, Episode 59.
Don't forget - the Android Police Podcast's live broadcast is every Thursday at 5PM PST (www.androidpolice.com/podcast). The unedited video version of the podcast can be found here - and will likely include various verbal expletives, technical snafus, tangents, and probably a good 5-10 minutes of pre-podcast banter as we prepare. Watch at your own risk!
After a brief delay, it looks like AT&T's Digital Life service is finally ready for prime time. The service, which promises extensive home automation from temperature control to security monitoring to door lock control, will launch first in fifteen markets including Atlanta GA, Austin, Houston, and Dallas TX, Boulder and Denver CO, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Riverside CA, Miami FL, Philadelphia PA, Seattle WA, St Louis MI, and "select areas of the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area." By the end of the year, AT&T says it plans to expand the service to fifty markets.
So, what is Digital Life and why should you care?
Show of hands, who uses CyanogenMod? Oh, you do? I've got some good news: your camera is about to become a little more interested in what you have to say. A few hours ago, CyanogenMod announced that the included camera app will integrate a voice-activated shutter mode. Judging by one of the pictures, a new time-delayed mode will be part of the package, as well. Take a look:
As you can tell, a few different words can be used to activate the shutter, currently Cid, Whiskey, and Cheese. We also see that the voice-activated mode must be turned on for each photo you wish to take.
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.
This is the app roundup. The game roundup from last week can be found here.
Today's roundup is brought to you by PassWallet (formerly Password Wallet) by HandyApps. Passwords are hard, thanks to the thousands of logins required for modern digital living.
If you're a fan of the top-down zombie carnage free-for-all that is Dead on Arrival, good news: N3V Games just opened registration for the private beta of the game's sequel – the appropriately named Dead on Arrival 2. 
There are a few requisites, of course – namely in device specification. For starters, you must have a device with at least a Tegra 2 (or equivalent), though a Tegra 3 (or equivalent) is recommended. Aside from that, you'll need a minimum of Android 3.0 (though 4.0 is suggested). Past that, the additional recommendations are the best part:
Have a stomach for wave after wave of bloodshed and mayhem!
Time for a little history lesson. Way back in the summer of 2010, when smartphone screen sizes were still reasonable and people were still complaining about how hard it was to type on them, a little company called Swype Inc. thought it had the problem of touchscreen input licked. Android users went crazy trying to get into the beta for their gesture-based software keyboard, and tech blogs threw around words like "innovation" and "miracle" like rice at a wedding. Then the other shoe dropped: Swype was only interested in selling its slidey wares to hardware manufactures, as a tie-in for brand new phones - they had no intention of selling their nifty keyboard directly to end users.
Wavii, a service that promises to help you "keep up with everything you care about" has been snapped up by Google, according to Tech Crunch, for a sum totaling over $30 Million.
The deal, which signals an end to an apparent acquisition battle between Google and Apple, likely means that Wavii's language processing prowess will be integrated with Google services from the Knowledge Graph all the way down to (perhaps) Google Now. It also means that Wavii will not be joining forces with Apple's Siri.
For those unfamiliar with Wavii, the service is basically an aggregator of news it thinks is both interesting and relevant to you, the user.
One of the best things about Android is its nearly-infinite customizability for users who are willing to put in the effort it takes to make it happen. The thing is, in order to get some of this functionality, less-than-savvy users are daunted by the task of doing things like flashing custom kernels. On the other side, some users just don't want to be troubled with kernel tweaks, but still want the advanced functionality that they can bring.
Enter a new app that looks to change all that: eXperience Pro. This app brings some features to rooted handsets that were formerly only available by using custom kernels.
Square Enix is kind of known for having some pretty hefty prices on its games, even those outside of the Final Fantasy franchise. For that reason, we always like to see a sale that might make the purchase a little more palatable. If you've been eyeing Demons' Score since it launched in December, now is the time to jump on it. Until April 25th, the rhythm-action game will only cost $9.99.
A $10 price tag is still a little steep compared to a typical Android game, but it is pretty reasonable for the graphic quality and level of polish Square Enix is known for.
It's a big day for our neighbors to the north! The HTC One hit store shelves this morning, which is a fairly big deal in itself. If you're not in the market for a new phone (or just aren't into the One for whatever reason), but happen to be looking for a new tablet instead, another outstanding device hit Canadian retailers today as well: the Galaxy Note 8.0.
The Note 8.0 is Sammy's newest entry into the eight inch slate market, which also brings most of the best features from the Note 10.1 and Note II along for the ride. I've actually been playing with the Note 8.0 for the last day, and I can say this: it's one of the best tablets I've ever used.
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