Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

[Deal Alert] Pre-Order Sprint's HTC One For $150 From Wirefly

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Deals, News, One, Sprint

HTC's newest flagship is doing its best to turn heads with innovative features and funky buzzword-branding. If you've been sipping the Kool-Aid and simply must have this up-and-coming powerhouse, Wirefly's got a pretty solid deal if you are (or plan on being) a Sprint customer: you can pre-order either the silver or black variants for $150.

With that said, if you're switching carriers and plan on porting your number, then Sprint's pre-order offering is still a better deal at only $99. If you're already a customer of The Now Network, however, Wirefly's deal has Sprint's $200 upgrade price beat by a fifty spot.

Apr

[New Game] The Room - iPad Game Of The Year 2012 - Is Now On The Play Store

Posted by David Ruddock in Games, News

While I'm not exactly a big puzzle game buff, The Room has me intrigued. Ornate safes, crazy locks, picking tools, and mysterious symbols - all in a wonderfully crafted 3D experience? It beats the hell out of trying to figure out which way to move a set of colorful blocks. The Room actually made its true Android debut as part of the latest mobile Humble Bundle, but now it's on the Play Store.

The game has received near-universal critical praise, and was a massive hit on iOS, where it achieved the much-coveted iPad Game Of The Year Award from Apple in 2012.

Apr

[The Android Police Podcast] Episode 56: Twin Fighting Cameron Galaxies

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Podcast

Welcome to the Android Police Podcast, Episode 56.

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!

Apr

[New Game] The Makers Of Reckless Racing Do Their Best Wipeout Impression With Repulze

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Games, News

The old F-Zero and Wipeout series were some of the fastest, prettiest games of their respective times, so it's no surprise that the niche of "hovercraft racer" has made such a disproportionate impact on the racing genre. PixelBite is no stranger to racing themselves, having developed the Reckless series for Android and iOS. Their latest and most ambitious game is Repulze, a hovercraft racer that pushes the boundaries of both speed and graphics on Android.

The on-track weapons, speed boosts, and other power-ups give the game a feel that's closer to kart racers than a pure sim, but the breakneck speed and hairpin turns should keep fans of similar games happy.

Apr

[Deal Alert] Unlocked International Galaxy S III (16GB) Only $379 On eBay Daily Deals (In Limited Quantities)

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Deals, Galaxy S III, News

As the launch of the Galaxy S IV fast approaches, the prices on last year's model (which is still less than a year old) is bound to drop. In fact, it's already begun with this deal on the unlocked international model currently going for $379 on eBay Daily Deals. This model packs 16GB of internal storage, which makes it only $20 more expensive than the comparable Nexus 4.

This deal is only available in limited quantities, so we can't say how long it will last, especially at this price. If you want to get it, sooner would be better than later.

Apr

New Live Wallpaper: Battery Core Is An Attractive Way To Track Your Lithium Ion Expenditures

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, News

There are surprisingly few options out there for tracking details about your battery via live wallpaper (and those that are out there are quite ugly), but Battery Core seems to fill the niche quite nicely. The live wallpaper consists of a large, Tron-ish rotating disc, the speed of which varies by your remaining charge. Slow rotation means a low battery, whereas higher velocity means higher capacity. You also get text readouts of the level, charging / not charging status, voltage, and battery temperature. A sliding bar at the bottom indicates your current amount of charge, as well.

The app works on both phones and tablets, and the amount of customization you're able to perform is significant.

Apr

[New App] SphereShare.net Is A Massive Gallery Of PhotoSpheres, With Private And Public Posting

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

Want to show off the fancy spherical photography prowess of your Nexus 4, but can't find buddy rocking Android 4.2? SphereShare is here to solve your shutterbug problem so that you can post those omnidirectional masterpieces somewhere other than Google+. The app is dedicated to the PhotoSphere feature, allowing users to upload their own photos for quick and easy sharing, or post them to a public gallery for all the world to see. It's like a very narrow Picasa, minus the editing features.

The app can share your PhotoSpheres to all the standard social networks, in individual or gallery form.

Apr

Friday App Sales: Neatly For Twitter, Rayman Jungle Run, Another World, And More

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Apps/Games, Deals, News

Looks like it's time for another set of app sales to lead you into the weekend. This one's a pretty short list (for now), but that doesn't mean it's not a good one – we've got a unique Twitter client, a throwback game, an unlikely hero, an interesting puzzler, and a new way to watch videos. Here's how to order.

Neatly for Twitter – A unique take on Twitter. Well worth the $1 asking price (50% off).
Another World – Seamlessly switch between the old-school look and the all-new HD mode in this classic. $0.99 for now (60% Off).

Apr

[New App] Knock²+ Looks To Replace LED Notifications With Clean, Minimal Lockscreen Popups

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

When it comes to getting various notifications while your device's display is off, a built-in LED is useful. However, it's far from perfect. Sure, you can customize each notification with something like Light Flow, but that doesn't let you know the message contents at a glance. And, of course, there are also devices that don't have an LED at all, like the Nexus 7 for example. If you're looking for more out of your notification experience, Knock²+ may be the answer.

Update: Apparently the app isn't compatible with the Nexus 7 right now, but the dev is working out the kinks and should update the app "soon."

Like others before it, Knock²+ essentially provides a lockscreen popup when a notification is received, so you need only glance at your device to see what the ping was about.

Apr

NAMCO's Corn Quest Is A Tower Defense Game That's A-maiz-i—No, I Can't Do It

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

If you like corny puns and tower defense, NAMCO is ready to harvest your money and time with Corn Quest. This tower defense game puts you in charge of an army of vegetable minions. You're the kernel—get it? GET IT?!—and it's up to you to save your stalks from the evil aliens. You do this with guns. Because vegetables have guns.

The game play functions just about like any other tower defense game. There's a steady stream of baddies, you add soldiers to shoot them, gain currency to buy more, and play to survive. Standard fare. The most entertaining part of the game, though, is how it handles in-app purchases:

Right in the main menu, there's a big red button that says "Buy Stuff." Dear developers: I don't really like in-app purchases for upgrades or power-ups.