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Jun

[Review] Orbital Defender Might Just Be The Hardest Android Game You’ve Ever Played

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Think of the hardest, most frustrating Android game you've played thus far. Is it Angry Birds, with its unparalleled addictiveness? Or how about Plants vs. Zombies, which has a seemingly infinite number of levels and is within spitting distance of Angry Birds' can't-put-it-down factor?

Or - dare I say it - perhaps none of the games you've downloaded from the Android Market have been difficult enough for you. Perhaps you're on the lookout for something a tad more complex - a tad more like this:

Indeed, if a vexing mobile game is what you want, you couldn't do much better than Orbital Defender.

Jun

[Video] CyanogenMod 7 Ported To Motorola DROID X

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Droid X (Shadow), Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that cvpcs has achieved the impossible: he's thrown together (but not yet publicized) a build of CyanogenMod 7 that works on the Motorola DROID X!

Naturally, since no one but cvpcs has the firmware yet, there are still a few kinks that need to be ironed out before the ROM goes public - for example, GPS, 3G, Bluetooth, and the camera/camcorder have not been proven to work just yet, ~~and audio (including phone calls, speakers, the microphone, etc.) definitely isn't functional at the moment~~. However, as our own Justin Case put it, "If it boots, it can be fixed."

Update: cvpcs just tweeted that, with some help from Stephen Bird, he was able to fix the audio issue.

Jun

[Review] Grand Prix Story Adds Some Much-Needed New Features To The "____ Story" Playbook

Posted by Matt Demers in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Japanese developer Kairosoft seems to be the king of the mobile simulation genre, having pumped out three English titles (Game Dev Story, Hot Springs Story and now Grand Prix Story) which manage to be addicting as hell while benefitting from the touch controls of a smartphone. In their games, you're put in the shoes of a business owner who is looking to both make money and rise to the top of his/her chosen profession.

The Game

Along the way, you can customize everything from the staff you hire to the products you put out; going into each individual thing you can customize would lengthen this article by a couple thousand words, at the minimum.

Jun

[Weekend Poll] Manufacturer UIs: Love 'Em Or Hate 'Em?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Devices By Manufacturer, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Google Doesn't Allow Rooted Devices To Use Android Movies - What Are Your Thoughts?

Manufacturer user interfaces (UIs) can be a bit of a hot-button topic in the Android world. Some prefer vanilla Android, à la CyanogenMod. Others have no issue with them whatsoever, and even actively seek to restore some of the functionality. (Others still prefer to roll their own, or like the ability to switch at will... but I digress.) Further, your feelings on manufacturer UIs may depend on which manufacturer and which UI we're talking about.

Jun

Sony Xperia Play Review: Finally, An Android Phone For Gaming - And Not Much Else

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Phone Reviews, Reviews, Sony Ericsson, Verizon Wireless, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

It's been quite some time since we first heard rumblings of the PlayStation phone. The concept - a high-end Android phone mashed together with familiar PlayStation controls - seemed like one that could revolutionize gaming on Android. In theory, this device could have done just that.

Unfortunately, in a world where dual core devices are becoming more and more the norm, the Xperia Play's single-core Snapdragon processor (as fast as it is) is already incompatible with some high-end games, such as those optimized for Tegra 2 devices. And it's hard to justify purchasing the phone when the rest of the device has taken a backseat to the all-important gamepad.

Jun

Google Voice Now Lets You Have Multiple Numbers On One Account - For A Fee

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News

As a Google Voice user, one thing that has always peeved me is that if I were to change my GV number, I would lose the old one after 90 days. Past that, if anyone tries to call or text the old number, it's lost into oblivion, never to be seen again (until someone else gets it). Google has taken note of this vexing problem and addressed it accordingly.

Now, when you choose to change or port your number, you can keep your existing number for a one-time fee of $20. This means that calls or texts that are sent to the old number will still come through.

Jun

Tired Of Manufacturer UI Overlays? So Is Virgin Mobile

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, Motorola, News, Virgin Mobile

We've all heard it time and time again: generally speaking, people hate manufacturer skins on Android phones, i.e. Blur, Touchwiz, Sense, etc. I realize that not everyone falls into this category, but I think it's probably safe to say that the bulk of Android users do. It looks like we're not the only ones that are opposed to manufactures gumming up our beloved Android with their custom overlays - Virgin Mobile, a prepaid subsidiary of Sprint, has taken a pro-stock-Android approach to all of its devices. Have a look at what a Virgin spokesperson told PCmag via email:

Virgin Mobile USA aims to make available devices that allow the end user to have the freedom to customize the device to their liking.

Jun

[Review] Rebirth Brings A Basic But Faithful (And Free) Lumines Port To Android

Posted by Matt Demers in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Puzzle games are some of my favourite titles for the Android because of their tendency to play well in short bursts. Rebirth looks to take the gameplay behind Lumines and bring it over to the mobile market: the question is, will it do the original justice?

The Concept

For those looking for a basic clone of Lumines (more on that later), you've come to the right spot. Rebirth is pretty much the game to a "T", and brings the block-stacking madness to the Android platform with good faith.

For those unfamiliar, Lumines was a puzzle game that was first developed for the Playstation Portable System.

Jun

[Review] Burn The City Indulges Our Godzilla Complex, Brings The Wanton Destruction

Posted by Matt Demers in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Sometimes, it's just not fun to be the good guy. Sometimes, you need to be a little bad. Sometimes, you just need to destroy everything that lays in your path with a fiery ball of fury.

The Concept

Burn The City puts you in the shoes of a giant lizard/Godzilla/monster-thing who has hatched all alone and in a strange world. Clearly, the logical conclusion he reaches is to destroy everything around him.

This is accomplished by flinging fireballs from your mighty gullet, demolishing the buildings that face you. The buildings will be stripped down to their beams, finally collapsing under their own weight - and hopefully into the structures surrounding them.

Jun

Did LG Delay Gingerbread On The Scandinavian Optimus 2x To Fall 2011?

Posted by Cameron Summerson in G2x (p999), Gingerbread 2.3, News, Optimus 2X (Star, p990)

We often report on things that only affect us here in the US, but other areas of the world aren't out of our realm of coverage, either. Thanks to a tipster, we have reason to believe that the Gingerbread update for the Scandinavian variant of the LG G2x/Optimus 2X/LGP990 has been delayed from Summer to Fall of 2011 - if the Swedish LG site is correct, that is.

Translation courtesy of Google

The Swedish LG site doesn't seem to be the only one reporting this timeline change - the Danish and Norwegian sites are also reporting the same thing. However, the UK and US sites are completely void of any information regarding Gingerbread.