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

May

Carmageddon Review: Good Old-Fashioned Mindless Mayhem, But Not For The Faint Of Heart

Posted by Bertel King, Jr. in Game Reviews, Games

I was seven years old when Carmageddon first hit store shelves in 1997. Even if the game hadn't been widely banned and censored around the world, I still wouldn't have gotten my hands on it. The off-the-wall violence and bloodshed would have been a bit too much for my parents to permit me to play with good conscience. While leagues of long-time fans poured money into the Kickstarter campaign that allowed Stainless Games to port the game to Android in the first place, I am visiting the game for the first time. Thank you, Kickstarters, for giving me the chance. To anyone considering giving Carmageddon a try - don't think, just buy.

Mar

NVIDIA's Tegra Team Shows Off Car Dashboards Of The Future, Running And Controlled By Android [Video]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, NVIDIA, Videos

Yesterday, Android Police was in San Jose checking out some nifty things at NVIDIA's 2013 GPU Technology Conference. At one of the events, the Tegra team showed off a few prototypes of automotive dashboards they're hoping to put into cars of the future.

The HMI (Human Machine Interaction) toolkit NVIDIA is developing, called UI Composer, is universal in the sense that it can run on top of Android, Linux, Windows RT, and probably other operating systems. User interfaces made using UI Composer can then be controlled remotely using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. A Google Nexus 7 running Android Jelly Bean is used in one of the examples - it's basically an Android controller talking to a system running Android.

Feb

'AT&T' And 'GM' Fill This Month's '[Carrier] And [Automaker] Bring 4G To Your Car' Headline

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Carriers, News

In the future, your car is going to be connected to the internet. This is a matter of when, not if. Volvo and BMW are already working on auto connectivity, and Verizon has partnered with just about everyone. Today, AT&T and GM announced that they're joining the fray by combining their strengths. Starting in 2014, cars from General Motors will have LTE radios .

More specifically, most 2015 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac models will support wireless connectivity in the U.S. and Canada. AT&T notes that it expects its LTE network to cover 300 million people by the end of 2014.

Feb

[New App] As If It Wasn't Cool Enough: Tesla Model S Gets Its Own Android App

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

Our demographics adviser tells us that there might just be five people on earth who are both regular Android Police readers and Model S owners. But if a quick scan of the office is a valid measure of interest, there's at least a few of you who are excited by the prospect of an official Tesla app, even if a longing glance is as close as we'll ever get to driving one. For you lucky devils who have an all-electric sedan sitting in your four-car garage, take a quick stroll over to the Play Store to get your companion app on.

Aug

Gears And Guts Goads You To Grind Zombies Into Goo With Your Gas Guzzling Death Wagon

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

When you're creating a game, there are a few key things you need to include: a good atmosphere (be it an intriguing story or just some wildly immersive effects), good gameplay mechanics, and a good hook. What's going to grab the users' attention? Well, for Gears and Guts, all three of those requirements can be summed up with "driving cars into zombies." Oh, and did I mention there's a sweet soundtrack to go along with it?

This game ditches any attempts at a story and simply plops you down in a nice little town that's being overrun by the undead, hands you the keys to a muscle car and says "Now have fun." Gears and Guts offers the user the choice of either touch or tilt controls, which is an absolutely lovely change of pace from games that either force you into one or another.

Jul

[New Game] Race Through City Ruins And Annihilate Mutants In Glu Mobile's Mutant Roadkill

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Games, News

Challenging players to "race through an apocalyptic wasteland overrun with mutants and other hazards," Glu Mobile recently released Mutant Roadkill to the Play Store.

As its name would suggest, Mutant Roadkill is a driving game (of sorts). The primary objective is to navigate the streets of an utterly destroyed, abandoned city, running over as many hapless mutant zombie creatures as possible while avoiding collisions with debris including other cars.

Building on this simple premise, the game offers powerups, combo bonuses, and upgrade-able cars. Players can earn coins in-game, or (of course) buy them via in-app purchase. Players can also gain powerups by completing special missions (for instance driving 2 miles without hitting a mutant, or activating 2 powerups in the same run).

Apr

[Update: Now Available Globally] New Game: Death Rally Is Bringing Its Trademark Face-Melting, Metal-Crunching, Track-Exploding Action To Android

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

Last Updated: April 19th, 2012

Update: Looks like Remedy made good on its promise to release the game globally, albeit a bit later than anticipated. Either way, go ahead and hit the widget, international users, you can have it now.

iOS got a head start in the mobile gaming arena, but as Android has skyrocketed to the world's most popular mobile OS, game developers have been migrating their hits to Google's platform. Now Death Rally is throwing its top-tier, top-down racer into the Android ring. The high-octane, testosterone-fueled, madhouse of pain and destruction has been initially released to our polite neighbors to the North, Canada.

Oct

Car Lovers Unite: BBC Worldwide Release Official 'Top Gear' App

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Here's one for the car buffs among you: the official Top Gear app. With this app courtesy of BBC Worldwide and sponsored by Mercedes Benz, you can stay on top of the latest news, videos, and shenanigans from the Top Gear crew. The app features photos, behind the scenes goodies, Top Gear clips, previews of upcoming Top Gear "stuff," and reviews of the latest cars driven.

The app also allows content to be pulled and viewed offline, as well as the option to share news stories via Facebook, Twitter, or email.

It should work on any Android 2.0+ device and is free in the Android Market.

May

[(P)Review] TouchRetouch Fixes Your Photos, Removes Your Need For Photography Skills

Posted by Brad Ganley in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

How many of you out there have taken a picture only realize later that, as you were snapping the photo, somebody totally photobombed you, there is an ugly light pole in the distance, or a hobo was giving you the finger in the background? All of you, you say? Well, boy howdy, have I got an app for you! No longer will you need to employ this supposed "skill" that people claim to have in photography, nor will you need to "pay attention" when taking photos. I can barely pay my cell phone bill, let alone attention to things I'm doing!

May

Zipcar Beta Hits The Market, Renting A Car Has Never Been Easier

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

It has been about a month since we first mentioned that car rental company Zipcar was working on an Android app, and the first beta has now arrived. With this app you'll be able to find and rent a car directly from your Android device, but that's not all - it will also allow you to lock/unlock the doors and honk the horn. That last part may seem like a bit of a novelty, but you have to admit that it's still pretty rad.

Even if you're not a Zipcar member, they encourage you do download the app just to "have some fun." The app is free in the Market, so go ahead and take a peek, see if there are any cars in your area, and learn what Zipcar is all about.