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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge brings its nostalgic brawling gameplay to Android
Get you classic TMNT fix with Netflix's newest game
Thanks to Netflix Games' end of the year wrap up last month, we learned that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge would be launching on Android sometime in 2023. Well, apparently, we didn't have long to wait, as Netflix Games has just launched the game on the Play Store. Much like every other Netflix Games release, you will need a Netflix account to play, but if you already have one, then you can hit the ground running since there are no extra fees to pay to enjoy the entirety of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge.
The Fairphone 4 is a sustainable smartphone that doesn't look like complete crap
It's still not the most attractive phone around, but the five-year warranty makes up for it
Manufacturers are in a constant battle to create the fastest, sleekest, and most beautiful phones. This race to the top makes other things fall by the wayside, like fair resource sourcing and living working conditions for everyone involved in the supply chain. This is the niche Fairphone has always been striving to hit, and today, after 18 months of development, the company is releasing its latest product: The Fairphone 4, which the manufacturer calls “probably the most sustainable phone in the world.”
Fossil's Gen 6 watches are up for pre-order, but not with the software you want
They launch in September starting at $300
A lot of people were anticipating Fossil's Gen 6 smartwatch. As only the second watch on the market confirmed to run the new Wear OS 3.0, and the first without heavy integration with Samsung's existing software, it seemed like a great option for those who wanted a more "pure" experience. Unfortunately there's a pretty huge asterisk on the release of the now-confirmed hardware: it'll be running the older Wear OS 2.0 when it launches in September.
My Friend Pedro lands on Android as a slingshot-based platformer, and it's pretty good
It's a new mobile-optimized game, not a port of the original
My Friend Pedro is a Devolver Digital game focusing on tight, visceral combat, stylized visuals, and a trippy hallucinogenic story. And because that describes about 95% of Devolver Digital games: this is the one with a banana in it. The game got rave reviews when it released on PC and consoles back in 2019, and now there's a mobile version coming to Android.
My Time at Portia is basically 3D Stardew Valley, and the Android port is solid
Best of all, it's on sale for a limited time
If you haven't heard of it, My Time at Portia is an indie farming/life simulation game that offers gameplay similar to Story of Seasons and Animal Crossing, where you'll befriend villagers, plant crops, hunt for loot, and craft all kinds of objects. It's available on consoles and PC, having built up a solid fanbase, and today marks the release on mobile. Best of all, the game is currently on sale, which means you can snag your copy for $5.49 (normally $7.99). Not bad, though there are a few caveats included, which I've detailed below.
Gotta Kill 'Em All: The Witcher's take on Pokémon Go is now available on Android
Currently under maintenance, because of course it is
The Witcher: Monster Slayer was announced back in August 2020, a free-to-play augmented reality collection game à la Pokémon GO. While we've heard little about the title, it did enter into early access sometime after April. Well, as of today, the game is finally available on the Play Store for pre-registration in preparation for its newly-announced release date, July 21st. That's right, The Witcher: Monster Slayer will be officially released later this month, which means fans don't have much longer to wait.
AT&T will sell you a new Samsung Galaxy A32 for as little as $150
Just make sure you read the fine print
The AT&T version costs 0 (the same as the unlocked phone) and it comes in any color you want, so long as you want "awesome black." The carrier is offering a $5-a-month for 30 months promotion if you start a new line or upgrade an existing one, which brings the total price down to just $150. That's a pretty sweet deal, so long as you're fairly sure you want to keep the same phone for two and a half years. This promotion ends on June 3rd.
Xiaomi's first foldable could be the Galaxy Fold competitor we've been waiting for
The company also unveiled a retouched brand identity
Following Samsung, Huawei, Motorola, and Co., Xiaomi has finally joined the foldable club. During the second part of its annual mega event, the company introduced the Mi Mix Fold, its very first folding phone. The manufacturer went with a more traditional design (if you can call it that already) first established by the Galaxy Fold, with a big 4:3 screen on the inside and a smaller 27:9 display on the outside for use like a regular smartphone.
Not everyone has the latest flagship smartphone, and even those of us who do sometimes run out of space or would prefer to use less resource-hogging apps when possible. That's where Lite variants of heavy and bloated applications come in, like Instagram Lite. Facebook has been testing the 2MB big app in select markets for a long time, and now, it has finally officially launched it in 170 countries around the world.
ASUS schedules March announcement for ROG Phone 5
That would leave a very short tail on the ROG Phone 3
ASUS looks intent on pushing a fast follow-up to its $1,000 gamer-focused ROG Phone 3 — the poor thing only came out in October and it's got a successor lined up for March 9. Because the word "four" is a homonym for "death" in most Asian languages (where most of the major tech manufacturers are), we're talking about the ROG Phone 5.
ASUS has been improving on its ZenFones with every generation, which means we have high hopes for the ZenFone 7 line. A YouTube live stream event for the ZenFone 7 launch has just been listed for August 26th, less than two weeks away.
Google's AirDrop-like Nearby Share feature for Android is now officially rolling out. Marking the successful end of a test that started back in June, the long-awaited Android Beam successor is landing today on Google's Pixels and select Samsung phones, and it should be coming to all phones running Android 6.0 and later in the coming weeks. Chromebook support is also planned "in the coming months."
After a nearly interminable wait, Google's hotly-anticipated Pixel 4a is finally official (and making a very solid impression). Following up on last year's Pixel 3a (our Android Police 2019 phone of the year), the new 4a packs a Snapdragon 730G, 5.8" OLED screen, the usual amazing Pixel camera, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and all for an even lower price than last year: just $350. Pre-orders open today with availability set for August 20th, and a 5G version is also planned for later this fall.
OnePlus Nord finally revealed in full, starts at £379/€399
Stellar specs and a small price tag, just like the good old days
After what feels like many months of hype, the OnePlus Nord was fully unveiled at an online launch event today. There’s seemingly very little that we didn’t already know about the device, either due to the company’s own drip-feeding of information or recent rumors, but now we’ve got the complete picture. In a welcome return to the OnePlus of old, the Nord boasts a dazzling spec sheet along with a very affordable price tag.
In May, our David Ruddock called the realme X "the most powerful 'budget' phone I've ever used." Fast forward to October, and realme has its sights set on a more prestigious target: the high-end market at large. Here's what we know about the upcoming realme X2 Pro, headed for Asia and Europe.
Most of the focus when it comes to smartphone news is on expensive, flagship phones — the latest features and designs are just more interesting subjects. But mid-range phones show how those features percolate down with time, like the recently announced Blu G9 Pro. Specs include an 8-core MediaTek SoC, 4,000mAh wireless and quick charging battery, 128GB of expandable storage, 4GB of RAM, three rear-facing cameras, and a teardrop-notched full HD screen. Set to be $250 later, the company has dropped the price by to celebrate the launch.
Today is the Galaxy Note 10's official release date, with "pre-order" flipping over to "buy" at most websites. With the formal release, many of the early promotional offers are gone, though you can still snag up to $600 off with a recent trade-in via Samsung, and some carriers are still running their own discounts and trade-in programs. While in-store retailer and carrier availability may vary, the Note10 is now available and listed as "in stock" in most places.
At the company's event today in New York City, OnePlus has revealed its expected mid-cycle refresh. The new OnePlus 6T has most of the same internals as the 6, but swaps the rear fingerprint reader for a fancy new in-display model while sliming down its notch. The headphone jack is sadly gone, but battery size has been bumped up to 3,700mAh together with improved camera performance. Prices start at $549 with general availability set for November 1st from both OnePlus and T-Mobile. You can also use this referral link to get $20 off accessories if you buy a OnePlus 6T from OnePlus.
In a surprising twist, it appears Google may have accidentally let slip the date that the Pixel 3 is set to be formally revealed. Brandon Lee of This is Tech Today—who also makes videos for Android Police—has spotted an ad posted by Google on its own Famebit site that implies the phone is going to be formally revealed on or by October 4th.