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Apr

Shadowgun: DeadZone Hits Version 2.0, Brings A Boatload Of New Stuff

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Everyone's favorite mobile multiplayer FPS – Shadowgun: DeadZone – just got itself a pretty major update that brings several new features to the table. And by "several features" we actually mean "new guns, new maps, better friend support, and all sorts of other stuff." Here's a closer look at said stuff:

What's in this version:

➤ New 8 languages (Spanish,French,German,Italian,Russian,Chinese,Korean,Japanese)
➤ A brand new cool feature: BOOSTERS (Speed,Armor,Damage,Accuracy,Invisibility) and new Sentry Guns (Plasma,Rocket)
➤ Gold rewards for anyone who eliminates opponents with active Boosters
➤ New maps: Assembly, Warzone, Vortex, Train yard
➤ New deadly weapons
➤ Daily challenges and rewards
➤ Monitor the game stats of your friends
➤ Invite your friends to Zone Control mode
➤ Special Tutorial mode for rookies

All sorts of new hotness up in that apk, y'all.

Apr

Avast! Mobile Security Updated, Brings Simplified Anti-Theft Setup And User Interface, Folder Scanning, And More

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Thanks to its amazing anti-theft features – which are powered by what used to be Theft Aware – avast! has long been one of our favorite mobile security apps. That's not to say its malware prevention abilities aren't also a highlight of the application, because they are – in fact, it's an all around good package. And thanks to a new update that hit the Play Store just a bit ago, it's just got better.

The update doesn't bring anything major – it's really about fine-tuning what features are already in place. You'll find a simplified Anti-Theft set up process afterwards, as well as a new AT UI.

Apr

Android 4.2 Rolling Out Now To The ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity (TF700) In The U.S. [Changelog]

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Device Updates, News, Transformer Pad Infinity

Last Updated: April 26th, 2013

At the beginning of March, ASUS became the first company to push Android 4.2 to a non-Nexus device when the update came to the TF300. At the time, the company promised 4.2 for the TF700 and MeMO Pad Smart sometime "in the second quarter." We're now three days into Q2, and ASUS has started pushing the update to the TF700 (Infinity). Talk about delivering on promises.

New font!

Announced late last night on the official ASUS Facebook page, the update brings all sorts of goodies to the device:

Upgrade to Android Jelly Bean 4.2

Multiple account login for up-to 4 user accounts

ASUS Screen Saver in DayDream Feature

New app:

Parental Lock

New Camera AP

New function:

Lock screen wallpaper

Improvement:

New UI for ASUS IME.

Apr

AT&T Clarifies Galaxy S4 Prices: 32GB Version Will Cost $249, 16GB Will Be Available For $199

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Samsung

Just a week ago, AT&T filled us in on its pricing plans for the Galaxy S 4, stating that the 32GB device would retail for $249 with a two year commitment. While that is technically true, what the carrier neglected to mention was that it would also carry a 16GB model for $199, bringing the entry-level price for this phone in line with nearly every other major handset on the market.

That being said, if you're a nut for extra storage and you're debating between this and the HTC One, you'll pay more for the extra geebees with Samsung. HTC's handset will also start at $199, but that's for the 32GB model.

Apr

Verizon Approves Software Update 7.02.605.10 For The HTC Thunderbolt

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

The Thunderbolt has had one weird life. It was VZW's first LTE phone. But it was less than stellar, and had lots of problems. Then HTC promised that it would get ICS, which got delayed again and again. And again. But it finally came out, and Tbolt owners were kinda happy about it for five minutes.

Now the brick-of-a-device is in line to get another small OTA, which fixes some stuff that you may or may not use:

Microphone now works with HAC enabled
HTC Watch now shows titles available for viewing or purchase
Amber alerts are now visible
Text messaging app has been improved
Improvements to Yahoo and Microsoft Exchange Email Connectivity

The details of the update just hit VZW's site a bit ago, which generally indicates the OTA is ready to go and should start hitting devices in the coming days.

Mar

Small OTA Updates Rolling Out To The Kyocera Rise On Sprint, Wi-Fi Archos Cobalt 80

Posted by Cameron Summerson in ARCHOS, News, Rise, Sprint

While these two devices are essentially unrelated in general, today they have one thing in common: they're both getting small OTA updates.

Sprint's Kyocera Rise is getting bumped up to build 1.011sp, which brings a few enhancements and general bug fixes:

Kyocera Rise Software Update - 1.011sp

Enhancements/Fixes

Qchat enhancements

Camera Gallery App crashes when attempted to edit picture

User can not pull down status bar during a call

Overlap when signing into Gmail™

Bluetooth connectivity issues

On the other side of the fence is the Archos Cobalt 80, which appears to be getting its first update. This one's just a very small bugfixer, which resolves a couple of issues:

Version 20130202 - March 29th, 2013

Fix an issue with Google talk no sound on loudspeaker on video chat.

Mar

AT&T Pushing Small Update (I777UCLL6) To Galaxy S II With Bug Fixes And Security Enhancements

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in AT&T, Galaxy S II, News

According to a forum post on AT&T's support site and some scattered user reports, the carrier's Galaxy S II variant is receiving a small update today. Rolling out over the air as you read these words, the software fixes an issue where devices would become unresponsive or power down while idle.

The update also includes the requisite "security enhancements." If you haven't updated your phone to 4.0 yet, well for starters, why not? Secondly, you'll need to do so first before you can apply the update. This is rolling out over the air, so hit your Settings app to find it or just wait for the notification to show up.

Mar

SoundHound Updated With A New Tablet Interface, All Hail Big Screens

Posted by Cody Toombs in Applications, Device Updates, News, Tablets

Nothing brings a smile to my face like the words "Tablet Optimized," and thanks to SoundHound, I'll be walking around with a little grin all day long. The music recognition service has updated its Android app to include a fully realized tablet UI and a few other performance enhancements. Here are a few screenshots for comparison (taken on my Nexus 7):

Original

New

The new tablet UI replaces the boring stretched out rows with drag-able lines of large cover art, making much better use of space on the main screen, discovery, and song pages. In landscape mode, history and bookmarks now stack songs into two columns instead of one, but appear otherwise unchanged.

Mar

[Updated] Sprint's Epic 4G Touch Gets An Update To Jelly Bean, Requires Kies Due To File Size

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Epic 4G Touch, News, Sprint

We sure weren't expecting this, but today Sprint announced on its support site that the Epic 4G Touch (the Now Network's branded version of the Galaxy S II) is getting an update to Jelly Bean. Undoubtedly version 4.1, but this would still be a welcome upgrade as it brings with it the ability to access Google Now, among a host of other features.

The update will require Samsung's Kies software to install. Apparently the file size is too big to rollout over the air. Though, if we had to guess, the fact that the device is nearly two years old by this point and is relatively low-priority for Sprint played a factor in the decision to let consumers foot the bill for the bandwidth.

Mar

Tasker's Redesigned Holo-fied App Is Out Of Beta And In The Play Store, Now Split Into Two Interfaces According To Android Version

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Back in January, Tasker dev Crafty Apps showed off the app's upcoming redesign, which finally brings the Holo look to the table. Now, that update has left its beta stages and made its way into the Play Store. Yay for that!

However, there's a catch: the new look isn't for everyone. The app will actually continue to show the existing interface for those on Gingerbread and under, while those on Android 4.0+ get the pretty new UI. Sorry, guys.

But, for those who get to take advantage of the "new" Tasker, you get all new icons (200 each for Holo light and Holo dark), new states, events and actions; and oodles of new improvements and fixes.