News - 37/938 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

MOGA Pro Officially Launches Today, Grab Yours Now For $50

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Games, News

When it comes to gaming on Android, there's nothing quite like adding a game controller to give the experience a more classic feel. There are several options floating around out there to make that happen, like Nyko's PlayPad/PlayPad Pro or the MOGA Pocket. If none of those float your boat, however, MOGA's newest controller – the MOGA Pro – just hit virtual shelves today.

Unlike it's highly-portable sibling, the MOGA Pro is more of a "full" game controller, with improved grips, dual shoulder buttons, a standard D-Pad, and raised, clickable joysticks. Also unlike the much smaller Pocket, the Pro features a rechargeable battery, which should save you from having to constantly buy AAA batteries.

Apr

Archos Announces A New Line Of Ultra-Affordable Smartphones, Prices Start At Just $99 (No Contract)

Posted by Cameron Summerson in ARCHOS, News

When it comes to buying a new smartphone, Archos generally isn't the first company that crosses ones mind. The company is looking to change that with a new line of highly affordable "3G+" smartphones, which were just unveiled today. Say hello to the 35 Carbon, 50 Platinum, and 53 Platinum.

This trio keeps the somewhat familiar Archos branding – the number indicates the display size, while the suffix alludes to the "quality" of the product (i.e. Carbon is lower-end, while the Platinum name is reserved for higher-end products).

ARCHOS 35 Carbon

The 35 Carbon is the smallest and packs the least impressive specs of the trio, but for $99 without contract, you shouldn't expect much in the first place.

Apr

51 Best (And 4 WTF) New Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (4/2/13 - 4/18/13)

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News, Roundups

Last Updated: May 13th, 2013

Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.

This edition focuses only on new games. The app roundup is coming up soon.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Featured App

Ice Rage by Herocraft

Today's roundup is presented by Ice Rage from HeroCraft. Somewhere between air hockey and foosball lies Ice Rage, a hockey-themed casual game with the publisher's typically high production standards.

Apr

[New Game] Fangz Has More Shooting And Blood And Shooting And Did I Already Say Blood? Than You Can Shake A Chainsaw At

Posted by David Ruddock in Games, News

In the mood to kill some vampires? Or robots? Or comically-large old ladies in bath robes? Fangz has you covered. This sidescrolling shoot-em-up has some Zombieville USA vibes going on, but even a quick look makes it apparent that this game is much, much more ambitious. The amount of weapons, types of enemies, and levels make this seem like an easy 'buy' at $0.99, and watching the trailer, this looks like a shotgun-full of fun.

The goal of Fangz is quite simple: blast the ever-loving crap out of anything that moves. Which, hey, sometimes is just fine as a premise for a game.

Apr

[For Developers] Samsung Bluetooth Low Energy SDK Opens To The Public

Posted by Cody Toombs in Development, News, Samsung

For quite some time, we've been hearing about the potential advantages of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) spec, and a seemingly endless list of gadgets that could benefit from it. Unfortunately, while many modern flagship devices are equipped with the necessary hardware, Google has allowed the Android OS to languish without official support for the standard. Most of the top OEMs have built their own proprietary versions for the energy efficient protocol, but until now, only Motorola has freely shared access to its API. However, that changes today: Samsung is taking its BLE SDK public.

Since building their own custom frameworks, both HTC and Samsung have required developers to submit applications for access to the SDKs.

Apr

[Update: Changelog] Sony Announces Jelly Bean (4.1.1) For The Xperia Tablet S, Should Begin Rolling Out Tomorrow

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Device Updates, News, Xperia Tablet S

Last Updated: April 26th, 2013

Owners of Sony's Xperia Tablet S, it's time to get excited. Sony just announced that Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.1 in this case) will hit its production servers tomorrow morning between 9AM and 10AM PST, which means an OTA is on its way.

Apr

LinkedIn For Android V3.0 Brings A Card-Based UI Refresh, Much More Update Stream Functionality

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, News

Do you like context-sensitive action bars? Slide-out navigation menus? Cards? Well, LinkedIn's Android app just got a pretty significant UI refresh today, and it has all of those things. The app was undeniably in need of a facelift, and this new update looks pretty fantastic to my eyes.

Looks aside, version 3.0 of LinkedIn for Android adds a slew of new update stream features that were sorely lacking in previous versions - you can now invite, follow, like, share, and comment on update stream content directly from the feed. The new design should also make navigating the app a whole lot easier (I remember how buried the settings menu was in earlier versions).

Apr

[New Game] They Need To Be Fed 2: Same 360-Degree Gravity Platforming Fun, 50 More Levels To Hop Through

Posted by David Ruddock in Games, News

The original They Need To Be Fed was a minor hit when it was released on the Play Store over two years ago, amassing over 100,000 downloads. The premise was relatively simple. You run and jump through this cel-shaded platformer, but you can't actually fall off, because gravity is pulling you toward each platform in 360 degrees, like little stellar bodies.

It's easy to see, then, the potential for fun. They Need To Be Fed 2 is, in large part, more of the same - you make your way through a 2D universe that Sir Isaac Newton would not consider particularly true to life, avoiding obstacles and giant Venus fly traps that would very much like to devour you.

Apr

ES File Explorer Updated To V3.0 - Brand-New UI, Wi-Fi File Sharing, Gesture Support, And More

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, Apps/Games, News

ES File Explorer received its first major update in a while this morning, bringing the popular management app to version 3.0. The major change? A brand-new UI that isn't really Holo per se, but does incorporate a slide-out navigation bar and swipeable tabs.

Here's the complete changelog:

V3.0

New UI

Fast Access(Press menu)

Multiple Windows

Send Files By WiFi

Gestures(Drag,Zoom,Slide)

Classic Theme

New Picture,Root Explorer,Tools,...

While there certainly isn't any lack of competition when it comes to file management utilities on Android, ES File Explorer has remained one of the most popular such apps for quite some time now, and a UI refresh was probably high on users' lists at this point.

Apr

[New Game] iOS Hit Anthill Crawls On Over To Android - Like SimAnt, But With More Explosions (OK, Not Really)

Posted by David Ruddock in Games, News

If you were a fan of SimAnt way back when, Anthill by Thumbstar Games may be up your alley. While it doesn't appear to carry the slow, deliberate pace of Will Wright's masterpiece, it does revolve around the same basic premise: amass an empire of everyone's favorite six-legged pest, and destroy the competing ant colony.

Anthill does appear to focus a bit more on the whole "destruction" aspect, though, and much less on the simulation part. It's like SimAnt: The Antnihilation, or something. OK, in reality, it's not all that much like SimAnt. You control various classes of ant soldiers, which can have their skills upgraded, in this part-tower-defense-part-RTS mashup that's been a smash hit on iOS.