News - 68/938 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

ASUS PadFone 2 Updated To v10.4.12.24, Includes Bug Fixes And Lots Of Software Improvements

Posted by John Thompson in ASUS, News, PadFone 2

ASUS has just pushed the latest update for the PadFone 2, bringing it to v10.4.12.24, and it contains a whole host of fixes and improvements. The performance of the PadFone 2 Station has been enhanced, the camera's firmware has seen an upgrade, and a number of improvements have been made to the phone's applications. Here's the full list of changes:

PadFone2 Firmware: V10.4.12.24 (Android 4.1) Improved:
1. Enhanced PadFone 2 and PadFone 2 Station performance and stability
2. Improved Wi-Fi connection and stability
3. Upgraded the camera’s firmware and optimized the camera’s HDR and automatic brightness control functions
4. NFC file sharing on ASUS Studio
5.

Mar

ASUS Releases An Update For The PadFone With Jelly Bean 4.1.1 And Other Improvements

Posted by John Thompson in ASUS, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Padfone

The PadFone 2 may have received its Jelly Bean update at the end of last year, but original PadFone owners haven't been so lucky. Fortunately, ASUS has decided to level the playing field again, releasing an update for the original device with Android 4.1.1.

In addition to the OS upgrade, the latest update also provides some improvements to other areas of the phone. Here's the full changelog:

PadFone Firmware: V10.2.1.9 (Android 4.1) improvement:
1. OS upgrade to Android 4.1.1
2. Improve dictionary function
3. Improve Camera preview function
4. Improve Scrapbook function
5. Improve File Manager application
6. Improve Volume Key problem
7.

Mar

[New Game] EMERGENCY Released For Android: Now You Can Fight Terrorists And Meteors From The Comfort Of Your Own Smartphone

Posted by John Thompson in Games, News

We may have managed to survive 2012 without the world coming to an end, but you can't really say the same for the poor folks in 'EMERGENCY'.

Gamers on iOS have been able to battle against plane crashes, train crashes, meteor impacts and terrorists for a while now, and the popular game has finally made its way over to the Play Store to allow Android users to get in on the action as well.

As Head of Operations, EMERGENCY throws 13 disaster scenarios at you, each of which you must fight during missions, with 18 units at your disposal. The game has already topped the charts on the iOS App Store, so it will be interesting to see how it fares on Android with the $3.99 price tag.

Mar

[New Game] NAMCO Brings PAC-MAN + Tournaments To Android For Free

Posted by John Thompson in Games, News

Last Updated: March 28th, 2013

Sometimes, classic games are just better. If you're tired of playing through endless variations of Temple Run and flinging animated birds across your smartphone display, then you'll no doubt be glad to hear that NAMCO has just released PAC-MAN + Tournaments on Android.

The app has been designed so that it remains very similar to the original arcade version of the game, and you'll be able to play PAC-MAN Classic to your heart's content with a virtual joystick at the bottom of the screen. If you want to try something a little bit different, you'll find new tournaments and mazes to play through too, with achievements available throughout the game, bringing PAC-MAN into the 21st century.

Mar

Bell, Rogers, And TELUS Pushing Jelly Bean 4.1.2 Update To LG Optimus G; SaskTel Trailing Close Behind

Posted by Cody Toombs in Bell, Device Updates, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Optimus G, Rogers, TELUS

Last Updated: March 25th, 2013

We have some good news to share with our neighbors to the north: the Optimus G is getting an update to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Right now, this only includes customers on Bell, Rogers, and TELUS. LG says that SaskTel users will receive the OTA in "late March", which suggests it should begin shipping only a few days behind the other carriers. This version bump will bring support for Google Now, offline speech recognition, expandable notifications, and several other goodies. LG has also packaged a few of its own improvements, but seems to have left out an upgraded QSlide 2.0. Here is the full changelog, provided by MobileSyrup:

Touch performance improvement
A simpler user interface for complex features such as WiFi-Direct and Miracast combined
Multimedia file transfer through Android Beam
Lock front key feature for QuickMemo
A memo scribble feature
Notification bar enhancements
Google Now support
Offline Voice recognition and typing
Quick Translator
Exchange task sync support

The update appears to be available only as an OTA, so just keep watching for the notification.

Mar

Full!screen Enables Full Screen Apps Without Losing Navigation And Notifications (Root Only)

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Okay, so this app isn't "new" in the traditional sense of the word, but it's kind of new and very cool. Full!screen lets you hide the system navigation bar and notification area on your Android phone or tablet so you can use that space for apps and games in full screen mode. It's not just crashing your system UI, though. Full!screen places minimalist replacement buttons tucked away in the corners.

Full!screen has a ton of settings that allow you control every aspect of your device's navigation behavior. You can use swipe gestures, pop-out pie menus, and long-presses to access different functions.

Mar

Google May Be Working On Another Wearable – Android Team Reportedly Developing Smartwatch

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Google, News, Rumors

Last Updated: March 25th, 2013

There's no denying that wearable tech seems to be where it's at among industry analysts. Indeed, the concept of wearable devices separate from smartphones and tablets has piqued the interest of many would-be users. Pebble's smartwatch drew some pretty significant attention, and rumors of more advanced watches from both Samsung and Apple have fueled buzz for several weeks.

We've also, of course, heard rumblings about a Google smartwatch (remember that watch patent the PTO granted Google late last year?). The question remains whether Google would venture into a second wearable device (in addition to Glass), but – according to Financial Times – there's reason to believe that not only is the Google watch real, it's being developed by the search giant's "Android unit."

Of course, this information comes from "a person briefed on the subject," and we all know how incredible Mr.

Mar

[New Game] Order & Chaos Duels From Gameloft Is Another Trading Card Game, But Very Pretty

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Apps/Games, Games, News

Order & Chaos is Gameloft's fantasy-themed MMORPG franchise, but the French developer's newest title in the series is a bit of a departure. Order & Chaos Duels is a card game in the spirit of Magic, but with simplified rules. It has an offline campaign mode, as well as online PvP play.

Order & Chaos Duels has over 250 cards to collect. Some of them are common, and you might come across them as random drops. The more powerful and rare cards have to be purchased, though. Purchased how, you may ask? Well, Order & Chaos Duels is fueled by in-app purchases.

Mar

Google Adds Over 400 Dark Horse Comics To Play Books, Including Star Wars, Serenity, And Buffy

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

Android devices are already pretty awesome comic readers. There's very little I love in the world more than watching Deadpool hack and slash everything in the universe up on the ultra-high resolution display of my Nexus 10. Though, if anything is gonna give the merc with a mouth a run for his ill-gotten money, it may just be the collective comic anthologies of properties like Star Wars, Hellboy, Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and more. Yes, Dark Horse comics are live on the Play Store.

The titles will launch in every country that Play Store books are sold (which, as of right now, includes Australia, Canada, Spain, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, India, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, France, Russia and the United States).

Mar

[New Game] Award-Winning Board Game Abalone Now Has An Official Android Version

Posted by David Ruddock in Games, News

If you've not heard of Abalone, it's one of the most amazing - yet simple - board games in decades. It won "Game of the Decade" at the Cannes Games Festival 15 years ago, and has been a massive hit since its debut in 1990. The objective of Abalone is simple: push six of your opponent's marbles off of the board.

The rules of the game are very simple, and take only a few minutes to learn. However, make no mistake: Abalone is a serious exercise in strategery. The game is featured in the Mind Sports Olympiad every year, and has sold more than six million units the world over since its introduction.