Reviews - 19/71 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Sep

Huawei Mercury Ice For RadioShack Wireless Quick Review: A Burner Phone For A More Civilized World

Posted by David Ruddock in Cricket Wireless, Mercury, Phone Reviews

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Gee, I wish I could get a real smartphone for $150 with no contractual commitment"? Well, you can. One with a 4" display, front and rear cameras, a microSD card slot, and a 1GHz processor. For half the price of the original Motorola Pebl (that thing cost $300 back in the day).

Oh, how far we've come.

But do you want a $150 smartphone? I mean, that all depends. Do you conduct most of your "business" via the web? Push email can be a real lifesaver. Real-time Google Maps navigation will always get you to the right empty lot as quickly as possible, and Google Calendar reminders will make organizing your protection money collection schedule a breeze.

Sep

Motorola DROID RAZR M Review: This Is What Budget Phones Are Like Now? Where Do I Sign Up?

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Motorola, News, RAZR M, Reviews

Last Updated: September 15th, 2012

"The new Motorola starts today." That was new CEO Dennis Woodside's proclamation during the unveiling of the new RAZRs, and I think that statement gives away a little more than intended. Smartphone development takes the good part of a year, so they're implicitly admitting that these phones were made by someone else. That "someone else" being the old Motorola.

Yes, Google's deal to buy Motorola was announced a little over a year ago, but, thanks to all the regulatory bodies around the world that had to approve the deal, Google has only been in charge of Motorola for about three months.

Sep

[Hands-On] Maluuba Is A Google Now Replacement You Might Actually Want To Use

Posted by David Ruddock in App Reviews, Applications, News

I make no bones of the fact that I find 3rd party voice assistants to be increasingly redundant, especially with the arrival of Google Now on Jelly Bean.

But Google Now doesn't do certain things. One of those things has annoyed me since the early days of Google's Voice Actions: you can't make calendar events through voice input. And as a person that absolute despises digital calendars, this is something of a "must have" feature. Creating a calendar event in an app, to me, is like having a root canal - in that I wish I could be unconscious for the entire experience.

Sep

[Video Review] Beach Buggy Blitz From Vector Unit

Posted by Tim Schofield (qbking77) in Game Reviews, News

Recently, Vector Unit - the team behind Riptide GP and Shine Runner - released a new game called Beach Buggy Blitz. This one is slightly different than VU's previous offerings, as it leaves the boat/hovercraft racing behind and takes to the beach for a fun, whimsical spin in a buggy.

We've been playing around with this game since its release and are pretty impressed so far. Here's a look at what you can expect from BBB.

Editor's Note: This is the first post from Tim Schofield - better known as QBKing77 - here at AP. Welcome him!

The game is free in the Play Store, but is currently only available on Tegra 2/3 devices.

Sep

[Hands-On] TV Show Favs Is The First And Last App You Need To Keep Track Of All Your Shows

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, Reviews

In the modern world, watching TV shows isn't what it used to be. Back in the old days (or the present for some), shows simply existed at a certain time and you tuned in when they aired, and then they were cancelled and then you never heard from them again. Today, though, it's not uncommon for most viewers to discover a show a few seasons in and then find their way through the backlog of episodes. It can get overwhelming when you need to sort through which shows are still on, which shows you've seen, and how many more episodes you have to go.

Sep

[Game Review] Total War Battles: Shogun Is A Failed Experiment In Real-Time Strategy

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Apps/Games, Games, Reviews

The real-time strategy genre has a lot to recommend it: tactical thinking, fast-paced unit and resource management, and multiplayer atmosphere that's unlike anything else in gaming. But it's hard to escape the fact that in order to have a real RTS, you just need a mouse. Precise movements and commands are nigh impossible on a touchscreen. Sega's Total War Battles: Shogun is a spinoff from their wildly successful Total War PC franchise, which breaks with tradition and tries to adapt the RTS genre to the touchscreen. Unfortunately, just about everything that makes a strategy game enjoyable is lost in translation.

A new Spin On An Old Hat

Some of the staples of real-time strategy are here: bases with buildings which manufacture units, gathering different kinds of resources, incremental technology upgrades.

Sep

[Review] gReader Is Hands Down The Incomparable King Of RSS Readers On Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in App Reviews, Applications

As a tech writer, I read a lot of RSS feeds. Hundreds, maybe more. All day, every day. It's one of the first things I check every morning, and the last before bed. And dozens of times throughout the day. When I first started as a writer, Google Reader was my go-to RSS reader, both on my PCs and mobile. It didn't take long to realize GR's shortcomings on both platforms, however. So, after a little convincing from Artem, I switched to FeedDemon on my computers. It's a fantastic application and has increased my ability to find good, relevant content by at least 10 fold.

Sep

The Great Bluetooth Speaker Roundup: 8 Of Our Favorites Compared

Posted by David Ruddock in Accessories, Other Reviews

Last Updated: September 10th, 2012

Bluetooth speakers are rapidly becoming a thing that people, you know, buy. And because of that, a lot of companies have started making them. One of those companies has become the unabashed leader of the pack with a little device called the Jambox. But the Jambox is over a year and a half old. Competitors have started springing up, and some of them are actually quite awesome. And we know Bluetooth speakers aren't a "one size fits all" affair, so we're going to give you some of favorites in a variety shapes, sizes, and styles.

The Scoring System

Unlike some numerical scores, these scores are not cumulative - they're meant to compare multiple aspects of similar products on an absolute scale (battery life gets its own measurement, for obvious reasons).

Sep

[Game Review] Noodlecake's HueBrix Is A Deceptively Simple Puzzler That You Won't Be Able To Put Down

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Games, Reviews

Android developer Noodlecake has a reputation for making clean, incredibly fun games. Its newest effort is called HueBrix, and it just arrived in Google Play a few days ago. This is a puzzle game that has a simple premise: fill in all the squares. You will only make it a few minutes before the cunning level design starts the slow process of melting your brain.

Gameplay And Controls

There are over 400 levels in HueBrix, but all of them start in basically the same way. You have a grid of white squares that need to be covered with colored lines. Just drag a path from the various starting blocks to fill in all the spaces.

Sep

Diamond Multimedia AMP1000 Set-Top Box Review: It's Like Putting A Giant Gingerbread Phone In Your Living Room

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Other Reviews

While GoogleTV still hasn't really taken off, the idea of an Android-powered set-top box is still a good one if properly executed. Diamond Multimedia recently tried its hand at such an execution with the AMP1000 (Android Media Player), its first venture into the Android realm.

But, like with any new project attempt, there is plenty of room for failure. As we've seen so many times before, what seems like a good idea on paper can easily be a disaster in execution.

While I wouldn't go as far as calling the AMP a "disaster," Diamond's attempt at an Android box is... not very good.