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We don't get to talk much about 3D printing here at Android Police because it's not a technology that's terribly mobile-focused (nor is it even that commonplace yet), but suffice to say, it's amazing. While this may not be about making prosthetic body parts, vehicles, or bikinis, MakerBot and OUYA are partnering to allow users to print their own enclosures for the hackable console. This may be the coolest way to customize a game system yet.
We've all played the "Wait, who is that guy again?" or "What song is that?" while watching a movie. Now, with the latest update to the Play Movies app, if you want to get the answer to that question, all you have to do is press pause. Info cards will then pop up with face recognition of actors on screen, what other movies they're in, and what music you're hearing.
[Trailer] Gameloft's Official Iron Man 3 Endless Runner Game Lands April 25th, Melts Your Face With Snark And Explosions
Gameloft's Official Iron Man 3 Endless Runner Game Lands April 25th, Melts Your Face With Snark And Explosions
Iron Man 3 is coming out soon. If you haven't seen the trailers, suffice to say it's going to be awesome. It's the first Marvel movie featuring the main set of heroes after the Avengers took over the world's economy. Until it comes out, though, Gameloft wants to sate your appetite with the official Iron Man 3 game, an endless runner-style title that has fewer giant monkeys and more things going KERPLOW.
Google Translate has always been one of the unsung heroes of the free service space. On the one hand, it doesn't provide a perfect translation, so people are still hesitant to call it a true breakthrough. On the other hand, we use it all the time to translate web pages enough to get the gist and, when combined with speech-to-text and text-to-speech, you can use the Android app as the closest thing to a universal translator in your pocket the world has ever seen. Now, it's getting even better with offline language packs.
Back in 2011, Google added the ability to keep up with live transit updates to Google Maps. After all, commuters in big cities that require cars to get around (like my own Atlanta), have traffic info for highways. Why not people who primarily use the subway to get around? One glaring omission from that service, though, was the New York City subway system. Today, that problem is rectified.
Yesterday, T-Mobile officially announced its new "UNcarrier" plans to much fanfare and profanity. The idea is simple: you pay one price for your service, and a separate price for your device. You can either choose to pay the full cost of your phone up front, or pay a deposit at first and then a monthly fee after that.
If you're old enough to have been around for the coolest parts of the 20th century, you know Duck Hunt. I don't need to explain this, do I? No. You know all about the bright orange gun and that annoying little dog and getting frustrated and walking right up to the screen and shooting an 8-bit duck point blank in the pixel. This is your childhood. And now, it's on your phone in a fantastic clone that utilizes the gyroscope in the best possible way.
Recently, Google quietly began to test auto translation for app reviews in the developer console. Today, the company publicly announced that same feature and began rolling it out to all devs. Now, when they log in to their control panel, they can see the reviews in their preferred language, along with the original text. Neat.
The last Humble Bundle for Android just ended, but if that wasn't quite enough to slake your desire for gaming on the go, may I interest you in the Humble Mobile Bundle? The primary difference between this one and the last is that this package won't include Steam codes for the desktop counterparts. Only Android. However, the four primary games you get are Contre Jour, Anomaly Korea, Plants vs. Zombies and Bladeslinger. If you pay more than the average ($5.38 at time of writing, but ~$7 is typical throughout the life of the sale), you can unlock Metal Slug 3 and The Room. The latter of which, despite my excitement, has nothing to do with Tommy Wiseau.
T-Mobile is not playing around today at its "UNcarrier" event. In addition to formally announcing the new, simplified prices with optional equipment repayment plans, and a shiny new LTE network, the company also says that the Galaxy S 4 will be arriving on its airwaves on May 1st, packing the ability to hook into that lovely 4G.
When Google announced Keep last week, one of the coolest features we learned about is the ability to accept the "note to self" command that has been part of Google's Voice Actions since the Froyo days. Previously, this would send an email to your own account with the transcribed text and the original audio file. Keep allowed users to send that data to a proper note-taking app instead. Well, as it turns out, Catch wants in on that voice action, so in a recent update, it's added the ability as well.
T-Mobile LTE Goes Live Today In Baltimore, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Jose, and Washington, D.C.
Today, at a media event in New York, T-Mobile announced that it's finally ready to join the big-boy world of LTE networks
Today, at a media event in New York, T-Mobile announced that it's finally ready to join the big-boy world of LTE networks. The initial round of activations match up just about perfectly with the earlier leaks. Major cities include Houston, Las Vegas, Washington D.C. and more. The proper 4G network can be used with the new "Uncarrier" plans that just went live a couple days ago.
I am going to show you a game. It costs about a buck on the Play Store and is very fun. However, once you begin playing it, you will have roughly five minutes until you either scream, demand a refund, or your head explodes. There are no other options. The game is called Puk. And it is insane.
[The Android Police Podcast] Episode 54: Ninja Wesley Snipes Goes to Taco Bell
The Android Police Podcast: Episode 54: Ninja Wesley Snipes Goes to Taco Bell
Welcome to the Android Police Podcast, Episode 54.
The global rollout continues as Google adds yet another country to the list of places you can order a 16GB Nexus 7. The device showed up in the Play Store today for Rs. 15,999 (roughly $295 USD). No other variants of the tablet appear to be available, though. It's 16 geebees or bust. Currently the store says it will ship by April 5th, but you can order now.
[Update: It's Live!] New Google+ App Brings Better Posts, Community Management, Location Sharing On Your Profile And More
New Google+ App Brings Better Posts, Community Management, Location Sharing On Your Profile And More
Today, Google announced a new update to the Google+ app that will be rolling out later today that brings a host of new features. For starters, the posts have been redesigned to look a little cleaner, provide more content up front, and are easier to interact with. For example, you can now swipe between photos in an album, and tapping content should take you directly to where you want to go. The current Google+ app has a problem with requiring the user to jump through several hoops to get to the meat of a post, so hopefully this makes things easier.
It's no secret around these parts that we find HTC's advertising to be a little lackluster. Which is a shame because its hardware is not. For what it's worth, the company's CEO agrees and plans to ditch the "quietly brilliant" slogan for the One and instead shoot for the themes of "bold," "authentic," and "playful." Which, by a strange coincidence, also happen to be Peter Chou's list of the top three traits he's looking for in a woman on his OK Cupid profile*.
The rumors were true and now T-Mobile has launched its new, simplified, contract-free plans. Starting at $50/month for unlimited talk and text with 500MB of high-speed data (throttled, but sans overage fees after that), the new services allow customers to forget about counting minutes and messages and focus solely on data. This could be good or bad news, depending on your usage, but perhaps the most important aspect of these new plans is that you can get them without a 2-year commitment.
BBC News App Updated To Work On 1080p Devices, Adds Widgets And A Bit More Holo
BBC News App Updated To Work On 1080p Devices
The BBC News reader on Android got an update today that should please the pixel poppers among the audience. The app has been optimized to take advantage of Super Mega Ultra dense displays like on the Xperia Z and Droid DNA (to say nothing of the upcoming HTC One and Galaxy S 4). A pile of bugs have been squashed in the new update as well.
Well, that didn't take long. Just a week after Samsung announced its newest flagship phone, we get rumors of the Mini version of the same. As before, it's not just a smaller version of the phone, but a lower-specced version as well. In fact, in terms of the display, the rumored specs are much lower. 960x540 to the tune of 256ppi. In other words, exactly half the resolution (the GS4 packs 1920x1080) and a little more than half the ppi (441ppi).