Latest Articles
MyColorScreen's Themer Is Now In Public Beta After 550,000 Signups And 1.5 Million Downloaded Themes
So it looks like a lot of you were excited by Themer, MyColorScreen's custom launcher which promises no-hassle installations of some of the fantastic homescreens featured on the site. After a month in closed beta the service is now open, so you no longer need a code to get access to those sweet, sweet themes. The free app is available on smartphones (and only smartphones) running Android 4.1 or later.
Ever since Nike introduced its FuelBand wearable fitness tracker last year, there's been a rather loud and unsatisfied cry from users of the biggest mobile operating system on the planet: "Where the hell is the Android version?" Even while competitors like Fitbit Jawbone's UP have embraced Android, Nike FuelBand has remained an iOS exclusive, and Nike has made a point of explicitly stating that there's no Android version of the app in development. A new interview from Pocket-lint sheds some light on why.
When I was a kid, "robot" meant something that you had to wind up (or if you were rich, something you plugged into your Nintendo Entertainment System). Startup company Play-I wants to change that with Bo and Yana, a pair of toy robots that use a tablet or smartphone as both a controller and a programming tool. The company's crowdfunding campaign started yesterday and has already hit almost 80% of its quarter-million dollar goal.
It's about damn time. While Pandora has been slowly and steadily updating its Android app for years (the latest big update was a sleep timer), the tablet experience has been sorely lacking ever since Honeycomb. The music streaming service has redeemed itself with version 5.0 of the Android app, which now shifts the interface significantly on Android tablets.
Verizon got it first (for once), but now it's time for Samsung Galaxy S4 owners on Sprint to get their Android 4.3 update on. The over-the-air download should be disseminating today, though we've yet to see confirmation from Sprint itself. Assuming that it is indeed going out, the update comes right on schedule, according to a leaked Samsung document.
Amazon subsidiary Woot.com has taken the wraps off another one of its big tablet sales. This promotion isn't like their normal "one deal a day" operations - the prices will be good until November 1st at 9AM Central, though the individual listings are still limited by stock. The good deals are on refurbished Samsung and Asus hardware, though some of the dirt-cheap tablets you might see in the discount aisle are also there.
Tablets are in a bit of a rut as far as form factors go. Aside from ASUS' Transformer models and imitators, they're basically all monolithic slates with very little in the way of variation. Lenovo is trying to buck that trend with its new Yoga tablet line, which borrows the name from the company's flexible and well-received convertible laptops. These tablets feature an exaggerated curve on one side of the case (sort of like a more pronounced version of the Notion Ink Adam). The tablet hits retailers tomorrow in 8 and 10-inch versions.
Fans of classic beat-em-ups, it's time to get excited. while it's true that there are more than a few entries in this genre available on the Play Store already, almost all of them owe at least some inspiration to the great Double Dragon of arcade fame. DotEmu, no slouch when it comes to breathing new life into classics, is bringing all three of the original games to the Play Store sometime in the near future.
In case you hadn't heard, there's a new version of Google Glass coming, and all current Glass Explorers are invited for a free upgrade. In addition to presumably boosted specs and support for prescription lenses, the new model will have an audio-out port for an included and optional mono earbud. Google posted the following photos of the hardware in action on the Glass Google+ page.
October is the perfect storm for American sports fans: Baseball fans have the World Series, basketball fans have the opening games of the season, and football fans are just getting a good look at the playoff scenario. Against this triple threat, hockey fans (especially those in the United States) tend to get the short end of the stick, so to speak. ESPN is bucking that trend: today they posted the very first build of the network's official Fantasy Hockey app to the Play Store.
Every time I try a new non-AOSP Android device, I lament the lack of Google's News & Weather app and its excellent widget. But the latest app from Falcon Pro developer Joaquim Verges might just get me to let go of that standby. Flyne is a news reader in the vein of Press and Flipboard, but it's powered by curated Twitter lists and your own Twitter and Feedly content.
Owners of almost all versions of the HTC One should have received the update to Android 4.3 by now. There's the Google Play Edition, the international version, the Developer Edition, and carrier variants for AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. So what's missing from this picture? If you said "Verizon," then congratulations, you've finally become just as jaded and cynical as your friendly neighborhood tech journalist.
The Tekken series is one of Namco's biggest properties, a beloved handful of games that helped pioneer the 3D one-on-one fighting genre. Tekken Arena is an embarrassing mobile cash-in, with no 3D element to speak of and barely any portion that could be called "fighting." It might just be the most absurd deviation from the central element of a gaming property that I've ever seen.
The Man Who Stole 22,500 LG G2 Smartphones Was Caught After Driving Into A Pole
The Man Who Stole 22,500 LG G2 Smartphones Was Caught After Driving Into A Pole
Last week we reported that a truck transporting 22,500 LG G2 smartphones headed for Sprint was stolen at a truck stop in Gary, Indiana. WDRB reports that at least one man who committed this daring high-stakes robbery has been caught in Louisville, Kentucky along with the 18-wheeler he stole. How was this fiendishly clever criminal apprehended?
When it comes to hardware aesthetics, Sony has some of the best industrial design around. The 6.4-inch Xperia Z Ultra is undeniably attractive in its glass and metal casing. The software isn't so appealing, and not just because it's Android 4.2 - Sony's custom interface leaves a lot to be desired. If you'd like to run something closer to AOSP, not to mention a latter version of Android, the indefatigable CyanogenMod team is now offering nightly builds of CM 10.2.
41 Best New Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (10/15/13 - 10/28/13)
The Best New Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks
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.
Kids these days have it so easy. When I was a rugrat me and my sister shared a 100Mhz Windows 95 machine that Dad scrounged out of spare parts, and we were happy to have it. If you feel like irresponsibly trusting your child with an expensive electronic gadget of their very own, Samsung is happy to oblige with the Kids edition of the 7-inch Galaxy Tab 3. This ruggedized tablet with kid-specific software goes on sale on November 10th at the usual retailers, plus Toys 'R' Us, for $229.99.
Android is now the undisputed champion of mobile marketshare, but certain companies are still releasing exclusive iOS apps, like the JARVIS-themed Iron Man 3 companion. It's a bummer, but iOS users can't make sweet custom boot animations like the one that Redditor hypd09 posted to /r/Android yesterday. It won't turn your phone into a suit of weaponized armor, but it will look pretty sweet with your elaborate Halloween costume.
If you suddenly saw a new app pop up on your phone this weekend marked "Trigger," don't be alarmed - the much-loved NFC Task Launcher has just been rebranded. The rechristened app has been given a new look and a small functional update, but it retains all of the NFC goodness that's earned it a 4.5 star rating in the Play Store.
The rise of free-to-play games littered with in-app purchases is a contentious one to say the least. More traditional gamers tend to prefer the old model, with a paid and complete game and perhaps a free demo, but the freemium model has proven too lucrative for most game publishers to ignore. Android user "Mattayx" left the following review on the international version of FIFA 14: