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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.
Namco-Bandai released Sky Gamblers: Rise Of Glory more than a year ago, and the WWI 3D air combat game was well-received. The sequel takes the setting to the near future with a mix of modern fighter jets and alien invaders. Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy is definitely one of the most graphically-intensive entries in the admittedly small niche, and the loose arcade style is well-suited to touch controls.
As if you needed any convincing, EVleaks has once again demonstrated that he's some kind of wizard at finding and disseminating press shots of upcoming phones. This weekend's leaks include HTC's shiny new One max [sic] in both AT&T and Verizon flavors, posted to EVleaks' Google+ account. We'd heard about a Verizon version from HTC at launch, but the AT&T model is new, if not unexpected.
Update: Vic Gundotra, Google's SVP of Engineering, had this to say after posting on Google+ about the new Voice update:
This is the point in Google's product cycle where the leaks start falling like rain. Earlier today a Korean site named UnderKG (in case you couldn't tell through the obnoxious watermarks and bloom) posted photos of what appears to be the retail packaging of the LG Nexus 5. The boxes depart a little from the design of the previous Nexus devices, but still follow the basic pattern.
Twitter has been steadily tweaking their beta release channel for the Android app, and the latest update removes one of the most poorly-received features from the last beta version. The translucent tri-button array at the bottom of the screen (post a photo from storage, take a photo, or a simple textual tweet) has been removed, and is now replaced with a single, consolidated button.
If you think that the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is a bit on the pricey side, you're not alone. Amazon, unstoppable global retailing juggernaut and champion of the underdog that it is, has decided to lighten the load a bit. If you purchase a new 16GB Note 10.1 from Amazon, you can get a free gift card good for anything on the site. So basically, good for anything.
Last weekend the Big Android BBQ took place in Hurst, Texas. It's a small but energetic little show specifically targeted towards Android developers (and the more rabid enthusiasts - you know who you are). The CyanogenMod team has attended before, but what with the incorporation, this year was a big deal, and the first time that they became an official sponsor. Today an outline of Cyanogen Inc. CTO Steve Kondik's presentation was posted to the web, along with his slides.
Remember the first time you played Star Fox on your Super Nintendo? Remember how your mind was blown by 3D graphics and intuitive gameplay, so much so that you ignored the fact that woodland creatures were engaged in mortal space combat? I wish that I could say that ARC Squadron will rekindle that feeling. It won't. Nintendo made five more Star Fox games. This is the age of Facebook and in-app purchases. You will never feel that first-time wonder again. But ARC Squadron will make you think about that feeling.
Welcome to the latest entry in our Bonus Round series, wherein we tell you all about the new Android games of the day that we couldn't get to during our regular news rounds. Consider this a quick update for the dedicated gamers who can't wait for our bi-weekly roundups, and don't want to wade through a whole day's worth of news just to get their pixelated fix. Today we've got a flashy take on a classic board game, a certain puzzle game turned on its head, and an endless runner that's truly free. Without further ado:
Star Command is one of my most-anticipated games for Android. Or at least it was, two years ago when it was scheduled to be released, and then again when it was released for iOS five months ago. An unreasonably long development cycle and some dodgy developer antics have made waiting for this game an exercise in frustration, and it's impossible to give it a full review without at least some bitterness hanging on in the back of my mind.
According to Google, less than one hundredth of a percent of apps out there are both malicious and capable of evading the built-in defenses in both Android and the Google Play Store. But if you really feel like you need a defense from that one-in-100,000 app, a trusted name in software protection has just entered the fray. Malwarebytes, makers of the popular eponymous Windows software, is now offering its services on Android.
You know that feeling you get every once in a while, when you suddenly have this undeniable urge to punch a bear in the face? Tim does, and when his family is kidnapped by a secret conspiracy of ursine overlords, he's got the perfect excuse to indulge. The pixelated, flannel-wearing hero of Fist of Awesome is out to punch everything that moves and kick everything that doesn't.
Feedly has replaced the much-loved Google Reader for quite a few of you, so we tend to pay attention when a new version hits the Play Store. Today the Android app has been updated to version 17 with a laundry list of improvements and tweaks. There's nothing game-changing in there (though arguably the "300% faster start time" is a big deal), but it does include "support for Android Kitkat." No, the developers are not elaborating on that.
Welcome to the latest entry in our Bonus Round series, wherein we tell you all about the new Android games of the day that we couldn't get to during our regular news rounds. Consider this a quick update for the dedicated gamers who can't wait for our bi-weekly roundups, and don't want to wade through a whole day's worth of news just to get their pixelated fix. Today we've got no less than three puzzle games with an adventure game chaser. Without further ado:
At first, the screenshots of I, Gladiator make it look like the latest in a long line of Infinity Blade clones. But wait, dear reader: this is no tired, overproduced button-masher. This is a new, exciting, fresh overproduced button masher, which attempts to adapt the feel and controls of a big-time console beat-em-up like Devil May Cry for mobile devices. What does that mean? It means you can actually walk around and pick which bad guy you're about to dismember.
There comes a point in the life of every great gaming franchise where all original gameplay ideas have been exhausted. And right after that point, the developers give up and make a kart racer. For Rovio's omnipresent Angry Birds, the game is Angry Birds Go, a racing game that travels down the same well-trodden path as Mario Kart and a million also-rans. It comes out December 11th.
The Xposed framework has opened up some interesting mods. Most of them do only a few things. Some of them do a lot more. GravityBox does a lot more than that. This module from XDA Developers member C3C076 (keep 'em comin, guys) seems to incorporate all the little tweaks that people generally flash a custom ROM for, but it's built for stock Nexus devices and "clean" AOSP ROMs.
If you love Star Wars, pixelated graphics, and frantic management gaming, then today is your day. Well, it is if you live in Australia (where technically tomorrow is your day). Disney, LucasArts, and NimbleBit have teamed up to deliver Tiny Death Star to the Play Store, but at the moment it looks like it's only available down under. The game is a free download for Aussies.
The first ad for the 2013 model of the Nexus 7 was pretty perfect: combining a nervous nerdy kid and a common fear somehow made for an incredibly effective way to show off Google's combination of hardware and services. These two new ads aren't quite so good as "Fear Less," but they combine the same nearly universal sentiments with tablet-focused features.