Jeremiah Rice
Contributing since July, 2012
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1288articles
Page 35
About Jeremiah Rice
Jeremiah is a US-based blogger who bought a Nexus One the day it came out and never looked back. In his spare time he watches Star Trek, cooks eggs, and completely fails to write novels.
Latest Articles
Believe it or don't, there were smartwatches before the Pebble and its host of contemporaries. While it's debatable that Sony's second-gen watch was the best of them, it was certainly among the most high-profile watches, and the company has returned to its old stomping grounds now that the segment has exploded. The SmartWatch 2 (stylized "SW2") includes a bigger, denser display, a revised software suite that more naturally mimics Sony's Android phones, and embedded NFC. The SmartWatch 2 will be available in September for an undisclosed price.
Sony is getting into the plus-sized phone game in a big way. Today they've officially announced the Xperia Z Ultra, a super-sized handset that follows the design principles of the original Xperia Z. Nearly all the specifications (with the exception of the camera) have been boosted over the current Sony flagship, starting with a downright massive 6.44-inch 1080p screen. Other highlights include a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor clocked at 2.2Ghz, (labeled as "the world's fastest") a super-slim 6.5mm body, and a water- and dust-resistant design.
When the flagship Xperia Z launched with Android 4.1, Sony promised that an update to the latest version was coming. Now they're making good: XperiaGuide reports that the Jelly Bean 4.2.2 rollout started yesterday, for at least some users of generic phones (C6603) in Spain and Hong Kong. The updated software needs to be flashed via Sony's PC Companion software. The new build is labeled 10.3.A.0.423, exactly the same as the update that started for the Xperia ZL four days earlier. XperiaBlog says that carrier-customized versions have also landed in Austria, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands,along with an update for the generic Taiwanese model (C6603).
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.
Pebble smartwatch owners have been without a reliable way to receive notifications for Google instant messages since Hangouts was launched at Google I/O, at least if they rely on first-party solutions. Today's update to the official Pebble app changes that, with native support for the Hangouts app for both messages and video Hangout requests. If you've remained faithful to the older Google Talk app, it's still supported as well.
Nintendo DS games making their way to the Play Store? I could get used to this. Publisher UbiSoft and port developer Tag Games have just released Might & Magic Clash of Heroes, a 2009 entry in the venerable Might & Magic RPG series originally made for the DS. It's been re-released as a downloadable title on the Xbox, Playstation, PC, and (of course) iOS, but this one only took five months to jump ship to Android, so let's not hold too much of a grudge. It's available in the Play Store for $4.99.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7", 8", And 10.1" Coming To America On July 7th, Priced at $199, $299, And $399
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7", 8", And 10.1" Coming To America On July 7th, Priced at $199, $299, And $399
Who's excited about Samsung's latest revisions to its Galaxy Tab line? Don't everyone rush all at once. With the rise of the 10.1-inch and 8-inch Notes, the Tab series has been pushed further and further towards the budget end of the spectrum, in features if not in actual price. But if you really do want one of Samsung's three new Tabs, they'll be headed to online and retail stores in the United States on July 7th. The Galaxy Tab 3 7-inch will go for $199, the 8-inch model will cost you $299, and the Tab 3 10.1-inch will cost $399. Pre-orders for some retailers will start on June 25th.
There's a new crowdfunded Bluetooth smartwatch on the... wait, come back here! It's true that this particular market niche has become somewhat overcrowded in the last few months, but the Meteor smartwatch by startup company Kreyos has a few features we haven't seen before. For one thing, it's detachable from its watchband, making it a bit more flexible when it comes to sporty activities. And for another, it works as a Bluetooth speakerphone and includes voice command, letting you live out your Dick Tracy fantasies.
Lyrics Provider TuneWiki Shutting Down On June 28th After More Than 10 Million Google Play Downloads
If you're one of those people who likes to know the full lyrics for every song in your library, prepare for a shock. The TuneWiki service will be shutting down on Friday, June 28th, after nearly five years of dutiful service providing scrolling lyrics for pretty much every song under the sun. The shutdown was announced on TuneWiki's website, with no concrete reason given, aside from members of the company moving on to "new journeys."
The Team Win Recovery Project (stylized "TWRP") is an alternative recovery software for various Android phones and tablets. TWRP tends to focus on newer, more interesting features, as opposed to the more established ClockworkMod recovery. A few TWRP fans have created a support app for users of the custom recovery and posted Alpha information to the XDA Developers forum, allowing users to install new ROMs, backup, restore, and wipe their device from within Android. In layman's terms: it's ROM Manager for TWRP.
Brown doesn't get enough credit as a hard-working member of the color spectrum. Despite representing such wonderful stuff as chocolate, wood grain, and varying degrees of melanin pigmentation, it's somehow thought of as boring. Brown keeps its head down and does its job all day long, while that swanky overachiever White and do-nothing Black get the top spots on modern gadgets. Brown's one time to shine was the Zune, and even then it was destined to fail, by virtue of not being an iPod. Apple never even thought of making one in Brown, those jerks.
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 an unfashionably late Batman game, a giddy throwback to beat-em-ups of yore, a 2D top-down shooter (minus the shooting), and a couple of free demos for Kairosoft's pixelated favorites. Without further ado:
Most people make do with a PIN or pattern lock to secure their Android devices. If you need something a little stronger (or just want to feel like Ethan Hunt) EyeVerify has just released the beta version of an app that uses honest-to-goodness eye scans. Eyeprint takes a photo of your face, then matches the pattern of blood vessels on your eyeballs to a previous photo to access locked apps. The beta is extremely limited - none of my devices are showing compatible on the Play Store. The listing specifically mentions the Galaxy S III, Note II, and HTC One.
You remember the ASUS Transformer Prime, don't you? World's first Tegra 3 device? One of the first tablets to use Ice Cream Sandwich? A name somewhat reminiscent of a Hasbro toy? Back when ASUS was still calling every machine "Eee"? For some reason, it took the indefatigable CyanogenMod team several months to get CM 10.1 (Android 4.2) ready for the metal-clad TF201, but nightly builds have finally started appearing on the download page. So far there's just one, uploaded this morning - nightly builds after today should all be Jelly Bean 4.2.
If you haven't played Gangstar Rio, it's basically Gameloft's attempt to recreate a popular existing franchise. That describes about 95% of Gameloft's app library (I'll stop teasing them when they start having ideas of their own), but in this case, it's a riff on Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row, and the rest of the open-world crime genre. The sequel, Gangstar Vegas, was just published in the Play Store. Seven bucks gets you a bigger, better crime simulator, assuming your device is compatible and you've got a whopping 2.5GB of free space.
The old maxim "change or die" would seem to apply to apps and services left in the wake of Google Reader's upcoming shutdown. Popular RSS client GoodNews is exiting the Play Store, stage right, once Google Reader shuffles off the mortal coil on July 1st. The developer updated the Play Store description and the app's website with the news. Since Google Reader will not be functioning at all, this isn't your normal end-of-life app situation - development will cease, the GoodNews listing will disappear, the fat lady will sing.
Twitter is an awesome social discovery tool, but its implementation is fairly static. Even whiz-bang Twitter clients like the unfortunate Falcon Pro still present tweets in ye olde vertical column layout. Twheel (stylized "twheel") aims to bring a more innovative approach to Twitter. Tweets are presented in a wheel (natch) with 30 visible at any given time. Color-coordinated tags and bars let you see which ones are getting the most attention on Twitter, and sliding your finger around lets you highlight individual tweets to read them at the top of the screen.
NEC's first entry into the American Android market isn't exactly auspicious, but it does fill a much-neglected niche. AT&T is now offering the NEC Terrain for sale, right on time and online only. $99.99 on contract gets you the QWERY candybar phone with a miniscule 3.1" screen, or you can shell out $429.99 to own it outright. Considering its ruggedized, semi-waterproof build, that's not such a bad deal... but you will have to live with Ice Cream Sandwich, a year after Jelly Bean 4.1 was released. Ouch.
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 another game book from Tin Man Games, a unique multiplayer puzzle game, an ingratiatingly cute platformer, a game that Pinky Floyd fans should love, and a Snake derivative with a soapbox and a message. Without further ado:
Samsung Reveals The Galaxy NX Camera With Android 4.2 And Interchangeable Lenses - Already Reviewed On YouTube
Samsung Reveals The Galaxy NX Camera With Android 4.2
Samsung is busy showing off its three Galaxy S4 variants and incredibly ugly glasses onstage in London, but one of the biggest announcements of the day was almost glossed over in the introduction of the premiere event: the much-rumored Galaxy NX. This Android-powered version of Samsung's dSLR and Micro 4/3 camera competitor is aiming to bring Android integration to the higher end of the consumer camera market. While Samsung is still talking it up at the event, at least one random YouTube user has managed to do a full video review of the device.