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The basic gameplay of Worms hasn't changed since its debut in the 90s. Well, except for that brief flirtation with 3D in the early 2000s, but let's pretend that didn't happen. There's a new Worms title coming soon, and it's crafted especially for mobile devices with quick gameplay and a big single-player campaign.
Until now, the Play Store beta testing system was tied to Google+ communities or Google Groups, but that's changing now. Google is rolling out two new options for developers to run beta tests that don't rely on Google+.
OnePlus finally announced the OnePlus 2 the other day, and potential buyers are currently coming to grips with several missing features including NFC and Quick Charging. It appeared at first that some international users were going to have a much more substantial shortcoming to deal with as the device apparently lacked several important LTE bands. OnePlus has quietly updated its specs to confirm support of these bands, so all should be fine.
Music creation apps on Android have lagged far behind iOS, but things are slowly catching up with improved latency in newer versions of Android. A music creation app just hit the Play Store that music aficionados might want to check out. It's called Stagelight (no, not Stagefright—bad timing) and you can try it for free.
The original Angry Birds took flight on Android way, way back in 2010. It was followed by a number of spin-offs and expansions, but now the true sequel has arrived. You can tell by the name—Angry Birds 2. Rovio (and the market for mobile games in general) has changed dramatically in the years since the first game was released, so you can probably guess what that means. Yes, lots of in-app purchases. Sorry, guys.
People are hyper-aware of Android vulnerabilities after the announcement of the Stagefright exploit recently, so Trend Micro is taking the opportunity to detail a bug it found in Android recently. It's a bug in the mediaserver service that can be used to crash the phone, rendering it unusable until a reboot.
Google started showing a few ads in the Play Store phone client earlier this year, but the feature has been in testing this whole time. Play Store ads are now available to all interested parties, so get ready to see a lot more of them.
Users are reporting that Google has started slashing and burning old accounts in recent days, seemingly with no warning. The first sign something is wrong comes in the form of an alert sent to the user's backup email informing them their Google account has been deleted because of an unresolved terms of service violation. Whatever is going on, it's probably time to backup any unused accounts you have sitting around.
Google acquired WordLens a while back, eventually integrating its visual text translation technology into the Translate app. It only supported seven languages at the time, but today's v4.0 update adds a lot more, and Google is showing off the visual translation feature with a nifty Google Translate vs. “La Bamba” video.
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Googler Kirill Grouchnikov likes to clue everyone into the subtle design tweaks in upcoming versions of the Play Store as they roll out, and today he's posted not once, not twice, but three times about a slick new hamburger animation. Is that overkill? I don't know... it's a pretty cool animation.
Motorola's big announcement came and went today with no word on a new Android Wear watch. Phones? Psh, whatever. We have plenty of phones, Motorola. Where's the new Moto 360? Well, it might be sitting at the FCC for regulatory approval right now.
FLIR Systems is one of the premier makers of thermal camera technology at the high-end of the market, but in recent years it has also been branching out to the consumer level. The first-generation FLIR ONE smartphone thermal camera was only available for the iPhone and it was a bulky case design. Now the second generation unit is coming out for Android in a few weeks, but it's not cheap. So, what does it do and is that worth $250 to you? Let's find out.
Motorola has struggled to produce a phone with a top-quality camera, but this might finally be Motorola's year. The newly announced Moto X Style has already found its way into the hands of the photo experts at DxOMark, and they're impressed. The 21MP sensor on the new Moto X is reportedly almost as good as the Samsung Galaxy S6 and tied with the Note 4.
OnePlus has just announced its new flagship phone, and it went mostly as expected. Snapdragon 810? Check. 3300mAh battery? Check. Awkward fingerprint sensor? Double check. NFC? Umm... wait, what? That's right there's no NFC in this "2016 flagship killer." We asked OnePlus what the deal was, and get this, OnePlus' PR confirmed there's no NFC in the OnePlus 2 and said it's because people don't use it. It's all your fault!
A combination of pre-announcements and leaks have given us a good idea what the OnePlus 2 will be like, and it looks like those leaks were accurate. The device OnePlus just announced is the one we saw leaked. We've got a full hands-on you can check out to get a better idea of the aesthetics, and of course we've got the full specs and details right below.
The latest Humble Mobile Bundle is halfway through its availability period, and that means it's time for more games. The NEOGEO bundle has been updated with three more classic titles in the premium tier, and we've got 10 codes to hand out. Even if you don't win, this is a pretty great deal for 11 games.
Nextbit hasn't been in the news much since its public debut last year, but that's mostly because its services are geared toward OEMs. The last we heard from Nextbit, its Baton multi-device app sync service was entering the testing phase on CyanogenMod. That was last year, but now the company is taking on a new challenge—hardware. Nextbit plans to launch a phone.
Google has just added an interesting page to the Nexus support site that lists new operating system safety warnings. According to the page, this is a boot verification system that checks the integrity of your device software during each startup. You probably haven't seen this on any devices yet, but Android M is right around the corner.
The OnePlus 2 is set to be announced in just a few hours, but a last-minute leak confirms many of the details that have already propagated. A poster on XDA claims to be a beta tester in China and comes bearing gifts—a bunch of new photos that confirm the previously leaked TENAA images and some thoughts on the device.
Razer's Ouya Acquisition Is Now Official, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman Leaves The Company [Update: Details]
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After a long period of stagnation, Ouya was acquired by gaming company Razer last month. At least that's what the business management firm Mesa Global said on its website. Now that transaction is official according to the Razer Twitter account and the snazzy graphic above. Details of the acquisition aren't available, but we do know that Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman isn't joining Razer.