latest
Angry Birds Journey is now available worldwide (unfortunately)
Awful monetization and balancing ruin it
Last year, almost to the day, Rovio released Angry Birds Journey in early access in select regions, including the US. Well, today marks the worldwide launch, and seeing that this is Rovio's first slingshot-based Angry Birds game in seven years, I'm sure plenty of you will want to know how it stacks up to the original. Is this a return to form for Rovio offering one of its best Android games yet, or is the studio still continuing down a depressing path of pay-to-win shenanigans? Sadly things just aren't up to snuff.
Read update
- Although Bixby Voice had expanded to 200 countries, India wasn't on the list, but now it is. Samsung officially announced that Bixby Voice is now live in India, but as was previously the case, you'll still have to use US English.
Samsung's controversially received assistant, Bixby, has rolled out its voice command features in Korea and the US, but if you've been just dying to try out in other countries, you're now in luck. Samsung says that the voice commands are available in 200+ countries worldwide including the UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and more.
If you're part of the Google Maps Local Guides program, you've probably received an email in the past day telling you that editing and adding places is now available worldwide. But if you're a real Local Guides participant, then you must have noticed this several weeks ago.
Strategy Analytics Says Manufacturers Shipped More Than A Billion Android Phones In 2014
Android has been incredibly busy.
Think of the number one billion. A billion of just about anything is a lot - people, bananas, cars, pints of novelty ice cream flavors. According to a report published by market research firm Strategy Analytics, the number of Android powered smartphones shipped last year was approximately one billion, forty-one million, seven hundred thousand (give or take a few tractor-trailers worth). That's about one Android phone for every seven people on the planet, not counting tablets, set-top boxes, and other Android-powered devices.
Dungeon Keeper is a strategy video game that originally appeared for the PC in the 90s, but late last year EA released a refreshed version just for mobile. The game hit Android in October, but it was only available in a handful of countries. People living elsewhere have had to be patient, but now that wait has come to an end. Dungeon Keeper for Android is now available worldwide.
Much has been made of the fact that Motorola's shiny new flagship is made (or at least assembled) in America. But there's a downside to this: it looks as though aspiring Motorola customers in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the rest of the world will have to do without. Motorola has made it clear that the Moto X is only for the US, Canada, and Latin American markets.
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7" And 8.9" Pre-Orders Open In Over 170 Countries, Ships Out June 13th
Amazon tends to be a bit focused on the United States because, well, it's a US company. But they're expanding the reach of both the Amazon Appstore (which
Amazon tends to be a bit focused on the United States because, well, it's a US company. But they're expanding the reach of both the Amazon Appstore (which now works in almost 200 countries) and the Kindle itself. A press release this morning announced that the Kindle Fire HD is now available for pre-order in more than 170 countries, in both the standard 7" model and the premium 8.9". Hardware will begin shipping out to customers on Thursday, June 13th.
Amazon Appstore Updated To Version 5.0, Adds Support For Nearly 200 Countries
Gordon Gekko tells us that "Greed is Good," a sentiment that I happen to agree with under the circumstances. n Amazon's continuing effort to be the first
Gordon Gekko tells us that "Greed is Good," a sentiment that I happen to agree with under the circumstances. n Amazon's continuing effort to be the first place everybody turns to for their Internet purchases, the online retail giant has updated its Android Appstore to v5.0 and now supports "nearly 200" countries. Thanks to an announcement last month, we know that this expansion propels the precise count from merely 7 markets up to a shocking 195. While Amazon's list counts a few non-sovereign nations and dependent territories, the total coverage still soars well above Apple's 155 or Google's 134 (for paid apps). For laughs, I also looked up the other competitors in the mobile space to find that Windows Phone 8 now falls to 2nd place with 180 countries, and Blackberry trails slightly behind at 171.
Sony Releases The Xperia Tablet Z Worldwide Starting At $499, Available Later This Week On Amazon And Newegg
If an official AOSP build and CyanogenMod support have got you hot and bothered to try out Sony's latest entry into the tablet world, there's good news.
If an official AOSP build and CyanogenMod support have got you hot and bothered to try out Sony's latest entry into the tablet world, there's good news. The Xperia Tablet Z is now officially available through Sony's partner channels worldwide, according to a press release issued this morning. This much-anticipated 1080p tablet is the larger brother to the Xperia Z smartphone, in both design and hardware terms. Sony's US store still shows a pre-order doesn't list any retailers, but Amazon shows the 16GB and 32GB models at $499 and $599, respectively, arriving on Friday the 24th. Newegg has it coming in the day after.
A few days ago, Facebook quietly released its Pages Manager app for Android to the Play Store. The app, which had been making iOS-toting page managers' lives easier for quite some time, was a welcome addition, save for one thing: it could only be installed in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, leaving US users in the dark.
We know a lot of our international readers have been eager to get their hands on the Play Store's content ecosystem. It turns out Google is just as eager for that as you are. In addition to movie rentals, users in Canada, the UK, France, Spain, and Australia will be able to purchase movies outright and watch them forever.
While we still wait for newer products like Play Movies or Play Books to reach a wider audience, Google's been hard at work bringing a slightly more useful product to additional countries: Google Maps with Navigation. After bringing voice navigation to India, nine more new countries are being added to the supported list for the Navigation beta. Including the following:
ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 Owners Across Europe Receiving Jelly Bean OTA
ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 Owners Across Europe Receiving Jelly Bean OTA
After ASUS' US-bound Transformer Pad 300 (TF300) got its taste of Jelly Bean OTA goodness – and subsequent full-fledged firmware download – owners of the tablet's international (or WW) variant were stuck furiously pressing "software update" in hopes of getting their own OTA. Well, it looks like ASUS has made dreams come true, at least across Europe. Just earlier today, ASUS UK officially put users on the lookout via Twitter:
So far, Amazon's Appstore, which competes with Google's own Play Store on Android apps, has been stuck within U.S. borders. A report from All Things D, however, says that may be about to change soon. The online retail company, the site says, is preparing to launch in Europe. No details on when beyond "later this summer" were available.
Hot on the heels of its acquisition of Motorola for $12.5 billion this morning, Google has announced on its blog that Android is now running on 150 million devices worldwide.