Monthly Archives: May 2012

Gameloft’s N.O.V.A. 3 comes to the Google Play Store

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nova-3-promo

Gameloft promised they would bring the highly-anticipated N.O.V.A. 3 to Android in May, and they delivered on the last day of the month. If you want to play the best first-person shooter on Android, then head over to the Google Play Store and give Gameloft $6.99.

Android fans will be pleased to hear that most high-end devices are supported. That includes the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, ASUS Transformer Prime, Droid RAZR, Nexus S, Galaxy Tab 10.1, HTC EVO 4G LTE, and more. Surprisingly, the HTC One X (Tegra 3 and Snapdragon S4 versions) is not currently supported, but I expect Gameloft will be adding it soon.

Highlights of NOVA 3 include:

  • An epic storyline: Humanity finally returns to Earth after years of exile! Fight in 10 immersive levels across the galaxy, from a war-torn Earth to a frozen Volterite city.
  • Multiple weapons and powers: Run, shoot, drive vehicles, and pilot a mech to defeat hordes of enemies.
  • Join 12-player battles in 6 multiplayer modes (Capture the Point, Free-for-All, Capture the Flag, etc.) on 6 different maps.
  • For the first time, multiple allies can jump inside the same vehicle and spread destruction on the battlefield.
  • Discover the new FPS benchmark for graphics and gameplay (real-time shadow & lights, particle system, ragdoll physics, etc.)

If your device supports this game and you are a fan of shooters, I’d highly recommend buying the game right now. Check out all the trailer videos below to see what you are missing out on.


GO Backup wins week 6 of #thenextinstall, 10 new apps try to take its place

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go-backup-thenextinstall

Can our community help discover the next great Android app? Welcome to a new experiment called #thenextinstall where we try to see if we can find an Android app in the rough, and boost its installs and exposure to new highs.

Last week our community selected Solid Explorer, one of the nicest file manager we have ever seen on Android. The app is still in beta, but it’s already a great experience that average users can start using right away as their go to file manager. We helped the app surpass 100,000 installs, and I have no doubt it will reach 1 million downloads in the coming months.

Week 6 Winner: GO Backup

This time none of our suggested apps exploded, but GO Backup was the best received and generated the most installs. There are quite a few backup apps out there, but GO Backup is stable, fast, free, and features a simple design. It also features built in support for backing up GO Launcher themes, and has extra options for root users. The GO Dev team is one of the best around, so you can expect this app will receive timely updates that continue to add new features.

Week 7 Challengers

Tagy

Pitch: Tagy presents icon free interface for those who love minimalistic design and want a new look for their Android. Tagy is a set of widgets that will organize your apps, bookmarks, contacts and settings into tag clouds on your home screen.

NeggyMeter

Pitch: Discover & track which people are negatively or positively affecting your mood. Keep those stressful and unsupportive people away and ensure the cool people stay!

Keek

Pitch: Keek is the easiest way to create and share videos with your friends! Simply point, shoot and go.

BitTorrent Beta

Pitch: Welcome to the first official BitTorrent App for Android. Find torrents and download them directly to your smartphone or tablet – all with this handy BitTorrent app from the team that invented the BitTorrent protocol over a decade ago.

ReLaunch

Pitch: ReLaunch automatically categorises your apps into 9 unique categories and provides an elegant yet simple launcher that can be accessed from anywhere with a single swipe. ReLaunch does not replace your existing home launcher but merely complements it.

Dominus Artwork Clock


Pitch: Watch the face of time. Dominus is an application which turns your mobile device into a stylishly artistic, powerfully aesthetic clock which looks like it’s come from a sci-fi movie.

Evernote Hello

Pitch: Remembering people is hard. Evernote Hello makes it easy. Whether you’re meeting someone for the first time, trying to remember a person’s name, or recalling important aspects of a previous encounter, Evernote Hello is here to help.

AppSales

Pitch: The best apps, games and wallpaper on sale! Get notified about new sales, set the minimum discount, and share sales with your friends or colleagues.

Meta Widget

Pitch: Meta is a unique widget that can turn virtually any online content into dynamic, interactive widgets. Simply browse to a website, pick a column of text, link, image or element and enjoy this information right on your home screen!

Kicksend

Pitch: Kicksend offers a simple way to share private photos, videos and other files from your Android phone or tablet to anyone, anywhere. With Kicksend, you can send files to any email address or group. Best of all, it’s free!

What’s next? How can I participate?

If you want to play along, then join the league of app addicts.

Over the coming week, we will continue to monitor all the apps and see which generate the most buzz. We will be watching the installs, download clicks, review scores, coverage on other sites, and more to see which app comes out on top. Next week we will name the winning app, and then put it up against 10 new apps to repeat the process.

If any of the suggested apps look interesting, please check them out and let us know what you think.

N.O.V.A. 3 for Android now available

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The third installment in one of Android’s best shooters has finally made its way to the Google Play Store. I’m talking about N.O.V.A. 3, a futuristic FPS that seems to take a few cues from the Halo series. It’s a first person shooter that features great graphics, 6vs6 online multiplayer, 6 modes, 6 maps, and vehicles with multiple allies. For $7, you won’t go wrong if you’re a fan of shooters in general. Find it in the Google Play Store here.

Judge: Google did not infringe on SSO of Sun/Oracle’s Java

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Google’s won another major victory, today, in the courtrooms where Oracle are suing them for patent and copyright infringement due to Java’s use in Android. Oracle lost the patent phase of the case, and they thought they’d initially get a break on the copyright phase as they were able to get the jury to agree that Google infringed on the structure, sequence, and organization of their Java APIs.

Of the 37 APIs that Google were accused of “stealing,” Judge William Alsup found that 97% were written by Google, and 3% were freely replicable under a doctrine of merger. Alsup stated that allowing Oracle to pursue people for using code that does the same thing, but in a different implementation, would mean that Oracle gets too much control over what software others write.

In other words, a ruling in Oracle’s favor would essentially mean that an audio playback function in a Java-based app would infringe on code in Java that handles the playback of audio, even if the method used is completely different and original.

That is just an example to clarify what Oracle was seeking, and you can see how ridiculous it would have been for them to be granted such a ruling. But Google doesn’t quite have to worry about that now, and even if Oracle were to file an appeal (which is almost obligatory for the losing side in any major legal process) there’s little reason to believe that another courtroom would see things differently. We’ll be sure to keep our eyes on the case as it continues to brew (no pun intended… OK, maybe a little bit). [via Engadget, Arstechnica, The Verge]

Google Drive to get offline mode in five weeks

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D10, All Things D and Wall Street Journal’s technology summit, is being wrapped up in California and it didn’t bow out with its share of interesting Android-related news. Walt Mossberg interviewed Google’s Senior Vice President of Chrome Sundar Pichai, and he let loose an interesting little piece of information when asked a question about Chrome.

He mentioned Google Drive would be getting offline mode in five months. He didn’t go into much detail, of course, but I think we all have an idea of how that’ll work. We’ll hopefully see demos of this at Google I/O June 27th-29th with a public release to follow soon after. Head to the source link to read the full interview. [via Engadget]

ASUS teasing dual-boot Windows/Android tablet? [video]

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ASUS have released their next Computex teaser for an announcement coming June 4th, and it revealed a very interesting possibility. In the trailer, a drop of water separates into two, and each one houses a different logo: one for Windows and one for Android.

“All in One is no longer in one,” a line reads, a possible hint that they could be introducing a dual-booting tablet that has Windows and Android. It’s not unlike what Lenovo did, and we hope ASUS is thinking of going the same route.

Lenovo has not had a lot of luck breaking out of their home Asian territory with mobile products, so perhaps ASUS will bring the rest of the world what we’ve all been waiting for. I’m teeming with excitement but we won’t know until June 4th. Circle back as we cover just whatever it is ASUS is looking to introduce.

AT&T launches cryptic web series Daybreak to promote HTC One X and other devices

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daybreak-2012

This afternoon a social media marketing agency offered to send me an AT&T HTC One X if I would check out a “multi-platform story experience about the power of technology and its ability to improve our lives”. I already reviewed the One X, but I was intrigued by this mysterious campaign and figured I could give away the device in another contest.

Enter Daybreak. It turns out AT&T has teamed up with producer Tim Kring (creator of Strange World, Crossing Jordan, Heroes, and Touch) to produce a new online series that debuts tonight at 9 PM ET. It will be directed by Jon Cassar (of 24 fame) and advertising partner BBDO is describing the concept as a “Bourne Identity-type adventure.”

The online show follows the story of  Ben Wilkens, an “Everyman” character, who finds himself at the center of a global conspiracy. When he discovers a dodecahedron, an ancient and powerful object, he quickly learns that he must restore the object to its rightful place so that humanity will be able to make its next evolutionary leap forward.

Daybreak will span five episodes, each around 10 minutes, and will be released each Thursday on the Daybreak site, YouTube, and Hulu. Viewers at home will be able to interact with the show using an Android app tied to a site JackBoxers that lets them dive deeper into the weekly missions and unsolved mysteries.

I have no idea if the show will suck, but AT&T has shared just enough details to keep me curious. Tonight I’ll be tuned into the Western Conference Finals as my Spurs look to extend their 20-game winning streak, but I’ll definitely check out Daybreak later on just to see what it’s like.

We have seen a ton of terrible advertisements for Android products, so it will be interesting to see how this branded content performs. Check out the video teaser below and grab the app if you want to play along at home.

Does Daybreak look like a winner?

Grab a 16GB unlocked Galaxy Nexus for $370 [Deals]

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Although you can grab a Galaxy Nexus from Google for just $400, there’s a deal out there that’s just a tad bit better. The 16GB version of the unlocked device can be had through eBay’s Daily Deals for just $370. That’s a buy it now price, too, so you won’t have to worry about it going any higher. Of course, you’ll need to take advantage of this deal right away as it likely won’t last very long. A warranty can be added for $63 and shipping is free with an estimated delivery date of June 6th if you were to buy it today. Find the deal here.