Sunday, April 15, 2012

Update - 252



Posted: 19 Mar 2012 03:03 PM PDT
Humble Bundle 2 was just released today and not only does it bring some great games to Android it also supports some great developers and charities (Child’s Play Charity, Electronic Frontier Foundation). For those of you who don’t know, Humble Bundle is a set of games that allows you to pay whatever price you want for four games, although if you meet or beat the average donation amount ($6.05 as I write this) you get an additional fifth game thrown in to the mix. After you pick your donation amount you get to decide where your monies go. You can give it all to charity, developers, or a combination of both. There is even a spot to tip your Humble host.
In its second iteration, Humble Bundle 2 includes Zen Bound 2, Canabalt, Cogs, Avadon: The Black Fortress, and a bonus for those who aren’t cheapskates – Swords and Soldiers. One great thing about this deal is that it is cross-platform capable, you can install all games on any platform, making it a deal worth around $57. You have two weeks to get in on the action so whenever you are ready and feeling generous head on over to their website. In the meantime check out the explanation/demo video after the break.

Click here to view the embedded video.







Posted: 19 Mar 2012 02:47 PM PDT
While most of us really haven’t heard much in regards to European technology companies that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be paying attention to them. Olivetti, an Italian computer manufacturer, unveiled two tablets that should at least entice European folks. While newer to the tablet game, they started making them last year, they may have found their stride with the OliPad Graphos and OliPad Tegra 3 tablets.
The OliPad Tegra 3 will feature, as you probably guessed it, an Nvidia quad-core Tegra 3 processor and 10-inch IPS (1280 x 800 resolution) display. It will have NFC built in and an option for 3G connectivity. WiFi connectivity will also be built in but details about RAM, on-board storage or any other technical detail is still under wraps. It’s cousin, The OliPad Graphos will have an 8-inch screen (1024 x 768 resolution)  and will come with stylus support. Which will be quite helpful in playing those rounds of Draw Something. It will weigh in at 1.32 pounds (600 grams) and sport a Tegra SoC 2 processor. 
Both devices will have Ice Cream Sandwich on-board and will be coming to Italy before the summer season. There are no details on pricing or whether or not this device will be seen anywhere outside of Italy. Official details should be coming here within the next couple of weeks so keep it locked on TalkAndroid as we will surely update you when we find out. Stay tuned!

source: Notebook Italia




Posted: 19 Mar 2012 01:51 PM PDT
Back when I used to play a lot of PC games Crysis by Crytek was one of my most favorite games. At the time it featured ridiculously amazing graphics as well as awesome gameplay. Over a year ago Crytek made their interests in the Android platform known by looking for experienced Android developers. It looks as if their search paid off as they announced their first Android title, Fibble flick’n'roll. By combining action gameplay, physics and strategy Crytek looks to set this puzzle game apart by doing it through gorgeous 3D graphics; which comes as no surprise as it’s Crytek.
You take on the character of Fibble, a brave alien who happens to crash land in a human suburban home and must return to his crew that he’s been seperated from. You will search for your crew mates with the help of various characters who have their own special sets of skills. The game will have the following features:
  • Physics based gameplay.
  • Easy to understand physics based on natural understanding of the player. Instinctive navigation using touch screen controls.
  • Action Puzzler! A puzzle game using brains, timing, and reflexes.
  • Objectives and scoreboards encouraging competition between players worldwide.
  • Achievements for the completionists out there. Do you have the skill to collect all the achievements?
There is no word on pricing as of yet but we won’t have to wait long as the game is set to release in the Google Play Store sometime this Spring. You can head on over to the official web site to read more on this soon-to-come puzzler or you can hit the break to read the full press release. As if that were enough we have some gorgeous looking screenshots for you to drool over. Enjoy!
fibble-flick-and-roll-android-game-2 fibble-flick-and-roll-android-game-3 fibble-flick-and-roll-android-game-4 fibble-flick-and-roll-android-game-1
Press Release: 
Crytek GmbH ('Crytek'), award-winning developer of the critically acclaimed Crysis® series, announced today their very first mobile game, 'Fibble – Flick 'n' Roll'. The highly engaging puzzle game combines strategy with physics based interactions with vivid and highly detailed visuals. Fibble will be available in Spring 2012 and comes to iOS and Android systems.
"Going mobile is an incredibly exciting step for us as a game development company. The way that people play games on mobile devices is a real blessing. This allows us to get back to our roots, experiment and focus our energy on creating great gameplay experiences while still keeping Crytek's high production values.", said Cevat Yerli, CEO & President of Crytek.
"With Fibble – Flick 'n' Roll, Crytek is aiming to surprise people with a whole new style of game as well as to make a big impact in the field of mobile entertainment. It will also give us a great opportunity to make a big splash with a whole new generation of players who've yet to play a Crytek game.  We ourselves love to play games on mobile devices and we very much look forward to bringing our production values and skills to them.", added Nick Button-Brown, General Manager Games at Crytek.
Crytek's first mobile game stars the cute but brave and curious extraterrestrial 'Fibble', who crash lands in a suburban home on Earth. In the crash, Fibble becomes separated from his crew. In order for the gang to return safely to their home planet, the player needs to help Fibble find and regroup his mates, by searching the mysterious location room by room.
This endeavour is not as easy as it sounds though, and throughout the adventure, Fibble will need all the help he can get from a crowd of Mini creatures that each possess a particular skill.
For more details on Fibble – Flick 'n' Roll, please visit: www.fibble.com
About Crytek
Crytek GmbH (“Crytek”) is one of the world's leading independent development studios for interactive entertainment. It is based in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) and has additional studios in Kiev (Ukraine), Budapest (Hungary), Sofia (Bulgaria), Seoul (South Korea) and Nottingham (UK). Crytek is dedicated to creating exceptionally high-quality video games for next-generation consoles and PC, powered by their proprietary cutting-edge 3D-Game-Technology, CryENGINE®.
Since its foundation in 1999, Crytek has created the multi-award winning PC titles Far Cry®, Crysis® (awarded best PC Game of E3 2007 and Best Technology at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards), Crysis Warhead® (awarded Best Graphics Technology at IGN Best of 2008 Awards) and Crysis® 2 (awarded Best Shooter of E3 2010 and Gamescom 2010). For more information, please visit www.crytek.com.
Crytek, Crysis and CryENGINE are registered trademarks or trademarks of Crytek GmbH in the USA, Germany and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.






Posted: 19 Mar 2012 01:27 PM PDT
 
The much-anticpated Samsung Galaxy S II Ice Cream Sandwich update officially arrived for some devices, but the rest of us around the world haven’t been lucky enough to get a taste of it yet… until now (sorta). Samsung went ahead and released the source code of its latest update to the public sphere recently. This means that while the official Galaxy S II ICS update isn’t quite ready for most owners yet, developers can use the source code and develop some nice custom builds and ROMs which are what lots of us Android owners prefer anyways.
Hit the source link below to find the actual source code files in the form of a .zip which will get you started. Make sure you look for the GT-I9100 when searching for the Galaxy S II. Here’s to the anticipated custom builds arriving sooner than later.
source: Samsung Open Source Release Center
via: Phandroid




Posted: 19 Mar 2012 12:55 PM PDT
As smartphone devices become more powerful it’s a safe bet that the idea of our devices being used as our daily computers is going to become more common place. While we’ve only recently started seeing this become a reality thanks to various docks and Canonical’s recent Ubuntu announcement, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to the release of Linux 3.3 various OEMs will have an easier time of following suit in this venture as well. That’s because Linux 3.3 is seeing a bit of Android being merged into it.
Why is this only starting to happen now you ask? Well I’ll tell you. Developers on both sides (Android and Linux) couldn’t agree on how both should be merged so it just never happened, that is, until recently. Their disagreements are being “ironed out” and various Android sub systems have already been merged with even more following in the future. As Kernel Newbies suggests:
“This will make things easier for everybody, including the Android mod community, or Linux distributions that want to support Android programs.”
As you can see, this merging should help both sides support each others applications and programs and the likelihood of devices that run both Linux and Android on it will become more common place. The merging will also help people use their devices as both a phone and a computer some time down the road. Although only time will tell as to when that will happen but one thing is for certain; it just got a whole lot easier to make this a reality.




Posted: 19 Mar 2012 12:06 PM PDT
I don’t know if HTC knows about its own proclaimed Zero-to-Hero Strategy for 2012 because evidence points to the fact that they must have missed the memo. So far we’ve seen the announcement for the One X, S, and V launches but it appears that a few others are waiting in the wings for their own launches. This includes the Fireball-turned-Incredible 4G and a codenamed device only known as the VAE_WX.
As you folks know the Incredible 4G (HTC ADR6410) has recently gained Bluetooth and LTE certification to add to the WiFi certification it received before MWC this year. This phone, that’s supposed to see a release in April, will have a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor and judging from the NenaMark2 benchmarks below it’s safe to say that the processor will be of a S4 Snapdragon variety. This is based off of the evidence of it being tested using the Qualcomm Adreno 225 GPU. It will also sport a 960 x 540 resolution display but there is no details on screen size. 
Judging from the VAE_WX benchmarks it may be a mid to high-end smartphone. It’s powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core S4 Snapdragon processor, which is a littler beefier than the one powering the Incredible 4G. Both appear to be running Android 4.0.3 and this device will have a 960 x 540 resolution as well. With a score like 58.2 it’s a safe bet that this device will be pretty stacked indeed.
But to be honest, that’s about as much as we know regarding these devices. As April gets closer we’ll probably start to see more information leaked or announced in regards to the 3rd iteration of the solid Incredible line. So as always, keep it locked here as we will keep you updated the moment we find out more. Stay tuned!!!!


source: Blog of Mobile (Japan) 1, 2
via: Androinica





Posted: 19 Mar 2012 11:34 AM PDT
Yesterday we told you about an update that is heading for the LG Revolution. The most interesting part of this update is the included Verizon Remote Diagnostics tool, one that allows the carrier to essentially take control over your device should you ever require outside diagnostic support. As we all know, privacy has been an increasing concern lately and those tinfoil-hat types did not like the sound of this remote access tool and what VZW might be privy to. Although the tool requires user permission to enable it, it would still be nice to know what the person on the other end can see exactly.
Being that the Carrier IQ ordeal caused such a huge uproar you would think Verizon would be ultra cautious when dipping their toes into the nasty waters of customer privacy. Today, Verizon reached out to our friends at Android Central to shed a little light on the matter, in hopes to put peoples fears to rest. According to Big Red, ” no personal data like keystrokes or web history, location, etc., is logged or saved.”
As AC mentioned, I image users aren’t just going to take their word for it. You can bet that the development community will dive in head first as soon as the app is available and only then will we truly know if the diagnostic tool holds any privacy concerns for the end user.
source: Android Central





Posted: 19 Mar 2012 11:06 AM PDT
Samsung is apparently giving Qualcomm the boot and looking to distance themselves from the major chip manufacture to start using their own next-gen quad-core Exynos CPU on the yet to be revealed Galaxy S III.  An unnamed Samsung exec spilled the beans when hinting to the Korea Times that the new flagship device will not include Qualcomm’s CPU.  The new Exynos chip will support LTE and WCDMA radios as Sammy attempts to head back to its roots (original Galaxy S devices utilized the Hummingbird and Exynos Chips).  The new AP looks like the for-mentioned 32nm chip which we learned of prior to MWC, sporting four A9 cores.  According to the unnamed exec, the devices are all ready to go and just need to be implemented into the handsets.  As of now, there’s no word on when the Galaxy S III will be revealed, but trust me, our eyes are peeled.  Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
source: Korea Times




Posted: 19 Mar 2012 11:06 AM PDT
Well it looks like this must be “remote support” week because this is the third story to break in the last couple of days. First Verizon announced an update to the LG Revolution that would enable customer service reps to remotely view devices for troubleshooting. Then just a little while ago, Motorola announced they are now utilizing LogMeIn ‘Rescue + Mobile’ for the same purpose with the Motorola RAZR in Korea.
I guess the third time is a charm because HTC and LogMeIn just announced that they’ve entered into an agreement as HTC’s preferred mobile remote support software provider. Although we expect Motorola to launch their service worldwide, HTC is already announcing it’s intent to go worldwide for all its call centers.
HTC will pre-install the user-enabled LogMeIn Rescue applet on all future HTC Android devices as long as mobile operator’s approve it. If you’re concerned at all about privacy, this is a user-enabled app. No one can remotely see your device without you approving it.
Full press release after the break:

LogMeIn to Provide Android Mobile Support for HTC

LogMeIn Named Preferred Provider of Mobile Remote Support Software for HTC’s Android Devices
WOBURN, Mass., March 19, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) –LogMeIn, Inc. (Nasdaq:LOGM) has entered into an agreement as HTC’s preferred mobile remote support software provider. HTC will employ LogMeIn Rescue—LogMeIn’s flagship remote support and customer care offering—across its worldwide call centers, delivering state-of-the-art remote support to HTC customers.
Future HTC devices that run on the growing Android OS will feature LogMeIn Rescue, giving HTC customer care and support staff the ability to remotely configure, diagnose and troubleshoot a technical issue wherever the customer has a data connection. The LogMeIn capability will offer HTC customers with advanced over-the-air mobile support at a moment’s notice, virtually anywhere in the world.
“HTC is committed to providing the best and most personal customer experience in the mobile industry, from designing great products to delivering superior after-sales service and support,” said Simon Harper, VP of global customer experience at HTC. ”We believe LogMeIn’s technology, team and vision are a great match for HTC and for our customers and will allow us to continue to create great experiences for our customers.”
HTC will pre-deploy a user-enabled LogMeIn Rescue applet on future HTC Android devices, with the mobile operator’s consent. The pre-deployed applet gives customers the ability to securely connect their devices to HTC customer care representatives during active support calls. Once connected, HTC technicians can run remote diagnostics, push common device and network configuration settings, and remotely control the customer’s device to resolve issues.
“We believe that a focus on the overall customer experience helps to define the most respected brands in mobile,” said Lee Weiner, LogMeIn’s VP of Customer Care products. “For market leaders like HTC, customer care initiatives can provide key opportunities for differentiation in an increasingly crowded marketplace. By working hand-in-hand with one of the world’s most respected manufacturers, we believe we have a great opportunity to create a new standard for mobile customer care.”
LogMeIn Rescue gives helpdesks and support staff the ability to remotely configure, diagnose and troubleshoot tablets (iOS, Android), smartphones (Android, iPhone, Symbian, BlackBerry) as well as PCs and Macs.  A web-based offering, Rescue combines remote control with device configuration, live chat and diagnostics capabilities, enabling customer service teams to fix common issues on any device with a web or mobile connection, as if the device were in their hands.
About LogMeIn, Inc.
LogMeIn (Nasdaq:LOGM) provides essential cloud-based services to individuals, businesses, and IT organizations for remote access, collaboration, customer care, and remote IT management. These services are used by more than 15 million people to quickly, simply and securely connect over 150 million internet-enabled devices across the globe — computers, smartphones, iPad™ and Android™ tablets, and digital displays. LogMeIn is based in Woburn, Massachusetts, USA, with offices in Australia, Hungary, India, Japan, the Netherlands, and the UK.




Posted: 19 Mar 2012 10:42 AM PDT
Widgets are certainly a dime a dozen on the Google Play Store however, it’s rare to find a good Gmail widget that is both aesthetically pleasing as well as functional.  In steps the Gmail Widget by Katzoft, a simple, intuitive yet very functional application for quickly glancing at your incoming Gmail.  The application offers several different types of home screen widgets that display the accurate number of unread messages while also offering a quick preview of them.  The developer touts they’ve made these ICS esque apps now available for devices still running Froyo 2.2 and Gingerbread 2.3.  However, the application should work for most versions of Android out there.  Get timely updates as emails arrive, quickly glance at subjects and the first line of the message while on the fly, see all of your priority inbox mail, compose a message and choose from several different widget sizes.  The application will run you $1.49 in the Play Store and also works on tablets.  Ready to give it a go?  Check out the download link below as well as a qr code.  Don’t forget to check out all of the features as well as the quick video demo of the app in action.  Feel free to leave your comments below too.  
Click here to view the embedded video.
Gmail Widget_1 Gmail Widget_2 Gmail Widget_3 Gmail Widget_4 Gmail Widget_5 Gmail Widget_6
Features:
  • Updates automatically when new mail arrives (it may not update immediately while you read mails)
  • Shows the first lines of the message in addition to sender and subject (medium widget only)
  • Supports Priority Inbox (important messages only)
  • Supports multiple accounts on one device
  • Open Gmail or compose a new message quickly
  • Makes your phone look like it has the latest Android 4.0 (ICS)
  • Different sizes available
Notes from the developer:
Please note:
  • This app will not show up in your launcher. Add widgets by holding down on an empty spot of your home screen.
  • It may take up to 30 seconds for the widget to refresh the first time and after a reboot. During this time it may not look like anything is happening!
  • Do not attempt to move to the SD card, as this will prevent it from working
  • Send feedback via email if you would like to suggest a feature
  • If you leave a comment, be constructive
qrcode

No comments:

Post a Comment