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- DeNA announces new FPS called The Drowning for mobile devices (with video)
- Classic RPG Final Fantasy IV to be released by Square Enix in early 2013
- Tablet market wars: will Google defeat Apple this holiday season?
- Apple and Google are teaming up to bid $500M for Kodak patents
- Kindle Fire HD updated to 7.2.2, Kindle FreeTime Unlimited tags along
- Samsung Galaxy Camera goes on sale in Canada for $599
- SoundHound updated, gets lockscreen widgets and better performance
- Barnes and Noble’s NOOK Simple Touch is now only $79
- Sony announces free 50GB online storage for Xperia devices for lifetime
- Two Asus MeMo Pad tablets pass through FCC for approval
| DeNA announces new FPS called The Drowning for mobile devices (with video) Posted: 08 Dec 2012 10:15 PM PST
DeNA’s game is set in a post apocalyptic world haunted by the undead. Thankfully, this isn’t just another zombie mash and shoot game. Featured in the game is not only high end graphics and awesome cinematic scenes, but also a cohesive story line. If you’d rather watch than read, check out the video trailer below. According to Droid Gamers, The Drowning was made by a Swedish studio owned by DeNA called Scattered Entertainment. Scattered Entertainment is run by a number of Electric Arts people. It seems a little bit like a friend of a friend of a friend deal, but that’s the video game industry for you. What makes The Drowning different from other post apocalyptic shooters?Well, for one thing, you’re not shooting zombies. The undead in The Drowning is a different variety of undead monster that explodes in black blood when you kill them. Also, many zombie shooters attempt a story line, but base their game play on the fun of mowing down zombies and multi-player modes. The Drowning differs by offering an in depth story mode that’ll keep gamers gripped. Currently, there is no release date for The Drowning. However, since DeNA announced it, it can’t be too far off. Will anyone be giving this shooter a shot? Let us know what you think about it. Related Posts |
| Classic RPG Final Fantasy IV to be released by Square Enix in early 2013 Posted: 08 Dec 2012 08:22 PM PST
Final Fantasy IV is considered by most gaming authorities to be among the greatest RPGs of all time. It was the among the first with a cohesive story line and a memorable cast of lovable characters. It also introduced the Active Time Battle system, which many RPGs today still use to some degree. Of course, it was a 16-bit game, which means a lot was left to the imagination. But when you start a game by murdering a bunch of innocent people and stealing their crystal, you know you’re in for a ride. So when is Square Enix planning on taking more of my money for Final Fantasy IV?The expected release date will be Spring 2013 and it can’t come soon enough. Square Enix had some issues with their release of Chrono Trigger, as tablets couldn’t play it correctly. There were other bugs as well. Here’s hoping that Square Enix learned their lesson before releasing Final Fantasy IV. Many older RPG fans will agree that Square Enix reviving the classics is only a good thing. Who will be buying it come Spring? Related Posts |
| Tablet market wars: will Google defeat Apple this holiday season? Posted: 08 Dec 2012 04:41 PM PST
We have seen plethora of tablet launches including the iPad Mini and Nexus 7 this holiday season. Tablets in general have seen a splurge in sales this year. Retailers such as the PC World and Curry's are already highly bullish on the demand for the tablet and have seen sales up by a whopping 1,000% year on year. The two retailers also claimed to sell almost one tablet with every tick of the clock during this cyber Monday! And to top it, they are still expecting sale of one tablet per two seconds till Christmas. It seems that Apple could be easily ousted from its top position this year. The market has now opened up to wider customer segments by a variety of options available at prices that are suitable to every segment. The major players playing a key role in this market shift are Google's Nexus 7, Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and the Barnes and Noble Nook, along with others that were launched earlier this year. Matt Leeser, head of buying for communication technology at John Lewis said, "Sales of Apple’s iPad and iPad Mini are very strong, but this is the first Christmas we have seen real rivals to Apple on different platforms, including Android and Windows 8." He also added that, “Tablets such as the Google Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD and Nook HD have all exploded on to the market and are selling very well.” It is particularly interesting to note what ebuyer.com has to say. It expects that the sexy 32GB Google Nexus will pull down Apple from its current top spot. This may be the case as Google's world class Android tablet comes at a very competitive price as compared to other tablets in the market. Other retailers have a similar opinion on tablet sales this year. Argos also has a similar expectation as it believes that people want to have their own tablets individually instead of sharing one in a household, which is yet another factor which is fueling this growth in sales further. Cases in point are the Nabi and Innotab 2, which are exclusively made for children and retail at £149.99 and £84.99 respectively in the UK.
Previously, we highlighted that Tech-Thoughts is estimating that Google's sales figures for the Nexus 7 might be anywhere between 6 and 8 million during 2012. According to sources at parts manufacturers, actual sales figures have shocked Google. Originally, 2.5 million units were predicted to be sufficient to get them through 2012, but Google has now placed an additional order of 2.5 million. Asus has told The Wall Street Journal that the Nexus 7 was nearing 1 million in sales per month. On the other hand, Apple announced that it had sold a total of 3 million iPads in just three days, a record for first-weekend iPad sales according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. The company is said to have sold nearly 60 million iPads during its 2012 fiscal year. It is hard to comment exactly who could be the leader of the tablet market, but we think that there is a high probability of Google winning the throne this year. We have our arguments for this. Any company that’s able to manufacture tablet hardware can support Google’s operating system and make an Android tablet. However, this is not true with Apple. Google's tablets are light and small, but someone who has experienced the retina screen on the iPad might find the non-retina screen of other similar products grainy. On the other hand, Android tablets, which flock the market every few weeks, compete on price, size and a host of flexible features in addition to the display, which is very decent as well. We would like to know your thoughts and comments on the market leader for the tablets. Do you think Google can outpace Apple this year? Share your views with us. Related Posts |
| Apple and Google are teaming up to bid $500M for Kodak patents Posted: 08 Dec 2012 04:27 PM PST
In the name of business, your enemy today might be your friend tomorrow, if you both can work out a mutually beneficial deal. In line with this, Google and Apple — supposedly arch-rivals in the mobile operating system field — are teaming up to secure a big patent portfolio that Kodak is setting up for grabs. We reported on this news a few months back, in line with Kodak’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Back then, Kodak had been hoping to fetch at least $2.6 billion from its patent auction, although it did not get sufficient bids during its first call for proposals. What had been interesting to note was that rival companies were trying to come together in order to bring down the asking price of Kodak. Simply put, if companies competed for the intellectual property, then Kodak is likely to price its portfolio higher. But if companies were to combine together, then they will have a better negotiating position, which will bring the price down. In recent news, Google and Apple are reported to have combined their efforts in order to make a $500 million bid for the patent portfolio. There is no official confirmation from either company, although sources have actually reported conflicting news. First, sources reported that Google and Apple are each forming their own consortiums to rival each other’s bids. But now, a different set of sources cited by Bloomberg say the two Internet and tech giants are teaming up. The patent business is a lucrative one, with firms being able to get hefty licensing fees from competitors using their technologies. Kodak is hoping it could get enough cash to help it get by its financial troubles, while Google and Apple want to be able to use these imaging technologies in their devices and license these out to competitors. As such, keeping the price as low as possible would be in the best interest of both. Companies have learned from their past mistake of over-bidding on patents, such as the $4.5 billion acquisition of Nortel Networks’ patents by a group led by Apple and Microsoft. As such, is the Apple-Google team-up a smart one? Related Posts |
| Kindle Fire HD updated to 7.2.2, Kindle FreeTime Unlimited tags along Posted: 08 Dec 2012 04:24 PM PST
Amazon introduced us to FreeTime back in September, but now it is officially available for your Kindle Fire HD. Software version 7.2.2 brings FreeTime Unlimited capabilities so your kids can now use your Kindle without accessing content you don’t want them to. If you recall, it is analogous to multi-user support on Android tablets but here the children can only access a limited pool of safe content. Accompanying FreeTime is a new Camera app which allows you to use the front-facing camera to take photos. Also, Swype functionality has been added to the keyboard making typing much more efficient, especially if you want to hold the Kindle in one hand and type with the other. It will roll out as an OTA update, so you should already have got a notification for the installation. If not, you can always force the update through your settings. Have you received the update yet? Related Posts |
| Samsung Galaxy Camera goes on sale in Canada for $599 Posted: 08 Dec 2012 03:58 PM PST
While it is still regarded by some as an oddity, we here at Android Authority are fans of the the Samsung Galaxy Camera, as evidenced in our review of it last month. Now even more people will have a chance to try it out, as it is now available in Canada. The 16-megapixel Samsung Galaxy Camera features 21x optical zoom, a xenon flash and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The device includes Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, which will work with a tablet plan on your carrier of choice. The device went on sale in Canada yesterday and is currently available at Samsung stores and Black’s Photography stores. The price is a little higher than its U.S. counterpart at $599. So, Canadian readers, have you picked up you Samsung Galaxy Camera yet? Or are you not convinced that you need an Android-powered camera? If you have one, how do you like it so far? Related Posts |
| SoundHound updated, gets lockscreen widgets and better performance Posted: 08 Dec 2012 02:00 PM PST
Following Rhapsody’s entry into the song identification space, SoundHound has updated its app to remain competitive in this market. The standout feature in this update is the addition of lockscreen widgets. Naturally, this feature can only be used in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and above, but frequent users of this app will appreciate what it brings to the table. As of this writing, neither SongMatch or Shazam offer lockscreen widgets. The developers have chosen not to mess with a good thing, so they have left the overall interface unaltered; it continues to be eminently pleasant to use and look at. Apart from lockscreen widgets, there are also some performance improvements (song search times should decrease) as well as bug fixes for various devices. Head to the source link to check it out, if you haven’t already. Have you tried the updated SoundHound app? How do you like it so far? Related Posts |
| Barnes and Noble’s NOOK Simple Touch is now only $79 Posted: 08 Dec 2012 01:14 PM PST
Looking for an e-reader on a budget? Barnes and Noble’s NOOK Simple Touch has now become an even more compelling option. Starting tomorrow, Barnes and Noble will start selling them for a very reasonable $79, down from the regular price of $99. Of course, you should remember that this is the barebones option and comes without a backlight. If its a backlight you are looking for, then the NOOK Simple Touch with Glowlight might be more down your alley. In other options, if you are looking for something more than just an e-reader, the Nexus 7 should be at the top of your list without a doubt; you get the full Android experience for only $199. You could also consider the NOOK HD which is also $199, if you are intent on getting access to the B&N ecosystem. Let us know what your choice of e-reader is for this holiday season! Related Posts |
| Sony announces free 50GB online storage for Xperia devices for lifetime Posted: 08 Dec 2012 10:45 AM PST
Sony has announced in a press release that it has extended its partnership with cloud storage service Box to provide Xperia users with free 50GB online storage for life, provided they sign up for the service before the end of next year. To take advantage of this promotion, users only need to activate their Box account on their Xperia device and they are good to go. The only condition is that they need to do it before December 31st 2013. While most Xperia devices that are currently available or will be released next year are supported with this offer, some devices, including the Xperia X10 mini and X10 mini pro are unsupported. Also, Xperia devices that are running firmware older than Android 2.1 do not qualify for this promotion. Sony has been offering this promotion from last year and now it has decided to extend it for one more year. If you want free 50GB storage on Box’s cloud service then simply activate your Box account on your Xperia device. Xperia™ and Box® renew partnership through 2013 December 7, 2012 – 4:45 PM Announced before the 2011 festive season and initially running for a year – Xperia smartphone* and Sony tablet users can now grab free 50GB cloud storage for life, by signing-up or accessing existing Box accounts from their devices before 31st December 2013. Box is an online file sharing and cloud content management service – it makes life that bit easier by allowing you to share and access content from anywhere, anytime. Whether it be images, videos, apps, documents (you name it), you can store, share and access files from any of your connected devices – computer, smartphone, tablet and internet enabled TV. Keep an eye on the newsroom over the next few weeks – we’ll be sitting down with Box to talk a little more about the service and what we can expect from them through 2013. If you have any questions about the offer, feel free to drop them below. *Available for Xperia smartphones including and released after Xperia X10, but not for Xperia X10 mini, X10 mini pro and devices with Android versions prior to 2.1. Related Posts |
| Two Asus MeMo Pad tablets pass through FCC for approval Posted: 08 Dec 2012 10:32 AM PST
Chances are, when you think of Asus and tablets, you think of their Transformer line, or maybe the Asus-manufactured Google Nexus 7, but its mostly forgotten MeMo line of tablets may be making a comeback. Two Asus devices appeared on the FCC’s website this week, both of which seem to be MeMo Pad branded tablets. Very little about the devices is known, with details including riveting features like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. So, yeah, they’re tablets. One of these MeMo Pads, model number K001, appears to have a 10-inch screen and a camera. The other, model number K0W, seems as if it will have a 7-inch screen and no camera, pointing to a likely inexpensive device. Both of these tablets have been approved by the FCC, so should be heading to the U.S. Sometime in the future, though we have no details on when exactly that will be. We’re not sure if either of these tablets is the Jelly Bean tablet from Asus that we mentioned last month, but that is certainly a possibility. To dig through the filings yourself, hit the links in the sources section at the bottom of this article. Are you an Asus tablet owner? Are you happy with yours? Related Posts |
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