Sunday, May 19, 2013

Android and Me

Android and Me


Top 10 Android games released this week: Can Knockdown 3, Daddy Was a Thief, Sonic

Posted: 18 May 2013 08:48 AM PDT

Welcome back to Android Gaming Weekly, our weekly recap to focus on new releases. We still plan to cover upcoming releases and games we're playing, but this column is dedicated to new games you can install and start playing right now. Check out our top picks and let us know if you have any suggestions for next week in the comments below.

Sonic The Hedgehog

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Description: The Sonic game which started it all is now optimized for mobile devices! Race at lightning speeds across seven classic zones as Sonic the Hedgehog. Run and spin through loop-de-loops as you collect rings and defeat enemies on your mission to save the world from the evil Dr. Eggman. This re-mastered mobile version of the SEGA Genesis classic features the full "Sonic The Hedgehog" game, plus exclusive features.

View in Google Play

You Don’t Know Jack

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Description: Download the Spike TV Video Game Awards’ "Social Game of the Year" to your Android phone or tablet. You Don’t Know Jack is the #1 game in the world that contains both fart noises and trivia about Shakespeare. This free-to-play mobile version includes hundreds of full episodes of everybody's favorite quiz show trivia game, with new, topical episodes added every week!

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Carmageddon

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Description: Carmageddon is the original freeform driving sensation, where pedestrians (and cows!) equal points, and your opponents are a bunch of crazies in a twisted mix of automotive killing machines. The game features anarchic drive-wherever-you-like gameplay and over-the-top surreal comedy violence. It's the racing game where racing is for wimps.

View in Google Play

Daddy Was A Thief

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Description: Bank staff is usually friendly and polite. This time something went wrong! Gain as much money as you can! Hurry! Everyone try to catch you, but you are clever, aren't you? Find combo speed boosts, shortcuts and grab power-ups to survive.

View in Google Play

Zombie Derby

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Description: Do you have the drive to survive? Americans have two favourite things; cars and guns. And no stinking zombie apocalypse is going to change that. Take control of your car to see how far you can get and how many zombies you can kill – and if you can actually escape with your brains intact. Four cars are available to get you to the final fort, each capable of holding progressively more loot. Ranging from the simple Redneck pick-up and the classy Hunter and to the tough Sledge and frankly-silly Harvester, you'll enjoy throwing these bodged-up jalopies at the lines of the undead.

View in Google Play

Can Knockdown 3

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Description: Challenge your aim, hone your precision, and push your puzzle-solving skills to the next level in this insanely addictive game. This installment takes the critically acclaimed Can Knockdown series to all new heights- the physics-based carnival gameplay you know and love- and adds unique puzzles, adrenaline-charged challenges, and even more explosive action!

View in Google Play

Cross Craze

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Description: CrossCraze is a classic crossword puzzle game where you place letters on a board to form interlocking words. Play against the computer or with a friend. Frustrated by the time-wasting and cheating found on online game apps such as Scrabble, Words With Friends and Wordfeud? CrossCraze lets you choose a computer opponent to match your own skill level. It will never cheat, never take more than a moment to move and never abandon a game before the end. How refreshing!

View in Google Play

Toy Defense 2

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Description: Toy Defense 2 is the long-awaited sequel to the multi-million-download hit Toy Defense! Set in WW2, this action/strategy game is packed with more levels, amazing new features, a big selection of fighting units for each world, and more intense action than ever. Take part in various missions in a range of theaters of war, from the picturesque beaches and forests of Normandy to the deserts of northern Africa. The most epic battles of WW2 await you!

View in Google Play

Dark Avenger

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Description: Enter the dungeon and hack-n-slash your way towards immortality! The highly anticipated dungeon crawler arrives on mobile! Evil has awoken from its slumber. Our heroes must rise and send the forces of darkness back to the depths of hell. Choose from three heroic classes: Templar, Archer, or Mage. Equipped with enhanced, intuitive controls, you will experience the game like never before!

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Attack of the Wall St. Titan

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Description: A giant robot, built to destroy and subjugate the masses. Reprogrammed by an anonymous hacktivist to turn on your evil corporate creators, you are the Wall Street Titan. Occupy Wall Street with a giant robot fist! Selected by Indie Game Magazine as one of the best mobile arcade games of 2012!

View in Google Play

COMING SOON

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Watch on YouTube
    


The Nexus Experience Galaxy S4 is most likely a software modified T-Mobile S4

Posted: 18 May 2013 07:43 AM PDT

When Google announced the Nexus Experience Galaxy S4 (which shall henceforth be referred to as the NES4), information on exactly which hardware variant Google was using for the device left something to be desired. We know that it includes 16GB of storage, has a removable battery, a microSD slot, appears to retain its physical button configuration and has access to T-Mobile and AT&T LTE. By process of elimination, we’re fairly certain at this point that the NES4 is merely a software modded T-Mobile Galaxy S 4.

What makes us think the NES4 is a T-Mobile Galaxy S 4? Good question. After poking around online, in my own personal research, I found that the T-Mobile Galaxy S4 is the only variant of the device capable of supporting all the necessary bands for T-Mobile and AT&T. Both AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s Galaxy S 4 variants are essentially the same phone, but AT&T has some locks in place that keep the S4 stuck on AT&T. I wasn’t positive how these locks worked, or if that even was the case, but research from AnandTech’s Brian Klug seems to confirm and explain why the SGH M919, or T-Mobile Galaxy S4, is most likely the same device as the NES4.

SGH-M919 has always included support for LTE on Bands 2, 4, 5, and 17 (that's 1900 PCS, 1700/2100 AWS, 850 Cellular, and 700 Lower B and C) and WCDMA on Bands 2, 4, and 5. At another level, this is the same hardware as the AT&T variant but without the arbitrary RAT (Radio Access Technology) locking that AT&T has put in place to restrict use of Band 4 WCDMA which T-Mobile needs for a good experience. This translates to that support for AT&T and T-Mobile LTE and WCDMA. That also means Snapdragon 600 (APQ8064AB) and no Exynos 5.Brian KlugAnandTech

The chances that the NES4 is an entirely new model of Galaxy S4 are slim to none. There’s no way Google is having Samsung manufacture a new model of GS4, just to keep the same exact hardware configuration. Hugo Barra, who was spotted walking around I/O with the device, said the software wasn’t finished yet. Another good sign Google simply took an existing device and is working away on it.

At this point, you may be wondering what this means for you. If the NES4 really is an SGH M919, then a simple software flash should turn your T-Mobile S4 into Nexus Experience device, complete with updates directly from Google and all. If the NES4 is an entirely different device, which again, we don’t think it is, then you’d be out of luck. There are still AOSP ROMs for the T-Mobile S4 as it is, so it won’t be that big of a change either way. Still, for someone like me who doesn’t mess with custom ROMs much anymore, an Odin flash to a Nexus Experience device where Google will take care of the updates sounds very nice. Especially on a device that can be bought with T-Mobile installation plans, not $650 upfront.

We’ll be following news around the Nexus Experience S4 closely, so stay tuned for more.

    


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