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- Featured Android Game Review: Kids Mosaic [Brain & Puzzle]
- More DROID ULTRA images surface
- Latest CyanogenMod nightlies allow Google Voice users to send texts through any messaging app
- Rovio Stars to release new Android game Tiny Thief on July 11th
- Techno Source unveils kid-friendly line of Kurio tablets to be sold exclusively at Toys”R”Us
- Could Samsung be planning to launch four versions of the Galaxy Note III at the same time?
- How to backup or transfer photos from your Android phone to the cloud or desktop computer
- ZTE announces the U988S as the world’s first Tegra 4-powered handset
- Nexus 7 price goes down to $179.99, new model on the way?
- HTC One “Google Edition” passes Bluetooth SIG again, this time with Android 4.3 and Bluetooth 4.0 LE
| Featured Android Game Review: Kids Mosaic [Brain & Puzzle] Posted: 08 Jul 2013 01:39 PM PDT
If you’re looking for something really cool for the child in the house, then give Kids Mosaic a try. From Top Float, it’s a brain and puzzle game, but it will also inspire creativity. Just in case you aren’t familiar with what a mosaic is, it’s a picture that is created by many small colored pieces such as the images above. Kids Mosaic features two modes: Game and Free Play. The Game mode is the more puzzle-like of the two. Your child can choose from up to thirty different stock images. They will be presented with the template but the colors will be of a slightly different shade. Your child will need to move the appropriate colored pieces to the appropriate spots to complete the image. As they get more proficient, they can turn off the template to make things a little harder.
Once they have mastered the Game mode, they can move on to Free Play which allows your child to do anything they want. They can make houses, people, cars, animals, the moon, stars, or whatever their imagination takes them. They can even save their works of art. There are two big questions in any kids app and they are: Is is easy enough for them to understand and is it interesting to them? So why not test it out on my 4-year old son? I simply told him the app was on his Galaxy Note 10.1 to see if he would try it on his own and if he could figure it out. He ended up giving it a shot, and shortly after, I asked him to show me how it works. To my amazement, he figured it all out. He’s not ready for Free Play just yet, but he was well on his way to accomplishing many of the images in the game mode. The game was simple enough for him to understand on his own and he likes it, so that’s a winner in my eyes. Now the fact that it inspires creativity is just icing on the cake. You will find both free and paid versions of Kids Mosaics. The free version has only one image template and four colors in Free Play. The paid version gives you all 30 stock image templates along with 10 colors, and it’s priced at $1.00. A small price to pay to inspire a little creativity in your child. The best part of it is that you really don’t need to be a kid to play. You can have all sorts of fun trying to come up with some cool images on your own or with your child. Check out their hands on video below and grab one of the download links to get started. As always, let me know what you think.
    Click here to view the embedded video.
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| More DROID ULTRA images surface Posted: 08 Jul 2013 01:38 PM PDT
With a Motorola press event only days away, there has been a definite uptick in activity related to non-Moto X Phone leaks, with the latest set of images being for the Motorola DROID ULTRA slated to launch on the Verizon network. Since a landing page, sans images, appeared on the motorola.com site for the DROID ULTRA, folks have been on the lookout for the device. Earlier today we reported on an image of a white smartphone alleged to be the DROID ULTRA according to the source. The latest images purporting to be the DROID ULTRA come to us thanks to @evleaks and show both the front and back of the device. We can see the case has a carbon fiber look to it on this black version of the device. Adorning the back is the DROID name, a subdued Motorola logo and the Verizon logo. The front of the device appears to be devoid of any marketing images or text giving it a very clean look. Whether the new DROID ULTRA maintains that look on this black version, or even the red version, is unclear as the white version of the phone appeared to have a small Motorola logo in the top left corner on the screen. source: The Unlocker
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| Latest CyanogenMod nightlies allow Google Voice users to send texts through any messaging app Posted: 08 Jul 2013 11:41 AM PDT
With each forthcoming CyanogenMod update, we see more and more welcome additions to the popular ROM— further solidifying it as perhaps the most complete ROM out there. To that end, CM’s Koushik Dutta recently confirmed that he and his team have figured out a way to actually send Google Voice messages with a more traditional SMS app:
So there you have it folks— one of the long awaited Google Voice features is finally here for CM users. You folks getting giddy yet? source: Koushik Dutta+
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| Rovio Stars to release new Android game Tiny Thief on July 11th Posted: 08 Jul 2013 10:35 AM PDT
Rovio Stars, the new third party company owned by the famous Rovio, will be releasing their first Android game on July 11th. It’s titled Tiny Thief and blends puzzle, stealth, and RPG elements together to create what looks to be a great medieval-themed mobile time-waster. The game boasts 50 different characters to talk to across 30 separate stages with over 100 items to collect. No word on pricing, but we’ll find out in a few days. source: Droid Gamers
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| Techno Source unveils kid-friendly line of Kurio tablets to be sold exclusively at Toys”R”Us Posted: 08 Jul 2013 10:19 AM PDT
Techno Source, famous for their Kurio kid-friendly 7-inch tablet, is following up their success with an entire Kurio line of devices. The new Kurio tablets will come in either 4-inch, 7-inch, or 10-inch sizes, and are appropriately titled the Kurio 4s, Kurio 7s, and Kurio 10s, respectively. The tablets will feature the latest in Android, running 4.2.2 out of the box as well as a large suite of parental control apps and some free family-friendly content. Pricing ranges from $100 to $229, depending on the screen size you want. You can preorder the tablets online at Toys”R”Us, where they will exclusively be sold, if you’re interested in picking one up. Hit the break below for the press release and more pictures of the devices. “The Kurio 7 tablet was a best-seller everywhere last year, but we aren’t going to rest on our laurels,” said Eric Levin, Division Head, Techno Source, a division of LF Products (a Li & Fung Company). “We have incorporated lots of customer feedback into these new Kurio models to make them better in every way. The Kurio family of products continues to be the perfect solution for families with kids–Kurio gives kids everything they want in a tablet, while parents can rest assured that their kids are safe online.” “We’ve upgraded to Android 4.2, added a multi-core processor, doubled the internal memory to 8GB, and enhanced our parental controls with even stronger Internet filtering, more granular app usage controls, and easier to use time limits, while still allowing for up to eight completely separate user profiles. On the content side, we’ve preloaded more than twice as many family-friendly apps, including premium Disney content, and now offer access to hundreds of thousands more apps through the new and improved Kurio Store and other popular Android stores.” “We are excited to be the first retailer to offer customers the opportunity to get their hands on the newest line of Kurio tablets,” said Lisa Harnisch, Senior Vice President, General Merchandising Manager, Toys”R”Us, U.S. “We have seen a growing demand for sophisticated Android devices, and in response, Techno Source has taken Kurio to the next level, delivering exactly what parents want in a tablet for their children.” Exclusive, Family-Friendly and Premium Content Kurio devices come packed with preloaded content right out of the box. Kurio has partnered with Disney to preload premium apps that feature kids’ favorite characters from Cars 2, to Disney Princess, The Avengers and more. The Kurio tablets also feature an exclusive, complete pre-school through 6th grade learning system developed by award-winning American educator Mr. Nussbaum(TM). These 30 plus preloaded apps are developed based on the United States Common Core State Standards and provide in-depth learning while still being fun for kids. The newly redesigned Kurio Store provides access to thousands more hit apps carefully curated by the Kurio team to ensure that all content is family-friendly and kids are safe. The marketplace can easily be sorted by age, category and interest using a simple intuitive interface. Downloads are fully controlled by parents and prepaid accounts or “piggybanks” let kids manage a fixed budget. Kids can also create wish lists for their parents to review. Users can also access hundreds of thousands more free apps through the most popular Android app stores. Kurio devices are Netflix, YouTube and Skype compatible. Fully Customizable User Experience, Powerful Parental Controls Using the intuitive Kurio interface, families can create up to eight unique user profiles on the Kurio tablets, and up to four different profiles on the Kurio Touch 4s. Each family member can personalize their Kurio device by uploading a profile picture and choosing from a large selection of themes and avatars. Each profile offers full separation of files, apps, search history, game progress and scores, downloads, parental control settings music, videos, pictures etc. It’s like having eight different tablets in one. The Kurio Parental Area is password protected and has been enhanced with even more granular, easy to use parental controls. Parents can now set detailed time limits individually for each day of the week, and manage applications by profile, including restricting web access by app, with just a few clicks. Internet access settings can be tailored to each child. Parents can choose from recommended settings by child age, block specific websites and inappropriate terms, or choose to create safe lists that only allow access to specific approved sites. Parents can easily set the strictness of controls, expanding access as the child gets older. Parents can also exit the Kurio interface and switch to a full Android(TM) tablet without restrictions for personal use. Kurio family devices feature the Kurio Genius(TM) Internet filtering system with advanced security levels and daily auto-updates covering more than 450 million websites (and counting) in 170 different languages. They also feature in-app web filtering, so kids can safely surf the web or use apps without encountering inappropriate content. Kurio Touch 4s Handheld Regarding the addition of the Kurio Touch 4s, Levin explains, “Families have come to expect sophisticated devices, with the most robust parental controls and top-tier family-friendly content from Kurio. We’ve taken the essence of our Kurio tablets and created a handheld that is comparable in use to an iPod Touch, but offers the Kurio user experience kids and parents love at an amazing value price of just $99.99.” Sleek, stylish, pocket-sized and portable, the Kurio Touch 4s is a Wi-Fi enabled Android 4.2 (Jellybean) handheld device designed with kids in mind. Kids can record videos, take photos, listen to favorite music, message their friends, play the apps and games they love, and safely surf the web. Kurio Touch 4s features an ultra-responsive 3.97″ multi-point touchscreen display with high-definition gaming and movie-viewing capabilities, a multi-core processor, front-facing and rear-facing cameras, an HD video player, music player, integrated microphone, micro USB connection, a high capacity battery offering approximately six to eight hours of battery life, and 8GB of internal memory (extendable up to 40GB via a micro SD card). The handheld comes with a set of specially designed earbuds to comfortably fit children’s ears, and is available in black or white. Appropriate for families with children ages 3 and up. MSRP: $99.99. Kurio Touch 4s is preloaded with top-tier kids’ content, including more than 30 free games and applications: the full ad-free premium version of Angry Birds Space(TM), iHeartRadio, Toon Goggles, Talking Friends, video streaming apps, interactive educational content, coloring apps and so much more. Kurio 7s Tablet The new and improved Kurio 7s has a stunning sleek design and includes the advanced features expected from a cutting-edge tablet. Parents, kids and teens can e-mail, search the web, read e-books, write, draw, play games, take photos and record video, watch movies, listen to music and more. This Android 4.2 (Jellybean) Wi-Fi enabled tablet features a high-resolution, ultra-responsive 7” multi-point touchscreen with high-definition gaming and movie-viewing capabilities, a multi-core processor, built-in Wi-Fi, HD video player, music player, e-reader, front-facing and rear-facing cameras, two front stereo speakers, integrated microphone, mini HDMI and micro USB connections, a high capacity battery offering approximately six to eight hours of battery life, and 8GB of internal memory (extendable up to 40GB via a micro SD card). It comes with a specially designed protective bumper to ensure the tablet is protected in kid hands. Available in black with included blue silicone bumper. Appropriate for families with children ages 3 and up. MSRP: $149.99. Kurio 7s is packed with tons of preloaded, top-tier kids’ content with more than 60 games and apps, including a complete learning system featuring more than 30 educational apps from award-winning American educator Mr. Nussbaum. This includes full ad-free premium versions of the most popular gaming apps in the world like Angry Birds(TM) Space, Fruit Ninja(TM) HD and Where’s my Water?(TM), and apps from dozens more top-tier publishers, such as iHeartRadio, MeeGenius, Toon Goggles and Talking Friends. There are video streaming apps, coloring apps, more than 20 e-books and so much more. Kurio 10s TabletKurio 10s, an exclusive item to Toys”R”Us, includes all of the great features and content of the Kurio 7s tablet, with a larger, high definition 10.1″ IPS touchscreen and even more powerful quad-core processor. Available in black with included blue silicone bumper. Appropriate for families with children ages 3 and up. MSRP: $249.99. Kurio Touch 4s, Kurio 7s, and Kurio 10s will be available for purchase at Toys”R”Us stores nationwide beginning in August 2013. Kurio Touch 4s and Kurio 7s will be available at retailers everywhere by September 2013. Plus, a full line of Kurio accessories will be available, including bumpers, folios, screen protectors, carry cases, earbuds and more. For more information, visit Kurioworld.com/us/, and follow Kurio on Facebook at Facebook.com/KurioTabletUSA and on Twitter @KurioTabletUSA. About Techno Source Techno Source, a division of LF Products (a Li & Fung company), is one of the fastest growing global toy companies. Known for its ground-breaking products, marketing prowess and strong retail relationships, the company is committed to delivering high-quality toys and games that offer significant play value at affordable price points. Under its original Techno Source brand, the company focuses on innovative products, great games for the whole family, and technology toys. Its award-winning original and licensed toy portfolio includes Kurio, the Ultimate Android Tablet for Families(TM), Glow Crazy(TM), Codee, 20Q�, Tetris�, Rubik’s�, Battle Lights (TM), and Electronic Touch-Screen Sudoku(TM). Under its Toy Island brand, Techno Source offers a wide range of traditional toy products, including puzzles, figures, collectables, play sets, vehicles, plush, stationery, art activity sets, and magic toys. Co-branded products feature top licenses, including World’s Softest(TM), National Geographic�, Barney(TM), Marvel�, Animal Planet(TM), Where’s Waldo? � and Loteria(TM). Techno Source toys and games are available throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, across all channels of distribution. For more information, visit www.TechnoSourceUSA.com. SOURCE Techno Source Copyright (C) 2013 PR Newswire. All rights reserved        
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| Could Samsung be planning to launch four versions of the Galaxy Note III at the same time? Posted: 08 Jul 2013 09:35 AM PDT
Samsung is fond of producing several different versions of their devices to reach different market segments. The pending release of the Samsung Galaxy Note III could represent a significant change in how Samsung goes about doing this though. According to reports from Korean web site ET News, Samsung is preparing to release four different versions of the Galaxy Note III at the same time. Unlike other smartphone models, the different devices will not have different names to distinguish them like the Samsung Galaxy S 4 versus Samsung Galaxy S 4 Mini versus Samsung Galaxy S 4 Activ. All of the devices will be Galaxy Note III models and they will all be released at the same time. The differences in the models will be in items like screen sizes, types of screens, camera hardware or the chassis material. Core components like the processor or amount of memory included will be consistent throughout all of the devices. The different versions can be summed up as:
Given the different types of screens, it is suspected different versions will come with different screen sizes. If this information is accurate, it could explain why there has been so much variation in leaks regarding the specs for the Galaxy Note III. The other big question that will be on everyone’s mind as this story develops is what kind of cost differential will there be between the different models and who will be able to buy these different models? source: ET News
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| How to backup or transfer photos from your Android phone to the cloud or desktop computer Posted: 08 Jul 2013 07:49 AM PDT
Smartphones make for great point-and-shoot camera replacements, which means many people use their phones exclusively to take all of their photos and keep up with memories. The problem with that is that phones can easily get lost or stolen, SD cards can go bad or any number of things that can cause you to lose months or years of pictures unexpectedly. In this guide, we’re going to go over how to backup your pictures, just in case you run into some data loss down the road.
Option 1 – Backup to your PC The quickest way to backup your pictures is to connect your device to your computer and copy your photos, but it can be a little confusing to find exactly where your photos are at on your device. Many Android devices have internal storage and an SD card slot, so there can be two possible locations for it, and there’s tons of folders in both locations, especially if you have tons of apps. If you know what you’re looking for, it’s not too hard to navigate, and that’s where this guide comes in. First things first, connect your phone to one of your computer’s USB ports with your USB cable. If you’re using Windows, you’ll see a new device show up in the left pane of Windows Explorer, around where your hard drive is listed. Some models require a driver or software to be installed in order to see the internal storage. If so, just follow the prompts to install it.
If you do have a device that has both internal storage and an SD card, you’re going to see two locations listed in your device. “Card” will be the SD card inserted in the phone, obviously, and “Phone” will be the phone’s internal storage. Most people tend to store photos on the SD card so it’s easier to move photos between devices, but either option works. Open up whichever storage you use to hold your pictures, and you’ll be able to see every file and folder that’s stored in it. For this example, we’re going to use the SD card because it’s less likely to be cluttered with folders from apps, but if you’re using your phone’s internal storage to hold your photos, it’s not uncommon to see dozens of folders here. You’re going to want to find the folder labeled DCIM. (Digital Camera IMages)
Opening your DCIM folder can show a few different folders, but you’re going to want the Camera folder. Open it to make sure all of your photos and videos are in it. Now we need move you stored pictures to your computer’s hard drive for backup. The easiest way to do this is to go back to the root of the DCIM folder (where you can see the Camera folder instead of the individual photos) and right-click and copy that entire Camera folder. Then, find a suitable place to backup your photos, which could be in your Photos library or just your desktop, and right-click and paste the folder. The copy process might take a few minutes depending on how many photos you have, but after it’s done you’ll have two copies of your photos in both places. If you primarily take photos in other apps, such as Instagram, the photos may not be stored in the DCIM/Camera folder. Most apps will store photos in a Pictures folder, so for Instagram you would look for an Instagram folder inside the Pictures folder on your device storage. Aside from that, however, the copy/paste process is identical.
Option 2 – Cloud Backup Connecting your phone to your computer to backup photos is an easy way to keep your memories safe, but it’s still a hassle to connect your device to your computer and manually move everything over. It also isn’t a feasible solution for someone that uses something like a Chromebook or tablet for their primary computer. Fortunately, you can use Dropbox’s fantastic app to automatically keep your photos backed up to the cloud, no cables involved. If you already use Dropbox to frequently store files in their cloud, setting up Dropbox to automatically sync your photos is a piece of cake. If you don’t have a Dropbox account, you can get a free account and get 2 GB of space to store your photos, which, for most people, is way more than enough storage. First things first, if you don’t already have the Dropbox application, you can grab it off of Google Play. It’s a free app, so no worries there. You can either sign into your current account or create one. During the initial setup, Dropbox will prompt you to setup your automatic photo backups. You can choose to either upload photos on your data connection and WiFi, or only WiFi. For most people with a data cap, sticking to WiFi uploads is the best option as Dropbox uploads photos immediately after taking them. If you snap a few dozen photos, you can burn through quite a bit of data in a short time without realizing it, and this is doubly true for videos. There’s also an option to go ahead and upload your current photos and videos on your device to Dropbox. Another cool aspect of the photo backup is that your first photo upload gets you an extra 500 MB of free storage space, so you’ll come in close to 2.5 GB total space. If you already use Dropbox but don’t have the camera upload turned on, you can find the option to turn it on in the settings menu. It walks you through setup just like a first-time user, and you’ll still get your extra 500 MB for your first upload. All of your uploaded pictures and videos are stored in a Camera Uploads folder in your Dropbox account, which can be accessed from the Dropbox app or any web browser from any device. You can even install the Dropbox desktop application and all your photos will be automatically copied to your desktop/notebook. You will find a Dropbox folder under your username folder (PCs) which always be in sync with the Dropbox website. Once you photos are copied to Dropbox, you can delete them from your phone if you wish. You can also move photos into Dropbox’s Public folder to easily share them with your friends and family, which is a great tool for those of you that are heavily dependent on social networking sites. The downside to using Dropbox’s Camera Upload is obviously the data usage and battery usage. It’s not a huge battery drain, but naturally the more often your device has to wakeup to upload something, the more effect it’s going to have on your battery. If you don’t mind giving up a bit of battery for the extreme convenience Dropbox offers, though, it’s a great tool to use. Obviously, Dropbox isn’t the only cloud storage solution for backing up your pictures, but in my opinion, it is easiest to access and effective way. Google offers photo backups through Google+, but they can’t be access in Google Drive the same way Dropbox allows you to from your desktop. Any other cloud service like Box or SkyDrive could also be theoretically used to backup your photos, but they won’t be as automatic as Dropbox. There are also options for simply moving files around your WiFi network for photo backups, too. For simplicity, though, Dropbox and the direct PC connection are your two best options.
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| ZTE announces the U988S as the world’s first Tegra 4-powered handset Posted: 08 Jul 2013 07:26 AM PDT
A little while ago a ZTE phone with a 1.8 GHz Tegra 4 processor made its way through AnTuTu benchmarks. Today, that device has shown its face in the form of the ZTE U988S, and when launched, it will be the first handset available that is powered by Tegra’s new beast of a processor.
On top of having that 1.8 GHz Tegra 4, the U988S also packs 2 GB of RAM and a microSD card slot under the hood, a 5″ Full HD 1080p display with a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front camera on the outside. At around 9-millimeters thick, ZTE’s new device is rather slim. No word on an official name for the phone, but it is reported as running Android 4.2.1.
Source: Phone Arena
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| Nexus 7 price goes down to $179.99, new model on the way? Posted: 08 Jul 2013 07:19 AM PDT
The Google Nexus 7 is the standard, in terms of affordable tablets. Today it becomes even more affordable, as Staples has slashed its price to $199.99 for the 32GB version, and $179.99 for the 16GB device. As a reminder, the Nexus 7 has a 1280 x 800-pixel LCD display and runs on a Tegra 3 quad-core processor with the latest Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and constant updates. The Nexus 7 is almost a year old now, so could the price cut be signifying a new model on the way? I’d think so. Hold off if you’re in the market for a new tablet to wait and see what the Nexus 7′s successor has to offer before making a decision. source: Staples 16GB | Staples 32GB
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| HTC One “Google Edition” passes Bluetooth SIG again, this time with Android 4.3 and Bluetooth 4.0 LE Posted: 08 Jul 2013 07:14 AM PDT
HTC’s flagship device, the HTC One, has made its way through Bluetooth SIG again, this time its the “Google Edition” and its running Android 4.3. As we can tell from the model number (PN071) this is a stock device available exclusively from the Google Play Store. As to why this phone is going through Bluetooth SIG again, its likely related to Android 4.3′s inclusion of the exciting new Bluetooth 4.0 LE (Low Energy), which allows phones to sync with everything from your Bluetooth headset to heart monitors and the like. Bluetooth 4.0 LE is also said to be far more efficient on battery life. Are any of our readers planning on snagging a “Google Edition” HTC One, or does this news just get you more excited to get your hands on Android 4.3. Let us know in the comments! Via: Phone Arena
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