Android Phone Fans |
- Android Overload: Flickr Pro free for 3 months, ZTE Grand S image, Xperia Z and more
- Cruzerlite gives us a sneak peek at awesome upcoming Nexus 4 case
- 15 Minute Challenge: $20 Demon’s Score from Square Enix
- Make your screens jolly with Google’s Happy Holiday Cards!
- Weekend Poll: Major carriers vs MVNOs
| Android Overload: Flickr Pro free for 3 months, ZTE Grand S image, Xperia Z and more Posted: 22 Dec 2012 05:40 PM PST Merry Christmas, guys! We hope your holiday weekend is great, but check out the latest news before you start giving, receiving and celebrating. Android Overload is where we bring you all the news that didn’t make it to our home page but are still worth a read. Here is what we have today: Get 3 months of Flickr Pro for free just by using the app [Flickr] |
| Cruzerlite gives us a sneak peek at awesome upcoming Nexus 4 case Posted: 22 Dec 2012 03:39 PM PST Cruzerlite has become very known for their Androidified cases, and they are at it again with a much more awesome design! The guys from Cruzerlite have sent us this nifty sneak peek at what is to come and we are already loving it. We don’t have any other details yet, but they should be available for pre-order “soon”. If you have managed to get your Nexus 4 already, this case is at least close to being the coolest one we have seen for the device. Unless you really like the official bumper case, which is also incredibly hard to get a hold of. We will definitely keep you in the loop about these, so stay tuned for upcoming details and… a little Christmas surprise for our readers! |
| 15 Minute Challenge: $20 Demon’s Score from Square Enix Posted: 22 Dec 2012 03:15 PM PST Yesterday we told you guys about 3 games new to Google Play from legendary game publisher Square Enix, one of which was a $20 game — yes, $20 — called Demon’s Score. The game’s pricing puts the title right up there with some of the most expensive the Play Store offers and many of you were wondering if the game was even any good (let alone worth twenty dollars). Well, I decided to give Demon’s Score a quick spin taking full advantage of the Play Store’s 15 minute return window. If you guys want to learn a little more about the game in addition to my initial thoughts, here is my 15 Minute Challenge for Demon’s Score by Square Enix. StoryThe game stars a young college student by the name of Serenity who’s looking for her dad in a haunted castle filled to the brim with musical themed monsters. Inside she runs into a teddy bear who helps her in her quest to find her father and unravel the secrets of the castle. In typical Japanese fashion, Serenity must utilize scantily clad outfits (obtained from conquered bosses) to give her new abilities and take on the worse creatures hell has to offer. GameplayEach stage in Demon’s Score is broken up into two parts: Track 1 where players face off against smaller enemies, and Track 2 where players go toe-to-toe against the boss of that stage. Each boss has their own unique musical track — to the tune of a specific genre of music — and on the stage leading up to the boss (Track 1), the music also changes depending on the equipped demon/outfit. New music = new experience. The stages also have 3 difficulty settings — easy, normal, and hard — and if players beat a stage on all 3 settings, Square promises something special (less clothing perhaps?). Gameplay in Demon’s Score is comprised of carefully timed to button presses and gestures, all to the tune of a various Japanese musical genres. Square describes the game as “off the hook, break beat action” which, in some weird way kinda helps, but you’d be better off picturing a mashup of Mega Man meets Devil May Cry, meets Elite Beat Agents. The flow of the game goes like this: beat a stage, face a boss, steal their powers, get a sexy new outfit, rinse and repeat. GraphicsVisually, the game looks great. Console quality even. Powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine and optimized for the Nvidia Tegra 3, Square added a few nice special effects not present in other versions of the game, namely:
Serenity and her demonic outfits were the real star of the show, offering a wide variety of styles making sure that, no matter what your fetish, she’s got an outfit just for you. Enemies, bosses and the frequent times players are given a direct view of Serenity’s hindquarters (read: constantly) really showed off an amazing attention to detail and solid character design. There’s no question — Demon’s Score definitely has some high production value going for it. The problem with the graphics is that, while completely amazing looking, you don’t get enjoy them very much with huge onscreen beat cues and your hand constantly obstructing your view. First world problems, I guess. VerdictOkay, so I’ll admit it — the game is good. Real good. But is it $20 good? While it was nice of Square to include all the downloadable content from the iOS version for the Android release (a $32 value), typically, you’d still find a game similar to this on Xbox Live for between 800 – 1200 Microsoft points ($10 – $15). As much fun as I did have with Demon’s Score, I can’t say I was able to bring myself to plop down $20 for it. And I’m not usually too frugal when it comes to my gaming. Still, for those of you scoring Google Play giftcards this holiday (they’re sure to be a hit) and your Tegra 3 device is in need of some love, you may want to give Demon’s Score a shot. I’ll be waiting until my budding rap career finally takes off. |
| Make your screens jolly with Google’s Happy Holiday Cards! Posted: 22 Dec 2012 02:04 PM PST
They feature our very favorite little green robot, along with all of his holiday friends – including polar bears, penguins and… Big Foot? Either way, you can print them, share them, give them away, use them as wallpapers or do as you please with them. Download them straight from here if you want them. Merry Christmas, guys!     |
| Weekend Poll: Major carriers vs MVNOs Posted: 22 Dec 2012 01:31 PM PST
MVNOs have become very popular among smartphone users as devices start becoming more affordable. One can purchase a Nexus 4 for as low as $300, for example. This device is far superior to other equally-priced smartphones, and arguably better than even some that double its price. You can take this (or any other compatible device) to a GSM MVNO and just use the big carrier networks with small carrier prices. Or you can opt to buy their own devices, if you would rather make the process easier or the carrier uses a CDMA network. These small carriers tend to offer great deals. They do have to pay fees to network owners, but they also don’t have to invest in improving networks and keeping towers up-to-date. You can save up to thousands of dollars per year if you opt for one of these pre-paid options. But with all these great and affordable options, why are we sticking with major manufacturers? Well, there are many benefits, the main one being convenience. Though we end up paying more in the long run, there are many benefits to being with one of the big 4.
Major carriers also tend to be more reliable in terms of customer service. Of course, they have the resources to help out more… even if you have to sign your wallet away for 2 years. Not to mention they usually carry the best devices, but that is starting to change. Hey! There is also the option of going prepaid with one of the 4 major carriers. T-Mobile has some great deals for prepaid customers, an all other carriers have prepaid options. Or maybe you are no longer in contract, but want to keep your older plan (mostly unlimited data customers’ situation). With all of this in mind, we are wondering at what point MVNOs are. More and more Android users are starting to opt for prepaid MVNO carriers like Straight Talk, Solavei, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile and many others. Our audience consists mostly of Android users (of course) so it would give us a great idea of how the market between MVNO and major carrier customers is. Please participate in the poll and give us your two cents! Do you prefer staying with a traditional carrier or have you moved on to a more flexible mobile world? And why? |
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