| Plants vs Zombies 2 arrives for iOS as developer forgets Android Aug 15th 2013, 19:54, by Cory Gunther The hit game Plants vs Zombies is quite popular, and last year around this same time we learned that a sequel was in the works. Then back in March we learned it would arrive on mobile come this summer, only to later find out it would launch as an iOS exclusive. So this isn’t really news, but by now we were hoping for at least some details regarding an Android release. 
After a few delays and the launch date pushed back to “late summer” we can happily confirm that this afternoon the hit game Plants vs Zombies 2 has arrived for iOS on the App Store. Yup, Google Play is sitting here with the old version, and there’s no sequel in sight. We’ve been following the game due to it being wildly fun and successful, but sadly there doesn’t appear to be an Android version coming anytime soon so we have nothing good to report. Recently over on Twitter PopCapGames PlantsvsZombies Twitter account confirmed they have no news regarding other platforms, and that it’s an iOS exclusive for now. This is nothing new, and even Madden’s NFL Pro 2013 with over a million downloads is now an iOS exclusive for NFL Pro 2014, so the trend isn’t going away quite yet. With millions and millions of Android devices running the world’s most popular mobile OS, you’d think things would no longer happen this way, but they still do. At least their tweets makes it sound like it will initially be on iOS, and other platforms are coming, but we have zero details on when or even a hint for a release date. It could be next year for all we know. Sorry for the bad news folks! VIA: Droid-Life |  | BDTi mobile benchmark tool aims to even the playing field Aug 15th 2013, 18:53, by Cory Gunther When it comes to smartphones these days with 5-inch 1080p displays, quad-core or even 8-core processors, benchmark apps to test performance always come into the discussion. Lately there’s been a lot of talk about how they aren’t really important to the end user, or how Samsung‘s allegedly tweaked the GS4 to achieve unrealistic high results and more. Well, a company wants to solve all that. 
Today we’ve learned that a company called BDTi being backed by Qualcomm, who’s part of the problem with their own Vellamo mobile benchmark suite, looks to replace and get rid of the standard benchmark apps on mobile. Which aren’t reliable, or realistic, for daily usage patterns. Yes my Galaxy S4 scores high in Quadrant, and the GPU in the Tegra 4 blows the benchmarks past 40k in AnTuTu, but will that make my phone run better. Will apps open quickly and what does that mean for daily users? We always try to be subjective in our reviews, since benchmarks are only a small part of the story, and BDTI wants to have a definitive test that tests real world usage. Many existing mobile benchmarks do not measure attributes relevant to consumers and can be easily manipulated. There is a striking lack of mobile benchmarks that measure actual user experience. Our user-experience-focused tests will include real-world measurements of application performance, battery life, and data transfer speed and delay.” -Jeff Bier, President of BDTI
This week BDTi (Berkeley Design Technology, Inc.) have announced the plan to build a new consumer focused test for mobile devices. One that will test user experience speed, battery life, application speeds and stability, network performance and more according to the quote above from their President. They want to design a tool that will achieve realistic, unbiased, and transparent benchmarking results based on real-world usage and capabilities. Not just theoretical operations. This will be a mobile tool that can be used on a wide array of devices globally, and we’re interested in learning more. With so many devices all coming with nearly the same specs lately, something like this could really be useful for us, enthusiasts, and for consumers. Thoughts? | | ASUS next-gen FonePad and MeMO Pad details leak Aug 15th 2013, 18:38, by Robert Nelson We had already been seeing details leak about several MeMO and PadFone devices this month, however it looks like another round of ASUS leaks has surfaced. This time around we are seeing details on the MeMO Pad HD 8 and MeMO Pad HD 10 as well as the FonePad HD 7. Anyway, with IFA quickly approaching, that would seem like a good time for ASUS to come forward with some announcements. 
In the meantime though, how about we take a look at the details that have leaked for these three items. Beginning first with the FonePad HD 7 and it looks like we will be seeing a tablet with a 7-inch 1280 x 800 display, dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2560 processor, 1GB of RAM and options for either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage. Looking at this model compared to the currently available FonePad 7 and we had been seeing a similar display with an Intel Atom Z2460 processor. Other specs for the FonePad HD 7 include a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera, Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi 802.11n and 3G for connectivity. Similar to the current model FonePad, this new model is expected to retain support for voice calling. Shifting over to the MeMO Pad HD 8 and we have a device that is expected to arrive with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and an 8-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800. The details for this model are on the lighter side and the only other piece available at this time deals with the processor, which looks to be a quad-core 1.6GHz Rockchip. Last up here is the MeMO Pad HD 10 which should arrive with the same processor as the 8-inch model. Otherwise, this one will have a 10.1-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 along with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage and a battery life of up to 9 hours. The MeMO Pad HD 10 should also arrive with WiFi and Bluetooth as well as a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera, 2 megapixel rear-facing camera and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Aside from this recent leak, those that arrived earlier in the month included details on the MeMO Pad FHD 10 LTE, the MeMOFone HD 5 and a PadFone Mini. VIA: Notebook Italia | | Moto X isn't the only one, HTC had similar customization plans Aug 15th 2013, 18:11, by Cory Gunther This week we’re learning that the folks from Motorola and Google aren’t the only ones who invested in and were dabbling with the idea of customization options for smartphones. Apparently HTC had the idea long ago, and was going to partner with a carrier other than AT&T, but that fell through. 
New details and pictures have surfaced just weeks before the MotoMaker site launches for Moto and AT&T, and it’s quite interesting. According to The Verge HTC and Sprint were going to offer something extremely, almost too similar, to what Moto is offering with the X. An online site for customizations such as speakers, colors, accents, and even engravings. All quite similar to what Moto is actually offering. The image above was all that leaked, but shows just what they had planned. The custom color wheel is similar, and you’d be able to change the accents and color just as the Moto X will allow over on AT&T. The site was going to be called “HTC Design Studio” but now we have MotoMaker instead. In the end however due to cost and complexity both HTC and the carrier decided to can the entire idea. I don’t know about you guys but I’ve been wanting this option for a long time, and can’t wait for Motorola to bring their customization to Verizon and other carriers later this year. So can Motorola keep the cost down enough to make this effective, and profitable, and will we see other manufacturers offer the same next year? We’ll have to wait and see. VIA: The Verge | |
