Android Phone Fans |
- Uh oh: Vine bans all sexually explicit video from their apps, effective immediately
- Smash Hit now available for Android, from the creators of Granny Smith and Sprinkle
- Xbox One SmartGlass app for Android brings push notifications in latest update
- Google once again turning to LG to build upcoming Nexus [RUMOR]
- Madcatz MOJO to receive official OUYA software update this Spring along with price drop
- You can already buy an imitation All New HTC One even before the thing is official
- Google Play’s birthday sales are now live (full list inside)
- Motorola Touchless Controls’ “What’s Up” command is too awesome for words [VIDEO]
- This awful LG G Flex ad makes me weep for humanity [VIDEO]
- Verizon LG G Pad 8.3 and Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 now available
- Opera for Android update brings WebRTC video, UI tweaks and more
- Entry-level HTC Desire 310 revealed
- LG L90 formally introduced as the high-end device in the mid-range Series 3 family
- OnePlus One’s CPU officially confirmed to be Snapdragon 800
- Motorola Touchless Control’s new “What’s Up” command will read your notifications aloud
| Uh oh: Vine bans all sexually explicit video from their apps, effective immediately Posted: 06 Mar 2014 05:50 PM PST After nearly a year of free reign on Android devices, Vine is announcing changes to their terms of service that will change the way some of you use the service forever. Effective immediately, Vine is banning any and all sexually explicit video content from their app. It's a move Vine says won't affect 99% of its user base, but for those of you that had no problem getting your jollies off in 6 seconds or less (or uploading it), you’ll now have to look to other Android applications for your sexual fetishes While we can't say we necessarily disapprove with the move, it's one that's been a long time in the making. It wasn't too long ago Vine began banning hashtags used for finding sexually explicit material (seriously, #vineafterdark was the worst), making it more difficult for would-be voyeurs to target their favorite Vine content. The altogether removal of Vine-porn shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone and really, we're just wondering what took them so long. While we're sure there are some of you disappointed by Vine's decision, Vine would like to go on the record that they're not against all “explicit sexual content" found on the web — it's just no longer allowed on their service. It's just a bit strange given parent-company Twitter doesn't seem to have much problem with it, home to countless porn stars advertising their assets without fear of censorship (theres an option to flag your account as displaying "sensitive content"). From henceforth, should you happen to come across sexually explicit material in your Vine travels, you now have the option to “report this post” in the Vine app by clicking on the 3-dot menu at the top. So tell us, Phandroids… were any of you apart of that 1%? |
| Smash Hit now available for Android, from the creators of Granny Smith and Sprinkle Posted: 06 Mar 2014 04:34 PM PST You’ve heard us gush over Mediocre and their casual gaming masterpieces like Granny Smith and Sprinkle. Today, the boys are back in town, this time with an entirely new title on Google Play called Smash Hit. It’s probably not what you would have expected from the game maker. You wont find quirky character designs are a cutesy story. No, sir. Smash Hit is unapologetically pure, casual gameplay, at its finest. Players are taken through 50 different rooms filled with glass planes and given 1 objective: smash all the glass in sight. Levels are on rails, meaning the only thing you have to worry about is the amount of balls in your inventory, and lining up the perfect shot. Glass and projectiles are brought to life using Mediocre’s trademark lifelike physics, and although graphics are simple, they feature realistic lighting techniques that’ll make your jaw drop. Although Smash Hit is completely free to download, you may want to consider buying the premium version for $2. The full version allows you to save your progress at check-points and gain access to cloud game saves — nice bonuses, but something you might be able to do without if you’re feeling up to the challenge. Either way, it sounds fair deal for a game that provides some good, old fashioned fun. Link below.
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| Xbox One SmartGlass app for Android brings push notifications in latest update Posted: 06 Mar 2014 03:59 PM PST The Xbox One SmartGlass app has always been pretty good, but there were always a couple of things holding it back in comparison to other versions. Namely, Android users never had the ability to receive a notification for new messages as soon as they come in. They were instead forced to check manually, which can be a drag. But today’s update changes all of that as Microsoft has finally added push notification support, so there should be no excuse for you missing your friends’ cries to come play Titanfall when it drops March 11th. Push notifications weren’t the only new thing Android users got in today’s upgrade, though. Microsoft has added the ability to unsnap a snapped app without having to use the remote feature. You also get a tweaked friends list that automatically shows your favorites at the top, much like the full-sized app now does on the Xbox One following the March upgrade. Microsoft has also cleaned the activity feed up a tad. Finally, you can now access all your own GameDVR clips with a new menu option instead of having to jump into your profile view. You should be looking for version 2.2, which is only available for devices running Android 4.0 or higher. It’s just 14MB large so you shouldn’t have much of a problem grabbing this one over your 3G or 4G connection. Find it for free in the Google Play Store right here. [via Xbox One Daily] |
| Google once again turning to LG to build upcoming Nexus [RUMOR] Posted: 06 Mar 2014 03:38 PM PST We feel like we’ve only begun settling in with our Nexus 5 and here come rumors of its followup already buzzing around the net. We don’t expect to actually learn anything about the “Nexus 6″ for at least another 7 months, but rumors out of Germany are suggesting Google might, once again, contract LG for the building of the next Nexus due out later this year. Nexus 6 and Nexus smartwatchThese latest rumors coming out of Gizmodo (Germany) claiming to even have a few details of the device, saying it will be a lightweight version of the LG G3 said to launch this June. Also mentioned was LG also building the much rumored Nexus smartwatch, a growing trend in wearable computing. Android fans are sure to point out the fact that LG was already “chosen” as the manufacture of the last 2 Nexuses/Nexi ( Nexus 4 and Nexus 5), leaving us to question the legitimacy of these rumors. Really, it’s tough to say with certainty exactly what Google will do. Although, typically, Google hasn’t stuck with any one manufacturer more than twice when building the Nexus, they’ve never actually come out and said 2 was ever the magic number. Of course, we (as well as most of you) would have liked to see another OEM take a stab at building a low cost smartphone running stock Android software, with HTC and Sony immediately coming to mind. 6-inch Nexus?Another point to consider is whether or not Google will even call the device the Nexus 6 or simply the Nexus 5 (2014). The number designates the display size of the device, not the generation. It’s entirely possible they could always go big and build a 6-inch smartphone (based on the LG G Flex or LG G Pro 2) but that’s territory very few OEMs (or consumers) are willing to go. Thoughts? |
| Madcatz MOJO to receive official OUYA software update this Spring along with price drop Posted: 06 Mar 2014 02:09 PM PST It may not come as much of a surprise to many of you, but it’s obvious the OUYA hasn’t been performing as well as its initial Kickstarter funding suggested. OUYA was always in a bit of a weird spot, offering games that, yes, were made for Android, but these titles were almost always exclusive to the OUYA platform. This meant games purchased for your OUYA couldn’t be played on your more than capable smartphone or tablet. You were stuck with OUYA’s hardware which, let’s face it, simply couldn’t keep up with the slew of more graphically intensive games launching nearly everyday. But it appears OUYA may have finally wised up with the announcement of “OUYA Everywhere” earlier this week. There wasn’t too many details, but the basics involved allowing OEMs to integrate the OUYA platform into their own hardware. There’s no question OUYAs haven’t exactly been flying off store shelves, forcing them to come up with alternative revenue models. That’s where software licensing comes in. Today, OUYA is announcing their first hardware partner, with Madcatz officially jumping on OUYA Everywhere train for their MOJO Android game console. Launching this Spring in a software update, the integration of OUYA immediately gives the console access to more than 680 games already made especially for the OUYA. Seems like a good move by Madcatz considering gamepad controller support in the Google Play Store is still very much hit-or-miss at this point. Madcatz also announced that they’ll be dropping the price of the MOJO down to $200 (currently $250), making the console a bit more enticing to consumers. Keep in mind that just because the Madcatz MOJO will launch with OUYA inside doesn’t mean OUYA is out of the hardware business. OUYA CEO Julie Uhrman stands by her promise to offer annual releases of updated OUYA hardware. But when your closest competitor has access to all the same games as you, what’s going to give the OUYA 2 the edge they desperately need to become a success? |
| You can already buy an imitation All New HTC One even before the thing is official Posted: 06 Mar 2014 01:31 PM PST We were blown away by Goophone’s fast turn around of their shameless Samsung Galaxy S5 ripoff following that device’s announcement, but they have beaten their own record — they’re starting to rip devices off weeks before they’re even made official. Enter the Goophone M8, one very underwhelming phone based on the All New HTC One (which is set to be unveiled in New York City later this month). We imagine if you’re looking into buying this thing then you aren’t interested in exact clones as much as you are deceiving people into thinking you have HTC’s next big thing. The Goophone M8 is being listed for $229, which will get you the following suite of internals:
Of course, one thing the Goophone couldn’t pull off were the dual rear cameras we’re expecting the all new HTC One to have (despite their description for the phone wrongly claiming it has them). We’re not even sure if both of those front-facing speaker grills are actually hiding speakers beneath them. And for $229 we definitely aren’t expecting a lick of metal to encase all the aforementioned pieces of silicon sitting inside. This sounds like a good buy if carrying around underpowered, poorly built ripoffs of quality phones is your thing. Otherwise, it’s still probably worth clicking through for the laugh alone. Whatever your motivation, though, you can find it all right here. |
| Google Play’s birthday sales are now live (full list inside) Posted: 06 Mar 2014 12:36 PM PST A couple of days ago, it was revealed that Google would plan to shower Google Play visitors with gifts in the form of sales to celebrate the digital storefront’s second birthday, though none of the deals were live at them time. We imagined it’d happen today, though, considering Google Play’s birthday is officially recognized as March 6th. So what’s on tap for today? Tons, really, though not everything on this list might interest you. We’ve got the full list straight ahead for your consideration: Books
Dr. Seuss Books
Magazines (50% off annual subscriptions)
Apps and Games
Movies and TV
Music
And that about wraps it up. It’s not the $.10, $.25 or even $.50 sales we’ve become accustomed to from Google in the past, but be sure to take advantage of any of these deals if you’ve been waiting for a good reason to dig into some new content. You can find links all of them right here. |
| Motorola Touchless Controls’ “What’s Up” command is too awesome for words [VIDEO] Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:26 AM PST Yesterday, we told you guys about a new upgrade to Motorola’s Touchless Controls app that added an awesome new command. Saying “What’s Up” or “Read Notifications” will have the phone read back a list of your recent notifications. We gave the new feature a spin on video on the Motorola DROID Maxx running Android 4.4 KitKat, and marveled at the fact that it sounds pretty natural and fluid. The app uses context-sensitive information and relativity to give a more naturally-flowing summary of all the things that need my attention. Simply put: it’s awesome, and while it may not be the most revolutionary thing in the world, it all adds up to that valuable, yet simple software experience Motorola has provided in their latest smartphones. It’s the reason I raved over the DROID Ultra and MAXX in my review, and why it’s compelled me to get behind Motorola for the foreseeable future. These sorts of features are what we hoped would come of Motorola’s ability to update the app through the Google Play Store, and we’re glad to know they’re taking full advantage of the unique capabilities they’ve enabled in their latest hardware. Watch a quick video demo of the feature in action above. Want the upgrade on your Moto X, DROID Mini, DROID MAXX or DROID Ultra? Head to Google Play and grab it yourself (but only if you’re on Android 4.4 KitKat). The feature is available in English, Spanish and Italian, with even more coming soon. PS to my colleague Joe from WinSource: the Packers most certainly do not suck, thank you very much. |
| This awful LG G Flex ad makes me weep for humanity [VIDEO] Posted: 06 Mar 2014 09:31 AM PST Seriously, LG? You’re cool and all, and your latest phones make me feel happy inside, but this LG G Flex ad seriously has me questioning whether the human race has made any significant progress within the past few decades. Why is the guy talking to the mouth and not the ear? And who makes out with their hand?! Nothing makes sense anymore! Yeesh, and to think I thought HTC was bad. Ad is sitting above if you feel like giving your gag reflex a workout. |
| Verizon LG G Pad 8.3 and Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 now available Posted: 06 Mar 2014 07:32 AM PST  Heads up, cool kids: Verizon has a couple of new tablets available for sale if you've been looking for a new slate to fill that oversized void in your mobile life. Both the LG G Pad 8.3 and Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 are now available, with both of them being offered up at a couple of different price points. The former is coming at you with an off-contract price of $300 and a two-year contract price of $200, though you'll be able to grab it for $100 with a new two-year contract if you opt to buy one on or before March 10th. On the far end of the spectrum is the Note Pro 12.2 with an off-contract price of $850 and a two-year price of just $100 less. The Verizon G Pad's 8.3-inch display has full HD resolution, and also has a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 5 megapixel camera, a 4,600mAh battery and more. It's pretty much the same as every other version out there in terms of hardware, except you'll obviously be able to do your surfing on Verizon's 4G LTE network instead of being confined to WiFi.  The Note Pro 12.2 is of similar ilk I'm terms of differences between all other available versions: it's nearly the same, but has those sweet 4G LTE radios. There is one difference, though — it uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 instead of the Octa-Core Exynos on account of said 4G LTE radios. In case you can't remember that those specs are, here's a quick list to get you on your way:
Of course, we've had the opportunity to go hands-on with the Note Pro at CES this past January, so take a gander at that and see why (beyond sheer specs) you'll have to give up nearly a month's worth of mortgage to pay for it. Both tablets can be added to Verizon's latest “More Everything” plans for just an extra $10 per month, while those on legacy plans will obviously be subject to different pricing and plan structures. Head to Verizon if you're interested in taking the plunge on either of these two offerings.
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| Opera for Android update brings WebRTC video, UI tweaks and more Posted: 06 Mar 2014 05:50 AM PST A significant upgrade has been madae to Opera for Android today, with the Norwegian company bringing a very nice web video protocol that will enable folks to video chat right in the browser with sites that support it. The standard is WebRTC, of course, the same one that Google Chrome and Firefox have already implemented in their mobile browsers. WebRTC can quickly and easily access your device’s microphone and camera, so you won’t have to be kicked out to another app or load up clunky plugins to be able to video chat with your friends and family. Several popular sites, such as imo.im and Appear.in, have already started using the standard, with tons more sure to fall in line as the years tick on. There’s more to Opera 20, though, with the company detailing the following changes:
All of these changes should combine to make a much more enjoyable experience, though whether it’s enough to beat the likes of Google Chrome, Firefox or your trusty old stock browser is up to you. You’ll have to find out yourself by grabbing it from the Google Play Store. |
| Entry-level HTC Desire 310 revealed Posted: 06 Mar 2014 05:23 AM PST HTC has announced a new entry-level option that’ll be going on sale quite soon. It’s dubbed the HTC Desire 310, a device which isn’t exactly going to light the world on fire, but should be important helping HTC fill out their bottom line on the year. The HTC Desire 310 will feature a 4.5-inch 854 x 480 display, a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582M processor, 1GB of RAM, a 5 megapixel camera on the rear, a VGA camera a 2,000mAh battery, and HTC Sense atop Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. We’re not sure on storage just yet, though we at least know you’ll be able to expand said storage with a microSD card.     This device will be coming in both single and dual-SIM flavoring for those who appreciate the choice. Taiwan is looking to be the first to get their hands on the device this April, with several other regions sure to enjoy rollouts beyond that. [via HTC] |
| LG L90 formally introduced as the high-end device in the mid-range Series 3 family Posted: 06 Mar 2014 04:51 AM PST It was only a week or so ago that LG revealed new devices in their Series 3 family, including the LG L40, LG L65, LG L80, LG L70, and LG L90, all of which were on display for the world to see at Mobile World Congress. LG felt the need to formally announce the latter-most of those devices with a press release, though. We already know everything we need to know about the device. We’ve even gotten hands-on time with it (as well as many of the other aforementioned devices). But in case you need another look at the specs it’ll bring to the table here they are:
It’s nothing to throw a party about, but these are the types of devices companies like LG use to capture the interests of those who don’t care to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a smartphone. Want to know where you’ll be able to buy it? The device will be available starting this month for countries part of the Commonwealth of Independent States, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Armenia and more. Other regions will get it following that, though LG wasn’t interested in detailing their full rollout plans at this time. Head to the source link for more. [via LG] |
| OnePlus One’s CPU officially confirmed to be Snapdragon 800 Posted: 05 Mar 2014 10:40 PM PST There were a lot of hints as to what the OnePlus One (aka, the CyanogenMod phone) would be using for an application processor, so we weren’t too surprised when Pete Lau officially announced the silicon inside the device earlier today. They’ve confirmed that the OnePlus One will sport the trusty ol’ quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 clocked at 2.3GHz. Some might be quick to mumble and grumble at the fact that it won’t have the latest and greatest, but here’s the thing — the Snapdragon 800 is still freaking awesome. A lot goes into building a phone, and Pete Lau said the Snapdragon 800 was the perfect choice for a few different reasons:
So while it may not be the most powerful or most perfect chipset, it’s the right chipset for the OnePlus One. We’re buying that, and it doesn’t make us any less excited for its eventual arrival. We’re still in the dark in terms of other specs — heck, we still haven’t seen a picture of this thing — but we have a feeling that the hype train behind this ambitious device has only just begun. And don’t think the fact that they have yet to prove anything is making them shy either, as the company has shown early signs of boldness by taking pot shots at some of the most significant players in the game. Let’s hope this smartphone turns out to be just as good as we (and they) are hoping it will be. [via OnePlus] |
| Motorola Touchless Control’s new “What’s Up” command will read your notifications aloud Posted: 05 Mar 2014 10:12 PM PST A new upgrade is headed to the Touchless Controls app on the Moto X and the Verizon DROID Mini, Ultra and MAXX. There weren’t a multitude of new features, though the magnitude of the one new feature certainly does excite us. Motorola has added a new “What’s Up” command, which will recite your notifications back to you in an oddly-digitized voice. You can also use “Read Notifications” if the former command is too informal for you. Motorola took care to mention that this feature only works on devices that have received the Android 4.4 upgrade, so if you haven’t been stepped up to KitKat yet you’ll want to get on that as soon as possible. The new commands are fully functional and available in English, Spanish and Italian, while various other languages have been included under the beta label. It’s good to see Motorola’s continuing to deliver great new features through apps in the Google Play Store, and not leaving it up to firmware upgrades which can take quite a while to reach everyone. Grab the download here, and let us know what you think after having tried it for yourself. |
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