TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for May 6 – May 12, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on May 12th 2013, 5:19pm
tagged Weekly Recaps

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. Google I/O is next week and we have the full scoop on the new and improved Nexus 7. Rumors say the Motorola X phone is scrapped for the time being, but a recent FCC filing seems to indicate it might actually be sooner rather than later. We weren’t expecting to see it announced next week, but could we get a surprise? Google Babel is expected to be unveiled under the “Hangouts” name, and recent developments support that Google will unveil an updated Nexus 4 with LTE. Lastly, Google will unveil cloud sync gaming with Play Games. There were a lot of new apps, including a couple of reviews as well. It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.

Guides

How to remove apps from the Google Play Store ‘My Apps’ list

How to make a Drama Shot or Sequence Shot on the HTC One

Reviews

Boulder Dash XL [Brain & Puzzle]

» Read the rest

Angry Birds Seasons update called Abra-Ca-Bacon, coming next week

by Aditya Thawardas on May 10th 2013, 4:27pm
tagged Abra-Ca-Bacon, Android Gaming, angry birds, rovio

The latest update for Angry Birds Seasons will be available next week and will be called Abra-Ca-Bacon, Rovio announced today. The game will feature 30 new levels for players to conquer, as well as six additional levels that will be unlockable as players progress through the game. The biggest change with Abra-Ca-Bacon will be the introduction of a new gameplay mechanic called Portals. Just as the name suggests, Portals are secret entrances that can suck objects in at one end, and spit them out at the other end. The Portals aren’t just limited to your Angry Birds, as they can also propel Bad Piggies, blocks and other environmental objects.

The update will be available for download on May 16. You can see the portals in action in Rovio’s promo trailer after the break.

» Read the rest

TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 8, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on May 8th 2013, 11:04pm
tagged Daily Doses

With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That’s why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day’s hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!!

Reviews

Boulder Dash XL [Brain & Puzzle]

Apps

Rovio updates Bad Piggies with 15 new levels, 2 new items

WeatherBug gets a new update that brings redesigned user interface, hourly forecasts, and more

Google Earth for Android receives update, adds Street View

Google I/O Android app updated with new features for 2013

Carriers

AT&T adds more LTE markets, on pace to reach 250 million Americans by end of year

T-Mobile revenues dip, but customer base growing

Verizon offering “Red Hot Deal Days” until May 12 on select devices for Mother’s Day

Google Glass

Google Glass sensors revealed, expect a lot of augmented reality apps soon

Phones

AT&T offers the HTC First smartphone for under a buck

ImaGination Begins on May 30 at LG event

New color of the DROID RAZR M and DROID RAZR HD on the way to Verizon stores

Release dates for Galaxy Mega, Galaxy S 4 Mini, Galaxy S 4 Zoom, and Galaxy S 4 Activ Leaked

Sharp unveils AQUOS Phone Xx SoftBank 206SH with 5-inch 1080p CG-Silicon display and two-days of battery life

5-inch Sony Xperia A drops by the FCC with a removable battery

Vivo announces high-end, pricey phablet coming in late May

ROMs

Release candidates for CyanogenMod 10.1.0 start making their way to select devices

Updates

New build of Sense 5.1 surfaces for HTC Butterfly smartphone, tries to give a little taste of Android 4.2.2 in the process

Miscellaneous

Ouya console gets high ratings from iFixit, easily disassembled and repaired

Apple wants source code records in Samsung trial and looks in Google’s direction in the process

Samsung sitting on over $28 billion in cash at the end of March

Rovio updates Bad Piggies with 15 new levels, 2 new items

by Harrison Kaminsky on May 8th 2013, 3:22pm
tagged bad piggies, rovio, update

Rovio has been making some big moves this week, and they’re adding to them today with an update for their hit game, Bad Piggies. The update introduces 15 new levels, as well as 2 new items, including suction cup wheels and boxing glove boosts.

Here’s the full list of the new features:

15 new sun-drenched levels!
Climb walls with the new suction cup gadget!
Punch your way to victory with the new spring-loaded Boxing Glove!
Go crazy in an all-new sandbox!

Check out the link to the app in the Play Store after the break. Enjoy! » Read the rest

TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 7, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on May 7th 2013, 10:13pm
tagged Daily Doses

Apps

STARZ Play, MOVIEPLEX Play, and ENCORE Play now in the Play Store

RunKeeper releases app for Pebble Smart Watch

Rovio Accounts lets users sync game progress across devices

Auralux gets updated to include new level pack, controller support and oh— support for non-Tegra devices

Monkey Boxing takes a shot at Google Play Store

Spotify update adds new features, trousers option

Carriers

AOL announces content distribution partnership with Verizon, taking over browsers everywhere

» Read the rest

Rovio Accounts lets users sync game progress across devices

by Aditya Thawardas on May 7th 2013, 12:59pm
tagged angry birds, rovio

Rovio’s games, including Angry Birds, have been an enormous hit in the mobile games market, but one inconvenience had been that game progress didn’t sync across devices. Rovio Accounts have been rolled out to fix this annoyance. Requiring only an email address, the new feature allows users to sync game progress on one device and continue playing where they left off on another device.

Rovio Accounts are currently extremely limited. They are available globally for The Croods and Angry Birds for iOS in only Finland and Poland. Rovio will continue rolling this feature out to other apps and regions, but for now, you’re going to have to wait if you want to sync your Angry Birds game in North America.

If you play The Croods, or Angry Birds in Finland or Poland, how is the new feature is working for you? Let us know below.

Source: Rovio

TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for April 29 – May 5, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on May 5th 2013, 10:11am
tagged Weekly Recaps

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. We finally published our review of the Galaxy S 4, and although the bootloader is locked on many variants, a solution is eminent. Probably the biggest story that didn’t get that much attention was the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S 4 was approved by the U.S. Department of Defense based on Samsung’s security suite called KNOX. This is only going to strengthen Samsung’s mobile market share dominance. Google Glass news was a plenty, and we saw what appears to be a real leak of the Motorola XFON. Lastly, will Paranoid Android be the ROM of choice with their new Halo notifications? It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.

Guides

Best Android camera apps [April 2013]

How to use S Translator and the Optical Reader on the Samsung Galaxy S 4

Reviews

Samsung Galaxy S 4 Review: The smartest smartphone ever

Live Pixels [Live Wallpaper]

Dinamotxt [Communication]

» Read the rest

TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 2, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on May 2nd 2013, 11:30pm
tagged Daily Doses

Apps

Free version of Beautiful Widgets with in-app purchases now available

Rovio unleashes Angry Birds Friends to Android

Google

Google+ Hangouts for desktop now allows remote control of other computers

Google Glass

Patent filed for Google smartwatch with touchpad functions similar to Glass

» Read the rest

Rovio unleashes Angry Birds Friends to Android

by Harrison Kaminsky on May 2nd 2013, 4:52pm
tagged Angry Birds Friends, Facebook, rovio

Last month we reported that Rovio was planning a big release on the Google Play Store. That time has come now, with a new version of Angry Birds that is sure to go viral in the coming weeks.

Ported from the online version, Android users everywhere are now able to experience the social features of Angry Birds Friends for free. This new version allows gamers to connect with Facebook friends, challenging them to matches of the classic game. You can gather daily rewards, send and receive gifts, post about the game via Facebook connectivity, and collect trophies.

For those worried about losing your progress after playing on Facebook, have no fear— the app picks up right where you left off on the computer with seamless integration. Nice! There’s also a pretty cool tournament feature included that users will definitely have to check out.

Check out the link to the app in the Play Store after the break. » Read the rest

TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for April 1 – April 7, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on Apr 7th 2013, 1:39pm
tagged Weekly Recaps

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. The week started off with some of the best April Fools jokes Google has ever done. Then later in the week, Facebook and HTC made a splash with the HTC First and the Facebook Home launcher app that will be available for select Android phones. It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.