Cult of Android - page 28

What’s worse than an infuriating free game that munches up your patience and your spare time in equal measures? An infuriating game that you have to pay for, of course.

Having swept mobile gaming in 2014 (and inspired everything from Apple II mods and Pebble versions to Street Fighter II mashups in the process) Flappy Bird is reportedly making its way to arcades — courtesy of Bay Tek Games, which plans to blow the tap-to-fly mobile game to fill a 42-inch display.

Some manufacturers have seen great success in taking inspiration from (copying) popular Apple products, and now Nokia is getting in on the action. Its attractive, Android-powered iPad clone, called the N1, sold 20,000 units in just four minutes when it went on sale in China this week.

2014 wasn’t a great year in Samsung land. The company has just issued its earnings guidance for the year’s fourth quarter — and the news isn’t good.

With operating profit standing at 5.2 trillion won (around $4.74 billion) for the quarter, the company’s overall profit for the year will likely come in at 25 trillion won: its lowest figure in three years.

Looking for an affordable smartband without the fancy bells and whistles? Razer’s new Nabu X could be exactly what you’re after. Priced at under $50, the minimalistic device connects to your smartphone and brings super simple notifications to your wrist using only three colored LED indicators.

Aww, Google TV. We barely knew you existed.

Google officially stopped supporting Google TV today with a post on Google Plus telling developers for the rarely used platform that support would focus on Android TV from now on.

“Existing Google TV devices and all of the features of these devices will continue to work,” says the post, “and so will the apps you’ve developed for the Google TV platform.”

This new Android-powered ZX2 Walkman is for serious audiophiles only. Sony’s pushing the device as a high-resolution sound machine, and it’s set a price to match.

$1,119.99 seems a bit much for a portable music player, but I really can’t seem to stop wanting one. The design is gorgeous, with a black matte finish and glorious actual buttons that just beg me to touch it.

Forget the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One — wouldn’t you rather play your PC games in your living room? Razer’s new Android-powered Forge TV allows you to do just that, thanks to a new technology called Cortex: Stream, which beams games from your PC to your television.

One of the biggest reasons why many app developers continue to snub Android is piracy. The platform’s “open” approach, which allows applications to be downloaded from third-party sources and installed manually, makes it incredibly easy for users to circumvent Google Play and obtain paid apps completely free.

Piracy on Android is so rampant right now that just 5 percent of installs of Monument Valley — one of the best mobile games of 2014, which is currently priced at $3.99 in the Play Store — have actually been paid for.

Call it a ripoff artist that rides on Apple’s coattails if you want, but Xiaomi continues to go from strength to strength in its position as the world’s third-largest phone manufacturer.

Having recently announced a new valuation of $46 billion — making it the most valuable tech startup in existence — China-based smartphone maker Xiaomi Technology recently announced that its sales revenue leaped up by more than 100 percent in 2014, as the company sold a massive 61.1 million smartphones to customers.

Love it or hate it, those are some pretty big numbers!

Google today announced a new Apple AirPlay competitor called Google Cast, which lets you stream audio from a whole bunch of popular apps to Cast-compatible speakers. The search giant has teamed up with a number of popular services for its launch, including Pandora, Rdio, and NPR One.

Dell doesn’t usually impress us with its Android-powered offerings, but its new Venue 8 7840 tablet could be far more impressive than the onslaught of new slates we see at CES this week. It’s powered by a speedy Intel processor, has four cameras, and takes the title of the world’s thinnest tablet to date, measuring just 6mm thick.

Alcatel Onetouch wanted the world to see its new smartwatch so badly that it actually previewed the device last week ahead of its official unveiling. But at CES in Las Vegas today, the company confirmed a few juicy details we didn’t already know — such as compatibility with iOS devices, and the WATCH’s $149 price tag.

Smartphone innovation may have stalled in recent years, but that hasn’t stopped manufacturers from updating and improving upon their best devices. This year, we’ve seen big changes to devices like the iPhone, the Galaxy Note, and the LG G — as well as new contenders like the OnePlus One. But what are the best smartphones of 2014?

Here are our picks.

While Samsung’s smartphone sales may be falling, those who are buying its devices couldn’t be happier with them. In a new satisfaction study, the South Korean electronics giant beat even Apple to the top spot of the smartphone category, while Nokia ranked higher than BlackBerry, LG, and even HTC.

Samsung has taken a bit of a beating as of late, thanks to the decline of its mobile division, but that doesn’t stop us from noticing that these new pill-shaped speakers from being absolutely gorgeous.

Scheduled to be properly unveiled at CES 2015 in Las Vegas, the speakers are designed to project sound in a 360-degree radius, using Samsung’s proprietary “Ring Radiator” technology.

There are two speakers set to be introduced in the range: a larger model called the WA7500, which is described as a “stand type” and the lantern-style WA6500, which features a built-in battery and is more easily movable. Both speakers are wireless, utilizing Bluetooth technology.

We’ll have full details when we get a closer look at CES (along with the other gadgets on display at the much-anticipated tech show), but for now this is a great sneak peak at a line of speakers that is already filling us with envy. Check out more images after the jump:

Xiaomi is known for “borrowing” many aspects of Apple’s identity, and here’s one more to add to the list: its sky high valuation.

Having just announced the raising of an extra $1.1 billion in funding, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi announced on Monday that it is now valued at a whopping $46 billion — making it worth more than any other tech startup.

“This round of funding is an affirmation of Xiaomi’s achievements in more than four years of business and a prelude to a new stage of development,” founder Lei Jun wrote on Monday.

While Apple Stores go from strength to strength, the so-called Samsung Experience Stores sadly aren’t faring so well.

Would-be shoppers at Samsung’s flagship store in London, England, were today greeted by a message telling them about the permanent closure of the outlet.

The store was located in the Westfield Stratford shopping center, and followed an Apple-inspired layout, with an open plan design, staff in blue shirts, and plenty of space to try out new Samsung products — many of which arrived there first, before going on general release.

If you liked the iPhone 5c’s colorful design but were put off by its tiny screen and aging specifications, then Meizu’s latest smartphone could be right up your street. It’s called the M1 Note, and it looks just like an iPhone 5c, only it’s much bigger, has more impressive specifications, and costs under $200 off-contract.

Xiaomi has caught a lot of flack for copying what Apple has done previously, which is why it’s apparently gone back to the drawing board and come back with a new plan: do the things Apple thought about, but didn’t do.

With that in mind, a new report today claims that Xiaomi is set to adopt sapphire displays for its upcoming 5.7-inch Xiaomi 5, to be showcased at the upcoming 2015 Consumer Electronics Show.

The company has reportedly approached the China-based Lens Technology and Biel Crystal Manufactory about expanding their sapphire processing capacities for the job.

It’s been a great year to be an Android user. Not only have we seen the release of Google’s massive Material Design makeover and all kinds of wonderful new features inside Android 5.0 Lollipop, but we’ve also had oodles of awesome apps to enjoy.

In this roundup, we’ve selected the best Google Play releases from the past 12 months. We’ve got great launchers, amazing email apps, terrific Twitter clients and lots more. (Some are also available on iOS.)

Amazon is upping its delivery game this week by launching a new delivery service called Prime Now that will bring diapers, Fitbits, televisions, and thousands of other essential items, to your doorstep in under an hour.

Prime Now is available today in select areas of New York City from 6 a.m. to midnight, with more cities planned for 2015. The new service is being packaged as part of your annual Amazon Prime subscription, and while includes over 25,000 items.

Amazon even created a video to show what you can order:

Instagram is today rolling out new updates on Android and iOS that bring an updated design, new features, and five new filters that Instagram says are its best yet. Inspired by the global community, the new filter set is the first Instagram has added in two years, and it’s designed to compliment the capabilities of modern smartphone cameras.

Huawei today announced its new Honor 6 Plus smartphone at an event in Beijing, and the device is already getting a lot of attention for having almost exactly the same name as Apple’s latest flagship.

Despite what you may think, however, this isn’t just another iPhone clone. Instead, it’s a flagship Android phablet with some impressive specifications, including an integrated coprocessor for fitness tracking, a massive battery, and two 8-megapixel rear-facing cameras that promise sharper images and some incredible features.

Samsung is preparing to launch its own Apple Pay competitor in 2015, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans — and it could be teaming up with LoopPay to make it even more successful. Just like Apple’s offering, Samsung’s will allow the owners of its smartphone to pay for goods simply by waving their devices at a machine, but it may not rely on NFC.

Google’s ‘Year in Search’ report was released this morning providing an insight into what’s on the mind of world’s internet users, and when it comes to technology, the iPhone 6 was the most popular tech search of 2014.

The Apple Watch also appeared on the top 10 list, taking the number 8 spot followed by the iPad Air as number 10 in the Consumer Electronic category. The Nexus 6 managed to pull in to third place, while Samsung had two devices in the top 5.

Here’s the full top 10: