Rage for iOS frags its way to gyroscope and Game Center support
One of the hottest titles in the App Store right now -- id Software's Rage -- recently got a healthy official update to version 1.11 that adds a handful of big new features to its roster, perfect to add a little replay value just in time as your amazing graphics-induced euphoria wears off.
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: baddies-trying, feature, game, gyroscope, handful, mobile, replay, scoreboards, tv-out
Android 2.3 definitely supports game controls, may (or may not) be PlayStation-related
Google's really been big today on emphasizing that Gingerbread is better than ever for game development, and that's already bearing itself out thanks to a page culled from the Android 2.3 SDK where we see a handful of new keycodes in the system clearly targeted for gaming: L1, L2, R1, R2, Select, Start, and so on. Does it have anything to do with the Sony Ericsson Zeus Z1 and all the PlayStation phone noise, though? We imagine it lays some of the groundwork, but all told, it's hard to say -- after all, PlayStation famously uses shapes for its primary controls, and we wouldn't be surprised if Sony were working on a separate development environment of some sort for PlayStation-branded titles rather than letting it all flow through the official Android SDK proper.
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: already-bearing, ericsson, expecting-news, february-at-mwc, gaming-efforts, gingerbread, handful, imagine-it-lays, keycodes, mwc, playstation, shapes, zeusz1
Dell Venue Pro on sale at Microsoft stores, but good luck getting one
So, just as was rumored , it seems Dell pushed a small handful of Venue Pros to Microsoft's seven flagship stores for sale today. We just spoke with a friendly rep who told us they were "going fast" and didn't sound too confident that we'd be able to get one by the time we got down there, but theoretically if we did, it'd be $199 for a new line (or an eligible upgrade) or $449 outright. If you manage to score one, that'll put you about a week ahead of everyone else -- they aren't expected to be available straight from Dell's site until the 15th
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: dell, entry, handful, microsoft, result, small-handful, stores, until-the-15th, venue pro, windowsphone7, wp7
MetroPCS turns attention away from unlimited momentarily, launches Walmart-exclusive bucket plans
A quick check of MetroPCS' site reminds us what these guys are all about -- unlimited voice, data, and messaging for less than you'd pay with any of the big guys -- but it looks like they might be exploring a shift in strategy with a handful of new prepaid packages that have launched exclusively through Walmart stores. For $20 you can get 500 minutes and 500MB of data, while moving up to $30 gets you 1,000 minutes and just 100MB of data -- both plans include unlimited messaging -- while a third plan for just $10 nets 200 voice minutes and unlimited incoming texts. Unsurprisingly, the packages aren't available with either MetroPCS' smartphones nor with the Craft , its just-launched LTE handset -- but considering how modern phones of both the smart and not-so-smart variety are emphasizing data and text features over voice, we wouldn't be surprised to see the regionals start to experiment more and more with interesting buckets
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: buckets, data, Data Plan, features, guys, handful, messaging plan, mobile, Packages, regionals, stores, turns-attention, voice, voiceplan, walmart
Qualcomm launches augmented reality SDK in beta form, ready to rock your Android devices
By now you would've come across at least a handful of inspiring augmented reality apps (with a few exceptions , perhaps), and if you fancy having a go at coding one yourself, Qualcomm may be able to assist. Today, the giant chip maker is pushing out a beta release of its Android AR SDK, which has produced interesting demos like the digital photo frame concept showcased in London last month, as well as the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots game pictured above. In fact, Mattel's so confident with the latter app that it's planning on commercializing it, so who knows -- you could be the next Peter Molyneux of the AR scene, or at least a winner of up to $125,000 from Qualcomm's AR Developer Challenge.
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone Tags: arsdk, augmentedreality, beta, developer, digital, Frame, handful, london, mattel, peter, programming, qualcomm, result, sdk
iOS 4.1: any problems for you?
Okay, so we've given you about a day to download, install, and tear iOS 4.1 into microscopic shreds. What's the end result?
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: break, end, handful, how-widespread, iphone, issue, proximity, sensor, sensor-woes, shreds, woes
BlackBerry Style 9670′s UI demoed in leaked official videos
RIM has yet to officially announce the upcoming Style 9670 flip, but the leakfest continues today with a handful of new videos -- professionally-produced ones this time -- that show off key features of the UI and how to use them. Unlike the Torch , the Style lacks a touchscreen -- it just wouldn't be prudent in a clamshell form factor -- which means we're seeing just what it's like to navigate the finer points of BlackBerry 6's user interface with an optical pad (and secondary display) alone on a larger, portrait-oriented display.
Categories: BlackBerry, Mobile Phone Tags: berry-style, blackberry6, certain-well, entry, handful, leak, series, touchscreen, upcoming
Prepaid Droid, BlackBerry and Palm phones coming to Verizon? (update: box spotting)
We'd heard a few rumors of some new prepaid offerings from Verizon recently, but it now looks like the carrier could really be about to expand things in a big way -- at least if some purportedly authentic leaked documents are any indication. Apparently received by Android Does from a helpful tipster, the documents list a whole new lineup of prepaid phones, including a slew of BlackBerrys, the Palm Pre and Pixi Plus, and just about every Android-based phone Verizon offers (including all of the Droids and even the yet-to-be released Samsung Fascinate -- again listed for September 9th ).
Categories: Android, BlackBerry, Mobile Phone Tags: BlackBerry, curve, droid, droid2, droidx, entry, handful, leak, offerings, palm, phones, pre, prepaid-droid, samsung, samsungfascinate
Motorola Charm hitting T-Mobile on August 25 at an ‘affordable’ price
T-Mobile USA just dropped the knowledge on Twitter that it'll be carrying the Motorola Charm starting next Wednesday, August 25 -- but what it failed to mention is pricing. For what it's worth, the company does specifically say that it'll be "affordable" -- and although a marketing department's definition of "affordable" can be very different from ours, we're encouraged by a handful of previous rumors that there would be ways to get it for free on contract . If you need us to jog your memory, the Charm is a cute little portrait QWERTY Android device with a Kodak-branded 3 megapixel cam and landscape display, giving it a rare form factor that could very well appeal to a whole new audience (read: BlackBerry folks).
Categories: Android, BlackBerry, Mobile Phone Tags: BlackBerry, breaking-news, breakingnews, definition, handful, Kodak, landscape, megapixel, memory, motorola, motorola-charm, twitter
Epic 4G review
Of the seemingly countless variants of the Galaxy S that Samsung's in the process of deploying around the globe, one stands out in a couple very unique (and important) ways: Sprint's Epic 4G . The Epic hangs on to a couple of the Galaxy line's most important characteristics -- namely the 1GHz Hummingbird processor and the 4-inch Super AMOLED display -- but adds in a sliding landscape QWERTY keyboard, support for the wickedly fast WiMAX network that Sprint shares with partner Clearwire, and a handful of other notable one-off customizations. We've already taken a look at two of the other US-bound Galaxy S models -- AT&T's Captivate and T-Mobile's Vibrant -- but it shouldn't take more than a quick glance at the Epic to tell you that this is a very, very different beast.