Rovio takes flight with new RETRY game
Rovio is primarily known for their Angry Birds line of games. Their newest title, RETRY, invites players to take flight in a different manner, this time in an “8-bit jalopy of an airplane.” Rovio really plays up the retro aspects of the title, pointing out the 8-bit graphics look, the collection of coins as you work through levels, and a synthesized soundtrack.
RETRY gives players the opportunity to fly an old plane through a variety of challenging levels packed full of obstacles. To succeed, players will have to master a variety of moves like loops, stalls and dives. Along the way players will be able to collect coins and stars to unlock new levels or upgrade your plane with mods.
Like so many games that seem to hit the market these days, Rovio appears to be trying to appeal to the crowd that wants a game that is simple to learn but frustratingly difficult to master similar to Flappy Bird.
You can check out a few screenshots below. RETRY is free and can be downloaded using the links below, but it does offer in-app purchases.
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Google Earth for Android gets updated 3D rendering engine
Google has announced a major update for their Google Earth for Android app. According to their announcement, the key to the update is a new 3D rendering engine, the first overhaul since Earth launched over 10 years ago. Google says the new engine will provide “faster, smoother, and crisper transitions.”
In addition to the 3D enhancements, Google says their maps will update quicker and they are making it easier to view KML files. Updates to Earth maps will now correspond to updates in their Google Maps product. Google says they have given roads and labels a fresh new look in Earth as well to make it easier for users to find what they are looking for. Users who have created their own maps and generated KML files will now be able to load them directly from Google Drive.
If you want to give Google Earth for Android a try, just hit the download link below.
source: Google Maps Blog
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Moto 360 Wireless Charging Dock now in stock and ready to ship from Google Play
The Moto 360 Wireless Charging Dock is now available in the Google Play Store. The item had shown up a few days ago, but could not be ordered. That changed today as Google has the units in stock and ready to ship within 1-2 business days after an order is placed. The list price for the dock is $39.99.
To get the charger working, you will need a USB wall adapter to plug the USB cable in to or you can use your computer. The dock itself is a Qi-based wireless charger that has been molded so the Moto 360 will sit in it comfortably.
If you have a Moto 360 and want to order the new dock, hit the source link.
source: Google Play
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Apple Pay Glitch Causes Bank of America Customers to Be Charged Twice for Purchases
With Apple Pay positioned as a brand new service that requires banks, credit card companies, and vendors to all work together, it seems that some glitches in the system are inevitable.
Some Bank of America customers have been running into a serious problem when using Apple Pay to make purchases, with two charges showing up on their credit card statements. A CNN report from this morning first suggested that multiple Bank of America customers had been double charged, which Bloomberg later confirmed. Hundreds of customers are said to be affected.
A Bank of America representative contacted by CNN said that the issue was on Apple Pay’s end and after some confusion about who should be contacted for a refund, Bank of America was able to refund the money.
Bank of America transferred me to Apple Pay customer support. The only problem: Apple’s representative reminded me that for security’s sake — as promised — Apple keeps no records of names or amounts for any of the transactions.
That meant there’s nothing Apple could do, the representative told me. So Apple told me to call Bank of America. It was every consumer’s worst nightmare: customer service for two companies telling you to call the other.
Thank God for three-way calling. I got Apple and Bank of America on the same line and let them sort it out.
BofA was smart enough to refund me the money, because they said it was obvious to them that these were duplicate charges for the same exact amount.
Bank of America is planning to issue refunds to all Apple Pay customers who were double charged, and according to CNN, a fix for the problem is expected to be released at some point on Wednesday.
“We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to correct the issue. All customers have been made whole,” said Tara Burke, a spokeswoman for Bank of America. “We are always here for our customers and resolve any issues they have.”
Banking issues aren’t the only problem Apple Pay users are facing. According to a quick test conducted by Business Insider at eleven different retailers, many employees have little knowledge about Apple Pay. At eight separate locations, store clerks did not know whether or not they accepted Apple Pay, and only employees McDonald’s, Whole Foods, and American Eagle Outfitters were aware of the service.
The site had considerably difficulty conducting a return at American Eagle Outfitters, as the store cashiers had not been taught how to do them, but a refund was received “after a period of trial-and-error.”
There’s also a minor Apple Pay glitch that’s causing some credit cards to display the wrong card design within the Passbook app, affecting some Chase and Citibank card users, but a fix for that issue is said to be in the works, according to 9to5Mac.
Many of the kinks with Apple Pay will be worked out over the coming weeks, as retail employees adapt to the new payments service and banks and credit cards work out remaining bugs and issues. According to Apple’s Eddy Cue, Apple Pay will be a “game changer.” “There’s a lot to do here and we have a lot of work to do, but it should be huge,” he said in an interview.
Rolled out on Monday through an update to iOS 8.1, Apple Pay is accepted at more than 200,000 retail locations, wherever NFC contactless payments are available. It is also available in an array of apps that have adopted the Apple Pay API, including Uber, Target, and Apple’s own Apple Store app.
UNU Superpak Battery Pack Review
Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems that plague our smartphones is the poor battery life. While companies have expressed that they are working to increase battery life, we have yet to see any groundbreaking work in this area. We should be able to watch videos, play games, post on social media, text, and other things without having to worry about the percentage on our phones.
Until then, we have to settle on using external battery packs. The issue with these is your experience can vary, from small mAh amount, to slow charging times, and terrible hold of charge over a long period of time. Well, this battery pack looks to solve all of those.
UNU Superpak
This is the UNU Superpak Battery Pack. It is a 10,000 mAh external battery that claims to be the smallest 10,000 mAh battery in the world and to be the fastest charging battery pack ever. Does it hold up?
My experience with the UNU Superpak is a positive one, although not necessarily because of what they advertise. The battery pack is relatively small, but it’s still uncomfortable to have in my pocket. I do think it charges itself fast, but more on that later. What I enjoyed about this battery pack is that it holds a lot of charge for a long period of time that goes far in charging. Confusing, I know. Let’s break it down.
General Charging
This battery pack is 10,000 mAh, which is 3-4 times larger than the battery in the average smartphone. While the mAh in an external battery doesn’t translate exactly to the amount it will charge your device, it should be close. However, this is not always the case. I’ve had experience with external battery packs that is twice as large in mAh amount than my phone, and yet only charges my phone by about 60%. With the UNU Superpak, I charged it on Sunday, and I used it every day until Friday to charge my phone from about 40% to about 80% (I have a Moto X 1st Gen, which has a 2200 mAh battery). On each of those days I also occasionally charged my phone and tablet a little bit. On Saturday, it still had 1 of it’s 4 lights in power! While this turned out to not last very long when I went to use it next, that’s still very impressive. For a work week I didn’t plug my phone in while driving (where I always use navigation and play music), and I didn’t have to worry about charging the battery pack. The other thing this means is from turning it off until turning it on again, it holds the charge it had when turned off, which is something else I have not had great experience with.
Special Features
Something that is interesting about this battery pack that UNU advertises is their “uSmart” technology on the ports you plug your devices into. They claim that the port will detect what device is plugged into it, and apply the proper charging accordingly. While tablets will usually require the 2.1A port, smartphones can be plugged into either port and not be fried by the output. While this is hard to test, I can say that whenever I plugged my phone into the 2.1A port (as opposed to the 1A port), I never had any issues.
The other thing UNU advertises is that their “SuperX” technology allows the battery pack to get a charge faster than other devices. Here is what I can tell you from my experience: it does not necessarily charge fast, but compared to other devices it charges relatively faster. When I plugged in the UNU Superpak, it took a little over 9 1/2 hours to charge. In my opinion, this is by no means fast, as that’s over the 8-hour average of sleep time, meaning you’d have to think ahead to plug it in if you want it fully charged before you wake up. However, I plugged in another battery pack I’ve had for a while that’s 5000 mAh, and it took 7 hours & 45 minutes. See the difference here? A battery with half the capacity took almost as long as the UNU Superpak. Apparently this is done by the battery pack controlling its own input current through the SuperX port. Pretty neat.
Conclusion: 4.35 stars out of 5
To be honest, I’m not one who is big into making an accessory like this more than it is. A battery pack should hold a charge for a long time, and make that charge go a long way. However, it seems UNU is able to hold its ground pretty well.
Currently you can get this battery pack from the UNU site or Amazon for $39.99, which isn’t a bad deal considering all you get from this specialized battery pack. And UNU has offered readers of this article a coupon that is valid until the end of the month. I’ll put that info below. This can easily do in the place of an outlet if you’re going on a long road trip or camping. With a little more than 4 stars, this is a solid option.
COUPON CODE: SUPER5AV
Gives another $10 OFF, bringing the Superpak to $29.99 till the end of this month (October 2014)!
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My Tracks gets updated to support Android Wear
For those of you who have a Android Wear and use the My Tracks will be happy to hear that Google has updated their app to support My Tracks. Google+ Rens Blom noticed this and shared with the public this news. You won’t be able to take just your smartwatch without your smartphone, but it’s… Read more »
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Moto 360 update brings Smart Battery Saving, other features
Motorola continues to try to deliver a “timeless” timepiece with the Moto 360. A new update has struck with additional features like “Timely Time Checks” and “Mood Lighting”. You can view what this update entails below, or visit the Official Motorola Blog to read about what they have to say about their system update. Smart… Read more »
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The NSA can now use Samsung’s Galaxy phones for classified work
Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets have just become the first consumer mobile devices approved by the US National Security Agency (NSA) to carry classified documents. The edict covers most of its newer Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note 4, and the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet (2014 edition) — as long as they’re equipped with Knox, Samsung’s mobile security app. Knox-enabled devices have already been approved by the US Department of Defense, but only for general, not classified, use. That’s a shot of good news for Samsung in the face of recent dismal earnings, and it no doubt wants to translate the NSA’s golden nod into consumer and corporate sales. Ironically, many of those potential customers may be paranoid… of the NSA.
Filed under: Cellphones, Samsung
Via: PC World
Source: Samsung
Google’s ‘Inbox’ is a smarter take on email, created by the Gmail team
If you’re anything like us, Google’s Gmail has an iron grip on your life. Google’s looking to create a whole new iron grip with a new app from its Gmail team, and it’s called “Inbox.” What is it? That’s a good question — Google’s made a demo slash advertisement video that we’ve dropped below. As far as we can tell, Inbox is a combination of Google Now and your Gmail inbox — a “smart” inbox, if you will. It combines alike pieces of email (bank invoices, for example), highlights related information (like Google Now alerting you to flight changes, traffic, etc.) and keeps track of your life (it’ll give you reminders, among other heads ups). Is this the end of Gmail? We seriously doubt it, but it is Google’s latest foray into simplifying email. Head below for more!
In introducing the service, Google’s Sundar Pinchai called out the frustration of an overflowing email inbox. Inbox is Google’s attempt to make the inbox more approachable and organized without much user effort. ” For many of us, dealing with email has become a daily chore that distracts from what we really need to do-rather than helping us get those things done,” Pinchai wrote. “If this all sounds familiar, then Inbox is for you. Or more accurately, Inbox works for you.”
As seen below in GIF form, the app both shows prioritized events and emails you’ve received. Think of it as the lovechild of Cards and Gmail. Whether it’ll replace our standard Gmail app is another question altogether; trading the flexibility of Gmail for a more streamlined inbox is appealing, but also Gmail has an iron grip on our lives. In case that wasn’t clear the first time.
The app’s still in the invite stage, and Google says the first round of invites are already out in the world. Should your current Gmail (or whatever service) inbox be without an invite, Google’s set up an email address for you to ask to get in on the action. It’s only running on a Nexus 6 in the image, but Google says it runs on Android phones with Jellybean or better (4.1+) and iPhones running iOS 7 or better. There’s a web-client as well, but it’s a Chrome-exclusive.
[Image credit: Google]
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Software, Mobile, Google
Source: Google
Twitter trades passwords for phone numbers with Digits login
At its mobile developer conference in San Francisco, Twitter just announced Digits, a brand new way to login to apps with just your phone number. Instead of going through the tedious process of signing up with an email and password or using one of many different social logins, all you need is to enter in your number. When you do, you’ll get a confirmation code via SMS. Enter that in as well, and away you go. Digits is not based on your Twitter account at all; it’s actually an entirely new product that developers can incorporate into their apps. It’s a key part of Fabric, Twitter’s new mobile development kit that it’s rolling out today. Digits is available for iOS, Android and the web, and it’s available in 216 countries in 28 languages from day one.
Aside from Digits, Fabric includes several other tools that Twitter hopes developers will incorporate into their existing apps, such as Crashlytics, the crash reporting tool that the company bought last year. Especially of note is that developers can now not only embed tweets in their apps, but also the ability to compose and post tweets inside of them without having to launch the dedicated Twitter app.
Developing…
Source: Digits
AIVAnet 