From the Editor’s Desk: Phil’s best of CES
A few (more) thoughts on the boss’ favorites
We survived another one. Another week in Las Vegas. Another week at CES and forced narratives and crazy awesome tech that many of us won’t ever be able to afford, right alongside crazy (crazy) tech that will never see the light of day once it’s shipped back from the Las Vegas Convention Center.
That, friends, is CES, at least from the tech side.
For those of us on my end of the business, it’s also one of the few times a year we see our work friends, folks spread out all over the world. We compete, sure, but that just makes us all better. And on occasion we sit and we eat and we drink and we talk about how lucky we are to get to do this in the first place, one-upping each other as we go.
And we get to put faces to readers. It’s cliche, and it’s absolutely an ego stroke, but I still love it when strangers come up just to say hi. It’s important to remember that we do this for people and not just for readers. And seeing faces flips that switch. You remember that people care not just what you say, but that it’s you saying it. When we forget that is when we tend to get in trouble and lose our way. So please don’t ever be too shy to introduce yourself.
A few other thoughts on the CES that was …
LG G Watch R international giveaway
Welcome to the Sunday Giveaway, the place where we giveaway a cool Android or tech gadget each and every Sunday. Last week’s winner of the Nexus 9 is Nikolaos Z. (Finland), Congratulations Nikolaos, enjoy your new Nexus 9 tablet. This week we are giving away the LG G Watch R Android Wear smartwatch.
LG G Watch R
How to enter the giveaway
You can earn entry tickets into the giveaway by completing the following tasks in the RaffleCopter widget located below.
- [1 Tickets] Follow Android Authority on Twitter.
- [1 Tickets] Send a tweet about the giveaway.
- [1 Tickets] Subscribe to the Android Authority newsletter.
- [10 Tickets] Refer friends to the giveaway. You will be given a unique URL to share with your friends or social networks. You will receive 1 bonus entry (up to 10 max) for every person who you refer to the giveaway using your unique URL.
Join Now!
Terms & Conditions
- The giveaway is an international giveaway (Except when we can not ship to your Country.)
- If we can not ship to your country, you will be compensated with an online gift card of equal MSRP value to the prize.
- We are not responsible for lost shipments.
- You must be age of majority in your Country of residence.
- We are not responsible for any duties, import taxes that you may incur.
- Only 1 entry per person, do not enter multiple email addresses. We will verify all winners and if we detect multiple email addresses by the same person you will not be eligible to win.
- We reserve all rights to make any changes to this giveaway.
Full terms & conditions and FAQ | Past giveaway winners [Gallery]
Good luck everyone!
More images of Xiaomi Mi5 chassis appear
A couple days ago an image of the forthcoming Xiaomi Mi5′s chassis leaked that seemed to indicate the new smartphone will be very thin when released later this week. That image was a printout describing the chassis with a drawing or image. Today some new images have surfaced of an actual aluminum chassis that are reportedly the chassis for the Mi5.
When the Mi5 launches, which is scheduled to happen later this week on January 15th, it is expected to come with a screen in the 5.5-inch to 6-inch range, although it is not yet known whether it will be a 1080p resolution or bumped up to QuadHD. Likewise, the processor and amount of RAM are not yet known, though many are expecting 3 – 4 GB of RAM and at least a Snapdragon 805 chip.
Look for more leaks to surface over the next few days leading up to the expected January 15th release in China.
source: MyDrivers
via: AndroidHeadlines
Come comment on this article: More images of Xiaomi Mi5 chassis appear
More images of Xiaomi Mi5 chassis appear
A couple days ago an image of the forthcoming Xiaomi Mi5′s chassis leaked that seemed to indicate the new smartphone will be very thin when released later this week. That image was a printout describing the chassis with a drawing or image. Today some new images have surfaced of an actual aluminum chassis that are reportedly the chassis for the Mi5.
When the Mi5 launches, which is scheduled to happen later this week on January 15th, it is expected to come with a screen in the 5.5-inch to 6-inch range, although it is not yet known whether it will be a 1080p resolution or bumped up to QuadHD. Likewise, the processor and amount of RAM are not yet known, though many are expecting 3 – 4 GB of RAM and at least a Snapdragon 805 chip.
Look for more leaks to surface over the next few days leading up to the expected January 15th release in China.
source: MyDrivers
via: AndroidHeadlines
Come comment on this article: More images of Xiaomi Mi5 chassis appear
What’s weird at CES 2015? Pretty much anything and everything
You don’t have to go far to find something weird at CES. And we’re not necessarily talking bad weird. Just weird weird. Simple fact is there’s a market for everything. Or, rather, the companies here in Las Vegas are hoping there’s a market for whatever it is they’re selling.
So I gave the Mobile Nations gang a simple task. You have 20 minutes. Bring me back the weirdest thing you can find.
Let’s see how we did.
Runtastic Me update finally makes it useful for those with an Orbit fitness tracker
Last week on 8th, Runtastic finally pushed out their first update for their new Me application. Initially released before Christmas on Windows Phone, Me is the official companion app for Runtastic’s Orb fitness tracker. The problem was, the app was previously useless for many, myself included as it crashed soon after trying to sync wit an Orbit.
Now, version 1.0.1 on the Store fixes all of that as we have regularly been syncing with our Orbit.
Alcatel begins selling products direct to U.S. consumers
Great news for those customers wanting to get their hands on the new Alcatel OneTouch range since Alcatel have begun shipping directly to the US.
The new smartwatch due out in March, as well as unlocked smartphones and tablets, all GSM ready, are being sold directly to US consumers, including the Idol X+ ($275), Idol S 2 ($198), Pop 7 ($149) , and Pop 8 ($199).
Check out the whole OneTouch range from Alcatel at their website.
The post Alcatel begins selling products direct to U.S. consumers appeared first on AndroidGuys.
13 best Android MMORPGs
A good MMORPG can have a strong effect on a person. You can lose yourself for hours upon hours at a time while you go on quests, make new friends, and raise your character to be seriously awesome. The genre hasn’t been around on Android for very long but there are already some popular and fun titles you can hop right into and start playing. Here are the best Android MMORPGs available right now.
Arcane Legends
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Arcane Legends is an Android MMORPG that is free-to-play and has some decent 3D graphics. You can choose between three base classes: rogue, sorcerer, or warrior. You play online with friends, create/join guilds, battle PvP, and do pretty much what you’d expect to do in an MMO. You can play solo if you want to and the developers claim that this works on 3G and even Edge network connections. There is a lot of customization and a large number of players.
Avabel Online
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Avabel Online is another 3D Android MMORPG with a large number of players and a lot to do. You can go questing alone or with friends and each class has a number of advanced classes they can evolve into. The big draw here is the tower scramble which can feature as many as 1000 players and that’s a lot of chaos. The developers have been consistent with adding new content including classes and maps which is encouraging and people genuinely seem to like this one.
Brave Trials
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Brave Trials is another MMORPG that boasts over 120 skills that you can teach your characters. The more cartoon-like graphical style and modestly simple hack-and-slash game play give it more of a casual feel which is great if you want something that isn’t so serious. It’s colorful and large which is really the solid base for what a good MMORPG should have. It may be a tad simplistic for the more hardcore MMORPG players out there but there is plenty to do for the casual gamer.
Dark Legends
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Dark Legends is an MMORPG with a fun twist. Instead of goblins, elves, and dwarves, you play with vampires. It features hack-and-slash style game play and graphics similar to Gauntlet Legends. The familiarity and simplicity will certainly help new players adapt to the game. You can play solo or with others if you prefer, work with thousands of items, gear, and various other things. It’s a large game with over a million downloads to date and it’s a little bit of the same kind of stuff mixed with something a little bit different.
Dungeon Hunter 4
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Dungeon Hunter 4 is one of the more popular and well-known MMORPGs on Android. It’s developed by Gameloft and pretty much every Android gamer knows Gameloft. It features decent graphics, plenty of dungeons to go crawling around in, and, of course, multiplayer support. You can choose from four types of classes to start and you have the option to play PvP or co-op if you want. In terms of sheer size, it’s actually quite a bit smaller than most of these other titles. It’s great for those wanting to get into the genre without being overwhelmed.
Eternity Warriors 3
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
The Eternity Warriors series is a little bit more action-RPG than MMORPG but it still has many of the required elements. You can join guilds, play online co-op or PvP, and compete in tournaments against other players and guilds. The graphics are above average, thousands of items to collect, and the developers appear to be active in adding in new content. It’s starting to show its age but it’s still a solid experience.
Kingdoms at War
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Kingdoms at War is a turn-based MMORPG that also has a lot of strategy elements thrown in. While the hallmark MMORPG involves dungeon crawling, sometimes it’s a little more fun to take a step back and play something a little more casual and Kingdom at War is essentially that. In this title you play with people online as you try to conquer one another. You can join clans, spy on other clans, and engage in warfare against them. It is turn based so don’t expect any epic hack-and-slash battles here. That said, it’s still enjoyable if you’re more of a casual gamer.
Legion of Heroes
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Legion of Heroes is another hack-and-slash MMORPG that uses a more tactical battle system than the usual all-out variety. There are over 100 heroes available that you can play with and there are also massive 45 versus 45 PvP battles you can take part in. Much like Kingdoms at War, there are some strategy elements like the need to build your army and the tactical fighting but strays closer to traditional MMORPG.
Order & Chaos Online
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Order and Chaos Online is considered one of the must-have MMORPGs on Android. It contains decent graphics and a ton of multiplayer game play. There are leaderboards and players can engage in PvP, co-op, along with stuff like trading. There are over 2500 skills spread out over five races along with 5000 pieces of equipment. There doesn’t seem to be a lot this game doesn’t have and that makes it a front runner on a lot of lists like this one.
Pocket Legends
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Pocket Legends is a cutesy MMORPG designed for casual gamers. It was one of the earliest MMO titles available for any mobile device and remains a pretty good play even today. The graphics are 3D but cartoon-like for that cute appeal but don’t let that fool you. There are the standard MMORPG mechanics like PvP and co-op along with an unusual set of bad guys. Hardcore fanatics will likely want something more complex and adult but those looking for something fun to get into and don’t mind the simplicity should have a really good time with this title.
Ragnarok: Path of Heroes
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Ragnarok: Path of Heroes is an anime-style MMORPG styled after the game of the same name available on PC. You can go questing with friends, train your mercenary to become all powerful, and there is also a PvP system. It uses a unique auto party system if you’re having trouble finding people to play with so you’ll never have to go at it alone. The development is active and the level cap is easily the highest of any on this list (99). It may be a bit much more the mature players but anime fans will definitely enjoy this one.
The Saga of Conquest
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
The Saga of Conquest is an MMORPG that employs turn-based mechanics and a pseudo-3D, old-school jRPG style. You create your character, play online with people and engage in PvP as you’d expect from an MMORPG. There are four races and five classes for a total of 20 character options which isn’t bad. The developers hold events every now and then to keep things interesting and the game is simple enough to be enjoyable for casual gamers. It has a smaller user base (500,000 installs) so it works out well if you want a more intimate kind of game.
Star Legends
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Last up is Star Legends and it’s a unique MMORPG. Much like Knights of the Old Republic, Star Legends is a classic RPG with futuristic, Sci-Fi elements such as weapons and items. You can play as an engineer, commander, or an operative which are essentially Sci-Fi versions of a sorcerer, warrior, and rogue respectively. The familiarity of the core mechanics of an MMORPG with the fresh premise of adding in Sci-Fi elements contrasts nicely and that’s why this game is here.
Wrap up
If we missed any great Android MMORPGs, let us know in the comments!
To see our complete list of Android apps and games lists, click here!
Apple processor order for smartwatches appears to be with Samsung
There is certainly no love lost between Apple and Samsung after years of contentious courtroom battles. In a sign of how severe the dislike between the companies was, at one point Apple decided to seek other manufacturers of processor chips for their mobile devices instead of continuing with one of the biggest suppliers on the block, Samsung. Despite that enmity, which has been cooling recently, business is business. In this case, Apple is trying to get a smartwatch out to market and that means they need chips for the devices. A new report indicates Apple has decided to utilize Samsung as the supplier for their forthcoming wearable.
The processor will be one part of Apple’s S1 system-in-package (SiP) which includes DRAM, NAND flash, the processor and some other peripheral chips. To supply the processor piece, Samsung will reportedly produce 3,000 to 4,000 12-inch wafers each month.
Analysts have already started the march to revise forecasts of Apple smartwatch sales downward for 2015. The wisdom seems to be the initial product may only sell 10 million units in 2015 while many consumers wait for the second generation smartwatch product from Apple to be announced. Although Samsung apparently has succeeded in winning the order for this round of Apple wearables, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is bidding heavily againt Samsung to win the contract for the next generation of the device. TSMC is the company that Apple shifted to as a supplier to replace the Samsung A8 chips in their other mobile devices.
source: Digitimes
Come comment on this article: Apple processor order for smartwatches appears to be with Samsung
Sick of walking? Here’s the future of personal transportation!
We might not have gotten to hoverboards quite yet, but the state-of-the-art of personal transportation tech at CES 2015 was still terrific. From rocket skates to gryo-boards to eco-scooters Serenity, Georgia, Anthony and I hit Pepcom, Showstoppers, the CESlive stage, and the Sands to check out the most interesting, exciting, and energizing personal transportation coming our way!
AIVAnet 