Disable Lollipop Heads-up notifications with HeadsOff
Google introduced a number of new visual tweaks and functions to Android with Lollipop, some well received and others not so much. Heads-up notifications are one of the more contentious ones. While some love it, others view it as overly intrusive. If you would rather disable this feature, the HeadsOff app could be what you are looking for.
Importantly, the application doesn’t require root permissions to work fully, so it should work on any handset running Lollipop. Not only can HeadsOff be used to remove the notifications, but the app has recently been updated with some interesting new features in version 2.0.
The latest version includes options to enable ticket text in the notification bar, which displays the first few lines of a message rather than a big notification card, and an extended ticker if you fancy a little more information in your notifications. The app also now supports the disabling of notifications on a per app basis, so you can turn off particularly annoying notifications while leaving the important ones alone. However, you will need to buy the pro version of the app for $2 to enable these more interesting options.
Fortunately, if you want to test out these new features, the pro version is a separate applications, meaning that you can try it and return it for a refund if you’re not going to use them. You can download the free version and pro version directly from the Google Play Store.
Popular first-person shooter franchise Payday is making its way to mobile devices
Video game publisher and creator Starbreeze Studios has just announced that it’s bringing the popular first-person shooter franchise Payday to mobile devices. Partnering with Cmune, a mobile games specialist, Starbreeze is working on a brand new Payday experience that’s tailored to mobile devices.
Since the game was originally launched back in 2011 for the PC and Playstation 3, Payday isn’t exactly a mobile-friendly game in its current form. But the two companies working to develop the mobile-friendly version of the game say they’re “excited to explore how PAYDAY can evolve onto new platforms and see what we can do with competitive gameplay on mobile.”
For those unfamiliar with the franchise, you play as a group of robbers that break into a bank, hoping to score as much cash as possible without getting caught. The aim of the game is to hold hostages and try to escape as quickly as you can without getting killed or arrested by law enforcement officers. Overall it’s a very fun game, though it can prove to be quite intense and graphic at some points. If you can’t tell by the description, the first version of the game is rated for mature audiences only, so children aren’t advised to take part in playing the game. With that said, I won’t attach a trailer in this post, but feel free to check out the E3 trailer for Payday: The Heist that was released back in 2011.
No release date or platform compatibility information was released in today’s announcement, so we might need to wait awhile to get some more details on the release.
Fallout Shelter brings the Fallout experience to everyone
Everyone’s heard of Fallout. Yet Bethesda games hasn’t put out a new game since Fallout 3 New Vegas. Well, last week Bethesda announced the latest iteration of the Fallout series, Fallout 4, would be coming out later this year. Last night, Bethesda held their pre-E3 conference where they announced the release date for Fallout 4, a new Doom game, and a Fallout game for mobile devices.
The game for mobile devices, called Fallout Shelter, was released to help build on the already growing anticipation for Fallout 4. The basis of Fallout Shelter is that the game puts you at the helm of a vault. You select a number, any three digit number, and that’s the vault that you control.
From there, you are walked through an introductory aspect of the game where you begin to learn the ins and outs of how to control your vault. From sending folks into the wild to gather supplies, to creating new rooms. You can even make two vault residents “make love” to grow the population.
It’s not as easy as building a room and sticking people in the various rooms. Certain people bring certain improvements to each specific workplace, and having the right people in the right places can help grow the amount of resources that the specific work room puts out. If you put someone in the wrong place, it does have a negative affect on the Vault and you can have issues like your Nuclear Reactor catching fire and spreading to the other rooms within the Vault.
Since the game was just released last night, we haven’t had the time dive all the way through the game, however, for the time that we have played, it seems like a modified version of Tiny Tower. Currently, the game is only available for iOS, but we can expect to see an Android version somewhat soon.
Lastly, Fallout Shelter is available for free with the support of In App Purchases, but they aren’t a necessity to play the game. If you’re excited for the release of Fallout 4 then this is definitely worth checking out, to help curb some of your impatience for the release of the real deal on November 10th of this year.
Let us know what you think about Bethesda releasing its’ first mobile game, and how excited you are for the release of Fallout 4 this fall.
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Huawei Honor 7 to be announced on June 30
Huawei has announced quite the number of devices this year. Heck, they even put up a sale on their US website Anniversary a few weeks back. Huawei’s latest flagship device, the Huawei P8 Max phablet, is their latest offering and has been raking in the news recently.
Well, the Huawei P8 Max is not the only device worth talking about as the Huawei Honor 7 is also slated to release sometime soon. While there has been no offical response from Huawei as to when we can expect the device to hit shelves, there have been many a leak that have nonetheless given us a taste of the Honor 7. From images leaked online to a rumored spec list of the device, the Honor 7 has not been a very kept secret. Huawei teased the device in China few days back, and it hinted at the arrival of the Honor 7 by June 24, but nothing was confirmed.
A new leak has surfaced today which confirms the release date of Huawei Honor 7. As usual, Huawei has turned to their official Weibo account posting a picture which confirms the arrival of the device on June 30. The device launch is set to take place in Beijing.
Since, the Huawei Honor 7 has already been certified in China, we have a quite a bit of info on it. Among its specs, it includes a 5-inch 1080p display, 16 or 64GB on-board storage, along with 3 or 4GB of RAM for the two variants, powered by a 3,280 mAh battery. The Honor 7 will sport a fingerprint scanner running on Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin 935 64-bit octa-core processor.The smartphone is rumored to run Android Lollipop with Huawei’s Emotion UI on top.
Recent leaks suggest that the standard version of Huawei Honor 7 will be priced at 1,999 Yuan ($322), and the higher-end model might cost close to 2,699 Yuan ($435). The standard version is set to release on June 30 and the higher-end model later in July.
So far, the rumors have been pretty accurate concerning this device but, nothing can’t be said for sure until the official announcement.
Source
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The Complete 2015 Learn to Code Bundle, $59
Ever feel like you have an unfulfilled creative side that’s being repressed? Perhaps you’ve tried your hand at drawing, sculpting, playing music or cooking but have never moved past the “hobby” phase — yet the urge is still there. You’re reading AndroidGuys so chances are that you’re pretty tech-savvy and interested in the latest developments in mobile operating systems. You may also have a flair for coding and developing. Imagine being able to express your creativity and leverage your technological proclivities to make a bunch of money while doing it. The first step is to learn and we’ve got you covered with The Complete 2015 Learn to Code Bundle.
This bundle, composed of over 74 hours of training and 8 extensive courses, is everything you’ll need to cut your teeth in the world of developing. You’ll learn the ins and outs of crafting applications, building websites and getting involved in an industry where the pay is pretty darn good. You’ll have expert guidance and access to quality instructors whose goal is to help you become the best coder you can be. You’ll be exposed to Pyhton, Node.js, MongoDB, Ruby on Rails, PHP, Heroku and more. A comprehensive course like this would usually run you thousands of dollars but AndroidGuys can unlock their inner developer with this bundle for just $59!
See more at deals.androidguys.com
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$299 buys you the ergonomic keyboard your wrists deserve
There are plenty of ergonomic keyboards, but the creators of Keyboardio believe that theirs is the only one that a serious typist should buy. It’s been created by Jesse Vincent, a name familiar to anyone involved with the Perl community, who has spent more than two years researching the most comfortable way to type words. That’s why the hardware comes in this exaggerated butterfly-style layout with heavily customized keycaps covering mechanical keys. Surrounding the outside is a maple wood exterior that, Vincent believes, makes it the first computer accessory made to “heirloom grade.”
Open-source and customization are at the heart of everything behind the Keyboardio, so you can set the Model 01 at a variety of heights or split the two halves completely, should you choose. Beneath each of the custom keycaps you’ll find a programmable LED as well as a mechanical keyswitch from Canadian company Matias. In fact, these are the same switches that you’ll find in that company’s Quiet Pro, combining a great feeling with office-friendly clickiness. The system’s open-source software is also available for tinkering with, and users will be encouraged to share their tweaks with fellow users online.
As much as you may want one of these, you won’t be able to sprint down to your nearest store to buy one. That’s because, as always, the company is looking for your patronage on Kickstarter, with $299 securing you a Model 01. If you’d prefer something a bit fancier, then a small group of mahogany-enclosed variants will also be crafted, setting you back $999 a piece.
Shipping is due to commence in April 2016, but if you’re not yet sold, there’s also the option to try before you buy. Tomorrow (June 16th) will see the company kick off a nationwide tour of hackerspaces and “cool companies” for interested parties. The journey begins in Boston before heading to New York and across 20 major locations before concluding on July 13th in San Francisco. Full details, as well as everything else, can be found at the company’s Kickstarter page.
Filed under: Peripherals
Source: Keyboardio, Kickstarter
BBC trials a way to explain complex backstories in its shows
Most of the BBC’s programming is only available for 30 days on iPlayer, so trying to keep up with long-running and complicated TV shows can be a pain. Want to remember how River Song fits into the Doctor Who universe, but don’t have the DVD box sets to hand? Your best option is normally to browse Wikipedia or some Whovian fan sites. To tackle the problem, the BBC is experimenting with a site format called “Story Explorer,” which could explain storylines and characters for some of its most popular shows. Today, the broadcaster is launching a version for its Home Front radio drama with custom illustrations, text descriptions and audio snippets. More importantly, the key events are laid out as simple, vertical timelines so that you can easily track the show’s wartime chronology.
With three seasons, sixteen interlocking storylines and 21 hours of audio, Story Explorer could be a valuable resource for new and lapsed Home Front fans. It’s been released as part of BBC Taster, a place where the broadcaster can share some of its more creative and forward-thinking ideas with the public. There’s a good chance it won’t be taken any further, although the BBC is already asking on its blog whether license fee payers would like an “informative, attractive and scalable” version “linked through to the rest of the BBC and the web.” Sort of like a multimedia Wikipedia for BBC shows, then. The broadcaster has suggested that the same format could be used to support shows like Doctor Who, Casualty, Luther, Poldark, Wolf Hall and The Killing. It sounds like a pretty good idea to us — an easy way for younger Who fans to recap early seasons would go down a storm.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Via: BBC
Source: Story Explorer
SpaceX hosts competition for the best Hyperloop pod design
While a few private companies are hard at work developing a commercial version of Elon Musk’s Hyperloop concept, SpaceX is hosting a pod design competition. Intended for students and independent engineering teams, the challenge is to construct a human-scale pod concept that could be used for the high-speed transportation system. Competing teams will not only build a full-sized version of a people mover, but they’ll put the pods through their paces on a one-mile test track at the SpaceX facility in Hawthorne, California next summer. Before the test vehicles are built, the company will host a design weekend at Texas A&M University in January where design teams will have a chance to meet with SpaceX officials before moving forward.
SpaceX and Elon Musk aren’t pursuing the actual development of the Hyperloop system, but they are working to make a functional prototype a reality — hence the contest. What’s more, teams that don’t plan to actually make one can still submit designs for the whole pod or an individual system (aerodynamics or braking, for example). Think you might have an idea for getting folks from LA to San Fran in 30 minutes in comfort and style? The deadline for entries is September 15th.
Announcing the @SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition http://t.co/ZQHjHtkuAj https://t.co/AtCkkRnjHt
– Hyperloop (@Hyperloop) June 15, 2015
Filed under: Transportation
Source: SpaceX
Microsoft E3 2015 Xbox liveblog!
Welcome to E3 2015! Today is Day Zero and we have a lineup of major showcases ahead of us, starting with Microsoft’s Xbox press conference at 9AM PT. We expect to see new footage and details about Halo 5: Guardians, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Forza 6 and a ton of smaller, though no less impressive, games. Plus, this conference comes hot on the heels of Oculus’ announcement that all Rift virtual reality headsets will ship with an Xbox One controller and feature Windows 10 integration, including the ability to play Xbox One games in the Rift, in a simulated cinema, via Xbox-to-Windows streaming. Naturally, there will be surprises galore. And it starts at 9:30am PT. Join us!
Here’s where to watch Microsoft’s Xbox event at E3 2015
If you’re an Xbox fan, today is the day you’ve been waiting for. Microsoft’s getting ready to show us what’s next for the platform, live from E3 2015 in Los Angeles. Will we learn additional details about Halo 5: Guardians? There’s a good chance. Or, perhaps, the company plans to talk more about its recently announced partnership with Oculus — new VR experiences? Either way, you can watch it all unfold via Twitch, YouTube or the Xbox E3 website. For your convenience, there’s an embed after the break, but don’t forget to join our liveblog, where we’ll be bringing you the news as it happens. The event starts at 12:30PM ET.
http://en-gb.twitch.tv/xbox/embed
Check here for everything happening at E3 2015!
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Source: Xbox
AIVAnet 