7 tips, tricks and cheats to master Slither.io [hot game!]

This simple, yet challenging game takes the basic snake game you probably remember best from your 90s Nokia phone and turns it into a free-roaming online multiplayer experience that you simply have to check out for yourself.

Read the full article over at iMore!

Android Central 286: Culturally insensitive taco

First up — we check in on a number of excellent voicemail questions, including what’s up with Android Auto these days, more on adoptable storage back backing up your data, and whether the Nexus 9 should best be forgotten at this point.

Plus we dive into the latest scary (or not) story about Google, Android and hacking, and catch up on the latest in Chromebooks.

Thanks to this week’s sponsor:

• Harrys.com: Shave better — and save $5 off your first purchase with coupon code AC.
• Casper: Incredibly comfortable mattresses at incredible prices. Save $50 when you use promo code AC at checkout!

Podcast MP3 URL: http://traffic.libsyn.com/androidcentral/androidcentral286.mp3

Google Opinion Rewards brings its survey magic to Denmark, Norway and Sweden

Thanks to the latest update to Google Opinion Rewards, more people from around the world can earn easy Google Play credit for taking surveys. Specifically, if you call Denmark, Norway or Sweden home, you can now download and start using the app to rack up the rewards.

If you’re unfamiliar with Google Opinion Rewards, the app allows you to earn a bit of extra money to spend on the Google Play store by taking short surveys in your free time. The rewards amounts are usually fairly small – often coming in at well under a dollar — and the app limits your earning potential a bit by spacing surveys out. However, it’s still an easy way to score a free app here and there after you’ve racked up enough Google Play credit.

If you’re interested, you can grab the app on Google Play now.

The best microSD cards for the HTC 10

Expandable (and Adoptable!) storage is where it’s at with the HTC 10. But you’ll need a good card to do it.

One of the best features of any Android phone that’s lucky enough to have it is expandable storage. The launch of Marshmallow saw Adoptable Storage come into play, wherein your microSD cards become a part of your system to seamlessly expand your storage rather than act as a separate partition.

Adoptable storage can bring some headaches if you don’t have the right microSD card. You need something blazing fast and of course reliable; otherwise, the card could go and take your whole system with it.

That’s why we’ve rounded up some of the best fast microSD cards out there, so that when you bring home your HTC 10, you’re not wondering where to turn for extra storage.

The best microSD cards for the HTC 10

• SanDisk Extreme 64 GB
• Netac Pro 128 GB
• Samsung EVO Plus 128GB
• PNY U3 Turbo Performance 64 GB
• SanDisk Ultra 200 GB

SanDisk Extreme 64 GB

SanDisk long has been the go-to for expandable storage cards and there’s a very good reason for that: they’re great.

The SanDisk Extreme line is where it’s at if you’re looking for an SD card to use in your HTC 10. It’s lightning-quick, with read speeds up to 90MB/s and write speeds around 48MB/s, and has no trouble with 4K video, so anything you shoot on your HTC 10 won’t be an issue.

This is an excellent card for performance and it’s relatively easy on the wallet, starting around $30.

See at Amazon

Netac Pro 128 GB

Netac isn’t a huge brand, but it does offer some great microSD cards. Their Pro line is just what you need if you’re considering expanding your HTC 10’s storage the adoptable way.

It’s got read speeds of up to 80MB/s and write speeds of up to 40. Again, it’s relatively easy on your wallet, starting around $40.

See at Amazon

Samsung EVO Plus 128GB

Octuple your HTC 10’s memory with a 128GB microSD from Samsung. The Plus line almost doubles the transfer rate of regular EVOs at 80MB/s. Even if you hate Samsung phones and are an HTC die-hard, don’t discount their peripherals. These are solid cards that pack a performance punch.

If you’re looking for an SD card that’s super quick and is super-compatible with just about everything, then this is the one for you. Worry-free and quick like a bunny.

See at Amazon

PNY U3 Turbo Performance 64 GB

Turbo by name. Turbo by reputation. The PNY Turbo Performance brings speed and reliability into the fold with a 90MB/s transfer rate and a lifetime warranty. Like all the cards mentioned so far, the Turbo is waterproof, magnet-proof, shock-proof, and temperature-proof. It won’t let you down on a frigid winter day and it won’t let you down if you drop it in the dog’s water dish when you’re trying to install it.

The PNY Turbo Performance is a stellar card that’ll only cost you around $20.

See at Amazon

SanDisk Ultra 200 GB

Your HTC 10 can support up to 2 TB of external storage, so we may as well get as close as we can with a microSD card. The SanDisk Ultra is one of the quickest and most reliable cards around and 200 GB helps take up a nice big chunk of that 2 TB, so if you’re going to use it as adoptable storage, you’ll be incredibly hard-pressed to fill it up (depending on your habits, of course).

These suckers are pricey, so if you can get them on sale, jump on it; they can run up to $250.

See at Amazon

HTC 10

• HTC 10 review
• HTC 10 specs
• These are the HTC 10 colors
• Our first photo and video samples
• Meet the Ice View case
• Join our HTC 10 forums

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Apple Music student plan brings 50 per cent membership discount to US, UK

Apple is slashing Apple Music membership costs – for students, anyway.

Soon, when subscribing to the company’s music-streaming service, you will have a student plan option to choose from that adds a 50 per cent discount. You can only choose the new plan however if you are enrolled in an eligible college or university, according to TechCrunch. Still, the new plan means US academic students can grab an Apple Music membership for $4.99 a month instead of the regular $9.99-a-month rate.

The Apple Music student plan will not only be available in the US, but also the UK, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Although the actual plan cost varies by country, the 50 per cent discount will apply in all markets. It will work for four consecutive or non-consecutive years as well, allowing students to take a break from school and pause their membership. Students of all ages can sign up, too.

It also doesn’t matter if you’re a new or existing Apple Music subscriber. Students can sign up beginning today, or they change their membership, and they can do so through the Apple Music mobile app or online. Students will need to use Uniday in order to verify their enrollment at an eligible college or university. Keep in mind Apple also offers a $14.99-a-month family plan that allows up to six people to stream.

Also, this new student membership tier is being introduced at a time when many reports have claimed Apple will soon revamp its music-streaming service with a new design that includes black and white colours, a focus on album art, a Browse section, and more. The company is even rumoured to demote its Connect social section by simply adding it as a feature to the For you section.

The new Apple Music app will reportedly debut at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference in June, while the new Apple Music student membership tier is expected to roll out starting today.

The HoloFlex is a flexible, glasses-free 3D display

Researchers at the Queen’s University Human Media Lab in Ontario have developed what they claim is the “world’s first holographic flexible smartphone” display. Dubbed the HoloFlex, the display uses an array of tiny lenses overlaid onto one flexible 1,920 x 1,080 HD OLED screen and allows multiple people to simultaneously view 3D images without the need for clunky glasses, complex projectors or individual head tracking.

To achieve the effect, that full-HD display is actually broken up into 16,000 12-pixel circles, each one with its own tiny fisheye lens rendering a slightly different view of the 3D object on the screen. While the final result is a mere 160 x 104 resolution, the 3D image can be viewed from nearly any angle. As Gizmodo points out, that resolution will naturally improve as pixel densities and manufacturing processes get smaller and more precise.

The “flex” part of the HoloFlex actually comes from the integrated ReFlex display, which uses bend sensors and haptic feedback to add a third axis to the available touchscreen gestures. By bending the screen, a user can move objects forward or backward in virtual space. Or, when paired with a depth camera, the screen could allow for “holographic” 3D video conferencing where viewers can actually look around the user on the other end. (Which could prove useful if you’re Skyping with someone who just got a new haircut.)

But games come first, of course, and one of the first demo applications the HML researchers built was a 3D version of Angry Birds, where a bend in the screen pulls back the virtual slingshot launch the iconic red bird into a pile of wood. Progress!