Gboard Update Brings 3D Touch Cursor Tracking and Support for iOS 10 Emojis
An update to Google’s iOS Gboard app today has introduced 3D Touch into the third-party keyboard, letting users move the cursor by hard pressing and sliding their finger around the keyboard to pinpoint the location they want to land. Gboard’s 3D Touch lacks the free-floating cursor of Apple’s stock keyboard, however, and simply moves left and right throughout a message, without the ability to track upwards and downwards.
The version 1.2.0 update has also added support for Apple’s new iOS 10 emojis, as well as the ability for users to search and share their contacts directly from within the keyboard. Anyone who wants to use the feature must first go to the Gboard app, tap “search settings” and activate “Contacts search,” and then they’ll be able to access their iPhone contact list directly within Gboard in Messages.
The app has gained new themes as well, including a collection of new “Landscape” images that users can download and add onto Gboard with the tap of a button. When it launched in May, Google touted Gboard’s advantageous ability to perform Google searches directly within the keyboard of Messages. Apple has made a big deal out of similar abilities in Messages with its new Messages App Store in iOS 10, where users can install smaller-scale apps to find movies, make dinner reservations, and place stickers.
Gboard can be downloaded from the iOS App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Tags: Google, Gboard
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Apple Seeds Fifth macOS Sierra 10.12.1 Beta to Developers and Public Beta Testers
Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming macOS Sierra update to developers and public beta testers, just over one week after seeding the fourth beta and a month after releasing the new macOS Sierra operating system to the public.
macOS Sierra 10.12.1 beta 5 can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software update mechanism in the Mac App Store for those who already have an earlier 10.12.1 beta installed.
macOS Sierra 10.12.1 appears to focus on bug fixes and under-the-hood performance improvements to address issues that have been found since the operating system’s release, and it’s also likely adding features designed for next-generation MacBook Pro models set to be released later this year.
Few outward-facing changes were discovered in the first four betas, but it 10.12.1 does include Photos support for the new iPhone 7 Plus Portrait feature introduced with iOS 10.1. New features discovered in the fifth 10.12.1 beta will be listed below.
macOS Sierra is a significant update that brings features like Siri support, a new storage optimization option, cross device copy paste, auto unlocking with the Apple Watch, and more. For full details on macOS Sierra, make sure to check out our roundup.
Related Roundup: macOS Sierra
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How to optimize your Spotify Discover Weekly – CNET
Save the albums you love to your library.
Screenshot/Xiomara Blanco
One of the best things about using Spotify is the Discover Weekly playlist — a custom playlist that’s tailor-made to your music taste. Available to all Spotify users (you have to use it for at least two weeks before one generates), Discover Weekly playlists (found under the Browse tab) are based on similar users’ music taste, as well as your listening history and listening habits.
The weekly 2-hour roundup of recommendations is so popular that Spotify recently launched similar playlists: Release Radar, a weekly that exclusively shares new music you might like, and Daily Mix, one (or more) daily playlists full of music Spotify knows you love.
Other streaming music services offer personalized music recommendations, too, but I think Spotify’s advanced algorithms are pretty great — and I’m not the only one who thinks it’s a killer differentiating feature. Here are three tips to ensure that you get the best Discover Weekly playlist possible.
Save music to your library and make playlists
The easiest way to make sure Spotify knows what you like is to add it to your library. If you don’t already do this, you should make it a habit. What you add to your library influences what recommendations you’ll see in the future. See the little plus sign next to a song? That saves it to your library. Want to add an entire album to your library? Simply click the save button underneath the title. Now that’s not so bad, is it?
And though there’s nothing wrong with listening to the playlists your friends send you, Spotify learns a lot from the playlists you yourself assemble. If you like to listen to a different variety of music, your playlists help Spotify recognize what you like to pair together. Does your energetic running playlist pay equal mind to Metallica and Lady Gaga? Knowing the nuances and intricacies of your music taste helps Spotify understand what you like to listen to, even if it’s not as easy as one genre per playlist.
The Discover Weekly playlist is one of my favorite Spotify features.
Screenshot/Xiomara Blanco
Do some discovering for yourself
If you show curiosity about a particular artists that was on your Discover Weekly playlist, that tells Spotify that it’s doing something right. Checking out the artist’s profiles and browsing through their biography or discography on the app signals that Spotify found something you’re interested in. The more digging you do, the more Spotify will take note.
Don’t share your account (or get a family plan)
Since Spotify doesn’t allow you to listen to music in different locations at the same time using one account, it’s doubtful that you’re sharing a Spotify account. However, if you are, your chances of a fine tuned Discover Weekly playlist are getting muddled.
Spotify’s algorithms are smart enough to disregard an unusual trend in your listening habits (for when you inexplicably can’t stop listening to the new Bruno Mars song), but if you’re consistently sharing your account with other people, their taste will influence what Spotify puts on your Discover playlist. An alternative is to opt for a Spotify Premium family plan instead.
Why you might want to disable iOS 10’s lock screen widgets – CNET
With lock-screen widgets, I can call home, text my wife, glance at my calendar, check a score, Shazam a song and perform many more helpful actions all without unlocking my iPhone. These widgets are incredibly convenient and my favorite thing about iOS 10.
This added convenience, however, sometimes comes at the expense of security. Because I can access the Launcher widget, for example, without unlocking my phone, it means that anyone who might pick up my iPhone can call the contacts I added to Launcher. It also means that someone can view my calendar or my to-do list and access my recent Dropbox files.
If this situation makes you feel uneasy, then you can decrease the convenience and increase the security of your iOS 10 device by disabling lock-screen widgets.
Enlarge Image
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
Go to Settings > Touch ID & Passcode, enter your passcode and then tap to turn off the toggle switch for Today view under the header Allow access when locked. The Today view is Apple’s term for the lock-screen widgets; you’ll know they’re gone when you see only one dot and the camera icon at the bottom of the lock screen instead of two dots and the camera icon.
Disabling access to your widgets from the lock screen doesn’t kill them altogether. You can still access them from an unlocked iOS 10 device by swiping right on your home screen.
For more, learn how to navigate the iPhone’s new lock screen and check out our complete guide to iOS 10.
Wink Hub 2 review – CNET
The Good The companion app is the $99/£80/AU$130 Wink Hub 2’s strongest asset — the layout is logical and step-by-step tutorials make it relatively easy to pair (most) devices.
The Bad I received a steady stream of error messages when trying to create automation rules and never managed to run one successfully. Occasionally latency issues slowed things down and Lutron devices are still laughably difficult to connect to Wink.
The Bottom Line The Wink Hub 2 is fine, but it’s hard to recommend over platforms like Amazon Alexa and Apple HomeKit that reduce challenging behind-the-scenes integrations to simple voice commands.
Wink’s Hub 2 gave me major deja vu. Not only does this slab of white plastic look very similar to the startup’s first-generation Wink Hub, it also works roughly the same.
That means you’ll run into occasional in-app glitches, latency issues and connectivity woes. And, priced at $99/£80/AU$130, this smart home gizmo also costs $20 more than the original version.
Yes, Wink has made some improvements over generation one. Hub 2 has more memory, supports Bluetooth, comes with an Ethernet port and works with dual-band Wi-Fi. But that isn’t enough to recommend it over the interactive voice-control platforms that have emerged since from Amazon and Apple.
Wink takes another stab at the smart-home…
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A utilitarian hunk o’ plastic
No one has found a truly engaging aesthetic for a smart-home hub and the white plastic Wink Hub 2 is no exception. While this model feels heavier and more durable than its predecessor, it isn’t much of a design improvement. The two iterations have roughly the same measurements and they’re, well, seriously boring-looking.
Instead, the most significant updates are hidden inside the hub itself. There you’ll find 512 MB worth of memory (up from 64 MB), an Ethernet port for connecting the hub directly to your router and support for both 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi, as well as Bluetooth-enabled devices.
Here’s a list of the automation languages Wink’s Hub 2 works with:
- Bluetooth LE
- Kidde
- Clear Connect
- Z-Wave
- ZigBee
Note: You can still buy the first-generation Wink Hub for $69/£55/AU$90 while supplies last.
Hubs, hubs and more hubs:
- Faster, slimmer and safer: Wink rolls out the Wink Hub 2
- Harness your smart home with Wink’s low-cost hub
- Lowe’s Iris focuses on the future, loses sight of the present
- Insteon’s HomeKit Hub shows potential, but needs work
- Streamline your connected home with SmartThings 2.0
View all of your Wink-connected devices from the app’s home screen and select “Add a Product” to pair more.
Screenshot by CNET
Testing out Wink’s new hub
All of those improvements are a step in the right direction, but I didn’t notice any distinct differences between testing the first- and second-generation Wink Hubs.
The good news is that it’s still (mostly) easy to pair devices. I connected a Nest Learning Thermostat, a Nest Cam Indoor, a Lutron Serena window shade and a Lutron Pico remote. I also connected to our Chamberlain MyQ Garage door opener account, but that product isn’t currently installed at the CNET Smart Home so I couldn’t actually control it.
Netgear Mobile Router MR1100 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
It may not look like much, but it’s got it where it counts.
Aloysius Low/CNET
You’ll soon be able to download movies in a matter of seconds thanks to the palm-sized Netgear Mobile Router MR1100.
The portable pocket router taps into gigabit-capable LTE networks and can download up to 1 gigabyte of data per second. But there’s a big catch — it’s only available from Australian carrier Telstra, which announced last year that it can reach speeds of 1Gbps.
The router features a battery life of 24 hours of continuous use, an impressive claim for sure. The MR1100 charges through a USB Type-C connector, and features a LAN port as well. The downloads are sped along by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X16 LTE modem.
The speed sounds amazingly fast — as fast as if you were to hook up your PC to the router using a LAN cable. But bear in mind this will likely blow your data cap without you noticing. Though of course that depends on your data plan and the size of the files that you download.
You may well be tempted, but don’t start planning your move Down Under just yet. A Telstra spokesperson told CNET that the carrier is unlikely to offer unlimited data plans on its upcoming superfast service. There’s no word on capped data plans for now either. Furthermore, the network isn’t quite ready — the router and service will likely launch in a few months, perhaps over Christmas or another upcoming holiday period.
There’s no word yet on when this will be available in other countries.
Key features
- Gigabit LTE speeds
- 24 hour battery life
- Type-C and LAN ports
- Available soon in Australia
Fabriq Alexa-Enabled Smart Speaker Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
It’s been over a year since Amazon offered up its voice-activated virtual assistant “Alexa” to third-party developers. With just a few lines of code, any gadget that features a microphone, speakers, and an internet connection can be an Alexa gadget.
Enter Fabriq, the maker of a new, small-sized smart speaker with Alexa functionality built right in. At just $50 (£40/AU$65), it’s the same price as the Editors’ Choice-winning Amazon Echo Dot, but it comes with a few additional advantages. For starters, it’s a more powerful speaker than the Dot, and it features a built-in battery, too, letting you unplug the the thing and take it with you for up to 5 hours on a charge. You can also sync multiple speakers together over Wi-Fi for simultaneous playback — the Echo Dot can’t do anything like that.
It’s not a slam dunk, though. Unlike the Echo and the Echo Dot, the Fabriq speaker isn’t an always-listening device. That means you’ll need to press a button in order to activate Alexa. You also can’t connect it with an existing audio setup like you can with the Echo Dot. And, as far as Bluetooth speakers go, the sound quality is pretty average.
Still as an Echo-alternative, there’s an awful lot to like here. With almost all of Alexa’s smarts — everything from music and news to third-party skills, smart home control, and yes, terrible jokes — Fabriq offers plenty of tech appeal in an attractive little package. If you’re intrigued by Echo, but want something a little more portable, it’s definitely worth a look.
Design and features
Fabriq is about the size of a baseball, and it comes in your choice of three designs: “Earl Grey,” “Jack Plaid,” and “Splat.” All three make for a good-looking little speaker, and each gets complemented by a ring of LEDs around the base capable of flashing out a rainbow pattern in sync with whatever song you’re streaming.
Those LEDs will also light up when you press the microphone button to talk to Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-connected virtual assistant. She’s just as smart here as she is in Amazon’s own smart speakers, with features that include:
- Streaming music on demand from Amazon Prime Music, Spotify, Pandora or Amazon Music Unlimited
- Playing podcasts from iHeartRadio and TuneIn
- Reading off news, sports, weather and traffic updates
- Looking up facts and calculating figures
- Setting timers and recurring alarms
- Controlling Alexa-compatible smart-home devices
In addition to those core capabilities, Fabriq also has access to Alexa’s growing library of third party “skills.” Essentially the apps of Alexa, these extras can add all sorts of tricks to Alexa’s toolkit, everything from hailing an Uber and ordering a pizza to playing interactive voice games and running advanced smart home controls. None of them cost anything, and you can enable each one simply by asking Alexa to do it.
Sound quality
So the smarts are sound, but how about the speaker? To my ear, it packs a more powerful punch than the Echo Dot, but falls somewhere short of the Amazon Tap. In other words, it’ll fill a small to medium-sized room with plenty of sound, but it isn’t loud enough to play DJ at a noisy party — though, in fairness, I can’t imagine expecting much more from a $50 Bluetooth speaker.
Then again, the sound quality could stand to be a bit sharper. At loud volumes, things get just a touch “fuzzy,” with some slight clipping whenever the speaker tries to punch above its weight. The sound quality wasn’t bad by any stretch, but I’d hesitate to classify it much higher than “average.”
Chris Monroe/CNET
Outlook
As of writing this, Fabriq doesn’t show up in the Alexa app as a supported device, which means I wasn’t able to use that app to tweak any of the speaker’s Alexa-specific settings. That kept me from doing things like customizing what news sources it pulled from for flash briefings, viewing my voice input history, and selecting a default music streaming service.
I suspect that this will change by the time Fabriq officially launches on October 30, and I’ve asked Fabriq’s team to confirm as much. When I hear back, I’ll update this piece accordingly.
Shortcomings aside, Fabriq proved to be a capable Alexa gadget. It did a nice job understanding my voice commands, and though it sometimes needed to think a second or two longer than the Echo Dot before pulling up a song I had requested, I came away satisfied with the user-friendly smarts. At just $50, it shows a lot of promise.
I’ll be spending some more time with Fabriq, and keeping an eye out for any updates as it gets closer to launch. I’m also hoping to get my hands on a second speaker so I can test out synchronized playback. That’ll be a nice feather in Fabriq’s cap if it works as promised, since neither the Amazon Echo nor Amazon Echo Dot currently offer anything like it.
Zerotech Dobby Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
The Dobby is a tiny drone with big ambitions
We check out some of the zippy selfie drone’s coolest features.
by Luke Lancaster
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The Dobby selfie drone is small. At least, it’s small enough to fit in your pocket. It’s cheap. At least, it’s cheap compared to its competitors. And it packs in features like 4K video recording, image stabilization, gesture control and target tracking.
Zerotech’s Dobby is available now for $399 in the US and AU$599 in Australia. There’s no UK distributor, but the price coverts to around £325. Compared to rival drones with built-in cameras that can retail for over a grand, the Dobby’s an attractive option for hobbyists.
The rotors fold in, making for a very petite package.
Dave Cheng/CNET
Key Specs:
- Digital image stabilization
- Removable battery with 9-minute flight time
- 13-megapixel camera, 1,920×1,080p video recording
- Target tracking and facial recognition
- Automatic takeoff and landing
- Foldable design
- 199g
- Companion app
- 16GB storage
- Can hover indoors/outdoors in winds up to 28km/h (17mph)
Using the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight platform (the one unveiled at CES), the Dobby’s tracking mode uses facial recognition and target lock to get the drone to follow you around. Little features like that and the one-button takeoff and orbit mode make it feel very clever.
That said, the Dobby isn’t exactly hands-free — while you can leave it hovering or set it to automatically grab some footage, it’s going to need steering from the app at some point.
The four rotors are on arms that fold into the body, leaving you with a slim profile that’ll slip comfortably into your pocket when you’re done flying your drone around.
You pilot the Dobby through a companion app with a live camera feed.
Dave Cheng/CNET
From our brief hands-on time, the target tracking and facial recognition held up reasonably well, and I only clipped my fingers in the blades once going for the gesture-controlled palm landing. More impressively, the live camera feed to the app and touch screen controls made piloting the Dobby a very smooth experience.
Speaking of the companion app, you can also instantly push photos and videos from the paired drone to your phone and out to social media with a couple of button presses.
For your troubles, you’ll get about 9 minutes of flight time from the battery (and fast charging gets you back in the air in about 45 minutes). Those minutes go by very quickly, especially if you’re out and about or have the drone set to follow you on a hike. It makes the extra batteries — available for AU$59 — close to a necessity.
Zerotech packs clever features into a very small package for a surprisingly low price, and apart from still waiting on features like voice control to roll out and a few struggles getting airborne indoors, it’s a fun way to play around with drone photography.
Best sports games for Android
Get your game on — even in the off season — with the best sports games available for Android.
After a few golden years of fantastic entries, it seems that sports games, too, have all but succumbed to the freemium model. There’s far too few quality sports games out there that just let you jump into the game without having to deal with player cards, upgrades or waiting for ‘stamina meters’ to refill. Nearly all the top mobile sports game franchises have switched over to a team building system that require you to unlock (or buy) card packs to upgrade your team.
But there are still great games to be played! We’re covering the five major North American sports here — football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and, ahem, soccer — with two options for each. The first will typically be more sim-based for the hardcore sports fan, while the second is a more arcade-like option for casual players.
- Madden NFL Mobile
- Football Heroes Pro 2017
- FIFA Mobile Soccer
- Score! Hero
- NBA Live Mobile
- NBA JAM
- MLB Perfect Inning 16
- WGT Baseball MLB
- Matt Duchene Hockey Classic
- Hockey Hero
Madden NFL Mobile
Football fans know that Madden is king on consoles, and despite the freemium, card-collecting gameplay at the core of the Android version, Madden NFL Mobile still reigns supreme on the mobile gridiron as well.
Yes, you’re stuck building your team through opening card packs, which can be bought with in-game coins or purchased with real cash. Fortunately, there’s a number of ways to earn in-game currency: Head-to-head match-ups against other users where you exchange offensive drives, a single-player season mode where you play out through a full season against CPU opponents, and multiple daily live events to test your skills. The live events offer some nice nostalgia for those who remember the mini camp drills from Madden 2004. On the field, the touch controls are on point and while the graphics are understandably a far cry from those found on the latest PlayStation and Xbox editions, they’re more than serviceable for the bite-sized football action Madden NFL Mobile provides.
Madden NFL Mobile provides good fun whether during halftime or break time at work — as long as you don’t mind being slightly bogged down by the collectibles aspect.
Download: Madden NFL Mobile (Free, with IAPs)
Football Heroes Pro 2017
Football Heroes Pro 2017 is a full-fledged arcade football game, licensed by the NFLPA. Unlike the more realistic sim-style of Madden, it provides a casual football experience (think Tecmo Bowl) in your down time when you’re all caught up with the real games. Players build and train their own team with their favorite real-life players and unlock new plays by opening card packs. Premium currency can be used to buy card packs, though you’re also able to buy packs with coins earned from winning and by levelling up your players. Gameplay-wise, this one features a lot of button mashing for tackling and breaking tackles,
For those looking for a casual football game to kill time during commercial breaks, Football Heroes Pro 2017 has plenty to offer.
Download: Football Heros Pro 2017 (Free, with IAPs)
FIFA Mobile Soccer
The FIFA games for mobile used to stand out as one of the best investments available in the paid app section of the Google Play Store, with FIFA 13 remaining one of the best mobile games I’ve ever played. Sadly, EA has shifted to a freemium model with the entire focus of the game being on building your own Ultimate Team.
While I personally feel like the change in format is a disservice to players, the game itself still plays like a dream and will surely keep any footy fans addicted for some time. There are four game modes to choose from: you start out with Live Events and Attack Mode, and unlock Leagues and Season once your profile reaches level 5. Live Events throw you into different drills and game situations where you can unlock coins, XP, and specific card packs. Attack Mode pits you against other players around the world in turn-based gameplay where you’re each given time on offence to rack up as many goals as you can (hence the name). The newest addition is Leagues, which lets you start or join your own global league consisting of other players. It’s both competitive and cooperative, as you can either compete in a league tournament, or collectively challenge another league. Season mode is the single-player mode you’ve come to expect, but you’ll need to maintain an internet connection to play FIFA Mobile, even in single player mode.
While FIFA Mobile is missing the freedom to play as you like from previous editions, it’s still the best footy game you can play on Android.
Download: FIFA Mobile (Free, with IAPs)
Score! Hero
For something a little different, look no further than Score! Hero. Instead of putting you in charge of building a team, you create your own player and work your way through a professional career from rookie to legend.
Another difference from other games is the way you control the action. Instead of the free-flowing action found elsewhere, you only take over once your team has control of the ball. Play freezes, waiting for you to swipe from the ball to take your shot or pass to a teammate. It’s an interesting dynamic that really highlights the strategic elements of soccer and a nice change of pace. Each level sets up the game situation and gives you your mission for completing it, but if the defending team intercepts or otherwise gains control of the ball, you’re forced to restart the level, or spends some of your in-app funds to use a rewind to redo your last kick. Sometimes your mission involves scoring back-to-back goals which makes those rewinds extra tempting, but you’ll want to avoid relying on them unless you’re intending on dropping real cash into the game. All told, Score! Hero features 420 levels to play through. Can you beat them all?
Download: Score! Hero (Free, with IAPs)
NBA Live Mobile
Another sport, another EA Sports title. If you’re a fan of NBA Live on consoles, or even the NBA 2K franchise, you’ll likely dig the mobile offering. Again, with every other sports title offered by EA this year around, there’s the unavoidable emphasis on card collecting to unlock players. If your sensibilities are offended by that, you’ll want to look elsewhere.
Otherwise, what you get here is a pretty solid. Dive into daily live events, or challenge other players around the world to a head-to-head challenge where you go back and forth playing one quarter at a time. Season mode lets you play a full NBA season with your team, all the way through to the NBA Championships. Once you’ve reached level 5, you unlock Leagues, which lets you start up a league for you and all your friends, or join a random league. They operate similar to clans, and allow for friendly matches between other league members, or for inter-league showdowns. Another neat feature of leagues is if someone in your league makes an in-app purchase, everyone in the league gets a free gift — essentially an added incentive to engage in that freemium model.
Download: NBA Live Mobile (Free, with IAPs)
NBA Jam
NBA Jam has been available on Android since October 2010, and yet it still remains as one of the most polished and fun sports games you can play on the platform.
This remake of the 90s classic features all the fast-paced two-on-two action you remember from back in the day, with upgraded graphics including hilarious big head animations for every player in the game. Touch controls are simple and responsive, making it super easy to set up an epic alley-oop, or sink three shots in a row and hear Tim Kitzrow — the original NBA JAM commentator — yell his infamous line, “HE’S ON FIRE!”
There are four modes of play and no in-app purchases or currencies to deal with, so you can jump into a game right away. On top of quick matches and a Classic Campaign where you can unlock legendary players and other goodies, you can play online (but good luck finding a random opponent) or with a friend over local Wi-Fi.
If you’re an NBA fan, or a fan of the original game, NBA Jam should be a mainstay on your Android device.
Download: NBA Jam ($4.99)
MLB Perfect Inning 16
MLB Perfect Inning 16 is another one of those games where you’ll need to spend money if you want to improve your team significantly, and unfortunately you’re going to be constantly hounded with ads to buy player packs and the rest of it. But gameplay-wise, it’s the closest to playing a full-fledged baseball game right on your phone.
Right off the hop we need to say that this game will take up at least 1.2 GB of free space on your device, but that’s because what you get here is the real deal. We’re talking complete rosters for all 30 teams with fully-rendered stadiums, and the ability to play a full 162-game MLB season, including playoffs, with your favourite squad. Heck, they even got Joe Buck to provide commentary! Really the one thing that holds this game back is the sheer number of menus and “special offer” pop-ups you must deal with every time you load up the game. Also, if you’re not a fan of I Can’t Feel My Face by The Weeknd or Centuries by Fall Out Boy, you’ll probably want to keep the game muted. It was nice of the developers to invest in licensed music… but it may also drive you insane.
Download: MLB Perfect Inning 16 (Free, with IAPs)
WGT Baseball MLB
Featuring a cartoonish art style and simple game mechanics, WGT Baseball MLB is a great, free-to-play game for baseball fans everywhere. It’s another team building game that relies on opening card packs for unlocking new players and upgrading your current roster, but what sets it apart is how quick it is to jump right into the action and play through a 9-inning game.
The catch here is that WGT Baseball MLB plays more like a baseball simulator, where you act as team manager and step in to bat for one player in your rotation (you unlock the ability to bat for a second player at level 5). This allows you to play through a full baseball game in just a few minutes. While you end up watching most of the game play out on the Jumbotron, it does makes every at-bat that much more critical to get on base or hit a homerun. The game rewards you with daily rewards for checking in each day, and you’ll quickly unlock more game features the longer you play the game. At level 4, you unlock My League which lets you compete against other division opponents in a race to reach first place and advance up the league ladder from the minors to the big leagues. At level 6 you unlock the Clubhouse which lets you compete in daily events for more perks to help improve your team.
If you’re looking to play quick games and just want to swing for the fences, WGT Baseball MLB is all you need.
Download: WGT Baseball MLB (Free, with IAPs)
Matt Duchene Hockey Classic
For whatever reason, EA Sports’ has not ported their celebrated NHL franchise for consoles over to mobile platforms. It’s a shame, but Matt Duchene Hockey Classic might be the next best thing.
The latest in a line of games attached to rising NHL players (previously Patrick Kane), Matt Duchene Hockey Classic is free to try but you only get Team Finland and Team Sweden when you download it from the Google Play Store. Fortunately, you’ll need to pay a very reasonable price to unlock the full game, which includes 60 teams and a plethora of game modes including playoffs, outdoor games and “Hockey Giants”, which is essentially big head mode. As you might have noticed from the title, this game isn’t officially licensed by the NHL, so while, for instance, the team from Boston wears black and yellow jerseys there are no logos nor are there any active rosters. It’s also a bit of a resource hog. You’ll definitely notice some sluggish moments if you play on an older device. But considering the lack of options for full-featured hockey games on Android, Matt Duchene Hockey Classic delivers as well as you’d expect.
Download: Matt Duchene Hockey Classic (Free, with IAP to unlock full game)
Hockey Hero
Hockey Hero is an outlier on this list, as it’s not exactly a traditional sports game — more a sports-themed entry if anything. However, with its charming retro graphics, simple gameplay, and minimal ads, it’s a great break from the rest of the titles on this list.
The concept is both wacky and simple — tap and hold to control the hockey hero, who must deftly deke past wave after wave of opposing players who are looking for a fight. If you lift your finger off, time slows down allowing you to determine the clear path between defenders. You move on an endless sheet of ice comprised of multiple hockey rinks attached end-to-end, so that once you’ve skated to the end of one rink and scored, you immediately skate on towards the next rink. It’s a silly and fun concept for an endless runner style, and is a great game you can just pick up and play whenever you have some free time. As you progress further, you unlock different jerseys for your hockey hero, giving you goals to work towards.
Hockey Hero is far from a traditional sports title, but with it’s simple controls and fun concept it’s definitely worth checking out.
Download: Hockey Hero (Free, with IAPs)
What did we miss?
There’s a ton of sports games in the Google Play Store but if we’re completely honest, most of them aren’t worth your time. If you think we missed one that should absolutely should be on our list, let us know in the comments!
Android Gaming
- Best Android games
- Best free Android games
- Best games with no in-app purchases
- Best action games for Android
- Best RPGs for Android
- All the Android gaming news!
Digital Offers: Become a certified hacker for only $59
As the online landscape grows and changes, so does the requirement for security. One tried and true way of testing security is to crack through it, after all, it’s easier to know what needs to be fixed once something breaks through. Believe it or not, this is actually a job known as ethical hacking, and the people who can do such tasks, they are in high demand.
Companies, especially ones that work primarily online, would rather have someone on payroll breaching through their security than someone with bad intentions. Whether you consider yourself adept with tech, or you’re just starting out, you’re probably wondering how to get started in the world cyber security.
Android Central Offers has a fantastic deal on the Computer Hacker Professional Certification Package. This package contains over 55 hours of course content that you will train you to be an ethical hacker. Plus, you’ll have unlimited access to for 12 whole months!
If you’ve looked into online courses for ethical hacking in the past, you know they don’t come cheap, but right now you can get the Computer Hacker Professional Certification Package for only $59 rather than the regular price tag of $1599. You read that right; you’ll get a savings of 96%.
With job markets in many sectors dwindling, one thing that doesn’t seem to be going away is the need for tech security, so why not get started on this course today? Some of the highlights include:
- Learn how to breach wireless network security with over 55 hours of training.
- Understand how to handle digital evidence within legal standards.
- Use Access Data’s Forensic Toolkit, EnCase, and other special steps to review data whilst leaving all evidence intact.
- Learn how to implement an Info Risk Assessment Process and integrate enterprise business objectives with information security policies.
- Discover IT Strategy and Information systems maintenance practices.
The bottom line is you need a change. Whether you dislike your job, or you are looking for a way to increase job security, this is a great a great opportunity for an extremely low price.
See at Android Central Digital Offers
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