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Best baseball games for Android

Spring has finally sprung, which means America’s favorite pastime is back!

With the new Major League Baseball season just getting underway, we’re sure all you baseball fans are clamoring for a quick fix between — or possibly even during — watching your favorite team’s games. We’ve got the rundown on the best baseball games that have been updated for the new season.

PLAY BALL!

MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2017

Tap Sports Baseball is a free-to-play game that’s been officially licensed by the MLB and features all teams and players from Major League Baseball game.

If you’ve played previous iterations of this game, you’ll be happy to know that the graphics have been improved for 2017. Featuring the same simple one-touch controls for batting, this is a game you can comfortably play one-handed, though you’re only tasked with batting.

There are many ways to play, from online exhibition games, home run battles, and tournaments. In multiplayer, teams take turns at bat so you’re able to play multiple games at one time. There’s also weekly events where you can show off your ultimate team in head-to-head competitions.

Again, this is a free-to-play game that relies on in-app purchases. You should be able to grind your way through things, but if you’re frustrated by that style of game you’re best to look elsewhere. Otherwise, this game is perfect for casual players and looks really great.

Download: MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2017 (Free w/IAPs)

MLB Nine Innings 2017

The 9 Innings franchise has been a very popular game on Android over the years, and the latest edition might be the best yet. The game features all 30 MLB ballparks and over 800 players, which have been carefully rendered in 3D for a very authentic gameplay experience.

There’s a number of ways to play depending on how much free time you have. You can jump into an exhibition game or play your way through a full season with options to play bat/pitch only or take control of both sides of the game. The game also features a unique “Live Player System”, which will accurately reflect the real-life performance and value of MLB players throughout the season.

You’re also tasked with collecting your favorite players and building your dream team which, coupled with the free-to-play model, means you’re going to have to deal with in-app purchases. If you can get past that, you should have a great time playing this game throughout the season.

Download: MLB Nine Innings 2017 (Free w/IAPs)

MLB Line Drive

While the other games on this list do their best to simulate the MLB as realistically as possible, MLB Line Drive is an arcadey take on everyone’s favorite event: the home run derby.

Controls are simple: you wait for your pitch, then swipe to hit the ball with your finger (think Fruit Ninja-style). Connect at the right angle and you’ll send the ball sailing out of the park for a home run… but that’s only the beginning! Each time you play, you’re given a goal for scoring points, which you collect by clearing the park and smashing lights, collecting coins, popping balloons, dinging cars, breaking windows and much more.

Developed by MLB.com, Line Drive features six iconic ballparks are featured within the game — Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, Comerica Park, Globe Life Park, AT&T Park & Citizens Bank Park — with each new park being unlocked as you progress through the game. To do so, you’re going to need to upgrade your swing power and use boosters… which you buy with the in-app currency.

I think you see where this is headed. Yes, there are in-app purchases here as well, and the further you progress the harder the challenges become which will, in turn, tempt you with in-app purchases. Of you can get past the pay-to-win mechanics and are looking for a fun and casual game, check out MLB Line Drive.

Download: MLB Line Drive (Free w/ IAPs)

R.B.I. Baseball 17

If you’re looking to play full baseball games on your Android device without being pestered with in-app purchase offers, R.B.I. Baseball 17 is your best bet. This paid app was developed by the MLB and is also available on PS4 and Xbox One.

While the game might feel a little lacking on the consoles, it looks and plays quite nicely on Android, featuring beautifully rendered stadiums and all 30 MLB teams available with regularly updated rosters. Choose your preferred game mode and play a quick exhibition game, take your favorite team through a full season, or jump right into the heat of the post-season.

This game is fairly optimized for mobile gaming, allowing you to play a full nine-inning game in under 20 minutes with intuitive two-button on-screen controls. Keep in mind that all those pretty graphics requires a fairly modern phone to play it, which means R.B.I. Baseball 17 only supports devices with memory/processor comparable to the Samsung Galaxy S5 and up.

This game will set you back $4.99 in the app store but in exchange, you won’t have to deal with clunky free-to-play game mechanics.

Download: R.B.I. Baseball 17 ($4.99)

Swing for the fences!

What do you think of our picks? Who you got winning the World Series this year? Let us know in the comments below!

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Who’s going for the Galaxy S8+ over the S8?

Are you leaning one way or the other?

Last year, there was a clear divide in size and features between the Galaxy S7 and the S7 edge — it was even in the name!

This year, not so much. The Galaxy S8+ is slightly taller and wider than the Galaxy S8, with a 6.2-inch display over the smaller phone’s 5.8-inch panel, but both are curved, and both are very compact.

boubazm1
04-06-2017 04:17 PM

“

Hi, I just want to know for the ones who will buy the S8+ their reason to buy it.Do u think S8 is really not big enough or just you’re used to big phones.I’ve always had samsund S series phones.But I feel now that my S7 is too small.Is the S8 enough bigger than the S7?

Reply

As the phone gets a bit closer to release, a lot of people are asking whether the S8+, which its 3500mAh battery, is actually a better decision than the S8, which has a 3000mAh cell.

Arsenio Martins
04-06-2017 05:50 PM

“

I just left Best Buy. If you aren’t looking at them side by side you almost would think they were the same size. I mean one is obviously larger than the other but it’s not that noticeable like it was last year. For that alone I think it’s worth going for the slightly larger screen and larger battery.

Reply

Some people look at the S8’s smaller size and focus on its one hand-friendliness, since it’s small enough to swipe-type and take a photo with one hand. But others just want the biggest phone, period.

Rumline
04-06-2017 04:23 PM

“

Yes, S8 is not big enough. IMHO even the S8+’s size is marginal, to the point that I may cancel my pre-order and wait for the Note 8. I want a 6″ screen with a 16:9 ratio.

Reply

Others don’t think the S8+ goes big enough, and are waiting to see what the Note 8 brings.

What’s your thinking? Are you going for the Galaxy S8 or the Galaxy S8+?

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This amazing picture leak could show us the Samsung Galaxy Note 8

An image purporting to be the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has appeared on Slashleaks via Leakspinner, a contributor that has been bang on the money when it comes to Samsung leaks in the past.

• Samsung Galaxy Note 8: What’s the story so far?

There is only one image of the device in the leak, but it shows a large phone running Bixby, Samsung’s own virtual assistant. The phone itself looks remarkably similar to the recently unveiled Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus smartphones, with a full-frontal screen and no physical home button.

Because of this new design, there’s no official Samsung branding to be seen, but considering the design similarities, it would be fair to assume this is a Samsung device.

To help with the assumption that this is a picture of the Galaxy Note 8, an S Pen stylus can be seen next to it. The only thing that lets this rumour down, is the fact we can’t see if there’s a dedicated slot to house the S Pen, a feature that’s exclusive to the Note series of phablets. Because we have to take this rumour with a pinch of salt for now, there’s always the possibility this is just a photoshopped Galaxy S8 Plus with an S Pen put next to it.

• Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will have 4K display and Bixby voice assistant
• Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 has the codename…wait for it…’Great’

However, Samsung has hinted in the past that it would continue the Note series with the Note 8, despite the battery issues that plagued the Note 7 and caused it to be taken off sale after just two months. The company previously announced an upgrade scheme, that would allow anyone would bought a Note 7, could return it and get a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge for half price, and then have the opportunity to upgrade to a Galaxy S8 or Note 8 when they’re released in 2017.

Sammobile has previously uncovered the model number SM-N950F, too, which adds further evidence to the device’s existence.

So while we can’t say for sure that this is the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 8, it offers us the best glimpse yet at what Samsung has planned to regain its reputation.

Android Wear 2.0 is ready for a bunch of new watches

It’s a bit beat up, but my OLED-equipped LG G Watch R is still going strong (and bright) after nearly two years. So it’s good news that, after being delayed by glitches, Android Wear 2.0 is rolling out this week to that model, the 2015 LG Watch Urbane and the more recent New Balance RunIQ.

LG said it’ll roll out the update to both the Urbane and G Watch R this week, and the Urbane second edition will get the OS “in the beginning of May.” RunIQ owners, meanwhile, will see the update “no later than April 14th.”

Android 2.0, which launched in February with LG’s new Watch Style and Watch Sport, was supposed to come to older devices like mine several weeks after launch. However, while Google recently managed to get it working on the Fossil Q Founder, Casio WSD-F10 and $1,500 Tag Heuer Connected, it said that “for other devices … [it] is currently being delayed due to a bug in the final testing.”

With that fixed, seven watches are about to get updates, leaving another 12 with owners still waiting to hear about Android 2.0 — including devices from Huawei, Moto and ASUS. New features of the OS include a refreshed, easier-to-use UI, standalone apps and watchfaces, and Google Assistant, the new, AI-powered version of Google Now. Hopefully, with the update bug apparently solved, we’ll see release dates for all those models soon.

Via: The Verge

Source: LG (Google+), New Balance

Algoriddim’s djay Pro finally makes the move to Windows

After a short few months in beta, Algoriddim’s djay Pro has finally arrived as a native Windows 10 app. Prior to this, the Apple-centric software added Android to its roster of mobile devices, including the iPad Pro, but otherwise hasn’t been available on bigger touchscreens. The extensive line of Windows hybrids seem well-suited to hands-on digital djing, but when you consider the Surface Studio, you have a monster of an interface and a match made in heaven.

For the unfamiliar, djay Pro is a digital dj interface that gives you complete mixing control, with up to four virtual decks and waveform views, sound effects, filters and a crossfader. You can pull from your own local library of tunes in addition to the entire Spotify catalog to suit any occasion. The Windows 10 version of djay Pro, however, isn’t exactly the same as previous versions, at least not yet. The video mixing feature that allows you to blend visuals with your music — assuming you’re really good at multitasking — didn’t make it to this release. It’s on the roadmap, but you’ll have to wait a while.

Algoriddim didn’t rebuild the application from the ground up for this new platform, it used Windows Bridge for iOS to translate djay Pro into a native Windows 10 app. That means it’s just one codebase for the product across all platforms, with just a few local tweaks to adapt to the Windows environment. There may still be a few bugs to work out, but that’s par for the course with a fresh new release.

If you’ve used djay Pro before, you’ll be hard pressed to notice any changes here, so there’s no learning curve using the app on Windows, aside from the machine’s OS, of course. You can finally break from free from tablets to utilize the full touchscreen interface, and while a laptop screen does have a good bit of real estate, the kicker here is the ability to use the Surface Studio and its massive 28-inch PixelSense screen as a dj workstation.

The Studio seems like a breath of fresh air, being able to use the app with so much screen space. Even with the decks displayed, you still get a rich and colorful display area for your digital library’s album icons or track lists. With Spotify integration, you can also search through the vast online libray (with a peripheral or spacious onscreen keyboard) and get multiple columns showing artist/album results, Match recommendations (based on BPM, key and music style) and your current queue. To put tunes on deck, you can drag and drop selections using your fingers and the Pen or by scrolling though options using the Dial interface and clicking to select.

Dial support is still scarce, making its addition here a big step forward. This includes on-screen location sensing, with some incredibly useful interactions, such as scrolling through tracks quickly or using it to control the crossfader or deck. You can drop it onto the track list (assuming your screen is tilted enough that gravity doesn’t take over) and quickly scroll through selections, then pick it up and move it onto one of the active decks or waveforms and scrub through the track. This may sound useful in theory, but trying to backspin with the Dial isn’t really something I’d recommend, based on my brief experience with it. For crossfading, it seems to work best with the Dial on a table and not directly on top of the onscreen fader, but it seems like an improvement over the touchscreen option.

As long as your PC or mobile device has a USB interface, you can also use one of over 60 MIDI controllers with the djay Pro app for Windows 10, providing a more three-dimensional tactile experience with the ability to map hardware controls to software actions. After trying this on the Surface Studio though, I could see the argument for just using a large touchscreen without too many drawbacks.

Algoriddim’s djay Pro arrives today in the Windows Store for $49.99, with free trials available if you want to take it for a test drive first. You’ll need a machine running Windows 10 Desktop Version 1607 or later.

Google might bring curved screens to its next Pixel phone

Google, which has taken a hands-off approach to Android hardware until recently, may be getting more involved in smartphone production. It’s reportedly investing up to $875 million in LG Display to develop a stable supply of flexible OLED screens for its Pixel phones, according to reports from Korea’s Yonhap News and Electronic Times (ET). That would help ease supply problems for the next-gen device, as the current model has been nearly impossible to find.

The search giant would invest a trillion won ($875 million) and possibly more to secure a production line dedicated to its own smartphones. It may also reserve some flexible OLED screens for other devices like a rumored pair of “Pixel” smartwatches. LG display is reportedly mulling the offer, which would be a strategic investment and not just an order deposit. If it signs on, curved screens for the Pixel would likely be built in LG’s $1.3 billion flexible OLED line in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province.

With its Nexus phones, Google let partners Huawei, LG and HTC control all aspects of the devices and hardware. However, with the Pixel and Pixel XL, Google actually took charge of the design and thus, to some level, the hardware. That was both a good and bad thing — the phone was generally acknowledged as the best-ever Google device, but was only released in the US, UK, Australia, Germany and Canada. Even in those nations, it was pretty damn hard to find.

If the news is accurate (and with supply rumors, that’s a big “if”) then Google would be playing favorites with one Android supplier, LG, over another, Samsung. On the other hand, Samsung might be quite okay with that, considering it’s about to launch its own curved OLED Galaxy S8 smartphone and possibly supply the flexible OLED display for Apple’s next iPhone 8. With OLED tech seemingly the only thing that manufacturers want, it makes sense for Google to cut a deal with LG, which isn’t faring so well with its own devices.

Via: Techcrunch

Source: Yonhap, ET News (translated)

Cadillac unveils its answer to Tesla’s semi-autonomous tech

Outside of Tesla, semi-autonomous driving modes are still quite rare. GM, however, wants to make it relatively mainstream. The upcoming 2018 Cadillac CT6 (due this fall) will be the company’s first car with Super Cruise, a technology that can take over during highway drives. If you believe the Cadillac crew, this is the first production car with “true” hands-free driving. Where Tesla’s newer Autopilot versions require that you keep your hands on the wheel, Cadillac only requires that you look at the road. An infrared camera on the steering column tracks your head to make sure you’re paying attention, and the vehicle will send alerts or even bring the car to a stop if you won’t (or can’t) keep your eyes forward.

Super Cruise promises an extra level of mapping accuracy thanks to the use of extensive LiDAR data (recorded by other cars, not the CT6) in addition to the usual onboard sensors and GPS. However, this is also lets Cadillac dictate where you’re allowed to use the feature. It’ll only be allowed on divided, limited-access highways with clear entrance and exit ramps — where Tesla is relatively flexible as to where you invoke Autopilot, Cadillac will make you take the wheel in most cases. This isn’t because it can’t do the job, to be clear. Super Cruise lead engineer Barry Walkup tells The Verge that it’s limiting the feature to “build consumer and regulatory confidence” in advanced driving tech.

The upgrade definitely shares one thing in common with Tesla: it’s expensive. You’ll need to buy the CT6 in luxury or platinum trim levels, which means at least a $66,290 price tag… and you’ll have to pay at least another $2,500 to add Super Cruise (the luxury model also requires a $3,100 driver assist option). GM isn’t exactly democratizing the concept, then. However, this may be the first exposure to semi-autonomous tech for legions of car buyers who may not even know Tesla exists. If it takes off with Cadillac, it’ll increase the pressure on other automakers to step up their game.

Source: The Verge

Minecraft: Pocket Edition Gaining Community ‘Marketplace’ for Creators to Sell Skins, Worlds, and More

Developer Mojang today announced that Minecraft players on iOS, Android, and Windows 10 will soon be able to browse an all-new “Marketplace,” where they’ll find skins, mini-games, textures, and worlds designed by other players, creators, and community members. The company said this marks the first time players will be able to download and play community creations directly from within Minecraft itself.

Not everyone will be able to post creations and sell them on Marketplace, however, as Mojang first requires creators “with a registered business” to submit an application to be included on the store. At launch, well-known Minecraft creators on Marketplace will include Noxcrew, BlockWorks, Qwertyuiop The Pie, Blockception, Sphax, Eneija Silverleaf, Imagiverse, Polymaps and Razzleberry Fox. Mojang said that the update will give creators another source of income from the game.

The idea is to give Minecraft creators another way to make a living from the game, allowing them to support themselves in the creation of ever-greater projects, while giving Pocket and Windows 10 players access to a growing catalogue of fun stuff – curated and supplied by us, safely and simply. And, of course, you can still manually download free community creations you’ve found out there on the internet, too.

Marketplace will include a new currency called “Minecraft Coins,” which users will obtain through in-app purchases on iOS. This will allow creators to choose flexible prices “and take their share of what they sell,” according to Mojang. The company took into account Apple’s 30 percent cut from IAPs, saying that creators will “get the majority” of the profit after Apple — and the other app store platform owners — take their cut.

Items and content purchased in Marketplace will sync across every version of Minecraft that users have logged into their Xbox Live account on. Mojang mentioned that it’s in talks with platform partners, like Apple, to figure out how to ensure all of a user’s content syncs across multiple company ecosystems.

Marketplace will be part of The Discovery Update, which Mojang intends to launch later this spring. Before it debuts, Marketplace will see a beta test run on Android devices in mid-April as a way to test the functionality of Minecraft Coins, and the developer is asking users to leave feedback on all the news on its website.

Minecraft: Pocket Edition is currently available to download for $6.99 on the App Store. [Direct Link]

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Ford’s hybrid cop car has electric boost for high-speed chases

You may see hybrids as dull econo-vehicles, but as Lamborghini and others have shown, electrons can boost a gas car into another dimension. You’d think there would already be economical hybrid cop cars that can go batshit fast when needed, but Ford has become the first with its Police Responder Hybrid Sedan. It gets twice the mileage of the current Interceptor, but “switches to maximum performance — with the engine and battery working at peak acceleration levels — when needed,” Ford said in a press release.

Based on the Ford Fusion Hybrid, it has “full pursuit” capabilities, and runs on the battery only below 60 mph, depending on the charge (Ford didn’t specify the lithium-ion battery’s capacity, but it doesn’t appear to be the plug-in model). That’s backed up by an Atikinson-cycle 2.0-liter engine that puts out 141 horsepower in the stock Fusion configuration.

It will go into pursuit mode when the throttle is held down for five seconds, engaging both the gas and electric motors. While not as quick as the 3.7-liter turbocharged Taurus-based Interceptor, Ford figures it’ll be fast enough to earn law enforcement’s “pursuit” rating.

With a 38 mpg rating compared to 18 mpg combined for the current car, Ford figures it’ll save around a quarter-gallon of gas per hour, amounting in up to $3,900 a year in savings. At the same time, it’s “certified by police agencies to be tough enough to handle police pursuits for longer periods at different speeds and over obstacles such as curbs and flooded intersections,” Ford writes.

Law enforcement groups are interested in the Police Responder’s economy, but concerned about its reliability. “Anytime you can save money it is good,” Michigan-based Police Chief Thomas Korabik told the Associated Press. “I’d want to see the car first and see how it would hold up.” He also wondered whether it’s big enough to handle the computers and other equipment now hosted by most police cars.

Via: Autoblog

Source: Ford