Ready to check out some more of our favorite apps? Each week we bring to you some of our favorites in hopes that they may become your favorites, and we want you to do the same. Drop a line in the comments and let us know some of the awesome applications you have installed on your device, so the rest of the Android Central community can check them out as well!
iMore picks of the week: Flipboard, N.O.V.A. 3, olloclip Every week iMore’s editors carefully cull through hundreds of thousands of iPhone and iPad apps and games, and countless accessories, to find the three most interesting, innovative, and attention worthy iOS products for you to check out. They might might be the latest and greatest or the most newly updated, or they might be classics or hidden gems. The only constant is, they’ll always be among our very favorites, and they’ll join the exclusive ranks of iMore’s picks of the week. This week we have an old social favorite with new social hook, the sequel to the sequel of one of the best shooters ever, and way to give your iPhone an incredible new set of eyes…
Every week iMore’s editors carefully cull through hundreds of thousands of iPhone and iPad apps and games, and countless accessories, to find the three most interesting, innovative, and exciting iOS products for you to check out. They might might be the latest and greatest or the most newly updated, or they might be classics or hidden gems. The only constants are, they’ll always be among our very favorites, and they’ll worthy to join the exclusive ranks of iMore’s new picks of the week.
This week we have an old social favorite with new social hook, the sequel to the sequel of one of the best shooters ever, and way to give your iPhone an incredible new set of eyes…
App of the Week: Flipboard with SoundCloud
Flipboard is a dynamic, up-to-date, but highly personalized magazine created from everything being shared to you from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Reeder, LinkedIn, Flickr and most recently added, SoundCloud.
That’s right, now you can enjoy amazing sounds created and shared by your friends and people you follow on SoundCloud as well as explore dozens of recommended audio feeds in new Audio category in the Content Guide.
Using Flipboard is joyous. You simply flip through the different stories in your feeds that are displayed with big images and an expert of text. When reading an article, advancing through pages also requires the act of “flipping”. It’s actually pretty fun.
This week, there was really only iOS game worth talking about: Gameloft’s N.O.V.A. 3. The franchise has long been meeting the needs of hardcore Halo fans looking for something similar on their iPhone, and over time, N.O.V.A. has very much come into its own.
You play the role of Kal Wardin, a reluctant (and supposedly retired) military man who’s the only one with the skills to fend off the usual intergalactic threats. Your standard assortment of shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, grenades, and missile launchers are supplemented by superhuman abilities like slowing time, telekentic force pushes, and freezing enemies. Though there’s a 10-level single player campaign, the real game takes place online, where you fight 6 v 6 across a variety of classic game modes, like team deathmatch, free for all, and capture the flag. As you play, win or lose, you gain experience points and level up, which unlocks new weapons, equipment, and add-ons to spawn with. One of the most exciting elements of multiplayer is the ability to hop into a variety of awesome high-tech vehicles, like walker mechs and jeeps.
This sci-fi first-person shooter boasts Retina-optimized graphics for both iPhone and iPad, but be warned new iPad owners – the price for razor-sharp textures is steep. In order to keep the framerate up, you’ll be sacrificing lots of cool effects like depth of field and motion blur. Gameloft is also trying to push in-app purchases for guns, which is a trapping generally left to free games, but luckily you can earn all the in-game currency you need through regular gameplay.
N.O.V.A. 3 provides top-notch action, great multiplayer, and graphics that you will have a hard time finding anywhere else on iOS. Although many scoff at dual-stick shooters on mobile, I find Gameloft has done a great job at integrating gyroscope control since Modern Combat 3, particularly for fine aim adjustments. I also take zero issue with the “inspiration” they pull from sci-fi games on other platforms; if Halo isn’t ever going to find its way to the iPhone and iPad, then more power to Gameloft for bringing it here. For action game fans, N.O.V.A. 3 is a no-brainer.
The olloclip is a compact, convenient lens system that easily slides over your iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S camera and turns it into a fun, flexible, photography powerhouse. The olloclip contains both a fisheye and wide-angle lens, and you can unscrew the wide-angle to reveal a macro lens as well. That’s 3 extra options in one small package.
We used the olloclip extensively at both CES 2012 and Macworld|iWorld Expo 2012 and it worked fantastically well. The fisheye let us fit multiple people into frame for video interviews, and the macro let us get in really close for details. We even used the macro to capture the Retina display comparison shots for our new iPad review.
Combine it with the killer tips in our iPhone photography column and you’re on your way to one fairly incredible ultra-mobile photo kit.
Take comfort-food classics, refract them through the health-O-meter, and what do you get? If it’s done well, you get crisp pizza, hot noodles and gooey brownies, say, whose pure ingredients and lack of allergens let you eat them without the … Continue reading →
The unofficial, independent Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher, has gotten an official name — jOBS — a website, and has released some new details about the production.
The film chronicling the life of Steve Jobs, the Apple Inc. co-founder and charismatic master of innovation, begins principal photography in June and in keeping with the project’s commitment to accuracy and authenticity, will film early scenes in the actual Los Altos home where Jobs grew up and in the historic garage where he and Steve Wozniak founded Apple.
jOBS is produced by Mark Hulme and Five Star Pictures and directed by Joshua Michael Stern of Swing Vote and Neverwas.
jOBS chronicles the 30 most defining years of Steve Jobs’ life, as seen through his, colleagues’, and friends’ eyes. Dark, honest, and uncompromising, jOBS plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs’ life.
On the film’s website, thejobsmovie.com, Hulme elaborates on his motivations for making jOBS.
One of the great innovators and futurist patriarchs of our time, Steve Jobs was somehow simultaneously a prophet and a pariah for millions of consumers. His is a truly fascinating story that cannot properly be told in such a short space, and that is why we are determined to bring his tale –both the good and the bad, the regrettable and unforgettable, the villainous and heroic– to the big screen.
jOBS current has the tagline “Get inspired” and is scheduled for a late fall, 2012 release. That should be well ahead of the official biopic produced by Sony and based on the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, which just hired Aaron Sorkin of The Social Network and The West Wing to pen their script.
Hello, I am going to factory reset my phone. However, my question is, since this is a complete reset will it also rollback to the version of Android that the EVO was launched with? For example, I know have version 2.3.5. Will it roll it all the way back to 2.1? I just want my data erased, I want to keep all my system updates including whatever updates Sprint sent. Do I have anything to worry about?
Also, the EVO I'm resetting is deactivated. Once the reset is complete will I be able to fully use my phone without the need of a Sprint connection? I have Wifi so that will do.
We're glad you asked! We get this one a lot, and we can see why the term factory data reset would make one think it was being returned to the factory, out-of-box condition. Thankfully, it's not. A factory reset will erase all user settings (things like home screen customizations, Wifi networks, sound settings and the like) and delete all apps downloaded from the Google Play store. It's won't touch anything that's part of the system files, so your worse case scenario (and actually the likely scenario) is that system apps that have been updated from the Google Play store (things like the Gmail app or Maps) will just need updated from the Play store again. You'll still be on the latest 2.3.5 version, but the rest will be clean like a new device.
As for it working without Sprint service, everything but calls and SMS/MMS will work just fine. I've had my EVO 4G unactivated for over a year now and use it to keep little nes occupied when they come for a visit. Using Wifi, all your Google services, including the important one — the Google Play store — will still work just fine. Good luck, and have fun with your new EVO PDA!
Have a question you need answered? (Preferably about Android, but we're flexible.) Hit up our Contact Page to get in touch!
It seems like some sort of cruel joke that the warm-weather season’s tastiest drinks — thick and creamy milkshakes, rich blended frappes, and the like — can be some of the biggest threats to your swimsuit figure (Photo Credit: BrandEating.com). … Continue reading →
Recently, HuffPost blogger Lisa Turner offered five religiously inspired rules for eating: 1. Eat mindfully, being aware of the food and your body.2. Eat for the purpose of nourishing your body; treat your body as a temple.3. Eat only fresh, … Continue reading → Source: http://www.55230.info/rachel-marie-stone-the-antinomian-religious-diet/ Salesforce Com Saic Rockwell Automation Rf Micro Devices Red [...]
Recently, HuffPost blogger Lisa Turner offered five religiously inspired rules for eating: 1. Eat mindfully, being aware of the food and your body.2. Eat for the purpose of nourishing your body; treat your body as a temple.3. Eat only fresh, … Continue reading →
Regulators in China have approved the multi-billion dollar purchase of Motorola Mobility by Google. The particulars have already been approved in the US and elsewhere, and China has been the lone holdout. With that bit of dirty business behind them, the deal can now go forward. In statements released to Bloomberg Motorola and Google both confirm the news, and are looking forward to getting the loose ends tied up in short order.
We expect things to stay unchanged between Google and Motorola, as we've heard numerous times that Motorola will remain an independent entity. Only time will let us know how that turns out. It will be an interesting summer, that's for sure.
Cuboid for iPhone review Cuboid is a fun 3D puzzle game for the iPhone and iPad of flipping and rolling a cuboid through a maze-like puzzle placed in the setting of mystic, ancient ruins.
Cuboid is a fun 3D puzzle game for the iPhone and iPad of flipping and rolling a cuboid through a maze-like puzzle placed in the setting of mystic, ancient ruins.
Cuboid is available on the iPhone and iPad as a universal app, but the screenshots in this review will be from an iPhone, only.
For those who may not know, a cuboid a rectangular solid that is in the shape of a box. In this game, if you were to cut the cuboid in half (longways), the result would be two cubes.
The goal of the game is simple, roll the cuboid through the puzzle so that you get it to fall through the square hole. It’s possible to roll the cuboid off the board, so be careful!
As you progress through the game, new elements such as buttons and teleports will be introduced to the game. When this happens, Cuboid has you play a simple tutorial level so that you understand how the new addition to the game works.
Once you succeed, you will receive 1-3 stars based on how many moves it took you to reach the goal. If you complete the level in the least number of moves possible, the level will also be marked as “etalon”. (An etalon is actually a physics device used to measure wavelengths, so I’m not really sure why this word is used.)
If you’re stuck and can’t figure out how to beat a level, Cuboid includes a hint button that will quickly show you how to beat the level from the cuboid’s current position. You are only given a few hints for free, though. If you want more, you must purchase them from the Cuboid Store.
Which brings me to the parts of Cuboid I do not understand. As you play the game, you earn coins. If you tap the button that says how many coins you have, or you tap the hint icon when you don’t have any left, you are taken to the Cuboid Store. I was expecting to be able to purchase hints with the coins I’ve earned. Nope. My choices are to buy hints or to buy coins… but I can’t figure out what I can do with my coins! Why do I want to buy 1500 coins for $4.99? As far as I can tell, these coins don’t actually have a purpose.
The other horrible thing about Cuboid is ads. Not so much the ads themselves (all ads are always horrible), but the fact that it’s not clear how to get rid of them. I’ve searched through every menu and there is no obvious method of purchasing an upgrade to remove the ads. However, through some trial and error, I discovered that if you tap the X on an ad, you’ll get the offer to remove ads for $0.99. It’s well worth the $0.99, in my opinion, but I can’t believe how difficult it was to find this in-app purchase.
In general, everything except the actual gameplay is very poorly done. There’s no written directions to be found (and that’s a shame, because I’d really like to know why HeroCraft is using the word “etalon” when perfectly beating a level). I would also like to know what all the icons mean in Settings. Music, sound, and hints was easy enough to figure out, but I’m not really sure what the movie icon is for. Despite the ample space on the Settings screen, there is no written description for what settings are actually being changed.
When tapping the ribbon on the main menu, you are taken to the ranking section in Game Center for Cuboid, but there doesn’t appear to be any way to exit this screen. It turns out that the “Done” button is just invisible. If you tap in the upper righthand corner, it briefly appears and activates.
The good
Awesome graphics
Addicting
Challenging
Universal for iPhone and iPad
The bad
No clear, written out directions
To purchase the upgrade for no ads, you must tap the X when an ad pops up
Not sure what the movie icon in settings represents. Again, no words to describe what it is
Game Center ranking page has an invisible Done button. You can’t see it, but if you tap in the upper righthand corner, it briefly appears and activates.
The conclusion
Luckily, none of the bugs I experience affect the actual gameplay of Cuboid. Cuboid is a very fun game and I really like how they’ve added a star value to each level. This allows the game to be played leisurely with the goal of just passing each level, or competitively with the goal of reaching “etalon” status for each level. With that said, HeroCraft does have some serious issues they need to address, mainly the horrible discovery of upgrading to no ads and giving an actual purpose to coins.
Recently, HuffPost blogger Lisa Turner offered five religiously inspired rules for eating: 1. Eat mindfully, being aware of the food and your body.2. Eat for the purpose of nourishing your body; treat your body as a temple.3. Eat only fresh, … Continue reading →
This Saturday, May 19, will be the first-ever global Food Revolution Day. I can not tell you how proud I am that we have more than 500 cities in 57 countries around the world standing up for real food. And … Continue reading →
Regulators in China have approved the multi-billion dollar purchase of Motorola Mobility by Google. The particulars have already been approved in the US and elsewhere, and China has been the lone holdout. With that bit of dirty business behind them, the deal can now go forward. In statements released to Bloomberg Motorola and Google both confirm the news, and are looking forward to getting the loose ends tied up in short order.
We expect things to stay unchanged between Google and Motorola, as we've heard numerous times that Motorola will remain an independent entity. Only time will let us know how that turns out. It will be an interesting summer, that's for sure.
Ready to check out some more of our favorite apps? Each week we bring to you some of our favorites in hopes that they may become your favorites, and we want you to do the same. Drop a line in the comments and let us know some of the awesome applications you have installed on your device, so the rest of the Android Central community can check them out as well!
The Sprint EVO 4G LTE missed today's in-store launch, and pre-orders aren't shipping, thanks to a pesky International Trade Commission review. Bollocks.
While you're waiting, here are some more EVO 4G LTE forum threads you should be sure to check out:
Before we wrap another week of giveaway's here at ShopAndroid.com, we've got the final four items for this week which include the Case-Mate Tough Case for HTC One X, Arkon Sport Armband, Motorola Dual Port Universal Charger 750mA, and the Blueant Q2 Smart Bluetooth Headset.
Pick one of these featured accessories for your Android and leave it in the comments below. We'll select one person as the winner and announce them next week. Good luck!
Designed to offer two layers of protection for the HTC One X, the Case-Mate Tough Case is completely flexible and impact resistant. The first layer is a flexible silicone case that wraps around the One X leaving the screen, camera, headphone and charging ports exposed. Then comes the ABS plastic hard shell case which covers your device while in the silicone cover.
On April 17, the California Homemade Food Act (AB 1616) — more commonly known as the California Cottage Food Bill — passed the California Assembly Committee on Health, bringing small food operators in California one step closer to being able … Continue reading →
Closed Denim Fall/Winter 2012 Lookbook by BecomeGorgeous.comPrepare for the new season in advance and don’t let the cold days take you by surprise. Take inspiration from the Closed Denim fall/winter 2012 lookbook to be able to spice up your looks … Continue reading →
Recently, HuffPost blogger Lisa Turner offered five religiously inspired rules for eating: 1. Eat mindfully, being aware of the food and your body.2. Eat for the purpose of nourishing your body; treat your body as a temple.3. Eat only fresh, … Continue reading →
Before we wrap another week of giveaway's here at ShopAndroid.com, we've got the final four items for this week which include the Case-Mate Tough Case for HTC One X, Arkon Sport Armband, Motorola Dual Port Universal Charger 750mA, and the Blueant Q2 Smart Bluetooth Headset.
Pick one of these featured accessories for your Android and leave it in the comments below. We'll select one person as the winner and announce them next week. Good luck!
Designed to offer two layers of protection for the HTC One X, the Case-Mate Tough Case is completely flexible and impact resistant. The first layer is a flexible silicone case that wraps around the One X leaving the screen, camera, headphone and charging ports exposed. Then comes the ABS plastic hard shell case which covers your device while in the silicone cover.
The May 18 ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day is the Qmadix Metalix Snap-On Cover for Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX. The durable but lightweight, textured polycarbonate border on the case helps to keep a firm grip on your device and aluminum alloy accents enhance the look for the RAZR MAXX without adding bulk or unwanted weight. Comes in black, blue, red, and purple.
Before we wrap another week of giveaway's here at ShopAndroid.com, we've got the final four items for this week which include the Case-Mate Tough Case for HTC One X, Arkon Sport Armband, Motorola Dual Port Universal Charger 750mA, and the Blueant Q2 Smart Bluetooth Headset.
Pick one of these featured accessories for your Android and leave it in the comments below. We'll select one person as the winner and announce them next week. Good luck!
Designed to offer two layers of protection for the HTC One X, the Case-Mate Tough Case is completely flexible and impact resistant. The first layer is a flexible silicone case that wraps around the One X leaving the screen, camera, headphone and charging ports exposed. Then comes the ABS plastic hard shell case which covers your device while in the silicone cover.
With all the recent news about forcing customers to use shared data plans we saw this week, T-Mobile wanted to let everyone know their stance on the situation. Posting on the company's Issues and Insights blog, Andrew Sherrard, senior vice president of marketing, says "T-Mobile believes that consumers today do not want a ‘one size fits all’ approach to shared family data plans, nor would they benefit from that model". ?Reading through the sentiment in the comments on the recent Verizon news, and one would have to assume he is right.
Reading and watching David poke at Goliath is fun (in some twisted kind of blogger way) but there's one big variable still not defined — how much shared data, and how much will it cost. With a reasonably high cap, at a reasonably low price, I can see the benefit in a shared data poll across multiple devices. Saying goodbye to a 5GB plan for your phone, your tablet, and your data card or hotspot, and hello to a shared 10 GB plan at half the cost is an offer many would jump on, even if the cost per kilobyte increases.
One thing Sherrard is saying that I think most would agree with is that "Customers who pay more, should get more". There are many ways for Verizon (and AT&T, who surely won't be far behind) to make this a change for the good. Until we see the plans and pricing, I'm not ready to crucify anyone just yet. If everything holds true, we'll know more in about a month.
Android Central 96: HTC stuck in Customs, multitasking mayhem, Google Music drama Podcast MP3 URL: http://traffic.libsyn.com/androidcentral/acpc96.mp3 Thing 1: EVO 4G LTE delayed HTC One X and EVO 4G LTE imports stalled by U.S. customs Sprint finally acknowledges EVO 4G LTE delay on its community forums Sprint EVO 4G LTE reportedly will miss Friday's launch date [...]
Sony hires Steve Wozniak to consult on Steve Jobs biopicSony has hired Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to advise on its upcoming film based on the book  Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacsson. Woz will be there to consult Sony has hired Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to advise on its upcoming film based on the book  Steve [...]
Can't say we're overly surprised to see this one, but it doesn't make it any less disappointing. Best Buy early today sent ?another? e-mail to customers who preordered the HTC EVO 4G LTE, saying that, whoopsie, it doesn't actually know when the Customs hold will lift and the EVO will be allowed to ship. This comes less than a day after Best Buy got hopes up by saying May 23 was the new target date, which was quickly followed by HTC telling us it had nothing new to announce. So, yeah.
And yes, there are plenty of "insider" sources feeding possible dates, too. But this thing's going to get out of hand right quick. Hopefully we'll hear something official from Sprint of HTC soon.
When the "berry pink" Galaxy Note first launched in Korea in early April, we doubted whether Samsung would look to release the device outside of its home territory. What fools we were.
Today the Carphone Warehouse reveals that it's planning to launch the pink Galaxy Note in the UK starting next month. There's even a pre-registration page open for would-be buyers to sign up for additional info on the mauve monstrosity. We're not sure what more information can be offered, though — as far as we're concerned it's the same old Galaxy Note, only with a hideous new coat of paint.
In any case, if the existing black and white Galaxy Notes are just too subdued and tasteful for you, you can find out more about the pink variant over at the source link. (Spoiler alert: it's a Galaxy Note, in pink.)
The Sprint EVO 4G LTE missed today's in-store launch, and pre-orders aren't shipping, thanks to a pesky International Trade Commission review. Bollocks.
While you're waiting, here are some more EVO 4G LTE forum threads you should be sure to check out:
When the inspirational Jamie Oliver set out to film his show Food Revolution, he launched the project with a bold, gutsy mission statement: to change not only the way people eat and cook, but also the way they think about … Continue reading →
Temple Run updated to address compatibility issues with Android 4.0 devices If you've been having any sort of issues playing Temple Run on your Android device now would be a good time to check for updates. The team at Imangi Studios has now released the latest update to the game and it has plenty of [...]
When it comes to nutrition, sometimes it’s hard to tell the fact from the fiction. Certain foods get a reputation as “bad for you,” whereas others get promoted as “natural” or “good for you” when they are really not. Sometimes … Continue reading →
If you're in the UK and have a high-end HTC phone or tablet, you'll want to check the bundled HTC Watch application this weekend. HTC has 200 movies available to rent for just 5p this weekend, as part of its HTC Watch 5p Weekend Special. HTC Watch has grown considerably since it first appeared on the Sensation last year, which means there's a surprisingly good selection of flicks on offer as part of the 5p deal (we've got the full list after the break.)
Unfortunately we're not seeing any sign of any similar deals on our US-bound HTC devices, but if the promotion proves a success on this side of the pond, there's a chance we may see it expanded to other territories.
Check past the break for the full list of movies on the 5p rentals list.
Motorola Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich schedule updated Motorola device owners have been pretty vocal about their want for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on their devices. Motorola in response to that, has kept an ICS rollout schedule updated and recently they made some changes to it that will either excite you or upset you, [...]
ScreenDIY for iPhone review ScreenDIY is an iPhone app that lets you create unique Lock screens and Home screens with designer wallpapers, shelves, frames, icon skins and more.
ScreenDIY is an iPhone app that lets you create unique Lock screens and Home screens from a wide variety of designer wallpapers, shelves, frames, icon skins and more.
The home screen gives you 5 different options: App Shelves, Icon Skins, Background, Lock DIY, and Home DIY.
The App Shelves, Icon Skins, and Background sections are simply backgrounds and cannot be customized. ScreenDIY has a good variety of backgrounds including many girly ones.
When viewing a background, you can view it with sample icons to get an idea of what it’ll really look like on your Home screen.
In addition to the basic backgrounds, you can also make your own Home and Lock screens from the DIY sections of ScreenDIY.
In the Lock DIY section, you can mix and match backgrounds (excluding ones with skins and shelves) and calendars and frames. You can also choose one of your own photos from your Photo Library to use as the background. When creating your Lock screen, you can preview what it will look like with the time, date, and slide to unlock UI of the iPhone’s Lock screen.
Customizing your Home screen is very similar, only instead of calendars and frames, you have icon skins and shelves.
The only real disappointment with the DIY sections is that you have to scroll through the all the choices. There’s no option to browse through a gallery of choices like there is in the other sections.
The good
Lots of backgrounds
DIY sections allow for my customization
A good selection of girly choices
New backgrounds added weekly
The bad
No iPad support
The conclusion
ScreensDIY is a great app for creating custom Home screens and Lock screens. I like to regularly change my backgrounds and really like the choices that ScreensDIY has to offer. It’s also great that the devs are keeping the content fresh by regularly adding new backdrops.
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