Need For Speed: No Limits Speeds Into The Play Store Like It's Dodging The Cops, But Has To Stop For Gas And Search For A Wi-Fi Hotspot

No Limits is EA's first Need for Speed game build exclusively for mobile devices. It was previously up for pre-order, and now it's officially available for download from Google Play. This touch-friendly racer is free to download, but as you would expect from EA, that doesn't mean you won't feel pressure to spend money.

We've been waiting for No Limits to launch throughout most of the year, and we've long known that the game would charge for gas.

Read More

Need For Speed: No Limits Speeds Into The Play Store Like It's Dodging The Cops, But Has To Stop For Gas And Search For A Wi-Fi Hotspot was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Android Match

Android Police - Android News , Apps , Games , Phones , Tablets » Apps/Games 11:42 PM No comments

HTC To Unveil A Marshmallow Powered One On October 20

HTC has already promised the bring Marshmallow to some of their devices by the end of the year but it looks like the M8 and M9 may not be the first HTC made devices to get the new tasty treat.  Shortly after Google’s Nexus event yesterday HTC sent out press invites to an event they will be hosting on October 20.  While they didn’t specify what they would be unveiling, all signs seem to be pointing towards the One A9.

The One A9 has been surfacing a fair amount lately so we have a pretty good picture of what the device will include.  Expectations are that it’ll packa 5″ FHD AMOLED display and will be powered by the Snapdragon 617 and 2GB of RAM.  The device will come with 16GB of expandable storage and will sport a 13MP camera with OIS.  A 2150 mAh battery will keep things running and a fingerprint reader is expected on the device.  Lastly, Marshmallow is expected to be on board.

Another interesting little tid bit regarding this event is that it’s seemingly going to be virtual.  “On Oct. 20 we will introduce our newest HTC One smartphone. This is not your traditional smartphone so we aren’t hosting a traditional launch event. We will be unveiling the smartphone via a virtual event held athttp://ift.tt/1f5FpiF at noon ET.”  Perhaps they’ll do something similar to what OnePlus did with the launch of the OnePlus 2?  Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Oh and one last little piece to pass your way.  This invite did come to us from our HTC contact so there’s a good chance that this device will hit Canada when it launches.

 

HTC To Unveil A Marshmallow Powered One On October 20 is a post from: Android in Canada Blog

The post HTC To Unveil A Marshmallow Powered One On October 20 appeared first on Android in Canada Blog.

Android Match

Android in Canada Blog 11:12 PM No comments

TAG Heuer set to unveil its $1,800 Android smartwatch on November 9

While smartwatches are pretty common from manufacturers at this point, more old-fashioned timepiece makers have yet to really jump on the ball just yet. One such company is TAG Heuer, which has carefully bided its time as other companies like Motorola, LG, Huawei, and Apple have all thrown their hats into the market.

The wait is finally coming to an end, though, as the CEO of TAG Heuer, Jean-Claude Biver, has confirmed to CNBC. According to the CEO, the watch — which will be powered by Android — will cost $1,800. That’s actually even higher than many estimates, which had suggested the upcoming smartwatch would retail for around $1,400. The watch itself was first confirmed back in March of this year, when the company announced that it was working on building a luxury smartwatch featuring Google’s operating system.

TAG Heuer isn’t a stranger to launching luxury timepieces of course, especially not ones that cost quite a bit of money. It will be interesting to see if the brand can compel potential (smart)watch buyers to pick their device rather than, say, Motorola’s new Moto 360 or even the Huawei Watch, both of which retail for quite a bit less. Then again, the expectation of TAG Heuer to create something that’s more in line with a classic watch rather than a piece of technology strapped to a wrist is pretty high.

Would you consider buying a smartwatch for $1,800?

Android Match

Android and Me 10:58 PM No comments

Samsung confirms Gear S2 price and launch date for U.S.

Samsung’s new Gear S2 and Gear S2 classic smartwatches, which were officially unveiled in early September, are about to make their U.S. debuts. Both devices will go on sale on Friday, October 2 — but they won’t be cheap. The Gear S2, which is the more affordable model in the lineup and comes with a plastic

Read the full article...

The post Samsung confirms Gear S2 price and launch date for U.S. appeared first on Cult of Android.

Android Match

Cult of Android 10:25 PM No comments

NVIDIA SHIELD availability and functionality expanding October 1st

NVIDIA SHIELD launched back in May and continues to blow the doors off all competing streaming boxes thanks to the Tegra X1 processor. NVIDIA is still pushing to advance its Android TV offering and keep ahead of the pack, though.

SHIELD just keeps getting better

We already brought you the details of the GeForce NOW game streaming service launching tomorrow, and as part of that same update, SHIELD is getting a boost to its home theater functionality with Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio pass-through and WMA-Lossless decode. Movie playback at 23.976 frames per second is supported as well as codec support for VC-1, MPEG-2 and WMV9.

Android TV, which SHIELD is built upon, has also expanded greatly over the last few months since the SHIELD launched, going from just over 300 apps to nearly 1,000. Soon you will be able to cast from Spotify Music and Google Photos to the SHIELD, and more apps are coming all the time.  SHIELD offers a curated list of 135 games, and as part of the update tomorrow, it will render some Android games in 4K regardless of whether they were designed with that in mind.

New places to buy SHIELD

Starting tomorrow both the SHIELD and SHIELD Pro will be available in the U.K., France, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Buyers will be able to pick them up through shield.nvidia.com, Amazon.com as well as Game, Scan, Cyberport, MediaMarkt, Saturn, LDLC, Materiel, Komplett and Elkjopp.

U.S. retail availability of the SHIELD continues to grow as well, and you can now find it in Best Buy, Fry’s Electronics and MicroCenter. Of course, you can also still find it online through NVIDIA, Google, Amazon or Best Buy.

Finally, Google has shown an interest in SHIELD as well, making it available to users of Google Fiber as an add-on for current and future Fiber subscribers in Provo, Utah; Kansas City, Missouri; and Austin, Texas.

We have definitely seen the already-crowded streaming media box market get even more competitive this year, but from a feature standpoint, it would be difficult to argue that SHIELD remains the most comprehensive offering with not only an impressive array of home theater features, but also true gaming capabilities that completely outshine the competition.

Whether this actually translates into mainstream success remains to be seen, but with this latest update NVIDIA proves once again that they are deeply committed to making this platform work, and the expanded availability could finally be the tipping point for SHIELD.

Android Match

Android and Me 10:24 PM No comments

Samsung Gear S2 and its rotating bezel will launch October 2 for $299

The smartwatch wars are heating up this fall, especially when it comes to watches with round faces. The LG Watch Urbane has been around for a few months, the new Moto 360 and Huawei Watch are just launching, and now the Samsung Gear S2 is about to enter the fray.

Samsung says that the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic will launch in the US on October 2. They’ll be available from Samsung’s own website as well as Amazon, Best Buy, and Macy’s. As for pricing, the standard Gear S2 will cost $299.99, while the ridged Gear S2 Classic will cost $349.99.

Aside from the ridged casing, the Gear S2 Classic is different from the Gear S2 in that it has a slightly larger battery: 300mAh vs 250mAh. Outside of those two things, though, the two watches are the same, boasting 1.2-inch round 360×360 Super AMOLED displays, 1GHz dual-core processors, 4GB of storage, and 512MB of RAM. Both also have rotating bezels that you can use in tandem with their touchscreens to navigate through Samsung’s Tizen OS.

Despite the fact that they run Tizen OS and not Android Wear, the Gear S2 watches are compatible with non-Galaxy Android phones, something that Samsung’s older Gear watches can’t say.

Samsung is no stranger to the smartwatch market, having launched several Android Wear and Tizen devices. The Gear S2 models are their first round smartwatch efforts, though, and they’ve got some attractive designs. The question for would-be smartwatch buyers is this: Do you want Samsung’s Gear S2 with a rotating bezel, or are you willing to forgo that unique bezel in favor of an Android Wear-powered piece of kit?

Android Match

Android and Me 9:40 PM No comments

NVIDIA GeForce NOW coming October 1st, the next generation of game streaming

If you have owned or followed any of the devices in the NVIDIA SHIELD family then you are probably familiar with the NVIDIA GRID service: “Netflix for games” has been the NVIDIA pitch since the beginning. Originally launched in San Jose back in December of 2013, the service went nationwide in the U.S. in November last year and continued to expand into western Europe and Asia. GRID brought high-quality PC games to SHIELD hardware without the owner needing a PC of their own. SHIELD owners have enjoyed this beta iteration for free and NVIDIA built GeForce NOW based on what they learned from those hundreds of thousands of GRID users.

GeForce Now launches on October 1st as part of an update to SHIELD and includes all of the features of the GRID service and more. A GeForce NOW subscription will be $7.99 a month, but NVIDIA is giving users the first three months free to check it out and make sure it is for them.

There are currently over 50 titles available for free as part of the membership. The combined value of this curated collection of games is approximately $1,000, and NVIDIA will continue to add a new game every Tuesday.

In addition to this collection of recent titles, GeForce NOW will be adding a store for newly-released titles. At launch there will be 10 games available in the store with pricing comparable to other online stores, but NVIDIA is hoping to achieve day and date release availability in the future. With GeForce NOW, gamers can start playing a game within 30 seconds of hitting the buy button, no waiting hours for a download. These purchases will also include a download code to play the game on your PC as well.

NVIDIA views streaming as an advantage over the consoles as they are able to constantly update the backend, as they have in upgrading to GeForce NOW from GRID and already are eclipsing the hardware on current generation consoles. They promise 1080p at 60 frames per second and view this as a vital part of the success of the streaming service.

GeForce Now will be available on all SHIELD devices starting October 1st.

We’ll be putting it through it’s paces as soon as it hits our devices and if you give GeForce NOW a try we’d love to hear from you too.

Android Match

Android and Me 8:57 PM No comments

‘Newest HTC One’ to be unveiled on October 20

Not smitten with yesterday’s new Nexus phone announcements? HTC has announced that it will be holding a “virtual event” on October 20 to unveil its “newest HTC One.” The invitation doesn’t give us any clues about the new phone, save for a faint outline which matches that of the yet unannounced HTC One A9. Rumors have indicated that the HTC One A9 will launch in the US, Europe and Asia and will be backed by a substantial marketing campaign. This speculation is backed up by the fact that HTC shared the details of the launch event on its global, US and UK social media accounts.

Based on what we’re heard about the HTC One A9, the phone isn’t expected to outclass the HTC One M9. Instead, the One A9 will offer decent specs wrapped in a refined design — hopefully at a reasonable price.

Android Match

Android and Me 8:36 PM No comments

These are the HTC handsets getting a Marshmallow upgrade

HTC has confirmed that it will begin rolling out its first Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates before the end of 2015. The company has also revealed which handsets are in line to get one, so if you’re wondering whether yours will get lucky, just check the list below. “Serving up Marshmallow sweetness real soon,” teased HTC America

Read the full article...

The post These are the HTC handsets getting a Marshmallow upgrade appeared first on Cult of Android.

Android Match

Cult of Android 6:25 PM No comments