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Fresh Meat: 10 new Android apps worth checking out

New apps need lovin’ too, right? Every day there are thousands of additions to the Google Play store, but many go unnoticed and never receive the attention they deserve. We’ve shown in the past that this community can discover great apps and propel them to new heights. Our weekly Fresh Meat column highlights new apps with fewer than 100,000 installs. Browse our new Android app picks below and let us know which ones you enjoy.

Libre Music

Description: Libre Music is a free and open source media player that lets you simply enjoy your music by being fast, easy to navigate through, and having various other features such as: Support for all popular music formats (MP3, FLAC, WAV, etc…), Support for CUE sheets and CUE sheets embedded in audio files, Modern, simple material design.

(Playboard) | (Play Store)

nPlayer

Description: nPlayer officially supports DTS (DTS HD ), DTS Headphone:X. You don’t need to convert video files to MP4 to play them in your mobile device. nPlayer enable you to play all kinds of video formats and codecs without file converting efforts.

(Playboard) | (Play Store)

ZenUI Safeguard

Description: ZenUI Safeguard includes the features SOS and Report Location. SOS allows you to make an SOS call or send a preset SMS with your location information to your message group during emergencies by quick pressing the power button three times.

(Playboard) | (Play Store)

Page Marker

Description: Page Marker help you easily save, read and organize interested web articles in one place! Comprehensive article keeper – Save the internet articles you like on your mobile phone. Sync all your favorite content to Google Drive to store the clippings.

(Playboard) | (Play Store)

Fingerprint Gestures

Description: Fingerprint Gestures allows you to perform custom actions on your device using fingerprint sensor of your mobile.

(Playboard) | (Play Store)

MaskIt – Customize your icons!

Description: With MaskIt you can renew your icons. You can customize your apps in four different styles, all in one application!

(Playboard) | (Play Store)

SAMSUNG SLP

Description: Samsung Smart Lighting Platform is designed for integration with LED lighting systems to make it much easier to transform luminaires into smart, digital nodes.

(Playboard) | (Play Store)

Pronounce – Free offline Text to Speech

Description: From the developers of 2Do, we bring to you a beautiful new tool that helps you focus on words, their correct pronunciation and nothing else. With Pronounce you can master speech, or adopt that accent you thought you never could.

(Playboard) | (Play Store)

Croatia in VR – Ancient Pula

Description: Experience Croatia in a way that has not been possible for 2,000 years. Step into the shoes of a Roman, and see Pula exactly as they would have seen it in the 2nd Century A.D.

(Playboard) | (Play Store)

PhET Simulations

Description: Engage in learning science and math with the award-winning PhET simulations! Whether understanding atoms, exploring energy, or mastering multiplication, there is a sim for every learner.

(Playboard) | (Play Store)

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New BlackBerry Phone with IP67 certification and Big Battery Coming Soon

The BlackBerry KEYone has reportedly seen great success, so naturally TCL – the company which now manufacturers BlackBerry handsets – is eager to launch more great products.

According to one of the company’s officials who spoke to Engadget, we can expect a new BlackBerry smartphone to make a debut in October. However, this time we’re talking about a full-touch model without the iconic QWERTY keyboard.

TCL has high hopes for the new product, as it believes it could even convince iPhone or Samsung Galaxy owners to make the switch. What will be the features that will enable it to do that?

Apparently, the yet to be announced handset will be the first BlackBerry to be water-resistant coming with IP67 certification. It will also boast a big battery, said to be able to last 26 hours or more with mixed use.

Apart from these details, we don’t really know what the upcoming BlackBerry device will bring to the table. For example, we can’t tell you at this point whether the phone will come bundling high-end specs or middle-range ones like the BlackBerry KEYone does.

Anyway, TCL is going to be present at the IFA 2017 trade show in Berlin this week, so maybe the company will be sharing more details about the upcoming product during the event.

[Engadget]

The post New BlackBerry Phone with IP67 certification and Big Battery Coming Soon appeared first on Android in Canada Blog.

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Amazon and Microsoft partner up to make Alexa and Cortana play together

If you don’t like using only one digital personal assistant, Microsoft and Amazon want to help you.

Both companies announced today that they are partnering so that Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana can interact with one another. That means you’ll be able to ask Alexa to book a meeting through Cortana, or check up on your calendar from digital personal assistant to another. Doing so will be pretty straightforward, too, accessed by saying, “Alexa, open Cortana.”

On Android and iOS devices as well as Windows 10 PCs, you’ll be able to access Alexa through Cortana just by saying “Hey Cortana, open Alexa.” With that statement, you’ll then be able to do things like control your smart devices in your home, as well as whatever other Alexa skills you might have in place, too.

This functionality will be rolling out to devices later this year, but there’s no definite timeline in place just yet.

There are a variety of different digital personal assistants out there, and it’s still a burgeoning market, so there’s likely more coming down the pipe. Hearing that Microsoft and Amazon are making it possible for their options to work together will probably be a big benefit for folks who don’t want to rely on just one.

Will you use the upcoming feature?

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Samsung officially unveils Gear Sport smartwatch, Gear Fit2 Pro, and Gear IconX 2018 earbuds

In June of last year, Samsung debuted the Gear IconX wireless earbuds as well as the Gear Fit2 fitness wearable. Now the successors to each of those devices, as well as an all-new smartwatch, have been unveiled.

Today Samsung officially announced three new devices: the Gear Sport smartwatch, the Gear Fit2 Pro fitness tracking wearable, and the Gear IconX 2018 wireless headphones. Samsung announced each device with its own focus on fitness, while some even feature sleep tracking and nutrition monitoring.

First up is the Gear Sport, which features a 1.2-inch circular 360×360 AMOLED display, an Always On function and Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The Gear Sport is equipped with a dual-core 1GHz processor and Samsung’s Tizen operating system, and it features a 20mm strap.

Also included with the Gear Sport is 768MB of RAM and 4GB of built-in storage, while the battery measures in at 300mAh. As far as compatibility with other devices goes, if you have a Samsung Galaxy device, it will need to be running Android 4.3 or later to connect. Any other Android device needs to be running Android 4.4 or later. And for iPhones you’ll need an iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 6S, 6s Plus, SE, or an iPhone 5 running iOS 9.0 or later.

The Gear Sport will be available with a black or blue strap.

Next, the Gear Fit2 Pro. It has a 1.5-inch curved AMOLED display with a 216×430 resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3. There’s a dual-core 1GHz processor, Tizen, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage, a 200mAh battery, and a small strap (fits 125~165mm wrist sizes) or large strap (fits 158~205mm wrist sizes). It’s got the same compatibility as the Gear Sport for Android and iOS devices and comes in black or red.

And finally, the new Gear IconX 2018. These will be available in pink, gray, and black, and they are outfitted with 4GB of built-in storage per earbud. They connect with Bluetooth 4.2 and each battery in the earbud is 82mAh. Samsung says battery life will last 7 hours on standalone mode (not connected to a phone for music playback), or 5 hours in Bluetooth mode. The charging case has a 340mAh battery and can provide one extra charge on the go. The Gear IconX 2018 connect to Android devices running Android 4.4 or later that have 1.5GB of RAM on board or more.

Samsung also confirmed that the Gear IconX 2018 are the newest devices to support Bixby integration. Just tap-and-hold on an earbud and bring up the digital personal assistant.

Which of these new devices are you planning on picking up?

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The Walking Dead: Our World AR Game Coming to Android and iOS Soon

Love AMC’s The Walking Dead? Soon you’ll be able to join in on the action. AMC has partnered up with Next Games to bring Android and iOS fans a new mobile game in AR called The Walking Dead: Our World.

The developers are harnessing the power of Apple’s ARKit technology to infuse the game with augmented reality.
While the video teaser for the game doesn’t reveal much, you can see players fighting zombies in places like stores or hospitals with weapons such as guns, grenades and even Michonne’s sword. Speaking of which virtual versions of popular characters including Rick, Daryl or Michonne will come to your aid when needed.

What’s more, we also know that the Walking Dead: Our World game is going to be location based just like the super popular Pokemon.

We don’t have a release date for the game yet, but we assume it might be a while before we’ll be able to run across town and fight real-looking zombies.

In case you don’t know AMC and Finland-based Next Games previously collaborated on The Walking Game: No Man’s Land mobile role-playing game. The title launched back in October 2015 and was downloaded more than 16 million times. So we have high expectations for the new game.

[AMC]

The post The Walking Dead: Our World AR Game Coming to Android and iOS Soon appeared first on Android in Canada Blog.

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Armor Games has remade their popular turn-based RPG 'Sonny,' and it is out on the Play Store

Armor Games has remade their popular flash-based strategy RPG Sonny and have released it on the Play Store. It contains all of the content found in the Steam release and is available for free with intermittent advertisements after every other battle. There are no extra purchases, no wait timers to artificially slow you down or any other shady free-to-play mechanics. What you see is what you get.

Fans of the flash games will quickly notice that this Android release is quite different.

Armor Games has remade their popular turn-based RPG 'Sonny,' and it is out on the Play Store was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , Tablets 11:44 PM No comments

Essential Phone buyers being targeted by phishing scam

Essential, which recently started shipping its Essential Phone, is in the midst of an apparent phishing scam.

Several people have taken to social media to voice their concern that they’ve been targeted by a phishing scam via email. The first post on Reddit was published by user “Cygnosity,” and they copied the text of the email to the forum. It reads like plenty of other personal identification-seeking scams, requesting that the recipient not only send over their phone number and an alternate email address, but also a photo I.D. where the address and other discerning information is clearly legible.

Here’s the email:

“Hi,
Our order review team requires additional verifying information to complete the processing of your recent order. 
This verification is performed to protect against unauthorized use of your payment information and similar to what is conducted for in-person purchases. 
Please provide an alternative email and phone number to confirm this purchase..
We would like to request a picture of a photo ID (e.g. driver’s license, state ID, passport) clearly showing your photo, signature and address. NOTE: the address on the ID should match the billing address listed on your recent order.
We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your cooperation.  Once verified, we look forward to shipping your order.
Thanks!
Essential Products Customer Care”

The email was sent from “customercare@essential.com,” so it certainly looks like a credible request. However, Essential has taken to Twitter and posted that the company is looking into the email and that they are taking “steps to mitigate.” What that actually means at the moment, though, remains unknown.

We’re aware of & looking into a recent e-mail received by some customers. We’ve taken steps to mitigate & will update with more info soon.

— Essential (@essential) August 30, 2017

If you ordered an Essential Phone, keep an eye out for these emails, and definitely don’t reply to it with any personal information.

Have you received this email?

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[Update: Live] Alexa is finally rolling out to Amazon's Android app, starting this week

Update 1: 2017/08/30 4:47am PDT
The Amazon Shopping app was just updated with a new changelog stating that Alexa is now integrated. Give it a try and let us know if it works for you. WHAT'S

Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant is best known for being on its Echo line of speakers, but it's available on both iOS and Android. There's a dedicated Alexa app on both of those operating systems, but only iOS has Alexa built into the main Amazon app.

[Update: Live] Alexa is finally rolling out to Amazon's Android app, starting this week was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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