Deal: Diztronic Matte Black Flexible TPU Case for the LG Google Nexus 5

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For those of you out there with a Nexus 5, here’s a nice looking case that you should check out. It’s a flexible TPU case from Diztronic, which is a pretty reputable company. They’ve made countless cases before and I’ve used quite a few of theirs as well. This particular case has a matte black finish on the back, and is flexible. It’s also a custom fit for the Nexus 5. The matte black keeps the fingerprints away and has high gloss TPU frames on the screen. The power button and volume rocker are still easy to press as they are molded on the case. There’s also cut outs for the camera/flash module, speaker, microUSB port, and the headphone jack. It’s a ultra-thin and lightweight case that’s perfect for the Nexus 5.

Diztronic Matte Back Black Flexible TPU Case for LG Nexus 5 – Retail Packaging

LG Google Nexus 5

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Early Tests Show Samsung’s Galaxy S5 Battery Might Actually Live Up to its Hype

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Many an Android user, myself included, have longer battery life at the top of their list as a “must-have” that they would like to see included in the next iteration of the world’s most popular mobile operating system. One of the most intriguing features Samsung’s 2014 flagship phone, the Galaxy S5, offers is Lucid’s “PowerXtend” software suite (GameXtend, NavXtend, and WebXtend), a potential game-changer that just might be the answer to all of our wishes.

PowerXtend optimizes CPU/GPU computational load which results in lower power consumption in your Galaxy S5. It addresses content dynamically in gaming, browsing, navigation and video. At the S5’s unveiling, Samsung boasted that, thanks to the device’s 2,800mAh battery and this new technology, users can look forward to up to 50% more battery time when playing games, 25% more battery time when navigating, and 25% more battery time while browsing the web on their phone.

Of course, all of this sounds great, but does PowerXtend actually work as advertised? After all, how many times have we heard,”(Insert random app) will save you a tremendous amount of battery,” only to find out it did not work as advertised? Well, according to some early test results posted on the Korean website, PlayWares, it looks like Lucid might be able to deliver on its promise.

Looking at the chart above, the Galaxy S5 sits as the king of battery life, at least as far as phones are concerned. Obviously, many phablets and tablets are going to score higher as they have higher capacity batteries, but the S5 does get a better score than the Galaxy Note 3 which has a 3,200mAh battery, possibly because the Note 3 has another .6 inches of screen to power. For the tests, the phone’s screens were set to roughly 230 units of brightness and placed into “peak luminance” mode. The Wi-Fi browsing test was quite rigorous, but still resulted in a whopping 7 hours of screen-on time.

Impressive, to say the very least.

Readers, what do you think of the Samsung Galaxy S5 and PowerXtend? If these test results are any indication, it looks like you won’t have to worry about lugging around your phone charger every time you leave the house anymore.

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Android Headliner: Were HTC’s Leaks Of The One M8 On Purpose?

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It’s normal for leaks to happen with new handsets. It happens every year and we’ve seen it from various companies, both Google and Apple included with their stunts about “mistakenly” leaving the phones behind in a bar before they were released. The point is that smartphone leaks in the last few years have become the norm to an extent. We expect them to happen. However most people were probably not expecting HTC to have as many leaks as they did for the One M8, and certainly not to the extent that they appeared. With the sheer number of times this phone was leaked and with the methods of how we came to view the phone before its unveiling and launch officially, it begs the question if the leaks were part of HTC’s planning to out the phone. Were the leaks controlled? Or did HTC just plan to have them leaked and let the so called offenders let loose in their own way?

It would seem less likely of a scenario if the leaks were more mild, but they happened in increasing numbers and soon became a major public spectacle all over the web and social media. This happened once we saw the first video leak of the device, of what we were told in the video was a review phone. It was clear the person recording though was a kid and it seemed that he had just gotten a hold of the phone from his parents, one of or both of which worked for HTC. We were all quick to assume the severity of this kids offenses against the Taiwanese manufacturer, with the breach of contract on the confidentiality agreement that no doubt has to be signed when you would be given an item like an unreleased phone. It was believable, up until the point that we started to see more and more leaks pile up, then it began to look something like HTC had perhaps planned all along. If you think about it, leaks are free advertising for the company. HTC hasn’t put much efforts into their advertising the last few years, so letting out a large number of leaks could have been a precursor to the phone’s actual announcement, with official commercials and ads to follow.

It isn’t that far fetched to think that HTC could have set it up, to where they allowed individuals to leak the device with certain parameters for weeks and weeks leading up to the launch. The types of leaks we’re used to seeing are bits of images. A case showing the shape of the phone, and placement of buttons and cameras. A shipment invoice showing stock numbers of phones being received at carriers, specs, or one specific part of the phone, but not necessarily the whole thing. However this is only how the leaks began. We saw the types of leaks we’re used to, but then we began to see full blown images of the front and back, some of which after seeing the phone in its entirety, we now know the leaks were actually of the device. Enter the first video which was 12 minutes in length going over intricate details about the device, than fast forward weeks later and we had at least two more leaks of the phone before it’s official unveiling, both of which were the day and evening before.

The first of those two was a video that was about 14 minutes in length, and went over extremely in depth detail on the duo camera, and the refocus effect. We saw the phone once again from just about every angle, but in much higher quality than before. The video was also completely in German, so while many of us may not have understood it, you were able to grasp the general idea of what he was talking about. The last leak video we saw was the evening before HTC’s announcement, coming from a well known review website, that compared the old HTC One M7 from last year against the new HTC One M8. It all just seems like a little too much to be an accident. While we may never know if HTC had planned the whole thing or not, it wouldn’t have been a bad plan if they had, especially with the last video leak being a sort of official comparison video. What do you all think? Was this all just an elaborate plan from HTC to get the most attention they could before the official launch of the phone? Or were they all leaked without HTC’s consent?

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Featured: Top 10 Android Apps of the Month – March 2014

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AcDisplay

Since the Moto X launched last year we’ve all been looking for the same sort of functionality as the Active Display from Motorola. While these results can be achieved with some tomfoolery and with the help of root, not everyone wants to go that far. Not to mention the battery impact that using the display like that has on most devices. This is where AcDisplay comes in, and gives you similar functionality, by simply popping up these notifications on your display for a moment or two for you to action them. It’s simple and easy to use, while not blaringly obvious like that of the iPhone.

Milk Music

Brand loyalty is incredibly powerful these days and if you don’t have it, building it in today’s market is extremely difficult. Samsung have maintained good bran loyalty with their customers through perks and freebies, but when they launched Milk Music, they offered something only to their users that everyone else has been offering for a lot longer. Milk Music is nothing special, but it’s nice to be able to get something that other users can’t, and we’re sure this has made a lot of Samsung fans very happy, it’s just a shame Samsung didn’t try all that hard. It’s also only available in the US, which is a bit of a downer.

Inspire Launcher

Just recently, we’ve seen a slew of new devices hit the market and now, we’re beginning to see those based on Android 4.4′s launcher hit the store. Inspire Launcher is yet another one of them, and I’ve been using it for a little while now. With the same sort of feel as the KitKat launcher, Inspire throws in some extras and allows for far more customization, including the ability to use icon packs. It’s free to try out and play around with, but most of the features are only available in a “prime” version.

Opera Max

These days our data allowance is far more precious than we first realize. Much of what we do on our smartphones is online, so getting the most out of the data we pay a premium for is important. Opera Max is a new app from the same folks behind the great browser that aims to drastically reduce the amount of data used when browsing the web, or apps that are accessing the web. An innovative idea that can hold some very real savings for a lot of users, Opera Max is well worth a try if you keep going over your limit before the month is up.

Google Now Launcher

Nexus 5 owners and enterprising folk all over the internet have been running what used to be called the Google Experience Launcher for some time now, but now it’s available to all. As a genuine download from the Play Store, the Google Now Launcher gives your device a more “Googley” look and feel and puts Google Now itself just a homescreen page away. A good-looking launcher that I’d been suing for many months, Google Now Launcher is one of the better ones out there. However, don’t go looking for extra features or anything noteworthy, this is purely for the Google fans out there.

Link Bubble

Link Bubble practically changes the way we open links to content on the web, you know those pesky URLs that people keep on throwing around the Internet? Well, Link Bubble makes that experience much better, when you click on a link it’ll load in the background while you keep on using your current app. I like to think of it as the middle-click “Open in new Tab” command I use a million times a day for mobile, and it’s awesome. However, it’s not just opening a link in the background that makes Link Bubble so great, it’s a good middleman, too. When you open up an Instagram link from the Twitter app for instance, will take you straight to Twitter, rather then sending you to Chrome or your browser for a needless transfer. A great app for those that love to read online, Link Bubble is awesome.

Microsoft Office

It’s been quite a while since Microsoft Office actually hit Android, but it needed an Office 365 account to be of any use at all. Which, if you haven’t checked, aren’t exactly cheap. So, with the recent announcement that Office for Android was going free for “home use”, it seems that Microsoft have finally learnt their lesson when it comes to mobile. So, the app is now free, but only works on smartphones (really, Microsoft?) and you can only browse documents, you still need that pricey Office 365 account to actually DO anything. It’s a shame, but it’s actually a very good app and if you live in an Office-ruled world, but refuse to go to Windows Phone, this is definitely worth looking at.

Hello SMS

Hello SMS is frankly, one of the cleanest SMS apps I’ve used for a long time. When I first got my Nexus 5, I wasn’t keen to mix business with pleasure, as I mainly use Hangouts to communicate with the staff here. So, since then I’ve been bouncing from SMS app to SMS app, until I settled on Hello. THe dark theme available works great with my Nexus 5, everything is super-slick, well laid out and with some nice touches like subtle pop-up notifications, Hello SMS is one of the best SMS apps out there, it’s nice and easy to use, doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel completely and just lets your conversations stand out as they should do.

Everclip

Everclip is essentially a clipboard manager for Android, which allows you to keep on top of links, blocks of text and more that you’ve been using on your device. Great for those using their Android smartphones for work more than play, Everclip can certainly save you a lot of time, but the most interesting feature here is the programmable text expansion feature, which allows you to complete a phrase etc by simply hitting a few keys in a certain pattern, very helpful indeed.

Telegram Messenger

Now that WhatsApp has gone to join Facebook – along with the Occulus Rift, sigh – many of you will have been looking for a replacement, Telegram has risen to such a task. Quickly becoming one of the more popular alternatives to WhatsApp on Android, Telegram recently announced that they have as many as 15 Million active users on a daily basis. That’s pretty incredible no matter how you look at it, and with more people using the service, there’s more chance of getting your own friends onto the service, in fact a lot of them might already be using it!

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Vudu Gets Updated to Work With Chromecast

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Google’s Chromecast was announced in July of 2013. Since then, it has become a staple in many households. If you have a Chromecast, then you know just how convenient it is to have around. For $35, you can “cast” your media from your phone, tablet or computer to your television for everyone to see and hear. It is an extremely awesome device with tons of different uses. Chromecast is an extremely affordable media streaming option, and the set up is ridiculously simple, too.

On February 3rd, Google finally released the SDK for Chromecast to developers. That opened up the doors for many developers to begin updating their applications to include Chromecast support. Since then, we’ve seen tons of new functionality come to Chromecast. You can watch just about anything depending on what services you subscribe to and where you have your media stored. Between applications like Netflix, Google Play Movies and TV and AllCast, your options are pretty much endless when it comes to streaming media.

Today we’re hearing that Vudu, a popular media streaming app, has updated to support Chromecast. According to a few of the reviews on the Google Play Store, Chromecast support was what was holding some people back from using the app as much as they would like. Now you can cast all of your media from Vudu to your TV. If you’re not familiar with Vudu, it allows you to watch, rent and own movies and TV. You don’t have to worry about any late fees, and you can stream directly from your phone or tablet. They have all kinds of popular new media, and their prices aren’t too far off from buying a movie at the store. Vudu also offers a paid service where you can convert your DVDs to digital copies that can be stored in the cloud.

Check out Vudu on the Play Store. It’s free to download, and the update should be there waiting for those of you who already use Vudu. It seems like another great addition to those family movie nights. What applications do you currently use with your Chromecast, and which applications do you wish had Chromecast support?

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Android Gaming Weekly 03/30/14: Epoch 2, Portal, Oculus Rift, Rail Racing, Warhammer 40K

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Uppercut Games Releases Their Stunning Sequel Epoch 2 Onto Android

If you have never had the pleasure to play the original Epoch from Uppercut games, than you’re sorely missing out. More importantly though, Uppercut has recently released Epoch 2 onto Android this week, and it surpasses the original Epoch in every way. The graphics are better, the boss fights are badder, and the intense combat is every bit more epic. This wildly action packed cover third person shooter is a crazy adventure where you play as the last remaining robot guardian, and you have programmed to protect one person and one person alone. The Princess Amelia. Travel through 16 levels of intense, apocalyptic robot combat with tons of enemies, and plenty of upgradeable firepower. The game will set you back $2.50, which is special 50% off launch sale price. Get the game while you can at this cheaper price before it raises to $5.

Nvidia And Valve Announce The Upcoming Launch Of The Classic Game Portal Onto Nvidia Shield

The Nvidia Shield has never been particularly attractive to many people. Probably because of the price. That can all change for a limited time, as Nvidia has not only dropped the price of the Shield to $199 during a special promotion, but they have also announced that they’re pairing with Valve Co. to release the classic first person puzzle game Portal onto the Shield in the near future. So far there isn’t any confirmed specific release date or pricing for the game, but whatever and whenever it is we’re sure that it will be epic.

Facebook Buys Oculus Rift For $2 Billion

Oculus Rift, we barely knew thee. You lived such a short life, and you hardly had the chance to experience anything. In case you missed the big news from Tuesday, Facebook bought Oculus Rift for $2 billion. Forget the tons of people that are probably pissed about dumping their own money into the Kickstarter funding to back the project, where does this leave the future of probably our most promising VR gaming experience to date? While this may not sit well with fans, It’s even more aggravating to Notch, the creator of Minecraft, who had once been developing a VR version of the game for the Rift. After finding out about the Facebook buyout, he has since stopped development and has said that he will no longer be developing an Oculus version of the game due to his lack of trust for Facebook. It’s a shame, but perhaps we’re all doomed to be exposed to virtual walls of posts with cats, and invitations for the next big Facebook game.

Polarbit Brings Rail Racing To Android For Some Slot Car Racing Fun

If you needed a break from the real life like racing titles and would like something that is a little more oriented at fun, give Rail Racing by Polarbit a try. This game brings back fond memories of playing with those little toy car tracks that you had to assemble and you could place cars on them to watch them race around all through the track and various obstacles. Rail Racing has 50 levels of intense fun, with overhead and third person camera views, multiplayer challenges, leaderboards via Google Play Games services, car upgrades, and tons of different cars to race and choose from. Rail Racing is free, with optional IAP for things like booster items.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Warhammer 40K:Storm of Vengance Is Still On The Way, Here’s The latest On Development

The popular lane based strategy game Warhammer 40K was due to hit the Play Store just a few short days ago. That obviously didn’t happen so it seems as though the game was in fact pushed back to April. The release should be soon though and when it does arrive it should end up costing gamers $4.99 for the full game. Players will now have the available option to grab up new variations of troops as downloadable content. There are three new troop types in all that you will be able to grab once the game hits: Ork Stormboy, Dark Angel Dreadnought, and Deathwing Terminator. You’ll also have the option to pick up different Ork clan skins. The game shouldn’t be too far off so if you were looking forward to picking it up at launch keep your eyes peeled. We’ll be sure to post and update.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Android Game Of The Week: Captain America The Winter Soldier

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Gameloft is well known for putting out plenty of games based off of comic book characters and the super hero films that follow them. The newest from the game studio is based off of the upcoming Captain America film, Captain America The Winter Soldier, which is due to be hitting theaters in just a little over a week. Gameloft’s last couple of comic book hero games have been a little less enjoyable compared to what we’re used to them putting out. However Captain America The Winter Solider has so much going for it that makes it fun that it definitely is one that should not be passed up. The game starts out as a free demo that lets you try out the first two levels in the campaign, after which if you want to continue playing you have to buy the full version of the game for $2.99. The game does also support IAP like most of Gamelofts games these days, but they are completely optional just like many games who use the monetization system.

The game is for the most part an action based hack and slash game with a top down view kind of like dungeon hunter or Thor: The Dark World, but has more of a beat um up feel to the combat since Captain America doesn’t really use anything that he can actually hack and slash with. The visual style that Gameloft was going for in the game was to pay homage to comic book art and the sort of cell shaded graphics that evoke that type of style, and you’ll notice subtle yet well produced attention to detail like live shadows, and reflective water. Comic book style action words also pop up throughout the game as you fight off enemy attackers, which puts you more as the gamer into the world of the super hero.

Cap doesn’t fight by himself as he is usually accompanied by one or more agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that can help back you in combat. Each agent has a specialization like defusing bombs, or the sniper class that can shoot enemies from afar. Natasha Romanoff even makes an appearance in at least one of the levels, and you can use her at your disposal when things get a little tough, but just like Cap’s other special moves, there is a cooldown timer so you can’t use her in rapid succession. The game also boasts character attributes which you can upgrade as you and your agents level up, and you can even boost their stats with crystals called ISO-8. Throw in a couple more attractive features like 100 levels and missions to pass through, and nice little story to go along with the action that plays out just like a comic book from page to page, and you have a nice well rounded game that is well worth the time and money. You can grab the game from the Play Store link here.

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