Android and Me » Applications

Score Real Soccer 2012 for free from the Android Market

Taylor Wimberly — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:13:34 +0000

Do you love watching soccer, I mean football? I’ve never been a huge fan, but I’ll always tune into the World Cup. Earlier today I said that Gameloft had not release an Android game in awhile, but I was quickly corrected when someone told me that Real Soccer 2012 just launched.

The game is available for free and Gameloft is supporting a wide variety of devices, including the new Galaxy Nexus. Real Soccer 2012 allows you to replay the game you just watched on TV with Hypergame technology, create your own custom team jerseys, get the latest soccer news thanks to official RSS feeds from goal.com, and access many different game modes including Exhibition, League and various International Cup modes, or practice your skills in Training mode.

Gameloft has the official FIFPro license which includes thousands of real players’ names, 350 teams and 14 league championships to play including England, Spain, France, Germany and South America.

Sounds like a football lover’s dream, right? Just be warned that this free game eats up 483 MB of space after it’s fully installed. Check out the official trailer and conversation with the developers below to see if you might be interested in this Android game.

Real Soccer 2012 Gameloft MARKET QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Google Wallet hacked again, no root access required this time

Taylor Wimberly — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:54:59 +0000

Early this morning security frim Zvelo revealed a hack for Google Wallet that exposed a user’s PIN. Fortunately this vulnerability only affected rooted phones, as Google was quick to point out to The Next Web. Now a second hack has been posted online that works on non-rooted devices and requires no special hacking skills.

Mobile blog TheSmartphoneChamp uploaded a video to YouTube that demonstrates the vulnerability. All someone has to do to access your funds is clear the data in app settings, which will force Google Wallet to prompt them to enter a new PIN. Once the new PIN has been entered, they can add a Google Prepaid Card that is tied to the device and access any available funds.

It sound almost too simple to be true, but I tested it on my Galaxy Nexus with the latest official version of Google Wallet and it works like a charm. We expect Google will be releasing an update shortly to address both issues.

As a reminder, if you want to protect you Android phone it is best to setup the lock screen and install a tracking software like Lookout in case you ever lose your device.

Update: Google has provided us with the following statement: ”We strongly encourage anyone who loses or wants to sell their phone to call Google Wallet support toll-free at 855-492-5538 to disable the prepaid card. We are currently working on an automated fix as well that will be available soon. We also advise all Wallet users to set up a screen lock as an additional layer of protection for their phone.”

Gameloft recaps recent updates in video podcast

Taylor Wimberly — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:50:20 +0000

Gameloft still doesn’t give Android the same lovin that goes to iOS, but they are still my favorite mobile game developer by far (seriously, I’ve authored about 50 blog posts on them). They produce some of the best looking games that Android has seen (Modern Combat 3) and they also have one of the largest library of titles spanning all genres.

In episode 20 of the Gameloft Podcast, longtime host Josh Goldberg bids farewell to his gig. To celebrate his final episode Gameloft told Josh he could do whatever he wants, which results in one of the more entertaining episodes. I won’t spoil any details, so just check out the show below.

We haven’t seen many new games from Gameloft this year, but they did just launch their free community app Gameloft Live to the Android Market. The app lets you create a 3D avatar of yourself (think Wii’s Miis) and provides access to exclusive news, spotlight promotions, and special discounts on games.

I played around with the app and didn’t see much added value yet, but this is just the first version and I’m sure Gameloft will improve it. Hey, at least it’s a sign that Gameloft is making an effort to grow their Android fan base. Be on the lookout for Dungeon Hunter 3 to hit the Android Market next month.

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Google Wallet vulnerability easily reveals user’s PIN on devices that are rooted

Nick Gray — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:42:03 +0000

Google Wallet has been hacked! Wallet Cracker, an application developed by Zvelo, is able to use brute-force attacks to reveal the Google Wallet PIN number which keeps the application secure. While this vulnerability is as serious as they come, it only affects Android handsets which have been rooted.

As soon as the vulnerability was discovered, Zvelo released its findings to the Google Wallet team who “agreed to work quickly to resolve it.” We do not know when Google Wallet will be updated to fix the PIN vulnerability, but we suggest you take some additional precautions to make sure your handset is secure just in case it falls into the wrong hands. Those of us who have been victims of credit card fraud know how quickly things can spiral out of control.

Google issued a response to The Next Web that said they are aware of the issue. We don’t know if Google is working on a fix yet, but suggested that users not install Google Wallet on rooted devices.

The zvelo study was conducted on their own phone on which they disabled the security mechanisms that protect Google Wallet by rooting the device. To date, there is no known vulnerability that enables someone to take a consumer phone and gain root access while preserving any Wallet information such as the PIN.

We strongly encourage people to not install Google Wallet on rooted devices and to always set up a screen lock as an additional layer of security for their phone.Google

How many of you are currently using Google Wallet on a rooted device?

Vonage Mobile takes a swing at Skype; 30% cheaper and better experience

Edgar Cervantes — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:44:01 +0000

Skype and Vonage were strong competitors some years ago, before the smartphone boom. And while Skype did take a while to get things sorted out, they managed to become one of the most popular mobile VoIP services quickly. This is not stopping Vonage from making a glorious return, though. Vonage has just released its new mobile app for Android (and iOS), boasting better prices and a more intuitive experience.

Vonage has already been active in the Android ecosystem, only with an extension to its home telephone services. It was only meant for subscribers, and other consumers had no use for it. With this new app, we can all take advantage of it.

Users rely on VoIP services for two main reasons – prices and lack of signal (depending on your area). Vonage is targeting both issues by making this app available via WiFi, 3G and 4G, as well as being good to your wallet.

Vonage is emphasizing its competition against Skype Mboile. While vonage lacks video call functionality, it is very competitive in voice and text services. Vonage is claiming that its per-minute voice prices are 30% cheaper (for the 50 most called countries) than Microsoft’s VoIP service, and 70% less than traditional mobile carriers.

It might be important to note that Vonage is offering free calls to numbers in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico, for a “limited time”. But this is only for non-commercial calling, and as expected, you are limited to 3,000 minutes per month. Regardless, it is still a very generous amount and a great way to lure customers. Not to mention that you can make calls from anywhere in the world.

Vonage is also very proud of its more intuitive user interface. The app works directly with your contacts, recognizing anyone that is currently using the app. If some of your contacts are not Vonage users yet, it is very simple to invite them, or simply make the call using your Vonage credit.

It is also simpler to purchase such credit. The app uses in-app billing to allow customers to purchase credit directly from their Android Market (or Apple App Store) account – a process much simpler than what you’ll find with the competition. You do not need to visit the website to purchase credit, and if you worry about privacy, you also don’t need to give them your credit card information.

For a company that we haven’t heard from in a while, Vonage is sure making a strong entrance. Even if you are not much of an international caller, Vonage would help you save some minutes and texts from your plan. And until further notice, you can even call regular numbers in the US.

Check out the video and press release for more details. If you give it a try, let us know if it’s worth what it seems. How many of you could take advantage of these services, and why?

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Vonage Mobile® Vonage MARKET QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Show Press Release

Vonage Launches New Mobile App Providing Free Calling and Texting to Other App Users around the World

Savings of more than 70 percent on international calls to those without the app

HOLMDEL, N.J., February 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG) announced the launch of Vonage Mobile®, the new iPhone® and Android™ app that lets users make free high-definition calls and send free texts to all users of the app, worldwide1. The app works over Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G wireless data networks.

When calling those who have not yet downloaded the app, Vonage Mobile provides ultra low-cost international calling with per-minute rates that are on average 70 percent less than major mobile carriers and 30 percent less than Skype™2. Users can instantly add calling credit directly from the app through iTunes® or Android Market™ in increments of $4.99 and $9.99.

Vonage Mobile uses the phone’s existing mobile number and contact list, eliminating the need for unique user names and duplicate identities for contacts. Users can instantly build a free global calling and texting network using the app’s multi-invite system from their existing contacts.

“Vonage Mobile consolidates the best features of our prior applications, while adding important functionality, better value and improved ease of use,” said Marc Lefar, CEO of Vonage. “It combines the best of free high-def voice and messaging along with incredible value for traditional international calls, all while using the existing mobile number and address book for unsurpassed ease of use.”

In addition, calls to any phone in the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico from anywhere in the world will be free for a limited time3.

Users do NOT need to be a Vonage customer to use the app. However, as an added benefit to all app users, calls to Vonage home or business lines are also free. The Vonage Mobile app can be downloaded to any iPhone or Android device for free; and it also works on the iPad®, iPod Touch® and Android™ Tablets.

For more information on Vonage Mobile, please go to iTunes, Android Market or www.vonagemobile.com.

# # #
1 Data rates may apply.

2 Based on per-minute rates to the top 50 countries called. Comparison reflects published rates of leading mobile carriers in markets representing the majority of iPhone and Android users.

3 Limited time free calling offer to the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico is for personal, non-commercial calling and excludes calls to certain geographic locations, premium and special services numbers, satellite telephony services and other call forwarding services. Not to exceed 3000 minutes per month.

iPhone and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Goodbye old Browser, Chrome to become the standard browser on Android 4.0 and above

Taylor Wimberly — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:42:16 +0000

We saw it coming, but Chrome for Android is the biggest news for Google’s mobile platform this year. It signals that Android will be around for a long time, but we might also look back on today as the day that native operating systems began to die and web operating systems started to take over.

The future of connected devices, the Internet of everything, is when our smartphones and tablets will boot to the web. Google has their own project for this called Chromium OS that targets the desktop, while others like Mozilla are already targeting mobile devices with their Boot to Gecko (B2G) project, the standalone operating system for the open web on mobile.

Their shared mission is rather simple. They believe the open web can displace proprietary, single-vendor stacks (Android, iOS, WP7, etc) for application development. There are still gaps that prevent web developers from being able to build apps that are the equals of native apps, but that is slowly changing. Mozilla plans to announce significant updates to their Boot to Gecko project during Mobile World Congress, so prepare to be surprised.

Back to today’s announcement, Chrome for Android is not a simplified version of Chrome or Chrome-lite. It is the full blow multi-process desktop browser, applied to the Android activity model for small devices. That includes things like advanced HTML5 features, GPU accelerated rendering, and Google’s V8 JavaScript engine optimized for Android.

“You should have your Chrome experience wherever you are,” says Arnaud Weber, Engineering Manager at Google.

Chrome for Android is based on Google Chrome version 16.0.915.75, one that is newer than the latest stable release for personal computers. Because Chrome for Android is pretty much the same browser that we see on desktops, we should expect updates from Google every six to eight weeks.

For example since Google released Android 4.0, they have also shipped Chrome 15 and Chrome 16 to desktops. Chrome 17 should be available in the coming weeks.

When the news broke this morning we were uncertain what this meant for the default Android Browser, but now its fate might be written on the wall. A Google spokeswoman told Computer World that ”Right now, our focus is on making Chrome for Android Beta available to Android 4.0 phone/tablet users to gather initial feedback…. [But] our long-term plan is for Chrome to become the standard browser on Android 4.0 and above.”

Mobile devices running Android 3.x and lower might never see Chrome. Right now users with Android 4.0 can install Chrome without replacing the stock Android Browser, but Google hinted that this might change in the coming months. A Google spokeswoman said, “It currently does not replace your Android Browser.”

Thinking along those same lines, we can also say that Chrome OS does not currently replace the Android OS, but it sure feels like that is where Google is going. Android is the glue that fills the gap until Chromium OS is ready for mobile devices. I believe Google has had this vision for quite some time, but the technology was not advanced enough to achieve that goal. Back in 2009, we thought that Google would abandon native Android apps in favor of web apps, but that obviously didn’t happen.

Now that companies like Google and Mozilla are filling in the gaps of the open web, we could see a true web operating system sooner than we think. Heck we could see a mobile device that boots to the web this month, but I think the actual transition of consumer devices will be much slower since the wireless carriers own everything and they hate changes that make them lose control.

But yeah, Chrome for Android is pretty awesome right now. I’m excited to see where this goes.

Google Chrome for Android beta makes its way to Android 4.0 devices

Anthony Domanico — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:55:29 +0000

At long last, Google has released an Android version of the popular Chrome browser onto the Android Market as a beta for all Ice Cream Sandwich devices. Similar to it’s PC and Mac brethren, Google Chrome for Android focuses on bringing speed and simplicity to your browsing experience, as well as offering the ability to sync your bookmarks and history across devices.

As with most things Google brings to Android, Chrome has been re-built from the ground up to take full advantage of the smaller screens on our phones and tablets. Chrome for Android features gesture support to move from tab to tab, with support for an unlimited number of tabs so you can browse to your heart’s content. And yes, Incognito Mode will be supported from day one so you can browse those seedy sections of the internet without leaving (much of) a trace.

Highlights of Chrome Beta for Android include:

Browse fast with accelerated page loading, scrolling, and zooming
Search and navigate directly from the omnibox
Open and switch between unlimited tabs in an easy-to-view stack
Sign in to Chrome to sync your bookmarks and view tabs you have open on your computer
Send pages from desktop Chrome to your smartphone or tablet with one click and read them on the go, even if you’re offline
Browse privately in Incognito mode

Once you sign into Chrome on your Android device, you’ll be able to view the tabs you left open on another device, get autocomplete suggestions based on your full browsing history, and have your entire suite of bookmarks available at your disposal.

We’ve been able to spend a limited amount of time with Chrome for Android, but I think it’s safe to say that Chrome will completely take over any other browser program we currently have installed. If you have a device that runs Android 4.0, we highly encourage you to head over to the Android Market and give Chrome a download.

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The Sims FreePlay coming to Android Market this month

Taylor Wimberly — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:44:21 +0000

Is EA Mobile finally ready to take Android serious now? They have ported a handful of their most popular iOS games to Android, but most have been met with a lukewarm reception (averaging review scores of 3/5). A quick browse of EA Mobile’s site shows that they haven’t updated their Android section in years, with only the original T-Mobile G1 being listed as a supported device.

We don’t know much about EA Mobile’s future plans for Android, but their PR team has started to made an effort to reach out to Android bloggers and open a channel of communication. For example, to promote their upcoming Android game The Sims FreePlay, EA mailed me a Sims coffee mug, scarf, and paper speakers. I’m still not sure what the point was of these random items, but I’m sitting here writing this article so I guess they got the job done.

No release date has been announced, but we have heard that The Sims FreePlay should be available in the Android Market by the end of this month. The game previously launched on iOS devices back in December where it won several awards for best freemium game of the year.

EA’s current game The Sims 3 is priced at $6.99 and did relatively well selling between 100,000-500,000 copies (most came when the game was on sale for $0.99). Unfortunately the game has not been updated since September, which has led to many complaints about support and earned the game a 3.5 rating in the Android Market.

Even though most of EA’s titles have been disappointing compared to their iOS versions, we know they are capable of producing some awesome Android games – see Dead Space. Hopefully The Sims FreePlay will receive their best effort and more resources will be allocated to support the game after its initial release.

Do we have any Sims fans in the house?

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Hipsters rejoice! Instagram rumored to launch on Android soon

Anthony Domanico — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:10:42 +0000

Unless you’ve seriously been sheltering yourself from the internet for the past year or so, you’ve probably heard of Instagram, the popular iOS photo editing and sharing service that’s taken the hipster world by storm. When we first learned Instagram was making its way to Android, we were ~~giddy as schoolgirls~~ super excited to check this app out for ourselves.

The folks over at In Flex We Trust had a peculiar and fishy notification pop up on their Galaxy Tab 10.1 which promoted Instagram as a featured application on the Android Market. Naturally, we went over to the Market to see if Instagram was available, only to be disappointed that it wasn’t quite there yet. Still, if the image at In Flex We Trust is legitimate (and that’s a BIG if), we should be seeing Instagram land on our favorite Android devices as early as this month. Either way, the app has been a major priority for the company for 2 months now, and we know for sure that’s it’s coming sometime, now it’s only a matter of when.

So why all the hype about Instagram? At its heart, Instagram is a fancy but basic photo editing tool that allows users to apply preset filters to photos to give them an artsy feel. Instagram’s goal is to take the fun and quirkiness of the old polaroid cameras of yesteryear, and mix it with the fluid and instant sharing provided by social media and the internet. Sure, there are a slew of other services out there that do the same thing, but the fact that Instagram is the most popular photo service on iOS speaks volumes to the quality of the service. We predict it will enjoy the same widespread success on Android as it enjoys in iOS.

Anyone else out there excited for Instagram to make its way to Android, or are you already using something that gets the job done? Sound off in the comments.

Score an extra 5GB for testing Dropbox’s latest beta app

Anthony Domanico — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:46:23 +0000

While there is certainly no shortage of cloud-based storage options available for the Android platform, Dropbox continually comes up as a fan favorite. Dropbox provides customers a paltry 2GB of free online storage, with 50GB and 100GB plans available for $9.99 and $19.99 per month respectively.

Often, Dropbox gives its users additional free storage for doing things, and today has kicked off a promotion that adds up to an additional 5GB of storage to users that are willing to beta test their latest application. For Dropbox to offer such a promotion, it would likely be due to a pretty significant change in their service, right?

The latest Dropbox beta adds some pretty handy new functionality, most notably and relevant is the ability to auto-upload photos and videos. The functionality is similar to an option provided by Google+, pictures and videos can be set to automatically upload to Dropbox’s servers after you snap them for immediate storage. With this addition, Dropbox has dropped the 180MB per file size limit they’ve had in place since launch, meaning you can make those videos as long as you want, though we’d suggest a Wi-Fi connection to upload that much data. (Update: Dropbox requires a Wi-Fi connection for large files, and will hold the update until you’re connected. Thanks, dpleus!).

Participating in the beta nets adds to your storage account the same amount of data you upload, up to 5GB. You’ll get 500 MB for auto-uploading your first picture. For every 500MB of photos and videos you upload to Dropbox after that, you’ll get 500MB added to your Dropbox account. Pretty sweet deal for doing next to nothing.

If you’d like to participate in the beta, all you have to do is download the apk and install it on your device (make sure your phone is set to allow installation of non-market apps, which can be found in the settings). Happy uploading!

Be sure to let us know how the beta goes for you by dropping a comment below.