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Android Gaming Weekly: Men in Black 3, Zombro, Jazz, Asphalt 7, N.O.V.A. 3
May 9th
Welcome back to our regular column Android Gaming Weekly, where we recap all the new releases and highlights every Wednesday. We post small bits throughout the week related to Android games, but readers have requested a condensed summary that makes it easier to keep up with all the latest news. Read on for this week’s best in Android gaming.
New Games This Week
Zombro
I smell a sleeper hit. “Zombro is a puzzle game with a simple goal: Detach Zombro’s basic elements (torso, legs, and braiiiiiinnz) to jump, dodge, and roll while making sure he finishes each level in one piece!” The game features 50 puzzles, 30 items to collect, and you can outfit Zombro in cool gear (plus customize his brain).
Zombro
Making Fun, Inc.
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JAZZ: Trump’s Journey
We are in New Orleans this week for CTIA Wireless, so I thought it was appropriate to share a game about Jazz music. “My name is Trump and I’m a jazz man, and this is my story.” This unique platform game parallels with the real story of Louis Armstrong and follows the birth of jazz.
JAZZ: Trump’s Journey
Bulkypix
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Ricky Carmichael’s Motorcross
“Ricky Carmichael Motocross Matchup Pro is an all-new racing game where it’s just you against online competitors from around the globe! This includes the chance to bang bars with some the of best in the business, including Ricky Carmichael himself!”
Ricky Carmichael’s Motocross
2XL Games
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SAS: Zombie Assault 3
Based on the popular flash game by Ninja Kiwi, but completely rebuilt and optimized for Android, SAS: Zombie Assault 3 offers 4 player co-op multiplayer for free. Need I say more?
SAS: Zombie Assault 3
ninja kiwi
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Ninja Chicken Ooga Booga
Lots of people like Oven Break last week and this title appears to offer similar gameplay. “Still on a mission to be the best ninja ever, our funky-chicken-who-thinks-he-is-a-ninja has broken free from the farm and into the wilderness!”
Ninja Chicken Ooga Booga
MoMinis
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Destiny Defense: Angel or Devil
“Destiny Defense: Angel or Devil is the addictive action-strategy defense game with a variety of attack systems and 2 unique storylines. By choosing each side, Angel or Devil, you will be able to feel double thrill and fun as you go through different game plays.”
Destiny Defense:Angel or Devil
Morisoft Ltd
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Zombie Granny
“Zombie Granny is an addictively fun puzzle game that combines zany characters, dazzling animated effects of destruction, and tricky mechanical puzzles for a ghoulishly entertaining good time!”
Zombie Granny
i-Free Innovations
PLAY
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Android Games Coming Soon
Men in Black 3
Men in Black hits theaters May 25th and Gameloft has a new Android game to coincide with the release. This week they released a teaser video which shows a brief preview, but doesn’t provide many details on the gameplay. Look for Men in Black 3 to debut as a freemium game.
N.O.V.A. 3
Another day, another N.O.V.A. 3 teaser video. This time we get a look at some of the solo mission action. No release date has been given yet, but we expect it to land on select Android devices later this month.
Frontline Commando 2.0
Glu Mobile’s Frontline Commando has already been downloaded over 5 million times, and now they are gearing up to release version 2.0. The latest update should add several new levels, include new powerups, and end with a massive boss battle.
FRONTLINE COMMANDO
Glu Mobile
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Asphalt 7: Heat
Last week at the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event, Asphalt 7 was briefly teased. This is Gameloft’s most popular racing game, so we have high hopes for the latest chapter in the series. We don’t have many details on the game yet, but we could know more when Samsung releases the Galaxy S III around May 29th.
Max Payne Mobile
Rockstar Games keeps pushing back the release date of Max Payne Mobile for Android, but tomorrow could be the big day. We heard a rumor it could come out at midnight, but Rockstar Games has been quiet on the matter. If you really want this game then check the Google Play store late tonight, but don’t be surprised if it was delayed again.
Games I’m currently playing
Dance Legend: This game came out last month, but I finally took the time to sit down and play it for awhile. I’m not a dancer, but I have always enjoyed music games and Dance Legend was a real blast to play. The game is free and includes several songs to get you started, but additional song packs will cost you money.
DANCE LEGEND MUSIC GAME
TuneWiki
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NBA Jam: EA Mobile finally updated NBA Jam to support more devices and I’ve been playing it non-stop the last couple days. The controls translate pretty well to a phone or tablet, and it’s just as fun as I remember when I was a little kid. I’m currently playing through the campaign mode trying to defeat every team and unlock big head mode. We are crossing our fingers that EA will eventually add an online multiplayer mode.
NBA JAM by EA SPORTS™
Electronic Arts Inc
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What Android games are you playing?
Find any great new Android games this week? Share your favorites in the comments below so we can check them out.
Samsung Buys Cloud Music Locker/Streaming Service mSpot – Coming Soon To A Galaxy Near You
May 9th
Samsung has just announced that they have acquired the cloud music locker/streaming service mSpot. This new acquisition should complete the circle of life that is Samsung’s mobile ecosystem quite nicely, and it’s not too unlike when HTC purchased music streaming service MOG back in March.
mSpot not only allows users to upload their music to the cloud for playback on compatible devices later, but they also offer movie rentals the day of, or after, the DVD hits store shelves. You may have also noticed that a few of your Sprint devices have come with mSpot Radio pre-installed. Yup, they offer that too. Samsung said in their official announcement:
“The acquisition will provide a cloud-based entertainment experience of music, video and radio services for users of Samsung devices, while extending mSpot’s cloud and streaming solutions to a broader base of global entertainment fans. The combination will extend mSpot’s top class cloud and streaming services while further enhancing Samsung’s mobile and tablet device entertainment offerings. mSpot’s entertainment services will be a key integrated offering on newly announced Samsung mobile devices.”
No word on exactly how much the deal set Samsung back, or exactly when Sammy plans to integrate mSpot into their devices. I understand the need for Android OEM’s to differentiate themselves from rival manufacturers — the world of Android is a competitive one. But sometimes I wonder if OEM’s aren’t secretly planning to use Android as a platform to launch their “own” mobile OS, ala Amazon. Crazy?
[Press Release]
CyanogenMod v7 not forgotten, may get weekly builds instead of nightly builds
May 9th
Again, no real need for introduction of CyanogenMod is required. Nearly 2 million unique installs should tell the tale. The largest series of custom ROM’s for various Android devices released a status update of its super popular CM7.
Our buddy ciwrl issued a statement about ongoing development for v7, making it sound like it will be around for a while still. With CM9 in full dev mode, it’s wonderful to see v7 isn’t going to die just yet. He goes on to say
The 7.x branch of CyanogenMod will stay open, available, and active beyond 7.2. We may switch to a more weekly drop of the infamous nightlies at some point, but they will continue as well.
Users with older hardware should be quite pleased to see this update, and if you would like to continue seeing further development it’s probably a good idea to DONATE to the team. Full blog report below if you wish to read it straight from the horses mouth.
It’s been nearly two months since we released the initial 7.2 RC1. Since then, the team has been working hard to identify and fix the issues reported to the bug tracker. We are nearing our release of CyanogenMod 7.2, based on Android 2.3.7 and will be releasing…….soon! You didn’t think you were getting an ETA did you?
Users may notice that some devices that received RC1 will not be graduated to a stable release. This is due to bugs we consider as showstoppers, but we feel there is no reason to hold up working devices for a few stragglers. The stragglers are not dropped, but will play catch-up to receive a 7.2-stable release.
What’s Next?
Many people have wondered what will become of CyanogenMod 7 now that Ice Cream Sandwich work has begun, and likewise, what happens to all the devices that won’t make it to CyanogenMod 9. We aren’t just leaving you behind.
The 7.x branch of CyanogenMod will stay open, available, and active beyond 7.2. We may switch to a more weekly drop of the infamous nightlies at some point, but they will continue as well.
In addition to that good news, we have a slew of new devices being merged into mainline thanks in part to our developer relations initiative and the greater Android community.
After CyanogenMod 7.2 is released, we will be merging in and welcoming aboard maintainers for the following devices (with more queued):
- HTC Status (chacha)
- HTC Wildfire S (marvel)
- LG Optimus Chic (e720)
- Motorola Photon (sunfire)
- Samsung Galaxy 5 (i5500)
Source: CM Blog
CyanogenMod v7 not forgotten, may get weekly builds instead of nightly builds originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
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FlipBoard for Android pulled from Galaxy S III, available for all
May 9th
FlipBoard for Android sure looked good while on display at Samsung’s Galaxy S III launch event. The social feed reader is locked down to launch on the new flagship handset, but that didn’t stop one sneaky member of xda-developers from pulling the APK from a Galaxy S III demo unit and making it available for all Android users to download. User Valecho is the man the responsible for bringing the once iPad-exclusive app to all a bit early.
FlipBoard combines Twitter, Facebook, and Google Reader streams to create a “social magazine.” Even though it is created on the fly from sources of your choosing this “magazine” still manages to make thing visually compelling. If you want to see how it looks for yourself, the XDA link below has what you need.
[xda-developers via NetbookNews]
Sony and Google show off new Google TV box at Palo Alto, CA event
May 9th
Android has skyrocketed and now owns most of the mobile market, but Google has been having a much harder time trying to boost Google TV’s success. This is mostly because the platform is fairly new, and still considered beta, even though Google TV 2.0 has brought major improvements. But the Search Giant is not giving up, and is still trying to improve Google TV.
Sony and the Google TV team have put together a meetup in Palo Alto, CA. This event is meant to be an introduction to the next-generation of Sony Google TV products, as well as a discussion about the platform. A friend of Phandroid is at the event, so we have some great content for you.
The discussion panel mostly focused on the nature and future of Google TV (which the representatives couldn’t say much about), as well as Sony’s large interaction with it. And it seems such will continue to be the case, as the highlight of the event was a non-working prototype of a new Sony set top. The new Google TV box comes with a new-generation remote, which is much different compared to the one we have seen from Sony in the past.
Not much is known about this new device’s specs, but we were able to see how it looks. The new Sony remote is a double sided device with a keyboard on one side and a track pad and other buttons in the other. This comes along with a simple black set top box that will bring the Google experience to any TV. Sony is stating that it will be released in the summer, so we will definitely be hearing more about it at Google I/O.
No information about pricing and specs was provided, so we will have to wait until later for more details. For now, these images and video are simply a tease about what is to come. So if you have been waiting for a Google TV device with upgraded specs, this might be the one. Let’s sit tight and see what Sony and Google have for us!
You can go ahead and watch the event’s Hangout on Air for more details. We also have some more images and videos of the device, so check them out! And don’t forget to hit the comments with your opinions. Do you think you will be signing up for this one? Or is Google TV still not ripe enough for you? More importantly, will you go with the competition now that Sony is not the only Google TV player in the block?
Family data plans coming soon to AT&T
May 8th
AT&T has finalized plans to offer a shared data service to families, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega told CNET yesterday. The plans are set to be unveiled later this year, though de la Vega was unwilling to provide details as to timing, plan details, or pricing. AT&T joins Verizon as the two companies considering rolling out a shared data plan as early as this summer.
Many wireless customers gripe at having to pay two separate data plans on family lines, especially when neither person comes remotely close to the standard 2-3GB limit most companies offer. Some would rather pay for the ability to share the same allotment of data and mitigate the need for costly separate plans. Of course, data plans tend to be where carriers make their money, so we’ll have to wait and see what AT&T come up with as final products for shared data services.
We should be learning more details of AT&T and Verizon shared data plans in coming weeks, perhaps as soon as a few days as the wireless industry settles into the big easy for the CTIA Spring 2012 show. Our own Taylor Wimberly is on hand in New Orleans, and we’ll be bringing you all the goods from the show floor as it emerges.
