Level Up! Baldur’s Gate II, Hearthstone, Borderlands, KOTOR

Half the holidays is almost done but the gaming season is definitely far from over. The past two weeks have seen the Android games roster increase a bit with new titles, even from very old games. Plus, 'tis the season to be increasing your own merry list, with countless deals and discounts. It's time to Level Up! with Android Community's last games roundup for the year 2014.

Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition

Beamdog continues their painstaking work of bringing RPG classics of old to the modern times. This time it is BG2EE, as it is fondly called, that makes its way to Android, bearing adjusted resolution graphics and a few addons as well. BG2EE covers the main Shadows of Amn campaign plus the Throne of Bhaal and The Black Pits II. Those who wish to have a more engaging experience can opt to buy some optional expansions and content inside the game.

Blizzard's Hearthstone

Blizzard finally rolls out its much awaited mashup of card games and its Warcraft franchise with Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. This much awaited game is sadly still available only on tablets, but Blizzard is confident it could pull out a smartphone edition from its magic hat really soon. Initially available only in Canada, Hearthstone quickly opened its doors to the US and international gamers as well.

Tales from the Borderlands

The hit Borderlands franchise has hit Android, but it isn't the high octane shooter you might be expecting. Handled by Telltale Games, the game takes on a more story-heavy spin that the game studio is known for. That's not to say, of course, that it's going to be a boring fight, and fans of the series should very well take this out for a spin. That is, if the $5.00 price tag for an episodic game doesn't turn you off.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Quite late into the game, Knights of the Old Republic or KOTOR has finally arrived. One of the more popular Star Wars games, KOTOR puts the fate of the galaxy in your hands. Side with the light or go over to the dark side, the choice is yours to make. And of course, you'll get to play with cool Jedi (or Sith) powers and your very own lightsaber. The game's interface has been retrofitted for mobile devices but the content is just as huge as the original, so better reserve some storage space on your smartphone for this.

Honorable Mentions

Valve's hit Half-Life 2: Episode One also lands on Android, but you better have an NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet to be able to play this one. Rockstar is bringing GTA to the Android streets, but in a smaller scale and with a view from up above. If you love gaming and love chatting and want to have one place to do both, Viber has opened up its doors to games as well, though availability is currently very limited. Rovio has updated its first RPG, Angry Birds Epic, with the ability to dish it out with other players over the Internet. And for those lucky enough to own a Samsung Gear VR already, Temple Run VR is now yours to download and experience from an entirely new point of view.

It's not to late to stock your digital shelves with more games. While some discounts have already expired, some of the titles in our pre-holiday list, particularly those from Square Enix, keep their price cuts all the way into January. And if you want gaming for a cause, be sure to check out the latest Humble Noodlecake Bundle going on right now.

Be sure to keep tabs on our Gaming tag portal for more on the latest news, updates, and gaming devices to fill your time.

AnTuTu V5.5 gets a new interface and 64-bit CPU support

When it comes to benchmarking mobile devices, most people turn to AnTuTu to see how their device stacks up. A new version of the AnTuTu benchmark application has hit Google Play bringing the app to version 5.5.

The new version launched on December 22 and brings with it a completely redesigned user interface. AnTuTu 5.5 also now supports detection of 64-bit CPUs and 64-bit versions of Android. A few bugs were also addressed with the update.

Those bugs include a fix for a 3D test that couldn’t be completed on some devices. The developers also fixed a number of other bugs and crashes. The app is 33MB in size and Google Play says that it has as many as 50 million installs.

The updated UI isn't made using Material Design. It was designed to be a simpler design compared to the older version. Check out the screenshots to see what the new UI looks like and the app can be downloaded now.

SOURCE: Google Play

Quo Vadis, Open {Source, Standards, World}? w/ Jan Wildeboer – XDA:DevCon 2014

Open Source was a big topic at this year’s XDA:DevCon 2014 in Manchester, UK. For those who were not able to make it, we will be releasing another session for you to enjoy. Today, we offer a video talking about Open Source from Jan Wildeboer. This topic was also covered by Alin Jerpelea’s session: AOSP For Sony Devices: Past, Present and Future

Wildeboer is an Open Source veteran since 1993, developer, tinkerer, society hacker and Red Hat’s EMEA Evangelist. A lobbyist for more Open everywhere. He admits he is a transnational citizen with an agenda. But still a nice chap full of positive energy and a thirst for knowledge. His presentation is entitled, Quo Vadis, Open {Source, Standards, World}?

Wildeboer talks about “the Open Source Way” and how it is becoming default everywhere. He claims we have won, but that opens a can of worms. He asks, “What is the Next Big Thing, if such a thing exists at all?” And how good is Open really doing? Is the Android ecosystem open, or is it just piggy-backing “The Open Source Way” because it helps? Wildeboer, Red Hat’s EMEA Evangelist shares his provocative observations and invites you to join a journey from the past to today and beyond to find out if and how Open is needed on Mobile.

Be sure to stay tuned for more exciting xda:devcon 2014 coverage.

The post Quo Vadis, Open {Source, Standards, World}? w/ Jan Wildeboer – XDA:DevCon 2014 appeared first on xda-developers.

Bang Man: minimalist, difficult, addictive arcade platformer

Sometimes, it doesn't take award-winning graphics or a complicated back story or gameplay to have a difficult but addictive mobile game. One case in point is a new game where you are the last line of defense against invading aliens, but all you have to defend your planet are weapons that fall from above but might cause you to fall into the vast space. Prepare to have your reflexes and control tested with Bang Man.

Okay, once you've gotten over juvenile laughter over its name (wait, it's just us laughing?), the game may seem simple, but it is deceptively so. You're standing on a platform made up of around 9 squares. The aliens fall from above, as well as the weapons you need to defeat them. The twist is that the guns have a recoil, which can send you to the edge or over the platform. The recoil value is indicated in the number that comes with the weapon. If you fall off or the alien hits you, you're dead and have to start all over again.

Again, it's not as easy as it seems. The aliens become faster once you kill one of its comrades. You can slow things down with a weapon that has a recoil of 6 blocks, but good luck not falling off with that. The name of the game by the way is not really saving the earth, but getting as many points as you can. The higher the recoil value of the weapon you use, the more points you get, given that you don't fall off and have to start all over again.

Bang Man is available for free download from the Google Play Store. The only in-app purchase is to get rid of the ads and that will just cost you around $1, so should be worth it, just to be able to continually play the game without interruptions.

Scientific study says smartphone users have more brain activity

Whenever someone tells you that constantly using your smartphone is bad for your health, you better have a copy of this scientific study from Current Biology on your person to show them that at least, your brain is not atrophying. It says that the more you use your thumbs and other fingertips, the greater your brain activity is. So take that grandma who always wants me to put my cellphone down.

According to the study conducted by the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, led by Arko Ghosh, a lot of the fingertip-associated brain signals can be linked to how often people used their fingers to swipe through a smartphone. And that is how they started with the study, by looking at the data footprints and comparing it to the brain plasticity of those who use smartphones, compared to those who use the old kinds of mobile phones. Ghosh says that neuroscientists have only to look at the data from smartphone usage to start studying the extent of how our brains and fingertip usage are interconnected.

The result of their study shows that the more people use their thumb, index, and middle fingers when touching their device's screens, the more the electrical acitivity in our brains are enhanced. They used electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor the brain's response and saw that the amount of activity in the part of it that is connected to the thumb and index fingers are directly proportional to the intensity of use of the smartphones. They suggest that it was the repetitive sliding movements over the surface of the phones that has reshaped the sensory processing from the hand to the brain.

However, this study doesn't give you the excuse to be swiping away on your phones 24/7 just to exercise your brain's elasticity. There are still other studies that have linked excessive mobile device use to other motor dysfunctions and even pain. Also, the study discussed here is published in a journal that is part of the Cell Press, so maybe we should take it with a tiny grain of salt.

VIA: Science Daily

Dell Venue 10 Bluetooth Keyboard spied at the FCC

We all know that if you work from a tablet and need to do some serious typing, on screen keyboards don’t quite cut it. A lot of tablet users prefer Bluetooth keyboards that can be connected to the tablet like a case. Rumors have been swirling about the Dell Venue 10 tablet for a while and a new keyboard has crossed the FCC that appears to be for that tablet.

The keyboard dock is one of the accessories that has been mentioned along with the tablet since Dell started to talk about the Venue 10 back in September. So far, we don't know exactly when the Venue 10 will launch, but if its keyboard is at the FCC now the launch could be close at hand.

The manual posted along with pics by the FCC shows that the keyboard will use Bluetooth for connectivity and has dedicated keys for tablet functions. Those dedicated keys are for apps, the action menu, home, and search.

There are buttons for volume, brightness, and media control as well. Some benchmarks have leaked in the past suggesting that the Venue 10 tablet will have an Intel Atom Bay Trail CPU, 2GB of RAM, cameras on the front and rear, WiFi, Bluetooth, and NFC along with a full HD resolution screen.

SOURCE: Liliputting

Dolphin Browser now with flash player for Android Lollipop devices

While it is not that popular of a video platform anymore, there are still some websites that use Flash videos (like Facebook sometimes). And if you use Chrome as your default mobile browser, chances are you won't be able to view said video since Adobe stopped supporting that for Android devices some time ago. So the solution would be to use another browser. The newest update to Dolphin will try to convince you to consider it for your default or even alternative browser.

Dolphin version 11.3.4 brings Flash support for Android devices, particularly those that are already running on Google's newest update Android 5.0 Lollipop (but are still Flash-less). You don't even need to install Flash or anything since the support already comes out of the box. So as soon as you update to the latest version, you can browse through any Flash-supported website on your smartphone or tablet.

But that's not just the only Christmas gift from their latest update. You can now sync your browser settings, speed dials, add-ones, themes and other things across all your devices through Dolphin Connect. And if your friend has a device that's NFC-capable, then you'll be able to share with them some links to interesting websites you're browsing. Another great new feature is an auto-clear function for the browser when your device is running out of storage already.

If you're still into the holiday spirit, the browser also has a new Christmas theme. If you haven't tried it yet, you can download the Dolphin browser for free from the Google Play Store.

SOURCE: Dolphin

Story Timeline

• Dolphin V11 brings new mobile browsing experience to Android


• Dolphin Browser Express comes with new localization features


• Dolphin Browser V11.3 gains Android 5.0 compatibility