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Sony Lifelog update: power enhancements, notifications for goals

Activity-tracking application Lifelog, developed by Sony originally for its Xperia devices but now available for other Android phones, has now been updated with a few new enhancements and of course the usual bugfixing. The update includes power consumption enhancements as well as receiving notifications every time you accomplish one of the goals that you set.

One of the problems that apps like Lifelog, which keeps track of your daily activities, has is that it consumes so much of your battery life. And of course since you also use a lot of other apps, the battery drain is a pain (rhyme intended), especially if you’re always mobile. Lifelog’s update ensures that the app consumers less power than its previous version so you could enjoy both the app and your phone more.

You can also now receive notifications on your smartphone whenever you’ve successfully completed goals that you’ve set for yourself. So if you've reached a running milestone or lost a certain number of calories through your activities, your smartphone will be there to congratulate and commend you. Other minor updates include extending support to your Sony Entertainment Network (SEN) account and a few bug fixes for the product support for the life-logging accessory, the SmartBand.

As we mentioned earlier, the Lifelog app has been made available for non-Xperia devices and as long as you have an Android device, you can download it from the Google Play Store. It does have some features that would only work on Xperia, like recognising your transportation and bicycle activities as well as changing the activity type on the app. But otherwise, it should look good on any smartphone or tablet running on Android 4.4 and up.

Humble Mobile Bundle 6 adds three more games to collection

If you’re a mobile games addict and you still haven’t heard of or bought the Humble Mobile Bundle 6, then you would have to read on or miss on a crazy deal. They have even added 3 more games to the collection, which includes kicking llamas, an alien surfing through space and a psychotic car race. This brings a total of 9 games that can be yours if you pay more than the average, with three of them in a pay what you want format.

Humble Bundle has been keeping gamers happy with their unique format of bundling together several games and letting users dictate how much everyone else should pay for the games. From the 6 games we previously reported on, there are now 3 more additions to relieve you of your boredom (and your battery). Carmageddon will let your inner demon driver free as the game sets you lose on an unsuspecting city where no car or human or cows are safe from freeform drivers. You can even use multiple Android devices to play this game. However, it is kind of ultraviolent (the Mac and PC versions were banned in some countries after all) so you might want to keep this away from the kids.

Less violent but maybe just a little bit disturbing as swell is Llamas with Hats: Cruise Catastrophe where you are Carl the Llama who goes on a cruise and enjoys kicking the passengers overboard. As to why this is, we’ll never know (maybe a childhood trauma or something). A more age-appropriate game would be Time Surfer, an endless runner set in space. As your alien avatar surfs through obstacles like asteroids, spikes and other space debris, you also have the ability to rewind time if you’re about to die or you’ve made some mistakes you’d like to correct.

Humble Mobile Bundle lets you pay what you want for three games (Eliss Infinity, Duet Premium and Combo Crew Special). But if you want to get these three games, plus the three others in the combo, you need to pay the average which right now is at $4.51. You have six more days to get this deal as it expires by August 19.

SOURCE: Humble Bundle

Galaxy Alpha announced with new metal frame that you wanted

The August 13 launch date for the new Samsung Galaxy Alpha is real, the new smartphone with Android 4.4.4 KitKat is just announced today, said to be "new design approach" with metal frame around the side of the phone. The back cover remains in plastic like other Galaxy series.

The Galaxy Alpha is a mid-to-high-end model, powered by a Exynos 5433 Octa Core (Quad 1.8GHz + Quad 1.3GHz) processor and paired with a 4.7-inch 720p Super AMOLED display. There is a 2GB RAM, 32GB internal storage but for the first time, this Galaxy model does not come with a microSD card slot – probably due to the restriction of the external storage in Android KitKat. Samsung did not list a 64GB version for more storage space, although it was mentioned in the past rumors.

At 6.7mm thickness, the 4.7-inch size and 115g weight will fit nicely for one-hand operation compare to other 5.x-inch smartphones. Other specs include a 12 megapixel camera, 2.1 megapixel front facing camera, 4K video recording @ 30fps, WiFi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and 1860 mAh battery. Like the Galaxy S5, finger print sensor is integrated on the home button, with another heart rate sensor at the back.

Available in early September, the Galaxy Alpha will launch with Charcoal Black, Dazzling White, Frosted Gold, Sleek Silver, and Scuba Blue colors – depends on your region.

Sony Underwater apps lets you play with your phone in water

If it’s always been your dream to play with your smartphone while it is (or you are) submerged in water, then you better get yourself an Xperia Z1s or Xperia Z from T-Mobile. Sony has introduced 6 silly but fun underwater apps for when you are scuba-diving and have the urge to play games in the water or for when you just want to dunk your phone in the water then use it.

The Xperia phones are famous for their water-resistant features (although it is not exactly built for living underwater) and now they’ve also added the fact that the phone itself can detect when it’s underwater through spectrograms. And now the developers over at Sony have also added 6 underwater apps so you can do fun things while it’s wet.

Four of the apps are just for silly fun. Goldie is like a tamagochi, but the fish needs to be submerged in water to make it happy (and alive). Plantimal meanwhile is as it name says, a weird combination of plant and animal that grows when you “water” it and sends notifications when it has reached its peak and needs to be watered again. Sink Sunk is simply a submarine game for when you’re at the pool and bored out of your mind. Tiny Umbrella is for when you need for the top of your head to be protected from the rain by your smartphone (okay, it’s cute but come on).

The other two apps in the underwater suite may have a bit more purpose. If you and your friends are trapped in a storm or bored at the beach, you can do an instant karaoke session with the Rainy-Oke app. However it just has 10 songs right now and you may not be able to use it when you’re on dry land. Now if you miss the days of developing photos the old-school way, the Photo Lab app lets you submerge digital photos in water to apply a chemical bath or a filter and you can even tilt your phone just like you would an actual photo in an actual chemical bath.

The apps may seem silly or you wouldn’t really want your phone to get wet often, but come on, if you had the chance to play with your phone while either you or it is submerged, why not right? Unfortunately the apps are only available for the Xperia Z1s or Z and if you live in the US. But who knows it might expand to other Sony Xperia devices in other countries as well.

VIA: XperiaBlog

Xperia Z2 in seabed for 6 weeks, still works after “rescue”

When OEMs boast of their devices’ water-proof capabilities, they are still very careful to set limitations on what sort of conditions they will be able to survive. For example, Sony said that while their Xperia Z2 is indeed water-resistant, it complies with iP58 so it can only stand up to 30 minutes under 1.5 mm of freshwater. Well, a Swede’s experience with his Z2 might surprise even the people over at Sony as it survived being under 10 meters deep for an amazing six weeks and lived to tell the tale.

Alexander Maxen from Gothenburg was water-skiing during his vacation. He left his Xperia Z2 on the seat of his water ski, but when he jumped into the water, it bounced and fell in. He did not even attempt to rescue his smartphone since the sea bed was around 10 meters deep below them. They did try to call the phone and were surprised that they were able to connect to it (we’d like to know also your carrier which apparently has signal below sea level).

After six weeks, another friend of his went scuba diving in the same area, and surprisingly was able to still find the phone (apparently sea animals don’t have an appetite for gadgets). To their shock, when they connected the phone to a charger, the LED indicator lit up and it eventually turned on and was still in full working condition. Of course it had some external damage already, like the back screen was shattered, but the important thing was it was still working after six weeks under the sea! And Maxen is not even going to have the phone’s back screen repaired, as a remembrance of its amazing journey.

Now of course, we only have the Swedish media to rely on whether or not the story is actually true and not a hoax. And of course we don’t encourage Xperia Z2 owners to start chucking their phones into the sea and coming back six weeks later. But if you’re one of those who worked on the phone’s design and water-resistant features, maybe you should give yourself a pat on the back.

VIA: Xperia

XDA Xposed Tuesday: Change YouTube’s Mobile App Starting Screen with YourTube – XDA Developer TV

Here on XDA Developer TV, we talk about helpful Xposed Modules on our weekly show, XDA Xposed Tuesday. We’ve covered some modules that have everything and the kitchen sink, and those are great, but sometimes the simplest module catches our attention because it solves a singular major annoyance.

In this episode of XDA Xposed Tuesday, XDA Developer TV Producer TK reviews an Xposed Module that lets you change the starting screen in the YouTube application. XDA Recognized Developer GermainZ created the YourTube module. TK shows off the modules and gives his thoughts, so check out this Xposed Tuesday video.

Be sure to check out other great XDA Developer TV Videos

XDA Xposed Tuesday: Statusbar Gestures – XDA Developer TV

XDA Xposed Tuesday: Blur Your System Notification Panel – XDA Developer TV

XDA Xposed Tuesday: Launch Apps from Your Lock Screen with PINshortcuts – XDA Developer TV

XDA Xposed Tuesday: Heads Up Notifications – XDA Developer TV

XDA Xposed Tuesday: Clean Your Notification Panel – XDA Developer TV

Android Basics 101: Understanding Xposed Framework – XDA Developer TV

App Development: Xposed Framework for Android – XDA Developer TV

The post XDA Xposed Tuesday: Change YouTube’s Mobile App Starting Screen with YourTube – XDA Developer TV appeared first on xda-developers.

Manuganu 2: Wonderfully-rendered platform runner

There’s nothing in Alper Sankaya’s “Manuganu 2” that you haven’t seen before. It’s a platform runner, and there’s only so much you can do with a side-scroller, right? Sankaya proves us wrong with that last statement, because as limited as the platform running game could be, what the developer has done with Manuganu 2 is more than enough to catch your attention and make you waste minutes in casual gaming.

The game manages to carry casual gamers along – with seemingly endless replay value – on the back of some solid platforming gameplay, a beautifully-rendered game world, and a very welcome amount of variety for such a limited game. You play as a little tribal fellow who faces challenges along the side-scrolling action. The first stage will make you immediately familiar with the platforming games that we’ve all played in our childhood.

But suddenly, the game introduces new paths and trails, new sections. The view will switch and you will find your little tribal guy in the middle of a frenetic climbing level that requires you to run and flip between vertical poles. The game is actually very smartly produced in introducing new challenges, and even a new glide ability lets you, well… fly.

We warn you that none of this is close to being original, but therein lies the surprise – the game is still fun to play in spite of this. Manuganu 2 seems to have perfected the right mix of borrowed ideas and new ones that gives the game warmth and excitement. The game is free to download at the source link via the Google Play Store.