Xiaomi steps up its game with a Bluetooth game controller

There should no longer be any doubt that Xiaomi wants in on the fledgling Chinese game biz. The company has now outed its own Bluetooth game controller for, what else, gaming. While the controller seems like a natural evolution of its Mi TV box, it does raise some questions about the future of one popular Android gaming console turned platform.

The Xiaomi controller looks like a hybrid of a PlayStation and an Xbox controller. The body design looks closer to that of Sony's console but the button layout is unmistakably Microsoft's. Technical details are rather few at this point, like the exact version of Bluetooth being used. From the photos, it is likely that the controller can be used to directly connect with a Mi TV or connect to a Xiaomi mobile device, like a Mi 4, which is then hooked up to a bigger screen, or a Mi Pad. The controller is noted to have its own G-sensor, probably for games that require tilting controls, and vibration feedback. It also runs on two AA batteries.

The Xiaomi Bluetooth game controller goes on sale September 25 and the first 300 buyers will be able to take it away for only 1 RMB, roughly $0.16. Actual retail price has not yet been disclosed, much less availability outside of China.

This controller makes plain Xiaomi's plans to become a gaming brand in China, which has just opened its culture to gaming consoles, with a few legal caveats. This new product might make one wonder how OUYA fits in all of these. The gaming startup recently revealed that it struck up a partnership with the Chinese OEM to bring its Android-based gaming platform to China. This was later followed by rumors that OUYA is in financial straits and is actually looking for buyers, which includes Xiaomi. Aside from two buttons (menu and back), Xiaomi's controller closely matches that of OUYA's, which could hint at future compatibility with the Android gaming platform, no matter which way OUYA goes.

SOURCE: Xiaomi

VIA: Tech In Asia

Story Timeline

• Xiaomi MiPhone 3 goes public, MiTV 3D Smart TV also revealed


• Xiaomi MiPad arrives powered by NVIDIA's Tegra K1


• OUYA teams up with Xiaomi to conquer Asia


• Ouya rumored to be in acquisition talks with several companies

Highly-acclaimed game Unmechanical arrives on Android

Puzzle-based games are dime-a-dozen, so it’s particularly exciting to see one receive as much acclaim as Teotl Studios’ “Unmechanical”. The game has received the Best Game award at the Brazilian International Games Festival and the Best Artistic Achievement award at Nordic Game Awards. But what’s more exciting is that it has now landed in the Android gaming sphere – beginning its life on Steam and then moving to iOS before actually getting here.

On the basis of just the positive online hype for this game, you might want to download it even if you are not the puzzle gaming type. But it’s more than that – the game is artistically gorgeous. Its 3D graphics run on the Unreal Engine, and the rendering is just that beautiful.

Technically, the game can be classified as a platformer, thanks to its side-scrolling perspective. But there are a lot of puzzles along the way, and you push around a tiny robot-helicopter who is trying to get out of a hellish underground environment. The gameplay revolves around your little robot dude "grabbing stuff" that can be used to solve the various puzzles you encounter.

For all the bleak and scary environment rendered on the game, there is very little violence in it – probably a nod to the game developers making the game available for youngsters. The art in the game is expressive and beautiful, but some older devices might be strained to render the graphics correctly. Just the same, you might want to check it out – it’s available at the Google Play Store for USD$1.99.

VIA: Droid Gamers

Story Timeline

• Weekend Gaming: Slydris - a puzzle game with a twist


• Monument Valley is a beautiful, serene puzzle game now on Android


• Rote puzzle game gets update to make it less frustrating

Hacked game from Falcon for Twitter devs makes coding fun

If you're tired of Android games that, more often than not, involve mashing buttons, lining up sweets, or flinging birds, then you might want to try out this new game that requires a bit more grey matter called Hacked. Parents worry not. This isn't about the bad kind of hacking. Or at least isn't directly about it. At its very core, Hacked is an app that turns programming, and learning how to program, into an interesting yet challenging game.

This app somewhat surprisingly comes from the developers of Falcon, one of the more or less popular third party Twitter apps on Android. Programming directly on an Android device, even a smartphone, isn't totally new, with loads of advanced text editors in Google Play Store and even a full-blown Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Android, but it is, unsurprisingly, quite a chore. Hacked injects some elements of fun into the process by creating both the custom programming language H, which seems to be inspired by Javascript, and providing its own mobile-friendly code editor, appropriately named Hackedpad. The sum is what its developers claim to be the world's first mobile coding game.

Hacked has currently two modes, with a third one coming soon. Story mode is the one closest to be being a game, with a specific plot to follow. Naturally, you are put in the shoes of a hacker that needs to use his programming chops for the better good. Like any mobile game, this mode has your usual ladder progression system and top scores. And what geeky game would be without some sort of cheat system, too?

If you want to take a break from your world-saving missions, you can dive into Freestyle mode, which lets you code without any limits to follow. You can even create your own games from within the app (a game inside a game? inception!), publish your masterpieces, and get to try out others' as well.

Don't expect to make your Angry Birds killer in Hacked. At least not yet. Everything seems to be confined within the safe and secure environment of the app itself, so distribution and monetary compensation is out of the question. Hacked is still in beta and getting in is slightly more involved than your usual beta access. You first have to sign up using your email, ask to join their Google+ beta testing group, and then wait for approval. The concept of Hacked is definitely an interesting one, but, as they say in business, execution is key.

SOURCE: Hacked app

Sunshine tool unlocks Motorola, HTC devices, allows ‘s-off’

While you may say that with HTC devices, you are getting your money’s worth – especially for the acclaimed HTC One M8 – there are security limitations to their devices that doesn’t allow for, err… the “creative” side of Android software – including custom ROMs, full root access and the like. The same goes for Motorola. Fortunately for us, there teams out there who do their life’s work trying to give us full value – and full access – for our money spent on these devices.

“Sunshine” is a tool from famed Android developer Justin Case, beaups, and friends which gives you more access to your HTC and Motorola device than ever. HTC has a system flag secure setting usually either marked “s-on” or “s-off”. ON is the default setting and it disallows installation of custom recoveries, custom ROMs and even modified stock firmware.

On the latest update, the developers offer “s-off” access for any HTC device and modern Motorola devices. This means that “s-off” gives full root access and the ability to install custom recovery and firmware. The catch? The developers are charging USD$25.00 for it. There’s a long-ish explanation on their website here.

So, is full root access to your HTC or Motorola device worth USD$25.00? If so, you can head over to the source link for the official thread at XDA. And be a nice kid and tell us about it if you’ve tried it.

SOURCE: XDA

Sony PS4 Remote Play feature now ported to Android

The rationale behind the Sony’s PS4 Remote Play feature was that the user would be able to play his PS4 games anywhere, provided that the place had a decent enough WiFi connection or LTE coverage. But more than that, said user had to own a Sony Xperia Z3 to be able to use the feature as it was only released to the current Sony Xperia flagship. Of course, the good people at XDA won’t let that get in their way.

Recently, XDA forum member “XperiaPlaystation” ported the unique feature so that it could be used by all Xperia devices. Now the developer has seemingly one-upped himself as he has ported the feature to any device running Android 4.0 and higher. That should be great news to anyone who owns a PS4 and a mid to high-end LTE capable smartphone.

The hack involves flashing a ZIP file which the developer has provided – that means your phone has to have a custom recovery (CWM is recommended). The developer has also provided an APK installer of the official PlayStation app. With a few steps in the recovery – such as wiping the cache and doing a reboot – you should be good to go.

We always warn people that with these kinds of tweaks, something might go wrong and it is always good to have a good solid backup to return to. Is this something you’re willing to do on your Android device? Check out the official XDA forum thread here for complete instructions. Then tell us about it in the comments section when you do.

SOURCE: XDA

Story Timeline

• PlayStation 4 Remote Play will be coming to Android devices


• Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact: PS4 Remote Play, 20MP, and more


• PS4 Remote Play port now allows feature on all Xperia devices

FIFA 15 now available to the rest of us (aside from Canada)

We're not really sure why EA Sports made FIFA 15 Ultimate Team available exclusively in Canada first in its test run. You cannot really put the North American country in the Top 20 football-crazy countries in the world. But now, the rest of the football fans in countries other than Canada will be able to play the game on their Android devices as well as take advantage of the first FIFA Android app that supports hardware controls.

As we said when it was first released, this version of the beloved FIFA football game app is sure to satisfy those who are still having a hangover from the World Cup which finished almost two months ago and will fuel their excitement for the ongoing domestic leagues. Aside from the usual modes that we've come to expect from the yearly new versions of the app, they have added several more game plays this time: the Classic or Casual Controls which gives you more options like tactical dribbling and through-ball options and the Quick Simulation feature where you act as the manager of an ongoing game and lets you control the effort and movement of your team.

The previous modes are still present in the app, like Manager Mode, Career Mode and Penalty Kick modes. Another new feature is the Matches of the Week mode, where you can choose your club and players to play the big matches. For the first time ever, a FIFA Android app can use hardware controllers to help users play the game the way they want. It supports Steelseries Stratus, Steelseries Pro Mobile, Moga Pro Power, Moga Hero Power, Moga Pocket Controller, and Mad Catz C.T.R.L.R Mobile Gamepad.

Fortunately for football fanatics who don't really want to spend on apps, FIFA Ultimate Team is still free on the Google Play Store. But there are in-app purchases if you want to buy certain packs with players, coaches, equipment that cannot be found in the free version. So be prepared to spend anywhere from $0.99 to as much as $99.99 for these add-ons.

SOURCE: Android Police

Chrome Apps for Mobile: Chromium Webview, more Google services

Lately you've heard of Google's, as well as third party developers', efforts to bring Android apps to Chrome, or to Chrome OS to be exact. Now Google is turning the tables around with an update to its Chrome Apps for Mobile tool that adds access to more Google Play services as well as the latest Chromium-based Webview for Chrome web apps that want to have a presence on both Android and iOS as well.

Chrome Apps for Mobile utilizes Apache Cordova to provide a wrapper around Chrome apps that will connect to Android and iOS platform APIs, making it possible to distribute those same web apps, mostly unchanged, on Google Play Store and iTunes App Store. This latest update adds API for a batch of Google Play Services that Chrome apps can hook into, including Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) which is used to send notifications and data from an app server to users, and rich notifications for displaying on Android's notification panel, for example.

Somewhat more interesting perhaps is the inclusion of a Webview that uses Chromium instead of the original Android Web Browser component. Google itself switched the Android Webview to Chromium starting Android 4.4 KitKat, but that hasn't been the case for older Android versions. What this update means for Chrome Apps for Mobile is that these web apps will be able to use a Chromium Webview even if they're running on something as old as 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This would somewhat address a recently exposed bug with the open source Android web browser that can bypass the Same Origin Policy (SOP) in order to allow javascript from, say, a hacker website to modify and access data on another website, like PayPal or a banking website.

As proof of concept, Google has released the quiz app Topeka on Google Play Store. The app was unveiled at I/O 2014 last June to showcase the new Material Design and Google's Polymer web tool. Google has now taken this web app and packaged it into a Chrome App to demonstrate the new features of its updated Chrome Apps for Mobile tools. Hopefully, this could help Chrome app developers package their apps for distribution on Android, further bridging the gap between Google's two different platforms.

SOURCE: Google