Virgin Mobile Custom now has app to manage controls

Do you remember the days when kids (and even teenagers) did not have mobile phones and had to wait until they were earning their own money to be able to get one? No? Well, believe us, that existed before, but now, kids as young as 5 are toting their own phones and tablets. Virgin Mobile Custom has allowed parents to exercise some semblance of control over their kids' devices, and now they're extending it by launching a free Android app to help manage the family lines.

Just last July, Virgin Mobile launched a customizable cell phone plan for the family that lets the parents control how many texts and how many minutes their kids can spend talking on their mobile phone. You could activate up to five phone lines and then get a Custom phone for each line. The primary user can then adjust the text, call or data allowable consumption of each line at any time during the month or even on a daily basis. Now Virgin has made it easier for the parental units to manage this with the app, available both for iOS and Android Custom units as well as any other smartphone that you want to use.

The app lets you allocate the text messages, call minutes and data usage to the other plans. It also allows you to add or remove certain services, probably depending on your mood or your plan's monthly bill. You can even set curfews on their usage of their phones, like what times they can access and what time they are blocked from using their device. The app also lets you monitor who are your kids' (and spouse's too, if you really want to do that) contacts and you can block those whom you don't want them to communicate with.

This app is a parents' dream and a kids' worst nightmare. If you belong to the former, then you can download the app for free from the Google Play Store. If you belong to the latter, tough luck kid, just wait till you get your own mobile device from your own pockets.

SOURCE: Virgin Mobile

Smash Rider crashes into Android

A new game called Smash Rider has landed on Google Play this week. This new game challenges players to take the wheel of several different cars in an attempt to evade the police for the longest distance possible. While running from the police, drivers of the virtual cars get to smash into other cars on the road for points.

The game has tilt controls and there are ten different vehicles that players can choose from. Players can achieve over 50 different distance levels and the game supports global leader boards.

Smash Rider has 50 competitive challenges and 50 different achievements. To help you set those distance records and smash traffic, there are different power-ups available. The game promises HD optimized graphics and fast paced game play.

The developer of the game is underDOGS Gaming Private Limited from India. The app hit Google Play on October 1 and is 19MB in size. Android 2.3 or higher is required to play.

SOURCE: Google Play

Straight Talk launches Bring Your Own Tablet program

Most households nowadays own a tablet or two. For some, each family member has a tablet to use for school, home, or the office. There’s no denying that mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops, and soon wearables, have taken over our digital lives.

The Bring Your Own Tablet (BYOT) program was recently introduced by Straight Talk to bring more people access to the Internet. It’s a special offering by Straight Talk that lets the tablet owner to choose a data plan for mobile surfing even without a contract. Straight Talk is a wireless service provider that doesn't offer any contract, only unlimited data plans usable for a limited number of days or as needed.

With this new program, you can do almost anything for your family whether you’re out or simply at home. Need a recipe to cook for dinner or your son’s upcoming party? Check your tablet for some of the greatest recipes online. You can also watch tutorials on how to cook properly and prepare a grocery-shopping list with your Straight Talk connection. If you’re a mamarazzi, you can always share your kids’ photos on your favorite social network and share with your friends and family. Check the weather to know if it’s safe and sunny to play outside. No need to spend more on an exclusive contract now that Straight Talk is here.

If you want to relax and pass some time, you can watch movies or play games on your tablet. The BYOT can help you entertain kids when they are bored or if you need an instant babysitter while doing some important office work. Download a book and read or play some music to put you in a good mood. Straight Talk offers you all these and more with your choice of data plans and at 4G LTE speeds for some tablet models.

The BYOT program works with any GSM-enabled Android tablet. You can bring your unlocked tablet to Straight Talk to get data plan even without any contract. The $45 unlimited data plan will last for 30 days and will include talk, text, and data services.

SOURCE: Straight Talk

Story Timeline

• Samsung Galaxy Centura bound for Straight Talk


• Straight Talk and Net10 data throttling policy clarified


• Straight Talk now selling nano SIM cards for AT&T and T-Mobile

Adobe Creative Cloud now in preview mode on Android

For designers and creative people that are dependent on Adobe's suite of products (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, etc), it can sometimes be a pain to work mobile-wise, as you often cannot carry those programs and the files on your smartphone or tablet. Adobe has now shown a sort-of workaround to that with the launch, or at least preview, of the Adobe Creative Cloud for Android devices.

Now don't get that excited and think that you can actually work directly from your mobile device. They actually haven't reached that point yet. But what the app does is it allows you to browse and preview your Adobe files that are saved in their very own cloud storage. You can also organize the files that are stored in there, so you can manage your creative projects from the app itself by sharing it with other members of your team.

So, for example, you are going on vacation but would like to keep a close eye on the designs for an upcoming advertising pitch for a major brand, you can ask your graphic designers to upload their working files from Photoshop and Illustrator on the Creative Cloud. Then you could view them, make comments and suggestions (but probably through your messaging app of choice) so you can let your team know the changes or improvements that they can make to the current designs.

The Creative Cloud is subscription-based, but if you sign up for a free account, you get 2GB of cloud space as well as trial access to all creative tools from Adobe. However, it's still just working on mobile phones as of now, and most creative people would probably prefer to view designs on tablets. And since it's still on preview mode in the Google Play Store, you can expect a few bugs and kinks for now. But if you'd like to sample how the app works, you can download it for free (subscription isn't free though).

Story Timeline

• Adobe Photoshop Express updated, brings new editing and cloud features


• Adobe Photoshop Express update brings borders and 'pet-eye' fix

Xperia Z2 and Z2 tablet Android 4.4.4 update gets certified

Sony Xperia Z2 and Z2 Tablet owners who have been wondering when they would finally get the update to Android 4.4.4 finally have an idea when they will get the OS update. Android 4.4.4 firmware 23.0.1.A.0.167 has finally been certified for the Xperia Z2 and Z2 tablet.

Both of those devices have been stuck on Android 4.4.2 for a while now. It's unclear what features will come to the devices with the new update. Presumably the two Z2 devices will get a user interface that looks similar to what the Xperia Z3 has since that device has ran Android 4.4.4 for a while.

What we don’t know right now is if all the features of the Z3 will be ported to the Z2 devices. The Z2 firmware is certified for the D6502 and D6503 versions of the smartphone.

The Z2 Tablet update is certified for the SGP521 and SGP541 variants of the tablet. The new firmware hasn’t started to roll out yet for either device, but with the certifications posted, it should begin any time now.

SOURCE: Xperia Blog

Samsung to report weakest earnings since 2011

Over the last several years, Samsung Electronics has been doing very well with its line of Android smartphones and tablets helping to push profits to ever-higher levels. Samsung is now reportedly set to announce its biggest annual income decline since 2011. The earnings reported for its July-September quarter will reportedly be the lowest reported in the last three years.

Part of the blame for the lower profits is that short-term prospects for smartphones are uncertain. Analytics firm Strategy Analytics has said that Samsung has been outclassed by the iPhone in the premium segment and undercut by rivals from China such as Lenovo and Xiaomi for the bottom end customers.

Samsung said in a regulatory filing this week that profit for Q3 is expected to fall 59.7% to 4.1 trillion won, or $3.8 billion. The mean forecast for the quarter was a profit of 5.6 trillion won.

The decline for the quarter also marks the fourth consecutive quarter where earnings have declined on a yearly basis. Samsung does expect things to turn around for the last quarter with strong demand for smartphones and TVs expected in the holiday shopping season.

SOURCE: Reuters

Land’s End is a gorgeous game for the Samsung Gear VR

The Samsung Gear VR is one of the accessories to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 that most tech and gaming junkies are excited about, a virtual reality headset in the mold of the Oculus VR. Virtual Reality has been on a general decline since its heyday in the mid-90s where it was supposed to be the next big thing. Maybe it was really just ahead of its time, as the current technology is now allowing for a better representation of the technology. Evidence to this is “Land’s End” a beautiful VR game designed for the Samsung Gear VR.

The game is designed by “ustwo” and the studio has just released its first trailer. The indie game developers are best known for “Monument Valley” a game primarily designed for tablets. It would seem that the developers had to learn a lot on coming to the VR platform but it seems that they have done fairly well for themselves, if the trailer is of any evidence.

A simple lowdown on the game – it’s a puzzle-based game that takes place on a mystical ocean where there are islands scattered around. The controls are reportedly such that it is very, very near telepathy – where you would only need to “look” in a direction to actually go there within the game. The developers have made it so that the controls are intuitive to VR.

The Samsung Gear VR hasn’t even launched yet – although there are leaks and rumors saying that the virtual reality headset will be available in Korea by the 1st of December. Although that makes sense with the holidays coming, we suggest you take that news with a grain of salt. Once the Gear VR launches, then we can begin to ask when this beautiful game will be released.

VIA: Droid Gamers

Story Timeline

• Oculus producing a game for Samsung Gear VR


• Early Gear VR games will come without price tags


• Internal document leaks release date, pricing of Samsung Gear VR