Humble Mobile Bundle 9 on sale until Oct 22

It seems like we were just talking about the last version of the Humble Mobile Bundle, and that's mostly because it has only been a couple of weeks since the last version was here. The latest Humble Mobile Bundle 9 is here and it brings with it some cool and DRM-free games for mobile Android gamers to enjoy.

As with all Humble Mobile Bundle packs, you can pay what you want for this version, but how much you pay will determine how many games you get. Pay any amount and you will get Syberia, Neuroshima Hex, and Barbarian: Golden Axe Edition. Any payment amount will get you a free fourth game called Devil's Attorney.

If you pay more than the average amount, which is $3.19, you get three more games to enjoy. Those other games include Leo's Fortune, Out There, and First Strike. Buyers also get soundtracks for some of the games with the purchase.

Version 9 of the Mobile Bundle is doing very well with over 13 days to go at the time of writing it has already racked up 23,509 sales so far. The total amount raised by the bundle is over $75,000.

SOURCE: Humble Bundle

Story Timeline

• Humble Mobile Bundle 6 brings 6 into the fold


• Humble Bundle 7 brings Heroes of Loot, the Tiny Bang Story, and more


• Humble Mobile Bundle 8 packs 6 games

Google adds ‘Backdrop’ feature to Chromecast

A beautiful backdrop as screensaver is nothing new but Chromecast didn’t arrive with it. There really is no need but some Chromecast users have requested such feature on their TVs. Google has finally released this backdrop feature allowing anyone to customize a TV screen by displaying a favorite photo album from Google+, artwork from museums and galleries via the Google Cultural Institute, or satellite images from Google Earth.

Exclusive to the United States are news and lifestyle images from The Guardian, Saveur, The New York Times, and other magazines. For the active Google+ users, you can also display more beautiful photos from the community.

Customizing the Chromecast is easy. Open the Chromecast app on your smartphone or tablet, choose ‘Backdrop’ found on the left menu. Select the type of images you want to be displayed on the TV. Images would show randomly on the TV but you can read information about each photo by opening the Chromecast app on the TV, selecting Backdrop again, and tapping on the card to show information. For a cooler way, open the Google app on your Android device, click on the mic icon, and ask “What’s on my Chromecast?”. It’s like having a personal assistant.

Chromecast software will be updated to include this new feature. You should receive the app update anytime soon. More details HERE.

SOURCE: Chrome

How To Record Your Screen on an Android Phone or Tablet

In amongst the new features ushered in with Android KitKat was a screencasting capability—a native tool for capturing on-screen activity in a video file. Whether you want to show off your app, share your Angry Birds prowess or start a series of Android troubleshooting videos, it's not difficult to get the functionality up and running, as we'll explain in the steps below.

Read more...

Paranoid Android 4.6 Beta 4: Quick Settings, new wallpaper

Due to some technical difficulties, Paranoid Android had to delay the fourth beta of their 4.6 release series. Fret not PA fans, as that update is now upon us. For a slight change, this release doesn't focus on the Dynamic Status Bars, lovingly called DSB. Instead, it gives a bit of polish to the Quick Settings tiles feature. And as a bonus, Paranoid Android is introducing a new default wallpaper, one that has the project's AOSPA moniker clearly emblazoned for everyone to see and enjoy.

Unlike the vanilla Android experience from Google, custom ROMs such as CyanogenMod and Paranoid Android allow users to customize the Quick Settings tiles to their heart's content. PA even goes the extra mile and makes some of those tiles "flippable", exposing controls on both "sides" of the tile as needed. What's new in this release is that all tiles are now treated as equals. Previously there has been a demarcation between standard tiles, those that you will always see no matter what, and temporary ones, transient tiles like alarms that only pop up depending on the settings. Now you can mix and match as you please, ordering them how you see fit.

Another addition in this release is a new PA wallpaper with the AOSPA name on it, Paranoid Android's formal name, which stands for "Android Open Source Project (Paranoid Android)". Now, art is really a matter of subjective taste, so this new design might not sit well with some users. Of course, you are always free to change that. Moving forward, however, this will be the default that users will see when installing this version of PA 4.6. The wallpaper will also be listed first in Google Now Launcher's selection of wallpapers and can be found under the "Backgrounds" category of other launchers.

Just as PA 4.5 was all about the redesigned Recents View, PA 4.6 revolves around the new DSB. This (optional) feature updates the background of either the status bar or the navigation panel, or both, to match that of the window underneath. This was done to give PA a more Material Design feel on any app even while remaining on Android 4.4. Paranoid Android 4.6 Beta 4 is now available for download and so far no new officially supported device has been added to the ROM's roster.

SOURCE: +ParanoidAndroid

Story Timeline

• Paranoid Android 4.6 Beta 1 now available


• Paranoid Android 4.6 Beta 2 polishes colorful system bars

Snowball lets you read messages from many apps in one place

If you've found yourself confused by all the various messaging apps that you are now being "forced" to use (why can't all your friends and colleagues just use one app?) to communicate with various people in your life, then what you need is just one app where you can read all your incoming messages. That's the thinking behind the new app, Snowball, which is still in its beta version but may save your sanity to some extent.

If you use Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, WhatsApp, Snapchat, LINE, WeChat, Slack, Twitter and even your phone's own SMS, then you'll be able to just view them in Snowball. It follows the "Chat Head" design format of Facebook, and will just be floating on top of your homescreen. It will show you how many new messages you have in any of the apps that you use. Just tap on it to expand and read the messages and if you want to respond, you can launch the messaging app you need from the chat head and it should switch you to said app. To avoid confusion when viewing the messages, there is a small icon that tells you from where the message came from.

The developers don't want to become just another messaging app, and that is probably why you can't reply from the chat head itself. They want "to become synmbiotic" with all these apps and in fact, would like to work directly with these current apps that they are supporting, and those they'd like to add in the future. This could lead to an even better messaging interface and it might even lead to you being able to see what other messaging apps your friends are using.

Some user complaints have said the transition from Snowball to the other apps isn't that smooth, and of course, there are lots of other requests for other apps to be included, like Kik, Viber, Instagram, etc. Since the app is still in its beta phase, there will probably be more improvements in the later updates. Also, right now, it is only available in the US. So if you live in the country and would like this kind of app on your smartphone, you can download Snowball for free from the Google Play Store.

Endomondo gets compatible with Android Wear, Samsung Gear S

Popular sports and lifestyle tracking app Endomondo is now integrated with wearable platform Android Wear and its devices, as well as the Tizen-run Samsung Gear S. This means you can now use the app on your LG G Watch, G Watch R, Moto 360, Samsung Gear Live, ASUS Zenwatch, and the Sony Smartwatch 3, the wearable devices that are using Android Wear. The Sports Tracker app in particular now works well with these devices, letting you have access to stats and data while you do your workout.

The Endomondo integration with Android Wear works fairly easily, with just a few simple taps or the wonders of voice activation. Once you've paired your smartwatch with the app, you can just say "Start Endomondo" or if you want to jump to a particular exercise already, just say "Start a workout", "Start a bike ride", or "Start a run". Or if you want to preserve your voice or something, just go to the three dot menu, choose Endomondo from the apps and press start. Or if you want to use your paired smartphone, start the workout from there, click on the notification from your Android Wear and then swipe to the Open button.

The Sports Tracker gives you six real-time fitness stats and you can start, pause, restart and stop your workouts easily. Creating a training plan is also easier now as it gives you a detailed guide on how you can actually create one that will be tailor fit to your fitness needs. The Samsung Gear S integration works similarly like the Android Wear, but the added feature of the heart monitor on the wearable will show this data on both the app and the smartwatch display.

Looks like you won't need a personal trainor anymore with these integration features as it gives you even more freedom to workout on your own, whether you're running, riding a bike or whatever Endomondo will be offering in the future. You can download the app for free from the Google Play Store or you can get the Pro version for $4.99 for tons of other features.

SOURCE: Endomondo

Todoist Karma’s fated mobile launch turns jobs into games

Todoist's fast-paced development is quite interesting to observe and definitely a pleasure to experience first-hand. From integrating with popular calendar app Sunrise, to adding attachments from Google Drive or Dropbox, to pinning down location-based reminders, Todoist is quickly becoming a top-rated todo app, available on as much as 13 platforms. Now it is adding a new feature, at least for its mobile users, bringing Todoist Karma's gamification to Android as well as iOS and Amazon Fire OS.

The once popular "gamification" has developed a rather negative stigma lately, but the concept isn't exactly new and can even be traced as far back as Mary Poppins (I'll let you figure that one out). Parents and teachers do it all the time as well. The premise is simple. Humans tend to look positively at otherwise negative tasks when presented in a different light, usually involving some graduated reward system and comparative performance analysis. In short, a game.

Karma is Todoist's attempt to gamify your otherwise drab todo list. You setup your own tasks and then are given points when you accomplish them on time. You also gain levels every time you accumulate enough points to advance to the next tier. You even have performance charts to see how well you've grown and compare it with others. Karma has its own point-generating system so you don't have to worry about your tendency to cheat your own points. Todoist Karma has actually been around for quite a while now, but only on the web. Now that it's on mobile devices as well, you no longer have any excuse not to get your quests accomplished.

Todoist Karma on mobile will give you access to everything you could on the web right on your smartphone or tablet, whenever and where ever you want, from creating tasks to knocking them out. New to this update is the ability to set how many goals users want to accomplish on a daily or weekly basis. Karma will now also track your "winning streak", or how many straight days or weeks users have reached their goals without fail. And, of course, since we're talking about mobile here, you will also get to easily share, and even compare, your achievements and performance with others, and turn it into a bit of a competition as well.

Todoist Karma will be available today as an update to the regular Todoist app on Android and other platforms. Don't worry if you haven't gotten the notification just yet as it always takes time to rollout the update to everyone everywhere.

Story Timeline

• Todoist introduces Google Drive, Dropbox, and local file attachments


• Todoist location-based reminders coming to Android this week


• Todoist Review - Does it get things done?


• Todoist finally adds location-based reminders on Android


• Sunrise update: Google Cal sync, Todoist, Trello integration