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Microsoft has Android Wear keyboard that draws on smartwatch

While smartwatches are definitely catching on, particularly for the early adapters of technology, the idea of having keyboards on the watchfaces are still pretty much a novelty. Given the small screen space, it does feel weird to have a full-fledged keyboard on your wearable. Microsoft has come up with a sort of alternative to that, with its newly-released keyboard that actually lets you draw the letters and characters on your smartwatch that runs on the Android Wear platform, particularly if it's square or the Moto 360.



The "analog keyboard" has been released as a prototype, and works with square-faced Android Wear smartwatches with a 320 x 320 resolution or the Moto 360. You can use the virtual keyboard to write out messages, for those times when it is too private to dictate to your wearable device. You can also use it for when you search for something on Google, particularly to write out things that you don't want others to know you're looking for (like how to boil an egg perhaps). Drawing on the smartwatch also helps for symbols that you can't distake like @ # and even numbers.




Other virtual keyboards have come up with a workaround to typing out things on your smartwatch's small surface. Minuum has a non-qwerty keyboard that takes advantage of the small screen to reprogram how you use it, even with round-face wearables. But Microsoft is probably the first one to have used the idea of drawing on it. While it is less awkward than using a keyboard on the device, it still takes some getting used to writing on it, particularly if you're writing a pretty long message.


You can download Microsoft's prototype keyboard from their website, but it is not yet available on the Google Play Store. You also need to follow the instructions (included in the zip file download) carefully, especially if you're a Moto 360 owner, since it normally requires a USB for the install process.


VIA: The Verge



Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week


Fall is a busy time for technology. New smartphones seem to debut every other day (the Xperia Z3v and the Desire Eye for example), and the same can be said for the apps that power them. Here's some of the new software that will make that pocket-friendly hardware even better.


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Microsoft Created an Android Wear Handwriting Keyboard

Microsoft Created an Android Wear Handwriting Keyboard


Smartwatches are still trying to answer a lot of questions, chief among them being, "What do people actually what to do with them?" Their small size means many platforms will need to be reimagined to fit their screens, and Microsoft Research is trying to tackle the most important one—texting.


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Road Smash 2 is a 3D racing game for high-end devices

In an Android world filled with racing games, you guessed, Road Smash 2 is yet another one of those games following in the grand old tradition of Need For Speed and Gran Turismo, where the games carry real-life licensed cars that gamers use for their road racing fetishes.



The game is developed by Creative Mobile’s Fun Factory, who spared no expense in getting these real-life car licenses just to place them in the game and into your mobiles. We have to warn you though that this is a 3D game, and will eat up resources like a hungry lion – the game is optimized for higher-end Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy S3 or better, the Nexus 4 or better, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or better. If your device’s specs is within the vicinity of these, then you can give this a spin.


Road-Smash-2


The game focuses on arcade racing of course, with locations featured from around the globe. There’s a single player campaign mode with 75 missions and some bonus side missions as well. And what is a car game without the customization? Boring, of course, so the developers made sure you get tons of upgrading and painting and re-painting.




Lastly, there is also an online/social portion where you can compete with your friends. Grab the game at the Google Play Store via the source link, which like the developer’s other games is a free download with IAP. Take it for a spin and tell us what you think.


SOURCE: Google Play Store



SuperSU updated to 2.13, getting ready for Android L

If some of you are not familiar with SuperSU, that’s probably because you haven’t gotten around to gaining root access to your device. Most of the users who root their phones will know about SuperSU (and enjoy the naming redundancy) – an app that allows you some management and control as to which apps and aspects of your device will be granted root access.



Chainfire, developers of the app, have been toying around with betas for a while now, but has finally released version 2.13, with a nod to preparing for Google’s big and anticipated Android L release which coming pretty soon. Chainfire says that a lot of work has gone into making SuperSU work with the curren AOSP builds and ROMs you’ll find out there – hinting that these might be the same security features that could turn up in the first Android L release.


So what’s new in this version? Well, first up – and majorly – there might be a chance that supers will work with the Nexus devices that will carry Android L out of the box. Slim chance, but just maybe. This version of SuperSU now comes with architecture specific binaries for ARMv5, ARMv7, ARMv8, Intel x86 and x64. You might notice that there’s support for 64-bit already, but they have not been tested on working products yet.


You want to give this one a try? Check out the download link of the flashable ZIP via Chainfire here. The developers also said that apart from the normal download via Google Play Store, the Amazon App Store will also start carrying SuperSU.


SOURCE: Chainfire on Google+



Champ Man 15 is Square Enix’s football management sim

Ok, we’re not necessarily in agreement with Square Enix’s decision to put Arsenal’s long-serving manager on the cover – being that they haven’t exactly won any major silverware lately – but hey, it’s your game. Champ Man 15 – short for Championship Manager, we suppose – is Square Enix’s attempt at getting into the football management simulation game market.



Arsene Wenger’s face notwithstanding, you have to understand that the serious football management genre has always been dominated by the big boys (a.k.a. Electronic Arts), although there are some alternative cartoon-y sims that do the job as well. Square Enix has always been known for its great action games, and so to venture into the realm of sports games is a bit odd.


champ_man1


That said, it seems that Champ Man 15 meets all the requirements for a football management sim. As a user, you can choose from over 400 teams across an impressive 23 leagues. You get to have access to players from England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and Portugal – all the ones with big football leagues. You get to pick formations, training regimens – all standard stuff.


champ_man2


The game is available as a free download with IAP via the Google Play Store, so check out the source link if you’re interested. And then give us a holler if you’v tried it. I’m still on the fence with this one. Maybe your opinion about it can finally convince me to download a game with Wenger’s famous frown up front.


SOURCE: Google Play Store



LG G3 locked bootloader workaround now available

The LG G3 is truly a flagship device in all senses of the term. It’s stylish and elegant, and the Korean manufacturer spared no cost on the specs and hardware. That is why we like it so much. And the software – well, we think LG does one of the best versions of tweaked Android out there, bar none. One small issue may be that the LG G3 comes with a locked bootloader, hence custom ROMs used to be close to impossible to install. Not anymore.



The LG G3 was finally rooted in August, and just recently, another group of XDA developers have now provided for us a modified TWRP recovery that should enable users to flash custom ROMs. The project is dubbed as “Bump!”, and what it does is take advantage of the same vulnerability that the initial root used to be able to flash modified images.


The process is still a bit roundabout, maybe even a tad bit complicated, for non-savvy users. But for those who are comfortable around tweaking their devices, this should be pretty straightforward. The process requires that your LG G3 must be rooted, firstly. Then you need to copy the modified recovery image onto the internal storage of your device, then run a few commands to flash the image to your phone’s firmware. After that, it is just a matter of booting into the TWRP recovery.




Sounds complicated? Maybe the official thread will help you out – click on here, especially if you have questions. One thing is clear though, the bootloader tweak works – as evidenced by the video linked on the thread. If you give this a try, ping us back on the comments section.


SOURCE: XDA