Angry Birds Seasons goes ballin’ with NBA edition

It may not be the most popular sport in the world, but here in the good 'ole United States, we go crazy over basketball. And everytime October rolls around, we go even crazier as the NBA season officially starts. Apparently, the folks over at Rovio are also excited for this as they announced that Angry Birds Seasons is not about Halloween or Thanksgiving, but rather about that orange ball that 10 grown men are passing and shooting around. So this means our dearest birds and angry pigs have joined the basketball fever.

The Ham Dunk edition of the Angry Birds Seasons brings 10 basketball levels and an additional five more based on the NBA Global Games. Expect the bouncing birds and sniggering hogs we've come to love and/or, but there are also some additions to the basketball party. The new Shockwave Power will be able to do bigger damage to the hogs as it empowers good 'ole Bomb. And if you happen to get the Spalding Ball, it can literally "bring down the house." If you ever get into overtime, Shock Bird will be there to save the day.

Now if you're really addicted to the NBA, you can buy the NBA Pass which will give you an additional 30 levels, with one level representing each of the 30 teams competing in the league. You'll be able to tour around all the NBA cities, like Piggiewood in Los Angeles or ride a piston engine in Detroit. Each team and city has been given the Angry Bird treatment, so expect a lot of birdy and piggy puns your way.

The Angry Birds Ham Dunk edition is available for free from the Google Play Store. However, there are in-app purchases, just like the $0.99 NBA Pass so don''t forget to fix your settings so that no unauthorized buying may occur when you share your phone or tablet with a friend or even children.

SOURCE: Angry Birds

HTC puts out tutorials for new Eye Experience software

Just to push the issue a bit more, HTC has just released new tutorial videos to coincide with the launch of its new HTC Desire EYE smartphone, which is probably has the world’s most powerful selfie camera at the moment. The new videos - seen on HTC's YouTube channel - range from the informative tutorial to the “what were you thinking?!?” – so allow us to share these with you.

The first video show one of the Desire EYE’s very innovative features – that is, Face Tracking while on a video call. The video also gives instructions on how to share your screen if you want to show it over a video call. Pretty nifty.

The second video shows the Split Capture feature which enables the user to capture video (and take pictures, we suppose) using both front-facing and back camera. This gives you “both sides of the story”, HTC says.

The third video tells of the Auto Selfie and the Voice Selfie – two ways of easily taking photos of yourselves with the Desire EYE’s powerful 13MP front-facing camera. These features have been seen on other phones before – like priming your phone to automatically take a picture when you smile, or when you say “Cheese!”

The fourth video is where we begin to venture into strange and “why why why?!?” If you’ve ever wanted to “photoshop” your face for a selfie, then HTC gives you Live Makeup – a chance to smoothen your face before you selfie. Watch the video while we facepalm.

The fifth video is a cringefest, to be honest. HTC somehow thinks that it is “cool” to mix your face with someone else’s. Why would you do that? But if you ever wanted to, HTC has that for you, too. Oh dear.

If you currently using one of the HTC latest device like the One M8, the "EYE Experience" enhancement will be also made available to HTC's recent models soon.

SOURCE: HTC on YouTube

Story Timeline

• HTC Desire Eye leaked, with ‘ultimate selfie’ front camera


• HTC Desire EYE has your selfie needs covered on both sides


• HTC's Double Exposure event now up on YouTube

Google testing video checkup with doctors

Google knows everything. That’s what most people say. You want to know something or stalk someone, Google the term and you’ll see hundreds to thousands of search results. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll learn. If you start searching for symptoms of an illness, more often than not, you get scared because there’s a tendency for you to self-diagnose after reading a lot of websites that are not really reliable.

The key to understanding one’s health with the help of the Internet is not to believe in everything you read. One of the top health websites today is WebMD. The things written there are facts. Don’t trust Wikipedia as the content are not always accurate.

To help people who are searching for symptoms, Google has launched a Helpouts-style feature wherein video chats with doctors are offered. The service is still in its trial phase so Google is covering the costs for now. In the future, there is a possibility of having to pay for virtual appointments.

Virtual checkup may not be ideal but it is more convenient and probably a lot cheaper too than going to a doctor in person. You’re both “seeing” doctors anyway so there shouldn’t be any danger. As long as Google commits to only hiring real doctors for the chats, it should be okay. Let’s see how Google will roll this one out.

This feature is something I’d personally I appreciate because I search for symptoms and illness all the time, trying to diagnose myself. Yes, I’m that kind of person…such a scaredy-cat to go to a real doctor.

VIA: Engadget

Story Timeline

• Google Glass could give doctors immediate info on patients via QR codes


• Is Google Voice starting to merge with Hangouts?


• Google Hangouts now lets you make voice calls

HTC One E8 tipped to get EYE version soon

One of the things that HTC has been doing recently is branching out into consumer photography gear with a line of products in the EYE brand. HTC has also been wrapping some of the EYE tech into smartphones; one of those devices is the HTC One M8 EYE that was unveiled in China recently.

The HTC EYE experience is a suite of software that is installed on some smartphones to improve the camera experience. A new smartphone featuring the EYE experience right out of the box has surfaced called the HTC One E8 EYE.

The source of the leak about the new E8 EYE is a website called Zauba and the details on the device are scant. All that the site offers on the smartphone is the product name, color, and pricing. The device is listed in silver or gray colors and it appears all the models have no NFC tech built in.

Pricing is listed at 27,275 INR for the smartphone. The standard HTC One E8 we know all about though, it features a Snapdragon 801 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 5-inch full HD screen and sells for around $450. The EYE version is likely to be the same with the addition of some new camera features and software.

SOURCE: SlashGear

Working Around the LG G3 Bootloader, Sony Remote Device Lab, MultiROM for Galaxy Note 2

The LG G3 Locked Bootloader can be worked around with Bump! That and much more news is covered by Jordan when he reviews all the important stories from this weekend. Included in this weekend’s news is the announcement of MultiROM for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and be sure the check out the article showing you how to test your apps on a Sony device with Sony’s remote device lab! That’s not all that’s covered in today’s video!

Jordan talks about the other videos released this weekend on XDA TV. XDA TV Producer rirozizo talked about the Risk of Brick. XDA TV Producer droidmodd3rx released a video showing you how to factory re3set and unroot a Nexus Device. Then Jordan reviewed this years xda:devcon. And if you missed it, be sure to check out Jordan’s Review of the Nvidia SHIELD Tablet. Pull up a chair and check out this video.

Links to stories mentioned:

• Bump! Works Around the LG G3 Locked Bootloader


• MultiROM Available for the Samsung Galaxy Note II


• Test Your Apps on a Sony Device with Remote Device Lab


• Improvements to 10 Post Rule


• The Risk of Brick – XDA TV


• How to Factory Reset and Unroot a Nexus Device – XDA TV


• XDA:DevCon 2014 UK Edition Event Review – XDA TV


• Device Review: Nvidia SHIELD Tablet

Check out Jordan’s YouTube Channel and Jordan’s Gaming YouTube Channel

The post Working Around the LG G3 Bootloader, Sony Remote Device Lab, MultiROM for Galaxy Note 2 appeared first on xda-developers.

Sennheiser releases special edition Ingress Momentum headphones

Are you part of the Enlightened or the Resistance? No, we're not asking you which side you're on in any political debate, but rather, which faction you're playing for in Ingress, the MMORPG which integrates augmented reality and GPS in its gameplay created by Google's Niantic Labs. It will also determine what color headphones you will buy as Sennheiser will be releasing special edition Momentum On-Ear headphones that will be tied-in with Ingress, for players to show their support for their team.

The Momentum headphones will have the Ingress logo on the metal logo plate of the headband, with either Enlightenment green or Resistance blue stitching, depending on where your loyalties lie. It's the earcups that will be redesigned to show your team colors, with either green or blue lining around the sides, with the team logos also subtly featured. But aside from the design, the headphones will be basically the same, with high "sound quality with a high performance" using the neodymium magnet transducer system, with a bit more emphasis on the bass as well as having a detailed stereo sound.

In case you haven't heard of it yet, Ingress was started back in 2012 by Google as a real-world but online-enhanced MMORPG and since then, it has over seven million users in around 200 countries. Your team battles for control over the "portals" and other assets that can be won or seized by either team. Aside from the headphones, those who buy the special edition Momentum will also get one of five collectible passcode cards that they can use "to upgrade the Ingress experience."

The Ignress Momentum On-Ear headphones will only be sold in Germany, UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finnland, Switzerland, Japan, Canada and the United States. It will go on sale late November and will cost $149.99. Well, even if you don't play Ingress, having these headphones will be a bonus in itself, if you go for these kinds of accessories. Just be careful if you're walking around a "portal" and someone from another team might mistake you as staking your claim on their territory.

SOURCE: Sennheiser

OnePlus x JBL smartphone features custom earphones

When it comes to audio, there are a number of companies that make very nice audio gear that audiophiles and fans of music want to own, one of those companies is JBL. JBL and OnePlus have announced a partnership that will see a special JBL branded smartphone hit the market called the OnePlus x JBL.

The smartphone will come with JBL branding on the back and ships with a set of JBL E1+ earphones. Those earphones are also available to purchase separately. The special earphones are wired and feature a 9mm driver with JBL PureBass technology inside.

That bass tech should make for nice deep bass in your favorite music and the earphones have an integrated remote. They are designed for comfort with an angled eartube and include replacement eartips in different sizes.

The OnePlus logo is printed on the inline remote, which features three buttons. The smartphone that includes the earphone in the box is a Sandstone Black 16GB OnePlus One. The earphones alone will sell for $39.99 or 399 RBM with the smartphone selling for 2199 RMB.

SOURCE: SlashGear