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GunFinger is a zombie shooter with fun shooting gameplay

Nothing new about casual games tempting you to transfer your rage to zombies – they’re slow, ugly, and undead and therefore worthy of your bullets. But to keep gameplay fresh and fun, that’s the catch right there. GunFinger certainly tries on that count.



Now, when you play a shooter, the risk in a game is when it actually requires your taps as the shots themselves, and GunFinger has made that a great feature – rather than restrict players to virtual buttons. Users can tap to shoot, swipe to reload and fling grenades. It’s simple that way, and it makes more sense that way.


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After a few levels, you get enough money to buy gun sights, and then the tap-and-aim mechanic comes into play. When you tap and hold, the screen zooms in. This more accurate shot deals more damage, but of course it’s slower and allows the zombies to get nearer. This becomes a problem when the zombie group gets bigger. So you either risk going for high damage or inaccurate but faster shots.




It’s all good fun, although the game’s IAP system does a lot to drain the fun away. As you may guess, the app offers more powerful guns – less risk – for buying customers. You can choose to go with or without the purchases, the game will still be fun. Check out the source link for the download, free at the Google Play Store.


SOURCE: Google Play Store



Samsung answers design questions for Note 4, Note Edge

When going a version up, there is always the tension between keeping elements of the old design and ditching them for something new. Samsung went through all of that for its new flagship phablets – the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the Galaxy Note Edge. Let’s look at some of their considerations.



There has always been that question of whether Samsung has the capability to design metal-encased phones and devices – the company has gone a long way to answering those doubts with the Samsung Galaxy Alpha. But with the Note 4 and the Note Edge, Samsung says that the design concept was “Modern Sleek”, and it wasn’t about to ditch that just to put out a metal phone. Besides, a plastic case meant that the Note 4 and the Note Edge could have removable/replaceable batteries.


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Another new design feature was the Note Edge’s… errr, well, curved edge. Why is it on the right side? Samsung said that it took into consideration what users were already doing on devices, like swiping right to left, and reading left to right. It just feels more natural to have an extension screen on the right. The company also had a grand time figuring out the right angle for the curve, as both grip and view came into play.


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Lastly, Samsung also hypes their collaboration with Montblanc, a global brand in writing instruments. Samsung said that they wanted the S Pen – arguably one of the best digital writing instruments around – to bring with it the expertise and nous of Montblanc. You can check out more answers to design questions via the source link.


SOURCE: Samsung



Android 5.0 update for Samsung Galaxy S5 to hit in December

Samsung has been relatively quiet these past few weeks, with Motorola, HTC, and LG all making their pre-holiday moves and Google ready to take the wraps off its newest Android version. The South Korean gadget giant had already made its moves earlier, but we’re pretty sure it will not be left out in the jump to Android 5.0 Lollipop.



Samsung is saying that development is already ongoing for its premier devices to take in the new version, and that the Samsung Galaxy S5 – the company’s 2014 flagship – should get an update realistically by early December. Now, we all know the tension between Google and Samsung regarding the latter’s propensity to tweak Android for its TouchWiz skin. It would be interesting to know how much Lollipop we get vis-à-vis TouchWiz.


Android 5.0 is set to be the biggest overhaul of the operating system since Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – there are a lot of new things under the hood, relatively minimalistic aesthetic changes under the whole Material Design theme, and the transition the new ART runtime. See the video below to look at hints at how Samsung is going to execute Android Lollipop for the Galaxy S5.




It’s not gonna be long now before we see Android 5.0 in the flesh. And then the real job begins in trying to get the updated OS to the devices that can run it. December is not that long a wait, and it seems like the Galaxy S5 will be first in line from Samsung to get the OS update.


VIA: Sam Mobile



Monster Strike arrives for North American Android users

Monster Strike, one of those monster collecting game franchises that have become so popular in Japan (*cough* Pokemon, Digimon *cough*), has arrived for North American Android users as well after being one of the top games in Japan for so long now. It is being pushed by social networking outfit mixi and is now being made available for Android (and iOS) users.



Created by Yoshiki Okamoto, creator of classics such as Street Fighter 2 and Final Fight, Monster Strike combines the familiar monster/card collecting gameplay with tight action elements and a great fight system. Then you add in your RPG levelling element and you have a hit game.


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Users can utilize a very simple tap, pull back and release mechanism for flinging your monsters around the play area. Slam into enemies for damage, slam into friends to trigger nice “Bump Combos” and special moves. Plus, the play area is usually littered with obstacles, forcing users to strategically aim their releases to take down those tough bosses.


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But wait, there’s more! The game also has a social element where a quest can support 3 more of your friends (4 members in total). Play locally – that is, if you’re sitting just meters from each other – or play online via Facebook connections. We’re seriously thinking of trying this game out now. It’s available as a free download with IAP at the Google Play Store. Check out the source link.


SOURCE: Google Play Store



Etsy releases Credit Card Reader for budding entrepreneurs

If you're one of those budding entrepreneurs that can't quit their day job yet but love to participate in weekend bazaars and arts and crafts fairs, chances are, you've encountered potential buyers that ask you if you can take plastic. But unless you have a "real" business, you most likely can't, even with online transactions (except if you have Square or Paypal). Etsy believes that it's growing community has need of this service and so they are now offering a "Sell on Etsy Reader" and an accompanying app to help you out.



Etsy has become a huge e-commerce site and community for people who are looking for hand-made items rather than what you can normally buy in a mall or even on Amazon. And since there are a lot of sellers who are not really big business owners out there, it does make sense for Etsy to offer this kind of product and service. As soon as you get your card reader (which keeping in the spirit of the site, looks hand-made and crafts-y), you can attach it to your smartphone and pair it using the updated app.


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All the funds from the cards you swipe on the gadget will go straight to your Etsy account. You can either use the Etsy shop inventory or the Quick Sale feature (you just need to enter a price). Even if you don't have the device, you can also do manual card entry on the app in case you don't feel like using a card swiper for your transactions.


The card reader itself is free and they just charge you 2.75% per transaction. If you use the Manual card entry option, you'll be charged 3% plus $0.25 per sale. The Quick Sale doesn't have additional fee and there are no charges as well for sales made in person. The card reader is just available in the US for now, but there will be plans to expand it to other territories soon.


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VIA: SlashGear



Big Android BBQ 5.0 Recap – XDA TV

Big Android BBQ

This fifth annual Big Android BBQ has come and gone. The speakers have spoke, the sponsors have sponsored, enthusiasts have enthused, the developers have developed and of course the BBQed meat has been consumed. Did you miss out this year?


In this video, XDA TV Producer TK talks about his experience at this year’s Big Android BBQ event. He talks about the event, shows some pictures and even interviews some attendees, with the help of XDA TV Producer AdamOutler. We’ve already posted the Opening Keynote on the XDA Roundtables channel, and we have more videos from the event to come, so be sure to subscribe. Check out this video.




Be sure to check out other great XDA TV Videos



The post Big Android BBQ 5.0 Recap – XDA TV appeared first on xda-developers.


Verizon Galaxy S5 and HTC One Mini 2 (GSM) CyanogenMod nightlies available

Fans of custom ROMs for Android will be aware of CyanogenMod. Not too long ago nightlies for the Galaxy S5 G900 and Galaxy S4 i9506 landed. This time out a couple more devices have CyanogenMod nightlies available for download.



Those new devices include the Verizon flavor of the Galaxy S5 (kltevzw) and the GSM HTC One Mini 2 (memul). The nightly releases may not be entirely stable, so as always, use them at your own risk.


There are two downloads available for the S5 with the last having been put up on October 22. There is a single download for the HTC device and it went upon October 22.


If you decide to download these nightlies, odds are everything will work fine for you. However, as with any customizing of the OS, there is always the chance you might brick your device making it unusable.


DOWNLOAD: Galaxy S5 / HTC One Mini 2 (GSM)

VIA: Android Police