RGB Express lands on Android

If you like challenging puzzle games that start simple to get you hooked and then get challenging, you will appreciate RGB Express. This game has been available on iOS devices for a while and has now come to Android. The game involves picking a path for the colored trucks so they can drop their deliveries off at the right color building.

Players draw the path the trucks will take around a city map. The truck can only pick up one block at a time and has to drop it off at the correct colored building before it can pick up the next block. Where things get challenging is when there are multiple trucks and blocks to pick up on a single map.

The trucks can cross paths, but they can't follow the same straight sections of road. That means you have to carefully map out the path the trucks will take. Some maps will take several tries to complete. The free version of the game has 200 levels.

A paid version of the game is available that adds 80 additional levels and removes the ads. Three free hints are included and others can be purchased in-app. A king truck can also be purchased in-app.

SOURCE: Google Play

Dustoff Vietnam is a blocky helicopter combat game

Android gamers have a new game to check out called Dustoff Vietnam. The game puts players in control of a rescue helicopter and tasks them with search and rescue of wounded soldiers in the field. Players can choose from three different rescue helicopters.

Each of the helicopters has different handling and transport capabilities. Players also have three different weapons to choose from with each weapon offering different capabilities. Missions will see players transporting cargo, saving hostages, and stopping enemy convoys.

Players will have to deal with various weather conditions. Different settings include jungles, swamps, hidden caves, mine systems, and more. The look of the game reminds me a lot of Minecraft with a blocky pixilated style.

There are 16 unique missions to the game and it is 100% kid friendly. The developers say that no man can be killed, the enemy runs away. The game is 57MB and requires Android 4.0 or higher.

SOURCE: Google Play

New patent filing shows a slimmed-down Google Glass

Although it's almost 3 years since Google Glass was announced (and then sold to "explorers" a year later), it's still too early to say whether it's already a failure or that it will eventually catch on. But a new patent filing from Google shows that they aim to improve the first version, and maybe, just maybe, this will pave the way for more interest in the wearable tech.

The patent shows that version 2.0 (if this will be the one that sees the light of day) is much slimmer and has a shorter main body. It also has a longer screen than the current one and maintains the forward-facing camera (which has bothered many a potential user). The new design also shows that there is no eyepiece that will rest on your nose, which means it can be fitted in other headgear, like a helmet, cap or maybe even your own eyewear.

While Google Glass has a lot of uses other than just ordinary everyday purposes, it still hasn't caught on as quickly as Google would like it to. Some developers and backers have taken back their support. Some theaters ban people wearing it. There has been a lot of privacy violation concerns (which, if you really study the product, you know it doesn't).

But more importantly, Google hasn't really gone all out to market or release it. It's been a year since we expected it to hit retail stores, but up to now, the only available one for purchase is the Explorer edition, which may very well be a euphemism for beta version. Maybe version 2.0 is part of their retail game plan, but it also means we have to wait a little longer to see the improved Google Glass in your online and physical retail stores.

VIA: SlashGear

Story Timeline

• Google Glass, Android Wear notifications can't run simultaneously


• Developers starting to doubt Google Glass future


• The next Google Glass model will be powered by Intel

Learn How to Fix the FUSE Time Stamp Issue

Google’s implementation of FUSE is far from perfect. Normally, on-file actions like copying or moving a file can be done without changing the time stamp. This is vital to make backup-on-sync reliable. Most currently available OSes are able to preserve file timestamps, but this is unfortunately not the case in Android.

The problem was recognized a long time ago and has existed in the source code since 2009. Google still hasn’t provided an appropriate fix, so users have either to live with it or find a workaround to circumvent the problem. XDA Forum Member tag68 provided a few methods that can be used with the FUSE and Android to keep the file timestamp and other attributes even after on-file operations. Now, a positive outcome can be achieved with at least four applications that handle the time stamp correctly.

All of these applications require root access to work properly. FUSE in Android uses the root account, so this is why fixing this annoying error is so difficult. It’s a bit silly that Google is making root access more difficult to achieve, while leaving such embarrassing error in place.

Most currently sold devices uses file systems affected by this FUSE error. You can learn more about methods to circumvent it by heading over to the Keep timestamp and attributes correct guide thread.

The post Learn How to Fix the FUSE Time Stamp Issue appeared first on xda-developers.

Werewolf Tycoon lets you gobble people up digitally

There was a time at the height of vampire fandom because of the Twilight series (and before that, Underworld) that werewolves were trying to be the alternative bad boy in pop culture and for a time, they were a little successful. Well if you've always preferred your Jacob Blacks to your Edward Cullens (wait, why do we even know these things?) then this new Android game should appeal to you.

Werewolf Tycoon is a stealth stimulation game that lets you live your dream to become half man half lycan, at least digitally. The rules of the game are pretty simple. You're a werewolf and you need to eat people up. That's it. Oh, except you need to remain hidden while doing so. You hide behind bushes and pounce on unsuspecting passers by in Werewolf Park (now why you'd want to walk through a park that is thus named is beyond us).

If any of your victims escape, the media will arrive. And if they manage to take pictures of you in your werewolf form, then there will be consequences and you will be the hunted one. Don't expect amazing graphics or complicated gameplay from this game. Their creators, developers Joe Williamson and Sam Twidale, actually came up with this game in their last year at university, and now it's here for your howling enjoyment.

Werewolf Tycoon is available for download from Google Play Store. And the good news is that it's absolutely free. So go ahead and enjoy being A/An (insert nationality here) Werewolf in Werewolf Park. Just don't expect to find your Bella Swan here (again, why do we keep referencing Twilight. Ugh).

GAMEVIL’s Elune Saga mixes cards and RPGs in your phone

Arriving a day early, GAMEVIL pushed the international release of its new game titled Elune Saga. What makes this "hybrid strategy RPG" somewhat unique from the rest of the bunch is in how it meshes together two popular mobile gaming genres. While you do follow a fixed plot and build up your motley crew of adventurers, battles aren't boring since elements of collectible card games inject a bit of strategic thinking into the mix.

In terms of overall mechanics and plot, Elune Saga doesn't stray far from the sometimes overused tropes of mobile games. The story and plot points are laid out in piecemeal pieces, where each point serves to unlock the next. Everything is point and click, so those already familiar with how mobile games work need not feel out of place. Building up your army of characters plus building up your own "deck" of cards (souls) is pretty much the same as any other, which means using up some resource (which you can buy in-game) and "fusing" them together to upgrade.

The real meat of Elune Saga, however, is in the combat mechanics. Battles are turn-based so you can give your fingers a bit of a rest. However, the game does require a bit of brain over brawn, as a number of combinations can spell either victory or defeat. First, there are the cards, the souls that you can collect to embue your characters with more power. And depending on where you place them or how you combine them, you can end up with different powers. The game claims to have 200 cards/souls ready for the taking and for mixing and matching. Then there are the four elements of fire, earth, wind, and water, with each element having a weakness against another, which adds to the required strategic thinking for each battle.

Graphics-wise, Elune Saga isn't completely high-end, but it won't bury you in pixel art either. It's just good enough to keep your eyes from hurting, with some bits and pieces of JRPG-style dialogs and portraits. Elune Saga is free to grab on Google Play Store, but if you haven't figured it out yet, it comes with a ton of in-app purchases.

Download: Elune Saga

Google replaces Captcha with “No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA”

There is no more Captcha, it's now just "No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA". Wait, is that as confusing as typing in a captcha garbled letter/number combination? Well, Google simplified it for us, just like they're trying to make protection from bots and scripts simpler but no less secure.

Instead of asking you to type out a sometimes confusing and indecipherable combination of letters and texts to prove that you're human, the No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA lets you verify that you're not a bot just by clicking on a checkbox. You just need to fill out a few boxes the first time, but when you've proven you're not a robot, then you won't need a captcha anymore.

Mobile users, who are the ones mostly affected by the difficult garbled text you need to type out, can also get a more visual CAPTCHA challenge and all it would take is to click on the appropriate image.

While the previously difficult process was a necessary evil to protect the site from spams and bots, Google realized that Artificial Intelligence technology has become more, well, intelligent. Distorted text is now solvable, with at 99.8% accuracy (hey, that's even more accurate than most of us humans!). So they developed an Advanced Risk Analysis for reCAPTCHA that relies less on typing out distorted text but more on how a user interacts with the site. However, if the system still can't "confidently predict" that you are indeed human, then the CAPTCHA will still come out, just to be sure.

Some sites like Snapchat, WordPress, and Humble Bundle have already adapted the API and have seen an increase in traffic, or rather the users get to their sites faster due to No CAPTCHA. You can visit Google's micro-site to find out how you can adapt it to your website.

SOURCE: Google