Power Bank Comparison and Options – XDA TV

There are so many Power Banks out there. However, they are not all the same. Some sacrifice weight for capacity. Others do the opposite. Some come with two ports and some come with more, while others come with less. Some are just batteries with a case around it, but others have some unique features.

In this episode of XDA TV, Producer TK reviews and discusses various options. He reviews the Lepow U-Stone 12000mAh Power Bank, the Lepow ADD Power System, the PowerAdd Apollo 2, the OLALA 10000mAh Power Bank and the RadioShack 3000mAh Slim Power Bank. Check out this video to learn your power options.

Be sure to check out other great XDA TV Videos

• Lepow U-Stone 12000mAh


• Lepow ADD Power System


• PowerAdd Apollo 2


• OLALA 10000mAh


• RadioShack 3000mAh Slim

The post Power Bank Comparison and Options – XDA TV appeared first on xda-developers.

Double Trouble with Double Nexus Giveaway [DEALS]

If you're dying of envy of those who were able to get their hands on a rare Nexus 9 or an even rarer Nexus 6, now might be your chance to catch up. In fact, you might even be able to one up those who have gone out and bought the new Nexus devices already. With this Double Nexus promo, you not only get the chance to win a Nexus 6 or a Nexus 9, you will actually be able to grab both!

That's some candy overload there. Because, you know, these two both come with Android Lollipop pre-installed. You're probably familiar already with the devices, but we'll still give them a quick rundown in case you need to jog your memory. The Nexus 9 is HTC's return to the tablet market, and it is a comeback worth noting. The 8.9-inch screen boasts of a 2048x1536 pixel resolution, pushed by the high-performance gaming-oriented NVIDIA Tegra K1, specifically the 64-bit Dual Denver kind. Like with HTC's flagships, the Nexus 9 has dual front-facing speakers with HTC's BoomSound tech. The Nexus 6, on the other hand, comes straight out of Motorola's book. A slightly larger version of the new Moto X, this one comes with a 6-inch QHD screen, powered by Qualcomm's 2.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805. The smartphone's already large 3,220 mAh battery is assisted by Motorola's Turbo Charge feature, giving up to 6 hours of battery life in just 15 minutes of charging.

You can probably stop drooling now, just long enough to actually get your entry in. To join this giveaway, you have to simply click on ENTER NOW and provide a valid email address, making doubly sure it's valid because you will be contacted through that email address if you turn out to be the Chosen One. You can increase your chances by sharing on Twitter and getting others to join as well. Do be aware that only one registration will be accepted per person, and using more than one email address is immediate grounds for disqualification.

Android Community Deals is brought to you in cooperation with StackSocial. Generated revenue helps fund this site. Deals are curated by StackSocial and are not representative of the opinions of the Android Community staff.

Polaroid’s Socialmatic camera coming in January; pre-orders now up

We've previously talked about how as mobile photography becomes more advanced, people are also becoming even more nostalgic and fascinated with the printed photograph. Polaroid was the pioneer in instant photo printing and while their analog cameras eventually died, they have reinvented themselves with a smartphone and tablet line. Their latest product though is a blend of their old and new business, and now it's finally really arriving this January.

The Socialmatic camera is the much-awaited product that can instantly print the digital photos that you can take, if you're the type who likes putting photos up on your corkboard or scrapbooking them or even just putting them in your wallet. Aside from printing, it also comes with more contemporary features like a 14 megapixel main camera, a 2 megapixel front-facing one and a 4.5-inch display. The cam also runs on the Android platform and has an internal storage of 4GB which can be expanded to 32GB with a micro SD card.

You can even take and play videos on the camera since it has stereo speakers and a microphone. In terms of the printed picture, it uses 2x3 Zink Instant Filters which even has adhesive backing and the Zink Zero Ink printing technology. Batteries are rechargable and in terms of connectivity, it has WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS so you can geo-tag the photos and videos that you take. Of course, as with all gadgets now, it has a social sharing aspect so you can instantly post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the likes your snapshots.

The Socialmatic camera is now available for pre-order on Amazon, with actual availability starting the first day of 2015. Delivery is estimated to start by January 12, so better ask "Santa" for this baby if you're nice and so inclined. It will only cost "Santa" $299.99 and it is available in black or white models.

VIA: SlashGear

Story Timeline

• Polaroid XS100i Action Cam review


• Polaroid Socialmatic combines old school instant pics with social media


• Polaroid Cube Review: big fun, tiny package

HTC Desire 620 launches in the UK, full featured, budget-friendly

The UK has been a pretty fruitful market for HTC with their smartphone business, with the HTC One M8 enjoying huge popularity. The mid-range HTC Desire 610 has also been relatively successful, which is why UK is getting the upgrade to the mid-ranger – the HTC Desire 620 – which promises to give users a pretty full Android experience at a lower price point.

The selling element here is that the budget-conscious will be getting a 1280x720 HD Super LCD screen at a price that is not prohibitive. The big screen will be powered by a 1.2Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor, backstopped by 1GB of RAM – not too shabby, it won’t win prizes for being the fastest phone on the block, but it will do your daily smartphone tasks and then some.

The HTC Desire 620 will have 8GB as internal storage, but that is expandable to 128GB via microSD. It will also feature LTE connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0, and a passable 8MP/5MP camera combo for the times the user wants to take the odd picture or two. Both cameras can capture 1080p video.

The 2,100mAh battery is removable and replaceable, unlike most of HTC’s flagship phones. The pricing is yet to be announced, but it will surely hit the market in mid-range price point. If you’re from the UK looking for a “no nonsense” and budget-friendly Android phone, this might just be it. Watch out for this early in 2015.

VIA: Pocket-lint

Story Timeline

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


• 5-inch HTC Desire 820 Mini accidentally leaked by website


• HTC Desire Eye Review: Welcome to the (selfie) machine

Project Ara gives fans a sneak peek of Spiral 2 prototype PCB

With the Project Ara Module Developers Conference coming up early in 2015, Google is hyping up interest in Project Ara – the popular modular smartphone project. It should be known to Google that a number of competitors in modular smartphone development have come up, and the conference should be a great boost for them. With that in mind, here comes a sneak peek of Project Ara’s Spiral 2 prototype PCB.

The image was posted on Google Advanced Technologies and Projects’ (ATAP) Google+ page as a sneak peek into what the team is doing to prep for the launch of version 0.20 of the Project Ara Module Developers Kit. Take a good look below at the image.

This would ostensibly be the subject matter for the developers conference scheduled on January 14 for these locations: Mountain View, Buenos Aires, London, and New York. There will also be another serving of the event on January 21 for these locations: Singapore, Bangalore, Shanghai, Taipei, and Tokyo. The event will also be livestreamed for those who can't attend in person.

Google ATAP is set to offer updates on hardware and software during the conference. Looking at the image, it would be interesting to know how the hardware bus architecture is laid out for the Spiral 2 prototype. The fans would also be expecting better performance from the prototypes Google would be showing, if ever.

SOURCE: Google ATAP

Story Timeline

• Sennheiser teams up with Phonebloks for modular phone thrust


• Vsenn is a Project Ara competitor in modular phones


• Puzzle Phone another Project Ara competitor in modular phones

Cubic Castles: a sandbox, platformer, MMORPG, puzzle game all in one

Creative gamers may like playing a lot of uniform, standard games, but there will come a point when they'd want to create a gaming world of their own, even without developer or programming skills. This is why sandbox games like Minecraft have massive popularity. What if you can have one that is a sandbox, platforme, puzzle game and is also a massive multiplayer world? This is what Cubic Castles is trying to be.

The developers of the game (who are mostly ex-Popcap Games employees) have found a way to combine the Minecraft-type of building and mining with the fun, virtual gaming world of the classic Nintendo platforming games. You can create whatever you want on the piece of land that you've claimed and then let other people in to play the game you've created.

You can also go and play in the mini RPG worlds that others have created. Basically, anything goes in this world (but with parameters of course to protect the players' own created games) and the customization options are massive. You can also personalize your playing character, making it as cute as possible (it is Nintendo-like after all). You can also build collaboratively with the other players, anything from puzzles to parkour runs to 3D platformer games. The game's world biomes have resources that you can mine in creating your game; from forests to mountain ranges to tropical islands and more.

Cubic Castles is free to download from the Google Play Store. There are some in-app purchases available, but only for some premium items and not to "buy to win." Everything else in this world can be "bought" with in-game currency or cubits, which you get when you're rewarded.

Snake Defender: a classic game now with an RPG twist

Back when we all had normal or "not so smart" phones, we whiled our time away either by endlessly texting our friends or marathon playing a game called Snakes. It was simple and graphics were basic, but it was oh so addictive (and difficult at times). Now game developers have "resurrected" that game and given it an RPG twist in the new Android game, Snake Defender.

If you want to enjoy the old school snake game without the added complications of defending your planet from enemies, then you only have to choose the classic mode. But if you want more of a backstory and giving your snake extra powers, then you can go with the career or endless mode with enemies. While you're eating up the nodes all over the place, enemy ships will be shooting at you and you can shoot back at them as well. There are 10 different missions in the game wherein you face different kinds of enemies, all bent on destroying your planet.

To give you extra boost, you can add more nodes to your snake, or even change the kind of nodes you have - shooting, node-factory, or energy node. You can switch back and forth from among the 3, depending on your current need. There are also three ways to control the game, either through a virtual joy pad or by swiping or touching.

And if you're feeling a bit competitive, there is a world ranking of players so you can see where you are compared to your friends and everyone else in the world who's playing. Snake Defender can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store, but with in-app purchases available.