Bit Dungeon II: Game to save your soul from eternal damnation

Games where you never die and just run endlessly through various locations can be a drag sometimes. You want to be challenged by something that might results in a virtual death where you have to start all over again. A sequel to a roguelike game may just be the thing for you if you feel up to facing permadeath. Welcome to Bit Dungeon II's world.

The developer right off the bat admits that he is inspired by such "classic" games like Zelda, Diablo and Dark Souls (a cheery bunch right?) And traces of those can be seen in this game where your aim is to rescue your loved one's soul from corrupted spirits who robbed her (or his?) grave in the "undead world of demons". And since the dungeons are randomly placed all over the landscape, every new game you play is different from the one you played before.

This game is no walk in a demonic park as you face Permadeath everytime you play. If you die, you have one chance to retrieve your soul from the exact place where you died. Failing to do so would really totally kill you and you have to start all over again in Level 1, no matter how far up you are already. Don't worry, you have various weapon types, including magic ones, to help you along the way. And you going up to the next level depends on what type of weapon you use. There are also randomly generated items, ugly-faced enemies, and giant dungeon bosses.

Now if you beat the game and you're a sucker for the same thing, then you can start over again but in a much stronger position, until you become a "god". Bit Dungeon II is available for download from the Google Play Store for $2.99.

Make Your Own Heat Sink for the LG Optimus 4X HD

It’s not a rare occurrence that performing a resource heavy task on your Android device (e.g. playing a game or multitasking heavily) results in the back of your device getting quite hot due to the heat being generated by the CPU. And without proper or adequate heat distribution, this heat will be most prominent at a certain area of your device’s rear. Strong heat is not the only downside of a hot CPU however, as it can also result in decreased performance due to throttling, less battery life, and a lower overall device longevity.

With this said, XDA Senior Member ottomanhero figured out a very clever way of remedying this issue on his LG Optimus 4X HD after noticing that playing games on this phone results in a certain part of the phone’s rear getting hot. He pinned this down to unequal distribution of heat behind the back cover, and decided to tape aluminum foil around the back to direct heat from the hot area to cooler areas.

After conducting tests with this homemade heat sink in place, ottomanhero found that he experienced much better and lower temperatures emitting from his device. There was also an issue with the device’s GPS signal being weakened as a result, but later resolved this with a new method. Ottomanhero has provided a picture that clearly shows this modification, and has also written a detailed tutorial teaching you how to do this yourself.

If you would like to give this a go, head over to the LG Optimus 4X HD homemade heat sink thread to get started.

The post Make Your Own Heat Sink for the LG Optimus 4X HD appeared first on xda-developers.

Sony adds AOSP support to all 2014 Qualcomm-based Xperia units

Sony is one of those manufacturers who seem to have found a groove in balancing their support for after-market software for their devices and continuing to encourage those who are part of the community who tweak the AOSP (Android Open Source Project) for their Sony devices. Because of this commitment, Sony has even now made AOSP support official for all Qualcomm-based Xperia devices released in 2014. Pretty nifty.

This means that AOSP support is now available for the Sony Xperia E3 and the Xperia T3, adding to the devices earlier supported – the Xperia M2 and the Xperia T2 Ultra. Sony also announced that they have updated the source code for the latter two units to give them stability improvements.

What does this mean? Well, if you’re not familiar with the AOSP community, then here it is – it means that the source code Sony is providing (as downloadable binaries) can now be used by developers and enthusiasts as a base for developing their own ROMs – that is, their version of Android.

Check out the AOSP announcement here at this link. Also, you can go directly to the download of the binaries here. If you want more information on Sony’s AOSP support, click here.

VIA: Xperia Blog

Story Timeline

• Sony adds Xperia Z1, Z2 to AOSP for Xperia, updates Xperia Z


• Sony plays around with Lollipop AOSP on Xperia Z3


• Android 5.0.1 code pushed to AOSP, coming to Nexus soon [UPDATE]

Google adds more countries for carrier billing and Play Card

Since a lot of people are expected to buy smartphones and tablets this coming Christmas season, it's important for Google to have as many payment options as possible for those who want to purchase apps and games. There is still a huge segment of the market that don't have credit cards, so other options should be available. The tech giant has added even more carriers and countries to their growing list where users can use their carrier and Google Play Cards to purchase digital content.

First off, carrier billing, where you can charge your Google Play Store purchases to your mobile carrier, is expanding to 7 more operators in various European countries. Telnor from Hungary, Orange Romania from Romania, and Turkcell from Turkey are now part of the countries and operators that Google is allowing to do carrier billing. The others to join this list are 02 from Czech Republic, TIM from Italy, Orange from Poland, and H3G from the UK. The latter countries already have other carriers that do operator billing as well.

Meanwhile, six more countries have been added to the list of privileged nations that can buy digital content by using Google Play Cards. Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden residents can purchase these cards at various convenience stores in order to buy all the apps, games, movies, books, and music that they can with the denomination they have on the cards (well, provided that those kind of content are available in their countries).

Belgium, Finland, and Ireland have denominations of 15, 25, and 50 Euros while Denmark, Norway, and Sweden get 150, 250, and 500 Krone/Krona cards. All in all, Google now has 28 countries with Google Play Cards, but there are no announced plans yet to add to that list.

VIA: Android Police (1,2)

thingCHARGER frees your outlets with built in charging dock

Smartphones and tablets are starting to show up everywhere in our house. You either have your own or a few that the family shares. Regardless of how many devices you have, eventually you have to charge it. It could be a mess with all the wires running around the house and would be much easier if the wires disappeared. thingCHARGER is a smarter and less messy way to charge all your devices. The charger is designed like an electrical outlet but with a charging dock located at the top of the outlet.

thingCHARGER is a charger that replicates the look of an electrical outlet. It comes with interchangeable charging tips that seems to support all devices regardless if it’s an iPad, Android device, Samsung smartphone or any devices in between. The tips are stored in the back of the charger making it easier to switch out when you need to change devices. The charger is designed to stack on top of one another to charge multiple devices simultaneously. Two USB ports are located at the bottom to charge other devices if needed. If my math is correct you can technically charge 5 different devices at once in a single outlet. Obviously the point of thingCHARGER is to keep the outlets free to use, but it’s cool to know I can charge that many at once.

Most of us use cases to protect our devices or just to make it look more fashionable, but that doesn't seem to pose a threat for the charger. There is an adjustment system so you can set the right height to charge your devices with or without a case and without it falling off or being too short to reach. It is stated that the stability of the charger is sturdy and your device won’t be solely carried by the charging tip. It is advised that if you have a larger device you should plug that closest to the wall and not on top of another charger. If you happen to lose the charging tips more are available for purchase.

thingCHARGER is on indiegogo seeking for more support. The charger has been under development since January 2014 and is currently in the process of making molds used for manufacturing. Dimensions for the charger are 3'' (l) x 0.8'' (w) x 4.8'' (h) and weighs in at 185 grams. For $29 you can get your own thingCHARGER. Note that the Apple lightning charger is sold separately ($12.99 for supporters). It’s also designed for other electrical outlets around the world so it is not just limited to what you see on video. You can expect delivery sometime before the second half of 2015.

SOURCE: thingCHARGER

Go around the virtual world in 80 Days game for Android

When you ask people what they would do if they had a million dollars, a lot would answer that they would travel around the world. Well, if you don't have a million dollars but would still like to do it, albeit digitally and virtually, maybe you'd like to try 80 Days on your Android devices.

Judged by TIME Magazine as their Top Video Game for 2014, 80 Days is more than just any simple adventure type of game. The magazine called it a " stylish, thoughtful immersion, employing a beloved genre", referring to interactive fiction. The game is based on Jules Verne's 80 Days Around the World and gives you the chance to go around a 3D world on any vehicle you choose to travel on, whether it's by airship, submarine, a robotic camel or a stream train.

The year is 1872 and you get to play Passepartout, the valet to Phineas Fogg, the main character from the book, and race against other players who are also exploring the 150 cities available in the game. The visuals are stunning and the story engrossing, with artwork by Jaume Illustration, script by Meg Jayanth and original music by Laurence Chapman. The in-game clock continually runs as you yourself never seem to stop running through mountains, rivers, jungles, etc. Your role is to accompany your master, balance his finances, watch out on his health, trade items you would need, carry your luggage, and all sorts of things you usually do when traveling, but heightened by the time limit and the extraordinary adventures waiting for you.

With a critically acclaimed game like 80 Days, you would expect it won't be free and may cost you a bit more than the other "more ordinary" games around. You can buy the game from the Google Play Store for $5. But based on the reviews and comments, it is something that is definitely worth it.

Samsung working out deal to compete with Apple Pay

The relatively warm acceptance of Apple Pay – Apple’s wireless payment system that allows owners of the latest iPhone models to wave their smartphone instead of swiping your card to pay – has probably forced Samsung to look for a competing system using its own line of smartphones. The South Korean gadget giant is reportedly in talks with US payments startup LoopPay to make this happen.

Nothing is final, and neither Samsung nor LoopPay executives would comment on the rumor, but the deal has to be hammered down pretty fast for the infrastructure and the system to be online by the time the Samsung Galaxy S6 comes out – rumored to be in March at the Mobile World Congress in Berlin. The Galaxy S6 – as with its predecessor the Galaxy S5 – will look to have fingerprint recognition in place to make the payments system work.

Apple Pay works pretty much as you imagine a wireless payment system to work – it lets iPhone owners pay for items in stores by placing their phone close to the Apple Pay checkout equipment. Users then complete the purchase by authenticating through the phone’s fingerprint identification sensor.

We imagine Samsung’s process would look about the same as this, only that LoopPay’s current system mimics a swipe with a card – so in theory, it might work in more locations than Apple Pay or even Google Wallet, as it utilizes the same equipment as a swipe terminal for a traditional credit card. Nothing is solid yet, and the deal may yet break down, but Samsung will feel that it is imperative for them to finalize this one in light of flagging smartphone sales.

VIA: ReCode

Story Timeline

• Galaxy S6 is in early development stages tips source


• Samsung Galaxy S6 may be released early, targeting MWC launch


• Galaxy S6 benchmarks show 5.5-inch QHD screen and 20MP camera