If you need some on-the-go games to keep yourself occupied over Christmas, you've got no shortage of great options on sale right now (including Goat Simulator for iPhone and Android!). Some of our favorite picks for iOS and Android are listed out below, but check out our daily App Deals post for more.
Families who are planning to go to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando this Christmas break will now have another option to pay for their tickets and souvenir items as they announced that Google Wallet will finally be accepted as a mode of payment starting December 24. This will also pave the way for the system to be applied to other Disney properties, but at a later date.
Starting Christmas Eve, you will now be able to use your Google Wallet (as well as Apple Pay and other wireless payment systems) when you pay for your tickets, buy your souvenirs at the Disney Store, eat at quick-serve restaurants, as well as other areas with POS. But those that have portable payment terminals and the sit-down restaurants inside the resort don't have it yet, although it will be made available by next year. Google Wallet will be part of Disney's RFID system which is part of their MyMagic+ brand.
To be able to see which areas will be able to accept Google Wallet, you need to look for the EMVCo (Europay, Mastercard, Visa) symbol which they will be placing around the park. It is the standard system that enables them to accept payments through credit cards and now wireless systems. Rumors suggest that The Disneyland Resort in California will be the next property to adapt wireless payment by 2015.
According to mobile payments research firm ITG, Google Wallet accounts for 4% of digital payment transactions lasts November and is still the market leader. However, rival Apple Pay, which is newer in the game, is fast catching up with 1.7% and 60% of their users averaging 1.4 transactions weekly.
SOURCE: SlashGear
Ah, Christmas gadget shopping season; the time when people look for a replacement for their older smartphone or a secondary unit (because why not) or an affordable device to give in to your young child's request for their own. If your reasons for Internet window shopping are the latter two, T-Mobile is offering ZTE Zinger, a budget smartphone, for Prepaid subscribers.
The ZTE Zinger is actually the same device that is being offered by rival AT&T as the Z667. It has a 3.5-inch screen, runs on a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and is already on Android 4.4. The camera is pretty low at 2.0 megapixels so if you're looking to practice your mobile photography skills, then this phone may not be for you. It does support Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi but not LTE 4G.
But if you're just looking for a basic smartphone to browse your social networks, surf the net (not at breakneck speed), check your email, record your calendar appointments, oh, and send messages and make voice calls (if you're old school like that), then you probably will get value for your money with the ZTE Zinger.
When you buy it from T-Mobile, you need to get a SIM Starter Kit as well. That will cost you around $94.99 but the phone's retail price is just $49.99. They guarantee that you won't need a credit check to be able to get this deal. T-Mobile also has "pay in advance" prepaid plans, like $50/month for unlimited talk, text and data or $30/month for unlimited data and text plus 100 minutes of talk time.
SOURCE: T-Mobile
VIA: Phonescoop
ZTE recently introduced a new flagship phone in the form of the ZTE Star 2. This 4G LTE smartphone is voice-controlled, made possible by the Chinese manufacturer's very own biometrics voice integration strategy. The ZTE Star 2 features a brand new user interface that is customizable, better mobile entertainment experience, and a smart system-level voice control. This phone is a follow-up to the very successful ZTE Star 1 smartphone launched by the company last year.
The ZTE Star 2 features the latest biometrics voice integration technology that promises to bring superior voice control functions. This unit includes about a thousand of patents. Included are 158 patents related to voice control which means its voice technology is more advanced. It integrates RCS voice messaging and call features for a more advanced voice experience within the RCS service of China Mobile.
With ZTE's smarter voice control, the Star 2 gets a functional first system-level voice and speech recognition solution. It works even if mobile device is not connected to the Internet and is offline. ZTE takes pride in its 90% success rate and 1.2 seconds of response rate even in noisy conditions. Some of the voice control functions include playing music, opening 3rd party apps, making phone calls, and unlocking device with a simple but unique voice tone. For entertainment and business purposes, the real-time voice-to-text input can be very useful.
Here are some more features of the new ZTE Star 2:
•enhanced driving mode for a more convenient and safer hands-free driving experience
•voice control functions (music control, automatic GPS navigation, message replying, and call answering)
•motion sensing features
•customizable UI MiFavor 3.0
•customizable/pre-defined color schemes
Specs of the ZTE Star 2 include a a 5-inch dual-layer Gorilla Glass 3 screen, 13 megapixel rear camera, f/2.0 aperture, dual LED flash, 5MP front camera, 88° ultra-wide-angle lens, 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, 16GB ROM, 2GB RAM internal memory, and a 2300mAH battery.
ZTE Star 2 is already available in China for 2499 RMB which is about $400. ZTE will show off more mobile devices in Las Vegas at the CES 2015 next month.
SOURCE: ZTE
The Humble Bundle has grown to be one of the things we love about the internet community, where you can pay what you want for a bundle of products – usually very nice stuff, for a price that you dictate, the definition of a very good deal. Humble Bundle is back today offering up to nine Android games from Noodlecake Studios.
The more premium and popular game titles include Devious Dungeon, Tower Dwellers, and Mikey Boots, where you have to give more than the average payments (as of writing, at around USD$6.50) to get them. Pay more than USD$8.00 and you get the Wayward Souls and Wave Wave 2.0.
If you just want to pay the minimum, you’ll still get Polymer, Glorkian Warrior: The Trials of Glork, Pumped BMX 2, and Super Stickman Golf 2 in your bundle. Pretty cool, right?
Head on over to the source link to jump in on the action right now. Tel us your favorite of the lot in the comments section.
SOURCE: Humble Bundle
Perhaps the Force is not as strong on Android as we had hoped. More than a year after landing on iOS, and more than a decade since the original, one of the most popular RPGs in the Star Wars franchise has finally made its way to our beloved platform. Now you get the chance to play out your Jedi fantasies in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, but will you take the side of light or will you fall to the dark side?
Set four thousand years before the events of the films, the Old Republic takes players back to the very early days of, well, the Old Republic, and right in the middle of the battle between the Jedi and the Sith. Although you start off as an unwitting soldier, you will eventually be given choices that will shape your character, whether as a recruit of the Jedi Order or as an apprentice of the Sith Empire.
The game offers several features that will make any Star Wars fan drool. That said, this game has been out for a while, so majority of the appeal of the game will be trying to relive the adventure on your smartphone. Players will get to see the vistas of iconic Star Wars locations and will get to play around with over 40 different Force powers. And what could be cooler than being able to wield your very own lightsaber?
The user interface of SW:KOTOR, as fans lovingly call it, has been optimized for touchscreens but support for controllers is also present. That said, the game itself hasn't been slimmed down for mobile, meaning you'll need a lot of space to install it. 2.4 GB to be precise. To celebrate this "better late than never" launch on Android, the game's price tag is slashed by half, now only $4.99.
Download: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on Google Play Store
Android/iOS: Paper books are awesome, but sometimes there's no beating the portability of an ebook on your phone or tablet. If you have a physical book you'd love to read on the go, BitLit may be able to get you an ebook version for free—all you need to do is take a photo.