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Get ready for life-like combat with Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders

There won't be any surplus of World War II arcade games as geeks and developers would just continue making them. The latest one is 'Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders' --the ultimate in WWII air combat game. Get ready for bombing actions, flying through tunnels, dogfights, and protecting all fleets and cities. Looking for a new game as you start 2015? This one is it if you haven't downloaded the game yet.



You'll see real life locations in the game: Pearl Harbor, France, Germany, Midway, and Coast of Dover. Visual graphics, special effects, and audio are excellent and unparalleled. The game developer takes pride in some of the special effects like bump mapping, volumetric clouds with realistic lighting, day & night transitions, God rays, atmospheric scattering, refractive raindrops, and specular masks among others. You've got to download the game and see for yourself the awesome graphics.


Playing this game, you'll get to experience how it is to take off and land on carriers and landing strips. Experience realistic weather and ride highly detailed planes with interactive cockpits--giving you an almost real pilot experience. If you're into history or aviation, you'd appreciate the WWII planes used. They are very detailed and well-designed you'd think they are real. Unfortunately, they could be shed into pieces in combat.


There are several game modes here: Survival, Last Man Standing, Free Flight, Free for All, Team Match, Capture the Flag, and the new Assault. You can play this with your family, friends, and even strangers online over WiFi or 3G/4G.


Watch game trailer below:




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Download Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders from the Google Play Store



Samsung intros LTE Advanced Tri-Band Carrier Aggregation-enabled Galaxy Note 4

Just before 2014 ends, Samsung Electronics has announced its first ever LTE Advanced (LTE-A) Tri-Band Carrier Aggregation-enabled smartphone. It's not really a new model but the Galaxy Note 4 has been upgraded to run faster with a 300Mbps download speed. The number is too impressive because that is about four times faster than the current speed of 4G LTE network's today. This means super fast content streaming, downloads, and web browsing anytime, anywhere.



LTE Advanced Tri-Band Carrier Aggregation is a great advancement not only for Samsung but also for the rest of the mobile industry. This will set a new standard in LTE smartphones although other phone manufacturers might not catch up quickly.


Samsung Electronics' CEO and President of IT & Mobile Communications Division JK Shin said, “We continue to set new challenges for the industry and push boundaries to take mobile technology to the next level and deliver the best possible customer experience.”


What the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 LTE-A Tri-Band CA model will do is to search for and use the optimally available bandwidth. The phone receives three frequency bandwidths and aggregates them into one connection that can support Category 6 network service. With the 300 Mbps speed, you can download 40MB-worth of songs for a second or a 700MB video within 19 seconds. Later next year, it will be under LTE-A Category 9 service with up to 450 Mbps download speed.


This development from Samsung is not surprising because the South Korean giant has released the Galaxy S5 Broadband LTE-A and Galaxy S5 LTE+ earlier this year--smartphones with the fastest download speeds in the market to date.


SOURCE: Samsung Tomorrow



Android Community Weekly Digest: Dec. 28, 2014

Just because it's holiday season doesn't mean that the mobile world is at a complete standstill. Though many indeed have set their eyes on CES 2015, which is just a few weeks away, some still managed to sneak in a few surprises before the year is over. And, of course, the rumor mill is starting to heat up with stuff to expect early next year. Welcome to the latest edition of Android Community's Weekly Digest, covering the period from December 22 to December 28, 2014, which also happens to be the last Weekly Digest for this year!



Now Showing


While major OEMs are saving their energy for CES next month, Chinese companies and smaller manufacturers aren't going to pass up the opportunity to take the stage for a while. This week has seen an assortment of smartphones launched across all price ranges, and some of them are quite interesting too.


Huawei's Ascend GX1 is an unexpected newcomer, boasting rather mid-range specs but with a 64-bit processor. It's defining factor, at least according to the company, is that its 6-inch smartphone 80.5% screen, one of the higher screen to body ratios in the market today. Sadly, it is also only 720p.


Meizu also makes a surprise reveal with the M1 Note, a colorful smartphone with somewhat decent specs and a tempting price. A 5.5-inch 1080p screen, a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek CPU, 2 GB of RAM, and Dual SIM Dual Stanby support makes for a very enticing offer. That it would remind people of the Apple 5c may or may not add to that attraction.


ASUS is seemingly taking a shot at Android One with the Pegasus X002, and like Google's new budget range line, the results are still inconclusive. That said, the 5-inch 720p smartphone with a 64-bit 1.5 GHz quad-core MediaTek chip, 2 GB of RAM, and a price tag of 799 RMB ($128) might just blow Android One out of the water. The only question now is availability.


On this side of the globe, ZTE USA is trying to appeal to LTE addicts with the new ZTE Speed. That said, that might be the only thing speedy about it, running on a 1.5 GHz quad-core chip with a 4.5-inch screen. That said, LTE connectivity at a low price is the main selling point of this smartphone, available from Boost Mobile with plans starting at $35 a month.


Speaking of LTE on a budget, BLU Products is finally paying more attention to the growing high-speed data network. It has launched not one, not two, but three 4G-enabled smartphones that span the range of prices and specs. From the Studio 6.0 LTE to the Studio 5.0 HD LTE to the Studio Mini LTE, BLU is trying to cross all it's T's and dot all it's I's with unlocked offerings that work on T-Mobile and AT&T's LTE networks.



BLU Products STUDIO 50 HD LTE



Coming Soon


With CES 2015 coming, we expect to hear more and more about upcoming smartphone and tablet reveals. But while we might have already heard about Samsung's plans to out a more metallic Galaxy S6, new photos have surfaced that seemingly confirm that now. The HTC Hima, on the other, will, of course still be metal, but it seems that the Chinese OEM will be trying to splurge on a 64-bit Snapdragon 810 processor and an even higher 20.7 megapixel camera for next year's flagship. After going small with the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact, Sony's next tablet is rumored to swing the other way, with a giant 12-inch or higher tablet coming our way early next year. ASUS launched a teaser that seemingly hinted at a dual camera setup ala HTC One, but a sighting at the Bluetooth SIG seems to hint at a different and disappointing ZenFone successor. The already crowded smartphone market might become even more crowded, with Kodak now trying to jump in with its own take on the mobile device as well.


This is just the tip of the iceberg and we expect more to come our way in the coming days. Which ones will be a hit and which ones will be a flop? Keep tabs on our CES 2015 coverage to find out!


Motorola lists Nexus 6 again, will start shipping on January 6

Google once warned us of possible problems with the Nexus update. The phone was launched last November but potential buyers are having a hard time getting one. That's despite the announcement before that it would expand to 12 more countries and that Google would be replenishing stocks every Wednesday. Even mobile carriers were not able to keep their promises. It was listed for pre-order but soon went out of stock.



T-Mobile's version was set to arrive in November but it was also delayed at least for a week. They say supplies are limited so maybe that's why you are having a hard time getting a Nexus 6. But don't you worry now, Motorola has finally brought back the Nexus 6 online and listed the smartphone on its website.


The Google Nexus 6 is currently listed will all colors and variants. No, it's nothing like the Moto X when it comes to customizations but at least we have two options: two colors and two memory options. Phone is still a bit pricey at $650 but Motorola will ship it to your doorstep for free.


Motorola will start shipping the Nexus 6 on January after the craziness of the holidays. You can place your order for one now and wait for the New Year to get your hands on the Nexus 6 finally (hopefully!).


VIA: SlashGear


SOURCE: Motorola



Unofficial Android 4.4 Lands on Three Mediatek Devices

ZTE V970box

For the last few years, devices with MTK systems-on-chip haven’t received much in the way of official Android updates. Some OEMs were limited by MediaTek itself, which previously wasn’t the best at updating proprietary drivers, binaries, and kernels with every Android release. Custom ROM developers also had trouble with providing third party kernels due to lack of proper source code.


Recent actions taken by Mediatek have given hope that this SoC manufacturer has finally decided to take a different approach with respect to open-source licensing. Unfortunately, some users with older devices are still left behind. Development for devices with MTK SoCs still continues, however, and as a result we have KitKat ROMs available for three older devices: Newman N1, Micromax A110, and ZTE Grand V970. These builds come courtesy of XDA Recognized Contributor superdragonpt, who managed to create a custom kernel capable of running KitKat; and XDA Forum Members qus1 and lingfude, who created the builds for aforementioned devices.


These ROMs are considered stable, so you can use Android 4.4.2 KitKat as a perfect replacement for the stock firmware. It’s definitely nice to see custom ROMs and kernels for older devices, which were almost impossible to update due to software and hardware limitations.


MTK devices aren’t overly popular, but we truly believe that such achievement should be brought to your attention. The developers put a lot of efforts to support devices left behind both by their OEMs and SoC manufacturers. Please head over to the following threads if you are looking for KitKat ROMs for selected MTK devices:



The post Unofficial Android 4.4 Lands on Three Mediatek Devices appeared first on xda-developers.


Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week


Whether you're brandishing a brand new smartphone from a lucrative holiday haul or just looking to add some apps to your tired years-old handset, app developers have been busy through this gift-giving season to pump out some software you're going to want to try. Let's unwrap some apps.


Read more...
















Level Up! Baldur’s Gate II, Hearthstone, Borderlands, KOTOR

Half the holidays is almost done but the gaming season is definitely far from over. The past two weeks have seen the Android games roster increase a bit with new titles, even from very old games. Plus, 'tis the season to be increasing your own merry list, with countless deals and discounts. It's time to Level Up! with Android Community's last games roundup for the year 2014.



Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition


Beamdog continues their painstaking work of bringing RPG classics of old to the modern times. This time it is BG2EE, as it is fondly called, that makes its way to Android, bearing adjusted resolution graphics and a few addons as well. BG2EE covers the main Shadows of Amn campaign plus the Throne of Bhaal and The Black Pits II. Those who wish to have a more engaging experience can opt to buy some optional expansions and content inside the game.




Blizzard's Hearthstone


Blizzard finally rolls out its much awaited mashup of card games and its Warcraft franchise with Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. This much awaited game is sadly still available only on tablets, but Blizzard is confident it could pull out a smartphone edition from its magic hat really soon. Initially available only in Canada, Hearthstone quickly opened its doors to the US and international gamers as well.




Tales from the Borderlands


The hit Borderlands franchise has hit Android, but it isn't the high octane shooter you might be expecting. Handled by Telltale Games, the game takes on a more story-heavy spin that the game studio is known for. That's not to say, of course, that it's going to be a boring fight, and fans of the series should very well take this out for a spin. That is, if the $5.00 price tag for an episodic game doesn't turn you off.




Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic


Quite late into the game, Knights of the Old Republic or KOTOR has finally arrived. One of the more popular Star Wars games, KOTOR puts the fate of the galaxy in your hands. Side with the light or go over to the dark side, the choice is yours to make. And of course, you'll get to play with cool Jedi (or Sith) powers and your very own lightsaber. The game's interface has been retrofitted for mobile devices but the content is just as huge as the original, so better reserve some storage space on your smartphone for this.


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Honorable Mentions


Valve's hit Half-Life 2: Episode One also lands on Android, but you better have an NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet to be able to play this one. Rockstar is bringing GTA to the Android streets, but in a smaller scale and with a view from up above. If you love gaming and love chatting and want to have one place to do both, Viber has opened up its doors to games as well, though availability is currently very limited. Rovio has updated its first RPG, Angry Birds Epic, with the ability to dish it out with other players over the Internet. And for those lucky enough to own a Samsung Gear VR already, Temple Run VR is now yours to download and experience from an entirely new point of view.


It's not to late to stock your digital shelves with more games. While some discounts have already expired, some of the titles in our pre-holiday list, particularly those from Square Enix, keep their price cuts all the way into January. And if you want gaming for a cause, be sure to check out the latest Humble Noodlecake Bundle going on right now.


Be sure to keep tabs on our Gaming tag portal for more on the latest news, updates, and gaming devices to fill your time.