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First LEGO BIONICLE game arrives at Google Play Store

LEGO’s Bionicle toy line – yes, they are the ones you remember from the year 2000 – was part Lego blocks, part superhero, and all parts awesome. Now we get a taste of the same fun in a free mobile video game. What are you guys waiting for?



The LEGO BIONICLE game is now in the Google Play Store and it shows the story of six Toa heroes that are on a quest to find the ancient and powerful Mask of Creation. The player can choose at the beginning of the game from these six heroes – Tahu (Master of Fire), Kopaka (Master of Ice), Onua (Master of Earth), Gali (Master of Water), Pohatu (Master of Stone) and Lewa (Master of Jungle). Within the flow of the game, players will be able to collect over 100 customizable pieces and play in 74 different arenas.


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As a lot of the appeal of LEGO is the aesthetic awesomeness of the creations, players will be able to take in-game screenshots of their characters and save them to a dedicated gallery. Sounds like a cool gaming app, right?


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The best part is this, that the game is totally free to download and is devoid of any in-app purchases whatsoever. Go ahead and jump on to the download link to start playing.


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DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store





Spectrum is newest abstract, challenging platformer on Android

If you prefer geometric shapes and anonymous characters when playing a mobile game, this new one available for Android devices might capture your fancy. In the tradition of games like Pacman and the classic Nokia game Snake (well, to some extent), Spectrum is a platformer with abstract challenges in an abstract and stylized world, where your character's only motivation is to reach the portal at the end.



No, it's not a bowling ball with a tail or a micro-organism or some other thing which we refuse to name here but you'll probably think of when you see the game trailer. We actually don't know what it is, but it's a three-eyed entity dressed all in black, being chased by various geometrical challenges. You need to dive and jump past these obstacles to win and get to the end. You can either use the tilt-based or touch-only controls to play the game and it is also compatible with MFi controllers in case you feel like using an external controller.


Each level has three objectives and the whole game is made up of 60 levels, which gets more challenging one after another. There are also 6 different environments to play on, all made up of the "colorful minimalist aesthetic" which makes the game more appealing for those who prefer that over the complicated, loud and sometimes confusing graphics of other platformers. If you're feeling competitive, you can check out how you're doing in the global leaderboard.




Spectrum is available for purchase at the Google Play Store and it will cost you just $3.29. There are no in-app purchases necessary so that initial cost will be your only expense when playing the game.


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Verifone announces new mPOS payment terminal, now supports different OS

Over the weekend, Verifone introduced a new operating system and device that retailers could use for mobile payment. It's an independent mobile point of sale (mPOS) payment terminal that receives mobile payment whether from a smartphone or a tablet. Officially called as PAYware Mobile e355, this newest Verifone mPOS terminal eliminates the need to frequent upgrading of both the mPOS terminal and the OS. This one comes with a special OS that can be tweaked, which means any merchant can customize and update the system as needed. No need to change the hardware at all since all it needs are some updates on the operating system.



Verifone Mobile is known for its mPOS terminals, bringing merchants the best in consumer technology today. The new PAYware Mobile e355 is expected to last longer because it's easily upgradeable and flexible. It even supports various OS like Windows, Android, and iOS so it can work with different smartphones and tablets for more convenience.


Verifone's Senior Vice President of Mobile Solutions Mark Shockley noted that having to purchase a new mPOS terminal every time mobile devices are upgraded in the market inhibits a number of things for merchants. Shockley said, “Verifone’s single, modular solution will offer the ultimate in mPOS flexibility, allowing it to persist across changes in devices, even if somebody wants to make a complete switch from one OS to another.”


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PAYware Mobile e355 accepts most types of payment from EMV to Apple Pay, NFC, and the traditional magnetic strip. It also comes with a bar code scanner as a special option plus USB, Bluetooth, and WiFi connectivity. Device will be out in summer.


SOURCE: Verifone





WorldPenScan X scans, converts, translates documents into digital form

Have you ever been in a restaurant in a foreign country and were too shy to ask for help in translating the menu? Are you reading an actual, physical book, and would like to highlight a particularly long passage, but you're too lazy to write it down? A new Kickstarter project aims to be the solution to problems like these with the world's first pen scanner that can both digitize and translate the text for you if need be.



WorldPenScan X is a digital pen that you can use to scan documents and other "real world" materials and turn them into digital files. It is connected via Bluetooth to your device as soon as you turn it on and will immediately transmit the digitized material to your smartphone. But even cooler is that it will recognize foreign languages and then translate them for you (no need to painstakingly type it out on Google Translate). You will also be able to edit the digital text in several applications like MS Office apps, email apps and some browsers as well.


This pen will be really handy for those traveling to countries where English isn't the main form of written communication and those who are trying to learn another language. It supports Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong), English, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, among several other languages. The pen also recognizes barcodes and bank fonts as well.


Their Kickstarter campaign is just around $7,000 short of their target of $30,000, but they still have 16 days to go. If you believe in having a pen like this, you can head on over to their page and support their campaign. The target delivery date for backers will be April this year, and hopefully this will go out into the retail market some time after that.


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SOURCE: Kickstarter


CyanogenMod now officially supports Android One

It might have taken a while, but a lot of Android One users would probably be very happy to know that CyanogenMod, the popular aftermarket software outfit that tweaks Android into a better version of itself, is now giving it official support. There are only three devices under this Android umbrella, and all three are getting some CM11 love.



Android One was Google’s strategy to reach its “next billion” users, and that was primarily targeted in the Indian sub-continent market. Android One was launched in partnership with three India-based device manufacturers to produce three unique (but also quite similar) Android One devices – the Karbonn Sparkle V, the Micromax Canvas A1, and the Spice Dream UNO.


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CyanogenMod has announced via its official blog that these three devices will be receiving weekly builds of CM11 – which is of course based on Android 4.4 Kitkat. They intimated in the blog that CM12 builds for this group of devices is something they are working on, so it might not be too long before these Android One devices also get some Android 5.0 action.


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The main difficulty was the fact that these devices were sporting MediaTek processors, and MTK procs are notoriously difficult to work with. But that has been a breakthrough for this version of CM11. Also, the relative similarity of the hardware in the three devices means the CM11 build for all three of them will be unified. The builds are for the devices codenamed “sprout” and the nightlies (weeklies, in truth) are now available for download at the official download page here.


SOURCE: CyanogenMod





Project Ara releases new MDK ahead of second developers conference

Our favorite modular phone guys, Project Ara, has just made public the second version of their Module Developers Kit (MDK) – which basically contains all you need to know if you want to create a module for Project Ara based on the Spiral 2 prototype. This was done ahead of the Ara Developers Conference slated on February 14 – we guess that the contents of the MDK will be big talking points on the conference itself.



The MDK was a collaborative effort between the guys and gals at Project Ara and companies that include NK Labs, LeafLabs, New Deal Design, Metamorph Software, X5 Systems, Toshiba, Mixel, Quanta, Opersys, Linux Solutions, Linaro, BayLibre, NewOldBits, Oxford Systems, Foxconn and IDT Systems among others. Within the MDK are details on the many software and hardware upgrades on the new prototype, including the new Toshiba UniPro switch and ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) which we wrote about before. The new Toshiba chip allows for the connection between module elements, especially the processor to the other modules.


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There is also the new contactless connection system between module and board, and the new “Greybus” communication protocol that handles the aforementioned contactless system. This new system was set in place to save on space and give the whole phone a sturdier build.


More of the content of the MDK will surely be talked about at the 2nd Ara Developers Conference, so be sure to look out for that event. Also, you can download the MDK here.


SOURCE: PhoneBloks





SKEYE Nano Drone is back with a price vengeance [DEALS]

Personal drones are all the craze of late, but not all of us would like a man sized flying robot to carry around when all we just want is something to fly around for fun and mayhem. For those of us who want to keep things small and simple, very literally, the SKEYE Nano Drone is perhaps the answer. Lucky for us, this little flying bot is on Android Community Deals and carries with it an equally lightweight price.



This nano drone is so small that it barely takes up the palm of your hand at 4.0 cm x 4.0 cm x 2.2 cm. Its gamepad-like controller is almost larger than the drone itself. And yet the robot is quite capable of flying well, with a 6-axis flight control system and gyro sensitivity. It has three flight modes to accommodate beginners, more experienced drone pilots and experts.



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One thing that is missing from this super tiny drone is a camera, which isn't exactly surprising given its size and its price. Even a VGA one would have probably been fun, though, and there are some other drones that offer some competition for a bit of a price upgrade. That said, the drone has "aerobatic flip" powers, which is always fun to impress, or annoy, people.




The SKEYE Nano Drone is now up on Android Community Deals for $34.99, a sweet 41 percent discount from $60.


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.


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