Grifta Morphing Gamepad works for consoles and Android gaming

There are plenty of game pads out there for Android gamers who want something other than on screen or tilt controls. A new game pad has debuted called the Grifta Morphing Gamepad that is nothing like the flat game pads that are out there right now.

Grifta reminds me of half a PS2 gamepad and its half a gamepad design claims to be much more ergonomic than a traditional flat gamepad. Grifta can also be customized to more comfortable fit into your hand with small, medium, and large silicone rubber handgrips available.

The company says it is also working on a grip that you can customize to fit the shape of your hand. The controller has shoulder buttons that use capacitive switches making the layout comfortable and easy to use. An 8-way D-pad is fitted along with numerous buttons.

The project is on Kickstarter seeking £65,000 and has raised over £72,000 so far. A pledge of £30 or more will get you a Grifta while early bird units are still available. Shipping is expected to happen in July 2015. There are also colored controllers you can buy if black isn’t your thing.

SOURCE: Kickstarter

A New Way to Promote Your App on Google Play

Posted by Michael Siliski, Product Management Director, Google Play

Google Play now reaches more than 1 billion people on Android devices in more than 190 countries, helping a growing number of developers like you build successful global businesses. In fact, in the past year, we paid more than $7 billion to developers distributing apps and games on Google Play. We remain as committed as ever to making Google Play the best place to find great apps, games and other entertainment.

App discovery plays a critical role in driving your continued success, and over the past year Google has provided best practices to enhance app discovery and engagement, as well as app promotion tools to get the most out of search and display advertising for developers. We are always looking for new ways to help you get your apps in front of potential new users. That’s why, in the next few weeks, we will begin piloting sponsored search results on Google Play, bringing our unique expertise in search ads to the store.

With more than 100 billion searches every month on Google.com, we’ve seen how search ads shown next to organic search results on Google.com can significantly improve content discovery for users and advertisers, both large and small. Search ads on Google Play will enable developers to drive more awareness of their apps and provide consumers new ways to discover apps that they otherwise might have missed.

In the coming weeks, a limited set of users will begin to see ads from a pilot group of advertisers who are already running Google search ads for their apps. We’ll have more to share in the coming months about the expansion of this program as we look at the results and feedback. We believe search ads will be a useful addition to Google Play for users and developers alike, and we hope this will bring even more success to our developer community.

Sony Xperia M4 Aqua image leaks

With Mobile World Congress just around the corner, smartphone makers are gearing up to roll out a plethora of new devices at the show. We already know that Samsung and HTC have their live stream pages up and counting the days until the unveils start. Sony will also be on hand at MWC to show off its new devices.

Ahead of the official Sony unveil; an image of a new Xperia smartphone has hit the web. The image is said to the of a new Sony Android device that will be unveiled at the show called the Xperia M4 Aqua. No specifications were leaked along with the image of the device.

However, the Aqua in the name suggests that the smartphone will be water resistant. Water resistance would be nothing new, Sony and other smartphone makers have been producing water resistant devices for a while now.

All we can glean from the image right now is that the Xperia M4 Aqua has the signature Sony power button, a dedicated camera button, and a flap that covers the microSD card slot. Rumors claim the device will rock a 5.2-inch screen, 2GB of RAM, 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, and run Android 5.0.

SOURCE: Xperia Blog

Moto Maker will now allow you to custom your new Moto 360

Despite the recent mini-controversy over Apple's Sir Johnny Ive's opinion over Motorola's build-your-own platform with Moto Maker, the OEM seems to be standing by its design and marketing principles. They recently announced that not only can new users continue to build their own Moto X, but now you can also customize a Moto 360 smartwatch using the same groundbreaking tool they've started. If you're still on the fence about getting a wearable from Motorola, maybe this new development will convince you.

For now, the Moto Maker will only be able to give you design options for the Moto 360. You can choose from the watch casing (silver, black, or champagne gold), the band (two sizes and either leather or metal), and watchfaces (11 choices of what you'll see first when you turn on the watch). For some people (especially the fashion-conscious ones), what stops them from getting a smartwatch is the fact that they don't like the designs that most OEMs offer, so this customizable wearable from Motorola is their chance to make their own, despite the limitations of course.

While the design options are a big bonus, this can also pave the way in the future for Motorola to offer even more options in terms of hardware and to even upgrade products quickly. According to Dickson Isaacs, Motorola's Director of design for wearables, their research shows that people care about details, the construction of their gadgets, and even the materials used. The Moto Maker enables them to be involved in a way in the creation of their device, and so hopefully later on, even the insides will be included in the customizable options.

There is no official announcement yet as to when the Moto 360 can be found in the Moto Maker, but it will be available for US, UK, France, Germany, and Mexico. We may be able to hear more details during the Mobile World Congress that will start this weekend in Barcelona.

VIA: Wired

Story Timeline

• Moto X tempts you to get it with Moto Maker in new ad


• Moto X Pure Edition now with 64gb option through Moto Maker


• Motorola responds to veiled criticism from Apple's Jonny Ive

Google pilot tests mobile app ads in Play Store

With more than one billion people now using Android devices, being an app developer can be heavenly at this point, until you see that there are also over one million apps clamoring for mobile users' attention in the Google Play Store. While Google has offered a lot of tips and tricks on how to get discovered among the many apps out there, it is still only now that they're experimenting with bringing mobile app ads in search results to the Play Store.

Google announced that they will be doing a pilot test of letting app developers advertise directly on the Google Play Store by including paid search results when people look for certain categories or key words for apps. So for example, if you search for puzzle games, included in your results would be both paid and organic apps. The differentiation would be a small "Ad" button under the app that is being advertised.

Over the next few weeks, the first to be offered this capability are publishers that have already been advertising Google search ads for their apps. Not all users will also be able to see the ads first, just a select number of those who go to the Google Play Store. This is for both the pilot developers and users to test out this feature and provide feedback on mix of ads, keyword targeting, how the paid search affects the algorithms in their Top Chart, etc.

This new program will allow new developers the ability to compete with the already popular and established ones. That is, if they have enough money to bid for the keywords, just like you would any normal Google ads. One of the questions thought is that will it actually be detrimental to smaller developers and publishers who have great apps but maybe not the budget to advertise. We'll see more feedback as the pilot program goes underway.

SOURCE: Google

VIA: Tech Crunch

Hop turns your email threads into chat conversations

Have you ever had extremely long email threads that you actually want to just transfer the conversation into a chat room? (but maybe your office doesn't allow chat and messaging apps as well) This new app will let you move email conversations into an IM-like platform, complete with the capability to share files, group email, smart notifications, and an easier way to respond to real-time communications.

You don't need to sign up for a new email address to use Hop. You can connect your existing ones with Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, AOL, etc. It will add both your old and new messages to start a conversation. You will now have real-time messaging, the ability to exchange files and photos, location-sharing, audio message capabilities, and even taking pictures and videos to send in real time. This means you don't need to open any other app just to be able to have these multi-media interactions.

In terms of notifications, Hop is "smart" as you will not be flooded by constant buzzing, since you can set up different kinds of custom alerts depending on the kind of message or who it is coming from. This means you will just get the notifications that matter. You can also doodle your messages if what you're talking about needs visualizations. And just like in chat apps, you can see when somebody is typing messages in real time, to avoid "overlapping" conversations.

Of course the other people you need to converse with need to be on the app as well. You can download Hop from the Google Play Store for free.

Learn the ins and outs of Grudgeball, Regular Show style

If you're a fan of the Cartoon Network's The Regular Show (because come on, a lot of adults watch the CN, admit it), you'll have a lot of fun trying to play with the whole gang as they battle it out in the Chaosphere. But even if you don't know anything about the animated series, you can still find Grudgeball: Enter the Chaosphere entertaining enough with its combination of dodgeball, volleyball, and hot potato in one crazy game.

In the future of this world, Grudgeball has become the sport of choice of many, even though it is a seemingly dangerous sport. Mordecai, Rigby, and the rest of the gang are on a mission to rescue Pops 1000 years into the future, and you need to compete in the Chaosphere arena to do so. If you need to know more about the backstory, there are cutscenes in a comic book panel format so it's easy to understand. But if you just want to play the game, you get to be on a 3-on-3 match against "experts" of the game.

You need to pass the ball to your teammates and the longer your team holds on to the ball, the more power it gets. When you think you have enough to hurt or knock out an opponent, you just simply chuck it in their face. But of course they will try to get the ball from you and dodge your shots as well. When you get power-ups, your balls get extra abilities, like Fireball, Blastball, Poisonball, youget the drift. The characters also come with custom super moves and if you choose to make them the team leader, they will have a special team buff.

You can buy Grudgeball from the Google Play Store for $2.99. Some might find that price a bit too steep, but there are no in-app purchases, and it is a game from Cartoon Network, so it seems like a pretty fair deal.