Welcome back to Android Gaming Weekly, our weekly recap of new game releases. We still plan to cover upcoming releases and games we’re playing, but this column is dedicated to new games that you can start playing right now. Check out our top picks and let us know in the comments section if you have any suggestions for next week’s post.

Merchants of Space

Description: Build and develop your space station, mine resources, trade with astronauts and aliens, challenge your friends in the weekly competitions and be the biggest space merchant ever!

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Free Fur All

Description:  Race for the finish line, spice up your selfies, flip the perfect pancake and more in this collection of We Bare Bear games. It’s a regular Free Fur All!

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Whispering Willows

Description: Play as Elena to find her missing father, use your astral projection to solves the mansion’s tricks and puzzles, help the lingering souls and discover so much more in Whispering Willows.

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Blitzcrank’s Poro Roundup

Description:  Blitzcrank must save his fluffy poro friends from Baron Nashor’s belly. Why? Well, because robots have hearts too… or maybe their programming is just telling them that they do. This is getting confusing.

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Lara Croft GO

Description: Lara Croft GO is a turn based puzzle-adventure set in a long-forgotten world. Explore the ruins of an ancient civilization, discover well-kept secrets and face deadly challenges as you uncover the myth of the Queen of Venom.

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Flats

Description: Flats is a Multiplayer / Singleplayer FPS. Multiplayer : Including Deathmatch,Team Deathmatch,Territories,Capture the Flag, Blow up the Base (Bomb). Singleplayer : Shoot enemies and survive every phase. Enemies become stronger gradually.

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Tales from the Borderlands Pt. 4

Description: Tales from the Borderlands is a five part episodic game series from the creators of The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead – A Telltale Games Series.

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Rescue Quest

Description: Join two wizard apprentices on an epic quest by matching gems and casting magical spells to help rescue the captured spritelings from a malevolent sorcerer.

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Framed

Description: FRAMED is a multi-award winning noir-puzzle game where you re-arrange panels of animated comic book to change the outcome of the story.

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Scribbled Arena – PocketEd

Description:   Disguised in the playful doodle is a thrilling multiplayer experience where high skills are rewarded. Take charge of your tank and head-on for real-time challenges with your facebook friends or any other player.

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At the beginning of the month, the Turing Phone broke cover. It’s a device that’s focused on security and privacy, with a bevy of software elements and hardware tweaks to make sure that the information present on the handset is yours and yours alone.

The Turing Phone is also billed as an incredibly tough phone, too, made from what the company calls “Liquidmorphium,” which is a liquid metal that’s said to be stronger than both steel and titanium. Put all that together in a relatively mid-to-high-end device, featuring a 5.5-inch 1080p display, a Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor with 3GB of RAM, 16GB/64GB/128GB storage variants, a 3000mAh battery, and Android 5.1 Lollipop with Turing Æmæth UI, and for anyone that’s worried about security, it could be the perfect handset.

Reservations were opened at the beginning of the month, and now the company has confirmed that if you secured your spot, you’ll be able to place your order for the Turing Phone on Monday, September 21. But, if you prefer to wait for what’s known as the “Dark Wyvern” version, which is a stark difference in color compared to the original model, pre-orders for that device go live on September 24, with a full payment of $999 due at the time of pre-order. The company also has a “Glaedr” special edition model, which will only have 3,000 made, and be available to pre-order for $1,299. You can see what the Dark Wyvern model looks like below:

By September 24, the company aims to have all reservations paid for completely, and then shipping is set to start on December 18.

What do you think of the Turing Phone? Did you reserve one?

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Instagram is one of the more popular social networks out there, letting users share their favorite photos and videos. But the company has decided to start thinking “Outside the Square” and has just announced that Instagram will now support even more ways to share your content.

On August 27, Instagram officially announced that it now supports both portrait and landscape content. The company says that the square format is always going to stick around, as it’s part of what makes Instagram Instagram, but admits that the visual story that users try to tell with their content has to expand to match their needs. The story comes first, as they say on their official blog post, and so new ways to show off that story are finally here.

Now when a user uploads a photo, they can tap on the format icon to adjust accordingly, switching between landscape or portrait orientation. While the profile grid will keep photos the way they’re always presented, when looking through your Instagram feed, those portrait and landscape images should show up in their full glory, without that pesky box cutting things out.

The orientation support will work on videos, too, and Instagram is making it so all filters work on all types of content, should should make sharing and discovering even easier.

Instagram version 7.5 should be available now in the Play Store, and you’ll find a link to it below.

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Samsung Pay is arguably the most interesting advancement in mobile technology thus far. Since its acquisition of LoopPay, Samsung has integrated the company’s technology into its latest smartphones, which allows them to be compatible with most card readers within the US, no NFC needed. Now the company is beginning beta testing of Samsung Pay in preparation for its launch on September 28.

Interested users can join the beta testing if they meet a rather specific set of criteria. First of all, you need to own a compatible phone, which includes the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note 5. You’ll also need to be using the phone on either AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile or US Cellular. Finally, you’ll need a qualifying card from either Bank of America or US Bank. You can follow the source link for more info on qualifying cards. If you meet all of those criteria and are interested in becoming a Samsung Pay beta tester, then follow the link below to get started on your application.

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It’s been a long wait for the second generation Moto 360, but the leaks are starting to pick up, and it shouldn’t be long before we see an official announcement. The latest round of leaks has given us two new photos of the device, showing it in both of its size options. The smaller model is positioned on a wrist next to last year’s model with a noticeable reduction in size. The large model isn’t shown in comparison, but it looks to be about the same size as the original Moto 360.

The design is similar to the original Moto 360, but changes include a new placement of the crown at the 2 o’clock position and a silver watch body with lugs, making it look a little more traditional. We can also see that the infamous flat tire bezel beneath the display has been passed on through the generations. Other than that, it looks to be much the same as last year’s model. We’re going to have to wait for an official announcement from Motorola before we can see any of the major differences.

Keep it locked on the site for more updates regarding the Moto 360.

Source: Hellomotohk, Weibo
Via: Droid Life

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As phones and tablets become more and more viable replacements for laptops, manufacturers are coming up with ways to create accessories that will enable more productivity. LG has just found a new one with the LG Rolly, a full-size keyboard that can roll up to fit in your pocket, which will inevitably cause plenty of jokes. Unlike many portable keyboards, the Rolly also features actual clicking keys that have a surprising 17mm key pitch, which is comparable to many desktops.

The Rolly is crafted from polycarbonate and ABS plastic, which allows it to feel much more like a traditional keyboard than most portable silicone keyboards that don’t have any key pitch. LG has also fitted the Rolly with a stand for phones and tablets up to 10 inches in size, with two plastic arms that fold out for extra support. The Rolly uses Bluetooth 3.0 to connect to devices and can be connected to up to two devices at the same time, with a dedicated key for switching between them. As for power, all it takes is a single AA battery to provide roughly three months of usage.

LG will launch the Rolly in the US in September, with further markets arriving later in the fourth quarter. Pricing and specifics will be released closer to launch.

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The battle for mobile dominance in emerging markets has heated up lately, and even Google has gotten in on the action with its Android One program. Now a new competitor has entered the fray.

Obi Worldphone is a new company that’s co-founded by John Sculley, who once worked as CEO of Apple. The company today introduced its first two smartphones, the SF1 and SJ1.5, which it says are targeted at “young consumers in high-growth markets” like Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Pakistan, Turkey and India.

Pricing for the SF1 will start at $199, while the SJ1.5 will set buyers back $129. Here’s what the spec sheets for the two phones look like:

SF1

• 5-inch 1920×1080 display with Gorilla Glass 4
• 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615
• 13-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX214 sensor and LED flash
• 5-megapixel front camera with LED flash
• microSD slot
• 3000mAh battery
• 4G LTE
• Android 5.0.2 beneath custom Lifespeed user interface
• 2GB of RAM/16GB of storage for $199
• 3GB of RAM/32GB of storage for $249
• Fiberglass unibody construction

SJ1.5

• 5-inch 1280×720 display
• 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6580 processor
• 8-megapixel rear camera with OmniVision sensor and flash
• 5-megapixel front camera
• microSD slot
• 3000mAh battery
• Android 5.1 beneath Lifespeed UI
• 1GB of RAM/16GB of storage for $129
• Polycarbonate body

The low-cost Android market is pretty competitive, with many major manufacturers and even more smaller ones all vying for consumers’ dollars. While Obi Worldphone is a newcomer, the company does have the whole “former Apple CEO is co-founder” thing going for it, and its first two phones aren’t too shabby looking. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how they fare in the handful of countries that they’re launching in.

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About one month ago, TYLT added two new exciting products to their already fantastic line of charging accessories for mobile devices. They are are the FLIP-DUO, a 2-in-1 patented reversible USB 2.0 cable with built-in Lightning and micro-USB connectors, and the Y-CHARGE [QUIK], a 4.8 Amp dual USB port car charger with Qualcomm Quick Charge. We were sent these products recently to put them through their paces and I did that and even more, like making a plot in Excel for you guys.

FLIP-DUO

I’m pretty sure it’s a proven scientific fact that you can’t plug in a USB cable the correct way the first time. And if you suck as bad as I do, it often takes three tries to plug it in the right way. It doesn’t even make sense. If you’re tired of wasting your time or enduring the frustration of plugging your USB cable in the wrong way, then you’ll want to check out the updated version of the SYNCABLE DUO cable, which TYLT has figured out a way to make even more awesome than it already was.

The FLYP-DUO has a patented reversible USB. You can plug it in your USB port right-side-up or upside-down. Actually, with this cable there is no wrong side. If you belong to a home with Apple and Android devices, the FLYP-DUO has built in micro-USB and Lightning connectors. It’s a sync cable, so you can use it to just charge your devices or connect to your computer to transfer data. It’s also built with a flat ribbon-style cable that is supposed to help avoid tangling. I think the flat design looks nice, but don’t really have a problem with tangled cables. I think the flat cable just makes wrapping up the cable for storage kind of difficult, but you may find it super helpful.

The FLYP-DUO works as advertised. I can plug it into USB ports with confidence knowing I don’t have to worry about it being oriented the wrong way. I’ve plugged it in first try every time. Life upgraded.

My only concern with the TYLT FLYP-DUO is that dang price tag. TYLT products are not cheap, but I can attest to their high quality feel and 1-year warranty. The FLYP-DUO will set you back $24.99 for a 1 foot cable and $29.99 for a 3.3 foot cable. It is available now from TYLT in four typical brilliant TYLT colors: black, red, blue and green. But if you look hard, there are significantly cheaper, potentially patent-infringing, reversible USB cables out there.

Y-CHARGE [QUIK]

The second of TYLT’s new offerings is the Y-CHARGE [QUIK]. Really, the name says it all. It’s a dual USB car charger in the shape of a Y. It can ouput a total of 4.8 Amps, with 2.4 Amps going to each device plugged into it. This makes it possible to charge your mobile devices pretty dang fast, especially compared to a cheap 1 Amp charger. But what makes this TYLT car charger stand out from the crowd is the what gives it the [QUIK] part of its name: Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0. According to TYLT and Qualcomm, this TYLT charger can charge Quick Charge 2.0 devices up to 75 percent faster than non-Quick Charge devices. Some common phones with Quick Charge 2.0 are the Nexus 6, Galaxy Note 4, and HTC One M8. I happen to have a Nexus 6, so I decided to put the Y-CHARGE [QUIK] to the test.

I compared the TYLT Y-CHARGE [QUIK] to the TYLT RIBBN. Both 4.8 Amp dual USB port chargers with max 2.4 Amp output to each port. Both were during my commute to and from work while navigating via Google Maps and streaming music over Bluetooth. Both started at different battery levels, but that shouldn’t effect the charging rates. Fitting a linear model to the data in the plot above, the Y-CHARGE [QUIK] charged about 0.7 percent per minute vs the RIBBN at 0.36 percent per minute. Thats basically double the speed for the Y-CHARGE [QUIK] versus the RIBBN. That’s significant, especially if you’re someone that’s always on the go and you’re often away from a wall outlet. This could be a game changer.

The TYLT Y-CHARGE [QUIK] is available now from TYLT for $39.99 in blue and black color options. That’s not cheap — I say this every time I review a TYLT product review — and there are cheaper Qualcomm-certified Quick Charge 2.0 devices out there, but this one has worked great for me. It’s a unique, great-looking charger that comes with a 1 year warranty, and I’m definitely impressed with it.

So what are your thoughts on these new devices from TYLT? Are they hot? Are they not? Too pricey? If you can be patient, I pretty sure TYLT has run killer Black Friday weekend deals on all their devices the last two years, so you might be able to pick these new accessories up on the cheap in November. Let us know your thought or if you have any questions by commenting below.

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Google Now is an amazingly powerful virtual assistant, sharing weather reports, giving us updates on flights, highlighting news that we might be interested in, and much more. Google Now isn’t the only digital assistant on the market, though, and Facebook is the latest company to try and create a new assistant for our lives.

Facebook M is a new virtual assistant that’s a part of the company’s Messenger app. Facebook’s goal with M is for its assistant to become your go-to source for information and help with tasks, even though it’s not built into an OS like Google Now is. How does it plan to do that? Task completion.

M can do things like suggest places to eat, and if you decide that you like what M has suggested, you can have the assistant actually make a reservation. Interestingly, one feature that’s been popular among Facebook testers is M’s ability to call a cable company and wait on hold for you. Facebook M can do this because there are also Facebook employees helping with M and ensuring that tasks get completed. It’s expected that eventually Facebook will have thousands of real people helping M complete tasks.

Right now, Facebook M is in testing with just a few hundred users in the San Francisco Bay Area. There’s no word on when the service will be expanded, but Facebook expects to expand the service slowly and eventually make it available to everyone. So far, Facebook M sounds pretty intriguing, especially since Facebook has real people with customer service backgrounds helping M complete tasks. What will be interesting is seeing if Facebook M can actually catch on without being built into a smartphone OS, and if it does, if Facebook can keep up with it by hiring more reps to aid M.

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New apps need lovin’ too, right? Every day there are thousands of additions to the Google Play store, but many go unnoticed and never receive the attention they deserve. We’ve shown in the past that this community can discover great apps and propel them to new heights. Our weekly Fresh Meat column highlights new apps with fewer than 100,000 installs. Browse our new Android app picks below and let us know which ones you enjoy.

AMC

Description: Stay current with the latest full episodes and video extras from your favorite AMC original series. Full episodes of our original series are available in season. Extras are always available. You can also track recently viewed episodes and resume where you left off.

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Splat Companion

Description: Splat Companion is a simple yet useful app that will inform you of the current Splatoon stages without having to boot up the game! That’s all, really. But it’s really nice!

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Bits Watch Face

Description: A helpful, touchable, customizable watch face. With just a glance, Bits displays customizable collections of helpful, bite-sized information. Watchmakers call these “complications” but we call them amazing.

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Win 10 Launcher

Description: Win 10 Launcher is here for you (Inspired by Windows 10®). Customize your phone with unique look and feel with the fast, clean and energy efficient Launcher. Surprise your friends with new look of your Android and also share it with your loved ones.

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Watch Faces for Smartwatch 3

Description: This is the official Sony application for SmartWatch 3 SWR50. Personalize your watch by designing your own watch face. Change background, hands, time markers, accent color and more. Choose from a range of widgets to get the information you need on your wrist.

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neutriNote BETA

Description: Let neutriNote be part of your forward thinking note taking process. With neutriNote, you can: preserve your notes in universal UTF8 format, write in rich Markdown mixed with LaTeX, use multifaceted search to get back to your data in more than one way, and extend the app with Tasker, ColorDict, Barcode Scanner

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LINE HERE

Description: Check where your family and friends are, whenever and wherever you want. With LINE HERE, finding your family and friends is easier than ever! Don’t want to share your location all the time? Use the timer to share your location only for a certain amount of time.

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OneRx

Description: You can use OneRx at the doctor’s office. Check discounted cash prices or copays
 right at the doctor’s office to maximize your insurance benefits. Discover and notify your doctor of any restrictions or prior authorizations needed, before you get to the pharmacy.

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PhishJustJams

Description: This app is intended to bring the experience of PhishJustJams.com from the web to your phone so that it is easier to manage, and will play continuously in the background. Phish Just Jams presents the music of Phish with the lyrics and composed sections removed, so you can get just to the jams.

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 Until Dawn™: Your Companion

Description: Get the most out of Until Dawn™ on PlayStation®4 with this companion app. All you’ll need is for your PlayStation®4 console to be on the same WiFi network as your device and you’re ready to go!

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