Samsung has agreed to purchase home automation company SmartThings for the price of $200 million. Several weeks ago, the two were reported to be in talks about a deal and it appears that an agreement was reached. Samsung will allow SmartThings to function as an independent company as a part of Samsung’s Open Innovation Center in Palo Alto. From here, SmartThings will receive the resources it needs from Samsung while also providing Samsung with technologies to use.

Home automation is becoming a major trend, with more and more companies investing in it. Google’s purchase of Nest and Apple’s introduction of HomeKit show that the big players are interested in it. Samsung, however, has a strong shot at getting a system set up first. SmartThings already has a viable system worked out that includes a $99 hub that connects all of your devices together. What SmartThings needs is exactly what Samsung has: stable financial backing and strong marketing impetus. Needless to say, we’re looking forward to watching this play out.

Show Press Release

from Android and Me http://ift.tt/1Bi249j
via IFTTT

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.

Tap Sports Baseball

Description: Lead your team to victory! Step up to the plate for Tap Sports Baseball, a unique and exciting baseball game for casual fans and hardcore stat addicts featuring real players from the big leagues!

King of Dragon Pass

Description: A unique mix of RPG and strategy: everything in King of Dragon Pass is about choice and control. Choose your counsel carefully, sign diplomatic agreements or declare war on nearby clans.

Time Tangle

Description: Oh, snaps! Finn broke the Time Totem and junked up all of time. Now there’s only one way to save the day… PUNCHING! Send your fists flyin’ to restore order to the Land of Ooo.

Bik

Description: Bik is a retro-style adventure game that takes inspiration from classic point-and-click adventure games like King’s Quest, Space Quest, Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, Full Throttle, The Dig, The Longest Journey, and the list goes on.

Gravity Duck

Description: As the Gravity Duck you will flip gravity to help you reach the goal while avoiding obstacles in this silly puzzle platforming game!

Granny Tap

Description: Help Granny use a keyboard and find out what she’s typing!

Incoming! Goblins Attack TD

Description: Incoming! The goblins are coming. Defend yourself against hordes of incoming monsters. Choose the right combination of towers and reinforce your defenses with magical spells. Countless levels in different worlds await you. Take command and defeat your enemies wave after wave!

Surgeon Simulator

Description: Take urgent care of the world’s unluckiest patient, Bob, with your very own shaky hands. As the would-be surgeon Nigel Burke, perform all kinds of crazy surgeries to try to save his life — or fail hilariously in the process while poor Bob… Well, dies.

Unpossible

Description: Unpossible will test your skills, your reflexes, and even your memory. It will make you smile. It will probably make you scream. You will die often and it will always be your fault. Fight to learn the obstacles…they already know how to fight you. Relentless. Thrilling. Unpossible!

Manuganu 2

Description: Manuganu is back with lots of action and brand new features for new adventures. Help him in his quest to rescue his best friend.

from Android and Me http://ift.tt/1qaM6Fj
via IFTTT

Right on the heels of the Android 4.4.4 soak test starting its rollout for the Sprint Moto X, AT&T has released the Android 4.4.4 update to its own model of the Moto X. But you don’t have to be a participant of the soak test program to get it, because it’s available to everyone!

The update is not very significant. There’s not much included other than the security and backend fixes that are a part of the Android 4.4.4 update, though Motorola did include the option to turn off the carrier name in the status bar. That will be useful for those of you who hate seeing “AT&T” in the of your display.

If you want this update, it seems that the rollout is very wide. I got the update on my Moto X immediately, and you might too. Go to Settings > About phone and check for updates, you may very well get it on your first shot. It’s a bit big, so there might be something cool waiting for us as well. Let us know how it goes!

from Android and Me http://ift.tt/1uyhe8z
via IFTTT

It appears that Motorola’s insanely quick update pace has slowed down as of late. While KitKat is abundant on the company’s more recent devices, updates to the very latest — and insignificantly different — versions of Android have slowed down. However, Sprint and Motorola have one for us now.

If you’re the owner of a Sprint Moto X and are part of the Motorola Feedback Network, you should soon be getting an update to Android 4.4.4 KitKat. You really won’t notice much of a difference from 4.4.3, if any at all, but it’s always good to be on the latest version of Android. Plus, the security and backend fixes in 4.4.4 are worth it.

Despite these Android versions being very small changes, it’s definitely good to see Motorola keep focusing on updates. Hopefully the update to Android L will be quick whenever the OS launches. For now, download Android 4.4.4 to your device and tell us how you like it!

from Android and Me http://ift.tt/1lYC1tR
via IFTTT

A lot of people are excited about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 4. As the owner of the Galaxy Note 3, I can’t wait to see the successor in all of its glory. We haven’t heard much about the device, though we have seen some potentially real leaked photos of it. Now thanks to a leaked spec sheet, we may know what will be inside the next Samsung flagship.

Indonesian smartphone retailer Erafone has posted the product page for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 with a full spec sheet for us to drool over. The device may keep the 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display of its predecessor, but will bump the resolution up to 2560×1440. There will also be a Snapdragon 805 or Exynos 5433 processor, depending on your location, 4GB of RAM and a microSD slot to complement the 16, 32 or 64GB of memory.

None of this seems at all unbelievable, so we’re tempted to believe it. However, everyone thought the same about the Galaxy S5 before the launch, so don’t get your hopes up too high. I just know that I’m excited for the next Galaxy Note and hope that the specs are at least similar to what’s being shown here.

from Android and Me http://ift.tt/1oMMSa6
via IFTTT

Android Wear has been out for a few months now and is on its way to becoming a big player in the wearables market. We still don’t see people walking around with a Samsung Gear Live or an LG G Watch, but that could change soon as more interesting watches will be released. We’re looking at you, Moto 360.

Another smartwatch may enter the game very soon. ASUS, who was listed as a partner for Android Wear when the operating system was announced, may be unveiling its own Android Wear watch at IFA Berlin. Though we have no details on the device, we’re inclined to believe that it’ll be awesome and fairly cheap (like many ASUS products).

IFA Berlin starts on September 5, so we have less than a month to wait before finding out if this rumor is true. Hopefully ASUS reveals something interesting to get people talking about Android Wear, as it doesn’t quite seem that regular people are all that interested in smartwatches at this point. What would you like to see from the ASUS watch?

from Android and Me http://ift.tt/1uTHpDT
via IFTTT

HTC has released several of its unique Sense apps into the Play Store, but to date they’ve only been available to HTC hardware. That’s changing today, though, with the launch of Zoe (Beta).

The new Zoe (Beta) app was created by HTC Creative Labs, HTC’s internal team that’s responsible for other apps like BlinkFeed and the Sense 6 user experience. The Zoe (Beta) app allows users to gather photos and videos that they’ve captured, add a theme and custom soundtrack and spit out a brief highlight video. Those clips can then be shared to the Zoe community, where users can comment and remix them. Zoes can also be shared to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and more.

Zoe (Beta) is currently compatible with all HTC Sense 6 devices as well as the Nexus 5, LG G2, G2 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S 4, Galaxy S5 and Note 3. Expect that compatibility to be expanded to more Android 4.4 devices once the beta period comes to an end this fall.

It’s great to see HTC making its apps available to non-HTC devices because it gives even more people to try out special apps that they otherwise may never get to use. The move is also an interesting one because it gives HTC’s own hardware one less exclusive feature to tout. Of course, that may not be a huge deal depending on how many HTC apps become available to all. We’ll just have to wait and see which other apps HTC Creative Labs launches.

If you download the Zoe (Beta) app, be sure to share your thoughts with us!

from Android and Me http://ift.tt/1sZa9K6
via IFTTT

When we last heard about the Motorola Shamu, the device was talked about as what could possibly be the next Nexus device. But the rumor of the huge 5.9-inch display had worried a few people. If the next Nexus device was going to be so huge, it would be unappealing to a big portion of the population. Luckily, this might not be the case.

According to some new specs found on GFXBench, the Motorola Shamu will actually have a 5.2-inch display, which is a much more manageable size. This should make Nexus fans happy, as a 5.9-inch display is a pretty extreme size.

Benchmark specs are pretty easy to fake so don’t go believing this too readily. But if it’s true, it’ll be a big relief for many people. I for one wanted a huge Nexus device, so we’ll have to wait and see how this turns out. What size would you like the Nexus 6 to be?

from Android and Me http://ift.tt/1sGIDEG
via IFTTT

HTC has teamed up with Singapore’s Phunk Studio design-house to create the masterpiece that you see above, the HTC One (M8) Phunk Studio Edition. Drawing from the already great design of the HTC One (M8), the Phunk Studio Edition provides an etched design on the aluminum back of the HTC One (M8). The design is intended to reflect wonderment, though whether that shown through in the final product is debatable. Whatever the inspiration, the design only enhances the beauty of the One (M8).

HTC and Phunk Studio are only producing 64 of these models, and it functions as a taster for Phunk Studio’s upcoming exhibition. The studio is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and the HTC One (M8) Phunk Studio Edition provides a perfect example of its gorgeous work. HTC hasn’t mentioned availability details, but we’re pretty sure that this phone is inside the realm of “if you have to ask.”

Show Press Release

from Android and Me http://ift.tt/Vpvpx7
via IFTTT

Motorola has sent out invites for a launch event on September 4, and the invitations give us a pretty clear idea of what to expect. The invite is styled as an animated cootie catcher that hints at four items that are set to be launched. When the cootie catcher closes, we can see four sketches: a phone with an X on it, a phone with a G on it, a watch and what looks like a Bluetooth headset.

Motorola’s not really into subtlety with this, so let’s look at exactly what to expect. A Moto X successor, possibly dubbed the Moto X+1, is likely the star of the show. A follow-up to the successful Moto G also appears to be coming, though fewer details are known on this device. The Moto 360 is almost certainly the smartwatch that will be shown off, and it might finally be available for purchase. The Bluetooth headset is a mystery, but chances are that it’s likely that, a Bluetooth headset.

Keep it locked on Android and Me for all of the September coverage, because it’s going to be a wild month.

from Android and Me http://ift.tt/1kE3qpI
via IFTTT