Presumably it is only app developers that would potentially find these deals spooky, but Amazon is at it again with one of their big roundup of paid apps going for the low, low price of free until 11:59 pm PDT on October 31st.

No doubt many of you have perused these offers before, and as always, there are a number of repeat visitors to the list. If you haven’t already downloaded them, that won’t matter to you, and there are always a few new gems making an appearance.

This time around there are a few timely titles like Lego Star Wars Microfighters, Halloweenistry, The Little Witch at School, Time Mysteries 2: The Ancient Spectres and Time Mysteries 3: The Final Enigma.

Beyond these titles it is a mix of apps and games that are pretty well reviewed, so take a look through and see if anything piques your interest since the price is right. Direct links are below if you’ve been waiting for something specific to go on sale, otherwise check out the full sale page.

Games

• Toca Pet Doctor
• Sticks
• Doodle Devil
• Doodle God
• Doodle Kingdom
• Doodle Tanks HD
• Battlepillars
• Bloons TD 5
• Draw a Stickman: EPIC
• Airport Mania: First Flight HD
• Airport Mania 2: Wild Trips HD
• factory balls
• Cubistry
• Pumped BMX 2
• Bridge Constructor
• sugar, sugar
• Pipe Puzzle – Premium
• Scribblenauts Remix
• Roseistry
• HUEBRIX
• Continuity 2
• Ichi
• Rotate It!

Apps

• Gamebooks: Read and Learn English
• Splashtop Remote Desktop
• Runtastic Pro GPS Running, Walking & Fitness Tracker
• AVG AntiVirus Pro Android Security
• Photo Lab PRO

If you spot any personal favorites in there or download something new that you think is awesome, let us know in comments.

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The Nexus 6P is not an easy phone to repair, according to iFixit. The site gave the device a score of 2 out of 10 for repairability after tearing it apart and seeing what’s inside. Hint: it’s a lot of glue.

To remove the screws holding the metal body together you have to remove pieces that are glued on, including the camera lens cover. The display is also held on by glue and is extremely hard to replace. Apparently replacing it without shattering it is a difficult task, and that’s the most common repair.

While it’s a shame that repairing this device is so difficult, most people don’t opt to repair their devices anyway. Make sure you get the Nexus Protect plan and keep your phone safe!

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The OnePlus family grew again today with the arrival of the OnePlus X, a new Android phone that’s small in both size and cost.

OnePlus is really talking up the build quality of the OnePlus X, which includes two slabs of black glass with a metal frame in between them. That’s on the Onyx version, anyway. There’s also a Ceramic model that OnePlus says takes 25 days to make because of a process that involves baking ceramic, cooling it, and polishing it. Both models also include a metal frame with several microcuts that give it a texture.

In terms of specs, the OnePlus X touts a 5-inch 1920×1080 AMOLED display that runs Android 5.1.1 beneath OnePlus’s custom OxygenOS user interface. There’s a quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor paired with 3GB of RAM and a 2525mAh battery powering the X, and there’s also 16GB of storage and a microSD slot packed inside. The OnePlus X’s camera arsenal includes a 13-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel front-facing shooter.

OnePlus X Onyx

Moving on to availability, yes, the OnePlus X will require an invite to purchase. The good news is that that requirement will only be in place during the month of November, and OnePlus says that it’s already sent out 15,000 invites to buy the X. After November, the OnePlus X will be available through open sales each week, and once production can keep up with demand, it’ll be available totally invite-free.

The Onyx OnePlus X will launch in Europe on November 5 at a price of €269, and it’ll arrive in the US on November 19 for $249. The Ceramic model will only be available in Europe and India for €369, and you’ll need a Ceramic-specific invite to get one. What’s more, OnePlus says that it’s only making 10,000 Ceramic units, so you’ll have to put in work to snag one.

With the OnePlus X, OnePlus set out to make a small phone that can easily be used with one hand and has a respectable feature set. With its 5-inch screen, the X should be fairly easy to use one-handed for most folks, and its spec list is pretty decent for the price.

What do you think of the OnePlus X?

OnePlus X Ceramic model

OnePlus X Ceramic

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A couple of days ago, Motorola and Verizon officially debuted the DROID Turbo 2, the next high-end smartphone to take up the DROID branding. It packs in quite a few impressive specs along with a display that Motorola calls “shatterproof.” Now that device is coming to international markets, too.

In what the manufacturer is dubbing the “#ShortestPressAnnouncementEver,” the Moto X Force has been debuted by way of a quick YouTube video showing the device being dropped on a hard surface. As one can expect from a device marketed as shatterproof, the display appears to be fine after picking it up. The outcome was much worse for Apple’s iPhone 6s and Samsung’s Galaxy S6.

The Moto X Force is exactly the same phone as the DROID Turbo 2, meaning it features a 5.4-inch QHD display, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor under the hood, 3GB of RAM, 32GB and 64GB variants, a battery measured in at 3760mAh, and a 21-megapixel camera on the back. There’s a 5-megapixel front-facing shooter, and it’s running Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box, but Android 6.0 Marshmallow is coming down the line.

There wasn’t any mention of an exact launch date or pricing, but Motorola does say that the device will launch in Latin America, APAC and EMEA beginning sometime in November.

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No, Verizon still isn’t planning on selling the HTC One A9, but that doesn’t mean that Verizon’s customers will not be able to buy the HTC One A9 and use it on their favorite network. Thanks to a software update, the unlocked HTC One A9 which is being sold on htc.com will soon feature support for Verizon’s LTE network. You will need to wait until December for the software update to arrive, but if you are planning on picking up the HTC One A9 to use on Verizon, we suggest you do in soon. The $399.99 promotion price for the phone is set to expire on November 7, bumping the price up to the standard $499.99 price.

It’s nice to know that HTC is working on a software update to ensure that the HTC One A9 works on Verizon, but HTC really needs to get Verizon to carry the phone and offer it directly to its customers if it truly wants the One A9 to be a success in the US market. The phone itself may not have the specs it needs to compete directly with other flagship Android phones, but it looks like HTC may actually be willing to spend a bit of money to promote the phone. If that’s the case, the HTC One A9 may actually sell better than HTC’s flagship One M9.

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External battery packs can be your best friend. They’re there for you in a pinch, they can give you that little pick-me-up you need to get you through the rest of they, and they don’t even ask for much in return. All they need is to be plugged into the wall or your computer when you don’t need them. And if you can do that, and remember to bring the battery pack with you, they’re the most handy accessory you can have for your mobile devices.

We were given the opportunity to review a couple of the Lumsing Grand A1 series battery chargers. This series of chargers come in battery capacities: 6,700, 10,050, and 13,400mAh. Lumsing claims that the three different battery capacities will reach full charge in 4, 6, and 8 hours, respectively. They also come in three different colors: Silver with blue button and end caps, gold with white, and black with orange.

Beyond the capacity and colors, the series have mostly the same features. Those include LG batteries, some sort of drop protection, and fast charging technology that provides up to 2.4 amps per port or 3 amps overall (if more than one port) at a claimed 90% efficiency. So if you do the math, that’s about 1200mAhs from the big battery to charge your phone over and over and over. They also have LED charge indicators to let you know how fully charged the pack is when charging or discharging. To see the amount of charge your pack has, you push the button and the LEDs will light up. Additionally, the press of the button will turn on the packs to start the charge of your device.

As with most power banks these days, the Lumsing chargers have an “intelligent USB output that can detect charging mode of different digital devices and switch to the right mode for full speed charging.” The batteries are CE FCC certified and come with an 18-month warranty. One other tidbit of information for you is that the batteries have an LED flashlight, which isn’t unheard of with battery packs, but it’s an interesting addition. I heard California is supposed to have a wicked El Niño Grande winter this year, and I’ll be glad to have some extra flashlights that are basically going to always be charged for emergency purposes.

We were sent the 13,400mAh pack in black and orange and the 6,700mAh pack in silver and blue. I’ve had them around for a couple of weeks and even brought them on a trip to Europe. I’ll be comparing them to some recently reviewed TYLT battery packs I have laying around (and actually use a lot).

What I like

• The size. These batteries are much more compact than the TYLT battery packs. For example, the TYLT ENERGI 10K (10,400mAh) battery pack measures 3.15 x 4.72 x 0.95 inches, while the Lumsing 13,400mAh pack is about 3.88 x 3.06 x 0.63 inches. Lumsing’s 10,050mAh battery is even smaller.
• The build. The cases are mostly aluminum, and they look and feel nice.
• The prices. These Lumsing battery packs are competitively priced and blow the TYLT packs out of the water in regard to pricing. From low to high battery capacities, the prices are $16.99, $21.99, and $26.99. And you can use Amazon coupon code D4MEC6KV to get $4.50 off of the 13,400mAh battery until November 4.

What I don’t like

• Number of USB ports (small beef). These are huge capacity battery packs with only 1 or 2 (the smaller pack only has 1) USB ports to charge your devices.  More would be convenient.
• No built-in cables (small beef). It’s convenient that you can plug whatever USB cable into the battery packs and charge whatever mobile device you need to, but then you also need to carry around cables. Built-in USB cables can be super convenient.
• No pass-through charging (big beef). This is my biggest beef with these chargers. Pass through charging allows you to charge your devices while you also charge your battery packs. I love this feature when I travel with the TYLT battery packs because I only need to bring one wall adapter and I can charge multiple devices overnight and wake up with them all charged as well as a charged battery pack. Unfortunately, if you want to charge a Lumsing Grand AI pack and your phone at the same time, they need to be charged separately.

In short, these battery packs are extremely competitively priced for their high capacities and small sizes. They’ve worked brilliantly for me. The sizes are great for travel and because the capacities are high, they will last several phone charges. Even though they don’t support pass-through charging, I’ve been leaving them plugged into a spare outlet in the car so they’ll always be ready to go when I need them. The Lumsing Grand A1 battery packs can be picked up via Amazon. We also currently have an Amazon coupon code — D4MEC6KV — for the 13,400mAh Grand A1 pack so you can pick it up for $22.49 until November 4.

How do you feel about these Lumsing Battery packs? How do you feel about these prices for what you get? Do you have a nicely priced battery pack that you think is awesome? Have any questions about the Lumsing packs? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below.

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More than 7 months after Nintendo first announced plans to produce smartphone games, the company has finally revealed some details of its first mobile game.

Called “Miitomo,” Nintendo’s first smartphone game will have you create a Mii (an avatar) that will communicate with other peoples’ Miis without your knowledge. This will be good for people that have trouble communicating with others, Nintendo says, and it could reveal a side of a person that no one else knows about.

Miitomo will be a free-to-play title, but it will offer add-ons that you can pay for. Nintendo says that its future mobile titles will be pay-to-download. As for when Miitomo will launch, Nintendo is aiming to launch it in March 2016, a bit later than its original “end of 2015” window. Nintendo explains the delay by saying that it’s currently busy promoting other titles, and so the later Miitomo launch will give Nintendo more time to focus on its mobile game.

So Nintendo’s first mobile game won’t feature any of its major IP like Mario, Zelda, or anything else. In fact, Miitomo sounds kind of strange so far. We’ve only scratched the surface of what Miitomo is all about, though, and the game is going to become clearer as we get closer to its March 2016 launch. And if you were hoping for some major Nintendo characters to make an appearance in a mobile game, the news that future mobile titles will be pay-to-download suggests that they could feature big-name IP.

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Google Keep is a great service. Whether you use it for reminders, shopping lists or quick notes, it’s got a function for you. With its latest update, Google is improving upon Keep even further. Users can now draw directly upon their notes with a simple tap. This can make it simple to highlight something in a photo or even jot down something that you can’t type, such as a unique symbol to remember.

With all of the competition among productivity apps, it’s good to see that Google hasn’t forgotten about Keep and is continuing to keep the service up to date with features. The ability to draw is coming in the next update, which hasn’t hit quite yet. But knowing Google, it’ll likely begin rolling out today and continue for the next few days or even weeks. Keep your eyes open for when the update reaches you!

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Even though it hasn’t developed in the same way as other platforms, mobile gaming has taken off in a big way. Google has been working to enhance the experience for Android users with Google Play Games, its service that enables ranking, recommendations and now a new feature that should make plenty of mobile gamers happy. With the next update, Google Play Games will support screen recording during gameplay, as well as using the front-facing camera and microphone to record commentary and reactions.

Screen recording has been huge for the world of gaming, allowing gamers to record tutorials, epic quests and more and then give them the ability to share those. Android gamers can now have the same experience by having the option to record gameplay in either 480p or 720p. You can also use your front-facing camera and microphone to record your personal commentary while playing. After you’ve finished recording, you can quickly edit and upload your video to YouTube, just as you would on a PC or console.

The ability to record gameplay is a feature that now sets Android gaming apart from gaming on other mobile operating systems. If you’re itching to try it out, you may have to wait a little while. The update will begin rolling out to customers in the US and Uk over the next few days, with more countries coming after.

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One week ago, YouTube Red became official. With the new subscription service, Google is offering individuals the opportunity to get rid of advertisements that appear on the video-centric service for a minimal monthly cost.

The subscription actually offers a bit more in terms of benefits for that monthly subscription, which runs $9.99 per month. For starters, you get an ad-free experience across your YouTube account, from mobile to desktop or even on a Smart TV with the YouTube app present. The same goes for ad-free music listening, too, says YouTube. On top of that, users can save music and videos to their device to watch offline. The other up-front benefit is background play, which means you can keep listening even when your screen goes dark, or you open up another app.

What’s more, Google Play Music’s subscription is rolled into YouTube Red (or, if you’re already subscribed to Google Play Music, you’ll get YouTube Red at no additional cost), so you can have access to Google’s music streaming service — which will include podcasts soon — as well.

Do you plan on signing up for YouTube Red?

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