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.

Beacon 38

Description: Beacon 38 is a mobile exploration game where you use sonar to navigate through a dangerous, beautiful alien world that constantly surprises and challenges. See if you can navigate your tiny scout ship past massive predators, mysterious creatures, and unknown peril to escape the 38th Dimension!

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Ski Safari 2

Description:  Play as Sven’s sister Evana, share the action in multiplayer mode, perform awesome new tricks on snowboards and skis, and ride on crazy new animals! Oh, and watch out for the avalanche!

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Need for Speed™ No Limits

Description: Build your dream ride with an unbelievable range of cars and customizations. Launch yourself between chaos and control as you hit the loud pedal and roll into underground car culture.

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Freeze! 2 – Brothers

Description:  “Freeze! 2″ is the premium full version with 100 levels, with no in-app purchases and without annoying ads! So, it isn’t free – but we can also guarantee that you pay only once for the entire game, and never again!

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HALOS: React and Match

Description: Halos is an addictively simple and fast-paced matching game. If you love Match-3 games but are looking for something a little more zen, yet still challenging, this is the game for you.

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Dim Light

Description: Featured in Busan Indie Connect(BIC) Festival. Can you be the one to escape from this pitch-black madness? Horror adventure game, “Dim Light”

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Hypersurf

Description: Blast your way through alien infested intergalactic wormholes! Featuring innovative gameplay: 360 degree wormhole surfing, Hypersurf is easy to play but difficult to master – a lightning speed hyperkinetic action, demolition rollercoaster.

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Paper Monsters Recut

Description: Dive into the world of Paper Monsters Recut and watch a living world made out of paper, cardboard, and even a few cotton balls unfold right before your eyes!

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Exos Saga

Description: Exos Saga: A dynamic RPG with a captivating story and spectacular graphics! A gorgeous side-scrolling RPG with breathtaking animated visuals.

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PewDiePie: Legend of Brofist

Description:   Join your favorite YouTubers on an Epic Quest in PewDiePie: Legend of the Brofist. Enjoy this amazing 2D platformer in the palm of your hands!

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LG shows no signs of slowing down with its smartwatches and has just taken the wraps off the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition. If you delve deep into the sands of time you will no doubt remember the launch of the original LG Watch Urbane all the way back in May of this year.

There are more changes under the hood than you might expect given this short turnaround time too. The headliner of course is the addition of LTE, a first for Android Wear. GPS has been added as well, something that we hope to see most Android Wear devices offering going forward for fitness tracking purposes.

The screen is slightly larger at 1.38-inches (up from 1.3) and the resolution has similarly been bumped up to a class leading 480 x 480. The battery was fortunately not forgotten receiving a boost up to 570 mAh (up from 410).

The Watch Urbane 2nd Edition adds quick access to critical features through the three buttons on the side of the smartwatch including the ability to flip ambient mode on and off with a touch of the crown button.

No details on pricing or a release date at this time and naturally for the LTE functionality you are going to be dealing with a carrier.

Check out LG’s promo video below and let us know if you think you are ready to leave home armed only with your smartwatch.

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We’ve caught a couple glimpses of the LG V10 in recent weeks and while the secondary screen and dual front cameras were apparent, not much else was known. Thankfully LG has ended the suspense for us now with the official announcement of the LG V10.

Here’s the quick specs rundown if you’re interested, but the V10 does have a few unique features for us to cover as well.

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 Processor
• 5.7-inch QHD IPS Quantum Display
• Second Screen 2.1-inch IPS Quantum Display
• 4GB LPDDR3 RAM
• 64GB eMMC ROM with microSD (up to 2TB)
• 16MP rear camera with F1.8 Aperture / OIS 2.0
• 5MP Dual Lens front facing cameras
• 3,000 mAh removable battery
• Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
• 6 x 3.12 x 8.6mm
• 192g
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac
• Bluetooth 4.1
• NFC
• USB 2.0

The ticker does do a bit more than simply act as a shortcut launcher as we had hoped. It operates independently of the main screen as you would imagine and offers an “always on” display mode that can show weather, time, date and battery status even with the main display off. Vaguely reminiscent of what we see with Android Wear. When the main screen is active the “Second Screen” as LG calls it does function as a shortcut launcher, but it can also display notifications without interrupting the content on the main screen.

As for the main screen, it is a 5.7-inch QHD IPS Quantum Display while the Second Screen is a 2.1-inch IPS Quantum Display with a resolution of 160 x 1040. Critically both displays share an identical 513ppi, meaning you shouldn’t notice the transition from one to the other. Surprisingly despite the two screens it manages to come in at 6-inches tall, about a quarter of an inch shorter than the Nexus 6P.

The next feature that was noted in the leaks were the dual front cameras. No shock that selfies appear to be the prime motivator for this feature as it promises up to 120 degree wide angle selfies when employing both cameras. You can also do multi-view recording capturing from all three cameras on the V10 at once.

LG is particularly proud of the V10 where video capture is concerned with a full manual mode. This puts shutter speed, frame rate, ISO, white balance and focus under your control throughout recording. The V10 can record at up to 4K in 16:9 or 21:9 and thankfully offers microSD expansion up to 2TB (no, you still can’t buy one) to capture all that video.

Rounding out some of the features of the V10 is a stainless steel frame with soft Dura Skin over the top that is more resistant to scratching. The V10 also offers a fingerprint sensor for both basic device security and Android Pay.

The V10 will be launching in Korea in October with China and the U.S. to follow along with “key countries” in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

No word on pricing at this time, but there’s little question this is going to be slotting in at or near the top of the line for LG. Between the ticker display, the dual front cameras and the general focus on video quality there are certainly interesting qualities to the V10, but it definitely seems like a device that you will need to spend some time with to figure out if those pieces add up to a compelling experience.

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A few members of the Nexus team — Hiroshi Lockheimer, David Burke, Krishna Kumar and Sandeep Waraich — took to Reddit a few hours ago to answer those burning questions everyone had about the new Nexus devices.

There are over 1900 comments in total, so there’s a good chance that if you had a question about either of the new devices, it might be in there.

We’ll give you some of the highlights here, but again click through the link below if you want to read the full list.

The question as to why wireless charging was left out this time around was one of the most popular. They attributed it to the ease of plugging in USB Type-C (no more which way is up?), the speed of charging with USB Type-C and finally that wireless charging added thickness to the device that they felt could be avoided.

Another popular question was regarding why the Nexus 5X still starts at 16GB. There was the serious answer, “strike a blance between premium features/experiences and affordability.” and then a less serious answer “It’s a conspiracy! MOVE TO THE CLOUD!”. You’ll have to decide which is more plausible. The serious answer was later applied again in response to why just 2GB of RAM in the 5X.

Details on the actual panel used in the 6P were asked for and the team produced that it was the latest generation panels from Samsung. Specifically it is a Samsung WQHD AMOLED panel and they were quite proud of the “very tight spec” that they created for it.

The mystery of what the X and the P stand for is solved, “X for the core of the Nexus Brand (plus it sounds cool!), P for premium.”

For T-Mobile Nexus hopefuls the team confirmed that they are working hard to get Band 12 support on Nexus devices before they ship.

The team also confirmed that both the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P support only USB 2.0 speeds and not USB 3.1 as some were reporting at the event.

Another excellent question was how Imprint keeps the fingerprints safe. They are stored on the device and processed in the “secure Trustzone protected area of memory.” The API doesn’t provide access to the fingerprints to apps and they are not stored by Google. Imprint was also touted as one of the team members favorite new features.

Those were some of the most interesting questions and answers to us, but there are plenty more, so feel free to share any other juicy nuggets you dig up below.

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This week is jam-packed with announcements. Now in the wake of Google’s Nexus event yesterday, we can turn our attention to LG’s event tomorrow, at which the company is expected to announce and release the LG V10. Rumors have pinned the V10 as having a secondary ticker display above the screen, but thanks to new images from @evleaks, we can now see the ticker display in action.

Bonus http://pic.twitter.com/d79IUJs8Eu

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 30, 2015

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As you can see, the ticker display is just a little ribbon of display above the screen that will likely have a number of different uses. In the above image, we can see the ticker display holding shortcuts to a select few apps including the camera. In the featured image, we can see the same setup, as well as a second set-up that simply says, “Be you.”

While the ticker display is neat, we’re crossing our fingers that LG has bigger plans for it than simply holding app shortcuts. Nonetheless, the V10 looks like it’ll be a solid new offering from LG. It packs in a couple thin bezels and a rather rugged, yet attractive, plastic design. The camera module is decently sized and is paired with laser autofocus and a dual-LED flash, both good features to have. Below it is LG’s signature rear power/volume button combo.

We’ll keep you posted when official word arrives on the LG V10

Source: @evleaks (1), (2)

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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.

SimpleNews

Description: SimpleNews gives you access to your favorite news feeds. As additional features it allows you to add/modify categories and feeds to fulfill your interests. You can also share news with your friends or export / import your feeds via OPML.

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 adidas Snapshot

Description: Time to discover how well you can strike a soccer ball and share it with the world – adidas SnapShot is the world’s first soccer tracking software on your smartphone.

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BuzzFeed News

Description: We make the news easy to access. Whether it’s a tweet or a video, a BuzzFeed News exclusive or a compelling piece of reporting from elsewhere, our editors will make sure you don’t miss out on what people are talking about.

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DAEMON Sync

Description: Introducing the first truly private cloud solution! Backup, sync, share and browse your photos or videos within the local wireless network. No internet access required! You don’t need to register anywhere, don’t need to enter your email or create login and password!

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TapTag

Description: TapTag lets you leave photos of the places you visit there for others to find. You can experience photos of what others did at your current location by finding them through your phone’s camera.

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Shine Launcher 3D

Description: Shine redefines 3D Launcher interface for android 3d. Shine 3D Launcher uses ultra smooth, unique with 3D effects surprisingly, the ability to interact with the user great. Easily customizable, drop terminal represents style with 3D Launcher Shine.

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PixPass

Description: PixPass is an attempt to break the monotony of remembering passwords. PixPass unlocks the power of your images to generate cryptographically strong passwords. Best of all, PixPass is also a keyboard, so you can pull it up whenever you need it, without fumbling through your phone.

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Word of the Day Watch Face

Description: Learning a language is hard. It requires time, patience, and memory. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way to review words with no extra time to your day? Our watch face hopes to serve that purpose and is great supplement to Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, or other language learning apps.

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Wear Timelapse Calculator

Description: Calculate the timelapse interval for timelapse supported cameras (eg: GoPro, Nikon, Canon…) from your android wear watch

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 Free Basics by Facebook

Description: With Free Basics, you can connect to Facebook and other websites for free using a SIM card from a qualifying mobile operator. Stay in touch with friends and family, search for jobs, check out news and sports updates, and get health information – all without data charges.

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While smartwatches are pretty common from manufacturers at this point, more old-fashioned timepiece makers have yet to really jump on the ball just yet. One such company is TAG Heuer, which has carefully bided its time as other companies like Motorola, LG, Huawei, and Apple have all thrown their hats into the market.

The wait is finally coming to an end, though, as the CEO of TAG Heuer, Jean-Claude Biver, has confirmed to CNBC. According to the CEO, the watch — which will be powered by Android — will cost $1,800. That’s actually even higher than many estimates, which had suggested the upcoming smartwatch would retail for around $1,400. The watch itself was first confirmed back in March of this year, when the company announced that it was working on building a luxury smartwatch featuring Google’s operating system.

TAG Heuer isn’t a stranger to launching luxury timepieces of course, especially not ones that cost quite a bit of money. It will be interesting to see if the brand can compel potential (smart)watch buyers to pick their device rather than, say, Motorola’s new Moto 360 or even the Huawei Watch, both of which retail for quite a bit less. Then again, the expectation of TAG Heuer to create something that’s more in line with a classic watch rather than a piece of technology strapped to a wrist is pretty high.

Would you consider buying a smartwatch for $1,800?

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NVIDIA SHIELD launched back in May and continues to blow the doors off all competing streaming boxes thanks to the Tegra X1 processor. NVIDIA is still pushing to advance its Android TV offering and keep ahead of the pack, though.

SHIELD just keeps getting better

We already brought you the details of the GeForce NOW game streaming service launching tomorrow, and as part of that same update, SHIELD is getting a boost to its home theater functionality with Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio pass-through and WMA-Lossless decode. Movie playback at 23.976 frames per second is supported as well as codec support for VC-1, MPEG-2 and WMV9.

Android TV, which SHIELD is built upon, has also expanded greatly over the last few months since the SHIELD launched, going from just over 300 apps to nearly 1,000. Soon you will be able to cast from Spotify Music and Google Photos to the SHIELD, and more apps are coming all the time.  SHIELD offers a curated list of 135 games, and as part of the update tomorrow, it will render some Android games in 4K regardless of whether they were designed with that in mind.

New places to buy SHIELD

Starting tomorrow both the SHIELD and SHIELD Pro will be available in the U.K., France, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Buyers will be able to pick them up through shield.nvidia.com, Amazon.com as well as Game, Scan, Cyberport, MediaMarkt, Saturn, LDLC, Materiel, Komplett and Elkjopp.

U.S. retail availability of the SHIELD continues to grow as well, and you can now find it in Best Buy, Fry’s Electronics and MicroCenter. Of course, you can also still find it online through NVIDIA, Google, Amazon or Best Buy.

Finally, Google has shown an interest in SHIELD as well, making it available to users of Google Fiber as an add-on for current and future Fiber subscribers in Provo, Utah; Kansas City, Missouri; and Austin, Texas.

We have definitely seen the already-crowded streaming media box market get even more competitive this year, but from a feature standpoint, it would be difficult to argue that SHIELD remains the most comprehensive offering with not only an impressive array of home theater features, but also true gaming capabilities that completely outshine the competition.

Whether this actually translates into mainstream success remains to be seen, but with this latest update NVIDIA proves once again that they are deeply committed to making this platform work, and the expanded availability could finally be the tipping point for SHIELD.

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The smartwatch wars are heating up this fall, especially when it comes to watches with round faces. The LG Watch Urbane has been around for a few months, the new Moto 360 and Huawei Watch are just launching, and now the Samsung Gear S2 is about to enter the fray.

Samsung says that the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic will launch in the US on October 2. They’ll be available from Samsung’s own website as well as Amazon, Best Buy, and Macy’s. As for pricing, the standard Gear S2 will cost $299.99, while the ridged Gear S2 Classic will cost $349.99.

Aside from the ridged casing, the Gear S2 Classic is different from the Gear S2 in that it has a slightly larger battery: 300mAh vs 250mAh. Outside of those two things, though, the two watches are the same, boasting 1.2-inch round 360×360 Super AMOLED displays, 1GHz dual-core processors, 4GB of storage, and 512MB of RAM. Both also have rotating bezels that you can use in tandem with their touchscreens to navigate through Samsung’s Tizen OS.

Despite the fact that they run Tizen OS and not Android Wear, the Gear S2 watches are compatible with non-Galaxy Android phones, something that Samsung’s older Gear watches can’t say.

Samsung is no stranger to the smartwatch market, having launched several Android Wear and Tizen devices. The Gear S2 models are their first round smartwatch efforts, though, and they’ve got some attractive designs. The question for would-be smartwatch buyers is this: Do you want Samsung’s Gear S2 with a rotating bezel, or are you willing to forgo that unique bezel in favor of an Android Wear-powered piece of kit?

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If you have owned or followed any of the devices in the NVIDIA SHIELD family then you are probably familiar with the NVIDIA GRID service: “Netflix for games” has been the NVIDIA pitch since the beginning. Originally launched in San Jose back in December of 2013, the service went nationwide in the U.S. in November last year and continued to expand into western Europe and Asia. GRID brought high-quality PC games to SHIELD hardware without the owner needing a PC of their own. SHIELD owners have enjoyed this beta iteration for free and NVIDIA built GeForce NOW based on what they learned from those hundreds of thousands of GRID users.

GeForce Now launches on October 1st as part of an update to SHIELD and includes all of the features of the GRID service and more. A GeForce NOW subscription will be $7.99 a month, but NVIDIA is giving users the first three months free to check it out and make sure it is for them.

There are currently over 50 titles available for free as part of the membership. The combined value of this curated collection of games is approximately $1,000, and NVIDIA will continue to add a new game every Tuesday.

In addition to this collection of recent titles, GeForce NOW will be adding a store for newly-released titles. At launch there will be 10 games available in the store with pricing comparable to other online stores, but NVIDIA is hoping to achieve day and date release availability in the future. With GeForce NOW, gamers can start playing a game within 30 seconds of hitting the buy button, no waiting hours for a download. These purchases will also include a download code to play the game on your PC as well.

NVIDIA views streaming as an advantage over the consoles as they are able to constantly update the backend, as they have in upgrading to GeForce NOW from GRID and already are eclipsing the hardware on current generation consoles. They promise 1080p at 60 frames per second and view this as a vital part of the success of the streaming service.

GeForce Now will be available on all SHIELD devices starting October 1st.

We’ll be putting it through it’s paces as soon as it hits our devices and if you give GeForce NOW a try we’d love to hear from you too.

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