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LG affordable Nougat phones, new LG Stylus 3 headed for CES 2017

Alexandra Arici
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Like many other top smartphone manufacturers LG is coming to CES 2017 to show off a few new products. Getting a little excited? Don’t be. It turns out the leaks we’ve been seeing recently are all true and LG will unveil a bunch of mid-range products in Las Vegas.

So nothing too exciting. Surely we do love a decently specced phone that sells at an affordable price, but as we argued before – Chinese smartphone makers offer plenty in this segment. We were honestly expecting something more interesting from LG.

LG_LOGO

Anyway, LG says the mid-range segment is heating up and that’s why the company has prepared three new handsets from the K lineup designed to cater to the different needs of customers.

The first one is the K10 (which T-Mobile will sell as the K20 Plus) which is set to make a debut with a fingerprint scanner on board, metallic U-frame, 7.9mm body and a 2.5D Arc Glass design. Here’s the rest of the specs:

LG K10

lg-k10

  • 5.3-inch display with 1280 x 720 resolution
  • Octa-core MediaTek MT6750 chipset clocked at 1.5GHz
  • 2GB of RAM
  • 16GB or 32GB of internal storage (microSD card to expand up to 2TB)
  • 13MP/5MP camera combo
  • 2,800 mAh battery
  • Android 7.0 Nougat
  • Black/Titan/Gold

As you can see the K10 offers nothing out of the ordinary. Its main selling point might be it’s one of the first affordable Nougat devices to make it out into the world. But LG will also unveil the K8, K4 and K3. Here’s what to expect.

LG K8

lg-k8

  • 5-inch display with 1280 x 720 resolution
  • Quad-core Snapdragon 425 chipset clocked at 1.4GHz
  • 1.5GB of RAM
  • 16GB of internal storage (microSD card to expand up to 32TB)
  • 13MP/5MP camera combo
  • 2,800 mAh battery (removable)
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Android 7.0 Nougat
  • Silver/Titan/Dark Blue/Gold

LG K4

lg-k4

  • 5-inch display with 854 x 480 resolution
  • Quad-core Snapdragon 210 chipset clocked at 1.1GHz
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 8GB of internal storage (microSD card to expand up to 32TB)
  • 5MP/5MP camera combo
  • 2,500 mAh battery (removable)
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
  • Titan/Black

LG K3

lg-k3

  • 4.5-inch display with 854 x 480 resolution
  • Quad-core Snapdragon 210 chipset clocked at 1.1GHz
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 8GB of internal storage (microSD card to expand up to 32TB)
  • 5MP/2MP camera combo
  • 2,100 mAh battery (removable)
  • Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
  • Black

For those who love the whole phablet + pen arrangement, LG will also unveil the third-gen Stylus 3 model. The device comes equipped with a 1.8mm diameter fiber-tip stylus that lets you write just like you’d be using a traditional pen with paper. Here’s what to expect

LG Stylus 3

lg-stylus-3

  • 7-inch display with 1280 x 720 resolution
  • Octa-core MediaTek MT6750 chipset clocked at 1.5GHz
  • 3GB of RAM
  • 16GB of internal storage (microSD card to expand up to 2TB)
  • 13MP/5MP camera combo
  • 3,200 mAh battery (removable)
  • Android 7.0 Nougat
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Metallic Titan/Pink Gold

There you have it, that’s what you can expect from LG at CES 2017. Nothing mind-blowing, but if you crave an affordable device, LG’s new set of phones might appeal to you. The company hasn’t shared prices with us just yet, so we can only speculate. For example, at lunch earlier this year the LG Stylus 2 was priced at around $220 so this year’s Stylus might feature a similar price-tag.

Tech gift guide: Fitness and health gadget edition

Alexandra Arici
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Most of us have desk bound jobs which would have us sitting for hours on a chair to complete a task. That’s why more and more people are hitting the gym or parks after work, in a bit to counter this static life style.

Tech makers have picked up this trend and are looking to encourage people to stay healthy by tempting them with a myriad of fitness gadgets, designed to help them achieve their fitness goals.

If you too have a friend or a family member who’s hooked on sports and you still haven’t picked up a gift for him or her, here’s a few ideas that might be worth taking into consideration.

Fitbit Charge 2

01-fitbit-charge-2 Fitness trackers are the most common category of fitness-centric gadgets. The Fitbit Charge 2 is one of the best health tracking wearables out there. It comes with a spacious screen that is capable of displaying notifications and is riddled with sensors.

That’s why the Fitbit Charge 2 can provide you with things like a cardiovascular rating based on your VO2 Max and Relax – a collection of short breathing exercises designed to help lower blood pressure, reduce stress and lessen anxiety. The Fitbit Charge 2 is rain and splash proof and can be acquired for $128 a pop.

Relief Band

02-reliefband

While most wrist bound wearables are used to count steps and track sleep cycles, the Relief Band servers a more atypical purpose.

The device aims to combat nausea and vomiting. People are affected by nausea for different reason including plane or car rides, boating, VR gaming or morning sickness and the Relief Band takes it upon itself to relieve these symptoms. The gadget uses a highly specific waveform, frequency and intensity to stimulate the median nerve on the underside of the wrist in order to block the waves of nausea coming from the stomach.

It might sound a bit Sci-Fi, but you can actually get this gizmo from Amazon for $80 a pop.

Footboot Indoor Air Quality Monitor

03-footboot-indoor-air-quality-monitor

Does your loved one suffer from allergies? Then the Footboot Indoor Air Quality Monitor might be a life saver for them. The device is capable of assessing air quality inside the home or office. It will send real time alerts when it detect an excess of dust, pollution or too much moisture.

Footboot will play nice with other smart devices around the house, so the monitor can turn on by itself smart ventilation system or an air purifier. You can order it for $199.

Sportiiii Sports Feedback

04-sportiiii-sports-feedback

The Sportiiii Sports Feedback is a device that can be attached to any pair of glasses. The real-time performance device delivers feedback on fitness activity, without having users take their eyes off the road.

Feedback on current heart rate, cadence, speed and energy output is delivered using colored LEDs and audio prompts. The mobile app companion can be used to set training goals daily. The gadget ships out to interested parties for $249.

Withings Smart Body Analyzer

05-withings-smart-body-analyzer

For those trying to loose weight or keep themselves at certain proportions, having scales at their disposal is of absolute importance. But Withings doesn’t believe the traditional scales can provide enough information.

Enter the Withings Smart Body Analyzer – a smart scales of sorts capable of measuring heart rate, body fat and ambient temperature and air quality. The body analyzer quickly connects to Wi-Fi in order to push all relevant data to the dedicated phone app. The smart Withings scale is available for $127.

SunFriend Grey Mist Sun/UV Monitor

06-sunfriend-grey-mist-sun-uv-monitor

Why not give a gift this year that could help protect your loved one against terrible diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer’s. This wearable will let wearers known how much sun they are getting each day. It’s best used before sunscreen or covering up with clothes.

The tracker reads UV exposure through clouds and from reflective surfaces and will let you know when you have had enough of vitamin D for one day. The monitor can be bought for a discounted $24.99 (previously $49.99).

Samsung Gear S3 Frontier

07-samsung-gear-s3

The Samsung Gear S3 Frontier is one of the best smartwatches out there, which also comes packed with a host of fitness options.

Samsung’s dedicated fitness app, S Health can automatically detect certain workouts and start tracking them. Users can win rewards or badges for meeting or exceeding targets and even use the wearable to monitor how much water of caffeinated drinks you’re consuming.

But the Gear S3 Frontier offers more functionality than your average fitness tracker. For example it can let you play games or listen to music. Oh and the rotating bezel is a super fun way to control the watch. Buy the smartwatch for $299.

Sen.se Mother

08-sen-se-mother

The Mother is a fitness-related gadget for those with a passion for robots. The device acts like  hub, inviting users to connect Motion cookies (four are included in the package) – which are small sensors that can be programmed to track a variety of things including how much activity or sleep members of the household get or whether grandpa took his medication.

The Sen.se Mother can be bought for $200 from Amazon.

Bose SoundSport Bluetooth Earbuds

09-bose-soundsport-bluetooth-earbuds

If your friend of family member likes to listen to music while working out, the Bose SoundSport Bluetooth Earbuds can be the perfect companion. The earbuds deliver great audio quality and won’t disconnect no matter how much you move round. What’s more they can work with Google Now and are sold for an affordable $149.

Muse Brain Sensing Headband

10-muse-brain-sensing-headband

Muse is a companion for those who love to meditate. The brain fitness tool measures brain signals via 7 calibrated sensors – 2 on the forehead, 2 behind the ears plus 3 reference sensors.

After you put on the headband and start meditating, Muse will provide you with feedback about your meditation session in real time, by translating brain signals into the sounds of wind. After each session, Muse will then show you how your brain did from moment to moment via easy to understand graphs and charts in-app. Muse sells for $249.

Make your Chromecast even more powerful with these few steps – Right from your phone! [How-To]

Matt Adams
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Google has completely changed the game with the Chromecast. Gone are the days where you’d need to download a file on your computer, connect an HDMI cable from your TV to your computer, hit play, and hope everything works correctly. Now, we have the Chromecast which makes life infinitely easier, if you know how to leverage its power to your advantage. Today we’re going to give you a couple different methods for increasing Chromecast’s usefulness.

Kodi

If you don’t know what Kodi is, it’s defined as the following:

Kodi is a free and open-source media player software application developed by the XBMC Foundation, a non-profit technology consortium.

-Wikipedia

Basically, Kodi is a front-end for all of your media. It takes all the media you own and presents it in an easy to find fashion. The customization and add-ons for Kodi are extremely powerful, and while we’re not going to get into those today, I highly suggest you check them out if you are interested in taking up this project.

Why Kodi? Kodi is going to allow us to stream our local media to our Chromecast while using the Kodi front-end. No digging through file folders and search bars, Kodi just works (when it works). It’s like a Netflix for your own local library.

There are a couple different ways to set up Kodi to interface with your Chromecast, but we’re going to follow the method that is easiest on your battery and offers the most flexibility.

  1. Download and install Solid Explorer File Manager, Kodi, and LocalCast
  2. Download and save PlayerFactoryCore.xml
  3. Open up the Kodi app and connect it with your existing Kodi network from your computer
  4. Open Solid Explorer, Navigate to Downloads, and COPY PlayerFactoryCore.xml
  5. In Solid Explorer, navigate to Storage > Emulated > 0 Android > obb> org.xbmc.kodi > userdata then paste PlayerFactoryCore.xml
  6. Open Kodi and select your media file
  7. LocalCast will launch, press play, then select your Chromecast
  8. Click play one more time

Allcast

This is a great solution for those of us who have a large media library on a home PC. If you’re more comfortable with downloading or storing media directly on your phone, we have Allcast to accomplish the same goals. Here are a few easy steps to streaming media directly from your phone.

  1. Download Allcast
  2. Save files onto your phone’s local storage or a microSD card
  3. Open Allcast with your WiFi on and select your Chromecast
  4. Click on the file you want to cast
  5. Enjoy

I use Allcast often but sometimes run into downloaded files playing without audio. I have no idea why or which codec it can’t handle, but that may be something to consider. The free version of Allcast (which I’ve linked above) has a five-minute viewing limit for pictures and videos, which is a perfect amount of time to find out if you like the app. If you want to proceed, you can grab the premium version here.

Just a note here, we’re not encouraging you to download movies or TV shows illegally. We consider ourselves content creators here at AndroidGuys and it sucks when our content is stolen and repackaged on other sites (not naming names). If you do decide to torrent a movie and enjoy it, please make the effort to purchase it to support something you’ve enjoyed.

Rodeo Stampede: Sky Zoo Safari – A really long name for a really cool game (App Review)

AndroidGuys
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I am constantly looking for my next mobile gaming fix because I have a job that has a lot of “hurry up and wait” moments. I need games that I can play a few rounds of while waiting for a client, or that I can put away and ignore at a moments notice when the day picks up the pace. Yodo1 Games has an excellent track record of pushing out these kinds of games, with claims to fame such as Crossy Road and Mega Jump 2. Rodeo Stampede: Sky Zoo Safari is the latest gaming offering to come from Yodo1. It’s got a long name, but that name houses a boat load of fun! Let’s take a look.

Developer: Yodo1 Games
Price: Free/IAP
Download: Google Play, iOS

The Setup

Jumping into the game is quick and easy. You start off riding on a slow animal. The game then prompts you on how to control your cowboy. The one-handed controls are to simply hold a thumb on the screen to ride on the animals, release your thumb to leap forward through the air. While you’re airborne, there’s an outline on the ground a little bit in front of you. When you touch the screen again, you will lasso any animal in that circle and begin to ride again. Once you learn these basics, the game cuts you lose and lets you start wrangling animals all on your own.

Overview

And we’re off to rope us some animals!

This game is a continual runner game with loads of animals for you to ride on. Each animal has a different speed and endurance. If you run out of endurance, your animal will get angry, which will result in different things depending on what you are riding. They could run extremely fast, buck around wildly making it harder to control, or buck you off entirely, sending you flying forward similar to a jump whether you’re ready or not. If you are riding a fast animal, like an Ostrich, you’ll hit some blazing fast speeds, but you’ll run out of endurance much faster. A buffalo is pretty slow, but you’ll be able to take your time to dodge obstacles and line up jumps better since he is much more tolerant of you on his back. There are even some animals that will eat you or otherwise immediately end your run once their endurance runs out, so be careful. Also, the longer your run goes for, the smaller your lasso area gets, so long runs require precision and split second decisions to make it from animal to animal.

As you ride along, the game will point out new animals that you haven’t ridden before. Once you lasso one of these, a circle with a heart will pop up. When the indicator is full, that animal is added to your zoo, will appear in the wild more frequently, and will be available for you to start your run with. There are multiple breeds of each animal, ranging from just slight color variations to some really bizarrely cool creatures, like a tie-dye elephant or an ostrich wearing armor. If you are a collector, there is no shortness of animals to collect.

Caught another one!
Caught another one!

One of the coolest things is the way that the game handles its upgrade system. All the different breeds and variations of animals that you ride on all get added to your zoo and their habitats can be upgraded, which in turn gives that animal type additional abilities or stats. Every couple of hours you can also open the zoo to the public and get ticket sales for the number of habits and upgrades you have. It’s not as involved as some games with their zoo care, but it is a very nice visual touch to an age old upgrade menu.

There are a few in-app purchases, but most are your standard fare. Coin doubler, unlimited revives, and coin packs are available to boost your game. You also have to wait an arbitrary amount of time for missions to unlock after beating the previous one, so there is a purchase for that as well.

The only downside is that it does take a while to really unlock some of the cooler animals and missions. There are boss missions available that offer some unique items, but they only unlock after you complete a bunch of other missions. Having to wait for the next missions to unlock can take a long, long time. Unfortunately, this will probably turn off most players before they get to the more interesting animals and environments.

The Result

Rodeo Stampede is a super fun game. There are loads of unlockables and some really cool animals to collect. In-app purchases are unobtrusive and totally optional, but the game progression is much slower without them, and some players may quit before getting to the meat of the game. Overall, it’s a game everyone should take for a spin for the moments when you need to waste a little time.

Here’s the best prices on phones you’ll find at Sprint this week

AndroidGuys
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Time to purchase a new smartphone? Is this an upgrade from an existing device? We want to help you out either way.

To save you money, we’ve gathered up all of the promotions we could find from Sprint. Regardless of where you’re thinking of going for service, or what phone you are looking to pick up, you owe it to yourself to check below.

What follows is a mix of phone, rate plan, and accessory promotions worth checking out. It might not be an exhaustive list, but it’s a good collection of what’s currently offered through Sprint.

Although we’ve listed known expiration dates, we have no idea how long some of these other deals will last.

Sprint Deals

Samsung Galaxy S8 rumored to feature elusive “Beast Mode”

Alexandra Arici
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After the Galaxy Note7 debacle, Samsung is really counting on the Galaxy S8 to make a grand impression. To achieve this end, the Korean tech giant is working hard to make sure the Galaxy S8 flagship will be a behemoth of sorts, literally.

We’ve been hearing plenty of rumors related to the Galaxy S8 as of late. Some say the device will have an iris scanner a la Galaxy Note7, a selfie camera with autofocus and no 3.5 headphone jack or home button.

But today we bring you a piece of information a bit more interesting. According to an uncovered Galaxy S8 trademark registration, the Galaxy S8 will supposedly come equipped with something called “Beast Mode”. Apparently the feature can be applied to smartphone, notebook computers, computers, tablet PCs and portable computers.

get-beast-mode-on

So it’s seems Samsung is looking to embed some sort of turbo switch into its upcoming flagship. The phone is already rumored to come equipped with a Snapdragon 835 plus a whopping 8GB of RAM, so it should run mighty fast. But with Beast Mode enabled, the phone could turn quite literally into a fiend.

The trademark doesn’t offer any additional info on Beast Mode. It’s quite possible Samsung wants to give users the ability to overclock the Snapdragon 835 if they feel it is needed. The feature will probably be activated via an on/off switch to help prevent unnecessary battery drainage.

samsung-galaxy-s8

Why would Galaxy S8 users need all this power? Quite possibly to run smooth VR applications and to sustain the rumored 4K display.

Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge users already know Android Nougat beta brings a “high performance” option to the two current flagship phones, so “Beast Mode” might be something similar – maybe a bit more fine-tuned.

Top Chinese Android OEMs that shouldn’t be ignored in 2017

Alexandra Arici
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The US smartphone market is a highly competitive battle ground, with top players the industry constantly striving to attract more customers than the competition. But in recent years, Chinese smartphones have started drawing more and more attention upon themselves, while household names like LG and HTC are fading quietly into the background.

Products made in China are often viewed with untrusting eyes and suspicions that the low-price tags might be indicative of low quality are always of concern. But as we have seen lately, companies like Huawei and Xiaomi have demonstrated they are able to produce solid, premium smartphones and still sell them for affordable price-tags.

say-hi-to-android-robot

Some Chinese phone makers have been skittish of US, but slowly some have started migrating stateside. Most of these companies have seen enough growth in Asian markets to be able to venture out into the larger word, safely.

And here’s our list of what we believe to be the most promising Chinese Android OEMs which will probably manage to make a statement in the US market next year. Or so we think.

Xiaomi

xiaomi-mi-note-2-launches-in-china

Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra has hinted numerous times the company will eventually bring its products to the States officially. However, Xiaomi acknowledged the US market is highly competitive, so the company does not want to risk entering it until it’s highly sure it can survive in it. Despite being nicknamed Apple’s China, Xiaomi always preferred to play it safe.

Now, for the first time ever, Xiaomi has announced it will be making an appearance at CES 2017 in Las Vegas and bring with it a few products. Even if we’re not sure a smartphone will be included.

Recently, the company released the beautiful Mi Note 2 phablet which is a bit reminiscent of the Samsung Note7 design and the visually stunning edge-to-edge Mi MIX. While the phones are available for purchase from third-party retailers like Geekbuying, it would be nice if you could buy such products directly from Xiaomi itself. Hopefully it will happen soon.

Huawei

huawei-mate-9-front

Huawei is riding the wave on the international market. The company is already the world’s third largest smartphone manufacturer, but in two years Huawei wants to challenge Apple’s position. While Huawei is quite popular in Asia and Europe, its presence on the US market has been quite limited.

For starters, the company is yet to offer its latest flagship phone, the stunning, Leica-sensor equipped Mate9 into the States. Huawei might have a hard time penetrating the US, since the company has been involved in few patent conflicts with one of America’s largest carriers, T-Mobile among other things. Carrier support is very important for any company hoping to make it on the US market, and so far Huawei has been denied that. At the moment, the company is selling most of its products via Amazon and that’s where the Mate9 will probably land on January 6 (according to rumors).

Huawei is quite an innovative company that deserve a spot in the US market. Just look at their latest smartphone, the Honor Magic – a deliciously curvaceous handset blessed with an interesting set of AI capabilities. Now wouldn’t it be nice if this phone sold in the US as well? Who knows, maybe in 2017?

Oppo

red-oppo-r9s

Oppo is virtually a non-name in the US, but in China the company has managed to outsell Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi in China in Q3 of 2016 to become the number one smartphone maker in China.

Well according to recent rumors, Oppo is expected to make an official entry on the US market as soon as the year’s end. The company has been selling Blu-ray players in the country so far, but when it comes to smartphones the company will probably lead with its line-up of high-end camera phones.

The device maker has just unveiled new version of the Oppo R9s in red, which will go on sale in China on Christmas Eve. The nifty phone can be brought for approximately $400 and we’re looking forward to be able to purchase it here in States, as well.

ZTE

zte-axon-7

ZTE has been stationed in the US for a while, offering unlocked devices like the Axon 7 which we reviewed and liked quite a lot. The company also has a deal with US no-contract carrier, Cricket Wireless, but also with T-Mobile , so it’s doing much better than Huawei in this department.

ZTE also benefits from an active online community and has been trying to innovate the smartphone sector with Projects which invite fans to develop ideas for possible products (like the adhesive back, eye-tracking phone). The company is also considering a device aimed to fill the void left by the Google Nexus.

But ZTE has had its fair share of setbacks. Earlier this year, the company was accused of sending US technology intel to countries like Iran. The Commerce Department even hit the company with trade sanctions, which was eventually lifted a few weeks later.

Assuming ZTE can rid itself of these suspicions once and for all, the company seems to have a promising future here in the US.

UMi

umi_z_03

UMi is the most obscure name on the list, but the company is slowly but surely attracting attention upon itself. The device maker offers the phones for really low rates and we’re yet to see a model that exceeds $300.

Anyway UMi is currently selling in the country via third-party retailers, but come 2017 things might change. The company just unveiled the world’s first Helio P20 + 6GB of RAM smartphone which is available for $199 a pop, but has plenty of models in the pipeline scheduled for 2017. Like the UMi Z flagship with Helio X27 CPU which recently leaked.

It remains to be seen if the obscure handset maker is ready to officially debut in the US in 2017, but it certainly looks like the company is striving in that direction.

Epilogue:

While companies like LG, HTC or Samsung are leaking money through their smartphone divisions, Chinese OEMs seem to be the thriving. So 2017 might be indeed the year when we’re no longer going to get excited about LG’s new phones announcement at CES, but will be more interested in what companies like Xiaomi or Oppo have to offer.

AT&T’s new Call Protect service will shield you from fraudulent calls

Alexandra Arici
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AT&T unveiled a new service this week, called AT&T Call Protect which aims to shield users from the threat of spam calls. The system is capable of identifying specific fraudulent numbers and will either put them through with a warningor block them directly.

AT&T explains the new “automatic fraud blocking” feature is meant to reduce the chances of customers falling victims to scams. The carrier goes on to explain the service is efficient because can prevent these malicious calls at a network level before they can even reach a person’s phone.

call-protect-03

Sure, users can whitelist specific numbers to make sure important calls get through, but they’ll need to download a separate app called Call Protect in order to do so.

call-protect-02

The new feature is now available on iOS and Android and can be activated via the MyAT&T system. AT&T offers the service to all wireless customers who have HD Voice on their smartphones and are interested in having more control over their calls.

“Nuisance calls are an industry-wide problem that unfortunately affect many people. We’ve listened to our customers and know they want a network that provides tools to proactively assist in blocking nuisance calls. AT&T Call Protect, along with others, will help put customers more in control of the calls they receive.“

AT&T senior VP Jeff Bradely

While users have been allowed to manually black list a number for quite some time now, AT&T’s new service allows the carrier to create a larger data base of untrustworthy phone numbers. Users can contribute too.

call-protect-01

The Report Spam Calls allows subscribers to report spam and fraud calls by category to AT&T, so the carrier can continue to improve the service and make it as spam-call proof as possible.

RCA is making a comeback, announces new TVs, phones, and more

Matt Adams
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Remember when your living room had a 150lb 24″ television? It almost seemed like a right of passage to carry that thing to the curb when you bought your first flat screen TV. For many of us, that bulky, outdated TV was made by RCA. It was one of the most popular electronics companies in the 90’s before losing ground to competitors. Recently it’s put out some budget tablets, but not much to speak of.

But, now the company is attempting a comeback. Today we got word that RCA will be showing off a whole host of new products at CES 2017 in three weeks. Could these new lineups lead to a resurgence for RCA? Here are the details on the new products. If you see anything you’re interested in, tell us down in the comments.

Televisions

TVs are what RCA is most closely associated with, so it comes as a bit of a surprise that RCA is actually licensing out its name to Curtis to make televisions. Curtis, a Canadian electronics company will control the US territory and produce televisions to market with RCA’s name. Here are the details.

  1. RCA 4K 55″ UHD LED Curve TV (Model Number:RLED5537-UHD) MSRP $999.00)
    ultra-high definition 4K viewing experience which immerses the viewer in what they’re watching. It boasts LED backlighting with energy-efficient illumination for sharper
    contrasts and vibrant colors
  2. RCA 4K UHD 55″ TV (Model Number: 4K2K RLED5536-UHD) MSRP $499.99 – ultra-high definition, 4K viewing experience complete with LED backlighting with energy-efficient
    illumination
  3. RCA 4K 43” SMART LED TV MSRP $399.99 – ultra-high definition, 4K viewing experience featuring the Opera TV Store with apps for internet TV, Movies, Music, and more, including Netflix, Facebook, Twitter and more.

As you can see, RCA/Curtis aren’t even bothering new 1080p sets, which probably the best course of action. The price tags seem extremely competitive to what is currently being offered on the market right now. The story will be how well these sets are made and how they’re able to stand up to repeated use. Most TVs nowadays are cheaper to replace than fix, but avoiding that situation altogether is worth some extra coin at the starting gate.

Phones

RCA seems intent on joining the rest of the fray with its own Android devices. It’ll be competing in the $100 – $200 price range, so no flagships here. This is what the new lineup will look like.

  1. RCA Q1 (MSRP: $199.99 -16GB, $139.99 -8GB) – an unlocked 5.0” HD, dual SIM smartphone, featuring 4G LTE and Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Available in White or Black, and offering with 16GB or 8GB Internal Memory. Exclusive to Amazon.
  2. RCA G1 (MSRP: $139.99) – an unlocked, 5.5” HD, dual sim smartphone, equipping with quad core, 2400 mAh all-day battery, and 8.0 MP rear-facing camera. Exclusive to Amazon.
  3. RCA M1: (MSRP: $69.99) – an unlocked smartphone that’s perfect for seniors, kids and customers who want phones for travel or temporary use. Available in Black or White and featuring 4GB storage, expandable to 32GB via Micro SD card, and 5.0 MP rear-facing camera. Exclusive to Amazon.
  4. 6″ LTE 4G Android (MSRP $129.99) – an unlocked quad-core, Dual-SIM smartphone featuring 4G LTE and dual camera. No contract required. Available in Black or Gold.
  5. 5” Waterproof Rugged Dual SIM Mobile Phone (MSRP $99.99) – Shock resistant and waterproof. Dual-SIM smartphone features 4G LTE and dual camera. No contract required.

So…. RCA is trying, at least. None of these options look super appealing based on the information we have right now when you can go grab a Blu R1HD for $60 or a Moto G Play for $99. We’ll have to see what these devices look like and what compelling software options they’ll offer. No word if they’ll run a near stock version of Android or not, but at least we’ll have some cheap options for your kid’s or parent’s first smartphone.

Tablets

RCA is probably best known for its tablets in 2016, and it’ll be releasing a few more in 2017. Most notable of the two is a 2-in-1 convertible running Android. Here are the details.

  1. RCA 12.2″ Android 2-in-1 (model number RCT6K23W24DK1) – MSRP $249.99 – an Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) tablet complete with Folio case. It boasts a quad-core, dual
    camera and HD screen.
  2. RCA 12.2” Windows 2-in-1 (Model number: W122AP45DK1) MSRP $449.99 – a Windows 10 2-in-1 PC with a detachable keyboard provides the power of a laptop, with the ease and freedom of a tablet including ample storage, Intel Pentium Processor, up to 10 hours battery life, USB ports, and dual-facing cameras.

So, these look like two flavors of the same device, one with Android and one with Windows. It’s a bit disappointing to see Android 6.0 instead of 7.0, especially by the time these are released to the public, but at least it isn’t an older version, I suppose. The Android tablet market is starved for compelling options right now, so hopefully can carve out a niche there.

RCA will also be debuting some new appliances like a retro fridge or a microwave, nothing revolutionary from the sounds of it. We hope this is the first step towards the resurgence of a once-proud American company, but that remains to be seen. If RCA can offer some compelling options in the budget smartphone area, maybe that will lead to some higher end devices too. We’ll be covering CES so we’ll be sure to bring you more as we see it.

stayZen is a zen-style game that may actually calm you (review)

AndroidGuys
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Lots of Android games want to wow you with crazy, hair-raising action, speed, and wild graphics. Their mission is to pull you in with the promise of a frenetic pace, testing your reflexes and concentration in the face of unrelenting distractions.

screenshot_20161207-220356stayZen is an Android game that tries to go in another direction. This is a game that is trying to be a bit of a meditation app. Or it could be a meditation app masking itself as a bit of gaming fun. It comes from Canadian developer PeaceOut Games. It is suitable for all ages; though young kids may have trouble keeping the game going, while even tweens may not appreciate the purposeful speed of this title.
If you’re curious by just what I mean, keep reading to see what this game/app is all about.

Setup

Install and setup is very straightforward. Simply download from the Play Store and fire it up. Once in the title screen, you have a couple of choices. “Levels” shows you the level map with all the different worlds & levels you’re in for. “Options” lets you choose some gameplay preferences such as music on/off, player avatar, and both gravity & enzo strength (more on these in a minute).
Otherwise you just press “Start” and you’re in.

Gameplay

screenshot_20161207-220532As I stated before, stayZen gameplay feels like a mix of game and zen-practice app. The idea of the game is to move your avatar (which starts as a Japanese-style painted circle but can be changed as you progress through the game) along a predetermined path on your screen to a unopened lotus blossom. Upon reaching your goal, your blossom blooms into a flower. Your main antagonist here is simple gravity; your avatar will always be pulled downward, and it’s your job to fight gravity while not veering off your line.

You move your stayZen avatar by ‘painting’ it along the path by repeatedly making small swipes in the direction you want your avatar to go. While going in a straight left-to-right line, you need to swipe up and to the right to counter gravity and to move your avatar closer to your goal. This swiping is your ‘enzo’. So as stated before, you can (slightly) adjust both the gravity and enzo strength in the game to change things up.

screenshot_20161207-220434The idea behind this game is not to blast through the levels as fast as you can or to acquire as many power-ups/coins/avatars as possible; rather, it’s to find a “zone” in which you are painting your avatar safely along its path. Slowly is just fine here; you won’t find any points or timers here.
After finishing a level, you are simply treated with a philosophical quote from various public figures….everybody from Gandhi himself to Mia Hamm (seriously!).

As you can imagine, the paths start as rather easy in the early levels, but quickly increase in difficulty. In addition, the game will add obstacles that you have to steer around (such as scorpions) and other path variations that turn it into more of a platformer.

Graphics & Music

15284824_1800281063584226_3616929330942987222_nGraphics in this game are very high-quality, with the backgrounds getting a nice vellum or scroll paper treatment. Most items shown in the game are simple black silhouettes, adding to the sunset-esque quality of the game lighting.

Music is also very well done, in the form of a soothing flute playing continuously throughout your experience. The only jarring moment comes when your avatar becomes separated from your path; a jarring gong indicates that your round is over along with your avatar free-falling off the bottom of your device’s screen.

Conclusion

stayZen is a rather soothing variation on a platform game, to the point where you could use this title as a game or as a relaxation app. I have to say, I rather enjoyed playing through the levels. The combination of the relaxing visuals, music, and “painting” gameplay mechanic did tend to settle me while playing.

If pressed, I would say the main critique I would have is that the level variation could start to happen a bit earlier than it currently does. It takes several levels to start to see some truly different levels (at least for my preference). But then again, that is probably exactly as the developer intended the game to be to allow for a deeper and longer engagement in the zen-like quality of the presentation before testing you with more varied and difficult levels.

As a bonus, the developer has just recently updated the game,with smoother gameplay and controls, which shows a good commitment to the title for the foreseeable future. In the end, I do highly recommend this game, and feel that you can’t go wrong with giving it a try. Download here and see if you feel the same.

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