The mobile game market tends to have emphasis placed on opposing ends of the spectrum. On one end you have the very (and sometimes extremely!) grand, detailed, and complex works of artistic and scientific wonder. These games are constantly out developing each other with their intricate world designs, control schemes, and processor-eating technical requirements.
On the opposite end you have a very different expectation. These are games where simplicity rules, and both ease-of-play and addictiveness by design can quickly decide the success of a title. There are plenty of options at both ends.
One such option on the simpler end of things is the title “Clocks”, by the Saskatchewan, Canada-based studio Noodlecake Games. They first hit the mobile game market with their possibly familiar “Stickman Golf” and “Super Stickman Golf” games.
Setup
You can grab the game for free from the Play Store, and startup is as easy as pressing the app icon on your device.
The game does connect with your Google Play Games account, though I’ve never personally used that so I cannot speak to it’s worth here.
Gameplay
The idea of “Clocks” is simple enough. There are two modes, ‘Quest’ and ‘Survival’, though you are forced to start with ‘Quest’. In this mode, in each level you are presented with a different arrangement of clock faces, each with a single hand spinning either clockwise or…you guessed it.
Each clock’s hand is also spinning at a different speed. The only control is a large ‘shoot’ button taking up the bottom of the display; about the size of the Android screen dock on a typical home screen. At the beginning of each level, one clock is highlighted as the one you are in control of.
The idea is to press the ‘shoot’ button as the spinning hand lines up with another clock of your choice. This action shoots a small dot, or BB, at the clock you’re aiming at. If you hit it, the previous clock disappears and you are now in control of the clock you just hit; ready to shoot the next one of your choosing. You repeat this until you have cleared all of the clocks off the screen, when you are congratulated on-screen and taken to the next level. If you miss, a quick “oh darn”-type message pops up; you’re given the option to try again and again until you complete it.
There are two levels of victory in each stage: you receive a *star* if you complete the stage before the stage’s countdown timer gets to zero, or simply a ‘passable’ score, with the option to move to the next stage or retry for the star.
Once you clear the 10th level, a message displays that you have unlocked access to the ‘Survival’ option of the game. This is an untimed version of the game. You begin with a similar screen of randomly placed spinning clocks, one highlighted as the one in your control, ready to stop and shoot upon your button press.
The difference here is when you accurately shoot a clock and take it over, the old one disappears and a new one randomly appears guaranteeing you never run out of clocks to shoot. The object here is not to clear the screen, but to see how many clocks you can accurately hit before finally missing, which becomes your high score. Successive attempts at this game option are solely to break your record and get a new personal high score.
Summary
Overall I do enjoy this game; the design is simple, but colorful and with good visual contrast, so it’s easy on the eyes when staring at a 5” screen. The gameplay is a matter of simple timing, which makes personal investment a minimum. You can pick it up and put it back down equally easily, which is nice in a typical hectic day. Sometimes you just want to challenge yourself, or while away the minutes in the doctor’s waiting room on something not called Facebook.
Premium build, 4GB of RAM, 3x optical zoom, and $399 price tag – is this the smartphone to beat?
Asus has been trying to crack the market’s smartphone code for a while now. Prior to its current lineup, the company tried again and again to get consumers on-board with an unconventional but innovative smartphone/tablet integration concept with the PadFone. Alas, the Taiwanese manufacturer finally gave in to the lackluster sales and redirected its smartphone efforts to the ZenFone.
2015 was a good year for Asus; when the ZenFone 2 managed to catch the market’s attention with its newfound value. It packed bangin’ specs for the competitive price. Asus phones were finally selling. But while the company later used this success as an opportunity to introduce ZenFone 2 variants, one of its offering quietly slipped out of view – the ZenFone Zoom.
First announced at CES 2015, Asus boasted a smartphone with a camera that could optically zoom. In hindsight, it seems like that project was a bit too ambitious for the manufacturer, as it’s taken a whole year of extra development to finally get it into our hands.
Is the ZenFone Zoom better late than never, or should it have remained as a concept? Let’s find out.
Design
If you recall the ZenFone Zoom’s CES 2015 announcement, you may notice that the back cover is slightly different to the production unit. The former had a smooth plastic cover while the latter looks leathery. Due to the Zoom’s aggressive pricing, I suspected that we would actually be dealing with faux leather.
When I got a hold of the review unit, I was convinced that my assumption was correct. The entire back cover feels like a leather-textured hard plastic. However, Asus states that it is in fact a “premium”, burnished leather. Because the material doesn’t quite feel the part, I’m left ambivalent about the effort.
Nonetheless, the texture and rounded back feels great in hand. Yes, the phone is in no way trying to be slim, but it’s not a brick either. OEM obsession over phone thinness is overrated in my book (especially when it’s traded for features), and the Zoom’s extra girth is no way impugns phone ergonomics.
Thickness comparison between the LG V10 (left) and ZenFone Zoom (right)
We can’t talk about the back of the phone without addressing the elephant in the room – that large circular camera housing. I’m not quite sure why the camera component has to take up so much space, but I won’t question the engineering magic that Asus had to pull off to gain 3x zooming from a lens that doesn’t telescope (more on the camera details later). I do appreciate that the odd module is just about the same thickness as the thickest portions of the phone. It doesn’t have that disruptive appearance that previous optically zooming smartphones have beared (i.e. Samsung’s Galaxy Zoom series)
The camera lens is recessed, so you don’t have to worry about the protective glass getting scratched and ruining your pictures. However, on a usability note, the len’s placement on the back isn’t conventional (it’s lower than on most phones). I find myself often touching it with my index finger, then having to swipe off the fingerprint smudge before taking pics.
Because the curved back tapers on the sides, towards the bottom you’ll see a raised lining for stability (it keeps the phone from wobbling when set on a table). Subtle leather stitching surrounds the protrusion, for that convincing look. Right below it is a rear-facing, mono external speaker.
Oh, and that back cover is removeable. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that you’ll have access to the battery (it’s barricaded in), but you will get a micro-SD slot. This is where the SIM slot lives as well.
Before receiving the Zoom, I wasn’t aware that Asus had now evolved the ZenFone’s build with a metal frame. It’s excellent and as premium as they come. It’s rounded, similar to the iPhone, and feels great in-hand. The finish is smooth and matte, the color has an interesting deep purple-ish tone. The metal is chamfered on both edges of the frame to show off its shine. The whole presentation says classy and complements the leathery backing well.
Regarding ports, you’ll find the headphone jack on the top and micro-USB port on the bottom. And because the Zoom is camera-centric, Asus included a lanyard opening on the bottom-left corner, for safety from drops during all those photo shoots. The physical buttons are all on the right side (there’s nothing on the left side). Asus not only fitted a camera shutter button but also a record button adjacent to it. Holding down on either button launches the camera app whether the phone is off or on. Cleverly, the volume buttons double up for zooming when you’re in the camera app. They even have “T” (Telephoto) and “W” (Wide Angle) labels etched on them, like on a dedicated camera.
The front of the phone keeps traditional ZenFone fashion. There’s an Asus logo squeezed in between the earpiece and display, capacitive buttons, and the signature bezel plate along the bottom (which has a circular texture that produces a light ray effect from the center of the pattern). The Zoom’s bezel size is fairly average; it’s not the best screen-to-body ratio. It is just about as tall as the LG V10, which isn’t a good thing. The V10 has a 0.2″ larger display and a secondary screen on top of that.
But I suppose that when you factor in the $399 price and optical zoom, it can be forgivable.
Performance
Asus continues its partnership with Intel on the ZenFone Zoom. It packs an Intel Atom Z3580, which is comprised of a quad-core processor (running at 2.3GHz), PowerVR G6430 graphics processor, and 4GB of LPDDR3 RAM. Yes, you heard correctly – 4GB in a $399 smartphone.
But do those specs mean as much as they sound like they mean in the real world? Mostly. The Zoom is a speedy animal. Even despite the heavy ZenUI, it still manages to chug through Android without hesitation.
However, there were moments that frame rate drops were noticeable. I’m not talking about lags or delays, but rather, the fluidity was interrupted at times. In digging around, I noticed that ZenUI’s default “Normal” power management system says that it “Smartly adjusts CPU performance and brightness”. You can switch it to the “Performance” mode, in which it will utilize the entire CPU’s capability (at the cost of battery life).
A great thing is that the standard internal storage capacity of the Zoom is 64GB. I wish that every OEM would follow suit. And what makes that even sweeter is that micro-SD expansion is supported. You can only add on 64GB more, but at least you can.
Audio performance on all front is nothing to write home about. The rear placement of the external speaker is not ideal, and it’s thin-sounding. And there is nothing special to my ears from the audio out of the headphone jack.
Display
The ZenFone Zoom has a 5.5″ sized IPS LCD screen. Its resolution isn’t saturated with the QHD pixel count that many flagships boast these days, but 1080P is sufficient (403 PPI). I don’t find the difference between QHD and 1080P on a 5.5″ display that telling anyways, and would much rather not waste the extra battery life on something that frivolous.
The panel’s quality is above average. It particularly excels at keeping its composure at even extreme viewing angles. Colors look a tad dull to my eyes, but that’s just me being nit-picky.
The brightness does leave to be desired though. I feel like the max brightness should be able to go an extra 20-30% further (based on my experience with other phones). This mostly becomes a concern outside on a sunny day. But in digging around, I did find out that you can gain more brightness from within the Battery settings. Putting the phone in “Performance” mode increases the max brightness slightly (we’ll talk about this more in the Battery section).
Camera
Now the moment you’ve probably been waiting for – the ZenFone Zoom’s camera performance. Asus boasts a lot of technological achievement about the Zoom’s sensor on paper, but all that awesomeness deliver in real world use? We’ll get to that.
Firstly, something to know about the Zoom’s optics is that the lens doesn’t telescope like with traditional optical zooming. I didn’t know that upon receiving the phone. So when I opened her up and stared at the lens while zooming, you can probably guess the look on my face.
Asus says that the 3x optical magnification is achieved by some 10-element HOYA periscopic lens arrangement trickery. You can get more details about the technology (which Asus dubs PixelMaster 2.0) on the manufacturer’s site.
The sensor itself has a 13MP capture resolution. It is also supplemented by 4 stops of Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and an ultra-fast (0.03 seconds) laser auto-focus. The len’s f/2.7 aperture isn’t particularly great (compared to significantly larger sizes from the latest flagships), but Asus tries to assist the low-light performance from the software side with a Low Light shooting mode.
Without further ado, let’s get into the photo samples. Click on the collection below to see zoomed in (3x) and out samples.
The optical zoom does work, and the camera quality is maintained when zoomed. Check out this comparison with the LG V10, both zoomed at 3x (but the V10 can only do digital zoom).
LG V10, 3x zoom
Asus ZenFone Zoom, 3x zoom
To my eyes, the Zoom’s camera performs fantastically in good lighting. But the results can take a dubious turn otherwise. Areas of concentrated lighting can too easily be overexposed.
HDR helps to a point (mostly to even out the overall contrast), but the blown-out areas will still be there. On the other extreme, there is an expected struggle when light is taken away. But the camera doesn’t try to force it and give you grainy images, things are just less visible. Thankfully, there is a Low Light shooting mode in the camera interface, which produces decent results.
Auto shooting mode
Low Light shooting mode
There’s no strings attached to the optical zoom’s use. It still works in special shooting modes, such as HDR and Low Light, as well as while recording. If you find that you need to zoom more than 3x, the len’s mechanism also allows it to go all the way to 12x (but via digital zooming).
Speaking of shooting modes, Asus makes sure the hardware is well supported on the software front. On the bottom-right corner of the camera interface is a shortcut to a barrage of modes.
Some of these options are commonplace, but there’s a couple standout features. Super Resolution combines the detail from four simultaneous shots into a result that simulates 4x the capture resolution. Miniature mode gives the user finer tuning over the depth of field effect. Time Rewind takes simultaneous burst shots before and after the shutter button was tapped.
Battery
The ZenFone Zoom packs a modest 3,000 mAh capacity battery (non-removeable). It’s been sufficient in my use. I’ll go ahead to show you a battery usage graph, over a 9-hour period (the first half on T-Mobile’s network and the other half on WiFi).
50% battery drain over 9 hours is fine in my book. My usage covered a lot of use cases, such as internet browsing, music, maps/navigation, social media, and camera (screen brightness varied between max and 75%). But I didn’t play any games.
Do be aware that ZenUI packs battery modes that can largely determine what your battery life outcome will be. By default, the system is set to “Normal” (this is the mode that I used for the results above). It’s nice that Asus gives the user choices. Most UI’s have some form of Power Saving settings, but ZenUI actually lets you maximize performance if you want to (at the cost of battery life of course).
There are two tiers of power saving modes: “Power saving” and “Super saving”. The former disables networks when the phone is on standby, while the latter only keeps the basic phone functions going (calling, texting, alarm). Or you can select “Customized” and pick and choose the system behavior yourself, such as CPU performance, screen brightness, and network and app activity. Lastly, “Smart switch” allows automatic battery mode switching based on either a certain battery percentage or user-specified schedule.
Software
The ZenFone Zoom runs off of Android 5.0 (Lollipop). Sadly, it’s not the latest version of Android and not even Android 5.1 (which was a crucial update in Lollipop). ZenUI is the user interface (UI) overlay and is no doubt as heavy as they come. But I will admit that after some time with the UI, I’ve started to open up to it. I don’t find that performance is hindered by ZenUI (which gives me confidence over Asus’s software competence), and I’ve discovered several useful functions that aren’t on other UI’s.
But I will always complain about unnecessary changes to Android’s aesthetics; it’s a waste of effort when changes don’t add any value. Things like the notification shade, app drawer, folder layout, and panel transitions all get a ZenUI fix. In fact, there’s no trace of true Android that I can spot.
Adding more insult to injury, Asus throws in a ton of home-brewed apps that get in your face. At the phone’s first startup, you get a barrage of notifications from these apps to let you know that they’re present (and they pop up again over time). The Asus apps range from system management (data cleaner, power settings) to media features/tools. Fortunately, if you’re like me and don’t care, the system allows you to disable the apps (but not uninstall).
But ZenUI does redeem itself through a couple ways. One of these is gestures (which stock Android has yet to implement).
There are two categories of gestures: Motion and Touch. There’s only a couple of motion gestures; shaking the phone to take a screenshot or bringing the phone to your ear to pick up a phone call. The touch gestures are far more interesting. Firstly, tap-to-wake is present (thank you, Asus!). What’s also cool is that you can draw a letter on the screen when it is off to launch one of the specified apps.
One other neat action is when you swipe up from the home screen. A “Manage Home” area pop ups, which contains various functions you may often use. You’ll also run into other nice useful features throughout the UI. For instance, you can set a tap and hold on Recent Apps button to take a screenshot or open up an app’s menu. The display’s coloring is alterable via presets or user customization. And there’s a useful “Auto-start Manager”, where you can save system memory by controlling which apps are allowed to run automatically.
Theming is something that I think every UI should be able to do. ZenUI has a “Themes” app with a vast library of free and paid options. This includes a library of icon packs and third-party support to grab a pack from the Play Store.
Final Thoughts
When I reflect on everything that the ZenFone Zoom offers and then recall its asking price of $399, I can’t help but think that the value is great. I could most definitely replace my daily driver flagship phone (which costs almost twice as much) and not regret it. That’s where the ZenFone line has the upper-hand, and the 3x optical zoom is icing that you won’t get on most cakes out there.
As long as your expectations aren’t sky-high, the ZenFone Zoom is definitely recommendable. I just emphasize that the camera’s general performance is good but not the best you’ll find, and that ZenUI may be too heavy for Android enthusiasts (although, it functions just fine).
We’d like to give a shout-out to B&H Photo for supplying our ZenFone Zoom review unit!
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, sources close to Google have indicated that the tech giant is working on a stand-alone Virtual Reality headset that will be independent of a phone, computer, or gaming console. Google is apparently ready to take on the likes of Oculus and offerings from Sony, HTC, and Samsung with its new headset that may debut later this year. A Virtual Reality headset that works independently of another system would be a first in the VR field, and possibly give Google a leg up on its competition.
[blockquote author=”Clay Bavor, Google’s new VR Chief”]Since the beginning we’ve been about making VR available for everyone. We’ll have some more to share later in the year[/blockquote]
A source familiar with Google’s plans has indicated that the new headset will include a screen, high-powered processors, and outwardly facing cameras. Google will reportedly use chips from Movidius Inc. to power the headset. The chips will tap into the cameras on the headset to check the cameras’ feeds and determine the position of the user’s head. This would differ from other VR headsets that use an accompanying computing device, like a desktop computer or gaming console, to track the movements of users’ heads.
Nothing has been confirmed yet, and we’re only getting information from sources close to the project. This isn’t uncommon for an unreleased device. We see leaks almost every day for devices like the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the LG G5 that have yet to see the light of day. What is different about this situation is that we’re talking about an entirely new device from Google.
Virtual Reality is an area where Google has dipped its toes in the water (Google Cardboard) but has yet to commit to go swimming. It’s entirely possible that Google begins to go down this path and either finds it too difficult or too costly and cancels the project. It could turn out similarly to projects like Google Wave or Google Buzz that saw limited beta releases, then were shuttered.
There are also reports coming out that Google is working on an updated version of Google cardboard. The new version would be made out of plastic, and while it would continue to rely on a user’s smartphone screen, it would include computer chips and sensors. Cardboard started as an experiment for Google, but after 5 million units shipped, the project may have convinced Google that Virtual Reality is a revenue stream waiting to be tapped.
Keep your eyes peeled to Google I/O 2016 for a possible announcement.
Leaks are coming fast and furious about the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Today we have a couple of tidbits of information to pass along that you may find interesting. First and foremost, we might be getting a hint into a major selling point for the new flagships from Korea’s largest business.
AndroidWorld.nl, a Dutch Android site, is reporting that when you purchase a Samsung Galaxy S7 or Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, you’ll also receive a free Samsung Gear VR. This offer will apply to those who pre-order the phone between February 21 and March 10. You will then have to register your purchase on Samsung’s website.
This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen Samsung throw out some pretty crazy incentives to get people into its ecosystem. It was very generous in its gifts to those who signed up with Samsung Pay. Packages ranged from a fast wireless charger valued at $50 to a $200 e-coupon you could use on Samsung’s website to purchase accessories.
The other bit of information stated in the AndroidWorld article would seem to confirm the pre-order date of the S7 and S7 Edge. In our What We Know post about the Galaxy S7, we’ve written that the phones would be announced on February 21, 2016. This date is one day before Mobile World Congress starts in Barcelona. Samsung will reportedly then hold several events around the world on February 22 to show off the new devices, including one in New York City.
Be sure to keep your eyes glued to AndroidGuys.com to stay up to date on all the leaks of the early year flagships coming out. We have posts up about the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the LG G5, which we are constantly updating.
[df-subtitle]Limited-time promotion is like having a fourth line for free[/df-subtitle]
Sprint today introduced a new, limited-time deal for families of up to four users in need of lots of mobile data. Available starting from February 12, Sprint will offer a plan of four lines of service with unlimited talk, text, and data for $150 per month. Moreover, accounts also receive 3GB of mobile hotspot and Sprint Global Roaming with unlimited 2G data and text messaging in select countries.
Akin to getting the fourth line for free, the price of the plan is the same for three lines. Customers who want a two-line unlimited plan can do so for $120 per month. A single line option is $75 per month.
Even folks who are not tech-savy may have heard about phone unlocking in some form or another. This is especially likely if you’ve questioned using your phone on an international trip. A locked phone isn’t a complicated concept; it is merely a result of carrier exclusivity. The U.S. carriers often tune phones for their own network’s specs, and part of that process is not allowing that phone to go any other carrier (hence the term “locked”).
But a locked phone can be unlocked and regain the freedom that it’s born with. It’s software-based. However, that may be a painful process to go through. Carriers don’t like when you leave them, so there may be hoops to jump through to get the phone-locking software disabled.
Fortunately, there is another way than pestering the carrier about it. DoctorSIM is a service created to git ‘r done as painlessly as possible. Let’s run through the process and see how easy it can be.
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Easy as 1… 2… 3
DoctorSIM says that there’s three simple steps in its service to you to phone freedom.
Essentially, you give them your phone information and they do the background work to obtaining the unlock code. Getting that unlock code is the key. Once you have it, you simply type it into your phone and voila.
To start, tell doctorSIM the make of your phone, the country, and the carrier. It’s important to know that not every combination of phone make and carrier is gonna be a go. Particularly, CDMA carriers (Verizon and Sprint) don’t play the game well. I don’t even see that doctorSIM can do Sprint phone unlocking (I always get a “We are sorry, service not available at this time” message when I try).
However, because Verizon does phones with “Global” GSM access these days, the service can be available for it. When you do get a suitable match, you’ll be presented with service options.
What’s the difference?
I was initially confused as to why there’s tiers to the service. Isn’t it you either unlock or don’t? Well, because the level of difficulty in obtaining the unlock code is situational, doctorSIM offers Standard and Premium services. Standard looks for the code locally and Premium looks for it on a worldwide scale (doctorSIM is a global company). It is very well possible that the local database can fail to turn up the code, so choosing the Premium service would give you higher success rate.
Generously, if you go with the Standard service and fail, doctorSIM will fully refund you. So it’s nice that you have nothing to lose. The Premium Express service is as implied, it searches for the unlock code worldwide and promises to get it to you much more quickly (if you’re in a hurry).
Once you decide on a service, you just have to tell doctorSIM what your phone’s IMEI is (your phone’s unique identifier number).
This is what doctorSIM needs to track down your specific phone’s unlock code. From here, submit your payment and doctorSIM will take it from there. You’ll be emailed the unlock code when it is retrieved.
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Go Get It!
If you’re interested in freeing your phone to use on a different carrier, but don’t want to deal with the annoying process, you should check doctorSIM out (hit up the link below). Most of us like to keep using our device when we travel, so give unlocking a thought if utilizing an international carrier sounds really beneficial.
With Mobile World Congress just around the corner, we are already seeing some early announcements and press releases from manufacturers. This latest one comes from Archos, a French manufacturer known for mostly making low- to mid-range tablets and smartphones in the European markets. The latest Archos device will be an addition to the existing Oxygen line, and will be dubbed the Oxygen 50d. The namesake indicates that it is a successor to the mid-range Oxygen 50c, which debuted two years ago.
The Oxygen 50d looks to fit in somewhere between mid-range and high-end, sporting a 5-inch 1080 x 1920 IPS display that boasts 440 pixels per inch. Under the hood will be a MediaTek MTK6753 processor at 1.3GHz, backed by a Mali T720 MP3 GPU and 2GB of RAM. The latest Oxygen device will also feature a 13MP rear camera with LED flash and a 5MP front camera.
Image credit: AndroidCentral.com
Sadly, there will only be 16GB of onboard storage, but users will be able to expand that by up to 32GB via a MicroSD card slot. The Oxygen 50d will also feature a dual-SIM slot. A 2100 mAh battery will power the Android 5.1 Lollipop device, which Archos will have on display at Mobile World Congress in a few weeks.
Interestingly, the Oxygen 50d sports capacitive Home, Menu, and Back buttons, which deviates from the common practice of onscreen Android navigation buttons that most flagship devices of late have come to feature. We will be watching to see how this change plays out when the phone is released. Expect the Oxygen 50d to go on sale in May of this year with a $149.99 price tag.
At risk of sounding utterly cliche, Puxers is a game that’s easy to pick up, but hard to master. You flick numbered pucks around an arena, colliding like-numbered pucks with one another. When these pucks collide, they transform into the sum of those numbers. You may have no more than 12 pucks on the board at a time – any more, and you lose.
Beyond the standard Google Play login, there’s not much to do as far as setup for this app goes. I’d highly recommend viewing the tutorial slides, which you access by tapping on the stylized ‘?’ on the right side of the screen.
Features
Puxers is relatively simple, but at the same time challenging and strategic. I fell in love with it very quickly. The graphics are cute and arcadey, with sounds to match, and the game itself runs very smoothly. Pucks range in scale by powers of 2, from 2 to 8192. By colliding like numbers, you create a numbered puck that equals the sum of the two you collided. For example, colliding two 8-pucks results in a 16-puck, two 16-pucks yields a 32-puck, etc. At some point – I believe it is when the number reaches 8192, the puck simply turns into a star and leaves the field. As you accumulate numbers, your score goes up.
The kicker, however, is that if you accumulate twelve pucks on the board and fail to clear one, you lose. Game over. This is where the game’s only in-app-purchase comes into play; if you lose, you are able to Undo your last move by paying $0.99. In between games you’ll often encounter long, video-based ads that can be skipped in a few seconds, which will then direct you to a Play Store download link. A small inconvenience, but inconvenient nonetheless.
If you like simple, challenging puzzlers, this game is for you. Great quality of product, a simple game mechanic, and a real sense of accomplishment when you beat your score should make this game a hit if it gains traction.
We know that the LG G5 is upon us; LG hasn’t been quiet about the fact. The Korean manufacturer is also known to tease little tidbits about new upcoming features, and we just got our first one for the G5. The company’s Facebook page, LG Mobile, posted a teaser gif that reveals Always On capability on the G5’s display.
Always On isn’t a radical concept, but a real nice to have. It’s probably most known on Motorola devices (Moto Display). It partially lights up the screen to only show information that we frequently check on our phones (the time, date, and notifications).
LG first played with the idea on the V10 (with the help of the Second Screen). However, the G5 teaser shows the information pop up front and center on the display. This strongly hints that LG will make a move to an OLED panel (which isn’t too far-fetched based on recent reportings), because lighting up the entire display for small pieces of information would be hugely inefficient. The V10 got away with it because it only needed to turn on the small secondary 2.1″ display up top.
LG V10 Always On Second Screen
While this is all we know so far officially, we have recently gotten some telling leaks. Check out our rumor roundup on the G5. The Feb. 21st unveiling at Mobile World Congress isn’t too far now, so hang tight. Does LG really grab your attention with the Always On feature?
Update: New LG G5 Quick Cover case announced as well
Looks like LG is having a hard time waiting for the G5’s official announcement. A refreshed Quick Cover case was just introduced for the phone that does not yet exist. It will be touch-enabled (interaction through the case’s screen cover) and take advantage of the Always On display feature via a cutout.
The case’s cover is said to be made of a semi-transparent mesh. You’ll be able to answer/reject calls and control alarm settings without flipping it open.
[blockquote author=”LG”]Users of the case can check the time, date and notifications on the Always-on Display of the yet unseen LG G5 even with the cover closed. LG also incorporated a unique film with a glossy metallic finish to enhance the smooth and luxurious look and feel of the cover for maximum consistency with the speculative LG G5.[/blockquote]
Stay tuned for a closer look at the new Quick Cover at Mobile World Congress later this month. But I’m sure we’ll get more teasers on the way.
Most of us love music (if you don’t, I’m very sorry for you). Tastes may vary, but we all like a good tune every now and then. When we want to listen to music at home or on the go, it’s important to be able to do it on a good speaker and unless you’re rocking an HTC One M series phone, Moto X, or Nexus 6P, you’re probably looking for something better than the speakers on your phone.
Ultimate Ears has an offering that’s really hard to pass up when it comes to pure speaker quality and loudness; they call it the UE ROLL.
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Design
Upon removal from the packaging (rolled cardboard), my first impression was that this is a very attractive and modern-looking speaker. The colors are very appealing and you quickly realize that even though it doesn’t look like a boulder with an OtterBox case on it, it’s actually a very rugged device. I don’t recommend running it over with your monster truck, but it feels like it might actually survive being run over.
As noted in the spec sheet below, it’s IPX7 rated, which means it can be completely immersed in water up to one meter deep for up to 30 minutes. Again, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend trying to drown it, but you can certainly take it with you to the shower or the beach without having to worry.
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Sound
When I started playing music, I noticed how clear and beautiful the sound was and how it doesn’t distort when you turn it up to full volume. The loudness is also very impressive for what it is. I found that keeping it at full volume for too long was going to probably upset someone around me, which for something of its size is pretty amazing.
As far as the tuning is concerned, I’d definitely say it sounds better in the mid-range to high-range sounds. UE advertises it as being a pro with the lows and it even has a “bass jump” mode in the built-in equalizer, but it didn’t really impress me much in that department.
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Control
The front of the UE Roll is very stylish. It didn’t actually occur to me at first though, that the stylish design is actually very functional. The front of the speaker has giant +/- buttons on it to control the volume and I was very pleased by that. After that the fun ends. The buttons can’t be long-pressed to get any additional functionality (such as skipping or repeating a song) and there’s no way to pause/play the music without your phone in your hand.
However, if you have your phone in your hand, there are a bunch of other things you can do to control the speaker with its companion app!
Overall, the companion app is rather scant, but what do you really expect from a companion app to a Bluetooth speaker? In addition to giving you information about the battery life of the speaker and allowing you to control the equalizer, it has an alarm feature and gives you the ability to pair a second UE ROLL to create true stereo sound. You can also update the firmware on the speaker via the app, which adds the latest features including new equalizer presets and “Block Party” mode, which allows multiple people to connect to a single UE Roll and create a queue together. This a really cool feature in its own right (the owner still holds the power of veto, as it should be).
What I found to be most impressive about the app is actually one of the simpler features. The ability to control the power of the speaker from the app is really useful. It’s nice not to have to physically manipulate the speaker just to turn it on/off. What that also means is the speaker can be powered off when you have the alarm set, and it will power itself on and start playing music when your alarm goes off. My only problem with this feature is the phone doesn’t disconnect from (and power off) the ROLL after you dismiss the alarm. It would be good to include this in a future software update.
Waterproof: IPX7 rated: UE ROLL can be immersed in liquid up to one minute for up to 30 minutes.
Audio:
Maximum sound level: 85dBA
Frequency range: 108Hz – 20kHz
Drivers: one two inch driver and two ¾” tweeters
Battery: rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Wireless/Audio compatibility: for audio playback – smartphones, tablets and other devices that support Bluetooth wireless audio profile [Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)] or 3.5 mm audio output.
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Overall
I found the UE Roll to have exceptional sound, especially for the size that it is. It’s definitely a little pricey, but I’ve never seen anything like this before: something with such bold sound, that’s so portable, has great battery life, and you can take it to the beach because it’s okay if it gets wet.
More of the value of this speaker comes from the companion app and its ability to make a simple Bluetooth speaker into the life of the party. Pick one up today at Verizon and save 20% off of full price.
Setup
Gameplay
The idea is to press the ‘shoot’ button as the spinning hand lines up with another clock of your choice. This action shoots a small dot, or BB, at the clock you’re aiming at. If you hit it, the previous clock disappears and you are now in control of the clock you just hit; ready to shoot the next one of your choosing. You repeat this until you have cleared all of the clocks off the screen, when you are congratulated on-screen and taken to the next level. If you miss, a quick “oh darn”-type message pops up; you’re given the option to try again and again until you complete it.
Upon removal from the packaging (rolled cardboard), my first impression was that this is a very attractive and modern-looking speaker. The colors are very appealing and you quickly realize that even though it doesn’t look like a boulder with an OtterBox case on it, it’s actually a very rugged device. I don’t recommend running it over with your monster truck, but it feels like it might actually survive being run over.
