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Android Central Editors’ app picks for Sept. 8, 2010

Ahmet — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:29:19 +0000

Call me crazy, but finding an application in the market can be quite a task. Lots of time is spent looking, reading, trying, and buying, but as we all know there is easier ways then trial and error. Finding good suggestions can be hard, but we do our best to bring you some of our favorite applications that you will find useful. Take a peek after the jump to see what we have brought to you this week.

Posted originally at Android Central

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Apple Game Center goes live with single compatible game

Ahmet — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:11:00 +0000

Ms Pac-Man says come and play

Apple, as promised, has rolled out iOS 4.1 for its iPhone and iPod touch devices on Wednesday evening, and with it Game Center.

The new service is the company's unique social gaming hub that, in Apple's own words, gives you "an out-of-the-box social gaming network for iPhone 4 and iPod touch."

The concept is that you "invite friends to join. Then totally crush them. Take a look at how your score ranks among your friends and other players of each game."

Sounds great doesn't it?

But, before you rush to see what games are available to challenge your friends, or as Apple puts it "crush them", you'll soon find that, well, none of your games are Game Center ready.

The new service has fallen foul of the same problems that troubled the launch of the iPhone 4 multitasking apps, in that developers have to add Game Center support for it to work.

While developers have had considerably longer than they did with multitasking to add the new feature, none bar one game is offering any Game Center features on the night of the launch.

The game?

Ms Pac-man, which?will set you back $4.99 in the US and ?2.99 in the UK.

According to Namco Bandai who has released the title, it's not only Game Center ready, but lets you play "one of the most popular video games in American arcade history!"

A classic yes, but surely you want to show how much better you are than your mates and followers at Doodle Jump, Flick Kick and Canabalt?

Verizon Samsung Fascinate hands-on and initial impressions

Ahmet — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:04:02 +0000

The Verizon Fascinate is the fourth member of the Galaxy S class of Android smartphone to be released in the United States. And like its cousins, it has its share of tweaks that make it stand out. Some of those tweaks are good. Others are causing those of us in Nerdom to shake our fists in frustration.

After the break, our initial impressions of the Samsung Fascinate on Verizon, including our hands-on video.

Posted originally at Android Central

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PHOTOS: LG Cookie Lite T300

Ahmet — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:49:20 +0000

Lite in hand, lite on pocket

We often get accused of having a smartphone fetish at Pocket-lint, so when we clapped eyes on the forthcoming LG Cookie Lite T300, we thought we'd redress the balance.?

Measuring 95.8 x 50.5 x 11.9mm and weighing just 77g, it features a 2.4-inch resistive touchscreen display around the front with a cool customised interface, although it is a little grainy as it is only a 320 x 240 pixel resolution.?

On the hardware front this is only a 2.5G handset, packing in GPRS and EDGE, and on the reverse side is a 1.3-megapixel camera. You'll also get an FM radio and Bluetooth and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top.

It's basic, but it's bound to be highly affordable and from what we saw the user interface is more exciting than some of the other small format affordable phones out there.?Sliding through the menu you'll find a social network service, instant messenger and so on.

We know it is coming to Orange, but no word on if we'll see it on other networks.

CNET releases Android twin of iOS application

Ahmet — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:26:17 +0000

Many of us rely on CNET for the latest and greatest when it comes to a wide variety of news in our daily life (except for Android news, right?). Whether looking for tech articles, seeking money advice, or just reading about the happenings of the world that day, CNET is a great one stop shop for all of this. They have released a clone of their iOS application, which contains a ton of features for users. Within the application you are able to read articles on a full screen, search using their optimized mobile search as well as tweet links to your favorite articles instantly. If your an avid CNET reader and you were using their mobile site, it's definitely time to hop in the market and download this free application. Download links available after the jump. [via CNET News]

appid:

com.treemolabs.apps.cnet

Posted originally at Android Central

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After the seventh day, devs created the SermonAudio app for Android

Ahmet — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:13:18 +0000

If you need some inspirational words from the holy book or want to hear words of wisdom from greats like John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul, SermonAudio has got you covered. The newly released app will help you find over 350,000 popular audio and video sermons. If you want to see one of these sermons live, simply use the search option to find a local church that offers great sermons. Full list of features and download links after the break. [SermonAudio]

appid:

sa.android

Posted originally at Android Central

Sponsored by Android Cases and Accessories

Google Instant brings ‘real-time’ search to the web; coming to mobile this fall

Ahmet — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:42:15 +0000

Google today introduced its newest search feature, dubbed Google Instant. The search giant is always exploring innovative opportunities to present relevant search results faster to the end-user. Instant provides search results while the user types, taking away the need to press enter or even finish typing.

The three core features of Google Instant, as laid out in Google's blog post:

Dynamic Results: Google dynamically displays relevant search results as you type so you can quickly interact and click through to the web content you need.
Predictions: One of the key technologies in Google Instant is that we predict the rest of your query (in light gray text) before you finish typing. See what you need? Stop typing, look down and find what you’re looking for.
Scroll to search: Scroll through predictions and see results instantly for each as you arrow down.

This is a great new search feature that's fun to play around with. It will be rolled out to most users over the coming weeks, so if you can't see it now, check back soon.

This is a web-only feature at the moment, but Google is aiming to get it up and running in the mobile space in the fall, according to Google's official Twitter account. That said, you can get a mobile preview now by clicking here (in a mobile browser, natch).

For a demo, check out the video after the break. If you have Google Instant, have some fun and play around with it! [Official Google Blog] [@Google]

Posted originally at Android Central

Sponsored by Android Cases and Accessories

Google Instant coming to mobile phones

Ahmet — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:19:34 +0000

Expected to arrive in the fall - that's Winter in new money

Google has revealed, during its San Franciscan press conference, that its new, super-speedy search functionality will also be coming to mobile devices "later this fall".

The handset version was briefly demoed, and we suspect, at Pocket-lint, that there's some way to go before it will be complete. But, from what we saw, it certainly moved quickly, if not as quick as its computer browser peer.

Few other details are known as present, but we can bet that the first roll out of mobile Google Instant will arrive for Android devices. Any takers?

R2-D2 Droid 2 boot animation breaks cover, available for download

Ahmet — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:58:31 +0000

It looks like the official boot animation for the R2-D2 Droid 2 has hit the web. We broke the news a few weeks about the phone's Sept. 30 release date. As we move closer to the launch date, we're pretty sure more and more little surprises should start showing up. If you really want the little walking trash can on your phone right now, Droid Life has also uploaded the boot animation zip file here.

Full video after the break to get those midichlorians pumping in your veins. Oh, and may the force be with you. [Droid Life]

Posted originally at Android Central

Sponsored by Android Cases and Accessories

No Game Center for iPhone 3G users

Ahmet — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:09:38 +0000

iOS 4.1 not playing games for second gen iPhone

Apple has gone live with a Game Center page on its website and it's bad news for iPhone 3G users hoping that they would be able to come and play - you're not included.

Game Center will work (after an iOS 4.1 upgrade) on iPod touches from the second generation onwards as well as iPhone 3GSs and iPhone 4s.

It was thought that the second gen iPhone touch would miss out (it shares a lot of hardware specs with the iPhone 3G) but Apple has included it in the official lineup.

Apple says:

"Game Center lets friends - and soon-to-be-friends - in on the action. Invite someone to join, then get a game going. Or go up against people you don’t know, from anywhere in the world, in a multiplayer game. It’s your world. Everyone else is just playing in it."

Lovely.

The Game Center app should appear after the iOS 4.1 update (which is due anytime soon), and you'll be able to log in with your Apple ID. You'll stay logged in for good, or, until you decide to leave.

Read

Tags: iOS 4.1 Game Center Phones Apple iPhone 3g iPhone

No Game Center for iPhone 3G users originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:09:38 +0100