In Death Worm, you play the role of gigantic, man-eating mutant worm, hell-bent on creating as much destruction as possible. Your abilities include burrowing through the ground with frightening speed, jumping above the surface, Nitro bursts (essentially temporary turbo speed-ups), and shooting fireballs.
The game play is simple: ram your worm into anything you can catch. There are human soldiers running about as well as animals, tanks, helicopters, even UFOs. Some enemies are stronger than others, so they may require multiple hits before going down, and of course, you're under attack as well.
In Campaign Mode, you progress through levels and receive power-ups as you achieve your killing objectives. You can apply these power-ups to any of your worm's attributes, including Worm Size, Speed, Strength, Nitro Duration, and Fireball Level. The ultimate goal, of course, is to develop a fully upgraded beast. In the paid version, you also gain access to an endless Survival Mode and Mini Games.
Overall, Death Worm is super entertaining. You'll love munching on humans and hurtling through the air at attacking helicopters. Plus, the controls were surprisingly good.
FastCustomer bills itself as a productivity tool for business folks, but I know many residential folks that would love it when the need arises! The FastCustomer app will actually call a company's call center or any department you want and wait on hold for you! The app saves you time and eliminates having to deal with horrendous elevator music as well as figuring out which department to find in order to talk to a real person!
Within the app, just tap a button telling the app which company to you need to reach, then go back to your "important" life. FastCustomer will call your phone once a real customer service rep is on the line. FastCustomer actually calls the company, presses whatever buttons are needed and waits on hold for as long as it takes. That means no more phone trees!! That means you will never have to hear "Press 1 for... 2 for.... etc" again. FastCustomer finds the quickest way to a human in the department you've indicated via the app (customer service, billing, tech support, etc.).
Accroding to FastCustomer's VP of Product, Stephen Hay, the average person wastes 60 hours a year on hold. FastCompany has over 2,500 companies signed on with more to come.
Welcome to America, where we keep getting lazier by the day. FastCustomer is a free app available on both iTunes and the Android Market. Enjoy!
Remember as a child playing UNO and screaming it out at the end when you finally win? I do, and Gameloft has updated the popular game of UNO to support more devices as well as tablets. UNO was always one of those few card games I actually enjoyed. Well, UNO and poker. Gameloft has fixed up the graphics with HD, and it looks stunning!
You can't go wrong with UNO. Everyone loves the game. It's a classic, that's for sure. Gameloft has some new rules, online gameplay and tournament mode integrated into the Android version and it really tests your skills when you play online.
I know it isn't anything new and exciting, but I didn't think it would be as much fun as it is. Brought me back to good ol' times and should do the same for you.
So the world's largest PC manufacturer plans to quit, so what does that mean? Some tech experts say it's the death for PCs. That could possibly be the case, but only because PC companies like HP are turning and running instead of fighting back!
Last week HP announced that they will stop making webOS devices, but shockingly they're also considering spinning-off their PC business and most likely selling it. HP is currently the largest PC manufacturer in the world, but it seems as though they're picking up IBM's playbook and spinning off their PC hardware. Basically, they're going to take their most profitable part of their business and toss it overboard.
HP makes money on PCs! Hell, it was a third of their revenue last year alone. But they think that people don't want PCs anymore, and it's easier to pull the plug than to try and resuscitate it. What's HP's excuse? CEO Leo Apotheker blames it on the "tablet effect" and says HP has definitely felt it. We all know that the "tablet effect" is the same thing as the "Apple effect."
There's not denying that Apple's business is expanding while the PC market is slowing down. But how the heck are you going to keep up with Apple if you just quit innovating?
Throwing in the towel on the TouchPad and webOS only after six weeks doesn't cut it. I agree the TouchPad wasn't all that great, but webOS is amazing! The problem with the TouchPad wasn't webOS, the problem was hardware. How do I know that? WebOS ran twice as fast on an iPad 2 than it did on a TouchPad. So if you screw up on hardware, all you have to do is fix it and release the TouchPad 2.
Back to the PC department. Just because the demand for Apple products are going up and PC demand is down doesn't mean you need to quit. The world needs PC manufacturers to innovate! If the world's biggest PC manufacturer doesn't, then who the hell will?
Apple won't be the reason that the PC dies. The only way the PC can die is if PC manufacturers turn into pussies and run away. We need Apple competitors. We need better Apple competitors! Many of my friends switched from a PC laptop to a MacBook Pro a few years ago. Many of them went to Apple because of FinalCut Pro. Apple has fucked up with the new FinalCut and OS X Lion, so there's no reason these guys can't switch back to a PC. OS X Lion has left a bitter taste in many Apple fans, just as Vista did with Windows fans. But the thing is, these consumers need a compelling reason to come back to PCs.
Intel is trying to make it easier for PC manufacturers by investing $300 million so they can finally make a MacBook Air competitor that's worth a damn without the high price tags. Take the money, use it, and make something good!!
I'm sorry, I don't want to live in a world made by Apple. I like buttons! I like options! But damn, if PC manufacturers don't come up with better products, then that's the world we're going to be stuck in. It's not the world that us consumers create, it'll be created by the PC manufacturers that are too slow to adapt and run for the hills.
We need you HP! Grow some fucking balls and start fighting!
I have had an Android-powered smartphone for nearly 4 months now. If you asked me about the battery life, I would say it's mediocre to terrible! In fact, my HTC Thunderbolt would barely go half a day, with only little use. I have written in a previous article about Android Smartphones and their Battery Life, but thanks to the genius's over at Latedroid, they've created an app that will actually save battery life.
JuiceDefender is an app that promises "extra hours of precious battery life." And damn, do they deliver!
The app works some simple but clever magic; whenever your phone goes into idle (i.e. the screen goes off), JuiceDefender disables battery-draining items like 3G and Wi-Fi. Once you turn your screen back on, the radios come right back into action.
JuiceDefender Ultimate allows many different schedules to take place on your device. You can use the Sync Schedule to periodically enable connectivity to let background data sync up (email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) so that you don't miss your important news or updates. You can enable the Night Schedule to disable connectivity during certain hours of the night. Peak Schedule lets you choose what hours your connectivity needs to say on. And there are also other schedules you are able to set to your liking.
One of my favorite features of JuiceDefender Ultimate is the WiFi Control and Location-aware WiFi Control. JuiceDefender can learn where you are and what WiFi connections you use often, so that it can connect directly to them when you are in a certain area. JuiceDefender uses the network location to determine your location rather than GPS, since GPS is a major battery-drainer.
JuiceDefender Ultimate also allows you to customize each app in your device. For example, if you have Pandora or any other streaming app, you can tell JuiceDefender to keep the connection alive while that app is in use.
So if you're unhappy with your phone's battery life, I would give JuiceDefender Ultimate a try.
When I first bought my new Android device, I downloaded a task killer from the Android Market thinking it would do some wonders on battery life and performance. In actuality, it messed up my phone so bad that my 3G/4G connectivity would go in and out, eventually needing my phone to be replaced. I have written in a previous blog post on why Task Killers on Android phones operating Froyo and beyond are useless and a pain in the ass. Watchdog Task Manager on the other hand is a whole different animal.
The first and biggest difference is that the developers of Watchdog understand the Android OS and how this OS is supposed to work. It's okay if your RAM seems to be entirely in use, Android's built-in task manager keeps it that way to quickly relaunch an app.
As stated in my previous post, it's the processor that slows your phone down and drains the battery. Problems arise when your app goes rogue and takes up CPU power. That's where Watchdog steps in and takes over.
Watchdog allows you to set thresholds for processes and also lets you set time intervals between system checks. If an app goes above your allowed threshold, Watchdog will alert you and then permit you to decide on what to do. You can either WhiteList, Ignore or Kill the app in question.
Select WhiteList only when you know a certain app will spike over the threshold and you are okay with it. Putting an app in the WhiteList will allow Watchdog to ignore that app during future spikes. Ignore disregards the incident, and Kill of course shuts the app down. Remember, it won't kill certain processes that are built into the OS. (Note: Sometimes Watchdog thinks it's above the threshold, so it's a good idea to place the Watchdog app into the WhiteList.)
Watchdog works very well, brings a more sophisticated approach to task management as opposed to the technique other task killers use. Fortunately, Watchdog is not a battery hog. (Make sure your intervals aren't set too short, otherwise that will cost some battery life.)
It's nice to see a developer that knows how the Android OS was built, and how it works. I believe Watchdog is a must-have app for all Android based phones (Froyo and up).
Watchdog comes in two flavors, a free Lite version and a paid for version (WhiteList is only in the Paid version). The paid version is worth it, and the developers deserve getting paid for their work!
*[NOTE: If you have Watchdog Task Manager Lite installed on your device, please uninstall before installed the Paid version]*
When you buy yourself a new Android based device, the carrier rep usually gives you a quick-rundown of the phone and explains a few things to you. If the representative at your carrier doesn't give you a rundown, I'm sure a friend who has been behind the driver's seat of an Android has given you some advice on how to use your phone and what apps to get. Nine out of ten times, either the rep or your trusted friend will tell you to install a Task Manager/Killer to help with your phones smoothness and battery life. (Yes, even my dumbass self was guilty of this; but I've gotten smarter.)
The truth is, these task killers and the Android OS work against one another. Task killers are redundant and unnecessary. They more often than not cause more harm than good. So why are they bad, how do they actually cause harm? It seems like it's working and my battery life is better, sadly it's a placebo effect and your battery is the same as it would be without it.
Unlike a PC where you manage memory by closing programs , Android (2.2 and on) manages memory and processes on its own. Let's say you launch an application, this app will stay in the memory until it needs to be closed. Android does this to improve the apps launch time. The app will "run" in the background and actually leaves the battery and performance unaffected.
If a previously launched app is kept in memory, launching it again at a later time will take less time. Killing the app removes it from the memory and slows down the launch time for its next use. Android automatically "kills" apps as needed, starting with the ones that have been inactive the longest.
Many of the task killers come with a 'kill all' or 'autokill' option. Whitson Gordon of Lifehacker explain why these options are terrible:
"... it's actually possible that this will worsen your phone's performance and battery life. Whether you're manually killing apps all the time or telling the task killer to aggressively remove apps from your memory, you're actually using CPU cycles when you otherwise wouldn't - killing apps that aren't doing anything in the first place.
In fact, some of the processes related to those apps will actually start right back up, further draining your CPU. If they don't, killing those processes can cause other sorts of problems - alarms don't go off, you don't recieve text messages, or other related apps may force close without warning. All in all, you're usually better off letting your phone work as intended - especially if you're more of a casual user"
Now what if your app goes rogue and starts acting crazy and eats up your CPU? Android has a "force stop" feature built in, making any third party task manager app pointless.
But, how would you even know if an app has gone rogue? Not all task killers are alike, and not all are even bad. For instance, an application called Watchdog monitors your CPU (instead of RAM) and alerts you if an app is acting up. Then, you can kill only the app that is causing the issue, and not everything running on your phone.
Since the introduction of Froyo (Android 2.2), task killers have been plaguing Android users, stealing performance, battery life and sanity. Spread the word to all your fellow Androidians to get rid of any task manager they have installed and to get Watchdog Lite (Free Version). And for Christ's sake, if you hear a carrier rep tell someone to install a task killer, simply tell them you would like to improve your phone's performance, not kill it.
There are 5 main "features" I like that Google+ offers which neither Facebook nor Twitter do or do well. Let's jump in:
1. Share Information with Groups easily using Circles:
On Twitter, anything I post is available to anyone with an internet connection. On Facebook, everything I say is shown to nearly 'everyone'. That includes friends and relatives who don't give a damn about my postings of my blog or any other mundane crap I decide to say. If I decide to post about a party going on in Nashville, anyone outside of the Middle Tennessee area can careless. Also, as you might imagine, only very few of my Facebook friends actually care about my technology mumbo-jumbo.
With Google+ circles, it's easy for me to divide my friends/family by location or any other means I plan to group them. You can somewhat do this in Facebook, but it's not as streamlined and easy as Google+!
2. My information is MINE:
Anything posted on Facebook is co-owned by Facebook. While Google tracks nearly everything we put on the interweb, their Terms of Service states, "You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or displayon or through, the Services." That's what I'm talking about!
3. Video Conferencing:
I've only used it twice as of this post, but Google+ Hangouts is fun! In addition to video conferencing, I can jump right into Google Chat as well. Facebook has its own Chat, but I prefer the capabilities of Google.
A new feature which I recently tried was the YouTube function. You can watch a YouTube video in real-time with your friends within the Hangout. Google also plans on utilizing other video streams in the future, which would be great for the corporate market.
4. Google+ Sparks:
When you become a fan of or like something on Facebook, Facebook streams ads relevant to your likes. Even though I may like Linkin Park, I don't need my inbox getting filled with daily messages!
Sparks on the other hand gives me related articles, blogs or whatever subject I'm interested in from around the net instead of stores that want me to buy a Linkin Park album.
5. If I leave Google+, my information comes with:
It's a pain in the ass getting all your information out of social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Hell, sometimes it's not even possible! With Google Takeout though, I can download my entire Google+ archive whenever I want. So if for any reason Google+ tanks, I can grab my data and go elsewhere.
There are many social networks that popped up to be the so-called Facebook Killer, but Google+ is the first I've seen that has the potential to dethrone Facebook. Google+ isn't perfect, but then again Facebook isn't either.
If you'd like to have an invite into Google+, send me your Gmail address to keval.sheth86@gmail.com and I'll be sure to send an invite right over.
Every Android phone comes with a music player, whether it's the stock Android player or one that the manufacturer gives. However, not all music apps are created equal, and there are a ton to choose from within the Android Market.
PlayerPro Music has one of the most well thought out interfaces I've seen. It makes use of your phones connectivity and is extremely flexible.
Across the top of the screen, there are five main ways to browse through your entire collection: Albums, Artists, Genres, Playlists, and Folders. You can also enable a full list of tracks if you wish to do so. What sets PlayerPro apart is not only its ability to fetch album covers, but artist photos and even genre logos from the interweb. If you don't like the photo PlayerPro finds for you, just hold the image and choose a new one!
The developers could have stopped there, but they decide to go one step further. There are a few more features that take advantage of the connectivity. Being able to read artist bio and lyrics from within the player is one of those simple functions that are perfect time-killers when you don't feel like Facebook stalking or playing Cut the Rope.
The players skin is simple and finger-friendly, but I expect many users to use the widgets available. But if you enjoy having a nice skin, there are many available for free on the market.
PlayerPro Music takes a basic, well working music player and adds just enough customization and time-killing features to make it worth the $4 price tag on the Market. If you're tired of the default Android player or the ugly ass interface HTC offers, then give PlayerPro a run!
