Interactive Games On The Android Operating System

Image Credit: Richtaur

Image Credit: Richtaur

Mobile devices are the gaming public's favourite way to play these days, with millions, if not billions, of people across the world enjoying using their smartphones and tablets to game. Of all of these devices, the majority run on Google's Android operating system, a fast, sleek OS that has won over the hearts of mobile users thanks to its great levels of functionality, great for all manner of tasks, including gaming. So which are the best games that run on Android?

RPGs

Long plotlines and gameplay that facilitates the dipping in and out of the game - great for mobile users on the go - RPGs are very popular on Android. Dungeon Hunter 5, where players take on the role of a bounty hunter hoping to reunify a war-torn land, bears close semblance to the Diablo series, whilst 80 Days, a more literature-like title based around Jules Verne's "Around The World in 80 Days" is great for players who enjoy getting truly lost in character and story.

Play For Cash

The truest, newest kind of casual game, titles in which players can earn money playing have proved very popular with the gaming public in the past decade. If you enjoy games such as bingo, try out Coral, a lovely, rather lucrative site where players can socialise, play and take advantage of all manner of promotions released each day. If paid-for isn't your purview, try the completely free, very highly regarded Roulette Royale - Casino. Play with bots or with friends, competing for bragging rights and leader board places!

Shooters

There will always be a large audience of people who get their kicks from blowing stuff up, and Android caters very well for this clique. World Of Tanks Blitz is completely free, yet features all the tanks, graphics and physics that we've come to love in the PC version, plus 7 vs. 7 multiplayer! For those that enjoy contemporary combat, definitely download Modern Combat 5: Blackout, another title that's completely free. Awesome fire fights and console quality rendering, plus the choice to play either a single player campaign or a multiplayer match, makes this a true classic.

Puzzle

Passing time on the commute was never so much fun with titles such as Threes! Where, players move numbered tiles, adding them up in order to make larger multiples of three. Very addictive. Finally, The Room Two, a game from Fireproof Games that has players following a trail of cryptic letters provided by a scientist.

Do you know any other games that Android lovers simply must download? Let us know what they are in the comments section!

iMend.com your Smartphone

If you are unfortunate to either break your smartphone or for it to develop a fault, it can be a tricky business find a reliable repair service. 

I was recently approached to take a look at iMend.com and was impressed to find an easy to navigate website and very transparent repair service. The icing on the cake is that you can either send your smartphone in for repair or they can come to you. 

Check out the video below for more details.

Please note: This is a sponsored video.

Be a doer with Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL

I strongly believe that you should act upon your dreams and wishes today, rather than putting it of until tomorrow. Throughout my many years on YouTube, I have personally received many questions asking for advice. After giving such advice, many have responded that will take action on my advice next week, or next month. Why wait? We only have a limited time on this planet and should take advantage of every opportunity that comes our way and live for the day. 

Microsoft are encouraging just this with their "Be a Doer" campaign … "Doers are the ones who get things done. The ones who act upon their dreams. Doers need a smartphone to help them achieve more. A smartphone with the ability to get things done on the go." 

In the video below we get to see the Microsoft Lumia 640 and 640 XL in action with signature Microsoft services like Office, OneNote, Outlook and Cortana - the tools to help you be a doer. Check it out for yourself and get involved.

Bring your World to Life with the NEW HTC ONE

London, 1st March, 2015 – HTC today unveiled its most personal, beautiful and powerful smartphone yet, the HTC One M9. The newest flagship in the globally acclaimed HTC One family, the HTC One M9 is a classic yet timeless celebration of beauty and elegance that combines high style and performance, enabling you   to get the most from your mobile phone.

 "HTC has built its reputation on challenging expectations in the mobile industry,” said Cher Wang, Chairwoman, HTC. “The HTC One M9 accomplishes this once again with stunning elegance and design, combined with smart features that help bring your world to life, connecting you in a deeper way to the things you consider most important. So much more than just a phone, the HTC One M9 is an extension of who you are”.

A complete celebration of design

Building on a three-year pursuit of excellence, the HTC One M9 melds the best of the award-winning HTC One M7 and HTC One M8 into a stunning, iconic design. Distinct metal edges combine perfectly with graceful curves for a jewellery-grade look. Small and easy to hold, the crafted, all-metal unibody design is highlighted by an exquisite dual-tone silver and rose gold¹ finish that is as distinctive, as it is durable. Mirror-polished gold sides cascade effortlessly into a hairline brushed silver back panel, encasing a bright and vivid display. 

HTC Sense 7: An extension of you

Your phone should make a statement about who you are and the new HTC Sense™ 7 experience puts you in control of everything. Highly customisable and intuitively you, Themes puts you at the centre of the smartphone experience, intelligently analysing your favourite photos to modify the look and feel of your apps, colour scheme and backgrounds.

As your always-on travel companion, your smartphone is perfectly placed to enrich your mobile life. Sense 7 reinvents the home screen to deliver the most useful apps to the homepage based on your location. Whether at home, work, or play, you’re never more than a click away from the features you need with this contextual, customisable widget. A more intelligent HTC BlinkFeed™ also makes it easier to uncover the hidden gems that surround you by using location data to recommend points of interest, news and information. 

Incredible imaging: Helping you create your best memories

With the best camera being the one you carry in your pocket, your smartphone should make it a breeze to take brilliant, creative and fun images. The HTC One M9’s cameras are designed to capture every moment in amazing quality, allowing you to relive those moments again and again. The main camera features an incredible 20 megapixels that accentuate every crisp, intricate detail and a sapphire cover lens that protects from scratches. For vivid video that looks like the latest blockbuster, the camera also shoots movies in 4K resolution. 

The best moments take you by surprise and spontaneity often doesn’t come fully lit. The ultimate companion of the impulsive snapper, the HTC One M9 addresses low-light shots with a powerful UltraPixel™ front-facing camera. Dynamic auto exposure and UltraPixels that capture 300% more light than standard cameras deliver sharper, more natural and balanced self-portraits in any lighting conditions.                                                                                                                    

HTC Sense 7 with HTC’s EYE™ Experience software makes taking creative pictures easy. A host of new editing effects including Shapes, Prismatic, Elements and Bokeh allow you to add a little bit of individual artistry into every shot, with the Zoe™ app automatically editing them, putting them to your choice of music² and letting friends remix the collection with their own shots to create a shared celebration from every moment.

With so many incredible images, quickly showing your friends those brilliant shots could become an issue. Wherever they’re stored, the new One Gallery makes it easy to search through your entire photo library, viewing images saved on the phone, on social media, and on select cloud platforms. The gallery puts your whole image library at your fingertips, searching by date, location, event, album or even the images themselves with Image Match.

Exhilarating audio: Hear the difference

A truly great viewing experience deserves sound that puts you on the front row. The HTC One M9 guarantees a larger-than-life soundtrack courtesy of HTC BoomSound™. The HTC One family’s iconic dual front-facing speakers, now combined with 5.1 channel Dolby® Surround sound3 simulation, get you even closer to the action, delivering extraordinary, cinema-style surround sound. Uniting HTC BoomSound and Dolby Audio™ creates immersion vibrant audio experience, so you can enjoy movies with rich, clear and powerful sound even without connecting headphones or external speakers. Whether listening via the stereo speakers or headphones, even the most discerning music fans will be blown away by the phone’s support for perfect, 24-bit high-definition sound that surpasses even CD quality. HTC’s unique combination of HTC BoomSound, Dolby Audio™, a finely tuned sound profile, and Qualcomm® Immersive Audio gives all of your music and movies an unmistakable HTC One M9 flavour. 

Connecting your world

Smartphones are fast becoming the central hub for home entertainment and HTC Connect™ makes it easy to enjoy your multimedia experience beyond your phone. A three-finger swipe on the screen connects the phone to compatible TVs or external speakers from leading manufacturers including Harman Kardon. HTC Connect’s integration with Qualcomm® AllPlay™ smart media platform and Blackfire Research™ wireless media technology, allows you and your friends to stream high quality content from your smartphones to multiple home entertainment devices around the house. The playlist feature also allows multiple smartphones to share a speaker with Qualcomm AllPlay. For the ultimate connected smartphone-powered TV experience, the HTC One M9 comes exclusively preloaded with the Peel®Smart Remote app. Instantly connecting you to the shows you love, the app even learns from your viewing habits, transforming your phone into a personal TV guide and remote control.

Accessories and availability

For a standout look, the HTC One M9 will be available with a range of unique and customisable accessories including the second generation HTC Dot View case, which adds more retro personalisation thanks to a host of new features and colour options. A transparent back keeps your smartphone pristine without hiding it from the world with the case injecting fun into even the most tedious commute by transforming into a mini games arcade. The new HTC Dot View case won’t even get in the way of apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and Badoo with through-the-case notifications alerting you to the latest photos, messages and check-ins. 

Life has no limits, and when your adventurous side takes you into the unknown, an IP68 water resistant Active Case and Active Headset means that your phone can boldly follow wherever the action takes you, keeping up with the pace of the most epic adventures.

The HTC One M9 will be available in dual-tone silver and rose gold, single-tone gunmetal grey and single-tone gold in the UK.  Handsets will be available to pre-order on select partner websites from 9th March and available to buy in-store across all listed partners from 31st March*, as well as at htc.com. Unlocked and Developer Editions of the HTC One M9 will also be available from via htc.com.

Sony Xperia E4g – the easy-to-use, speedy smartphone with Sony quality

London, 24th February 2015 – Earlier this month, Sony Mobile Communications (“Sony Mobile”) introduced XperiaTM E4; the affordable, easy-to-use smartphone with great battery life – in a quality Sony design. Now, Sony unveils the exciting XperiaTM E4g smartphone, offering the same ease-of-use and powerful battery performance - with fast 4G LTE connectivity. 

“Xperia E4 set out to bring many of the premium features people expect of Sony to lower-tier devices; Xperia E4g brings that same quality and ease of use - but with super-fast 4G LTE connectivity” said Tony McNulty, Vice President, Value Category Business Management at Sony Mobile Communications. “With simple set-up and unrivalled 2 day battery life, we believe both models represent value for those who want premium Sony technology and experiences often only associated with high-end devices.” 

Get started without the wait - speedy set up... just point and shoot! 

Xperia E4g is built to ensure that you can set up and enjoy your new smartphone, from the moment you pull it out of the box. For those new to Xperia, migration from other Android, Windows or BlackBerry devices is super quick and easy. The Xperia Transfer app, allows you to move contacts, photos, bookmarks, apps, music, messages and much more securely, without the hassle – or worry of losing anything important.

  • Get started without the wait - speedy set up with XperiaTM Transfer, and automatic camera settings

  • Sleek Sony design inside and out, with minimalistic design and customisable interfaces

  • Do more for longer, with two-day battery life1, NFC connectivity and easy customisation options

  • Super-fast 4G LTE connectivity delivers the speed you need for information and entertainment on the go

  • Available in Black and White colour options

Smartphone photography is made easy, with Auto scene Recognition automatically recognising and optimising capture settings for up to 52 scenarios for the perfect shots wherever you are. And, with NFC you can share your images easily with just one-touch.

Xperia E4g features Sony’s minimalist Android skin, but also brings the Simple Home interface providing larger icons and all your favorite apps on one screen, with those you don’t need stored neatly away in folders - perfect if you prefer to use your smartphone for specific functions.

Right on cue, with signature Sony design

Xperia E4g is Sony inside and out; rounded and robust, perfect for one hand usage. Available in classic Black and White, Xperia E4g retains that timeless Xperia form - a precision-cut power button, elevated mirror-finish logo and stainless steel camera ring and a scratch-resistant screen to add an extra layer of premium.

Built for speed - 4G LTE and two-day battery life, powered by a 1.5 GHz Quad-core processor

Xperia E4g is 4G LTE ready – which means you can enjoy the fastest news and information download, find your way using maps, check and send email, send pictures to friends and family in seconds, and enjoy lag-free music streaming on the go.

Sony’s latest smartphones are recognised for unrivalled battery life. Xperia E4g is no different, packing a powerful 2300mAh battery that gives you up to two-day’s battery life1; eliminating the need for regular charging. If that isn’t enough, one click activates Battery STAMINA Mode to regulate power management, and Ultra STAMINA Mode keeps your phone running on its core functions for a week.

Supporting slick and fast performance, Xperia E4g has a highly-tuned 1.5 GHz Quad-core processor, meaning that you can run multiple apps, surf the web and stream videos all at once.

Xperia E4g launches from April for around €1292. It will also be available in a Dual SIM variant - for full specifications please visit here.

Love, Language and Lumia #MakeItHappen

When Microsoft discovered that Ed, a 28 year-old accountant from London, wanted to learn Spanish to deliver the groom’s speech at his wedding in Mexico, they came straight to his rescue. Track Ed’s journey as he embarks on a crash course in Spanish; all to surprise his family and friends in a heart-warming video.

Every day this December we’re helping people #MakeItHappen, so share your resolution with us to get involved http://lumia.ms/makeithappen

Why Wouldn't You Share Your Own Videos?

Technology changes very quickly and I remember back to when I published that first video on my YouTube channel recorded with my 4 megapixel Canon PowerShot camera. The video quality in comparison to what is possible nowadays was very poor, but the content was more than acceptable. 

My first YouTube camera … the Canon PowerShot A80

My first YouTube camera … the Canon PowerShot A80

That was over eight years ago and the advancements in technology, during such a short time, is simply quite amazing. I experienced compact cameras that gave us 720P video, soon followed by the same small photo snappers delivering 1080P video. Conventional camcorders giving up the ability to not only record in full HD, but also in 3D. Tiny little action cameras, that one could mount to a car, surf board, your body or even your pet dog. If we fast forward to the current day, all of these wonders of technology can now dazzle our visual senses with even more detail in 4K resolution. 

Throughout my journey of creating visual content to share online, I have helped many others with questions and product recommendations. One of the most common questions, or for want of a better term, "excuses" is that many people want to create videos, but use their lack of "expensive" camera as an excuse.
Emails I receive are often like this (what follows is part of an actual email I received)… "Hello Dave, I really want to start my YouTube Channel but need an amazing camera and microphone setup. Can you suggest something around the £1,000 to £1,500 mark. Once I have saved enough money I can then start producing videos like you". 
The perceived need for the so-called "best camera" could not be further from the truth. Look at how I started … with just the family point & shoot compact camera. Also, consider how smartphone technology has also evolved, with many capturing awesome 1080P and some even managing to deliver a crisp 4K experience too. So why wouldn't you share your own videos. Now is the time to use the technology you already have in your pocket or bag and share your story. We can no longer make the excuse that we do not have a great camera, 

Throughout December, Intellicig are running a competition to give away a £200 Red Letter Day experience for two. Check out their #WhyWouldntYou campaign here.

Written in collaboration with Intellicig.

QUICK MOBILE FIX GOES LIVE

QUICK MOBILE FIX GOES LIVE … 
It Breaks. You Send. We Fix

Last year it was reported that 7 out of 10 people in the UK own a Smartphone. Nowadays, many of us have come to rely heavily on our mobile phones, from the mundane function of waking us up; to reminding us about important events and, obviously, keeping us connected with others. Naturally, mobile device related mishaps happen from time to time; these accidents can be anything from breaking the screen to more technical issues such as liquid damage. In fact, a well-known technology news source reported that 26% of iPhones break within 2 years of purchase.

Quick Mobile Fix is a new national mobile device repair service that offers a solution to the problems many of us face when our mobile phone breaks, mainly, how do I contact people now? Not only will Quick Mobile Fix mend your current mobile phone, tablet or iPod with their 24 hour service, but, also, offer incredibly competitive prices, include free postage and a 1 year warranty on all repairs, and will, additionally, offer you a courtesy phone in return. The phones on offer range from basic Nokia’s to the latest iPhone & Samsung Galaxy.

Quick Mobile Fix repairs all Samsung phones, iPhones and iPads, which is handy, because iFixit have recently announced that the latest iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S are trickier to repair than the iPhone 5, and the Samsung Galaxy S5 is harder to fix than its predecessor. Aside from these fantastic offerings, Quick Mobile Fix also sells a number of different used and reconditioned mobile phones at affordable prices.

To find out more about this useful new service please check out www.QuickMobileFix.com or follow @QuickMobileFix on Twitter.

Most Popular Tech Creations this Century

In the 21st century the rate of change is faster than ever. When people in the year 2100 look back on our century, who knows what advancements they will celebrate. Although we are only 14 years in and there is still a long way to go, this century has already witnessed technological changes that affect everyone’s lives. Here are just a few:

Smart Phones

The iPhone was introduced in January 2007 and Google’s Android software for smart phones was introduced in 2008. It’s hard to believe that modern smart phones are less than a decade old, and they just keep getting more useful, with millions of apps available for both platforms to add just about any feature imaginable. The multi-touch screens, GPS, and ever faster connectivity mean that you can use your smartphone as everything from a GPS for driving directions, a small television, a game console, or a communications platform for Facebook, messaging, and video calling. The introduction of smart phones means you can truly be connected to the Internet just about any time, anywhere.

Tablet Computers

Tablet computers may not be entirely new, but the introduction of Apple’s iPad in 2010 made them a sought after device that can perform many of the functions of a larger, heavier laptop. Early tablets were mostly devices for consuming media, whether reading books or watching movies. But with the introduction of better and faster chipsets and the creation of new apps, today’s tablets can be used to create business documents, edit videos, or store a doctor’s searchable library of medical texts for diagnosis.

Image Credit: Sam Churchill

Image Credit: Sam Churchill

Driverless Cars

Google has created a car that can drive itself, a concept that has furthered advances in computer traffic grid systems and other near-future set ups. The goal is to reduce driver accidents by allowing some, or all parts of a journey, to be handled automatically. The Google car is a Toyota Prius outfitted with cameras, radar sensors, and a laser range finder to help it navigate through city streets. The car has been reported to have travelled 140,000 miles in a publicity tour without ever having an accident.

Image Credit: Intel Free Press

Image Credit: Intel Free Press

Ultra Light Laptops

With more power than a tablet but still incredibly thin and light, ultra thin computers such as the Toshiba Kira Laptop have changed the face of laptop computing. These laptops typically use low-power Intel processors, solid-state drives, and a unibody construction to make the smallest, lightest product possible. The MacBook Air was introduced in 2008 and today there are dozens of ultrabook makers in the market. Click here for more information on adding the speed andportability of an ultrabook to your technology tools.

Image Credit: Jason Howie

Image Credit: Jason Howie

Social Media

Who could have predicted when Facebook launched back in 2004 that it would have over 600 million users in less than a decade? Or that YouTube, launched in 2005, would soon boast over 4 billion videos viewed every day. Social media has invaded and changed every aspect of Internetculture, from how you connect with friends to how products are marketed.