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!

The Gear You Want for Ultimate Gaming Comfort

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Image credit: Mario

Paying proper attention to videogames is, as it should be, the number one concern of many dedicated gamers in the UK. As every proper player knows, you can spend hours glued to the screen, forsaking human comforts as you battle through the demands of Call of Duty.

But wait! It need not be this way. Oh, we’re not saying you should spend a minute less online, but now, you can do it in comfort and style. Consider these valuable accessories to truly up your game…

 

A really good chair

As office workers know, sitting in the wrong chair at the wrong height for a long time can affect your health, giving you back ache and a poor posture. But though if you’re sitting at a desk playing from your laptop a good ergonomic office chair is a good option, what you really need is a special gaming chair. The X-Rocker Wireless II Gaming Chair features surround sound, a sub woofer, and wireless capability, for a fantastic multi media experience.  

Something to keep your energy up

Of course, ultimately the best thing for anyone is a healthy home cooked meal, cooked from scratch, but let’s face it: During a tricky moment in Zelda it’s essential that you don’t stir from your chair. You could call for a pizza, but even answering the door takes valuable time. The answer lies in grabbing an energy boosting health drink which can just sit by the console sp you can sip and improve concentration without affecting your score. 

The right outfit

When you’re sitting at home and no-one can see you, it’s fine to just slob out in any old t shirt and trackie bottom, right? Wrong. As motivational coaches up an down the country will tell you, it’s important to dress for success and for these reason we recommend wearing the right clothing for the job. Like this Mario-style t-shirt. It will help you assume the character of your favourite, er character, and once you are in the correct mindset of a plump Italian plumber, success is (almost) absolutely guaranteed.

The best speakers

Sound on games has evolved beyond the loveable bleeps and beeps of the past which could be turned off when they got too annoying with not much effect on play into a fully integrated part of the gaming experience. We love these Harmon Kardon sound sticks because they look totally sci fi and we think that they’re like something Dr Who would have, if Dr Who needed perfect sound to enjoy his MMORPG properly. Aesthetics aside, the speakers perform really well and are easy to install.

Well, that’s our list of favourites. What are your gaming essentials? Do you agree that these are all you need for a good night in or would you add anything?

Bitcoin in the online gambling industry: advantages and issues

When the Internet became global and accessible to everyone some 20+ years ago, it opened the way for the online gambling industry. Years have passed since, and it is clear now that the virtual gaming area in its present form is capable of modifying other industries as well. In many counties, online gambling is the object of intense legal regulation, but the companies seem to be successfully overcoming the state-imposed obstacles to continue with their businesses. Several years ago, the new Bitcoin-based payment solutions based on block-chain technology came into being, and that was the moment when millions of online gamblers all around the world felt their lives were becoming much easier. The Bitcoin system turned out to be not only a great opportunity to make instant P2P-transactions and cut down on operational costs for both players and Bitcoin casino operators, but also brought online gambling to countries and jurisdictions where traditional real-money gambling portals are officially prohibited.

As mentioned above, Bitcoin is known for its apparent advantages over electronic payments and wire transfers in ‘regular’ currencies. The cost of every single transaction for a Bitcoinpayment sender is as minimal as it can possibly be, and that is one of the main reasons virtual casino and betting website owners all over the world are considering the option to switch to Bitcoin and thus solve certain issues they have with real-money payments once and for all. While low commissions may be just one of the benefits enjoyed by the users of the cryptocurrency, they can become one of the likely causes for BTC to start establishing itself in other areas as well, apart from Bitcoin gambling.

Some three years ago, the estimated amount of gross winnings in the virtual gambling entertainment market marked about €22 billion globally. As estimated in late 2014, the industry is expected to grow approximately 9% annually, and these aren’t just some empty words. Specialized software developers and providers of Bitcoin payment solutions and services claim to be getting a steady surge of requests (literally, hundreds of them) from gambling website operators asking to have their businesses converted into Bitcoin-based systems.

BitCasino.io, one of the world’s most popular and innovative Bitcoin casinos, has achieved powerful success in less than two years, and, as their manager Tauri Tiitsaar points out, if you’re a part of the company  involved in the Bitcoin gambling industry  “you need to make sure you are ahead of the pack, that your users are happy and you are making the innovations, not following them. The main challenge with Bitcoin is our continual effort to globally educate as many people as possible to the new digital currency revolution. Our goal, mission and responsibility, as one of the biggest brands in the Bitcoin world, is to help increase the global adoption of Bitcoin”.

What BitCasino.io manager may be hinting at is the possible fear of using the cryptocurrency still common with hundreds of millions of potential users all around the world. However, there also may be other challenges that Bitcoin needs to struggle against, including regulation perplexities in many countries, as well as the prohibition to use bank payments for betting purposes in the United States. Time will tell whether BTC and its lobbyists are strong enough to deal with these issues.

Guest Post - David Barton

Park Cameras raise over £790 for St. Peter & St. James’ Hospice

United Kingdom, 17th February 2015 – On Thursday 29th January, staff at Park Cameras, one of the UK’s leading independent photographic retailers attempted to run between both their stores in Burgess Hill and Central London in a single day, in an effort to raise as much money as possible for local charity St. Peter and St. James’ Hospice.

Stop that Employee!

It was a chilly day outside Burgess Hill, with the temperature at just 5oC. However, inside the Park Cameras store, things got pretty warm, as amongst the wide range of cameras, lenses, bags and tripods, a team of 13 employees set of on their challenge to run the equivalent distance between their two retail stores.

The team worked in relay fashion on a treadmill, each doing their leg of the 45.7 mile journey as quickly as they could physically manage. The store itself was still open for business as usual, and it was great to see customers donating what they could to add to the total amount of money raised for local charity St. Peter & St. James’ Hospice – although it wasn’t necessarily as easy for the runners to give any expert photographic advice when asked!

Park Cameras chose to raise money for St. Peter & St. James’ Hospice as this is a charity based in the local area that many of the staff feels particularly strongly about. The hospice receives just 14% of their funding from the government, and have to raise more than £2.6 million every year through fundraising events. That’s £7,200 every single day.

Park Cameras HR manager Adel Charles said, “We are delighted to have been able to raise £795.77    for St. Peter & St. James’ Hospice. Whilst the team here went through a bit of pain and quite a lot of sweat, and I certainly know this first hand, it makes it worthwhile knowing the money raised will help all at St. Peter & St. James continue with the fantastic care, love and support they provide for those in the community that need it.”

Their Just Giving page is still available to view and donate to, should you wish.  Simply visit www.JustGiving.com/parkcamerasrun.

Fashion Fail - SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1

OK, so I am aware that the new SmartEyeglass is a developer edition and will likely be refined when it comes to style when (or if) it is released to the general public. My question is, have Sony not learn from the failure of Google Glass that tech you wear on your face needs to look good? Add to this the fact that we now have a breakout cable, with puck-style box that houses the mic and some other tech. Clip this to you coat or shirt collar to look even more dorky. SHOUT "HERE I COME, I AM RECORDING YOU!!!"

Bitcoin gambling – is it bringing along a revolution?

Since the very emergence of online gambling, no event in its history has probably been more radical and significant than Bitcoin integration, which is still ongoing. Today, Bitcoin casinos are growing increasingly popular among online gamblers all over the world, while ‘traditional’ gaming websites seem to be gradually losing a massive part of their clients. What can be the main ingredient of Bitcoin’s huge success in the online gambling industry?

Many say, its decentralized nature may be one of the crucial contributing factors, and they are very likely to be right. Essentially, this key feature of Bitcoin has had a huge impact on the Internet itself, and is one of the main reasons why it is becoming less dependent on data-centres, e.g. servers. Now, the Internet users’ machines (exactly, we’re talking here about your laptop/Mac, iPhone/Android-powered device or whatever else you use to go online) serve as replacement for the physical intermediary equipment needed previously to store huge amounts of data. As a result, people have their information stored more securely, with the access to credentials and other confidential data becoming very limited. 

Having good understanding of it, Bitcoin casino operators do their best to apply the latest digital technologies to mutual benefit of both their players and themselves, making their businesses more attractive in terms of innovation. Another reason why they switch to Bitcoin is related to financial matters, or, merely payment policy. The thing is, many online players seem to be fed up with how online casinos, poker rooms and sportsbooks treat them: deposits and withdrawals take too much time to be completed, the commission fees are unexpectedly high, plus entertainment portals and payment services operators they cooperate with happen to be charging money for almost ‘nothing’ from time to time. That has nothing to do with fair gambling, does it?

The introduction of cryptocurrency payments by Bitcoin casinos become the perfect solutions for all that. On top of instant decentralized payments and deposits, full transparency of all the transactions made, as well as enhanced personal data and funds security, you also get unprecedented virtual anonymity – an option so much sought after by modern online gamblers. People are feeling they didn’t get it all before in full measure, and now that they have all opportunities presented, it’s quite natural they are eager to get the most of those. Also, it wouldn’t be inappropriate to remind you that the primary Bitcoin users (and, logically, Bitcoin casino regulars) are young people easily adopting the latest technological advancements and knowing how to put them to proper use. This new generation is the outpost of the successive wave of the New Technological Revolution that has been ongoing for some decades already. If you ask them, they will tell you Bitcoin is definitely revolutionizing their everyday life, their habits, and the way they’ve got used to do certain things. They are the ones who know for sure Bitcoin and block-chain are not just about Bitcoin casinos and online gambling – nowadays, world’s most popular cryptocurrency is much bigger and possibly stronger than ever before, regardless of the recent BTC price fluctuations.

Now it is obvious Bitcoin’s strength has no relation to its current price. Bitcoin is strong because people need it to make their lives easier. And its potential is vast.

iOS or Android: which offers more?

When the first iPad was released back in 2010 many commentators questioned whether they would succeed; given that they didn’t seem to fulfill an obvious gap in the market. Too large for a pocket, unable to take calls - buy an iPad the joke went and pay hundreds of dollars for a bigger, more useless version of the phone you already have.

Time has clearly shown those early naysayers wrong; as 229 million tablets were sold worldwide last year. Approximately 68 million, or 30%, of the total were Apple devices and while collated Android sales figures are not yet available for 2015 it is likely in the 140m - 150m range; confirming that these two operating systems maintain a virtual duopoly on the tablet market.

Which to plump for?

Assuming your choice is between an iOS and Android device, what are the main advantages of each system? The primary advantages of iOS are twofold - it is incredibly intuitive and, because the system is built for a very small range of devices, the 500,000 iPad specific apps will run extremely well; with few glitches or crashes. However for the trademark Apple style, you will have to pay somewhat over the odds.

Android tablets are sold by a variety of manufacturers, and utilise a wide variety of hardware. Samsung, Kobo, Asus and, of course, Google have all released successful tablet ranges running Android - but on a wide variety of screen sizes, processor types and other hardware options. Although this gives the consumer a relatively larger choice it comes with usability drawbacks - you may download an app for your Android tablet and find it requires hardware your model doesn’t have. You’ll also run into more bugs and crashes - but be compensated by a larger range of titles and the greater freedom given to developers in the Android framework.

As an example, Android users rave about Tasker which allows you to program your phone to perform actions when triggered; like turning on WiFi as you approach home, for example. No equivalent app exists for iOS because Apple are incredibly reluctant to give any developers the “under the hood” access these apps require.

Of course both systems share their basic functionality and have a large overlap in the range of compatible apps. Whichever system you buy you’ll be able to watch TV on Netflix, read emails or play video games on the move. Given the recent surge in popularity of “interactive gaming”; betting to you or I, most casinos and bookmakers ensure their full suite of games is available on all platforms.

Before making your choice try to think what you want to use your new tablet for. If you’re just looking to watch videos and music; Android will likely fulfill your needs at a lower price. If however you’re looking to do a bit more, organising emails, contacts and calendars for example, you’ll likely find iOS far more simple and intuitive.

Author - Dan Brook

How Tech Changed Sport

Image Credithttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Sports_divers.jpg

Image Credit
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Sports_divers.jpg

Technology, as one might safely imagine, continually changes our cultures, societies and lives, thanks to the continual upgrading and innovating that go hand in hand with new ideas and ways of doing things. Everywhere we look we see the signs of new technologies' reach- smartphones, televisions, automobiles- although sports fans may often wonder where and in what ways technology impacts their favourite pastimes. Sports can be sometimes viewed as unchanging, rules having been passed down for centuries, often, although this opinion is far from true.

Live
Live sports are a relatively old phenomenon, although true live is a relatively recent advancement. 'Live' sports ten or twenty years ago could be received often a few minutes later compared to when the actual events took place, compared to nowadays when enormous increases in internet bandwidth and satellite coverage mean that images are broadcast to television sets seconds after they take place!

Betting
Millions of people worldwide enjoy placing a little wager on the results of their favourite sports, and the internet has massively improved both the ease and availability of bets for punters. A fan sat in the stands during a game can now turn on their smartphone, head to bookies.com, check out the odds and team news, then make their bet during the game. It's added a heck of a lot of fluidity to the betting world, and fans are ecstatic.

Equipment
Kits and pieces of equipment went largely unchanged within many sports throughout the twentieth century, however with the advent of materials technology many sports and their players have undergone an enormous change. Today, kits are thinner, lighter and stronger, acting as less of an impediment to the players wearing them and boosting the performance of people using them. Footballs are now equipped with sensors hidden inside that notify referees if they pass past the goal-posts, eliminating messy arguments and fan anguish, and in sports such as hockey, strong, lightweight plastics are now used for sticks instead of traditional woods.

Social Media
Once, having a discussion about the prowess of sportspeople and teams was done mainly in bars and pubs across the world, but with Facebook and Twitter now incredibly popular, sports discussions are on every news feed and profile. Teams can now create their own pages, posting interesting info, behind the scenes footage and other titbits that massively increase the feeling among fans that they too are part of the team.

Author - Catherine Bush.

What is the Best 4G Network for Roaming Abroad?

From the dreary days of dial-up through to the ultra-slick broadband of today, the communication networks around the globe have continued to evolve at a rate of knots that makes them unrecognisable from their predecessors.

All the while, the mobile phone industry has kept steady pace with its own giant leaps from the painstaking days of WAP-based browsing to today’s incredible 4G experience which now promises speeds of up to 10 times faster than the 3G of yesteryear. However, whilst 3G can be found in the majority of our planets nooks and crannies, 4G has, and still does require, a big upheaval in infrastructure to accommodate the faster speeds.

With this in mind, consumers are faced with a conundrum when it comes to deciding between the two major players in 4G roaming – Vodafone and EE. Although other networks are currently working on plans to develop and enhance their own offerings, these two giants of the mobile world are leagues ahead of anything else, but with some key differences between each of them. With 42 million trips now being made each year from the UK to 4G-enabled roaming zones, here’s a handy reference guide so that you can find out for yourself which of the big two could be best for you.

Vodafone

If you’re regularly jet-setting across the globe then one of the major factors in selecting an appropriate network is going to be the sheer number of countries that are covered. Whilst 4G is still in its relative infancy as nations look to integrate the new technologies that are required, there has been a behind the scenes battle between Vodafone and EE as they compete for the greatest roaming coverage. As recently as October 2014, Vodafone announced that a further 19 new destinations had been added to its available destinations list, totalling an impressive 23 countries in all.

Cost is always going to be a major consideration of the phone buying public and Vodafone seem to be erring on the side of caution when it comes to what they charge. If travelling to a specified Vodafone “EuropeZone” country, then you can access your UK minutes, texts and data for £3 per day without any other hidden costs. If you’re travelling to a “WorldTraveller” Zone then it goes up to £5 per day, but that will allow you to call any UK numbers based on your standard tariff, including your free allowances. Phone Shop by Sainsbury’s offer one of the most transparent guides on the impact that roaming and international calling can have on tariffs if you’re still unsure of the details.

As an overview, Vodafone 4G roaming is now available in the following countries:

Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain and Switzerland.

N. America/S. America: USA, Canada and Brazil

Asia/Oceania: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand

EE

The country’s largest mobile network operator sat at the centre of the launch of 4G back in 2013 when a contract worth over £500m was agreed to allow them to pioneer the service in the UK. With all that experience under their belts, they certainly know what they’re doing.

However, since this spritely launch they have been overtaken by Vodafone in terms of their reach, but still cover an impressive 16 countries after their initial successes in France and Spain.

EE has decided to continue with its acclaimed bolt on packages as, like Vodafone, they are keen to avoid their customers accidentally racking up astronomical bills and damaging consumer trust. Rather than splitting their qualifying regions into zones, EE will allow you to purchase a 50MB EE data add-on pack for £3 per day. This can be topped up depending on usage, but in effect it achieves the similar result to Vodafone in limiting the overall spend.

EE is available in the following countries:

Europe: France, Spain, Norway, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Switzerland.

N. America/S. America: Canada

Asia/Oceania: Saudi Arabia, UAE and South Korea.

Plans were announced last year by the European Union to end roaming charges from mobile providers. The debate got underway this week in Italy as to how to implement this new strategy. The coming months may be the last opportunity for providers to make a quick buck from roaming customers, so use it to your advantage by targeting the countries that you’re likely to travel to most over the next year as it’s unlikely to be an issue beyond 2015.