Gameloft launches Eternal Legacy onto Android. RPG fans will want this game.

A lot of people dislike the fact that Gameloft still refuses to sell their games on the Android Market, regardless of the reasons. However, as they release more titles onto Android, it could be getting harder for people to resist going to their store and nabbing one. Eternal Legacy was just launched which is Gameloft's Final Fantasy-type game.

Sporting some great 3D graphics and about as much Final Fantasy related look and feel as you could stuff in a game without it actually being Final Fantasy, Eternal Legacy is Gameloft's newest hit RPG and it is now available for Android.

Features:

• The best, deepest Japanese role-playing game available on your HD smartphone.
• Freely explore majestic regions, real-time rendered in full 3D, with free 360° camera.
• A mix of fantasy and sci-fi: fight with swords or guns, face robots and magic, fly your own ship!
• Play as Astrian and save Algoad from destruction in this intense quest, lasting dozens of hours.
• Dynamic turn-based fights: preset your attacks, which will be triggered once the gauge is filled.
• Choose the 3 fighters of your team among the 8 different characters you meet along the way.

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Being not only an RPG fan but a Final Fantasy series buff as well, this is pretty much a done deal for myself and will probably be the same way for all your RPG nuts out there. Even the monsters in-game look a hell of a lot like what you'd find in Final Fantasy, not that we are complaining. As usual though, you'll have to head over to Gameloft's website to get Eternal Legacy and will set you back the usual $4.99.

Next up, Gameloft's MMORPG they just launched on iOS? We hope so. Expect a full review from yours truly shortly. Amazingly, this is available for all supported Android devices, not exclusively for the Xperia Play.

How to back up your Android phone

Android doesn't offer a native backup service, so it's easy to ignore the need to do so. But don't wait until it's too late to start thinking about backing up your phone. Many of us rely on our phone cameras to snap day-to-day photos of our lives and save text messages to have some of the most important conversations. So before a thief swipes that phone, or a spilled cup of coffee bricks it, follow these tips:

Google has your back. Go to Settings > Privacy, and make sure that "Back up my settings" and "Automatic restore" are checked off. Go to Settings > Accounts and sync, open your Gmail account, and check off all options. With these settings in place, your contacts, system settings, apps, calendar, and e-mail will be restored whenever you set up a new Android phone with that same Gmail account.

Photos. Google hasn't implemented a native photo backup service yet, so look to third-party apps to safeguard your photos. You might want to consolidate your mobile photos with those you already have stored in a cloud service. For instance, Photobucket Mobile will automatically upload newly snapped photos in the background to your Photobucket account. Flickr Companion and Picasa Tool are also free apps that allow mobile uploading but don't do so automatically.

Drag and drop. Back up photos from your Android the traditional way. Connect your phone to your computer via USB, set it in Disk Mode and locate the drive (on the desktop for Mac, in My Computer for Windows). Open the drive, find the DCIM folder, and drag the photos you'd like to back up onto your hard drive.

Text messages. Folks at SMS Backup + figured out a smart way to back up your text messages in the cloud. The free app automatically sends your SMS threads to Gmail and stores them under a new label, "SMS."

Let someone else do it. If you like the idea of having someone else back up your data, download MyBackup Pro. The $5 app backs up everything--SMS, photos, apps, call log, contacts, system settings, bookmarks, and more--to your SD card or its online server at no extra charge. MyBackup also allows you to restore your data, should you need to do so.

Kogan launches 1GHz Android 7-inch tablet for $189

Online retailer Kogan has announced its first Android tablet device.

The new seven-inch unit features a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, capacitive touchscreen with 800×480-pixel resolution and Android 2.2 (Froyo) operating system.

Full specs are below.

While the Agora tablet hasn’t completed manufacture as of time of writing, the company is offering consumers a “get in early” price under its LivePrice scheme – the sooner you get in, the cheaper it is. At time of writing, the price was $148 although it is slated to have an eventual retail price of $189.

While eBay is flooded with budget seven-inch Android tablets now featuring Google’s Froyo operating system, the potential for the Agora 7 to be among the better models is high, given its 1GHz processor and capacitive-touchscreen LCD panel. (The majority of cheap tablets feature a resistive touchpanel).

The Agora 7 supports USB and HDMI output however, it appears the CPU is only fast enough to handle 720p (1280×720-pixel) HD video playback. According to Kogan’s website, the first production run of the tablet sold out two days ago. No details have been announced about when the second run will go into production.

Specifications
Model Number:	KATBL07ANDAA
CPU Model:	Cortex A8
CPU Speed:	1.0 Ghz
Memory:	512MB DDR2
Storage:	4GB NAND
External Storage:	microSD card expansion up to 32GB
Operating System:	Android 2.2
Touchscreen:	7″ Capacitive Touchscreen
Screen Resolution:	800 x 480
Wi-Fi Support:	Wireless built-in (b/g Support)
G-Sensor:	Internal G-Sensor
Camera:	1.3M – Front Facing
Battery:	3600mAh
Inputs
microSD:	1
USB:	1
Outputs
Headphone Out:	1
HDMI®:	1
Dimensions:	W:19.2cm x D:12.1cm x H:1.24cm
Weight:	390g
What’s In The Box:
	Kogan Agora 7″ Tablet
	Power Cable
	USB Cable
	Headphones
	Link to User Manual

Skype Announces Android Security Risk

Skype today revealed today that data from its Android app is vulnerable, this only comes after the user mistakenly installed a malicious third-party app to their Android device.

During a take down last month, Google removed 21 applications from the Android Market after being alerted that the applications contained malicious code and were being used to steal user data. After the removal Google used their fancy kill switch to remove the applications that were already installed onto the devices and were actively stealing data.

Skype said in a blog post that it has only recently became aware that personal information may have been stolen by the malicious applications. Items including cached profile information and instant message logs could have been accessed by these applications. This security hole was not noticed until earlier this week by Android Police.

To reiterate, this vulnerability only affects devices that have the Skype for Android installed and have previously installed one of the 21 malicious applications from the Android Market. Even if you had one of the bad applications installed on your device there is no way to know if this information was accessed. Any users who downloaded these apps should immediately change their password and check their Skype messages for sensitive information that could have been revealed.

Skype says that they are working hard to protect users from this vulnerability and any future attempts. Updates coming to the app will secure file permissions inside Skype for Android so data isn't accessible from apps that gain root access.

The impact from this vulnerability is minor, but is a reminder that mobile apps aren't as secure or safe as we may assume them to be. No matter the size of the company, all mobile developers should practice in a sandbox environment and should encrypt all user data to protect information from unauthorized access.