According to Opera, a few Android users were experiencing problems with the latest update of the Opera Mobile browser on Android, with certain phones experiencing force close errors and others suffering random lock-ups when launching the app.
Well. They’ve now been fixed. A new version is up on the Android Market. Here’s Opera’s explanation of the problem and some of the phones effected by it:
Shortly after the launch of Opera Mobile 11.1 for Android we started receiving reports Opera was freezing at startup. We traced the startup freeze to devices with non-standards fonts. Most effected devices were the HTC HD2, and LG P990 Optimus 2x. The developers also identified and fixed another freeze on start-up bug that was effecting devices with Hardware keyboards such as the Motorola Milestone, and the HTC Desire Z.
Opera is calling this a “silent update” which, we think, means it doesn’t get a new build number. It’s like they want all knowledge of this error ERASED from history. Fair enough.
Wizard Rush is a new running game by Mouse Games. The main mechanic of the game is gravity manipulation, inverting it at will. The game has some nice aesthetics and fun game play, but overall it feels a bit lazy, as if there is a lot missing.
Apparently, this game is about wizards, but that’s preposterous, as I have not seen a single wizard yet in the entire game. Lots of Halloween witches though! Anyway, you are a student at Hogwards (with a D) School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and you’re running from some evil witch because… just because. I only figured this out from the market place description, there is no story in the actual game. I mean, I’m not expecting Dragon Age here, but at least give us a little bit of context for our actions.
Each level has you running to the right. The only thing you can do is tap the screen to flip gravity for yourself. You follow the trail of stars through to the end of the level, avoiding both enemies and falling out of said level. You can also kill enemies if you invert gravity so that it’s like you’re jumping on top of them. Each level has three special collectible stars that require you to go off the star path to collect, and many of them are pretty difficult to attain. You can always replay a level and get them later, though the game doesn’t create even a tiny bit of incentive to collect them, so you probably won’t bother. There are three worlds with four levels each, followed by a fifth boss battle against the evil witch, for a grand total of 15 levels (with a promise of more on the way).
The art and colors can be pleasing in some levels, but straight up strange or ugly looking in others. It doesn’t help that the first two worlds are very Halloween themed, while the third world suddenly takes place during the daytime in what appears to be a futuristic Paris. Like I said, there is no explanation. The running/gravity inverting mechanics can be fun at times, but they’ve been done much better in other games. The one just feels incomplete. There are barely any sound effects and the same music track loops for the entire duration of the game. The only incentive to play is a simple leader board. I hope they add more to the game in future updates, but right now it feels unfinished. Once again though, I can’t really complain, as the game is totally free, so check this one out if it seems like your kind of thing.
Android smartphones may be the power user’s answer to the iPhone, but long battery life isn’t an advantage that many of them can claim. This is hardly surprising given the amount of activity that can be happening on an Android smartphone at any given point. Between apps running rampant in the background, live widgets and wallpapers clamouring for attention on the homescreen, plus multiple email and social networking accounts synchronising at will, it’s surprising these smartphones actually last as long as they do. The usual power-saving tips apply to making your smartphone battery go the extra mile. Wi-Fi and GPS are both big drains on the battery, so make sure to turn these features off when you’re not using them. If your smartphone doesn’t have icons in the notification window for turning Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS on and off (this differs between phones), add the Power Control widget to your homescreen for easy access to them by pressing ‘Menu > Add > Widgets > Power Control’.
Check which settings and apps are draining your smartphone's battery.
Screen brightness is another thing to watch for; obviously, the higher the brightness levels are, the more it will drain the battery. The ‘Automatic brightness’ setting (found in ‘Settings > Display > Brightness’) is the best configuration, as this will dynamically adjust the screen depending on ambient lighting conditions. Alternatively, set it as low as you can while still being able to see the screen clearly – you’d be surprised at how bright it still is at the lowest setting. While you’re in Display Settings, you could also adjust the Screen timeout setting to a shorter time. One of our favourite things about Android is that notifications for new events happen in real-time, whether it’s a new email, Twitter mention, or Facebook message. If you’re happy to forgo this convenience for the sake of better battery life, however, go to ‘Settings > Accounts & Sync’ and uncheck the ‘Background data’ and ‘Auto-sync’. You’ll still get all of your messages, but only when the relevant program is active. Android has a handy feature built-in to the operating system that shows you the main culprits of battery usage on your phone. Go to ‘Settings > About phone > Battery Use’, and you’ll see the top five culprits organised by percentage. This screen also tells you how long your phone has been running since you last took it off charge, which can be a handy metric if you’re trying to figure out how long your phone typically lasts on a charge. If you’re still not happy with your phone’s battery life, short of buying a spare battery, you may need to resort to a third party app to manage your battery for you. The free Juice Defender app is an excellent power management app that lets you customise everything from the minimum and maximum CPU speed (provided your phone is rooted) and set schedules for turning data connectivity on and off (switching data off at night can make a big difference if you never turn your phone off), to creating ‘triggers’ that disable particular settings and programs when your battery goes below a particular threshold. Once the app has been running for a while, it will even tell you how much it has increased your battery life by.
Juice Defender lets you set up schedules and triggers to maximise battery life.
There are a couple of add-ons you can get to extend Juice Defender’s functionality too, such as JuicePlotter (free) which uses graphics and estimates, and Ultimate Juice ($4.80) for more fine-grained control, plus the option to factor in GPS locations.
Vodafone have now released an Android update for the Google Nexus One.
The new update (2.3.4) brings the Gingerbread operating system up to the latest edition and includes a number of improvements.
The user-interface has been made both faster and simpler with the 2.3.4 update, while the keyboard has been improved with the addition of a copy/paste feature. Furthermore, the power management of the smartphone has been improved. Internet calling is now available thanks to the update and the Nexus One now supports multiple camera management.
The Google Nexus One was one of the first mobiles to launch running on Gingerbread and it's good to see its still being supported.
You can pickup the Nexus One on Vodafone free on a £26 a month deal which gets you 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data. However, it is worth noting that the smartphone has been succeeded by the Google Nexus S.
Google continues to plug in public transportation information with a new update for its Maps for Android app that includes stop-by-stop transit navigation.
Although it’s still in beta mode, Google Maps for Android already has over 12 billion miles of GPS-guided driving and walking directions on board. Now, with Google Maps 5.7, Android smartphone owners will also be able to access public transit directions in more than 400 cities worldwide. (See the full list here.)
Essentially, the app utilizes the smartphone’s GPS function to determine the user’s current location along a particular route. Once the user inputs the destination, then the app will publish alerts about possible transfers and when to disembark.
Obviously, one of the drawbacks could be reception interference. To be able to fully take advantage of this new feature, users will likely have to be above ground.
Nevertheless, this function could prove invaluable to travelers when visiting cities with different languages and alphabets on signs that the user might not understand. (Of course, they just can’t forget about that international data plan first…)
Google Maps for Android as well as mobile and desktop browsers was recently updated in June with live public transit information about real-time and scheduled departure times, route maps and service alerts.
Some of the other enhancements in this version of Google Maps include an updated directions interface, improved search suggestions (with Google Places integrated), and a photo viewer for Place pages.
Available for downloading now, Google Maps 5.7 requires Android 2.1 and higher. For a closer look at the new features, check out the promo video below:
Nintendo is bringing its pocket monsters, Pokémon, to both Google's Android and Apple's iOS. A Japanese website reported that this is the first time a first party app from Nintendo will be arriving on hardware not made by it.
Nintendo and Game Freak will be working together to create the original Pokemon title for both iOS AppStore and Android Market.
The new app is basically an on-screen card game based on timing which uses music as well. Users can download it for free though there is a possibility the company would charge for additional cards or music.
The news of Nintendo's Pokémon app has come when Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play smartphone is already out in the market, on which users can play PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games as well.
It was just a matter of time before something related to Nintendo also reached smartphones, and luckily for users it is not from some unknown developer.
Some users might be surprised by the arrival of a Nintendo title on iOS devices, which are directly competing with Nintendo for users. Nintendo was earlier trying to sell its titles at high prices, directly taking on the iOS games.
