Star Wars Battlefront Companion App Launched for Android and iOS

2015 seems to be the year of Star Wars. We've had a mobile game, an augmented reality app, a book, a new PS4, and even a range of laptops. Naturally it all leads up to the grand event that is the movie, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.

But for some of us, the grand event is on November 17 thanks to Star Wars Battlefront, a multiplayer first-person shooter from the makers of the Battlefield series, Dice, and published by Electronic Arts (EA). As is the case with most games from EA, Battlefront has a companion app for Android and iOS. It weights 76MB on Android and 60.70MB on iOS.
The Star Wars Battlefront Companion app allows you unlock items in Battlefront. This is possible through Base Command, a card collection game that lets you earn credits to unlock weapons and power-ups in Battlefront. You can also check out your progress and performance through the app. Also, if your friends are on EA's Origin online service, you'll be notified when they're playing Battlefront.

With Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and Halo 5: Guardians already out and Rainbow Six Siege yet to come, Star War Battlefront has heavy competition. But for fans of first-person shooters, there hasn't been this much choice in the genre for a long time. Never a bad thing.

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Android 6.0 Marshmallow to start rolling out on October 5, says Canadian carrier

While we already know that the next generation of Nexus devices - which are expected to be announced during Google's September 29 event - will run Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box, it wasn't clear when the new Android version would start rolling out to older devices. However, that was until now.

According to an updated software release schedule (see image above) from Canadian carrier Telus, Android Marshmallow will begin rolling out on October 5, with the Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 becoming the first handsets to get it. The carrier, however, says that the date is subject to change. For the uninitiated, two Nexus phones - made by LG and Huawei - are expected to be unveiled on September 29. The devices are expected to debut as Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, respectively - you can take a look at their leaked press renders here and here.

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Google announces Android Marshmallow-themed event for September 29

Google sent out invites for an Android Marshmallow themed event in San Francisco on September 29. The occasion will all but certainly mark the debut Android 6.0, as well as new Google hardware.
We are likely to see a duo of new Nexus smartphones made by LG and Huawei. The devices are expected to debut as Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P respectively.
The LG-made Nexus 5X has already leaked on a number of occasions. Its rumored specs include Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 SoC, 2GB of RAM, 5.2” 1080p display, 12.3MP main camera, and a fingerprint sensor.
Nexus 6P on the other hand, is rumored to pack Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset, 3GB of RAM, and 5.7” QHD display. The Handset will be Huawei’s first Nexus device.
An updated Chromecast is also expected to make an appearance at the event. An image of the device leaked out earlier today.

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Star Wars: Uprising for Android and iOS Is a Prequel to Force Awakens

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens out this December, the Disney marketing machine is in full swing. From unveiling hot ticket toys like the BB8 robot to the Crossguard Lightsaber, there's a lot of tangible merchandise for fans.
And if you're looking for your Star Wars fix without any embarrassing looking toys, there's Star Wars: Uprising, it's a role-playing game (RPG) for Android and iOS that lets you customise your own character and take part in cooperative, real-time combat with others around the world.
But the biggest hook comes from the fact that it ties in with the Star Wars lore. The events of Star Wars: Uprising take place between Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. You'll fight through the force of the Empire across iconic locations such as Hoth and Cloud City.
Like most mobile games nowadays, it's free with in-app purchases. These range from Rs. 60 to Rs. 6,200 to help you progress through the game. Developed by Kabam, the company behind mobile games like Spirit Lords, Marvel Contest of Champions, Wartune, and Fast & Furious Legacy, Star Wars: Uprising doesn't appear to be your standard cheap movie game cash in. No surprise considering the development staff consists of Daniel Erickson, the creative director on the Electronic Arts (EA) massively multiplayer online RPG (MMORPG) Star Wars: The Old Republic and Danny Keller, artist on the Clone Wars animated series.

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Android Lollipop Now Running on 21 Percent of Active Devices: Google

Google's Android Lollipop version, which was released last year, is finally running on over 20 percent of active Android devices.
According to the latest Google Play distribution data for the seven-day period ending September 7, the number of Android Lollipop-based devices logging into the store is steadily rising, while the share of Android KitKat and Android Jelly Bean powered devices is dropping gradually.
The latest data reveals that Android Lollipop has a total share of around 21 percent of active Android devices (with Android 5.0 Lollipop running on 15.9 percent of devices and Android 5.1 version at 5.1 percent) that check into Google Play compared to 18.1 percent reported at the beginning of August - an increase of 2.9 percent in roughly a month.

The Android Developers' webpage shows that Android 4.4.x KitKat version is going down steadily in charts and now powers 39.2 percent devices compared to 39.3 percent last month - a minute decrease of 0.1 percent.
Android Jelly Bean has a combined share of 31.8 percent - falling 1.8 percent from August's 33.6 percent. Android 4.1.x is seen on 12.1 percent devices (down from 13 percent), Android 4.2.x on 15.2 percent (down from 15.9 percent), and Android 4.3 on 4.5 percent devices (down from 4.7 percent).
Android 4.0.x or Ice Cream Sandwich, in Google's latest numbers, registered a share of 3.7 percent, down 0.4 percent from last month. Android Gingerbread (v2.3.3-2.3.7) and Android 2.2 Froyo's device distribution shares are 4.1 percent (down 0.6 percent) and 0.2 percent (down 0.1 percent) respectively in the report.
The OpenGL version, on the other hand, saw OpenGL 2.0 dominating at 58.3 percent, and OpenGL version 3.0 steadily rising to 37.6 percent. To recall, Android's Lollipop version crossed 10 percent mark in June.
Google is expected to release the final build of the new Android 6.0 Marshmallow alongside new Nexus devices soon.

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Android M Developer Preview 2 Released for Nexus Devices

Google on Thursday released the Android M Developer Preview 2 for Nexus devices which brings fixes and updates to Developer Preview 1 based on user feedback.

The latest Developer Preview 2 comes with build number MPZ79M for Nexus 5,Nexus 6, and Nexus 9 devices while it comes with build number MPZ79N for the Nexus Player. All compatible Nexus devices running Developer Preview 1 should start getting notifications about the OTA (over-the-air) update in the coming days, though the system or factory images are already available - users are recommended to backup their data before flashing the image.

Google has listed features and updates that Developer Preview 2 brings including the up to date M release platform code; near-final APIs to validate apps and to provide more testing support, Nexus system images and emulator system images with the Android platform updates have been refined. Apart from the platform update, the system images also include Google Play services 7.6.

For developers, Google notes, "For those developers using the emulator, you can update your M preview system images via the SDK Manager in Android Studio."

Some of the other Android platform changes include modifications to platform permissions including external storage, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth location, and changes to contacts/identity permissions. There are some API changes including updated Bluetooth Stylus APIs and updated Media API. Google has also fixed a couple of developer-reported issues such as a TextInputLayout hint issue for embedded EditText, and a camera permission issue with Legacy Apps.

Some of the key changes listed by Google include:

Permissions changes
• The android.permission.USE_FINGERPRINT permission now has "normal" protection level, so it is no longer necessary to request this permission directly from the user. The USE_FINGERPRINT permission enables fingerprints to be enabled for authentication, but does not give the requesting app access to the enrollment/fingerprint administration flow.
• The android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission has protection level "dangerous", meaning that apps wanting to write to external storage will need to request permission from the user at runtime. Both WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE and WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE are members of the STORAGE permission group.
• Remote Bluetooth/Wi-Fi MAC's now require either the android.permission.LOCATION_FINE or android.permission.LOCATION_COURSE permission.
• Some accounts and identity permissions are moved to CONTACTS permissions group and others are removed or granted based on account type. In particular, android.permission.USE_CREDENTIALS, android.permission.MANAGE_ACCOUNTS, and android.permission.AUTHENTICATE_ACCOUNTS are ungrouped pending further changes in a later release.
• The Wi-Fi permissions android.permission.CHANGE_WIFI_STATE, android.permission.CHANGE_WIMAX_STATE, and android.permission.CHANGE_WIFI_MULTICAST_STATE now have protection level "normal".
• The Bluetooth permissions android.permission.BLUETOOTH and android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN now have protection level "normal".
• Bookmarks and subscribed feeds permissions are removed.
• Apps included in the system image are no longer granted dangerous permissions automatically. All apps should check for and request permissions at runtime.
• Introduces the utility method Activity.shouldShowRequestPermissionRationale(String), which lets your app see whether users have previously rejected a permission request. This lets you know that your app should explain the the user why it needs that permission. For more information see the Permissions developer guide.
Other changes
• The android.app.AssistContent and android.app.AssistStructure classes are moved into a new package, android.app.assist.
• Bluetooth Stylus APIs are updated and include new callback events. The View.OnStylusButtonPressListener class is renamed to View.OnContextClickListener and GestureDetector.OnStylusButtonPressListener class to GestureDetector.OnContextClickListener.

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Xbox Music With OneDrive Integration Now Available for Android and iOS

Microsoft's Xbox Music service's new OneDrive integration feature, which was announced in March this year, has now reached the Xbox Music apps on the Android and iOS platforms. The company has also removed the requirement to use the app without an Xbox Music subscription, letting people use the OneDrive integration.
The updated music service on the rival mobile platforms comes with same Xbox Music branding and not the recently unveiled Groove branding of Xbox Music on Windows 10. A Groove update for the Android and iOS platforms is expected at some point.
As mentioned earlier, the Xbox Music app now works without an Xbox Music subscription, and users will be stream music from their OneDrive folder on Android and iOS. Users would be able to upload mp3, m4a, or wma music files on their OneDrive account and stream it from the Xbox Music app on their devices. Downloading of music files from OneDrive and storing it for offline use is also possible. Both Android and iOS users would need an Xbox Music Pass to stream music files they don't own.
The OneDrive integration puts Xbox Music on par with other music lockers such as Google Play Music. Microsoft at the time of Xbox Music launch, added that users can store up to 50,000 music files in their collection on OneDrive, which matches the recently bumped-up storage limit of Google Play Music.
Other new features of the updated Xbox Music for Android and iOS apps include offline playback support on a wider range of devices, the ability to download individual songs and albums for offline use, and also the ability to filter offline music. The company also details 'various bug fixes' in its changelog.
Downloading of music files from OneDrive and storing it for offline use is also possible. It has been said that despite the addition of several bug fixes, the iOS version of the service seems to crash regularly.
The updated app is available to download from Google Play and App Store. The app is compatible with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or later versions and iOS 7.0 or later OS versions.

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Fairphone 2 Unveiled, Android Powered With Modular Design

You may have heard of "blood diamonds," but conflict minerals are a problem for smartphones too. That's what Fairphone set to address in 2013 with a crowdfunding campaign, and now the Amsterdam-based company is back with the sequel.

It's a highly modular design you can take apart with a screw driver and easily replace components. Screen replacements are possible on most phones, but you can replace the CPU, camera, microphone and other parts of the Fairphone 2 by ordering new ones and swapping them. This isn’t Project Ara, you get a traditional-loooking phone, but everything is designed to swap out a lot like a desktop computer.


The phone will launch with Android 5.1 Lollipop, but the company plans to make a lot of its software open source to enable easy development of custom ROMs.
The body of the phone is rubberized while the 5" 1080p screen on the front is guarded by 0.7mm thick Gorilla Glass 3. The innards are a bit behind modern flagships with a Snapdragon 801 chipset with 2GB RAM and an 8MP camera, but you get 4G LTE, two SIM slots and a microSD slot.
An expansion port is left on the back for sensors enhancements to come in the future. Fairphone CEO Bas van Abel says swapping components of the phone is a bonding experience since you take responsibility to maintain it, leading to a deeper relationship.
This modularity should also allow the Fairphone 2 to be upgraded with newer hardware, something like Samsung's Evolution Kits for their Smart TVs.

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How to Download and Install Android M on Google Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Nexus Player

Android M, the latest version of the world's most popular mobile operating system, was announced at Google I/O 2015 on Thursday. Android M is still some time away from being ready for rollout - the launch to consumers is expected in Q3 of this year - the preview version for developers is now available.

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Google Helps Find The Right Android Phone For You With New Tool

With the innumerable Android smartphone launches every week, users looking for a new phone are always in tight spot about which handset to buy, Google now has the answer. The search giant has unveiled a new tool that recommends handsets to users based on their preferences, gleaned by making users answer a few questions.

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Android Wear now has over 4000 apps, gets even smarter

The Google I/O keynote didn’t miss its chance to update us on the progress of Android Wear. The dedicated wearable platform has really come a long way for its relatively short life and third-party developers have played a major part in this success.

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Android M to launch at Google I/O

While Google may have chosen to name its next version Lollipop over laddoo or licorice or whatever you wished, looks like the guessing game for its next iteration will begin soon. Yes, Google has disclosed the schedule for its I/O event to be held later this month and seems like Android M will be at the show.

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