No Android Update Or New Nexus At Google I/O - A Good Move by Google

I/O is admittedly Google’s biggest event every year for the past 6 years now. It is during these 3 days that Google shows of the future of Google and its products. These three days in the past have seen some of the biggest announcements from the Mountain View Company - from the Nexus 7 to Google TV, Chrome to Glass and everything in between.

The Google I/O 2013 began yesterday, and the opening keynote stretched for more than three hours (it began at 10 PM IST). The earlier rumors were pointing for a refurbished Nexus 7, Android 4.3, maybe a Nexus 5 or the Motorola X phone. But as the keynote progressed, with new features and updates dropping left and right, it became more and more evident what this year’s I/O was all about: Google services and apps. And that does not make the I/O a failure, rather this move was a good thing by Google.

For the past few year’s Google has been giving its OS an upgrade nearly every 6 months. This has led to an already fragmented market getting worse. As a developer, for your apps to reach the majority – one has to support devices from Android v2.1 and up. If Google shifts to an annual cycle, by releasing new Android versions in December along with the updated tablets and mobile. It will not only help reduce the fragmentation on Android, but also launches during the holiday season could be beneficial to the OEM’s (If they can keep up with the demand).

This also makes the I/O event more for the developers and a bit less for the consumers, which in my eyes is exactly what this 3 days event is about. For me Google I/O has been about new services from Google and how a developer can use them. The few new hardware/software launches that I appreciated were revolutionary (Chrome, Glass, even the first Nexus 7), rather than being just evolutionary. The launches (of upgrades in products) should occur at press conferences and not at a developer conference.

The focus of this year’s I/O was on all the kinds of things Google is doing for developers so that they can write better things. It showed how Google services are doing amazing things on top of Android (and also Chrome). For a complete round-up of this year’s I/O – Click Here (Android Police) or Here (The Verge).

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[Update] Jack is Back - 24 Returns For 12 New Episodes

Come May 2014, Kiefer Sutherland (a.k.a Jack Bauer) will be back as an agent of the Counter Terrorist Unit, as he races against time to stop various terrorist plots. Kevin Reilley the broadcasting chief at Fox announced that 24 will be returning in 2014 via his twitter account.

But this time the season (ninth) will consist only of 12 episodes according to Brian Stelter of The New York Times. This is a big deviation from its longstanding format, where each hour-long episode represents an hour in realtime. It was the unique approach of "real time"that had caught the attention of the public back in 2001 when the show began.

Fox plans to switch things up for Jack Bauer's ninth day-long adventure. "What they'll be able to do is go in chronological order of the day, but skip hours," Reilly said. That means each hour viewers see will still be "real time," but 24's writers will be able to tell a tighter, more engrossing narrative. Apparently that idea came fromshowrunner Howard Gordon, who told Reilly that each 24-episode season of the show ultimately contained about 12 episodes of compelling storyline.

Reilly says the show is likely to return to Fox at some point in May 2014.

Update: According to Zap2It the 12 episode series will be called "24: Live Another Day"

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Wolfenstein: The New Order announced

Today Bethesda Softworks unveiled their latest offering Wolfenstein: The New Order. Wolfenstein remains as one of the most iconic first shooter games till date, and a reimagined take on the classic first-person shooter is under development at MachineGames.

"As fans of the series, working on this game is an honor, and our team is driven to create an unforgettable action-adventure experience that will make FPS fans proud," said Jens Matthies, creative director at developer MachineGames.

The game is set in an alternate history in the 1960’s, in which the Nazis won the World War II. The game will also feature the return of the protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz. The first trailer also shows indication of robotic enemies.

The publisher announced the title today, tentatively setting a Q4 2013 shipping timeframe for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and next generation consoles.

With a childhood filled with memories of the original title, I'm really looking forward to this game! 

Source: GameSpot

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Next Xbox Will Play Games Offline - Leaked Email

With 21 May coming even closer, the excitement around the new Xbox grows even higher.

First the discussions were mainly about the name with Xbox 720, Xbox Loop and Xbox Durango (which turned out to be the internal testing name for the device). The hocus-pocus around the name soon died with most people anticipating it to be called just “Xbox”. This make a lot of sense to me as it conveys a powerful sense of commitment. It says that it isn’t the next Xbox, or the latest Xbox, or anything like that — just simply the definitive machine. This would be similar to Apple’s strategy of naming the most recent of its tablet offering simply as “iPad”.

A now-former Microsoft employee was even caught defending the controversial feature 

The topic that stirred up quite a storm on the internet was the “Always on, Always Connected.” rumor about the next Xbox. I’m not so sure where it originated, it was about the requirement of active internet connection to use any feature of the next Xbox. Right from the start I was against this, and I always thought of it as a gigantic mistake by Microsoft. It would hand the business to Sony with its PS4, and basically tell people with unreliable internet that they shouldn’t buy the console.

It was quite a relief to see an internal letter pop up onArs Techina. “There are a number of scenarios that our users expect to work without an Internet connection, and those should ‘just work’ regardless of their current connection status,” the email says, it also goes on to state single player gaming to be one such scenario. The fact that it’s a mass email suggests that this is a recent change, or at least a recent clarification, in Microsoft’s official policy. A company however big it might be never sends an e-mail to everyone to say, "Just FYI, the policy we've had this whole time is still the policy. Keep doing what you've been doing."  

How good the next Xbox will be? We still don’t know. Will it be better than the PS4? No idea. But luckily the fears that the console will be completely useless when your broadband goes down have been overblown.

Source: Ars Techina 

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The Bureau: XCOM Declassified

XCOM: Enemy Unknown was one of my most favorite game from 2012, and by far the best turn based strategy game I have ever played. So I was very excited when news of a new XCOM game began surfacing a month ago. Finally 2K games has officially taken of the covers from their new game - The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.

The game is set in the 1960s with the backdrop of the Cold War. Unlike the previous games, there is no XCOM at the start, and players take on the role of agent William Carter, who is assigned to The Bureau. Through Carter’s eyes, players will see the “secret story” behind the birth of the XCOM initiative.

“Secret invasion” is the key word in this version. The earlier XCOM shooter stories are all set in a world ravaged by alien invasion. On the other hand, XCOM Declassified gets more secretive, with the all-out global invasion replaced by a more covert assault. It hopefully won’t make a ton of difference on the battlefield, as the idea is still to put players in the shoes of the agents on the field.

With the added twists from the Cold War, keeping the thing a secret from the Russians and other enemies is certainly a part of the game. So part of the story that you’ll be experiencing is how the war is kept in the shadows. How XCOM is started and then slightly hidden from the world until it is needed again.

Other than the jump from first-person to third-person, the game will largely be the same as it was back in 2012 in gameplay terms. You control one soldier on the battlefield – Carter – but you also issue tactical commands to a squad of agents using the game’s new “Battle Focus” interface.

The Battle Focus interface according to 2K is the method to direct your squad and keep yourself alive at the same time. The creative director Morgan Gray explained that “our mission statement here is to move beyond the turn-based isometric God’s Eye View on the battlefield and to put you into the boots of this squad leader, where the bullets are flying in the middle of the mix, having to basically direct your squad and keep your own head from being shot off all at the same time.” Will wait out to see what this actually means in terms of gameplay.

The rest looks to be quite similar, improving soldier skills, researching alien life forms, building advanced weapons and defeating the aliens. At least that is what the fans of last year’s game are hoping.

Will this game developed by 2K Marin outdo the last year’s title developed by Firaxis. Only time will tell. The game releases on 20 August in the US and on 23 Aug in Europe. It will be available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC platforms for $59.99.

Expect more previews and details over the coming months, providing us with more insight as we move toward this June’s E3. You can watch the teaser trailer below.

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Get Facebook Home Running On Nearly Any Android Device

At the start of the month, everyone was excited about the Facebook Event, which finally revealed Facebook’s new launcher for Android – Facebook Home. A few days later an apk was leaked which worked on nearly any mobile. But, Facebook was quick to pull the plug on the app. Yesterday, finally Facebook Home was launched on the Play Store.

Sadly Facebook Home currently supports only Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, HTC One, One X, or One X+ (and HTC First). At first I side-loaded the apk (as I had done with the leak), surprisingly Facebook was checking the phone build, and all you get is this screen.

Luckily, Android is open-source and highly modifiable. You can change nearly anything, even your device. Hence running Facebook Home on your device is pretty easy.

Method 1: Rooted Devices Only

1. Install any build.prop editor app from the Play Store, such as this or this.

2. Open the app and MAKE A BACKUP.

3. Change build.prop to the following:

ro.product.model=GT-N7100

ro.product.brand=samsung

ro.product.name=t03gxx

ro.product.device=t03g

ro.product.manufacturer=samsung

ro.com.google.clientidbase=android-samsung

4. Save and reboot.

5. Install the Facebook Home apk – Link Here.

6. You are good to go!

Method 2: Non-Rooted Devices

1. Uninstall your current Facebook and Facebook Messenger apps.

2. Install the following apps. Facebook Home apk link and Facebook apk link.

3. You are good to go!

4. Do note that by this method your apps will no longer get updates on the Play Store.

My personal experience with Facebook Home, has not been the best. I simply do not like it. It looks useful for those who use their smartphones only for Facebook. Although I love the “chat-heads” feature (more on that in the next article).

Please let us know your views on Facebook Home in the comments below.

P.S: I’m not gonna do a complete review of the app – as I find that my views are much similar to those by Android Police.

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Source: Android Police

[UPDATE] Google Play Store 4.0 - Rolling out to Phones & Tablets Today - Download Now

A redesigned Google Play Store has been making a buzz for some time now, with Android Police getting their hands on a leaked apk. A YouTube employee also posted a screenshot. The whole world was geared up for its launch at the Google I/O next month, but it seems that the Mountain View company did not have it in its mega event plans, as a blog post on the Android Blog has confirmed that the new Play Store will roll out to phones and tablets today itself!

The new cards based look definitely looks cleaner and aesthetically more beautiful. According to the blog, the new UI focuses on bigger images, grouping similar content and offering recommendations as you scroll down. All devices running Android 2.2 or higher will get the update.

Although the rollout starts worldwide today, with millions of devices the load on Google’s servers, it may be a few weeks till the update comes to your phone. Side loading the apk is an option, although no apk file is available yet (Update: Scroll to bottom for the link).

It is quite interesting to watch the UI changes Matias Duarte has brought into Android after joining the team (earlier he worked for – WebOS). He made the stock Google experience lovable with ICS (Android 4.0), brought out the aesthetic Google Cards with JB (Android 4.1/4.2) and now the clean Play Store UI. One can only wait with eager anticipation for Key Lime Pie (Android 5.0).

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Update: Android Police have once again provided us all with the apk. The app is signed by Google and upgrades your existing Play Store. The new version of the Play Store is 4.0.25. DOWNLOAD HERE.

Source: Android Blog, Android Police