Xbox SmartGlass for Android Now Available

Microsoft launched its Xbox SmartGlass app in the Google Play store this afternoon. After signing in with your Xbox membership, your Android phone (running Ice Cream Sandwich and above) will have access to a slew of smart-remote features for touch-based navigation of the Xbox 360 interface and controlling apps and games that support SmartGlass.

Xbox SmartGlass lets you:

• Navigate your Xbox 360 with swipe and tap

• Use your phone’s keyboard to type to your Xbox 360

• Browse the Internet on your Xbox 360 with full keyboard and zooming

• Play, pause, fast forward, rewind, and stop videos and music on your Xbox 360

• Search the full Xbox catalog of music, video, and games

• Enjoy rich, interactive experiences from select game and entertainment content creators

• Track and compare your achievements with your Xbox friends

• Change up your 3D avatar

• Message your Xbox friends

• Edit your Xbox profile

How game and app developers might choose to integrate SmartGlass largely remains to be seen, though Microsoft did offer a few sneak peeks at this year's E3.

SmartGlass is available now on Android phones. Microsoft plans to release it "soon" for Windows Phone and Windows 8, as well as iPhone and iPad. Unfortunately, it looks like Android won't get a tablet-native version of SmartGlass any time soon.

Have you had a chance to try SmartGlass? Tell us about it in the comments.

Jon Fox is a Seattle hipster who loves polar bears and climbing trees. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

LG Nexus 4 Specs and Release Date Leaked

LG's forthcoming Optimus G-based Nexus phone hasn't been leaked quite as thoroughly as the iPhone 5 was, but it's been no great secret either. Earlier today, the phone showed up for preorder at UK phone retailer Carphone Warehouse, and its legit-looking splash page (which has since been taken down) was consistent with the previously leaked specs.

The Nexus 4 was listed as having a quad-core Snapdragon CPU running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, 2G of RAM, NFC, an 8-megapixel camera and a 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 display. The detailed specs list it as being 9.1mm thick.

One piece of bad news could mar the phone though: at least at at Carphone Warehouse, it looks like the Nexus 4 will only be available with a disappointing 8GB of onboard storage, without a microSD slot for expanding.

Google is expected to announce the Nexus 4, along with other products, at its Android event next Monday, October 29th. If Carphone Warehouse's information holds true, the phone will be available the very next day (Oct 30th).

Will you order a Nexus 4 if you can get it next week? Let us know in the comments.

Jon Fox is a Seattle hipster who loves polar bears and climbing trees. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Galaxy S3 and Other Samsung Devices Finally Getting Jelly Bean

At last, our favorite Android phone is getting the newest version of Android. It took them long enough, but Samsung is finally beginning to roll out Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) updates for over a dozen of its phones and tablets.

The update is available first in Poland, for some reason, and The Verge reports that when you'll get it depends on where you live and which carrier you're with. If this post at TechHive is any indication, US customers - particularly those of us on Verizon - are last in line.

With enhancements like Project Butter and Google Now, updating to Jelly Bean means upgrading your phone. And with Google's improved voice search and Samsung's "blocking mode" filling in for Siri and "Do Not Disturb," the Jelly Bean update should help the Galaxy S3 compete with the iPhone 5.

We'll save a full-on OS face-off for another time, but consider this: Apple released iOS 6 a week ago, and over 100 million devices have already installed it (about 25%). Google announced Jelly Bean over two months ago, and its share of the Android user-base hasn't yet reached 2%.

No one cares how good the new version of Android is if it won't work on their phone. Let's hope Samsung can make the updates available fast, and that HTC and Motorola follow suit.

Eagerly awaiting the Jelly Bean update? (Or still waiting in vain for Ice Cream Sandwich?) Tell us about it in the comments.

Jon Fox is a Seattle hipster who loves polar bears and climbing trees. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Burner Makes You (Almost) Untraceable

Fans of HBO's The Wire will recognize "Burner" right away as Baltimore gangs' argot for a disposable cell phone. An iPhone app of the same name, released yesterday, gives us a way to do it all from a smartphone.

Alternative and temporary numbers have been available to smartphone users before, through services like Google Voice or SkypeIn, but Burner streamlines the process to a few taps. Avoiding giving out your real number while selling your couch on Craigslist (or for sketchier purposes) has never been simpler.

But before you go ordering hits or scheduling re-ups though, be advised that Burner's developers do store your permanent number on their servers, so you'd still be traceable by anyone with a court-order.

Still, the $2 app doesn't ask for any info beyond your phone number and Apple ID, and it doesn't log location data. If you're looking to limit who has your primary number, Burner could be just the thing.

Jon Fox is a Seattle hipster who loves polar bears and climbing trees. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN. 

Source : ign[dot]com

Chinese Listing Reveals PS Vita Imposter, Droid X360

Coming out of China this week is news of a recently unveiled phone/handheld console from Shenzhen Xun Long, the Droid X360. What's remarkable about this mini-tablet isn't the Android 4.0 operating system, the 1.5 GHz processor, the 512 MB of RAM, the 8GB of on-board storage, the 5-inch capacitive touchscreen, the HDMI Out port, or even the front and rear cameras.

This machine impresses with its brilliant visual forgery and an unexpected library of classic games.

The Droid X360 doesn't just look like the PS Vita; it's practically a carbon copy on the exterior. Check out the opaque shoulder buttons, the placement of the joysticks, D-pad, and face buttons. Hell, the display bevel even looks identical. Except for the name on the front and the Android logo on the rear, this knockoff could easily fool an uninformed consumer. That's probably what the manufacturer is banking on.

To be fair, the Droid X360 is clearly built with gaming as its primary function. But because this device is not, in fact, a Sony product as its aesthetic implies, or a Microsoft product as the name implies, it can't boast the same gaming software that Sony and Microsoft use to sell their expensive hardware. Rather, the Droid X360 has taken advantage of the largely unregulated market of old games from consoles like Nintendo 64, SEGA Genesis, Game Boy Advance, NES, and SNES to draw consumers.

The device will apparently ship with nine emulators able to play ROMs of beloved games like 40-Winks, Bomberman Hero, Bust-A-Move 2, Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Forsaken 64, F-Zero X, Rockman (a Japanese Mega Man game), Batman NES, Super Smash Bros. (All Star! Duranto Smash Bros. in Japan), Final Fight, and (who could forget?) Cadillacs & Dinosaurs. And because it runs on the Android platform, the handheld also has access to Android games like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja.

To see this nostalgic knockoff in action, check out the video above, book a flight to China when the Droid X360 hits the Folex market.

Source : ign[dot]com