Tag: Phandroid

With the skyrocketing success of Netflix, many companies have been exploring low-cost monthly subscription models for many different services. Video is the obvious choice to copy for most people, but Amazon is looking to go a different direction — they want to do for eBooks what Netflix did for video.

The company was found to be testing a service called Kindle Unlimited that will cost $10 per month and give you unlimited access to over 600,000 eBooks and audiobooks. It wouldn’t be the first platform of its kind, but there’s no company with a backing as big as Amazon’s currently in the arena. Amazon’s clout and money give them a significant advantage to offer a service that provides a great deal more value than what’s currently out there.

This isn’t the first time Amazon would have tested such a model. They currently offer a much smaller incentive included with their Prime subscription program, allowing users to rent one free book per month alongside all the other benefits that come with Prime. Kindle Unlimited would be on a far larger scale.

That might come with a few drawbacks, though. For starters, the biggest, hottest and latest releases are probably out of the question — you want access to those right away, you’ll probably have to buy them. But that would be no different than having to wait for older shows and movies to reach Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video.

Basically, you’d get what you pay for — the potential to read books at pennies on the dollar instead of the $5 or $10 they might otherwise cost if bought individually. We obviously wouldn’t recommend this to folks who don’t read a lot, but if you’re one to thumb through a stack of books each month it could be worth your while. Let’s hope we hear something official soon.

[via GigaOM]

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Card slingers and dice rollers should be pleased by this bit of news: Magic 2015: Duels of the Planeswalker is now available from Google Play. The game is a casual-focused offering of the popular Magic the Gathering card game where people duel with creatures, enchantments and spells to bring their opponents’ life to zero.

The 2015 release coincides with the launch of the latest core set in the physical trading card game, and as such will feature many cards from the new set as well as from years prior. So what’s new in this release that they’re hoping will get you to drop another $10 (minimum) to play? Let’s take a look:

• New, clean user interface that puts more emphasis on the attack phase of a turn
• A free-form deck building system that allows you to mix and match cars however you want
• Unlock cards using booster cards that can either be earned through gameplay or purchased via $2 premium purchases
• Online multiplayer (wasn’t present in last year’s Android version despite being available on iPad version)
• New advanced cards such as dual lands

And that’s just scratching the surface. For the story (which we never play Magic for, but it’s there anyway) you’ll be working to defeat Garruk, the planeswalker whose beast-hunting pastime was replaced by a thirst for human blood thanks to a nasty curse. Having beaten the game on PC already, let me just say you’ve never seen Garruk quite like this before.

Some will be disappointed to learn that there are cards that can only be unlocked using the $2 premium booster packs, though the fact that you can still get more than 85% of the game’s cards without paying more than the initial $10 cost of admission should be a bit comforting.

This download won’t be for weak-willed internet connections at a whopping 1.3GB, so be sure to hop on WiFi if you decide you want to play. You can give it a try for free if you’re interested (you’ll be able to play the tutorial and the first Innistrad planes), so hop on over to Google Play for the download and see if you can’t fall in love with Magic all over again. Be sure to check out the gameplay video above while you’re waiting for your download to see what awaits you inside the multiverse.

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Android users with Amazon Prime accounts haven’t had very many options when looking to stream videos through their Instant Video app. While it’s true an Android app has been awhile for quite sometime now, it’s been exclusive to Amazon’s line of Kindle Fire tablets. We’ve pretty much came to terms that it’s there the app would remain, but it seems the app is reportedly getting ready for its Google Play debut — and it’s about damn time.

PC Advisor is claiming the exclusive after they spoke with Amazon marketing director Russell Morris at a Christmas party (in July?). Morris apparently mentioned a Google Play release of Amazon Prime Instant Video is “imminent.” Other than that, details are scarce. No word on exact timing or whether the app will offer support for Google’s streaming Chromecast dongle, but we can only hope for the best.

With Amazon Prime Instant Video available on the iPad and Kindle Fire tablets, it only makes sense for Amazon to finally include their customers who own one of the many Android devices on the market.

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Hot on the heels of Google Wallet’s latest update, PayPal is here with an update to their own mobile payments app. According to their changelog posted on Google Play, the update adds even more convenient features to help make sending/receiving mobile payments on the phone easier than ever.

First off, a new quicker login has been added, allowing users to quickly jump inside the app by saving the phone number associated with the login. This means users will now only have to enter in their PIN to quickly access their account information.

They’re also adding support for loyalty cards, allowing users to add retailers like Albertsons, AAA, Bloomingdale’s and more. This should help slim up that George Costanza wallet you got in your back pocket.

But it’s not all additions, PayPal actually mentions they’ve completely stripped away the ability to scan checks from the app, although specific reasons weren’t given. You can find the update available right now on Google Play via the link below.

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Google Shopping Express may not be available everywhere quite yet (okay, that’s a huge understatement), but in the areas where it is live, it’s easy to see how same-day delivery on items you might otherwise be too busy to pick up (or too lazy) could be incredibly beneficial to some. Where you’ll find the usual assortment of goods on Shopping Express — paper towels, food, cleaning supplies — there are also a fairly good range of electronic devices that can be purchased from retailers like Best Buy or Google Play.

Guess it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to find Google has just made available their new line of Android Wear smartwatches available for same day delivery via Shopping Express. As discovered by one Reddit member, both the LG G Watch (black and white) and the Samsung Gear Live are now available from Google Shopping Express with same day delivery, although seemingly limited to only the Peninsula area of San Francisco.

As Google Shopping Express expands, the prospect of near instant gratification of the latest Google Play devices is definitely an appealing one. For those interested, you can find links to the aforementioned Android Wear products below.

LG G Watch (black | white) | Samsung Gear Live

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You all know the drill. You buy a phone from AT&T or other wireless provider and the phone is tied down to their specific. For those looking to take their smartphone elsewhere, 1998′s Digital Millennium Copyright Act actually made it illegal for anyone to unlock their own cellphone. It wasn’t until 2006 that the Library of Congress provided an exemption that allowed consumers to unlock their phones for the sole purpose of changing providers. Only problem is that exemption expired in 2013 (late 2012).

If you thought consumers were just going to be SOL from here on out, Senate has passed a new bill that will once again makes cellphone unlocking legal. Announced in a press release by Senator Patrick Leahy, The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act allows consumers to unlock their cellphone — either “professionally” or by themselves — for use on different networks once their current contract is up.

It never made much sense that consumers couldn’t modify a phone they already own and made even less sense when you factor in those who purchase a secondhand device were often times left out in the cold. While cellphone unlocking isn’t permanently legal, a new exemption will be in place in place (that will also need to be renewed again later) and grants 3rd parties the right to unlock the phones.

Once President Obama signs it into law, expect to see signs for “cellphone unlocking” services arriving at mom and pop shops around the country (or even online) in the coming weeks. Given the split of CDMA and GSM devices between the major 4 networks in the US, this might not sound like the best news. Just keep in mind with VoLTE coming fast down the pipeline, it’s possible we could one day see an AT&T device making voice calls on Verizon’s network.

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