Google is rolling out a new version of the Play Store, v5.5.8. There are two major changes here, one of which is new animations. If you have a Android 5.1 device, you’d have noticed there was a small animation when you clicked on any item, as it expanded in a circle at the top of the screen. Now that animation has been improved and you will see the circular thumbnail pop out and and expand above and then reverse when you go back.

The other change is the new popular opinions section. Now, Play Store can pull some quotes out of user reviews into small chat bubbles so that you get a general idea of what the people are saying about the selected content. Read more »

Samsung has Iron Man-themed versions of Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge coming our way. According to The Korea Times, the special edition smartphones are expected to launch as early as this month.

The head of marketing at Samsung Mobile confirmed the arrival of the new Galaxy S6 and S6 edge variants. Read more »

No product campaign nowadays is truly complete without a few good clips, which is why HTC often hits YouTube to showcase various features of the One M9 flagship.

The videos are quite a few and touch upon such features as HTC Connect, HTC BoomSound and the new and improved HTC Sense. The phone’s new theming engine is also advertised and so is the impressive camera setup and camera app, which just recently received RAW photo functionality. Read more »

Motorola Moto E 2nd Gen sales recently kicked off and we were eager to get one and put it through its paces. Our in-depth review is already live and you can read all about the new budget smartphone there.

The new Moto E packs a slightly bigger 4.5″ qHD display and runs on the modest, but modern, Snapdragon 410 chipset with a quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A53 processor, Adreno 306 GPU and 1GB of RAM. It also has a 20% bigger battery capacity at 2,390 mAh and runs on a vanilla edition of Android Lollipop. Read more »

We reviewed the first act of Broken Age back when it launched on iOS around this time last year. Initially a Kickstarter project by Tim Schafer, creator of Grim Fandango, the game received positive reception from critics and gamers for its first act.

The second act of the game has been in works for a while now and after a long wait it’s finally here. Unlike last time, the game is now also available on Android, and you can download both parts of the game together and those who bought the first part get the second one for free. With that out of the way, let’s get to the meat of the review. Read more »

Well, it’s definitely a Sony and it has four in its name and it’s not a severely-overdue huge disappointment. You guessed it, it’s the Xperia M4 Aqua and its Sony’s latest mid-range offer. The Japanese tech giant really deserves points for this one, as it does look to be quite a premium device with a budget-friendly price tag. But, let’s not be hasty and go by impressions alone.

We first caught a glimpse of the M4 Aqua at MWC 2015 in Barcelona and it left us with quite a pleasant impression. The reality of Sony’s current situation is kind of odd. In the absence of a proper flagship device, given the disappointment of the Z4, new mid-rangers are left with the hard burden of filling the void. There has been talk of an upcoming Xperia P2 with a formidable specs sheet, but for now it is up to the M4 Aqua to keep users happy. Read more »

Sony is in a very peculiar position in its high-end Xperia Z-lineup with a modestly updated Xperia Z4 model announced for its local Japanese market, which will apparently be sold globally as the Xperia Z3+. This leaves a new flagship to be expected later this year, with a designation that will likely cause some more confusion.

Meanwhile, it is the 10.1-inch Xperia Z4 Tablet that is left to defend the Z4 badge in markets outside of Japan. It should come as no surprise then that we were very excited when a review unit arrived at our door. Read more »

Earlier this week, LG had released the Watch Urbane smartwatch running the Android Wear platform on Google Play Store. The Watch Urbane indeed is looker and with its attractive price is one of the more interesting propositions on the market.

Now to sweeten the deal even further an LG Call app for the Android Wear platform has been released to let the Watch Urbane owners make a call directly, without the need for you to take the phone out from your pocket. Read more »

Just a couple of weeks after it was made available to external beta testers, the Android version of the live video streaming app Meerkat is officially available for download from the Play Store. The app, however, still carries a ‘Beta’ tag.

If you aren’t already aware, Meerkat allows you to stream live video from your smartphone to all of your Twitter followers at once. The app is already available on iOS, and has got a lot of coverage recently. Read more »

These are the best apps and games that came out this week.

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VLC for Android is a video player, which plays almost any video as well as audio file format from the get go. A new update brings the app a step higher than other video players by adding background playback for video.

The new version of VLC for Android also gets a new look for album view and audio player alongside more Lollipop-centric effects. Read more »

Samsung released another promo video of the brand new Galaxy S6 edge flagship. The Korean giant’s latest marketing stint is focused on the craftsmanship of the smartphone.

The materials used in the making of Samsung Galaxy S6 edge include metal frame made of 6013 aluminum and rear casing with nano-thin multi-coating process that shows off the device’s color. Read more »

Google has brought the much awaited support for the RAW file format images with the Android 5.0 Lollipop update. While many handset makers have not considered this special file format support in their respective camera apps, few are already marching ahead with it for the glory.

HTC has pushed a new update for its Camera app and added the RAW file format support but only for the flagship One M9. Hopefully this feature is made available to other HTC phones as well. Read more »

Mobile keyboard company Fleksy has announced that the paid version of its Android app, which usually runs about $2, is now available as a free download for one week, i.e., until 05/07/2015.

You just need to download the free version of the app (remove and re-install the trial version if you already have it), and sign-in to the company’s cloud service, and you will be able to unlock the paid version for free. Read more »

Samsung released a second installment of its Avenger-themed Galaxy S6 edge promo video. Once again, the new clip features sports stars Lionel Messi, Eddie Lacy, Fabian Cancellara.

The new installment brings the Oculus-powered virtual reality experience that the devices are capable of delivering via an optional headset. Read more »