Androidifying

We’ve seen ritzy smartphones before, but this latest offering from the Russian smartphone customizer Caviar might just take the cake. The Caviar Samsung Supremo Putin Rubino is a work of luxury art wrought in gold, stamped with the face of everyone’s favorite controversial Russian ruler, and bespecked with 190 honest-to-God rubies encircling the President’s face. Beneath this booshy emblem lies the Russian coat of arms and lower still are engraved two lines from the country’s national anthem. It’s based on the Samsung Galaxy S7 , and it looks like it could be a prop from that old DirecTV commercial . If you’re feeling a particularly powerful surge of Russian pride and have nearly $30,000 just lying around, then you’re going to have to act fast to snatch up this high-dollar offering. Caviar has announced that they are only making three of them. With a price tag of RUB 1,790,000 ($27,213), it’s clear that Caviar is targeting a very specific, high-end demographic. See also: You can n

Infinite Dreams, developer of the popular Sky Force series of games, has just announced it will bring Sky Force Reloaded to the Google Play Store on Thursday, June 2. One of the developer’s most popular mobile titles, Sky Force 2014, has been included on many of Android Authority’s “ best Android games ” lists over the years, so needless to say we’re extremely excited to play the next shoot ’em up game in the series. In case you’re unfamiliar, the Sky Force games are known to be very addicting . You control a ship that’s constantly shooting lasers, and it’s your job to avoid enemy fire, shoot down other ships, and rescue stranded people throughout each level. Sky Force Reloaded doesn’t seem to change the winning formula much at all. While details on the game are scarce at the moment, controls, graphics and gameplay seem to be pretty much in line with other Sky Force titles. You’ll still be bombarded with plenty of lasers and rockets, and it looks like you’ll still be able to colle

Last week’s poll summary: Out of over 10,500 total votes , 42% of our readers say that Keyboard is the best keyboard app out there. Coming in second is SwiftKey with 33% of the votes, followed by Chrooma with 9% and Fleksy with 7%. Virtual reality is all the rage nowadays. Not only has Google’s Cardboard platform picked up steam over the past two years, there seem to be plenty of OEMs launching VR headsets alongside their new smartphones.  ZTE , OnePlus , ASUS and  Alcatel  have joined the VR race, just to name a few. There are also pricier options available if you want to immerse yourself even more. Samsung’s Gear VR is a great mid-tier option if you own a Galaxy device, and with a compatible computer, you can invest in an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift . See also: Does Daydream have what it takes to make VR mainstream? 13 With all that said, we’d like to know — do you own a VR headset? If so, which one? Do you have a Google Cardboard viewer, or have you already invested in an H

Like previous years, Asus took to stage at Computex in its home country of Taiwan to unveil its new flagship smartphones, and just like previous years, there was more than one device to show off. This year, the Zenfone 3 range spans across three devices – the Zenfone 3, Zenfone 3 Deluxe and the Zenfone 3 Ultra – with each offering targeted towards a different type of consumer. The Zenfone 2 was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated Asus smartphones ever and the company is hoping the Zenfone 3 follows suit, by capturing both the heart and the wallets of would-be buyers. Does the Zenfone 3 deliver and is it worthy of your money? Live from Computex here in Taipei, let’s take a quick look in our Zenfone 3 family hands-on. Asus Zenfone 3 We’ll kick things off with the Zenfone 3, which is the entry-level of these three smartphones. It might be considered budget by its price tag – which is expected to be around the $249 mark – but its specs list is anything but budget. The Zenfone 3 sp

In the previous two posts in this series ( part 1 and part 2 ), we’ve seen how to create a basic 2D platformer using Unity. So far we have a character who responds to keyboard input and touch controls, has basic physics and explodes in a gory mess when he comes into contact with enemies, spikes or the bottom of the screen. In this final installment, we’ll be adding some collectibles, music, animation and levels to finish off this basic-but-fun little platform game. Some polish and organization I actually added music before uploading the APK in the last post – if you downloaded it then you will have been greeted by some awesome chiptune sounds by Mentalcacao . To implement this, all I had to do was add an MP3 to my project (in a folder called ‘Audio’ within Assets) and then add it as a component of the player character. I also set ‘Play On Awake’ and ‘Loop’ to true. I also decided to make some changes to Rushdy’s speed, angular drag and gravity scale: Gravity Scale: 2 Angular D

This summer Sony is bringing its entire lineup of new phones to the United States. Three years ago, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai told the press that Sony wasn’t quite ready to focus on the US. Since then, the legendary Japanese company took some steps towards establishing itself in the US smartphone market, but these steps were hardly decisive and, at times, plain wrong – remember the short-lived Xperia Z4v ? Today, Sony is taking another crack at the American problem with the release of no fewer than four devices. The Xperia XA, Xperia X, and Xperia X Performance – all three announced at MWC in February – as well as the new Xperia XA Ultra will be launched in the US by July. They will be sold unlocked through multiple retailers, a departure from Sony’s traditional carrier-focused strategy. Xperia X The Xperia X, a 5-inch device powered by Snapdragon 650 and featuring a high-performance 23MP camera, is opening the road. The Xperia X will be available for preorder from today, though for

Update, May 31:  An update to the TENAA listing  (via NowhereElse.fr )  of the OnePlus 3 (OnePlus A3000) confirms the existence of a version of the phone that features 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage space. Other specs appear to have remained unchanged. Official confirmation of all the specs is  just a few days away . Original post, May 26: If you had lingering doubts about the veracity of the OnePlus 3 leaks, you can put them to rest now. The OnePlus 3 just visited China’s TENAA database and it’s exactly what we expected. First off, the certification images match to a T the render shared by Evan Blass earlier this month . That’s despite a theory that the render was just a decoy that OnePlus threw out there to ensure the surprise when the real thing launches. We’re seeing the same metallic unibody with HTC One-style antenna bands, the same camera and flash, and the same rounded fingerprint sensor up front. It looks like the silent mode switch is returning and the side shot als