Bioware’s Jade Empire: Special Edition arrives on Android

While not nearly as well known as other RPGs from Bioware, like the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, Jade Empire is arguably one of the best sleeper hits the company has ever released. While originally for Xbox, and later the PC, now Jade Empire: Special Edition has landed in the Play Store! This particular port is brought to us by Aspyr, the same folks that brought us the Android versions of Star Wars: KOTOR and Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy.

For those that aren't familiar, the game is an RPG with real-time combat and a mythology that's influenced heavily by Asian (primarily Chinese) lore. There are also references to European-like countries and characters in the game as well. Keep in mind that Jade Empire isn't set on Earth, but in a unique world of its very own. As for the story? The game centers around a Martial Arts student that leaves his school with the goal of saving his master, as well as the world as they know it.

See also:

15 best RPGs for Android

February 24, 2016

While the original version of the game was first released back in 2007, this Special Edition features improved graphics and the addition of achievements, something not found in the original. There's also the expected touch controls, in addition to full support for Bluetooth controllers. The user interface has also been modified with touchscreens in mind.

If you are a fan Jade Empire, Bioware games, or RPGs in general — we highly recommend you check this one out. I was personally quite a fan of the Xbox version, and so picked it up the second I heard it was on Android, though I admit I haven't had more than just a few minutes to mess around with so far.

You can grab Jade Empire: Special Edition right now for $9.99. While that's not necessarily cheap, it's actually a pretty solid price considering there is well over 40 hours of gameplay baked into this title, and of course it's completely premium with no IAPs or DLC in sight.

Next – Best retro Android games

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Retro Winter Sports 1986 coming to Android next month with 80s vibes

Headup Games announced today that they would be releasing Retro Winter Sports 1986 for iOS and Android some time in December.

See also:

15 best retro games for Android

June 21, 2016

If you grew up in the 80s, you are probably particularly fond of classic games; after all, it was during this time period that we saw the births of insanely popular games like Pac-Man and Tetris. Well, if you're feeling nostalgic about the good old days, you might want to check out Headup's new retro game.

Coming to Android early next month, Retro Winter Sports 1986 lets "players enjoy the retro charm from way back when on their mobile devices, of course with retro-awesome graphics and a seasonable 4:3 ratio." As the name suggests, you will have the chance to compete in different winter sports: Ski Jump, Biathlon, Bobsled, Speed Skating, curling, and Slalom. You can either compete against the computer or your friend, and the game will support up to eight players.

As the name suggests, you will have the chance to compete in different winter sports: Ski Jump, Biathlon, Bobsled, Speed Skating, curling, and Slalom. You can either compete against the computer or your friend, and the game will support up to eight players.

These are the features of the upcoming game, according to Headup Games:

• Six winter sport events: Ski Jump, Biathlon, Bobsled, Speed Skating, Curling, Slalom
• Compete against friends (up to 8 players in hot seat mode) or the computer
• Unique controls perfectly fitted to mobile devices
• Choose between 12 different nations
• Leaderboards and achievements
• Handcrafted code by The Bitfather, the retro minds behind Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic!

According to the company, the review codes for Retro Winter Sports 1986 will be available soon, and you can request an early access to the game via email. If you're an 80s kid and are fond of your childhood memories, I think this game is definitely worth a try. We'll be sure to let you know when the game lands in the Play Store.

Will you be downloading Retro Winter Sports 1986 when it comes out? Let us know by leaving a comment down below!

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FKUpdater 2.1 adds Night Shift, display profiles and much more

Power Android users who want to have full control over their device and operating system use custom kernels and the FKUpdater (franco.Kernel) is certainly one of the most popular. Today it's creator Francisco Franco released the 2.1 version of FKUpdater which adds several new features.

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What is a kernel?

March 30, 2016

One of the biggest is Night Shift, which is this app's version of night mode that was put in, and then taken out of, Android 7.0 Nougat. FKUpdater 2.1 adds Night Shift for all of its supported devices that have the Kernel interface so users can change RGB display channels. Another new, or rather returning, feature is display profiles. It was in an earlier version but was later removed. Now it's back with a new user interface. Users can create, load and save different display profiles to their SD card.

Some other additional features include launcher shortcuts for performance profiles for Android 7.1 users, and there are quick tiles for these profiles as well. The new Google Pixel phones have also been added to the list of the app's supported phones.

If you own one of the supported devices, and have also rooted it, you can download and install FKUpdater 2.1 for $4.49 from the Google Play Store.

Get it at Google Play

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Google Translate rolls out better text translations in eight languages

Starting today, Google Translate is going to offer users better and more accurate text translations in a small but significant number of languages. Google revealed today that its new Neural Machine Translation efforts, which were first revealed in September, have been extended for better support to and from English in eight languages that cover over 35 percent of the company's translation queries.

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4 weeks ago

In basic terms, the new Neural Machine Translation efforts allow Google Translate to take on whole sentences at one time, rather than the previous method which translated each word one at a time. This new system, according to Google, allows for machine learning to create a translated sentence that contains better grammar versus the old method, and it will continue to learn how to make better sentences over time.

With today's update, Google Translate will use the new Neural Machine Translation methods on text to and from English in French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Turkish. The company claims that this is the single biggest improvement for Google Translate in the last 10 years. The ultimate goal is for the Neural Machine Translation method to be extended to the over 100 languages that are currently supported by Google Translate.

If you use Google Translate, what are your impressions of the translations in the languages that are supported by the new machine learning method?

Get it at Google Play

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Facebook Messenger notifications will show up on Android Auto displays

If you are a frequent user of Facebook Messenger, and you also happen to own a car that can use Android Auto, you will now be able to safely receive and respond to Messenger notifications while driving. Facebook announced that it has updated the Messenger Android app to integrate it with Android Auto.

See also:

Android Auto: everything you need to know

August 3, 2016

If you do happen to have Facebook Messenger installed on your Android smartphone, and have it with you while driving down the road on your Android Auto-supported vehicle, the Messenger update will display any new message notifications on the screen. Users can also listen to the actual message itself, read aloud by pressing the speaker icon.

Messenger users then have two options for responding. One is simply to press a button that will send a canned message back to the person, such as, "I'm driving right now; contact me later".  The other is to speak out the message they want to send through the app, which is then transcribed and sent back to the person on the other end as text.

Do you believe this new Facebook Messenger update will be a useful one for Android Auto users?

Get it from Google Play

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Google plans to expand its London office and hire up to 3,000 more employees by 2020

Google is planning to make a major investment and expansion in the UK. The company revealed today that it plans to double its office space in London and hire up to 3,000 more employees by the year 2020.

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Google to European Commission: Android offers more choice for consumers

5 days ago

The Guardian reports that the UK expansion plans were revealed today by its CEO Sundar Pichai. He made the announcement during a speech at its current London office, which is located in King's Cross. The new office expansion will be built next to the current building. It will be 10 stories high and have 650,000 square feet of space. It will ultimately cost Google £1 billion to build.

The company will continue to work from its current offices, and another building, which began construction earlier this year, will be occupied by Google, but not owned, in 2018. The new expansion announced today will be both occupied and owned by the company.

There were some worries that the UK's upcoming "Brexit" departure from the European Union might cause some delays in the company's plans but Pichai indicated today that Google remains committed to staying in the country and will continue to invest in its London offices.

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Google WiFi routers are now available for pre-order starting at $129

We have been waiting for over a month to purchase the Google WiFi routers that were first announced at the company's Pixel press event in early October. Today, pre-orders for the routers finally went live at the Google Store site, along with a handful of other retailers.

See also:

Google WiFi officially announced

October 4, 2016

While one Google WiFi router can work to cover up to 1,500 square feet of wireless connectivity in a home, the hardware has been designed specifically to work with more than one of its kind to expand the reach of a WiFi signal. One router is priced at $129, but Google is also selling three of the routers in one package for $299. That should allow for up to 4,500 square feet of WiFi coverage in a bigger home or office.

Google WiFi will also come with what the company calls Network Assist, which is supposed to optimize the signal in the background, along with allowing users with more than one router on the network to transition between WiFI signals seamlessly. The company will release its own Google Wifi app that will allow users to share the local network password with guests, while also offering some Internet parental control features for families with kids.

In addition to the Google Store, you can pre-order Google WiFi routers at Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy. You will still have a while to wait before you can get your hands on one; shipments are expected to begin on December 6.

Will you be checking out Google's latest hardware product?

Pre-order at Google Store Pre-order at Best Buy Pre-order at Amazon Pre-order at Walmart

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