Back in March, T-Mobile promised that it would deploy the Universal Profile for inter-carrier RCS compatibility by the end of Q2 of this year.
Read More[Update: More details] RCS Universal Profile rolling out on T-Mobile, starting with the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android games that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. This week I have a few standout titles such as Isoland 2, Euro Truck Driver 2018, and Town of Tides, but you should also take a close look at Up Left Out, Hardback, and Rocket Riders. So without further ado, here are the most notable Android games released in the last week.
21 new and notable (and 1 WTF) Android games from the last week including Isoland 2, Euro Truck Driver 2018, and Town of Tides (6/25/18 - 7/1/18) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
The subject of text messaging has been in the news a bit recently, from our own upset at Fi's lack of RCS support to T-Mobile's recent (and last-minute) announcement of rolling out RCS Universal Profile to its customers—at least, those with a Samsung Galaxy S 7/Edge. As is always the case, interest seems to be mixed on the subject, with some of our audience happy to see SMS slowly being replaced with RCS, while others couldn't care less what standard the carriers use.
Read MoreWeekend poll: Do you regularly use SMS? was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
What are the best cases available for the Moto G5 Plus?
Motorola's 2017 budget phone, the Moto G5 Plus, is a great option if you're looking to get a metal phone at plastic prices. (In other words, it's a great product.)
If you recently bought a Moto G5 Plus at a discount, you should reinvest some of that money you saved on a case to keep it in tip-top condition. We've rounded up a wide variety of cases here —from heavy duty and rugged to slim and sleek — so you can find the one that fits your lifestyle best!
Ringke has a good reputation as a solid case manufacturer, and for good reason: its Fusion series always fits and protects well without adding too much bulk.
The Moto G5 Plus version, available in Clear, Rose Gold Crystal, or Smoke Black colors, is no exception. All versions leave a clear back while the two colored options merely accentuate the sides of the phone. The case covers the ports with little flaps, preventing water from getting inside, and the TPU covering is reinforced at the corners to ensure MIL-STD 810G drop protection. Grab it for just $10!
Do you regularly head out into the great outdoors with your phone and need a case that's rugged enough to take on the elements? Supcase offers its Unicorn Beetle Pro case, which features rugged, dual-layer protection and a built-in screen protector.
It combines a rugged polycarbonate shell with soft TPU to create a durable case with a sporty design. Supcase brags that this case exceeded military shock standards by surviving a 4-foot drop test 26 times so if you're prone to dropping your phone this is the case for you. All the ports are covered to keep out dirt and lint with access to the phone's ports and buttons, and also comes with an optional swiveling belt clip holster. It's come in sleek all black, or premium color cases. You can get this one for as little as $18.
Spigen makes some of the best cases you can buy, with their Rugged Armor lineup offering a great balance between style and functionality without adding a ton of bulk to your phone.
This one-piece case is made from flexible TPU with an internal spider-web pattern to help disperse the shock from drops along with Spigen's Air Cushion technology in the corners. The screen is protected with a raised lip around the front, and on the back, you'll find a precise cutout around the camera along with glossy, carbon fiber textures at the top and bottom of the case which increases your ability to maintain a solid grip on your phone.
Precise cutouts around the ports and raised tactile buttons ensure the functionality of your phone is never impeded. For a great, lightweight case that offers rugged protection, you really can't go wrong with Spigen. Get this awesome case for around $13.
If you're looking for a lightweight rugged case, Incipio's NGP case is the right voice for you.
Featuring a textured back and bumper to ensure you maintain a solid grip, this one-piece polymer case is designed with enhanced drop protection — you'll notice the honeycombed interior which helps to disperse the shock when your phone inevitably hits a table or floor.
Precise cutouts mean you'll have full access to the charging port and headphone jack as well as the volume and power button on the side.
Choose between black and berry pink and keep your Moto G5 Plus protected — for just $20 from Amazon!
Tudia's Ultra Slim case for the Moto G5 Plus is a very stylish option for protecting your phone. it features stylish carbon fiber designs at the top and the bottom of the backplate, which both looks great and helps with grip.
Made with high-quality TPU, this sleek case won't add much bulk to your phone, while the raised edge around the screen help keep your phone protected when it's face down on a surface. It's available in three color options: black, grey and navy blue.
For a really stylish and slim option for protecting your Moto G5 Plus, the Tudia Ultra Slim case can't be beaten — especially at its price of $11.
Cimo's cases always fit really well and their clarity is excellent. Made from flexible TPU, these cases have a great in-hand feel that's not slippery, so you won't be fumbling your Moto G5 Plus all the time.
There's a raised bezel around the front of the case to protect your phone's screen when you lay it face-down, and the ports and buttons are cut out precisely.
It's important to note that clear TPU will almost always yellow after some time due to the way it absorbs sunlight. But for around $8, you might as well grab a few.
Interested in checking out other clear case options? Check out the best clear cases for the Moto G5 Plus.
If rugged protection is the name of the game for you, you'll want to consider this Poetic Revolution case for the Moto G5 Plus. It offers full protection for your phone, including a front plate with a built-in screen protector that also adds water resistance to the mix.
This two-piece case combines polycarbonate and TPU on the back to provide a balance of shock absorption and scratch protection, while the front plate is made of solid PC and includes a screen protector to keep your screen protected better than any other case on this list.
There's a lot of smart design elements in play here, including grippy textures along the side edges of the phone, lint/dust flaps over the ports at the bottom, and 'edgy' corners that give the phone a fresh and unique look. Despite all the features and protection built into this case, the profile remains relatively slim so you're not carrying around a plastic brick in your pocket. Grab this awesome case for as little as $15!
If you're looking to keep your phone, ID, credit cards and cash all in one place when you're heading out for a night on the town, the LK wallet case is your best bet.
Available in both black and brown color options, this case features three card slots on the inside cover, including a windowed slot that's perfect for your ID, and also includes a pocket for carrying cash as well. Your phone is held in place via a soft TPU shell that offers quality protection in the spots you need it most: the corners. Fold over the front cover to use it as a kickstand for viewing, then use the magnetic clasp to keep your screen protected in your pocket.
Do note that some of the Moto G5 Plus' functionality may be impeded when the front cover is closed, including the twist and chop gestures for launching the camera and flashlight respectively. Those require the infrared sensor to work properly which is covered by the case when closed. It certainly shouldn't be a dealbreaker for most, but it's worth mentioning before you make the purchase. Pick it up for just under $7!
We want to know which cases work best for you, so let us know in the comments below!
Updated June 2018: Updated pricing for these awesome cases.
Today's deal from Degoo is simple but effective. All the highly-secure cloud storage space you'll ever need. Forever.
I'm not a particularly organised person. I have files on my laptop hard-drive, a Dropbox account holding various other nonsense, and a load of photos and vids on my Google Drive from various holidays. It's not a huge amount, but I'm running out of space. The security level of my laptop, both from hackers and from the risk of a rogue splash of coffee, is questionable. Sound familiar?
Degoo cloud storage is the logical solution for me. With an enormous 2TB space I could, and should, move all of the above into this one place, safe from beverage attacks. Thanks to the Ultra secure 256-bit AES encryption on the cloud storage, it would also be safe from hackers and viruses too.
The deal we're spotlighting today is for the Degoo Premium service, which offers high speed transfers, and automatic backup of files when they're added or edited. It's the full package.
Right now you can get this 2TB lifetime storage for just $59.99. That's a one-off payment and a chunky 95% discount. To put that in even more context, 2TB storage on iCloud is around $10 per month, so after six months with Degoo you're already winning.
15 million people already trust their files to Degoo. Secure your stuff by hitting the button below before the offer ends.
The AAPicks team writes about things we think you'll like, and we may see a share of revenue from any purchases made through affiliate links. To see all our hottest deals, head over to the AAPICKS HUB.
After dazzling with its trailer at E3 2018, this demo was sadly lacking.
Fans of Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, One Piece, and more delighted in the announcement from Bandai Namco at E3 2018 that a variety of characters from popular manga and anime would congregate in Jump Force for one massive fighting game. The trailer certainly looked impressive, with soaring scenes of our world littered with refuse from theirs, and six iconic characters duking it out amid the rubble.
Unfortunately, if you saw the demo, you saw almost as much of Jump Force from E3 2018 as I did when I went hands-on. The incredibly short demo only allowed me to play a single match (I went through the line twice) and with only two maps, six characters, and zero story to be seen, the whole affair felt like a shallow dive into a limited exhibition match of hype-inducing anime faces.
Jump Force is a 3D, tag-team fighting game featuring characters from across popular Shonen Jump manga. The premise of the game is that the various manga worlds these characters hail from have somehow collided with our real world, and certain of their number want to use this to their advantage to subdue the human race. It's up to heroes such as Goku, Naruto, and Luffy to stop them.
That's all we know of the plot so far. Currently, confirmed characters are:
We also know that Light and Ryuk from Death Note will appear in the game, but it has been confirmed that they won't be playable. This means we'll likely see more cameos of various characters who aren't themselves playable.
In my brief hands-on demo, I was able to select teams of three from the six playable characters listed above and fight in a 1v1 match against another tag team of three. As with other tag team fighters, you can swap out mid-match (though it does not extend your health pool as it might in other tag-team games) for a different set of moves or to finish an interesting combo.
As a bit of a novice to fighting games, it was tough for me to tell whether or not Jump Force was just set to the easiest mode possible or if it's truly accessible to new players. The enemies were mostly polite enough to let me wail on them for a bit, which felt silly but also gave me the opportunity to try out different combos. It's easy enough to chain together move after move from short and punchy physical attacks to more aggressive grabs and throws. Each team has a special bar that fills, too, that can then be unleashed for a devastating finisher move (if it lands)--for example, Goku goes Super Saiyan and Naruto unleashes his Nine-tailed Fox. You can also call in your teammates to toss a supportive move in here and there without actually swapping to them.
Both maps I played on (one an open, grassy field with a spaceship crash-landed in the corner and the other the ruin of a city seen in the trailer) felt enormous for the kind of match we were playing, which made it easy to run around and catch my breath if things got a little too crazy. There were a few times where I felt like we were just senselessly running around, but the characters I tried had a few decent distance closing moves to help alleviate that, too.
While I don't feel there was enough meat to the demo to come down on whether or not it plays great, there's no denying that Jump Force is pretty. The characters all have lovely, detailed 3D models that form an interesting bridge between the manga designs we know and a more realistic design in keeping with the game's story. Naruto is a bit taller and more filled out, and Freiza, though still very alien, has a certain fleshiness to him that was interesting to see. The environments are vibrant, though the grassy field I fought in was a little sparse if you weren't looking at the crashed space craft. There's plenty more room for exciting design here, and of course one of the game's highlights will be seeing new characters and how they translate to the world of Jump Force.
With more space and constant character swapping, I do feel that Jump Force doesn't quite have the depth of, say, Dragon Ball FighterZ or other more technical fighting games. For the most part, I think that's okay. With a solid tutorial and some good story matches to practice on, Jump Force could be a welcoming entry point in a genre Bandai Namco is famous for doing well. But to please both newcomers and fighting veterans alike, Spike Chunsoft and team will need to impress a bit more in trailers and demos in the future. If all I had seen was this demo, I'd think of Jump Force as "just another anime/manga fighting game."
Jump Force will launch sometime in 2019 for PS4, PC, and Xbox One. It will cost $59.99.
Any questions about Jump Force? I'll do my best to answer them if you toss them at me in the comments!
The 10 most sold phones of all time are likely not the ones you think. Samsung's Galaxy S and Note series didn't make the cut, and nor did any other Android handset. The list is dominated by Nokia feature phones, also including older devices from Samsung, Motorola, and Apple. You can check out the full list below, which was created with the help of data compiled by The Telegraph and various other sources.
The Motorola Razr V3 was an icon of its time. The device's gorgeous design stood out from the crowd and made it one of the most successful phones ever. Not only is it the 10th most sold phone of all time, it's also the highest selling flip phone ever. The Razr V3 can't compare with today's handsets in specs, but it was among the best around back in the day.
Released in 2004, the Nokia 2600 didn't offer much — at least not by today's standards. It was a simple device with the sturdy body Nokia devices were known for and small 1.5-inch display. It didn't feature a camera, Bluetooth connectivity, or any other fancy features. But it did have great battery life and an affordable price tag that made it popular among many.
Like the Nokia 2600, the Samsung E1100 had a sturdy body and offered great battery life — 13 days on standby. It debuted in 2009 and became a success due to its affordable price and worldwide availability. The device featured a 1.52-inch display, 1MB of internal storage (that's not a typo), and a built-in flashlight for finding stuff in the dark.
The Nokia 5230 was an entry-level smartphone with a 3.2-inch touchscreen, the Symbian operating system, and 3G connectivity. It also had a GPS chip, a 2MP camera, and 128MB of RAM. The device couldn't connect to a Wi-Fi network, but that didn't seem to bother people in 2009.
Read next: Nokia showdown: Nokia 7 Plus vs Nokia 8 Sirocco
This phone's quirky design made it special. Just look at it. It's one of those things you either love or hate. Most people seemed to love it, considering it sold over 150 million units across the globe. The Nokia 6600 was a high-end model when it came out in 2003, offering a 2.1-inch display, a basic camera, and an 850mAh battery. It was quite expensive, retailing for around 600 euros (~$695).
The biggest feature of the Nokia 1200 was its battery life — seven hour of talk time and 390 hours on standby. It also had a flashlight you could turn on by long-pressing the scroll up key. Other than that, the phone wasn't really all that exciting — it was just well built and well priced. That, plus the fact you could get it just about anywhere, made the Nokia 1200 one of the most popular phones in the world with over 150 million units sold.
The Nokia 3210 is super old. It launched in 1999, when phones were only used for making calls and sending texts. The handset became a massive success due to its robust body, many color options, attractive look, and the Nokia logo up front, among other reasons. Its best feature was the Snake game, which kept people glued to their screens for hours on end.
Read next: Best Android Wear watches
Released in 2014, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are the newest phones on this list. They can't compare with the latest iOS or Android devices in terms of specs, but they offer way more than the other 9 most sold handsets of all time. One of the reasons for their success was their upgraded 4.7- and 5.5-inch displays, up from the iPhone 5s' 4-inch screen. The iPhone 6 was three-times more popular than its bigger brother in the first few months of availability, likely due to its lower price tag.
This compact phone only offered the basics. It didn't have a camera, a color display, or a fancy design like the Nokia N70 and many other devices also released in 2005. Still, it outsold just about everyone, mainly due to its global availability and affordable price. It was a great handset for those who only wanted to make calls, send texts, and play Snake every now and then.
The most sold model of all time is the Nokia 1100, a basic phone that debuted in 2003. It had a simple, curvy design that appealed to many, a small monochrome display, and a flashlight on top. It stuck to the same formula that made all the other Nokia feature phones popular, offering a solid build quality, an attractive design, and an affordable price tag. Nokia's vast distribution network also brought the device to loads of markets across the globe, which played a big part in its success.
Read next: Here are 5 best phones for all you notch haters out there
There you have it, folks. These are the 10 most sold phones to date. Any thoughts or comments? Leave them down below — I always love hearing from you guys.
Also, let me know if you'd like to see a list revealing the top 10 most sold Android phones of all time. I'll make it happen if there's enough interest.
