Duke Nukem 3D Gets Update to Remove Ads in Response to Community Uproar

Duke Nukem 3D was released to much excitement yesterday, but a few quirks here and there had people shutting the game down and requesting refunds left and right. One of those quirks were ads.

Although this game is not free to play – it cost $.99 per episode – users were met with ads. The general idea is that ads are supposed to help generate revenue for free games while paying a premium for that game will remove those ads.

Turns out MachineWorks had a different idea initially. They’re reversed all of that, though, as a quick update has damned those pesky ads to the same hell that the monsters in the game probably come from. Now if only Hulu could take notes here… Find the game in the Android market here. [Android Central]

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Android Market version 3.3.11 rolling out with new settings, and new icon [Download]

Whoa another update to the Android Market appears to be rolling out today. While many are still currently on the new 3.1.5 version Google is now pushing a much improved Android Market v3.3.11 to get us up to speed above the latest 3.2.0 that leaked from Ice Cream Sandwich. This appears to be the absolute newest market from Google although we are hearing it wont play nice with Honeycomb so flash at your own risk. We have tons of new options and settings and I’m really like the auto-update only over wifi option for those larger games that take forever. More details and download link after the break.

Aside from the few UI tweaks and changes they have added some awesome new features or settings that many have been waiting for. Instead of manually making certain apps auto update now you can check one box for all, this is nice and about time they’ve added that one. We’re also seeing options to update over WiFi only for those bigger games. Just like Honeycomb apps we’ll now get the icon shortcut added right to our homescreens automatically, and you can opt out of that too of course.

Not only that but there is a new icon in the application tray for the Android Market, as well as the entire app having slightly smaller font. My personal favorite is the graph showing the rating and level of stars each particular app has received, now we’ll be able to actually tell how many people gave it a 1 star rating before we download. We are still enjoying the new market and will update once we notice any additional changes. More details are available at the source below. Download the new market at the link provided and let us know if you find anything else special or new.
Android Market v.3.3.11 — Download (2)
[via Android Police]

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Duke Nukem 3D now available in the Android Market for $1

Rejoice, Duke Nukem 3D fans! Your favorite game has just become available in the Android Market for less than a buck. This all-time best selling PC game lets you play as Duke Nukem, whose mission is to stop an alien invasion by zapping every weird looking creature that comes at him. According to the description in the Market, Duke Nukem 3D has native support for tablets, it installs directly on your SD card by default, includes Episode 1; the other two episodes can be purchased through Google’s In App Billing. I cannot wait to start playing this, let us know how you like it.

Android Market Link

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Apps of the Day – Halloween Edition: Widgets, Wallpapers, Games and More

We are back with today’s round of the best, fun-filled, and extraordinary apps the Android Market has to offer. Halloween is only a few days away and keeping with that holiday spirit, I thought it only appropriate to feature the most goulish, creepy and gory Halloween themed apps from the Market. Let’s have at it!

Halloween Clock - This clock widget comes to you from the makers of Kinectic Clock and features a festive Halloween theme complete with a little witch Andy, brewing away in his cauldron. The widget was actually rendered using 3D graphics and features an insane amount of detail. Not only that, it’s highly customizable too! Halloween Clock features:

-Four different skins to choose from (wood, wrought iron, stone, and brick).
-Each skin switches to day and night versions on its own (or choose any skin you’d like to remain static).
-Moon and sun rise and set as the day goes on (or choose your favorite position to remain static).
-Space for two customizable launchers. App icons look like they’re nestled right in the grass!
-12 and 24 hour modes.

[Market Link]

Haunted House HD – I’ve come across my share of amazing live wallpapers in my day and let me tell you — none of the come as close to the amount of interaction and fun as this spooky 3D wallpaper from the creators of My Beach and Season Zen. The wallpaper allows you to travel around the outside of a haunted house, tiptoeing by candle-lit pumpkins and mailbox that can be customized with your name. Feeling brave? You can even travel inside the haunted house and have a look at the paranormal activity that lies within.

Haunted House HD features the ability to customize every part of the scene, choose your style of pumpkins and hide or show the items in the scene to decorate your haunted house for Halloween. Amazing fun and from a live wallpaper no less.

[Market Link]

Swiftkey X (with Pumpkin Theme) – SwiftKey X is my personal keyboard of choice (at the moment) and in celebration of Halloween, they saw it fit to introduce a brand new “Pumpkin Theme” in addition to their already available ones. SwiftKey X is based on the new version of TouchType’s advanced Fluency language inference engine… simply meaning — it can almostpredict what you’re going to say before you say it.

You can fine tune SwiftKey X with typing styles to match the way you use your phone. Whether you rely heavily on prediction or if you prefer to write your words out in full rapidly making typos and errors, SwiftKey will keep everything in order. If you haven’t yet, now would be a great time to check it out.

[Market Link]

SpecTrek Light – SpecTrek is one of those oldie but goodies. I’ve been having fun with this app since back in the G1 days and not much has changed. Not much has to. The name of the game is ghost hunting and you must run around your immediate vicinity, hunting down ghosts using radar. One you’re in range, hold up your phone to switch to augmented reality mode and catch ghosts ala Fatal Frame. Tons of fun to be had especially when navigating around your neighborhood trick or treating.

[Market Link]

Contract Killer: Zombies (NR) – While not really “Halloween themed” (zombie killing is fun any time of the year) Contract Killer recently release a zombie version of their popular FPS game. How do you play? Well, it’s simple. Gun down anything that groans, “Braaaaaaains.” Just make sure you don’t get too trigger happy as you have to rescue innocent civilians from the zombie-infested environments.

[Market Link]

Sliceween – This is a fun physics game where you have one simple goal: Get the bat. Into the house. Sounds easy enough… Or is it? You’ll have to slice your way to victory using bars, bricks, spiders, teleporters and more. Featuring 4 different worlds for a total of 80 levels. I know it all sounds a bit weird but try it out. Sliceween is sure to get you into that Halloween spirit.

[Market Link]

Well, that pretty much covers it for our special Halloween edition of “Apps of the Day.” Have any scary apps you would like to recommend? Just sound ‘em off in the comments! We’ll do our best to feature them come Monday, for one final round of Halloween themed apps. I hope you guys have a great weekend of partying and please, make it home safe.

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Google TV apps already showing up in the Android Market

That didn’t take long. Just a few hours after Google’s official announcement of Google TV 2.0, apps specifically designed for integrated TVs and set-top boxes have started appearing in the web version of the Android Market. You can use this URL to check them out for yourself. There’s just 28 results when you specifically search “for Google TV”, and not all of them are true Google TV apps. The generic “Google TV” search shows thousands, most of which are just ordinary Android apps matching the search terms.

Among the confirmed Google TV apps are Twitter, CNBC, Pandora, Fox News, CNN Money, and Motor Trend. We’re expecting a version of Angry Birds designed specifically for Google TV in approximately 20-30 seconds. Naturally these apps won’t show up on the Market if you search from a phone or tablet, and likewise, Market searches made from Google TV are probably not going to show standard smartphone apps, though it’s possible that some apps could work for both platforms eventually. Google TV apps must be coded using the resources in the expanded Android SDK.

Google TV’s Honeycomb update has been officially announced, and Sony set-top boxes and TVs will be the first to get in on the action next week. The Logitech Revue will get the update “shortly” after that, though retail units are already popping up with the new software prominently featured in the packaging. We’ll have more in-depth news as the long-awaited update begins rolling out.

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Sonalight Text By Voice – Completely Hands-free Texting While You Drive

I’m just going to lay it out here. Despite my suffering from narcolepsy, I do a lot of driving. And since I’m always running late, I tend to get on the road 1st, before sending texts to friends (while stopped at red lights) that I’m on my way. I’ve tried using Google’s Voice Search actions for composing texts while driving but the amount of attention and physical screen presses required to shoot off a quick text was just too dangerous to use safely.

Thankfully, I came across Sonalight’s Text By Voice app in the Market and I have to say — I am impressed. I know what you’re thinking, there are a handful of great voice-to-text apps in the Market, some that even act as personal assistants. But once again, those require too much attention from eyes and fingers to use safely while driving. Text By Voice works a little different.

Once you launch the app, it will run in the background reading incoming SMS messages aloud and listening for the appropriate phrase to compose an SMS. Simply saying, “Text by voice,” will launch the app (without ever having to touch the screen) and you follow the spoken voice cues to respond or compose texts. The coolest part is that Text By Voice is always listening. That means even when your phone is sleeping, you can still send out texts without ever having to unlock your phone. Check out the tutorial video provided by the developers to see it in action.

The app, while free, has a pricing model that will most likely turn-off some. You get the first 20 SMS messages free. After that it’s going to cost $2 for the next 50. Or you can opt for unlimited messages for the month that will run $2. For a full year of Text By Voice, that will run you $20. You can try out Sonalight Text By Voice for free right now in the Android Market.

[Market Link]

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Possible Dolphin Browser security and privacy issues found

Dolphin Browser HD is one of the most popular 3rd-party browsers in the Android Market, and with good reason. But an issue with version 6 and the current version 7 have raised the eyebrows of some users over at the ever-inventive XDA-Developers forum. According to forum poster “Fnorder”, the new Webzine feature records every link, search and visited page and sends them to a remote server. If true, the breach of Dolphin users’ privacy is very disturbing indeed.

The issue only affects Dolphin Browser HD, not the less resource-intensive Dolphin Browser Mini, which does not use the RSS-based Webzine feature. There’s no mention of logging in the app or its end-user license agreement, though mention is made of “user experience data” being collected. There’s also no way to disable the logging within the app, though a few XDA members note that you can exclude the “en.mywebzines.com” server from your Android hosts file via some root-enabled apps.

The accusation is a serious one – theoretically, the company could be recording your phone’s entire web history. After skimming through the EULA, there’s no mention of anything that would stop them from doing so, since it isn’t explicitly outlined. I don’t want to an unwarranted sound an alarm here – there’s no corroboration of Fnorder’s evidence, and neither has their been any indication that any data collected has been used at all. I’ve contacted Dolphin Browser’s developer MoboTap for their input on the matter, but have yet to receive a response from the company.

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Fandango Movies for Tablets app available now

Just like the big screen, Fandango is coming to our bigger mobile screens now too. They’ve just released the new Fandango Movies for Tablets applications and you can get it right now. Next time you’re in the mood for a flick you can simply do everything you need right from your tablet, they even offer HD movie trailers for our lovely 7″ and 10″ 1280 x 800 resolution tabs.

Browse movies at nearby theaters, search for the nearest theater with Google Maps, read reviews, watch HD movie trailers and even buy your tickets all without leaving the couch. I’ve been a long time user of Fandango and love the application but now having a Honeycomb and tablet optimized version is even better. I usually use the app while I’m out and about but this is great for those tablet users.

They offer tons of options and even show movies that are coming soon, with full voice search you can find and preview and flick you’d like with the new app for tablets. Basically everything found in the smaller phone version is present but prettier and bigger for tablets. You can even purchase movies right inside the app using a credit card or even Fandango bucks or gift cards. If you are a fan of movies be sure to give this new app for tablets a test. It’s in the Android market and you can try it now by clicking here.
)

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Burn the Rope: Worlds – Coming Soon To The Android Market

Burn the Rope has been an extremely popular game in the Android Market and if you’re a fan, you’ll be happy to know that the sequel, Burn the Rope: Worlds, will be making it’s way onto Android next week. Burn the Rope: Worlds features 100 all new levels from the original with four different themed “worlds” that include the Jungle, Mechanical, Fantasy and Space worlds. They’ve even thrown in a new mini-game called Endless Burn which is more like a survival mode.

Gameplay in BTR:W is simple. Burn as much rope as possible without letting the flame burn out. The flame always travels upwards and the player must rotate the phone to keep the flame on track. This is a puzzle game so there will be bugs and other obstacles trying to get in your way. We’ll let you know as soon as Burn the Rope: Worlds drops in the Android Market but in the meantime, feel free to check out the trailer below.

[Via DroidGamers]

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Another Look At Google TV 2.0 Complete With Android Market

What do we have here? It’s yet another look at Google TV 2.0! These images appeared online today giving us another glimpse at a few of the new features coming along with Android 3.1. First and foremost we have the main attractions — the Android Market. You can see a few Google TV specific apps are already available like "QVC for Google TV."

The UI of Google TV 2.0 is definitely more streamlined and screams shades of Ice Cream Sandwich (even though the firmware is technically Android 3.1). As a Logitech Revue owner, I can’t say I remember seeing some of the features shown in these pics like being able to view all the movies currently playing on live TV (complete with time remaining). Pretty nifty.

Not sure what was up with the delay of Google TV 2.0 but I honestly cannot wait until Google releases the update. Unlike the previous version of Google TV that was in most cases, lets face it -- a total flop -- version 2.0 has the potential to be a real success. Apps, internet and live television? Sounds like a winning entertainment combination to me. What do you guys think?
[Via GTVSource]

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ChatON lands on Android Market

Back in late August, I mentioned that Samsung had a new cross platform chat service that would be coming to Android and a bunch of other platforms called ChatON. Several Android fans were excited about the prospect of a chat service that would link all major smartphone platforms in one free chat circle. If you were excited about that app, you can download it right now.

ChatON is now on the Android Market. For now, the service only supports Android, bada, and Samsung feature phones. However, Samsung still swears that support for all other platforms is in the work. The app has a web-based client that will let you chat using your PC as well. In addition to shared chats, the app supports private chatting and the sharing of media.
On feature phones from Samsung the app allows for texting, image sharing calendar appointment sharing, and contact sharing. Other users will have a few extra options. There is also an animation message feature where you can draw something and seen it to someone you know. The Android version supports Android 2.2 and 2.3.
[via TechCrunch]

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Android Market avaiable in China once again

In the latest in a long line of infighting between the east’s greatest political power and the west’s technology supergiant, the Android Market web site and Android’s native Gmail app went silent on Sunday for most of China. The blackout seems to be over now, and access has been restored for Chinese Android users. No explanation has been given by Chinese authorities.

Chinese Android users don’t have access to an app-based Market like the rest of the world – they’re restricted to a web-based Android Market similar to Android.com. Google’s services are heavily regulated and censored in the authoritarian nation, though not for lack of trying. Hacks into Chinese dissidents’ Gmail accounts by persons unknown (wink) are common, and according to web service Great Firewall of China, the webmail service is still blocked in all of mainland China.
Assuming that the outage was initiated by the Chinese government, there are some very pointed reasons why they’d restrict access to the Android Market. First of all it’s yet another vector for non-sanctioned information to get into the hands of the Chinese public. Nearly all web traffic in China is monitored and censored, and while the Chinese version of the Android Market must conform to these rules as well, there’s nothing stopping the government from simply shutting it down on a whim. Some are speculating that the outage was a political move in response to Google’s support of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who took a “virtual trip” to South Africa with Google’s help this weekend.
Relationships between Google and the Chinese government have been strained (to say the least) for the last 18 months, ever since Google announced a major hack into its servers emanating from China. Google withdrew its search service from the mainland in response to avoid their search results being censored, and now directs Chinese Internet surfers to google.com.hk, where searches are currently not being censored. While Google continues to provide service to Chinese Internet and Android users, it’s tenuous at best – there’s nothing stopping the Chinese government from literally flipping the switch on its services.

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Android Market Web Version Gets Ability to Sort Reviews

Finally! The number one complaint I’ve had with the web version of the Android market was that they tried to create a “like/dislike” system for user reviews. This was great, except for one major flaw – users would often see reviews not relevant to the current version of the app they’re looking at.
An app that was updated two days ago will have comments about problems from 6 months or even years ago that might have already been addressed simply because enough people “liked” it. Google enabled the feature on and off on both phones and on the web, seemingly not sure which direction they wanted to go.
We imagine someone came up with this brilliant idea – “why not let people choose what they want?” And that they did. You can now search Android market reviews by “Newest,” “Helpfulness,” or by “Rating.” That’s all there needs to be said. Simple, yet so many will be appreciative of it. Try it out at market.android.com.

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Ice Cream Sandwich’s Android Market 3.2.0 Leaks

Next in a line of Ice Cream Sandwich goodies to leak ahead of the new Android OS update’s launch is version 3.2.0 of the Android Market. Nothing major appears to change with the latest update, at least not on the surface, but there are sure to be some tweaks and enhancements buried within. You can check it out for yourself by heading over to the source link below and downloading the APK.
[via DroidLife]

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China blocks access to Android Market and Gmail App

China is well known for blocking and censoring anything that the government doesn’t like or thinks will harm the population. China sensors so much content on the web that it has come to be known as the Great Firewall of china. According to reports, China is now censoring access to other things like the Gmail app and the Android Market for Android devices.

Gmail is commonly a target of attack by hackers suspected of living in China. MocoNews reports that right now the Gmail app is blocked in China along with access to the market alone. Apparently, the block has been going on for 36 hours now at mobile and broadband providers around the country.
The Gmail app isn’t working, but Chinese users are reportedly still able to access the Google Gmail accounts online. So far, there has been no official statement on why the blocks are in place. It’s not clear at this point if the blockage is an accident or if it was put in place on purpose.

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You Can Now Rent Movies In Canada On The Android Market

Back in May, Google announced that users are able to rent movies through the Android Market. Started as a U.S. only offering, the option is now available for users in Canada.

If you are living in Canada, you are now able to rent HD movies through the Android Market for $3.99 - $4.99. From here, all the other rules apply, including a 48 hour window for watching the rented movies and the 30-day "Rental Grant Period". There are reportedly also Canadian titles included. Please note that your device has to run at least Android 2.2 Froyo in order to take advantage of the offering.

Source: MobileSyrup

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Flash Player 10.3 Updated In The Android Market – New Bug Fixes and Enhancements

Adobe Flash Player 10.3 was updated in the Android Market to version 10.3.186.6. Contained in this update were a bunch of fixes and enhancements for multiple devices so if you’ve noticed your Flash Player was acting a little funny, now would be a good time to jump in the Market and update. Here is the full change log from Adobe:
Fixes and Enhancements in Flash Player 10.3.186.6
Adobe Flash Player 10.3.186.6 addresses compatibility issues:

• Calls to gotoAndPlay() and gotoAndStop() no longer fail in some Flash applications which load shared libraries.


• TextField instances which specify a negative offset (x property contains a negative value) now correctly flow the text horizontally instead of vertically.


• Improved performance in some cases when displaying complex animations.


• Flash applications at certain websites (http://heylenmichel.de) now load correctly.

Fixes and enhancements include:

• Enabled NEON optimizations for OMAP4 (Cortex A-9) based devices.


• Corrected an issue on the Samsung Galaxy S where H.264 video at resolutions of 720p and below was not displayed.


• Fixed an issue where app packaging would fail for Android Apps using Flash Player in WebView that set android:hardwareAcceleration to True in their AndroidManifest.xml.


• Fixed a crash on the HTC EVO that some users encountered with specific video.


• Fixed an issue that caused video frames to stop rendering on long streaming videos (> 1 hour) on some Motorola devices.


• Fixed an issue where touch events were getting delayed with Kongregate.com games.


• Fixed an issue where games on Kongregate.com freeze when users exit from Full-Screen mode.

[Market Link]

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Android Market Updated, Adds +1 Button and Pin Code Security [Download]

It appears another update for Google’s Android Market is starting to roll out today. This isn’t much of a change like we saw a few weeks ago but we do get a few very welcomed changed and additions to the market. What we have here are a few improvements as well as the introduction of the Google +1 button for apps and games.

The biggest change to the new market that is rolling out now and available to download (below) is Google added some new security features that users have been asking and hoping to see for a long time. We now have the same pin code lock/unlock security option as we’ve always had, but now another level placed on the Android market. Now you can choose to have a PIN for opening the Android market this way no one can purchase unwanted applications on your phone.
The new PIN code security is a great feature for those that have kids that love to accidentally buy apps, or that just don’t ask first. This is a great feature to have and something I’ve been waiting to see for a while now. For those that don’t want to wait for the new Market version 3.1.3 to hit your own device feel free to download it with the link below and start enjoying the new features right away.
Android Market v3.1.3 Download
[via Android Police]

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