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Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.

Featured App

Mig 2D: Retro Shooter!

Today's roundup is presented by Mig 2D: Retro Shooter from Herocraft.

• Mystery Manor Promises Never Ending Puzzle Fun, Oh And Don't Forget The Mystery
• [Bonus Round] Zombocalypse Now, Buddy & Me, And Helle
• [Bonus Round] Runes Of War, Vacation Vexation, And DubSlider
• Quiet, Please! Is An 8-Bit Adventure Puzzle Game That's Just Entertaining Enough To Spend A Dollar On

40 Best New Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (2/4/14 - 2/17/14) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Every week we cover new Android apps with Fresh Meat on Wednesday, followed by Android Gaming on Thursday and Top 10 App Updates on Friday. When Monday rolls around, we look back to see which apps were the most appealing to our audience. Read on for the 10 most popular Android apps among your peers from last week.

1. Muzei Live Wallpaper

App info: This new live wallpaper is one of the best out there. You can also find many plugins to give this app even greater value.

 

2. 500 Firepaper

App info: 500 Firepaper is another great app to customize the look of your Android device. There is also an app available to integrate images from 500px into Muzei Live Wallpaper.

 

3. Stark Icon Pack

App info: The Stark icon pack may appeal to minimalists looking for sharp, flat icons for their device.

 

4. Minimal Wallpapers

App info: Staying with a minimalistic theme, we have Minimal Wallpapers and its simple yet elegant images.

 

5. Fuzz Wallpaper Pack

App info: Fuzz Wallpaper Pack is yet another option for anyone in the hunt for minimal wallpapers.

 

6. Wallbase HD Wallpapers

App info: This is an Android app for browsing the amazing wallpaper website Wallbase.cc.

 

7. PushOn Icon Pack

App info: The icons in this set are transparent, and the impressed effects of the icons should appear on all backgrounds except those that are pitch black or dark black.

 

8. ZEDGE™ Ringtones & Wallpapers

App info: ZEDGE is a great app for finding wallpapers, ringtones and notification sounds.

 

9. Stamped White Icons

App info: Accentuate your white Android device with a set of matching white icons.

 

10. Action Launcher Pro

App info: Action Launcher is a great launcher replacement that offers several customization options.

 

Note:  To ensure that all apps receive a fair chance to make the list, we will retire any app that has made the list for three consecutive weeks and will place it in our Android and Me App Hall of Fame. We will post this Hall of Fame list in a dedicated series.

Any app with * next to the title indicates it will now be added to our Hall of Fame list and will no longer be listed in this article.

Late last week we finally saw what appears to be the next hero phone from Sony in video form. Rimas Flyil, the YouTube leaker who posted the video, has now resurfaced with even more footage of the Xperia "Sirius" D6503. In the first clip, we saw some of the KitKat-skinned smartphone's features, from the Walkman functionality to the quick-start camera. In the new video, we get a much better look at the actual hardware, along with an extensive showcase of the software.

Continue reading...

When you're sticking to a budget, it's important to make time once in a while to review your spending habits. Sometimes, we can spot patterns of spending that are easier to reduce if we make the act of spending a little more difficult.

Financial blog The Simple Dollar points out that it's easy to overlook certain types of purchases even when you're keeping a close eye on your budget. Things like saved credit card information and one-click spending can certainly be convenient, but they can also be a little too tempting and even habit-forming. Speaking specifically about how easy it is to buy Kindle books and forget to track the purchases:

I'm trying to break a spending habit and the easiest way to do that is to eliminate that "path of least resistance." If I make it much more difficult to buy a Kindle book, then it's going to be much easier to establish a pattern of not buying such books.

Removing these conveniences doesn't prevent you from making the purchase, of course. It just puts up a little road block that makes you think twice. And the change doesn't have to be permanent. You're really just after some time to break a habit.

Forgotten Purchases | The Simple Dollar

Photo by 401(K) 2013.

There are a ton of phones out there. A lot of options. That's great, but it can also make for a tough decision. Which one is for you? We've got just the flowchart you need.

The phone landscape is always changing, and there are always new phones on the horizon, but at this specific moment in time, this maze of arrows will lead you to the phone that's right for you. Especially if you're the kind of person who's consulting a flowchart to make that decision.

We'll be back to tweak as needed (Mobile World Congress is right around the corner, and it should bring plenty of new options), but for now follow along below, and happy hunting. We hope you enjoy your new best friend.

Visualization by Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

It's a good night for Gravity and 12 Years A Slave

The 2014 EE British Academy Film Awards took place on a surprisingly dry and pleasant evening at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, and it was a night without too many surprises.

The big winner of the evening - both in numbers and in spirit - was Gravity, with a grand total of 6 awards. It won Outstanding British Film for producers David Heyman and Alfonso Cuaron, as well as gongs for Best Director, Cinematography, Sound, Original Music and Special Visual Effects.

But the main award of the evening, Best Film, went to 12 Years A Slave, which also captured Best Actor courtesy of Chiwetel Ejiofor.

• The Full List Of Winners (below)
• Photos: Winners And Presenters Gallery
• The Live Ceremony, As It Happened
• The Red Carpet Arrivals Photo Gallery
• The Red Carpet Arrivals - As It Happened

Though the film didn't take home the big prizes, the feel-good triumph was surely Barkhad Abdi, who won Best Supporting Actor for Captain Phillips. 

American Hustle got the BAFTA for Original Screenplay, and deservedly took home Best Hair & Make Up, so all those tiny hair curlers and comb-over wigs didn't go to waste. Elsewhere in the more aesthetic categories, The Great Gatsby had a good run, winning for both Production Design and Costume Design. Best Editing went to Rush, with Ron Howard accepting the gong on behalf of his regular editors Dan Hanley and Mike Hill.

Joshua Oppenheimer won Best Documentary for his extraordinary film, The Act Of Killing, and took the opportunity to speak out about the Indonesian genocide.

Two wins, however, were no surprise at all, given they were pre-announced. Peter Greenaway was awarded a BAFTA for Outstanding Contribution to British Film, while Dame Helen Mirren received the Academy Fellowship. 

Stephen Fry did an admirable job as the bearded master of cermonies, entertaining the absurdly famous and beautiful audience with his soothing, tweed-infused tones. No Gervais-esque controversies to be found here, people, though he did take the opportunity to flirt with Leonardo DiCaprio, Sam Claflin and Douglas Booth. But if we're honest, who wouldn't?

You can read our minute-by-minute accounts of tonight's ceremony and the red carpet, where you'll see our real-time thoughts and terrible jokes about tonight's winners, losers and wardrobe malfunctions (maybe). 

The full list of nominees and winners is below.

BEST FILM
12 Years A Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Gravity
Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom
Philomena
Rush
Saving Mr. Banks
The Selfish Giant

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Kieran Evans (Director/Writer) Kelly + Victor
Colin Carberry (Writer), Glenn Patterson (Writer) Good Vibrations
Kelly Marcel (Writer) Saving Mr. Banks
Paul Wright (Director/Writer), Polly Stokes (Producer) For Those in Peril
Scott Graham (Director/Writer) Shell

DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity
Steve McQueen - 12 Years A Slave
David O. Russell - American Hustle
Paul Greengrass - Captain Phillips
Martin Scorsese - The Wolf Of Wall Street

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell - American Hustle
Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine
Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón - Gravity
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen - Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Nelson - Nebraska

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope - Philomena
John Ridley - 12 Years A Slave
Richard LaGravenese - Behind The Candelabra
Billy Ray - Captain Phillips
Terence Winter - The Wolf Of Wall Street

LEADING ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Christian Bale - American Hustle
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips

LEADING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Amy Adams - American Hustle
Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks
Judi Dench - Philomena
Sandra Bullock - Gravity

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Daniel Bruhl - Rush
Matt Damon - Behind the Candelabra
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Oprah Winfrey - The Butler
Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The Great Beauty
The Act Of Killing
Blue Is The Warmest Colour
Metro Manila
Wadjda

DOCUMENTARY
The Act Of Killing
The Armstrong Lie
Blackfish
Tim's Vermeer
We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks

ANIMATED FILM
Frozen
Despicable Me 2
Monsters University

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Gravity - Steven Price
12 Years A Slave - Hans Zimmer
The Book Thief - John Williams
Captain Phillips - Henry Jackman
Saving Mr. Banks - Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Gravity - Emmanuel Lubezki
12 Years A Slave - Sean Bobbitt
Captain Phillips - Barry Ackroyd
Inside Llewyn Davis - Bruno Delbonnel
Nebraska - Phedon Papamichael

EDITING
Rush - Dan Hanley, Mike Hill
12 Years A Slave - Joe Walker
Captain Phillips - Christopher Rouse
Gravity - Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger
The Wolf Of Wall Street - Thelma Schoonmaker

PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn
12 Years A Slave - Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker
American Hustle - Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
Behind The Candelabra - Howard Cummings
Gravity - Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woodlard

COSTUME DESIGN
The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin
American Hustle - Michael Wilkinson
Behind The Candelabra - Ellen Mirojnick
The Invisible Woman - Michael O’Connor
Saving Mr. Banks - Daniel Orlandi

MAKE UP & HAIR
American Hustle - Evelyne Noraz, Lori McCoy-Bell
Behind The Candelabra - Kate Biscoe, Marie Larkin
The Butler - Debra Denson, Beverly Jo Pryor, Candace Neal
The Great Gatsby - Maurizio Silvi, Kerry Warn
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug - Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Findlater

SOUND
Gravity - Glenn Freemantle, Skip Lievsay, Christopher Benstead, Niv Adiri, Chris Munro
All Is Lost - Richard Hymns, Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor, Micah Bloomberg, Gillian Arthur
Captain Phillips - Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro, Oliver Tarney
Inside Llewyn Davis - Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff
RUSH Danny Hambrook, Martin Steyer, Stefan Korte, Markus Stemler, Frank Kruse

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity - Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould, Nikki Penny
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug - Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds
Iron Man 3 - Bryan Grill, Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick
Pacific Rim - Hal Hickel, John Knoll, Lindy De Quattro, Nigel Sumner
Star Trek Into Darkness - Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton, Patrick Tubach, Roger Guyett

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
Sleeping With The Fishes
Everything I Can See From Here
I Am Tom Moody

BRITISH SHORT FILM
Room 8
Island Queen
Keeping Up With The Joneses
Orbit Ever After
Sea View

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
Will Poulter
Dane DeHaan
George McKay
Lupita Nyong'o
Lea Seydoux

SlickLogin has been acquired by Google, just five months after launching at TechCrunch Disrupt.

Word of the acquisition is confirmed by a notice on the company’s site, where they say that they’ll be joining Google in their efforts to “make the Internet safer for everyone”. We’ve also confirmed this news with Google.

Exact details of the deal are still under wraps. As always, we’re digging for more.

The idea behind SlickLogin was, at the very least, quite novel: to verify a user’s identity and log them in, a website would play a uniquely generated, nearly-silent sound through your computer’s speakers. An app running on your phone would pick up the sound, analyze it, and send the signal back to the site’s server confirming that you are who you say you are — or, at least, someone who has that person’s phone.

Or, to get slightly more wordy… here’s how I put it back when the company first launched:

As a user, you’d go to whatever SlickLogin-enabled site you’d like to log in to. Tap the login button, hold your phone up close to the laptop, and you’re in.

SlickLogin can use a bunch of protocols to start verifying your phone’s position: WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, visual markers like QR codes, and of course, GPS. Their self-dubbed “secret sauce”, though, is their use of uniquely generated sounds intentionally made inaudible to the human ear. Your computer plays the sound through its speakers, while an app on your smartphone uses the device’s built-in microphone to pick up the audio.

The service was built to be used either as a password replacement, or as a secondary, Two-Factor authentication layer on top of a traditional password. The company rolled their product into a small, closed Beta after debuting it at Disrupt, and hadn’t yet opened it up to everyone when they were acquired.

So who are these guys? What about security — if you managed to record someone else’s login sound, could you login as them later? I answered all that and more back when the company first launched, so check out our original article for that.

Getting access to high-speed internet on the go doesn't have to mean using someone's wide-open Wi-Fi. There are plenty of great 3G and 4G hotspots that get the job done, don't cost an arm and a leg, and are small enough to keep in your pocket for when you need them. Whether you're on the road or cable's out at home, here are five of the best mobile hotspots to keep you connected.

Earlier in the week we asked you for your favorite mobile hotspots, ideal for traveling, emergency internet access when your primary provider is out of commission, connecting multiple devices, or just helping you stay connected whenever you need it. We've shared some of our favorite mobile hotspots, and how to pick the best one. This time you offered up some great nominations, and here are your top five:

Karma Hotspot

The Karma Hotspot is a tiny, pocket-sized, pay-as-you-go mobile hotspot that doesn't come with too many bells and whistles, but it does offer fast mobile data when you need it, either at home when the cable goes out or when you're on the go and can't find a Wi-Fi network to use. Karma Hotspots come pre-loaded with 1GB of data on your account, and as you use it up, you recharge it with more data—that data never expires, and you have no monthly fees or charges to deal with—once you've paid for it, you don't pay again until you run out of data. When it's time to recharge, 1GB of data is $14, and you add as much as you need. The hotspot itself is $99. You can even earn free data (100MB for them and 100MB for you) by encouraging your friends to join your Karma's Wi-Fi network—kind of a bonus for being social and telling other people about it.

Karma supports up to eight devices simultaneously. It rides Sprint's (technically Clear's) 4G WiMax network with 3G (Sprint) roaming, and offers coverage in over 80 cities in the United States. The boast speeds of around 3-6 Mbps down on average (bursting to 10 Mbps) and 1.5 Mbps up. You can check what their coverage is like for you here before signing up. The device itself packs about 6-8 hours of battery life built-in, and charges over microUSB, so you can just plug it in and keep working if you're somewhere with power.

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FreedomPop Overdrive Pro

FreedomPop made waves with its completely free internet (with conditions, of course) when it launched. Their mobile hotspots do offer you 500MB of data every month for free, and if you need more from there their pricing isn't terrible—they offer you 2GB for $18/mo, or 4GB for $29/mo, and any extra data beyond what you use is $0.01/MB ($0.02/MB if you're on the free plan.) There are other fees involved, especially if you want to roll over your data every month ($4/mo) and there's been debate over the company's "active service fee," another monthly charge that's supposedly going away. The Overdrive Pro hotspot itself is $60, supports up to eight devices at once, and has an LCD display on the front to help you keep an eye on how much data you're using in real time. The battery lasts about four hours before it needs to be plugged in to power, and the company promises speeds as fast as 6Mbps on average, bursting up to 25Mbps where available. Unlike other pay-as-you-go providers, you can rack up the overages if you go over your monthly allowance, so it's important to choose the plan that fits you out of the gate—and the "free trial" may not work for everyone.

FreedomPop's approach to itself is a little smarmy sometimes, forcing you to hand over your email address and walk through the process of signing up before learning enough about the product to determine if you really want it. Still, there are enough reviews of the service around the web (including ours linked above!) that there's plenty to check out to see if it's right for you before you buy. The service rides Sprint's (technically Clear's) 4G WiMax network with 3G roaming (Sprint), and don't be confused by their at-home internet and cellular plans—stick to the mobile data side of things to find what you need. Some people report coverage issues, so check before you sign up. Read more in the nomination thread here.

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Verizon Jetpack

Verizon's Jetpack has earned high praise from reviewers including The Wirecutter and PCMag. The Jetpack itself is a pocket-sized device (available in multiple models-we're talking about the Pantech MHS291L model) that supports dual-band wireless N, and of course, rides Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network. If you're worried about coverage, it shouldn't be an issue in this case. It even works abroad, in over 205 countries. If price is your primary concern however, you may want to look at the details. Verizon Wireless doesn't offer pay-as-you-go or free plans, and while the Jetpack itself can be obtained for free depending on where you get it (currently it's $50 from Verizon, but you can get it for free from Amazon), the real price is the two-year contract and mobile data plan you'll have to sign to get it at that rate. Verizon Wireless does have data-only plans for those devices, but there's no roll-over data, and there are overage fees if you eat too much. However, Verizon does let you adjust your plan at any time if you're having a data-heavy month, or drop down if you're in for several light-usage months. ou can get it contract free ($230 direct from Verizon, $300 at Amazon) and pay month-to-month for data if you prefer, and given Verizon's fast, ever-present network, it may be worthwhile.

Verizon's network is reliable and broadly available, and they note you should expect typical download speeds of between 5 Mbps and 12 Mbps and typical upload speeds between 2 Mbps and 5 Mbps when using your Jetpack. The Jetpack itself has an LCD status screen on it so you can keep an eye on your data usage, and while it's not the only Jetpack model available, it's the one that everyone adores. You can connect up to 10 devices to a Jetpack at once, and it packs a rechargeable battery that can last for up to 15 hours before needing to be plugged in or recharged. It even supports USB tethering and built-in GPS geolocation, and HD video streaming. Read more in its nomination thread here.

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Internet on the Go

Internet on the Go is a mobile hotspot offered by Walmart (in partnership with TruConnect Mobile, an MVNO on Sprint's 3G (not 4G, although they say it's coming soon) network. Internet on the Go hotspots (made by Novatel) are about the size of a credit card, slip in a pocket, and have a single power button to note whether they're on or off. It's a pay-as-you-go service, with $10 getting you 500MB to use, $25 for 1.5GB, and $45 for 3GB. The hotspot itself will set you back $80 at Walmart online or in-store. You can also check to see if your area is covered on the product page at Walmart.com, or check out the coverage map here. Purchased data never expires, and when you run out, you reload it with however much data you need.

The Internet on the Go hotspot supports up to five devices at once and can be purchased with a wealth of optional accessories to help you make the most of it, like external battery packs and car chargers. Alone, its rechargeable battery lasts about 4 hours before it needs to be plugged in to power, and the service promises download speeds of about 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps, peaking around 3.1Mbps. Average uploads are around 350-500 Kbps, peaking at about 1.8 Mbps. To be clear, the Internet on the Go service is 3G only, and aimed at people who need to check email, chat with friends, browse the web, keep up with news or social media, and so on—don't expect to do too much HD streaming or get a ton of throughput here, and the folks behind it don't advertise their service as such. They angle themselves primarily for users of laptops, tablets, and ereaders looking to perform basic tasks online. Read more in the nominations thread here.

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Your Smartphone or Tablet

Of course, you likely already have a 3G/4G enabled smartphone or tablet on you at all times, and almost every smartphone or tablet made in the past five years has the ability to share your cellular internet connection via Wi-Fi with other devices in the vicinity. Some phones call it "mobile hotspot," others call it "tethering," but almost every device either supports it in some fashion or has apps available that allow you to easily configure a portable Wi-Fi network on the go (with, or without the express permission of your mobile data provider.) It's much easier on Android than it is in iOS, but it's possible on both. Some carriers let you do it without hassle, others will try to stop you and charge you for the privilege if they catch you doing it.

In either event, using your phone as a quick hotspot is a great idea—if you know how, it's a simple matter of activating the tether, connecting your phone to whatever device you want to have internet access, either via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or USB, and then sharing out your high-speed mobile data with those devices. It's fast, easy, can be free, and uses equipment you already have. Unfortunately, it does have drawbacks—you chew through battery on your smartphone very quickly when you use it as a mobile hotspot, and you also can chew through your monthly allocation of mobile data. If you don't have an unlimited data plan, that can cut your tethering time short. Most people agree - it's great for sporadic or emergency use, and even semi-regular use if you don't otherwise eat a lot of data, but if you have real mobile broadband needs or have to tether often, it's better to get a device that's designed for it and a carrier, plan, or pay-as-you-go plan that meets your needs. Read more in the nomination thread here.

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Now that you've seen the top five, it's time to put them to an all out vote to determine the community favorite:

No honorable mentions this week, but plenty of other nominees in the call for contenders thread so make sure to head back there if you want to see more.

Have something to say about one of the contenders? Want to make the case for your personal favorite, even if it wasn't included in the list? Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread from earlier in the week. Don't just complain about the top five, let us know what your preferred alternative is—and make your case for it—in the discussions below.

The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com!

Photos by Dave and Margie Hill and William Warby.

Deadline.com: John Henson, son of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson, died Friday after suffering a sudden heart attack. He was 48.

You'll soon be able to stream live video with your smartphone using a type of BitTorrent. Last year, BitTorrent Live was launched as a way to broadcast and stream live video for free. Instead of relying on a single company's servers to record a video and send it back out to viewers, BitTorrent Live is peer-to-peer: it has a broadcaster send their video to a handful of viewers who then watch the video while sending it out to even more viewers to do the same thing. It's only been on the desktop for now, but BitTorrent says that a mobile app is in the works for later this year — though it doesn't say what platforms it might debut on or whether the app will allow for just broadcasting, just viewing, or both.

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Only the best movies get rereleases from Criterion, but it often takes a lot of polishing, editing, and preservation to bring older selections into the beautiful condition that viewers expect. To see a bit of that restoration process, Gizmodo dropped by the Criterion offices in New York as it was beginning work on Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent. In a video, Criterion staff describe how they take a film from negatives to a digital print. In this case, its staff had everything they needed to produce a good release: "When you can get the original negative and it's in good condition, you're in great shape," Lee Kline, a technical director for Criterion, tells Gizmodo.

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(Kremlin.ru)

When the Winter Olympic Games opened last week in Sochi, much of the conversation on social media focused on the event's shortcomings: poor sanitation, empty stadiums, hotels in disrepair. But a very different, and far more worrying Sochi story has been unfolding in the mainstream Russian media, where many reporters and broadcasters are being muzzled by a government intent on presenting itself in the best light possible.

Late last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) published a damning report on how Russian media outlets have been silenced when trying to report on negative Sochi stories: forced evictions of local residents, exploitation of migrant workers, and environmental damage caused by construction...

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Bill Murray has been one of our best comedians ever since he appeared on Saturday Night Live, and in the second act of his career he's become one of our most interesting actors as well. The star of Stripes and Ghostbusters recently sat down with Charlie Rose to discuss his views on life, his continuing collaboration with Wes Anderson, losing an Oscar, and the experience he had making George Clooney's The Monuments Men. It's an insightful look at an actor that's not known for opening up to the press — and every minute is worth watching.

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Jeff writes, "Featuring a brand new soundtrack from Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Massive Attack and Elbow, and narrated by Dominic West (The Wire), journalist Marke Donne has put together a riveting documentary exposing the tax avoidance 'industry' operated by the highly secretive, centuries old institution, The City of London.

With a permanent office in Parliament, a budget of $1.2 billion and the media-avoiding tactics of the super-rich, the City relies on lobbying and silence to carry out it's offshore tax avoidance, robbing the state of tens of billions in revenue every year."

The UK Gold is a vital insight into the shady, inner workings of one of the world's financial hubs, and how the rich exert their power and influence to maintain their self-serving status quo.

From the Guardian: "This is the kind of film to get the blood boiling and the steam hissing out of your ears. Campaigning journalist Mark Donne has constructed an ambitious and admirably clear assault on the UK's lamentable record in the tax avoidance industry, zeroing in on the unsavoury role played by the City of London and its institutions -- not just in this country, but in far more desperate international territories too."

“The UK Gold” a new documentary by Brass Moustache Films

As part of a Reddit AMA earlier this afternoon, HTC announced that it would support all "flagship" devices with Android OS updates 2 years from their release date - though the promise was specifically conditioned as being to North America only. The bit about North America was added after the original statement was made, so it looks like HTC might have initially overpromised just a bit. Here's the whole quote:

• ASUS Officially Reveals The Transformer Prime's Release Date – It's Not December 8th, But Close Enough
• [New Game] Puddle THD launches On The Play Store With Very Pretty Physics For Tegra 3 Devices
• ASUS Transformer Pad TF300's Full Jelly Bean Firmware (US Version) Now Available For Download
• [Update: More Info About NA Availability] VLC Player Now Available In The Play Store For ARMv7 NEON Devices... But Not In The U.S. And Canada

HTC Announces Commitment To Support All New "North American Flagship Devices" With Android Updates For 2 Years Going Forward was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

As an apparent act of good faith, Google today published the details of its antitrust settlement bid with the European Union. The release comes after the EU declined to conduct a full "market test" by circulating Google's commitments to the interested parties in the case, and may serve to ease fears from advocacy groups that the search giant is aiming to take advantage of its competitors.

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Although Steam dominates the digital game download conversation, there are plenty of other services that offer deals and exclusives that Steam doesn't. GOG.com is one of those services, best known for its focus on classic PC games -- games that might have been forgotten if not for some deep discounts and updated compatibility. The latest promotion is more than just a good deal though; it looks suspiciously like a timely jab as well.

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Peretz Partensky and her his friend had just had a dinner at a restaurant in San Francisco's SOMA district when they happened on an injured woman who had fallen off her bicycle. They called 911 and performed first aid while they waited for emergency services. When the police got there, they beat up Partensky's friend and detained him, and when Partensky objected, they cuffed, brutalized and arrested him. Injured and in an holding cell, she asked to see a doctor, and the SFPD deputies on duty at the jail stripped him naked and threw him in solitary confinement and marked him as a candidate for psychiatric evaluation.

Partensky complained to the SF Office of Citizen Complaints, documenting him plight in eye-watering detail (Partensky works for a company that supplies software to the restaurant on whose doorstep the entire incident took place, and they were happy to hand him CCTV footage of the incident). The entire procedure then went dark, because in San Francisco, you aren't allowed to know what happens to police officers who beat you up, thanks to the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights.

One of the officers who harassed, beat, and wrongfully arrested Partensky, Paramjit Kaur, is already the subject of a civil rights suit. The other SFPD personnel who attacked and arrested the Good Samaritans are Officers Gerrans and Andreott.

For Partensky, the take-away message is clear: if you see someone who needs medical assistance, don't call 911, because the police might come and beat you up. Instead, help that person get to the hospital in a taxi.

In the hope that it might help some other idealistic, nerdy people from following me down that rabbit hole, I conclude with several public service announcements:

* Don’t call 911. Obviously, there are exceptions, but the sad lesson is, there are fewer than you’d think.

* Call Lyft to take you to the hospital. (Worked well when I broke my elbow.)

* Take such incidents to trial, where justice isn’t veiled by the POBAR. It’s not a matter of litigious vindictiveness. It’s just the only available way. The SF Office of Citizen Complaints is not a valid alternative.

* Consider wearing a video camera at all times. It has been shown that when police wear cameras and are aware of being filmed, it moderates their behavior. As self reports of the need to use force decrease, so do complaints.

Good Samaritan Backfire: or How I Ended Up in Solitary After Calling 911 for Help [Peretz Partensky/Medium]

Smart home lighting is a growing field, with entrants including Philips and LIFX, but one other new contender has a different approach that might appeal more to some. The Brightup system consists of plug socket hardware and in-wall dimmers, connected to and controlled by a central hub via Z-Wave RF tech, to provide remote dimming and intelligent behavior/programming to any and all lighting systems in your house.

The Brightup offers remote control of your lights, but that’s just the beginning. It also has geofencing so that lights can be set to turn on or off when you enter or leave the house; there’s an ambient light detector that can tell when you turn on the TV to automatically dim your lights for improved viewing conditions; the same ambient light sensor detects fading natural light and can tell when the sun comes up in the morning to control light levels. Random scheduling will simulate being home even when you’re away, and you can use lights to let you know a timer has gone off, which is handy for cooking, for instance.

The system’s components are nicely designed, and the project creators say you shouldn’t need outside help for installation. Brightup also measures and records energy usage, and provides remote access that you can share with family members and friends. The in-wall modules look a little more complex in terms of installation, but they should work in your existing receptacles behind the light switches you already have according to Brightup, which means no new holes required.

The Hamburg-based company is looking to raise €130,000 ($178,000 U.S.) on Indiegogo over the next 46 days to build Brightup, with starter packs including a central unit and three in-wall or socket connectors for €199 ($272 U.S.). The cost is considerable; A Philips Hue starter set runs $199 and includes three bulbs plus the central control hub, but Brightup works with lighting other than what comes in the package, and Hue is really an entirely different kind of product.

As the connected home and home automation space gets more crowded, it’s interesting to see the different approaches companies are taking to solve essentially the same problems. Brightup’s system has plenty of merit, but it’s competing with some heavy hitters already in the mainstream market including Belkin’s WeMo line. With Z-Wave and an open API, it does seem one of the more extensible and future-proof options out there, however, so that may play a role in getting customers on board.

Welcome back to Android Gaming Weekly, our weekly recap of new game releases. We still plan to cover upcoming releases and games we’re playing, but this column is dedicated to new games that you can install and start playing right now. Check out our top picks and let us know if you have any suggestions for next week in the comments below.

The Domingos

Description: The Domingos is an award winning physics based puzzle game that uses the “Domino effect” as a core mechanic in a wild west setting.

 

Shardlands

Description: Shardlands is an atmospheric 3D action puzzle adventure game with breathtaking visuals, beautiful soundtrack and fluid gameplay. Dawn is lost in a desolate alien world trying to find her way back home.

 

Brandnew Boy

Description: Rookie doesn’t know who he is, or how he got here, but one thing has been made terribly clear: he’ll have to fight to stay alive if he wants to find out. Brandnew Boy is heart-stopping, breath-taking 3D combat adventure built on Unreal Engine 3 for an unbelievable iOS action experience.

 

The Room Two

Description: Welcome to The Room Two, a physical puzzler, wrapped in a mystery game, inside a beautifully tactile 3D world. The much anticipated sequel to ‘The Room’, recipient of a BAFTA award, is here at last. Follow a trail of cryptic letters from an enigmatic scientist known only as “AS” into a compelling world of mystery and exploration.

 

Only One

Description: Only One is an arena style sword fighting game where you grab a magic sword declaring yourself the ‘Only One’ and then proceed to push and destroy waves of enemies off a pillar in the sky

 

Legendary Wars

Description: Welcome to Legendary Wars. Take command of your heroes. Build up massive armies to destroy the undead forces of the Netherworld! #1 Castle Defense game is finally on Android!

 

Helidroid 3: 3D

Description: Take the control of 3 little RC Helicopters in an entire house with garden and swimming pool! Accomplish a lot of variety of missions to become a real pilot.

 

Nightmares from the Deep™ 2

Description: Ready for a spine-tingling sequel to your favorite adventure? Plunge into Nightmares from the Deep: The Siren’s Call, an epic adventure featuring frightening foes and heart-pounding twists!

 

Solar Flux HD

Description: Travel across the universe to save dying suns from extinction in this unique and challenging space puzzle strategy game for tablet devices, where both problem solving and precise dexterity skills are needed to bring order to the cosmos.

 

Honorbound (RPG)

Description: Lead your army to victory! HonorBound is an epic FREE RPG. Choose your squad as you battle and collect 100’s of heroes! Challenge 1000’s of players in the Arena! Take control of the battle as your heroes come alive!

 

If you're a dedicated gamer who's wary of the ever-present freemium model (or an Android blogger who's tired of reaching for his phone for every app in the roundup), there's good news tonight. A recent adjustment of the Google Play Store website will let you know whether an app features in-app purchases or not. It appears just below the Install button, right next to the drop-down list of compatible devices.

This change mirrors the one made to the on-device Play Store back in December.

• [New Game] EA Ends Dungeon Keeper's Limited Availability, Now Offers The Refreshed Classic On Google Play Worldwide
• [Bug Watch] Too Many In-App Purchases Will Break The Play Store App And Prevent Installation
• Nerd3 Goes On An Epic Rant About Dungeon Keeper And Its £70 In-App Purchases [Video]
• [New Game] EA Launches Classic Game Dungeon Keeper For Android, But Only In Canada, Australia, And Singapore For Now

The Web Version Of The Google Play Store Now Shows An Indicator For Apps With In-App Purchases was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Deadline.com: The man who played the patriarch on CBS’ long-running series The Waltons has died. Ralph Waite was 86. He starred for nine seasons on the Depression-era drama as John Walton Sr., who eked out a living at the family lumber mill on Walton’s Mountain.

One of the RIAA's best friends in congress, Jerry Nadler, has been appointed to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet by Obama Congressional Democrats. The history of this committee is nothing short of grotesque: every time it looks like a copyright moderate/friend of the Internet might get appointed to it, it is declared redundant and shut down. Then, once the danger has passed and there's another loony, Internet-hating, censorship-happy copyright maximialist in place to fill a vacant seat, the committee once again becomes relevant and is resurrected.

Last week, we wrote about five Android apps that do amazing things the iPhone just can't. There are countless clear benefits to owning a smartphone powered by Apple's mobile platform but the simple fact of the matter is that the restrictions imposed on third-party apps inevitably leads to limitations. There are also good things about Apple's approach to third-party apps, of course, and we think Apple's mobile software ecosystem is easily still the best in the business. As good as it is, however, there are some amazing Android apps out there that remind us why Google's open approach has some real advantages.

Continue reading...

A new crowdsourced marketplace aiming to connect up budding coders with businesses needing to find developers to do one-off project work has launched today in beta in the U.K.

Called Coding Cupboard it’s the sister side of Concept Cupboard — a creative industries talent-finding web platform that launched this time last year aiming to connect students/recent graduates with businesses wanting design work doing.

The basic concept of both sites, which have been privately funded to date, is to pull in a pool of young professionals just starting out on their careers, and thus in a position to mobilize for freelance work, and match them up with businesses that have smaller jobs that need doing quickly — via a pitch and response process.

That template — deployed in the creative industries space — was evidently successful enough for the founders to expand their Cupboard brand to tech dev work with today’s launch.

Why expand to coding? Well there’s obviously continued rising demand among businesses for digital development work, with the proliferation of apps and other digital technologies. While, on the student side, the number of new computer science students is growing in the U.K., with more than 21,500 accepted into universities last year, a year-on-year bump of 12% according to HESA data — more growth than in any other subject.

Youth unemployment has also been a huge problem during the U.K.’s recession. Although the national economy is improving, it’s still tough for young people to find work — and therefore hard for them to gain the experience employers look for to land full-time roles. This unwelcoming job market gives Coding Cupboard its opportunity to push in, reckons co-founder Adam Ball, himself a recent computer science graduate.

“We’re a business with a social purpose of tackling youth unemployment. We’re helping young people to show what they can do whilst also helping businesses source coding at a more affordable rate than established freelancers & agencies,” he tells TechCrunch. ”Our main competitors would be people like Elance, oDesk etc. We’re unique because we focus on the extraordinary undiscovered talent that students have.”

“We work closely with careers departments to get their students using the site,” he adds.

Ball, who joined the company as an intern on Concept Cupboard and now runs both sites (and also built Coding Cupboard), adds that with youth unemployment being a global issue the company has a roadmap to take Coding Cupboard to markets outside the U.K.

For now, though, this is a U.K. launch.

“We’re starting by offering projects such as website builds, mobile apps, custom coding and social media projects,” adds Ball, detailing the initial offering. ”A business signs up, uses our simple step by step briefing tool (so that even the plumber can use it) and launched their project to our coding community.”

Coding Cupboard is launching with 50+ businesses signed up to the new platform, beefed up by businesses that use Concept Cupboard being ported over — meaning it has more than 1,000+ businesses pitching projects. (Concept Cupboard has some 1,200+ businesses on that site, and 4,700+ creatives — and has so far helped students earn more than £100,000+, according to Ball).

The business model for the company is to charge businesses a listing fee for projects (this is a percentage of their budget for the work but is added on top of the money that goes to the student) but for Coding Cupboard’s launch it’s waiving the fee.

Later this year, it will also be rolling out a “recruitment proposition” to further expand the revenue generation opportunities for the business, adds Ball.

The other co-founders of Coding Cupboard are marketing agency veteran Guy McConnell, formerly a Board Director at Black Cat; Simon Devonshire, Director of Telefonica’s regional incubator academy network, Wayra Europe, and previously General Manager of Small and Medium Business at O2; and Julie Cheetham, also previously a Black Cat Board Director.

Netflix's movie recommendations are already eerily accurate, but they're still no match for an actual person who knows what you do and don't like. However, a developing style of computing may be able to change that by simulating a human brain across thousands of machines — and now Netflix has begun trying it out. In a blog post, Netflix describes how it's begun experimenting with neural networks and deep learning to see if they might be able to improve its personalization features.

It's still far, far out before Netflix could make use of these techniques, but it appears to have had success in getting the research started. Rather than investing in its own expensive data center to run the trials on, Netflix instead utilized Amazon Web...

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Google announced the final version of the Google Cast SDK and Play Services 4.2 early this month, but it wasn't quite ready for the public. Developers were asked by Google to hold off until the new services framework was finalized, and today is the big day – it's open season on the Chromecast.

Play Services 4.2 is now rolled out to all devices worldwide, so apps built with the Cast SDK can be freely released in Google Play.

• Google Finally Opens Up The Chromecast To Developers With Release Of Google Cast SDK, Now Part Of Google Play Services 4.2
• AllCast Regains Chromecast Support Less Than A Day After The Release Of The Google Cast SDK
• The On-Device Google Play Store Now Has A Chromecast Section For All Seven Apps That Support It
• Get Ready To Share Your Browser With Chromecast Using The Official Google Cast Extension For Chrome

Google Cast SDK Gets Final Release As Play Services 4.2 Is Rolled Out To All Devices – Prepare For The Flood Of Chromecast Apps was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Zach Weissmueller says:

A few years ago, I shared with you a video about the pattern of police raids on private property happening in California's Antelope Valley.

Well, a rather tragic and infuriating story brought me back to the desert. It's the story of Eugene Mallory, an 80-year-old retired engineer, whose home was raided by the LA County Sheriff's Dept. (which has been at the center of a number of scandals in recent years), in search of meth. No meth was found, but Eugene Mallory was shot dead in his own bedroom.

This video takes you inside Mallory's home, to the scene of the incident, and scrutinizes the Sheriff Department's official account. How was a warrant obtained, but not a single shred of evidence pointing to meth production found on the property? Why did deputies first claim Mallory was charging at them and then change their story? Why did one officer only yell "drop the gun" after he had already shot Mallory six times?

Police Shoot, Kill 80-Year-Old Man In His Own Bed, Don't Find the Drugs They Were Looking For