Eurodroid » Opinion

MoneySupermarket Car Insurance app now on Android

Gary_C — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:41:29 +0000

This MoneySupermarket car insurance comparison thing has been floating around on Apple’s iTunes servers for months, now it’s on the Android Market for us to have a fiddle with. It’s BIG BOAST is that you can just stick in a number plate and see insurance quotes using data pulled straight from the DVLA’s files, so it’s easy to ponder quotes while walking around car parks and imagining yourself owning certain cars.

That sounds like a fun hobby, eh? The app claims to include all the quotes and suppliers from the desktop site, telling users it’s possible to “switch your insurance in just 3 taps.”

MoneySupermarket Car Insurance is so on the Android Market here. And if you want a guaranteed way to save money on your car insurance, just get old and move to the countryside and drive a V-reg diesel Peugeot 306 estate.

Car/guns extravaganza Road Warrior now on Android

Fake Instagram app running riot on Android Market

Gary_C — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:37:29 +0000

Be wary of an app going by the name of Instagram and published on the Android Market by a developer calling itself App for Android. It is NOT the long-awaited arrival of Instagram on Android, it’s a fake. The app forces users to give it a 5/5 rating in order to access its features, then fills your phone up with malware.

The five-star ranking thing is a clever tactic, as one of the visual clues we use to identify if an app is safe and genuine is a high Android Market user feedback score. Thanks to this fake feedback boost, the Instagram fake has racked up over 1,500 highly positive reader reviews in less than 24 hours.

This is a very embarrassing and high-profile attack, especially as Google only just announced that its Bouncer auto-scanner would be able to put a stop to such shameful practices. The fake app’s here [hooray, it's now been deleted] if you’d like to have a look – just don’t install it.

Thanks to reader Mr Perkins for the tip.

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“Fluffy clouds form an easy-to-read clock in the sky”

Gary_C — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:50:52 +0000

It looks like we’ve attracted the attention of the Live Wallpaper crowd after yesterday’s thing about PlanetScapes, as here’s news of another rather sweet animating Home screen design. This is the Tree of Life, which sticks a big tree in the middle of your phone’s display, then changes lighting patterns and introduces random wildlife events during the day.

It all looks very nice…

…and if you’re not against the idea of paying 66p for a Home screen wallpaper that’ll take up 16MB of your mobile’s memory, Tree of Life is on the Android Market here.

“Your device will transform into a window looking out onto the surface of the planet Avalon”

Gary_C — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:16:40 +0000

…that’s the promise that comes alongside Android app PlanetScapes HD, which brings a selection of high-res fantasy Live wallpapers for the background of your Android device’s screen. There’s a free trial version and a full paid app, both of which have the ability to make you phone look all Lord of the Rings-y and colourful – with two more wallpapers in the paid release.

Two examples:

If the evidence on offer over at the developer’s site is anything to go by, this will soon be a series, including all sorts of HD images and wallpapers.

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Gameloft LIVE! standalone Android gaming store now launched

Gary_C — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:17:00 +0000

Gameloft has just announced a completely reworked standalone app version of its Gameloft LIVE! tool, which creates what it claims to be a “social gaming experience” on your Android phone. It’s sort of a combination of chat room, social network and game shop, letting you buy stuff, manage your “XP” pretend money points, stay on top of its endless sales and multi-buy promotions and more.

You also get the chance to create your own little 3D avatar and put clothes on it. We imagine that may be fun for some people.

It’s not on the Android Market – you can get the Gameloft LIVE! Android app direct from Gameloft here, from where it can be sent direct to your mobile.

NEW GAME: Space shooter / RPG hybrid X Fleet

Gary_C — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:10:15 +0000

X Fleet is a new Android shooter that’s been designed a little differently. It’s sort of a cross between a 2D shooter and an adventure game with… RPG elements. It could be the best thing ever, heralding a new age and inventing an entirely new genre. Or it might be nonsense.

Here’s how the developer describes this new experience:

I set out to do things differently – I desperately wanted to avoid the puzzle / physics cloning that’s rampant in the market. I didn’t even want to bring a classic space shooter into the world.

The end result is a space shooter cut up with the familiar RPG elements of weapons/ship upgrades, NPCs, quests, and a full narrative. Final Fantasy-esque towns take the form of the orbit of all the worlds of the solar system.

Still none the wiser. Here’s what it looks like:

Good to see the British Pound used as a space currency for once. The game’s free to download, with a few ads and some non-essential micro transactions inside to help support it and pay for the maker to one day update his PC’s graphics card.

There’s a trailer on the developer’s site and X Fleet is on the Android Market here.

The National Cycle Network app now on Android

Gary_C — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:27:00 +0000

Sustrans, a UK charity dedicated to encouraging us all to walk, cycle and generally get around the place using the power of our legs and under-developed cardiovascular systems, has released an Android app it’s calling The National Cycle Network. The app contains maps and path data covering 25,000 miles of the UK’s bike and footpath networks, laying the data over familiar Ordnance Survey maps.

It also supports GPS trip recording, local shopping and tourism guides should you find yourself somewhere unfamiliar and in need of a quality steak & kidney pie, plus it lets you create your own routes and share them with others. The iPhone version of the app’s been out since last summer. Now we get it.

It is fair to say it’s not yet the most visually appealing app currently available, but then the healthy things in life are never the coolest. The National Cycle Network app is on the Android Market here.

Q&A social network Formspring launches Android app

Q&A social network Formspring launches Android app

Gary_C — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:38:19 +0000

Formspring, which is a weird site where users sign up simply to ask and answer endless lists of questions with their friends and the occasional celeb, now has an official app available on the Android Market. It’s free, offering support for the site’s photo sharing options, adding and removing friends and the sharing of “smiles” with each other. Which is what it does instead of “like” and the usual “thumbs up” approval icons.

Here it is:

Formspring’s a weird place. Never felt interesting enough to bother signing up, though. Who cares what my favourite crisp flavour is?

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London Bus Checker out on Android

Gary_C — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:50:00 +0000

London Bus Checker pulls in data from TFL’s live data feed that supplies bus information to the city’s bus stops, meaning you get proper, live information regarding bus arrivals at any one of the city’s 20,000 bus stops on your telephone.

As well as that there’s fancy stuff like a location-aware maps of your nearest stops, route information, service status updates and even a Home screen widget for those who don’t do anything else but worry about where various buses are.

And doesn’t it look nice? London Bus Checker and its very enjoyable description is on the Android Market here, for an “INTRODUCTORY PRICE” of £1.24.

Valve launches official Steam Android app beta test

Gary_C — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:22:49 +0000

There are some good non-official options out there for accessing a Steam account on Android, now there’s one that comes with the Valve stamp of approval. Simply called Steam, Valve’s Android app lets users of the sprawling online gaming service chat with other users, stay up with the news and even queue up purchases for download.

But there’s one issue – this is a closed beta test, so it won’t accept your regular Steam account details…

…so unless you’re part of the app’s beta test scheme this won’t work just yet. The Android Steam app is on the Android Market here, if you’d like to get prepared for the full public release.

Link via VG247.