Google is trying for more standalone Android Wear
apps. A big change this week makes standalone apps compatible with Android Wear
1.0. It was available only on Android Wear 2.0 previously. The change also
affects iOS with Android Wear. Hopefully this motivates developers to make more
Wear apps. The pickings are a little thin. The change will take affect in
January of 2018.
The Walking Dead: Our World was announced earlier
this week. The game is an AR experience. Players can slaughter zombies in the
real world wherever they are. There are cameo appearances from the show. They
show up to help you kill zombies. There’s no release date just yet. However, it
should be sometime soon. Season eight is just around the corner.
The Google Play Indie Game Festival finalists were
announced this week. Some of the finalists include Crashy Cars, 7 Pin Pool,
Star Vikings Forever, Slayaway Camp, Storm Wars, and Topsoil. There are just
shy of two dozen total finalists. The event itself takes place on September
23rd. Thus, we only have a couple of weeks until we find out the winners.
Amazon Alexa and Cortana have some big updates
coming. Namely, they will soon talk to each other. The idea works like this.
You can use Windows 10 to tell Cortana to talk to Alexa and vice versa. This
collaboration won’t make either better than the competition individually.
However, the two combined is definitely the best personal assistant experience
out there. That’s assuming they do it right.
Google Assistant may be getting a huge feature in
Android Oreo. There is code that suggests that third party apps can open Google
Assistant. That means you can have the experience without leaving whatever app
is open. There are a laundry list of requirements. The app has to work on Oreo,
the phone has to be on Oreo, and then developers can add Google Assistant
integration.
Gyroscope
Gyroscope is a new fitness tracker app. It claims to
be an all-in-one type of service. It features support for a variety of other
fitness tracking apps. That includes Fitbit, Google Fit, and several others.
You can also add manual data. It then charts your fitness, weight, and other
health metrics. The free version comes with the basic stuff. The subscription
service adds things like sleep tracking, more in-depth analysis, and more. It's
not bad for what it is. It's also in beta so the bugs are present.
Life
on Mars Remake
Life on Mars Remake is a remake of an older game. It
came out during the era where Metroid-style shooters were really popular. This
one takes you on an adventure on Mars. It plays a lot like games in that era.
You explore, find upgrades to your suit, and figure out what happened to the
now empty colony on Mars. The controls are a little rough, but the game
otherwise plays very well. The developers state a future update will have
Bluetooth controllers. We can't wait for that one.
Mixer
Mixer Create is a new mobile app from Microsoft. It
lets you live stream whatever you're doing. It's for gaming, mostly. However,
you can use it for almost anything. This app is meant strictly for creating
live streams. Microsoft has a separate app for viewing. You can record either
your front or back cameras or your phone screen. In addition, there's a chat
you can use to communicate. It's new and thus there will be bugs. However, it's
a good step forward for Mixer.
The
Walking Dead: March to War
The Walking Dead: March to War is the latest game in
the popular franchise. It's a multiplayer strategy game. The story follows the
March To War story line in the comics. It works like most online RTS mobile
games. You build a base, upgrade your stuff, recruit survivors, and combat
other players online. It's a freemium game. There are also some issues that the
developers need to straighten out. Otherwise, it has potential to be a lot of
fun.
Amazon
Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video isn't technically a new release.
Amazon brought the app back to the Google Play Store after an extended absence.
It gives you access to Amazon's library of video content. That includes TV
shows and movies. You can subscribe to additional channels to get more content.
That includes a dedicated anime channel, HBO, Showtime, STARZ, and others. It
doesn't have Chromecast support. That's a big no-no in the video streaming
space these days. However, the app otherwise works pretty well.
