Daily News Courier

New Nexus 4? Be sure to try out Box.net with 50GB of free storage

No, you're not dreaming, the Nexus 4 really has been on sale in the Play Store for over 2 weeks straight with no supply issues. We know that in the last couple of weeks, more people have probably picked it up than in the last couple of months, and that means there are a whole lot of new Nexus users out there. One of the big promotions that Box.net started running back in November still applies though, and everyone with a new LG device — including the Nexus 4 — can take advantage of 50GB of free storage just for downloading the app and logging in.

Stick around after the break and check out a few of the high points of the Box.net app, and see if it's worth a shot to get some free storage.

read more

Dropbox Offers a Way to Free Data from Mobile Apps

A new feature makes it easy for mobile apps to sync data—and poses direct competition to Apple’s iCloud.

Dropbox is best known for providing a “magic folder” that 100 million people use to synchronize files across different computers. But the company’s cofounder and CEO, Drew Houston, has long talked of larger ambitions, telling MIT Technology Review in 2012 that he was setting out to build “a fabric that ties together all devices, services, and apps … the Internet’s file system” (see “Drew Houston Simplifies the Cloud”). A new feature released with little fanfare last week provides new evidence that the company is working toward that vision. It also pitches the company into more direct competition with Apple.

Archos releases free, ad-supported version of video player app

One thing that Archos has traditionally done pretty well is video, and back in December they launched a standalone version of the video player app that ships on their Android tablets. With a lengthy feature list, and a well designed UI, the only thing preventing some from giving it a spin was the price. At $4.99 (£3.99) it carried a premium price along with the excellent feature set. 

Now though, Archos has released a free, ad supported version of the app into the Google Play Store. Above all, it gives you a perfect chance to test out the full version of the app without dropping down any green first. It promises to work on both smartphones and tablets, but will require Android 4.x to run. Grab yourselves a copy at the Play Store link above.

EA launches The Simpsons: Tapped Out in the Play Store for free

One of my favorite television shows while growing up was The Simpsons.  While I realize The Simpsons is still running strong, I am referring to the first ten seasons of the sitcom, which are arguably the best of the television series.  In any event, Electronic Arts wants to help many of us relive our young, teenage years by playing The Simpsons: Tapped Out.

Fans of The Simpsons, and causal gamers alike, can download and install the free Simpsons Android game through the Play Store immediately.  Be warned, after the initial download, the game will require another 175MB of data in order to run smoothly.  The required version of Android for the game apparently varies with device, but it should work on the majority of Gingerbread and higher Android devices.

The basic premise of the game is that Homer Simpson blew up Springfield from a Nuclear Plant related accident.  It is your job to recreate Springfield and help relocate the rest of the Simpsons.  So far, it has a 4.0 rating in the Play Store and many of the comments seem positive.

If you are interested in playing The Simpsons: Tapped Out, then feel free to download the free Android app below.

[Google Play Store]

Related Stories

• Carbon for Twitter can now be downloaded through the Play Store
• Temple Run 2 is now available to help Android users procrastinate
• Google Play now offers select free digital magazine subscriptions for print subscribers

EA launches The Simpsons: Tapped Out in the Play Store for free

One of my favorite television shows while growing up was The Simpsons.  While I realize The Simpsons is still running strong, I am referring to the first ten seasons of the sitcom, which are arguably the best of the television series.  In any event, Electronic Arts wants to help many of us relive our young, teenage years by playing The Simpsons: Tapped Out.

Fans of The Simpsons, and causal gamers alike, can download and install the free Simpsons Android game through the Play Store immediately.  Be warned, after the initial download, the game will require another 175MB of data in order to run smoothly.  The required version of Android for the game apparently varies with device, but it should work on the majority of Gingerbread and higher Android devices.

The basic premise of the game is that Homer Simpson blew up Springfield from a Nuclear Plant related accident.  It is your job to recreate Springfield and help relocate the rest of the Simpsons.  So far, it has a 4.0 rating in the Play Store and many of the comments seem positive.

If you are interested in playing The Simpsons: Tapped Out, then feel free to download the free Android app below.

[Google Play Store]

Related Stories

• Carbon for Twitter can now be downloaded through the Play Store
• Temple Run 2 is now available to help Android users procrastinate
• Google Play now offers select free digital magazine subscriptions for print subscribers

The “Free Wi-Fi” Confusion

The FCC is not proposing nationwide free Wi-Fi–but it does have high hopes for unlicensed chunks of spectrum.

A Washington Post report has sparked some confusion over whether the FCC is proposing large public WiFi networks. In fact, the FCC is not directly proposing such networks. Which isn’t to say that the FCC doesn’t have an interesting idea up its sleeve.

HTC and Playstation Mobile offer free games for Sense 4+ phones

If you have an HTC Sense 4+ phone, HTC and Playstation Mobile want to give you a free game every week through the end of February. Much like the offer for free games on Sony devices, there are no hoops to jump through, just download the Playstation Mobile for Android app, set up your Sony Entertainment Network account, then use your Sense 4+ phone to download your free games. Supported models include:

• HTC One V
• HTC One S
• HTC One X
• HTC One XL
• HTC One EVO 4G LTE
• HTC One X+

There is one sticking point — your phone must be running Android 4.1 and Sense 4+ or higher, which leaves folks on AT&T and T-Mobile out in the cold unless they've rooted and ROM'd. Feel free to express your distaste in the comments. 

This week's free game is Cubixx, and HTC reminds us all to check every week for a new game. See the source link for the full details.

Source: HTC; via +HTC

A Free Database of the Entire Web May Spawn the Next Google

Common Crawl supplies a database of over five billion Web pages in the hope that it will inspire new research or online services.

Google famously started out as little more than a more efficient algorithm for ranking Web pages. But the company also built its success on crawling the Web—using software that visits every page in order to build up a vast index of online content.

Who won a free phone from Sprint and Android Central? Find out now!

With the first week of the new year almost under our belts, it's time to let you all know the names of the lucky people that won the SEVEN phones we teamed up with Sprint to give away!  If your name is listed below, watch your email as I'll be in touch in the near future to get your shipping info. Congratulations to all the winners, enjoy your new phones!

read more

Play Magazines now offering ‘free for print subscribers’ option

According to a Google Play support document — and confirmed when we browse to some magazines — Google is now offering a "Free for print subscribers" option for certain magazines in the Play Store. When browsing many popular magazine subscriptions in the Play Store that have a print component, tapping on "subscribe" offers you three options. On top of the regular monthly or yearly subscriptions, you now have the option to get the digital version for free if you're already a print customer.

Google has likely signed some kind of content deals to make this happen, but however it happened it's a good thing. Many different publishers have offered this feature for their own websites and magazines, but its nice to see Google offering the same option with a digital subscription through the app as well.

Source: Google; Via: Android Police