There is a sea of Flappy Bird clones out there. You can find versions with all sorts of animals and obstacles, but ultimately they are all just copies of mighty Dong Nguyen’s legendary game. Trust us when we tell you Tappy Chicken is not like the others. This game was made in an evening, polished in a week and released by someone without even a bit coding experience.
How is this possible? This happens to be one of the first apps made with Unreal Engine 4. In fact, it is the very first UE4 game to make it to the Android, iOS and HTML 5 platforms. This tool allows game developers to build their apps without a single line of C++ code, using only what they call Blueprints.
For all intents and purposes, Tappy Bird is no different than the other clones. You tap a bird through obstacles and try to get the highest score possible. All the features are the same. The only difference here is happening backstage. The fact it was made by a single artist (not coder) is something that is simply unheard of… until today.
In essence, this app was pretty much made to prove how awesome Unreal Engine 4 is. This can literally change the industry, allowing people with great ideas to avoid all the complicated coding involved with making an app.
It’s just as easy to port your games with UE4, as the platform takes care of most of the work! Tappy Chicken is only released for Android, iOS and HTML 5, but it can even run on consoles, if the developer wanted.
Tappy Chicken handles touch, mouse, and controller input, and can run on any supported platforms, even the consoles.
I am sure it still takes some studying, but making an app with Unreal Engine 4 is much easier than learning C++. Do you have a great idea? Unreal Engine costs $19 a month plus 5% of your app’s revenue. You read all about it at Unreal Engine’s website.
If you want to try the app, you can also download it straight from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Or you can just play it on your browser!
If you haven’t used Pushbullet yet, you have to give it a try! This awesome app facilitates working with multiple smartphones, tablets and computers. In a way, it creates a bridge between then by allowing you to share your links, files and even notifications. Today’s update made it much more awesome, though.
Pushbullet can now send notifications to your other Android devices, not just your computer. Of course, other devices would have to have the app installed, and all devices have to have the option turned on.
I happen to love this feature because it allows you to see notifications that you would otherwise not be able to see in different devices. Sure, you would get most app notifications on other devices, but there’s also notifications from texts, calls and voicemails.
It’s a bit annoying that the only way to see those is the traditional way – putting down other devices and reaching for your smartphone. Here’s a little demo the developers put together for you. It will give you a better idea of how this feature can benefit your daily lives.
It’s actually very simple to set this feature up. You simply have to go into Pushbullet’s settings and check the option that says “Beta: Sync my notifications with my other Android devices too”.
This does have to be turned on in every device, though. If you want (or don’t want) other smartphones and tablets to be part of the party, you have to make sure this setting is taken care of.
This is a very new feature, hence the beta label. The Pushbullet team does state there are bound to be some issues here and there, but I found no problems in my brief testing. It also works like a charm in their demo video!
You can go ahead and download it straight from the Google Play Store. It’s free, so give it a try!
If you’re looking for a decent Bluetooth speaker, you won’t find much better than the Jawbone Big Jambox. It’s loud, rich, deep sound is perfect for those times when you’re simply looking to play some jams from your phone while you work (or play), but it’s also perfect for taking calls on a speakerphone and more.
For those that plan of taking their Bluetooth speaker with them wherever they go, the Jambox has the added benefit of providing water-resistance and a shockproof design. Of course, great sound quality and performance comes at a price — and it’s a high one.
Normally at $300, this speaker is far from cheap but if you’re a sound aficionado looking for a Bluetooth speaker that’s reasonably portable while still providing a high-performance experience, it might be worth price tag.
For those that just can’t bring themselves to spend that much on a speaker, the good news is that you can now get it for just $220 on Amazon, the next cheapest we’ve been able to find the speaker is $250 at Best Buy. The Big Jambox is also offered in several colors: Graphite hex, red dot, red platinum, whit platinum, and white wave.
What do you think, is the Big Jambox worth this discounted price? Any other Bluetooth speakers you’d recommend around the same (or lower) price range? Let our readers know in the comments!
FreedomPop first introduced its free U.S.-based mobile phone service in October of last year. At the time, they promised 200 voice minutes, 500 text messages and 500MB for absolutely free, aside from the initial cost of buying a phone. There was even an unlimited talk/text option for $10.99, though no way to expand the limited amount of data.
Fast-forwarding to today, FreedomPop still offers the same amounts of data, texts and voice for free, but it’s sweetening the pot by introducing a $20 “Unlimited Everything” option for those that need even more. With the unlimited package you not only get unlimited talk and text, but you can also consume as much data as you like.
So what’s the catch? As you might expect, they do limit the amount of high-speed data. You can utilize 1GB of data at LTE speeds each month, after that you can continue to eat all the data you want, but at 3G levels instead. All new LTE-supported devices on FreedomPop also offer free tethering as an added bonus.
In October, FreedomPop didn’t offer 4G LTE. Heck, the only handset they gave us at launch was the aging HTC Evo Design. Things got a bit better when they introduced a bring-your-own device program in November that allowed you to bring the Galaxy S3, Galaxy Nexus and a few older (non-LTE) handsets over to their Sprint-based network.
Now FreedomPop is raising the bar once again, offering the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3 LTE and the Samsung Victory 4G LTE. Pricing is $349, $189 and $119 respectively.
So how does FreedomPop work? In a nutshell, it uses Sprint’s 4G LTE network and places all calls and texts through a VOIP system, as opposed to using a traditional method for making calls/texts. Of course, FreedomPop will only be worth your consideration if you happen to live in an area with strong Sprint coverage.
Anyone interested in giving FreedomPop a try now that it’s embracing 4G LTE? Any existing FreedomPop customers reading this, and if so, what do you think of the service based on your experience with it?
Last week, a lawsuit filed by a former iPhone user against Apple brought back to light an issue that has long tormented users switching from Apple to competing platforms.
The issue, which surfaced as early as 2011, prevents text messages sent to some former iOS users from reaching their intended recipients. It happens when a user does not de-register their phone number from Apple’s iMessage service before moving their SIM to a, say, Android device. When another iMessage user sends a message to the “defector,” the message is routed through iMessage instead of SMS, effectively remaining stuck on a platform that the intended recipient can no longer access.
Missing out on texts from loved ones or business contacts is frustrating, at the very least, as several of our readers have recounted in the comments on our post from last week.
Making the issue even worse was the fact that Apple’s support wasn’t always able to manually disconnect phone numbers from inactive iMessage accounts. For this reason, some users had no option but to ask acquaintances to manually delete their contact information from their iPhones and re-add them as simple mobile contacts.
Faced with intense media coverage and the threat of a class-action lawsuit, Apple has moved to fix the issue that prevented its support staff from manually fixing the issue for affected users.
Here’s Apple’s statement to Re/code:
“We recently fixed a server-side iMessage bug which was causing an issue for some users, and we have an additional bug fix in a future software update. For users still experiencing an issue, please contact AppleCare.”
So, while the actual bug that causes the lost messages is still active, Apple should now be able to fix the issue for you.
Google Now continues to get better with every update. We have recently reported on Google Now bill reminders, camera actions and notifications on recently searched product availability in nearby stores. What is next? A feature that should have been here long ago – setting the timer.
Simply Open Google Now and activate a voice command. After that, you can just say things like “Set timer for 5 minutes”, or “set timer for 7 am”. Google Now will then take care of all the work. Like any other action, you can cancel it before the progress bar reaches its completion.
This may not sound like a huge deal, but it is if you have been using Google Now for some time. Especially if you use it for setting your alarms. These alarms keep building up on your clock app, forcing you to go in and clear them every so often. This wouldn’t be the case if you used a timer for the alarms you don’t keep permanently!
Timer support is really that feature that should have been there since the beginning. It is late, but it is also very welcomed!
Just like Google Now is improving within Android, I expect it to expand in the whole mobile industry. I would like to see more apps taking advantage of it. How about telling Facebook to check in at a restaurant? Or telling Hangouts to message someone? Maybe take advantage of your TV remote features via Google Now? These are only a few ideas.
It’s also important to mention Google Now has been expanding to other platforms. Chrome and Chromebooks can now take advantage of limited Google Now functionality. Maybe thermostats, appliances and self-driving cars will get the digital assistant treatment at some point. Now that sounds like a promising future. I know I will be first in line to test it out!
