Robert Parker's Blog

The personal website for Robert Parker

Archive for December, 2018

Save 50% on ProtonVPN Basic and browse safely in 2019

Dec 28

Posted by AndroidGuys in deal of the day, Privacy, Vpn, Web security | Comments off

Picture this: You’re hanging out at your local coffee shop, using the free Wi-Fi. You come across an item you want to purchase, input your credit card information, and buy that something awesome.

A few days later you look at your bank statement and realize that there’s quite a few more charges on there, and at places you’ve never heard of or visited. Chances are high that your information was stolen — likely back at the coffee shop. That’s one of the risks of using unprotected Wi-Fi!

Get Help

There’s an easy way to avoid this enormous inconvenience and headache while still being able to hang out at your local coffee shop. It’s called a Virtual Private Network and it’s extremely helpful.

If you’re ready to get serious about your Wi-Fi, internet browsing, and overall security, we’ve got a deal for you. For just $23.99 you can score yourself a year of ProtonVPN Basic and ensure all of your web browsing stays safe and secure.

ProtonVPN uses only ultra-secure AES-256 encryption to mask your online movements, and it leverages Perfect Forward Secrecy to ensure your encrypted traffic can’t be captured and decrypted later, even if the encryption key gets compromised.

Features of ProtonVPN Basic

  • Protect your data w/ AES-256 encryption, Perfect Forward Secrecy & Secure Core Servers
  • Ensure you’re surfing on a secure connection w/ OpenVPN protocols
  • Benefit from the strong legal protection of a Swiss-based VPN
  • Critical infrastructure is secured in former military bases & underground structures

You’ll get a year’s worth of protection for two devices; all major operating systems are supported, too. It’s everything you need to safeguard your browsing across your favorite phones, computers, and more.

Head on over the the AndroidGuys Deals Store to learn more about this incredible deal! Normally valued at about $48, we are offering it for just $23.99, a massive 50% discount. That’s peace of mind at half the price.

Save even more!

In addition to the savings above, when you buy through AndroidGuys Deals, for every $25 spent, you get $1 credit added to your account. What’s more, should you refer the deal via social media or an email that results in a purchase, you’ll earn $10 credit in your account.

If this is your first time buying, then you are also eligible for a further 10% discount when you subscribe for email updates.

How about a freebie?

Not looking to spend any money today? That’s alright, we understand. Why not visit the AndroidGuys section for freebies and take something anyhow? Go ahead, grab two!

Tags:

4K Ultra HD Action Cam with mounts, just $69.99

Dec 27

Posted by AndroidGuys in deal of the day | Comments off

Have you ever considered picking up an action cam to take with you on kayak trips, hikes, bike rides, and other activities? They’re awesome gadgets, especially when 4K, but they can get expensive. If you’re not careful, you could spend hundreds of dollars before you know it.

The AndroidGuys Deals Store has a terrific deal on the 4K Ultra HD Action Cam, an affordable alternative to the likes of GoPro. Priced only $69.99, the camera comes with a number of mounts, a waterproof case, and other accessories.

Designed to go anywhere you will, the camera can be attached to your car, your bike, your helmet – anywhere you’re going extreme. Whether it’s high definition, 4K video, or 12-megapixel pictures, this one offers it all up.

Features

  • 4K recording ability & 12 MP still photo resolution gives you crystal clear imaging
  • Built-in WiFi & companion app allow for screen mirroring on your smartphone
  • Waterproof casing is rated for up to 98 feet deep
  • Wireless wrist remote lets you remotely take pictures from up to 33 feet away
  • Variety of mounts & accessories let you mount the camera virtually anywhere

Where to Buy

Purchase the 4K Ultra HD Action Cam for only $69.99 through the AndroidGuys Deals Store. Normally priced around $90, we’re discounting it by some 22% for a limited time.

Save even more!

In addition to the savings above, when you buy through AndroidGuys Deals, for every $25 spent, you get $1 credit added to your account. What’s more, should you refer the deal via social media or an email that results in a purchase, you’ll earn $10 credit in your account.

Shop AndroidGuys!

If this is your first time buying, then you are also eligible for a further 10% discount when you subscribe for email updates.

How about a freebie?

Not looking to spend any money today? That’s alright, we understand. Why not visit the AndroidGuys section for freebies and take something anyhow? Go ahead, grab two!

Tags: , ,

OnePlus 6T review

Dec 26

Posted by Alexandra Arici in Uncategorized | Comments off

Over the years, OnePlus has released phone after phone with flagship-level specs and power at a fraction of the price you’d expect. The OnePlus 6T is the latest in the line, and naturally it comes packed with stellar performance, as well as a great camera and a new style of notch.

And even though prices for the latest model have crept up to $550, which is quite different from the super affordable price of the first OnePlus phone, the OnePlus 6T is still comfortably cheaper that flagship phones currently offered by Samsung, Huawei or LG.

Also read: Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ review

The OnePlus 6T improves upon its predecessor, the OnePlus 6 with a number of things, but obviously the most important upgrade is the in-display fingerprint scanner.

Although, the OnePlus 6T is by no means the first smartphone to take advantage of this novel technology (think OPPO R17, Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition or Huawei Mate 20 Pro), it’s indeed the first to offer the feature on the US market.

What else does the OnePlus 6T bring to the table and how well does this new tech perform? Keep reading below to find out more.

Design and display

The OnePlus 6T and OnePlus 6 are quite similar in design, although with a few key differences that make it easy to tell them apart from one another.

For starters – the notch. The OnePlus 6T replaces the tab-shaped cutout at the top of the display, with a less-intrusive waterdrop-shaped notch that’s barely large enough to include the single selfie camera. This means OnePlus had to move the earpiece, which now lives on the right on the top edge. In case you don’t like the tiny notch, OnePlus gives you the option to hide it from Settings, just like before on the OnePlus 6.

Also read: Ten first things you should do with your new OnePlus 6T

Furthermore, the bottom chin on the OnePlus 6T is a bit slimmer than its predecessor, although this detail is less noticeable, unless you put the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T side-by-side.

Compared to the previous iteration, the OnePlus 6T does have a LED notification light anymore. Given the popularity of the feature, we expect a lot of OnePlus fans to be disappointed by this design choice. Although they will probably not mind it as much as the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Yeah, unfortunately the OnePlus 6T is the first phone from the company to come without it. Apparently it was a hard decision to take, but it had to be done in order to make space for the in-display fingerprint display underneath the hood, as well as for the larger battery.

The company does include a USB Type-C to 3.5mm headphone port dongle in the box with the phone, so at least you won’t have to worry about going out and buying an extra adapter just so you can use your favorite pair of wired headphones.

Speaking of the most important innovation that comes with the OnePlus 6T – the in-display fingerprint scanner aka Screen Unlock. It uses an optical sensor beneath the display panel to shine green light that ensures all the important details are captured when your fingerprint sensor is registered.

But as it often is with very new technology, the fingerprint scanner is far from being perfect. You get a cool, futuristic animation (which can be customized) when you press your finger against the display, but in our experience it often takes a few tries before the scanner unlocks the phone.

Also read: Ten tips and tricks for the OnePlus 6T

When it works as intended, the setup is quite quick to do its job, even though it’s not as fast as the fingerprint sensor we’ve seen on the previous OnePlus 6.

Interestingly enough, OnePlus claims (via a blog post) that the Screen Unlock feature gets faster over time. We’re told that as the phone learns how you unlock it, its sophisticated algorithms allow the system to improve and work faster and more accurately. We can’t say we’ve experience a significant improvement over time, but then again we’ve been using the phone for less than a month.

Well in case the in-display fingerprint scanner gets on your nerves, you can always switch to face unlock or use the PIN/pattern way of unlocking the device.

Those who used the OnePlus 6 before, will probably notice that the OnePlus 6T is a bit heavier than its predecessor. The new model weighs 185 g and has an 8.2mm profile. By comparison, the OnePlus 6 tips the scales at 177g and has a sleeker 7.8mm frame. You can feel these differences just by holding the two phones in hand. This happened because the OnePlus 6T has a larger battery and the new authentication tech under the hood.

As for the display, the OnePlus 6T continuous to feature an OLED display, although this time around it’s a bit larger at 6.41-inch. It boasts the same FHD+ resolution (1080 x 2340 pixels) as before, which is lower than what flagships like the Galaxy S9 or LG V40 offer, but that’s quite alright. The display is still crisp enough, and it does not look pixelated or anything like that. Indeed, it might not be the sharpest around, but most of the times you won’t even notice that, unless you get uncomfortably close to it.

Also read: LG V40 review

The phone also comes with a few different screen calibration modes which you can find in Settings. Out of the box, the 6T’s display is set to system default, but you can easily switch it up to sRGB, DCI-P3, Adaptive mode or a user-defined calibration profile.

What’s more, OnePlus has also included Reading Mode, as well as Night Mode, to help you use the screen more comfortably when you’re reading or before bed.

Power and speed

The OnePlus 6T is one of the most powerful phones around. Based on a Snapdragon 845, the phone can be coupled with up to 8GB of RAM.  Recently, OnePlus unveiled the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition which includes a whopping 10GB of RAM on board.

Such a sturdy configuration guarantees that the OnePlus 6T will handle every task you throw at it like a champ. Whether you’re loading a bunch of demanding games, or you’re switching fast between apps, the overall experience is quick and effortless. The occasional stutters do arise from time to time (frozen apps, phone becomes unresponsive to taps), but they are quickly forgotten in the face of overall swift performance. Interestingly, with the OnePlus 6 we did not noticed any such glitches.

While the internal specs are pretty much the same as its predecessor’s, the OnePlus 6T does get an upgrade in battery department. The phone now packs a 3,700 mAh power house, up from the 3,300 mAh one of the OnePlus 6.

So what does the difference amount to in the real world? Well, with the OnePlus 6T we would constantly end the day with close to 50% left. On busier, more intensive days, the battery levels would drop down to around 30%, which is still pretty good.

The difference between the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T battery life is not HUGE, but it’s still noticeable, as the latter does then to last a bit longer.

While the OnePlus 6 performed great out of the box, in terms of battery life, over time we noticed it was fading a lot faster than before. To the point that it’s draining quite quickly presently. For example, it will habitually go down to around 30% by 6 pm.

So it remains to be seen whether the OnePlus 6T will retain its great battery life as time passes.

Anyway, the new comer still doesn’t have wireless charging, but it does come with fast charging technology which the company has rebranded into Wrap Charge. This allows you to fully juice up your phone in around an hour and a half. And if you get palpitations seeing your phone at the 25% mark, you can always plug it for 25 minutes or so and get the levels back up to 70%.

Photography

The OnePlus 6T has pretty much the same camera specs as it predecessor. You get a 16MP main sensor on the back that’s supported by a secondary 20MP for bokeh shooting. It’s a solid camera with which you can take great photographs. You can check out the gallery below for some samples.










With this new model, OnePlus has included a new Night Mode which uses a Huawei-like emulated long exposure trick. This results in pretty great night shots, although in some instances you’ll still get a lot of blur in your images and a loss of details. But compared to the OnePlus 6, the OnePlus 6’s night shots definitely retained more detail and had less noise.







OnePlus also included a feature called Studio Lighting, which is designed to recognized faces when portrait shooting and adjust the lighting accordingly to simulate professional lighting. The feature is quite subtle, so in most shots you can’t really tell the difference between the standard photos of pictures and portrait shots. Except for the blurred background, of course.

The selfie snapper is still a 16MP sensor, but here we could see a difference in performance. The selfies taken with the OnePlus 6T appear to have a better contrast than the ones taken with the OnePlus 6, although it also depends on the lighting conditions.

Software

As weird as it might sound, the OnePlus 6T is among the few recent smartphones to launch with Android 9 Pie out of the box. With the company’s Oxygen OS on top, of course, which is a joy to use like always.

It’s clean and clutter free, as it resembles Google’s stock Android version, but it also packs a lot of customization options and tweaks that aren’t available in the standard version.

For example, unlike the competition, OnePlus lets you swipe down from anywhere on the screen to pull down the notification shade. Or it allows you to use quick gestures to control music, answer calls by raising the phone to your ear and so much more.

With the OnePlus 6T, the company has introduced the OnePlus Laboratory where you can find experimental features. For the time being, you can give Smart Boost a try, a feature designed to leverage the performance of loading app and games by taking full advantage of the larger RAM on your phone, based on daily usage.

Software is also a big contributing factor to the phone’s overall lighting speed. Apps take a second to load, and everything is just smooth sailing.

So even as other flagship offer similar and at times superior specs and features compared to the OnePlus 6T, the software experience remains unmatched.

Price

The OnePlus 6T is available in the follow configurations:

  • 6GB of RAM + 128GB of storage (Mirror Black) – $549.99
  • 8GB of RAM + 128GB of storage (Mirror Black) – $579.99
  • 8GB of RAM +128GB of storage (Midnight Black) – $579.99
  • 8GB of RAM +256GB of storage (Midnight Black) – $629.99
  • 10GB of RAM +256GB of storage (McLaren Edition) – $699.99

All these versions are available via the company’s official website. But for the first time ever, OnePlus has teamed up with one of the top four US carriers to sell the phone. So customers in the US can get the device via T-Mobile too. The Magenta carrier is offering the 8GB of RAM + 128GB of storage version which costs $579.99 outright.

Alternatively, T-Mobile also has a deal going on which lets you save $580 via bill credits when you buy an OnePlus 6T (on a monthly payment plan) with an eligible trade-in and you add a line

Conclusion

OnePlus has produced yet another great phone, and as always the starting price is comfortably lower than for any other flagship on the market.

Yes, the 3.5mm headphone jack is gone, there’s still no wireless charging, and the phone is a bit bulkier than its predecessor, but the OnePlus 6T gives you the chance to try out a novel technology. It’s also a powerhouse and comes with a slightly altered design (new waterdrop-type notch).

But if you’re coming from an OnePlus 6, upgrading to an OnePlus 6T doesn’t really make sense given that they mostly have the same hardware. Especially since OnePlus 6 was also updated to Android Pie and also got the new camera modes that made a debut on the 6T.

However, if you’re currently on an OnePlus 5T or lower, the OnePlus 6T does bring a lot in terms of improvements. Even if you’re trying to decide if you should get a Galaxy S9 or a Pixel 3, the OnePlus 6T is still a great option to consider, for many reasons. Price being chief among them.

Indeed, the OnePlus 6T might not have the advanced camera of the Pixel 3, or a microSD card slot/headphone jack like the Galaxy S9, but it nails it perfectly in other departments. Like software or power. The main takeaway here being, if you’re looking for the best value flagship right now, look no further than the OnePlus 6T.

Tags: , , ,

Award-winning antivirus suite for 5 PCs is just $90 right now

Dec 26

Posted by AndroidGuys in deal of the day, Malware | Comments off

Having a computer in today’s age means you have to be vigilant about protecting things. Whether it’s anti-virus coverage, cloud backup, VPN, or just a general protection, there’s much that goes into keeping your stuff safe.

Whereas most PCs offer some form of anti-virus, not many are equipped for ransomware or deeper malware. What would you if ended up with a Trojan from trying to access your banking institution? It gets even worse if you’ve been stupid about passwords, too.

We’re currently offering and amazing discount on Heimdal Thor Premium in the AndroidGuys Deals Store. It’s exactly what you need to safeguard against the likes of redirects, email malware, ransomware, vulnerabilities, and other malicious junk.

Normally priced at around $460, we’re able to give AndroidGuys readers a steep 80-percent discount. That’s right, you can pick up a license to Heimdal Thor Premium Home Antivirus for only $89.95 right now.

The best part about this deal? It’s not just good for one computer, but up to five of them. That means award-winning protection for five of your PCs for up five years.

Features

  • Stop ransomware, data leakage, viruses, APTs, exploits, & other advanced online threats
  • Browse online without fear of ransomware, cryptojacking, & other malware strains
  • Eliminate vulnerabilities in your system & protect the valuable data that makes up your digital life
  • Seamlessly install & patch other software so your entire system is always updated and secure
  • Block malware before it reaches your PC
  • Continuously monitor your PC for potentially malicious files

Where to Buy

You can purchase a five-year license of Heimdal Thor Premium anti-malware through the AndroidGuys Deals Store. Hurry up and take advantage of the 80% discount before it ends.

For those of you who need to install this on more than five computers, we’re also offering a 10-PC bundle for only $99.95, just ten bucks more. This drops the price of protecting each computer to less than $10 each!

Save even more!

In addition to the savings above, when you buy through AndroidGuys Deals, for every $25 spent, you get $1 credit added to your account. What’s more, should you refer the deal via social media or an email that results in a purchase, you’ll earn $10 credit in your account.

If this is your first time buying, then you are also eligible for a further 10% discount when you subscribe for email updates.

How about a freebie?

Not looking to spend any money today? That’s alright, we understand. Why not visit the AndroidGuys section for freebies and take something anyhow? Go ahead, grab two!

Tags: , ,

Ready to build your own Alexa device? This $19 bundle is all you need to start

Dec 21

Posted by AndroidGuys in deal of the day, Pi | Comments off

Listen up, tinkerers and hackers. The AndroidGuys Deals Store is offering a fantastic bundle of training on Raspberry Pi. Worth nearly $300 in total, this is a three-course kit that gives you more than 180 lessons available anytime you want — for life.

What’s a Raspberry Pi and why do I care?

The credit card-sized, next-gen microcomputer is an incredibly cool device that can be tapped for all sorts of potential. It has kicked off a new age of discovery and development for people of all ages.

Remember those sci-fi movies and TV shows that promised smart homes with remotely controlled lights and sensors? That’s not longer a fantasy as it is common among many of the newer houses and offices being designed. A lot of what can be done with building and programming such tech revolves around a Raspberry Pi.

Our bundle teaches you everything you need to get started and into automating your home or other projects. There’s all sorts of cool stuff you can do with a Raspberry Pi, including a weather station, photo booth, streaming internet radio, and even your own Amazon Echo-like device.

Isn’t it time you learned how to harness that tech for yourself?

Features

Building Alexa Skills for Home Automation with Raspberry Pi – Amazon Alexa is seeping into dozens of products and Amazon’s voice platform is selling by the millions, now is the time to learn how to develop products using Alexa. In this course, you’ll learn by building projects to control your lights, appliances, and even your TV via Raspberry Pi.

Raspberry Pi Beginner’s Bootcamp – This course is an all-inclusive introduction to the Raspberry Pi platform. Catered for all levels, this project-based course will get you up and running with the basics of Pi, before escalating to full projects. Before you know it, you’ll be building a gaming system to play old Nintendo, Sega, and Playstation games and a personal digital assistant using the Google Assistant API.

2018 Ultimate Guide to Raspberry Pi – The fun and possibilities are virtually limitless with a Raspberry Pi 3. That is, if you know what you’re doing. In this beginner-friendly course, you’ll learn everything you need to know to start using this popular Internet of Things (IoT) platform to its fullest.

Where to Buy

You can purchase the Complete Raspberry Pi Course Bundle from the AndroidGuys Deals Store for only $19. Worth almost $300, this represents a discount of more than 93% for our readers!

Save even more!

In addition to the savings above, when you buy through AndroidGuys Deals, for every $25 spent, you get $1 credit added to your account. What’s more, should you refer the deal via social media or an email that results in a purchase, you’ll earn $10 credit in your account.

Save 95!

If this is your first time buying, then you are also eligible for a further 10% discount when you subscribe for email updates.

How about a freebie?

Not looking to spend any money today? That’s alright, we understand. Why not visit the AndroidGuys section for freebies and take something anyhow? Go ahead, grab two!

Tags: ,

Jump start your SQL career with a $25 training bundle

Dec 20

Posted by AndroidGuys in deal of the day | Comments off

It’s the end of 2018 and we’re starting to form our resolutions for the new year. Some of us resolve to get more organized while others want to lose weight or be more active. What about you? Will 2019 be the year you learn something new or advance your career? If so, consider getting into the world of SQL.

Analyzing and understanding big data sets is among the leading growth areas in data science. SQL is the programming which underlies most database management, and is easily among the most popular and worthwhile languages in the space.

The SQL Database Starter course bundle, available now in the AndroidGuys Deals Store, is a collection of three different courses to help you understand what SQL is all about, its various applications, and how leverage it to squeeze valuable, actionable findings from the data.

SEE ALSO

Normally valued at around $600, we’re offering it for just $29, or at a discount of 95 percent. It’s yours for life, and is the very key you need to turn take your career into a new direction.

The SQL training courses include:

Complete SQL Database Training Course (a $199 value): IT and database management skills are in high demand in today’s tech-driven workforce. If you’re interested in these kinds of careers, then it’s valuable to know SQL.

This course will jumpstart your SQL skills and help you learn many different uses that can be applied to a wide variety of situations.

Master the Fundamentals of SQL with Python (a $199 value): Python is used in a wide range of applications, from research to recommendation systems, but it also can be extremely valuable in data usage. The ability to combine data usage with programming allows for rapid development and automation, making it a hugely in-demand skill.

In this course, you’ll learn how to integrate Python with SQL to interact with SQL databases to create dynamic and automatic systems that combine the power of programming and data.

MySQL: Become a Database Engineer (a $199 value): MySQL is the world’s leading tool for managing databases. The main goal of this course is to get you up to speed with the basic concepts of databases.

From there, you’ll learn how to practically use MySQL servers to manage and retrieve data efficiently. By learning MySQL, you’ll set yourself up for a rewarding and lucrative career working in IT and database management.

Buy Now!

Worth about $200 each, you can get the entire SQL training package now for a fraction of that price, just $29 through AndroidGuys.

Tags: ,

In Adventure of Priestess, your biggest enemy is the game’s translation (Review)

Dec 19

Posted by Gerson Noboa in Uncategorized | Comments off

Browsing through some deals, I found a small little game called Adventure of Priestess. It seemed cool: a RPG with pixelated graphics and sprites that resembled cats. It was being offered for free, so I went for it. It has 4.4 stars in the Play Store, so I figured it should be good, right? Play Store ratings are always a reliable source of information, right?

Developer: SoftCone
Price: $0.99

Overview

In Adventure of Priestess, you “control” five different characters. I put it between quotes because they actually attack automatically. It is your job to make things easier for them. This is done by you activating a special set of skills: healing, shield, sleep, and cheer. There’s a main character, called Stella, who is responsible of healing other characters. However, if she dies, then the game is over, regardless of the condition of other characters.

Tutorial

From the start of the game, you immediately realize flaws in the execution. Here is the first screen that you see after pressing Start:

The English is just awful. As a non-native English speaker, I understand that English is a hard language in which read and read are pronounced in different ways, even though they are written exactly the same. However, the flaws in the text are just unacceptable for a game sold in an app store. There are plenty of offerings out there to make sure that the text you ship in your apps is good enough.

This is not a complaint just for the sake of complaining. If you don’t understand what the text is trying to explain, then all immersion is lost. Worst of all, a tutorial is shown after, and the English is just as bad there. It’s very hard to understand what the game is trying to tell you, which makes it unnecessarily difficult to get the hang of everything at the initial stages.

Gameplay

After the initial shock of the baffling tutorial this game offers, you will slowly discover how things work. In each stage, there are several enemies coming right at you. In theory, you can let the characters just play automatically without any input, but this makes things complicated for no reason.

At the bottom of your screen, you will find four different blocks, which correspond to the four skills you can use at the beginning of the game: heal, shield, sleep, and cheer. Heal and shield should be pretty self-explanatory. Sleep casts a spell on your opponents that makes most of them sleep (it doesn’t work on bosses). Finally, cheer is probably something like “boost” badly translated, since it increases the attack power of your characters.

These are activated through MPs, which are refilled automatically at a rate of 10 per second (at least initially). There’s also a cooldown period to avoid using the same skill over and over until your MP bar is depleted, which means you have to think through your activations. If you are low on HP, it is better to use a low MP skill (like shield, which also reduces the damage you receive) until you wait for the cooldown timer to end. If HP is not a problem, then you can save your MP to activate the cheer skill and go all-offensive on your enemies.

Boss fights

There are several stages to a dungeon, and they all end with a boss fight. For these, the enemies have a character that works like Stella in some ways. It is behind waiting for all the smaller monsters to deal with you, but it can also come at full force to attack you. The game incorporates a mechanic in which your phone vibrates when it thinks that you should either activate a shield or sleep your enemies.

If you die here, or in any other stage leading to the boss fight, it’s game over. You not only have to repeat the stage you are into, but the whole dungeon instead. Those are ten minutes you are never getting back.

Levelling and progression

The powers you can activate during your fights are all temporary, but you can increase their strength and duration with gems. These are normally earned through gameplay, and I haven’t found a way of earning them in other ways. These gems, which the game actually calls soul stones, are also used for increasing your character’s levels.

You will find, however, that the process is very, very slow. Each level asks for more gems than the previous one, but since gems are awarded at a very slow rate, this means that you need to grind a lot to be able to tackle the upper dungeons.

Another complaint with the levelling system is that you don’t actually see how much does your purchase will increase your character/skill.

Sure, you get stats for the skills right now, but there’s no way of knowing how will your hard-earned stones affect the skill until you press that level up button. This, coupled with the low yields of stones, makes the progression unnecessarily hard.

Graphics and sound

As previously said, the graphics of this game are all pixelated. The game actually does a good job in maintaining that general style throughout all the elements and sprites that appear during gameplay. There are some weird choices, like displaying the word “BOSS” on the screen when a boss comes, and the cheer icon is kind of creepy. Other than that, the graphics are adequate, if not extraordinary, but the consistency is appreciated.

A small complaint with the graphical part is that, since the stage never moves, you can have the situation where characters overlap. This happens when the enemy has you cornered on the left side, or you have them cornered on the right side. This has made me lose some characters because I haven’t been able to see their health bar, so they have been slowly dying without me noticing.

The music on this game consists of a small snippet on repeat. While this piece is good enough, the part where it loops is very noticeable. Other sound effects range in quality. For example, the healing skill sound is cool and appropriate for the action, but the sound effect when a character dies is pretty low quality.

Conclusion

Adventure of Priestess combine a pixelated art design with an auto-playing gameplay, while giving the user some control through the skill mechanic. However, there are several things that are too big of a setback in order to consider it enjoyable.

The translations to English are awful, the progression is slow and tedious, and the upgrade system needs some additions in order to be fun. There is also almost no story to speak of. As it is, you are just tapping at the screen in intervals, killing enemies, and going to the next stage. Even though it is cheap, there are better games out there for you to spend your money on.

Download and install Adventure of Priestess from the Google Play Store.

Tags: , ,

Save 33% on the Moon W7 Qi wireless charger

Dec 19

Posted by AndroidGuys in deal of the day | Comments off

If you’re the owner of a phone with wireless charging technology, you owe it to yourself to take advantage. We have a wonderful deal for you which lets you charge your smartphone in a healthy and stylish way. The Moon W7 supports Qi-compatible smartphones such as Galaxy S9, S9 Plus, and a host of other phones.

See Also: Choetech Wireless Fast Charger review

Wireless charging is becoming one of the best details in personal gear. Many of today’s top devices feature the near-standard feature, including the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and LG V40.

SEE ALSO

This Qi wireless charger is only $39.99, a 33 percent off the original price. It’s cheaper than most recent wireless charging stands we’ve encountered and it looks cooler, too.

The Moon W7 Qi wireless charger offers up a circular design with a lean back dock approach which is far more stylish and interesting than a boring old pad you might find with Samsung and other players.

The two coil design allows you to worry less about how to place your phone and provides more freedom to just “sit it and forget it” when you need to juice up for a while. The charger will connect to your phone in both portrait and landscape orientation.

  • Seamlessly power up your Qi-compatible device w/ a larger charging platform
  • Power up your device in horizontal or vertical orientations
  • Cut down on cable clutter & power up wirelessly
  • Charge your phone easily & at rapid speeds

Purchase your Moon W7 Qi wireless charger for just $39.99 before the sale ends!

Save even more!

In addition to the savings above, when you buy through AndroidGuys Deals, for every $25 spent, you get $1 credit added to your account. What’s more, should you refer the deal via social media or an email that results in a purchase, you’ll earn $10 credit in your account.

If this is your first time buying, then you are also eligible for a further 10% discount when you subscribe for email updates.

How about a freebie?

Not looking to spend any money today? That’s alright, we understand. Why not visit the AndroidGuys section for freebies and take something anyhow? Go ahead, grab two!

Tags: , ,

Google imagines Home Alone in 2018 with Google Home commercial

Dec 19

Posted by AndroidGuys in Uncategorized | Comments off

Kevin McCallister is home alone… again. A new ad campaign from Google imagines what life would be like if Macaulay Culkin had to defend his home in 2018, but now with help from Google Home.

The ad features the actor revisiting some of the more memorable scenes from the 1990 film; the attention to detail for the set is really awesome, by the way.

Now, instead of freaking out over how he’d defend the house, McCallister relies on Google for assistance. The commercial does a great job of using nostalgia to show off the capabilities of what Google can do for users.

Whether it’s reminders, grocery lists, home automation, or dealing with deliveries, the ad highlights the various ways in which Google Assistant can enhance your life.

Google Home Hub review

Easter Eggs and Fun Stuff

It wouldn’t be Google if it didn’t sneak in a few fun things for us to try. If you have a phone with Google Assistant, or own one of the smart speakers and/or displays, you’ll want to give the following commands a try.

These are available for a limited time.

  • Hey Google, how much do I owe you?
  • Hey Google, did I forget something?
  • Hey Google, the Wet Bandits are here.
  • Hey Google, it’s me Snakes. I got the stuff.
  • Hey Google, I’m the man of the house.

Here’s a quick video with a behind-the-scenes look into creating the commercial.

Tags: , , , ,

AdLock Review: a convenient way to get rid of ads, no root required

Dec 18

Posted by Alexandra Arici in Uncategorized | Comments off

Ads! No matter what you do and where you turn, you can’t seem to escape them. Whether you’re using your desktop or your mobile device, advertisers don’t ever miss a chance to harass you with their latest offers.

Well, the good news is that you have options when it comes to getting rid of ads. There are apps out there which promise to remove ads, so you can get a clean browsing experience.

In this post, we will look at one such app, called AdLock. There’s no shortage of app blockers on the Google Play Store, but be warned that not all of them are as good as they claim to be.

But AdLock it’s quite a different story. It actually works, even if you’re using it on a device that’s not rooted.

The app is free to download and try out (comes with a 14-day trial), but to keep using you’ll have either to register and get 30 more free days or to shed 9 € (or $10.19) / per year. The app is available for Android and Windows.

Setup

As we mentioned above, AdLock does not need rooting to work on your phone. However, the installation process is a bit different when compared to the average apps you used before. For starters, you won’t find the app in the Play Store. Rather, you’ll be required to download it from the official AdLock website.

But before you can actually install it, you will need to enable installation from unknown sources on your device. What’s more, the app will require you to give a series of permissions.

Once you open the app, it will prompt you to enable HTTPS filtering in order to block ads. What this means is that AdLock will then replace websites’ certificates with its own.

Impressions

The app’s main purpose is to remove annoying ads when you’re browsing the web or using any other apps that might contain pop-ups or irritating adware. And AdLock will work its magic to make sure you never have to see them.

Using the app it’s quite simple. Tap on the circular white button to turn on AdLock’s functions and the app will run in the background providing real-time ad-blocking throughout the device.

But the application is not only about removing ads, as AdLock also offer safe browsing, anti-tracking, malware and spyware services. In a world where privacy woes are constantly on the rise, having an app like AdLock on your phone to keep things safe and private might be a very good idea.

What’s more, AdLock has been designed to aid increase speed on your device. Since ads usually take up a lot of bandwidth, a page riddled with ads will have the effect of slowing down your browsing and streaming speeds across the board. But with AdLock installed, browsing tends to get a lot faster.

However, during our time using the software, we did notice some web-pages are blocked outright without any notifications. To get around this, you need to add the sites in question to the exclusion, but that means they won’t be ad-free.

The app also has embedded firewall features that can block unwanted internet access to different applications. You’ll be able to view how much data you saved each time to glance at the app’s main screen.

An energy management option is available in Settings, so that users can conserve battery life with simple control of your internet usage,

Conclusion

All in all, AdLock is a great option for customers looking for an easy-to-use ad blocker. It doesn’t require a rooted device to work, so almost anyone can install and use AdLock. What’s more, it comes bundled with extra features like saving data and offering a safe browsing experience.

In our experience, the app did its job as intended, and we did not run into any specific issues while using it. Except for some web pages being blocked without warning, AdLock worked great and kept us ad-free. But if you’re not OK with adding those websites to the exceptions you can always contact support and they should solve the issue.

Tags: , ,