Hey guys what's up? Among my friends, I'm known as a tech junkie... And all tech junkies know that This is a fabulous time of the year. CES was in January, MWC awaits us in February and in the meanwhile, we get rewarded with the biggest downpour of tech news in the entire year. 

                         Buying anything new in the tech world is a difficult task for us geeks. And if you are anything like me, then you will know the immense chasm of Buyer's remorse. Thus, people like us are always on the lookout for new and sweet deals, and buddy there is always something in the wings. No sooner than you hear of the newest device, something bigger and better always pops out.

The festival has already started at CES 2014. Samsung introduced four new tabs. Sony brought out the first real 'small version' of a flagship, the Xperia Z1 Compact. Nvidia announced the Tegra K1 with 192 GPU cores! Pebble showed off their newest smartwatch, Pebble Steel. And way more is yet to come. So here I have a compilation for the best things you can wait for in 2014. Here they are -

1. Samsung Galaxy S5

Samsung's first real deal of the year is the newest entry of it's Galaxy S series. The self-dubbed "The Next Big Thing" is always a record breaking seller. And the rumour level for it is always near the peak. 

The Faux leather stitching is also expected in the S5

The S5 is expected to launch with a 2560x1400 2K QHD screen, though the screen size hasn't seen much speculation. Also Samsung executives almost confirmed that the phone will come out in two builds, A metal body expected to be priced at £800 and a plastic body expected at £650. Not too cheap right? It is also rumoured to come with a retina scanner or a fingerprint scanner. This we would take with a pinch of salt though. Apart from that it is expected to boast at least 3 GB RAM and possibly Samsung's new 64-bit Exynos processor in non-LTE markets and a Snapdragon 800 or 805 chipset in LTE markets. Samsung is looking for a drastic change in it's UI. With Samsung's usual spring launch, we would expect a launch near March or April.

2. HTC M8

It's no secret that things have been going downhill for HTC financially over the past few years. HTC's last attempt at a comeback with the heart-throbbing One was praised by all critics alike, but was lower on the sales than HTC would have liked. Now they look to make things better with the codenamed M8.

M8 may be HTC's first phone with on-screen keys 

Speculation is that the M8 will launch with the One's critically acclaimed aluminium body. It will possibly launch with a 2K QHD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It is rumoured to feature a Snapdragon 805 chipset with Adreno 420 GPU, 2/3 GB RAM, Boomsound speakers, 2900 mAh battery and a 6-8 Ultra pixel camera. It is rumoured that the M8 will have a twin sensor for the rear camera, for high and low-light scenes. For certain, the M8 will launch with android 4.4 KitKat and HTC Sense 6.0 skin. Like last year we expect a beautiful make for the phone and a launch event probably just before the Mobile World Congress this year.

3. LG G3

Last year LG brought a different outlook to our phone buttons, with it's back facing buttons. There is not much going on about the G3 at this point but we can still hear a bigger screen with more pixels. And that was precisely the strength of the G2... Bigger screen on a phone smaller than some rivals.

There is also talk of LG using it's new Odin chipset for the G3, but as far as rumours go, there's less circulating than with other manufacturers.

4. Iphone 6

I know that about now the apple fans will be screaming "What about the Iphone?". Well worry not, I got it. This year too we expect Apple to follow it's routine and this time introduce an increment in the Iphone suffix, seeing as last year we got the Iphone 5S. Romour mils say that Iphone 6 could be the first to feature a large screen. And we can be sure that Apple will continue with it's 64-bit processors and a newer version of iOS. We would expect an announcement at Apple's annual Developer Conference.

5. Samsung Galaxy Note 4

In 2010 Samsung launched the first real phablet, the original Note. Well guys we all know that that's no longer true about the Note line-up. It is popular and Samsung is dead serious about it.

With the new Galaxy Note 4, we can be sure that Samsung will continue past trends. Bigger screen, better resolution, an improvement to it's vastly acclaimed stylus, the S-Pen, and a polished version of the proprietary apps and features Samsung will launch in the S5. We can also expect greater RAM and more processing power backed up by a huge battery. And like clockwork, we can expect an announcement at the IFA in September.

6. Google Nexus 6

This Nexus 6 concept is especially beautiful

It will come again. Google's very own the Nexus line, the body of Android as it is straight from Google. For years now, Google's Nexus has been a beloved line-up for people who love speedy updates for their android handsets. Last year we had the Nexus 5, the first Nexus to bring flagship range specs to the budget price region that Nexus devices always belong to. This year will probably be the same. A Nexus device is always the first to launch with the newest Android version. So we can rely on Google to bring us a new Nexus with a new version of Android at it's regular Q4 launch timing.

7. Oppo Find 7

Yes, the Find 7 is deliberately put in the 7th spot. Oppo has always been a pioneer in the smartphone industry, the first 1080p phone, the first cyanogenmod phone. Oppo has always been friendly with consumers and regularly implement ideas received from consumers in their phones.

5.5" 2K display- 538 ppi #AlwaysImprove

Oppo is looking to take things one step further with it's Find 7. A 5.5" 2K display will provide us a screen with 538 ppi. 538. Just think about it. Everyone familiar with Oppo is excited and can't wait for the new installment. Tech Reviewer +Marques Brownlee said that after the Find 7, sometime a new phone will come out with a 1080p display and people will ask why does this not have a 2K display? +OPPO is a trend-setter in this industry and we can be sure of even bigger things from them.

Well guys, that's basically the phones to wait for in this year, but by no means all of them. There are several more phones with not so much rumoured specs on them yet but be sure you will hear of them. Honourary mentions go to:

1. Sony Xperia Z2 codenamed Sirius
2. LG G Flex 2, which is said will be able to bend a full 90 degrees
3. Motorola's successor to the Moto X
4. New Google Edition phones
5. Wearables like Oculus Rift, Google Glass' consumer edition and way more...

In the world of tech, new stuff is always waiting at the edge of the turn. Until next time guys, cheers.

Just one day ago, we talked about CrappaLinks, a neat Xposed module that removes link masking from the most popular applications like Tapatalk and Facebook. Xposed modules require root, and not every device has a method for shell access. There are also warranty concerns, so some users prefer to keep their devices in a vanilla state.

An alternate method of removing link masking was presented by XDA Forum Member julianjm, who created an application called Short URL Resolver. As the name says the main purpose of this application is resolving short links like goo.gl or bit.ly without opening another window in the browser. It saves a lot of time.

The application makes a simple HTTP request to determine where the hyper link is redirected. The app should work with Tapatalk, Facebook, YouTube, and Google URLs. Another advantage is how the application should work on every device Froyo or greater. Essentially, you only need a working Internet connection to use this app.

If you want to get rid of masking and redirects, you should visit the application thread and give Short URL Resolver a try.

                                     

Remember Switchr? I bet you do. It was labeled as one of the best applications of 2013 by XDA TV Producer TK. Switchr is an alternative to the default Android multitasking button, which doesn’t require you to tap on the button and features very nice styling.

Recently, Switchr was massively updated to version 3 with tons of new features. The developer, XDA Senior Member Mohammad_Adib, added a new style (Switchr Arc) that is very similar to Paranoid Android’s Halo. Users can also close an application by swiping over it. If your device is rooted, you can also integrate the app with Halo, enabling even more possibilities.

The developer also was kind enough to bring more options to the free version of the application, which was already very functional. Smaller issues have also been fixed as well, so the application is even more stable than it used to be.

Switchr is a great application, and it’s worth trying on your phone or tablet. Three styles of switching and great performance make Switchr a must have application. If you are interested in testing this app, go to the original thread for details. More of Switchr goodies is coming soon.

Hey guys, what's up?

Couple of nights ago, astronomers were able to identify a supernova in Messier 82 (M82),also known as Cigar Galaxy, about 12 million light years from Earth. While 12 million light years seems like a huge distance (and don’t get me wrong; it is), it is pretty darn close when dealing with things on a cosmic scale. This is the closest supernova since SN 1987A, which was only 168,000 light years away and could be seen with the unaided eye.

The supernova is classified as a Type Ia. The star, before it exploded around 12 million years ago, was a white dwarf star in a binary system. While the star was about the size of Earth, it had a mass similar to our sun. Gravity caused it to take on more and more mass from hydrogen gas that it stole from its companion star. 

Position of M82

Before and After shots of M82

If you live in an area that is clear and dark enough to see the stars, be sure to look up and check out the show. It can be seen anywhere from the northern hemisphere with a good pair of binoculars or an amateur telescope. M82 is in the northwestern region of Ursa Major, right above the "head" of the bear. Trace from the head to the isosceles triangle of stars. Northeast of the triangle you will find the star 24 Ursae Majoris with a magnitude of 4.5. M82 is about two degrees southeast of this star. It is pretty bright right now and has the potential to become even more luminous in the night sky.  

If you are lucky you might be able to see this, so get on ahead and check it out. See you next time guys, cheers.

Remember 3D televisions? WebTV? Television have been a core CES category for many years. The devices got a bump a decade ago with flat-screen technology, but in recent years manufacturers have struggled to bring excitement back to the living room staple.

Grasping for flashy features, companies tried for three years to sell 3D as the "next big thing," but consumers didn't bite. This year they've switched tactics and are trying to revitalize sales with a list of new features meant to inspire consumers to upgrade their old dusty TVs.

Which of the new features will catch on and help boost the TV industry, and which will go the way of 3D? Here are some of this year's TV trends.

Packing in the pixels

TV manufacturers are still pushing hard for 4k, the ultra high-definition screens that pack in four times the resolution of current HD TVs. High prices (sets typically start at $2,000) and limited amounts of 4K content have slowed adoption of the sets. Ultra HD also only looks noticeably different on larger sets, 50-inches and up. This year the companies have rolled out some big names to give 4K a marketing boost.

First came Google. The amount of bandwidth necessary to stream or download 4K content has been a concern, and ahead of CES Google announced a new 4K streaming format, VP9, that would cut in half the bandwidth necessary to stream 4k from sites like YouTube.

LG also addressed the streaming angle and brought out Netflix CEO Reed Hastings at its CES press conference. Hastings talked up future 4K content that will be available on Netflix, like the next season of "House of Cards."

Samsung's plans to make a splash at its press conference went awry when guest Michael Bay, director of the Transformers movies, walked off the stage after his teleprompter went off script. (He later apologized in a blog post saying, "I guess live shows aren't my thing.") Bay is promoting 4k footage from Transformers 4.

According to research firm NPD DisplaySearch, the marketing is working, at least in China. It expects shipments of 4k televisions to jump from 1.9 million in 2013 to 12.7 million in 2014, with early adoption in China leading the way, making up 78 percent of those sales in the coming year.

More content is also starting to trickle in for 4K. Major movie studios are working with Amazon to stock up on 4K content, and Comcast is working with Samsung to up its 4K streaming offerings for people who have Samsung 4K TVs and Xfinity TV.

 Bends and curves and wedges

The flat screen has been embraced as the default TV form factor. It's sleek, it can hang on walls, it occupies a minimal amount of space. Now manufacturers are working on a new feature to save us from all that dull flatness: curved screens.

Television companies claim a slightly curved screen offers a better viewing experience by reducing glare and improving visibility for people sitting to the sides of a TV set, say, at a crowded Super Bowl party. The effect also is supposed to be more immersive, similar to IMAX screens. There's still no consensus about whether or not that's true, but it's a flashy way for some companies to set their screens apart.

Both Samsung and LG announced new curved 105-inch 4K televisions. Samsung has an 85-inch prototype that's bendable, meaning it can transform from flat screen to curved, and four other curved models.

Sony is also toying with a different shape it calls the wedge. The company announced its new 1080p television with a tapered wedge design on the edges, meant to take up minimal space but incorporate good front-facing speakers.

Smarter but still catching up to smartphones

Like 3D, smart TVs have been featured heavily at CES in the past. Attempts to bring Internet connections, apps and streaming to traditional televisions have been clumsy and inconsistent. Third-party offerings like Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast have done a far better job at creating TV-friendly user interfaces than the TV companies themselves. And of course, people can just fire up their Android or iOS tablet for the best streaming interfaces.

While smart TVs are taking a backseat to the big 4K and curved pushes, they're still an important feature at this year's show. Now some manufacturers are doing something actually smart and turning to the experts.

Hisense and TCL are teaming up with Roku to include the service in televisions automatically, without the need for the separate box. Roku's new TV platform will roll out on select sets in the fall, but could expand to other companies.

LG announced plans to bring webOS (the old Palm mobile software) to its televisions, and FIrefox is working with Panasonic to bring a version of the Firefox OS to televisions.

The variety of platforms does make things harder for the popular streaming services like Amazon and Netflix, which have to create a version of their streaming apps for each new platform that pops up.

 

When in doubt, go big

The super high-end sets get attention, but aren't meant for mass adoption. Still, if you're in the market for big and price isn't a barrier, there are a few new options that make 4K look its best.

In addition to the two 105-inch curved sets from LG and Samsung, Vizio announced a 120-inch 4K television, but didn't share a shipping date or price. At the end of last year, Samsung announced its own 110-inch set that costs just $152,000.

Last year at CES 2013, there was hype about wearables that didn’t quite deliver. While multiple companies did show off plans and prototypes, there were precious few ready to actually ship a product. Through the rest of the year, we saw those wearables and more trickle out slowly with varying purposes, designs and degrees of success. Jump ahead to CES 2014, and dozens of new entrants were ready to enter the wearables space. We saw some compelling products here and there, but it didn’t seem like anyone made a tremendous leap forward. Many were simply iterating on the fit and finish of their existing product or making clones of products already on the market. The main takeaway from the wearables at CES, for me, was that this space is still in its very early days. With that in mind, I wanted to take a look at what we have seen over the last year in wearables and highlight some of the best ideas and speculate a bit on where things might be headed.

Notification or Quantification?

There are two primary categories that have been carved out thus far. We have the smartwatches on the side of notifications that are, for the most part, seeking to push information to your wrist to save you time and in situations when you otherwise might not have access to your smartphone, due to social or physical limitations. The other side of the coin holds the fitness trackers in either bracelet or clip-on form, which offer a quantification of your daily (and in some cases nightly) activities. The waters have started to muddy here already, as we have seen devices from both sides crossing over to some degree. While the pure fitness trackers are unlikely to disappear completely, I expect this cross pollination to continue; smartwatches are capable of handling both tasks with minimal alterations. And once you have committed to wearing a device on your wrist, why compromise on the feature set? My preference lies with the notification side of this equation. I think those devices are in a better position to usurp the functionality of the quantification side, so smartwatches have the edge in the short and the long run in my mind.

Displays

The five main players here are LED, e-paper, Mirasol, OLED and LCD. I suppose the sixth player is no display at all; a number of the fitness trackers go without. But referring back to the previous section, I don’t think foregoing a display is a viable strategy.
While an LED display is limited in its capabilities, it still allows for the delivery of some glanceable information. Again, if you’ve accepted the premise that you are going to be constantly wearing a device on your wrist, why not leverage it for more than glorified pedometer duty?
E-paper has established something of a foothold in the smartwatch market due to its battery savings, always on screen and daylight visibility. The downside of e-paper is that, while the refresh rate is improving, it still falls short of some of the other options out there.
My current king of the hill after CES remains Mirasol. It offers all of the benefits of e-paper with greater speed and the ability to render color.
The newest competition on the block is OLED. It’s difficult to say how it will hold up in practical use, however. In some ways it is striking a middle ground between e-paper and Mirasol, but my initial impression is that it isn’t quite as crisp as either. And on such a small screen, that is a significant drawback.
Finally there is LCD, which offers full color and likely the widest range of possible functionality. But it is a fundamentally flawed option for wearables, in my opinion, as the battery life compromise necessitates daily charging of your device. While Qualcomm’s Toq remains the lone option for a Mirasol screened wearable today, I hope it sees greater adoption going forward. It seems a proper pairing for wearables.

Touchscreen or hardware controls?

I live in the northern portion of the US and can see the value in having controls that work equally well with and without gloved hands. That said I think a mobile device without a touchscreen today just feels antiquated. We are accustomed to having that direct interaction with our information, and purely hardware buttons feel like a step back. I can see an argument for something like we see in smartphones now, with a limited set of hardware controls in addition to the touchscreen. Toq, for example, has areas above and below the frame that power on the backlight and take you to the homescreen, respectively.

Battery life and charging

Battery life is a simple matter; more is better. We all (well most of us) have come to accept that our smartphone needs to be charged daily. If you are a tablet user, it is more likely a once every two days affair. With wearables you are talking about something that is both less critical than your smartphone and is most useful when it is on your person at all times. This necessitates days of battery life at a minimum. The best-in-class are currently offering roughly a week on a charge, and that feels right.
The second piece of this equation is the charging mechanism itself. There is no standard here yet. Magnetic chargers, separate charging apparatus, microUSB with protective covers and wireless charging are all in play. My sincere hope is that this is finally the moment and category for wireless charging to catch on. Being able to simply drop your device onto a recharging plate without fumbling with anything extra is a fantastic experience and allows for seamless hardware.

What about glasses?

Frankly, while wearables in general are in early days, the glasses are in their gestational period. There are far too many pieces that need to fall into place for them to be worth consideration. They are currently still throwing every possible function at the wall to see what sticks. Even assuming the issue of functionality is resolved, the privacy concerns and “what the heck is that on your face?” problems remain. Glasses may well find their way in the future, but in the near term wearables will be defined by wrist-based devices.

What’s next?

So where do things go from here with wearables? Well, most of the devices we saw at CES won’t actually launch until well into 2014, so we’ve already seen the immediate future. As I said at the outset, I saw nothing at CES that, from a hardware perspective, eclipsed the Toq. The Toq isn’t perfect, but it still checks the most boxes for me as a wearable device. There’s little doubt that other major players will join the market this year, but regardless of their success in other categories almost none of them have a history with wearables that suggests they can knock it out of the park. I’ve outlined what I think the future of wearables should be from a hardware perspective, but the software side is likely the tougher nut to crack. I wish I had the magic solution to that one, as I suspect whoever does will be enriched greatly over the next several years. In my mind it will remain a companion notification device with some limited standalone functionality such as what is offered by current fitness trackers. But perhaps we haven’t seen the true breadth of functionality that a wearable can offer. I look forward to covering this segment of the market in the years that follow.

The new Moment lens wants to help you take better photos with your smartphone, assuming you have a Samsung Galaxy S4, or one of a few other select Samsung phones.

The Moment lens Kickstarter project promises to produce two lenses to make you phone photos look better: a wide-angle lens, and a telephoto lens. Both lenses are made specifically to connect to the back of your phone, working with your existing camera sensor.

The team behind Moment lenses used the same techniques used to create DSLR lenses to create the diminutive lenses for smartphones. The key, according to the backer video, is all in the glass used in the lenses. The team claims that using their lenses will result in no distortion, minimal chromatic aberration, and better MTF performance.

All of the images on the Kickstarter page are from the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s, but they are impressive photos that do look a bit better than you’d expect from the excellent camera in Apple’s devices. If there’s one downside tot he project for Android fans it’s that there are no examples from an Android phone.The team says it’s working on bringing the Moment lenses to the Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3, andGalaxy S2, but there’s no mention of other Android devices. Even Samsung fans who prefer the larger screen of the Note 3 are left out.

Moment lenses will attach to smartphone via a special mount that will work both with and without a case. On the iPhone the team uses a small metal plate that attaches to the phone. It’s not clear exactly how the punt will work on Samsung devices, as it is still in the prototype phase.

Each Moment lens will cost $50 through Kickstarter, and will come with a mount, cleaning cloth, and carrying case. There’s also an option to buy both the wide-angle and telephoto lens for $99. When the campaign is over the lenses will cost $99 each.

The team expects to ship the lenses in June 2014, and has already doubled its $50,000 minimum funding with 28 days left to go.

Will you pay to get a better lens for you smartphone? Or is your device of choice not supported?

  Angry Birds
                                [Price: Free]

Of course the first on our list is the venerable Angry Birds. We know a lot of people don’t like Angry Birds anymore, but there are still tens of millions who do. There are more than half a dozen games the series, including a puzzle game called Bad Piggies and a racing game called Angry Birds GO. All the games combined bring a metric boat load of content that makes it a great time waster for anyone who isn’t tired of the series yet.           

                       

Asphalt 8: Airborne
                              [Price: Free]

Asphalt 8: Airborne is one of the best racing games available for Android and thanks to its Freemium model, you can pick up the game and play it without paying anything. There are some in app purchases and some people really don’t like those, but it is possible to play and enjoy the game without paying for anything. It features some amazing graphics, a long racing campaign, and plenty of airtime. It’s definitely worth picking up if you’re a racing fan.

Battle Nations
                               [Price: Free]

Battle Nations is a combat strategy game that has managed to lay low and stay off of a lot of radars. It’s received praise from prominent gaming blogs like Kotaku and Touch Arcade. It boasts a lot of game play including 500 missions that an be played with over 100 unique troopsand the developer promises more to come. Like many on this list, it’s Freemium so there are in app purchases but thankfully you don’t need them to enjoy the game.

Bejeweled Blitz
                               [Price: Free]

Bejeweled Blitz ended 2013 on a high note as it won “Best Game Franchise” in the Google Play Player’s Choice awards. It’s a fairly simple to play puzzle game where you must match shapes. It’s very simple but very addictive and it’s a time waster that’s already present on a lot of Android devices today. It’s worth checking out if you need something to kill a few minutes.

Blood Brothers (RPG)
                               [Price: Free]

Blood Brothers is a mix between a card game and an RPG that was done by Mobage; the same team that did the once-popular Rage of Bahamut card game. In this game you use cards to progress through the game and fight other characters and players. There are over 1000 characters and a strongsocial media integration. It is Freemium so that may be a problem for some but with an impressive 4.6 rating in the Google Play Store, most people seem to enjoy it.

Candy Crush Saga
                               [Price: Free]

Candy Crush Saga is an insanely popular game that a lot of people enjoy even if it is a little simple. It boasts over 400 levels and a “difficult to master” game play. There is also strong Facebook integration so you can play with your friends if you use a Facebook account. It’s not the most in depth game ever, but it’s another great time waster if you need to kill a few minutes.

Clash of Clans

                                [Price: Free]

Clash of Clans is one of the most in depth games on our list. It’s a massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game where you build a village, defend it against other (real) players, and then build an army to attack other real players. You can join clans to get extra troops or play alone it’s your call. Thanks to the upgrade times and the variety of upgrades and things to build, this game is not one that’s easy or quick to finish. If you’re into strategy games, this is worth picking up.

CSR Racing
                              [Price: Free]


CSR Racing is a mix of a racing game and a simulation. In the game, you drag race other vehicles (both AI and real players) in quarter and half mile races. It’s a deeper game that is quick to play so if you’re looking for a good mix of a quick time waster and a deeper game experience, this is a really good one to pick up. With the recently added online component, it gives the game an extra facet that gives gamers even more to do. If you’re into sims and racing, this is worth trying.

Cut the Rope FULL FREE


[Price: Free]
Cut the Rope is a cutesy puzzle game where you must feed an adorable little monster its favorite candy. You do so by cutting it down from ropes and avoiding obstacles. You get one star for getting the candy to the monster and you can collect additional stars by hitting the gold stars with the candy before it gets to the monster. There are 375 levels and the developers are very active in adding more content. It’s fun and enjoyable and a great alternative to puzzle games like Angry Birds.

Dead Trigger 2


[Price: Free]
Dead Trigger 2 is one of the highest anticipated and most popular releases of 2013. It’s a first person shooter game with a campaign mode and a lot of content. It also helps that MADFINGER Games consistently updates the title with gaming tweaks and new content. It’s one of the heavyweight titles on Android and it just so happens to be free thanks to its Freemium business model. It really is one of the best out there today and it’s free.

Doodle Jump                               [Price: Free]

Doodle Jump is a long time favorite for iOS fans and it’s been available for Android for quite some time now as well. It’s an addictive and simple micro-game where you jump from cloud to cloud continuously until you fall off or get hit by too many enemies. We’d say this is a quick time waster but it’s possible to spend a whole bunch of time playing just one round of this game. It’s not the deepest game but it’s really addictive and fun.

FIFA 14 by EA SPORTS                               [Price: Free]

FIFA 14 is one of two free sports games that are by EA Sports. On consoles, EA is known for their award winning games and while their Android games don’t quite have that same punch and innovation, they are still the best sports games for Android. In FIFA 14, you can play with any one of 600 teams in 33 leagues and in five languages. For soccer fans, it’s the best there is,period. The Freemium model is a little aggressive and many people don’t like it so there is that problem. It shouldn’t stop anyone from at least giving it a try.

Fruit Ninja Free                               [Price: Free] 

Fruit Ninja is one of the original Android time wasters. With well over 100 million downloads to date and a 4.5 Google Play rating, it’s hard to say anything bad about the game. It’s very simple to play with colorful graphics and busy game play. It has all the hallmarks of a classic arcade game and it’s been around long enough to be considered a classic Android arcade game.

Galaxy on Fire 2 HD                               [Price: Free]

Galaxy on Fire 2 is a surprisingly gorgeous and complex game given its price tag. In this space combat game, you get a mixture of mission-based, sandbox, and story-based game play with over 50 spaceships that are each customizable, and support for over 200 Android devices. There are in apppurchases but they aren’t too bad considering how awesome this game looks and how well it plays. If you want something with more complexity and depth, this is perfect.

Jetpack Joyride                               [Price: Free]

Jetpack Joyride is a solid and addictive arcade game from the same people who brought us Fruit Ninja. The game play itself is fairly simple. It’s a side-scrolling arcade game where you must collect coins and shoot things to make it through levels. It’s a fast paced game and among the highest rated in the Google Play Store so people seem to really like it. A bonus is the developers seem to be keen on updating the game regularly with new content and that’s always preferable.

Madden NFL 25 by EA SPORTS                               [Price: Free]

Madden NFL 25 is one of the best football games available for Android. It comes with pretty good graphics, easy to learn controls, and features every professional NFL team (which apparently is a rarity in the mobile market). This one is a little heavy on the IAPs, but people claim to be able to enjoy it without them most of the time. It’s pretty fun and a must have for any sports fan.

Plants vs Zombies 2


[Price: Free]
As one of the highest anticipated games to be released on mobile in 2013, Plants vs Zombies 2 picks up right where its predecessor left off. With better graphics and more game play, Plants vs Zombies 2 is pretty much better in every way than the first one. In this game you must defend your lawn from zombies with plants. It is a unique concept and one of the fresher ideas in the zombie game market.

Pou                               [Price: Free]

Pou is kind of our wildcard on this list because it features the creepiest looking character ever. If you were a fan of the old Tamagotchi devices in the 1990′s then you’ll probably enjoy this game a little bit. You get a little Diglett/potato/meat bun thing that you then take care of. You play mini games, personalize it, and there are even some functions like playing with friends that sound pretty fun. If you’re into that kind of stuff, give it a shot.

Puzzles & Dragons                               [Price: Free]

Puzzles & Dragons is a unique game because not many people outside of Japan have really played it or heard of it. In Japan it’s one of the most profitable mobile games of all time and it’s just now starting to take hold in the rest of the world. It’s a mix of arcade, puzzle, and RPG which sounds really strange but it works pretty well. You attack opponents by matching orbs. You then level grind, get new monsters, and dungeon crawl to get more cool stuff. There are IAPs, but that hasn’t stopped the game from getting a 4.5 rating in the Play Store.

The Simpsons: Tapped Out                              [Price: Free]

The Simpsons: Tapped Out very quickly became one of the best free games on Android once it was released. It features original Simpsons content from the creators along with original art and the original voice actors. If you’re a Simpsons fanatic, then it’s worth checking this game out. It’s a sim game where you play as Homer and you must rebuild Springfield after you blow it up. It is a good sim all on its own but the addition of Simpsons characters makes it even more enjoyable.

The Sims FreePlay                               [Price: Free]

Speaking of sims, Sims FreePlay is also available for free and as most gamers know, the Sims is the sim game to play. In this mobile version you are in control of teenagers doing their usual Sims stuff so it doesn’t feature a lot of the more adult content. It still has everything that makes its predecessors fun so it’s worth a shot if you’re a fan of the series.

Temple Run 2                               [Price: Free]

It just wouldn’t be a best free games list without the obligatory nod to Temple Run. The game play sparked hundreds of popular spin-offs and it’s still enjoyable to millions of people even today. Temple Run 2 features a number of improvements over the original although its mostly just in graphics. It’s a fun time waster and it is something a little different from your typical Angry Birds style puzzle games.

Tower Defense                               [Price: Free]

Take a wild guess what genre of game Tower Defense falls in. In this colorful and enjoyable little game, you set up defenses to combat approaching hoards of bad guys. It’s a pretty basic game but it is also a free game in a rather complex genre. If you’re looking for something a little more old school, another great free tower defense game option is Towers N’ Trolls. 

Words with Friends                               [Price: Free]

Words with Friends is a popular Scrabble remake designed for mobile devices. This is obviously multiplayer and you can invite your friends to play with you. It’s not so popular among the hardcore gamers but your average casual mobile user seems to enjoy it quite a bit. You play an unlimited number of games and instead of in-app purchases this game relies on old fashioned advertisements. If you aren’t a fan of Scrabble style games, Zynga has a word search-style game called Scramble that’s pretty fun too.

Zenonia 4                               [Price: Free]

We know that Zenonia 5 is out but it seems the gamer community considers it an inferior title than Zenonia 4 so that’s the one we recommend. Zenonia 4 is an action RPG where you walk around, kill things, complete quests, and level grind. It’s one of the highest rated free games on this entire list so that should tell you something. There are in app purchases but according to reviewers they’re pretty mild (Zenonia 5 is apparently much worse with them). It’s a fun game and RPG fans should enjoy the game.

Zombie Highway                               [Price: Free]

Last on our list is one of the best endless runner zombie games available in Zombie Highway. In this game you drive down the highway forever defending yourself from zombies. If you aren’t careful they’ll tip you over and you’ll lose. You get guns, new vehicles, and new environments the longer you play. It’s free, it’s addictive, and an overall solid offering.

Wrap up

We tried to not just include games with high ratings and positive reviews, but as many different categories as possible. There are zombie games, RPGs, puzzles, endless runners, arcade games, strategy games, and more. Of course, there are thousands upon thousands of games on the Play Store and there’s every reason to believe that we missed a couple of really good ones. If there’s a great free game that you want to tell us about, feel more than free to leave a comment and let us know!