The billing system will use the same backend as in-app purchases. Developers will be able to set up the billing interval for subscription services and Google Play will handle the recurrence on the backend. Consumers will be able to login to their Google Play account and view their subscriptions as well as change them.

Apps requiring a subscription will have to state the price and the billing interval such as weekly, monthly, or yearly right on the app page so there aren’t any surprises for consumers. The subscription service is already being adopted by game developer Glu with a special currency subscription networks across any of the company’s games.

[via Android Developers]

Called the Power Grid, the app is targeted towards PC gamers. It will be fully customizable, and boy does it have a lot of options. Just like with Razer’s vision for the Blade’s LCD trackpad, Roccat dreams that its Power Grid will allow users access to everything from skills and macros in games to viewing their computer’s stats.

The Power Grid’s icons are arranged via blocks and tabs, so you can mix and match icons and make the most out of your smartphone’s screen. Roccat also promised that it will be easy to share and copy the settings of other Power Grid users – very useful for helping newbies.

So you download Power Grid to your phone, but how will the app work with your PC? Roccat’s answer is the Phobos keyboard and the Apuri dock. The Phobos has a built-in dock that not only charges your smartphone but will also allow you to use your phone to text and even receive phone calls, provided you have a headset.

So, the Power Grid is easily customizable, versatile and will always be up-to-date. But the most important advantage of the app is that it will be free. That’s a thousand dollars cheaper than the Optimus Popularis and $2,800 less than the Razer Blade. Unless the Phobos and Apuri are expensive, I don’t see how other hardware manufacturers can top off Roccat’s brilliantly simple and forward-looking strategy.

That being said, I still don’t see the benefit of having skill and macro hotkeys on a small touchscreen. Without tactile feedback, you’ll have to take your eyes off of your main monitor and look down to make sure that you’re touching the right icon – not a good idea in many games. Nevertheless, if you’re interested in this kind of functionality, I suggest you hold out and wait for Roccat to demo its products.

No word on when the Power Grid and its complementary hardware will be available, but the company is already accepting applications for Power Grid beta testers. Also, Android and Windows Phone users, rein in your rage – despite the iPhone-filled images you see here, Roccat is also working on apps for your mobile OS of choice. Though it’s not clear if Mac users will still be left out in the lurch – not like we have many games to play on our machines anyhow.

[Roccat via Everything USB]

A neat alternative? The Chumkee Social App.

Chumkee is an app that lets you send picture or video messages to your friends all over the world. What makes Chumkee a little different from regular sharing tools is that it helps you keep in touch with acquaintances that you met while you were on foreign land, thanks to the translation feature built into the app. What it does is provide translations for video messages and text in real-time in over thirty languages, so you don’t have to access a third-party translation app or service before you can respond.

You can try out the app by downloading it from the iTunes App Store. It’s available for free, so you have nothing to lose.

[via Chip Chick]

As if the 8-hour long drive wasn’t punishment enough, the eponymous bus can only go up to 45mph and ever so slightly veers to the right. You can’t just hold down the button that steers it to the left or spam the gas, otherwise the bus will drift off the road. And if you drive the bus off the road? You’ll be towed back to Tucson. In real time. Also you can’t pause the game. And people say Dark Souls is hard. Here’s a taste of this masochist’s wet dream, courtesy of YouTuber Phrasz013:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The game became popular when the sketch comedy group Loading Ready Run launched Desert Bus for Hope. A fundraiser for Child’s Play, every year the LRR crew subject themselves to the agony of playing Desert Bus in exchange for money. Now you too can join in on the suffering. Developer Amateur Pixels ported the game to both Android and iOS, with all proceeds going to Child’s Play as well. Of course you can just pay $0.99 to get the game and not play it. The way I see it, this is a new standard for measuring battery life. How far into the trip can your device – and you – last?

[via Touch Arcade]

The app is powered by HTML5, so it looks pretty snazzy and it’s based on the Gmail app for tablets. Once the app is installed, you can continue using Gmail by clicking the Gmail Offline icon and opening a new tab. This also works with Google Docs and Calendar but you can only view them, not modify them.

You can’t be online all the time, and if you use something like Inbox Zero, using offline Gmail might be a welcome addition to your workflow.

[via Gmail Blog]

Hellqvist’s concept Notifications app for the iOS has a number of great things going for it. Just the very fact that it lets users view all notifications in one place gets a big check mark from me. As you can see in the picture above, going into the app itself lets you view and sort the notifications via list or detailed format or by app. But there’s a lot more to the concept than that:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Granted, you can already emulate some of these features using existing apps like Lockinfo and Notified, and to a small extent BiteSMS. But those apps require you to jailbreak your iOS device and obviously fork over some cash, however cheap each app may be. Besides, Apple should be the one to take care of this because its a fundamental feature flaw of their product.

I think Hellqvist has a lot of great ideas here, although ironically I think his app risks being messy and unwieldy as well in practice, especially the lock screen display. Also, I don’t think selecting a notification should lead to a direct action right away, like in the video where selecting a missed call notice causes the phone to dial the caller, because I can see that happening accidentally way too often. Perhaps there should be a “more info” screen before the user is given the option to take action. Overall I’d still rather have his app than the default scheme. You can check out the blog that Hellqvist set up for his concept for more info.

[via CNET]

Another potential downside to the app is that it needs a WiFi connection to work. Once all the expensive pieces are in place though, the app seems to work with Mac-like simplicity. Here’s a demo from YouTube user radiosykes:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can download the DisplayPad app from the iTunes App Store for $3 (USD).

[via Minimal Mac]

Apps have become so commonplace, that Apple is even starting an app store for Mac computers. I honestly don’t believe in wasting too much money on apps, but these are a few that I might get.

There are so many features that apps still have to exploit. Knowing if the bathroom down the hall is available makes a lot of sense. That and knowing if any angry exes are around or near each other.

[via Lost At E Minor]

That official Etch-a-Sketch app has now landed on the app store and it is just begging to be used with the case. Naturally, since the Etch A Sketch lacks real knobs for controlling the pen under the screen of the real thing, you have to draw on the screen with your finger. The app also features the ability to share images to Facebook, store them in a gallery, and even import photos to trace, so people think you’re an Etch A Sketch master.

That might not be realistic, but the shake to erase your picture feature is very realistic. A version of the app was offered on the iPhone before, but we all know blowing those apps up to use all the screen on the iPad makes the tiny iPhone version look like crap.

According to this screenshot, some of the games we can look forward to getting all fingerprinty over on April 3rd include: Flight Control HD, Labyrinth 2 HD, and Sparkle HD and Cro-Mag Rally. Apps like Pianist Pro promise a serious multitouch keyboard playing experience, and OmniGraphSketcher is probably going to be pretty slick on that big 9.7-inch screen.

From what I can tell these screens from the new iPad app store probably came from the iPad developer’s kit, but I’m not 100% certain of their origin. Of course, since these screenshots are preliminary, there are bound to be changes and new apps coming online between now and launch day.

[via 9 to 5 Mac via TUAW]

The head-to-head serves as a reminder of just how much technology has changed over the years, as well as a rough idea of how freakin’ rich Apple must be: while the old breadbox has a colossal lead in terms of total units sold at 32 million (it was first released in 1982),  a head esploding 1 million iPhone 3GS units were sold on its first 3 days on sale alone. That’s just insane.

That’s the start of the list. Funny how the C64 is almost all keyboard while the iPhone has no real keyboard at all. Other interesting facts: there are a total of 50,000 apps for the iPhone. McCracken(!) goes by the official number of C64 apps which is more or less 10,000, but several commenters are claiming that there are up to 100,000 programs for the C64. That seems like a huge advantage, until you realize that the iPhone is only less than 3 years old while the C64 is 27.

Of course the iPhone sweeps the tech specs trophies, but the C64 won lots of love because it offered… FREEDOM! The William Wallace of gadgets had neither carrier tie-ins nor app approval jujitsu. As one commenter said, if there was an iPhone emulator for the C64 it would’ve been warmly welcomed and immediately approved, no questions asked, except maybe “Would you like some cookies?”

Head on to Technologizer for the full list and the flame war. The C64 fanboys (fangrandfathers?) are winning. McCracken! Sorry.

[via Download Squad]

HP has already secured the support of a few websites that will provide unique services and features available only to future users of the PSPWTSW. For example, users will be able to print USA Today stories straight off the printer’s touchscreen. Nickelodeon has a bunch of kid-friendly content for print such as word finds, color-ins and mazes. Users will also be able to print Google Maps, coupons, and even movie tickets. Neat.

The PSPWTSW will be available in the United States come autumn for $399 USD. Gizmodo was able to procure a test unit, and while they thought that the hardware is topnotch, they came upon the logical conclusion that the things you can do on the tiny touchscreen can be done just as easily – of not easier – on a normal computer. Maybe HP should have attached a printer to a monitor instead of attaching a tiny computer to a printer.

[via gadgetell]