Mortal Kombat X is now available for Android devices, but only in select countries

It’s been a little over a week since Mortal Kombat X was released for nex-gen consoles (and a few weeks since the iOS version became available). Today, the over-the-top gore fest finally lands on the Google Play Store for Android devices, courtesy of NetherRealm Studios and of course, is only suitable for ages 17 and up.

Gameplay is a bit different than that console versions, but anyone who’s played other “free-to-play” brawlers like Marvel Contest of Champions or previous Injustice will know what to expect. The actual fighting in the game involves mashing the screen to attack, with gestures cues and other quick time events popping up onscreen to execute some of the moves. It’s pretty basic and can get repetitive at times, but then again it’s the level grinding that really looks to suck players in.

The actual characters you use in battle are based on cards that can be leveled up the more you play, with successful matches netting you “Koins” (gold and silver) and “Souls.” Those are the currency in the game (freemium games tend to have at least 3 types of currency to keep things interesting) with the latter being the hardest to earn. Alliance points are earned with support cards, Koins are used to buy silver card packs for new characters or power up special moves, and Souls are the highest form of currency, used to gain access to gold characters.

All the violence you love from Mortal Kombat is here, with the series’ X-Rays and Fatalities making the successful transition to mobile. You can play online against other players in Faction Wars, or summon other players’ character cards for use in battle. Whatever your expectations of this game are, expect to spend plenty of time unlocking anything worthwhile.

If you look at reviews on the Google Play Store, you’ll find the game not running the best on older handsets. If your phone has 1GB of RAM or less, you’re probably going to want to stay away. The install takes up a whopping 1.5 GB of free space, so keep that in mind before downloading to your 8GB handset. The game is only available in select countries right now, but if you’d like to take a stab at it, Google Play link provided below.

Download on Google Play: Mortal Kombat X

Test drive the HTC One M9 at select Best Buy locations, see for yourself if it’s worth the hype

Sometimes seeing is believing. When it comes to the HTC One M9, it’s definitely one of the most beautiful Android devices to date (it has been since the One M8). The premium aluminum materials, 2-tone finish, and polished edges, pick one up and you’ll feel the difference right away. HTC knows this and it’s why you’ll soon be able to give the One M9 a whirl at your local Best Buy.

We know, everyone has been coming down kind of hard on HTC for nearly recycling last year’s design. But it’s not entirely unheard of in mobile. Take a look at the last few Sony Xperia flagships, LG’s devices, or even Samsung’s, and you’ll have a hard time telling them apart from their latest. We loved the way the HTC One M9 felt in the hand when we played around with it at Mobile World Congress and quite honestly, we think you will too.

If you’re on the fence about which new Android to buy this year — the HTC One M9 or the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge — it seems Best Buy has you covered. For store availability (you’ll want to call ahead of time to make sure they have a display set up), you can check out Best Buy’s HTC One M9 landing page here.

Sony gives developers an official path to bootloader access on select phones

In Sony’s ongoing quest to make their phones more developer friendly, the company has opened up bootloader access for a handful of their current Android smartphones. FXP has found that Sony’s official Mobile Flash tool now offers up an “Open Devices” bootloader option alongside the standard consumer-shipped bootloader.

What will this enable? It’ll allow developers to install custom recoveries right to the devices’ recovery partition. This enables the use of custom ROMs and operating systems without the need to use tricky and clunky bootstrap solutions. In fact, it’s so open that it would be possible to flash recoveries and ROMs for non-Android operating systems such as Ubuntu and Firefox OS (if one has the wherewithal to figure that out, of course).

Sony has only rolled out support for devices with chipsets based on ARM Cortex-A7, so that effectively limits it to the Sony Xperia T3, Sony Xperia M2, Sony Xperia T2 Ultra and the Sony Xperia E3.

That’s not to say more won’t come down the line, though, and we hope to hear something official from Sony soon. In the meantime, you can find the mobile flash tool right here. We wouldn’t recommend using it to do anything immediately, but you’ll likely want it on-hand once the development community takes proper advantage of this new level of access.

Verizon gives Lyft drivers discounts in wireless service, app to come pre-loaded on select Android devices

It’s not easy being a Lyft driver. Aside from dealing with questionable law enforcement and the occasional spurt of throw up in their back seats, having access to a fast and reliable network is an absolute must when navigating around town.

Well, Verizon is about to make it a little easier on drivers, announcing today a new partnership with Lyft to give some of their drivers a discount in monthly service. While that’s great for drivers, the deal also means the Lyft app has been added to the usual assortment of bloatware that comes pre-loaded on Verizon’s Android devices. Yay.

The discount in monthly service charges doesn’t go into effect until May 11th and only includes frequent Lyft drivers who are apart of the ride-sharing company’s “Accelerate Premier Driver Rewards” program. Whether you’re a current driver, or thinking about signing up, you can register for the discount through Verizon’s secure web portal.

[Verizon | Lyft]

Google unveils limited edition Skrillex cases with matching live wallpapers for select Android devices

In a somewhat un-Googley move, the internet search giant is unveiling a new line of specialty cases now available on their online storefront. The “Live Cases” as they’re being called were designed in collaboration with world-renown artist Skrillex and not only feature unique designs, but matching live wallpapers as well.

The companion live wallpapers will change in real-time throughout the day with visuals of the Earth or constellations at night. Why? Apparently this has something to do with a balloon satellite named after Skrillex’s dog that Google sent up into the stratosphere to photograph the images. Once the satellite hits earth, Google will actually have it signed by Skrillex and mailed off to a lucky Android fan in an upcoming Twitter giveaway.

The Skrillex Live Cases will grant owners with early access to an unannounced record from Skrillex’s OWSLA label on Google Play and updates about Skrillex delivered straight to their phone. The cases even have a shortcut button built into them that either take you directly to Skrillex’s YouTube channel, or can be customized to launch whichever app you like. Needless to say, these aren’t your typical “dumb cases.”

That being said, that kind of tech doesn’t come cheap and the Skrillex Live cases retail for around a piece. They come in 3 options — Space Shield, Circuit Bae, and Lil Planet — and are compatible with a very select few Android device (it’s still more than we expected). The Nexus 5, Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S5, and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 are all included and can be purchased from the Google Store while supplies last and only until the end of June.

Skrillex is just the first artist Google will be teaming up with for these new limited-edition cases, with new “Editions” coming in the near future. We’ll be on the lookout.

[Skrillex Live Cases at Google Store]

Sega is removing select titles from Google Play, download what you can or possibly lose them forever

With more than 28 titles on the Google Play Store, Sega has done a pretty great job of introducing a variety of casual or even Dreamcast ports to Android gamers. If we had to guess, we’d bet Sonic the Hedgehog exists in some form or another on your device.

If you’ve been looking to build up your collection, you might want to do it fast. Sega announced today that they’ll be removing a handful of select titles that no longer meet their “standards.” They didn’t specify exactly which titles, only that the removal span across app stores like Google Play, Amazon Appstore, Samsung app store, and the Apple App Store.

They did mention that the games could always make a return in the future in an “updated form,” so nothing is set in stone. Also, any titles you’ve already download/paid for will still be available to you even after they’re removed, that is until they’re no longer compatible with a future Android version or new hardware.

Since we don’t know which titles could possibly be taken down forever, you just might have to download all of them or miss out on some of Sega’s classics.

[Sega titles on Google Play]

Sony releases Android M Developer Preview for select Xperia devices, here’s the full list

While nowhere near final software, the Android M Developer Preview is a great way for devs to test drive the next version of Android before it’s officially released at the end of the year. That’s why Google introduced the program back when Android L (Lollipop) was first unveiled during last year’s Google I/O.

Normally, we don’t expect to see a developer preview running on much, not outside of officially supported Nexus devices or 3rd party custom ROMs. Today, the folks at Sony Mobile are now giving developers a shot at trying it on their Xperia devices as part of Sony’s Open Device program.

Willing developers can now create a test image for themselves and flash it onto their Xperia devices providing they have a knowledge in these things. There’s a fair amount of officially supported devices and Sony Mobile was even nice enough to provide a quick guide for those that needed a refresher. For those curious, here’s the full running list:

• Xperia Z3


• Xperia Z3 Compact


• Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact


• Xperia Z2


• Xperia Z2 Tablet


• Xperia Z1


• Xperia Z1 Compact


• Xperia Z Ultra


• Xperia E3


• Xperia M2


• Xperia T2 Ultra


• Xperia T3

We should note, Sony also cautioned users that the AOSP software isn’t certified or intended for daily use (modem and camera aren’t working), so you probably shouldn’t go flashing this on your daily driver. If that hasn’t scared you away yet, feel free to hit up the source link for more.

[Sony]