Geek Grotto

Hardware Nirvana [ hahrd -wair nir- vah -nuh] 1. A state characterized by freedom from or oblivion to pain, worry, and the limitations of hardware  set forth by restrictive ecosystems. It is a beautiful thought isn’t it? Pick the device you want. PC, Tablet, Phone. Don’t worry about whether it has Android, Windows 10, Windows Mobile, or iOS. You don’t worry because you know that all the software you use will be available and easily installed. But can it be done?     

First, a confession. I am a Google whore. If there is one company whose products and services I completely swoon over, it’s Google. From Search to Google+, I use them all. I love the tight integration across apps and services. And all for my favorite price...FREE. I also adore Android. What a great OS! So well woven into all of Google’s services and apps that I can’t imagine using any other OS for my phone. I’ve had a slew of Android phones and tablets. All of which have done everything I could hope for at the time except for one glaring detail... I am an artist. I love to draw. At home, I had a standard desktop computer and a Wacom Cintiq 12wx drawing tablet. As an artist, there was nothing better than being able to create right in my computer. Except being able to create wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It’s because of this desire that I said goodbye to my Cintiq 12wx, my Nexus 7 tablet and invested heavily in a Surface Pro 2. As an artist, this devic...

Oh Google, You've made some exciting, frustrating, and maddening news over the past few days. You're canceling your Nexus line in 2015, You're strong arming Samsung into cleaning up their Android OS tweaks, and you're selling Motorola Mobility to Lenovo. Just what in the heck are you up to? There certainly have been some interesting announcements and news stories lately surrounding Google's Android mobile OS. I've got some thoughts to share. Warning: This is ALL pure conjecture. I in no way have any insider information. I'm simply jumping to conclusions based on my musings of all this recent news. So what exactly IS Google up to?

After being available forever on IOS, Android fans can now take on their favorite DC characters! While of course the game would be different from the console versions, it does look great. The game also seems to add a collectable card aspect. You can grab it from the Play Store Read the full press release after the break

Today MAd Catz not only gave us the final specs for its M.O.J.O. Android TV device, but also a price and release date. On December 10th, you can take your $249.99 + tax down to the store, or online, and purchase this tiny box that houses a: Tegra 4 T40s @ 1.8Ghz 2GB ram 16GB storage USB 2.0 and 3.0 Bluetooth HDMI @ 1080p MicroSD Slot with support for up to 128GB Wifi a/b/g/n and comes with a C.T.R.L.R. controller. The specs are pretty great, but we are a bit unsure if it's price point will agree with gamers considering the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launching weeks before. Read the full PR after the break

Now this is the tablet I have been waiting for. NVIDIA has unveiled the Tegra Note platform for OEMs. What does this mean for you? That means that NVIDIA will not be selling them directly, like their video cards, but through OEMs like EVGA, ASUS, and others. Luckily, according to the press release, NVIDIA will be handling firmware releases directly. so everyone will be up to date regardless of who you bought it from! Full press release is after the break!

Months ago, Sony shuttered Studio Liverpool, the company formally known as Psygnosis. Fast forward and the Psygnosis classic, Lemmings, is now available as a PlayStation Mobile title for your Vita or PlayStation certified Android device.

The Dreamcast and GameCube classic and fan favorite, Ikaruga, is back, and now you can play it anywhere! Developed by Treasure, Ikaruga has been seen as many as a spiritual successor to the Sega Saturn favorite Radiant Silvergun. One thing is for sure... Ikaruga is most definitely a Bullet Hell Shooter and is far from easy.

While at CES, we also had a chance to talk to Craig from Archos again. This time about the Archos Gamepad, a 7" Android Table running Jelly Bean and featuring actual buttons for gameplay. The best part is Archos' Game Mapping tool that allows you to map your touchscreen controls to the buttons on the tablet. Watch Craig tell us about the Gamepad after the jump!

Greetings Geeks! It's a step in the right direction. Street Fighter 4 has been enjoying a long life on iOS devices and a meager existence on Android as an LG exclusive. Well no more. Capcom has released SF4 for Android en mass! Albeit it's only in Japan. The word is that the game does have an English mode, so rumors are running about that a US release can't be far behind. Knowing what I do about Capcom and Android...I'm not holding my breath just yet. But I am wishing and hoping. Check out SFIV on Google Play Japan

As Horn, you just happen to wake up one day, not knowing how you got there, and everything seems to be in ruin. You find a horn,a mysterious crystal and a rusted sword before venturing outside... That is the first moments in Phosphor Game's Horn. Read more after the jump!

Well, the 6th generation of the iPhone, the iPhone 5, was released today. Apple fans are excited, everyone else isn't... What do you guys think? I for one think it needs some features that other phones are going on having for the past year. NFC is getting bigger and bigger. HD video, ON A 720P SCREEN OR HIGHER, is on the rise, and would it kill apple to give us a STANDARD micro USB port? You can do a lot if you add MHL to the mix.. We'll stick to our Android or Windows Phone 7 devices, that most of the staff here owns. Not sure  if everyone here does, but I know most of us are not Apple fans...

Glu Mobile's followup to the popular Blood and Glory is now out on Android and it surpasses the original in every way! Read more after the jump!

IOS users have had the chance to play Horn for a little bit and now Android users can jump in! This wonderful looking, Tegra 2/3 optimized game is now available for $6.99! Just realize this game does want 1.81GB of your device's precious space! We should have a review of it soonish, after we catch up on a few other game reviews! Read more after the jump!

Greetings Geeks! This makes me happy. Google Play's giftcards were spotted at some Target stores recently. Why does this make me happy? Besides the fact that I am a known "Google Whore"? Because it makes buying stocking stuffers for my Android brethren that much easier! Source: Droid Life

Yes, I know the title sounds awful! But Horn, developed by Phosphor Games, is now available for your IOS device today for $6.99. In this amazing looking 3rd person action adventure game, you play a blacksmith's apprentice who just woke up from a nice nap to discover monsters are everywhere! I unfortunately do not own an IOS device, but a Tegra Optimized version for Android Devices should be out soon! Source: iTunes

Wild Blood will be released on IOS and Android and wow, the Unreal engine ROCKS!

We have had a week to play with a Nexus 7, well four actually, and WOW. Google and Asus have worked miracles with this thing. It's not 100% perfect, but it is one of the best Android based tablets out! Read our impressions after the jump!

Raspberry Pi has a myriad of devoted developers working on different projects utilizing the little pastry named PC, and the latest news is that it's got Android running on the little devil.

Greetings Geeks, Google I/O has begun and boy is it off to a great start. Me being the complete Google-Whore that I am, I cannot wait to get my hands on some of this stuff. Those lucky #!#%$!@ over at Engadget got to attend I/O and here's what we've learned so far: Google's new android OS is Jelly Bean . We kind of already guessed as much but now it is 100% confirmed. It's going to start rolling out mid July. It's coming to the Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus and more. Project Butter is a project by Google that seeks to address the issues of lag that plague so many an Android device. With Project Butter, users can expect 60fps performance at all time. That sounds good to me. Google is releasing a Tablet called the Nexus 7 . 7 inches of Jelly Bean goodness. That's right. Jelly Bean! The tab is going to retail for $199. A direct competitor to the already ridiculously popular Kindle Fire. Google has also unveiled the Nexus Q . An AppleTV-like set top box which wi...