Budget phones are released in both the U.S. and globally but it can be quite the wait for those globally-released budget phones to hit stateside. Asus’ ZenFone Live L1 has arrived and will be available for just $110. If you’re looking to drop that price even lower than a prepaid plan will get you the ZenFone Live L1 for $60.

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As for the features, the unlocked ZenFone Live L1 is part of the Android Go family of smartphones and was released in May. It’s 5.8”x2.83”x0.32” all around with a 5.5” 18:9 display at 720p resolution. If you use multiple SIMs then you’re in luck as this one is dual nano-SIM.

OS-wise, it comes with the Android Go version of Oreo (Android 8.0). As for muscle, ZenFone Live L1 uses a quad-core 1.4GHz Cortex-A53 CPU with a Snapdragon 425 processor. This–along with the RAM–really puts it in this price range as everything else is pretty much expected for a smartphone.

It comes with 16GB and 1GB RAM. If you need more storage, it supports up to 512GB. The main, rear-facing camera is 13MP and can record video at 30fps at 1080p. A few features that are common with mid-range and higher-end phones are missing such as a fingerprint sensor. If you don’t use that anyway, then this phone could be up your alley.

Interested in the ZenFone Live L1? You can pick one up at Best Buy. As mentioned before you can shave off $50 by getting a prepaid plan which will give you a locked version of the phone.

Baidu is the primary search option in China since Google was pretty much booted from the country back in 2010. Apparently Google could be looking to regroup and offer its main services in the country again. Robin Li, CEO of Baidu, made it known that the company would battle Google if it did attempt to return.

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Li was extremely confident that Google would be routed and wouldn’t gain a significant part of the market. Given that Google would enter as a rival player, the action seems apt if not aggressive. Baidu offers many of the same services as Google including cloud, email, AI, and of course search among others. While Baidu has the home field advantage, Google could very well grow in China rapidly if left unchecked–something Li doesn’t seem keen on doing.

On his WeChat page, Li pointed out that native tech-based companies have been able to breathe and grow since Google was blocked out several years ago. Google was booted due to censoring search results. Once this happened, Baidu basically took Google’s foothold in the market and controls over 70-percent, according to The Verge.

A Weibo poll that has Google preferred over Baidu at 86-percent. One thing that appealed to Chinese users was that Google’s results didn’t seem as censored as Baidu and appeared more accurate. Couple this with Baidu’s stock price taking a slight dip with the rumor of Google considering a return and you can say that the Beijing-based company is in for a fight.

Epic Games’ Fortnite is one of the hottest titles on the planet right now as it enjoys success on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. It is also a major game to stream on Twitch. So what about the move to mobile? As it happens, Fortnite is heading to Android soon but it might end up being a Samsung device exclusive for a few months.

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While it is still in the realm of rumor, it’s believed that Fortnite will make its mobile debut on the Samsung Galaxy Note S9 for roughly 30 days to start. Yes, to start. According to AndroidHeadlines, Samsung could have the right to Fortnite for 60 or 90 more days. This would allow the company to get the game out to other Samsung devices either through its storefront or through Epic Games’ site.

Since this smacks of mixed news–great that it’s coming to mobile, bad that there’s a 120-day exclusivity deal in place–remember, it’s still just speculation. Samsung and Epic Games didn’t confirm this deal.

In an interview with The Verge, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that Fortnite wouldn’t be available on Google Play. Instead, there would be an installer program to get the game onto compatible devices. This works well for Epic Games since it would circumvent the need to give Google 30-percent off purchases made in the app. As we know, Fortnite is profitable because of those in-game purchases and giving Google a chunk of that is simply unappealing.

Of course, the company paints it as wanting to have a direct relationship with players when it comes to purchases and wanting to cut out the middleman. Same thing, different wording, reasonable all the same.

In India, many Android device users ended up with a strange number on their contacts list. The number in question was 1-800-300-1947, the old number for the Unique Identification Authority of India or UIDAI. Eventually, the number appeared on iPhones where the owner imported contacts from an Android.

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UIDAI was formed by the Indian government in 2009 and operates under the country’s Ministry of Electronics and Information. The Authority is responsible for issuing the 12-digit identification number called aadhaar–basically a social security number. Aadhaar are tied to an individual as a means to collect demographic information and prevent all manner of identity fraud.

So what does this have to do with this mystery number? UIDAI stated it didn’t push the number onto devices’ contact numbers. It stated, “UIDAI has reiterated that it has not asked or advised anyone including any telecom service providers or mobile manufacturers or Android to include 1800-300-1947 or 1947 in the default list of public service numbers.”

The number caused a lot of concern and many went to Twitter for answers. Some sleuths decided to find out who could be responsible for the number ending up on Android devices as well as some iPhones. One conclusion points the finger at Google since several tests revealed that the number only hits phones made in India. Another theory is that service providers are responsible. Eventually, Google came clean and said it put the number on devices.

“Our internal review has revealed that in 2014, the then UIDAI helpline number and the 112 distress helpline number were inadvertently coded into the SetUp wizard of the Android release given to OEMs for use in India and has remained there since,” Google said in a statement to the Economic Times.  “Since the numbers get listed on a user’s contact list these get transferred accordingly to the contacts on any new device.”

The company apologized for the concern raised and stated that it was working on a fix that will be included in an update to the SetUp wizard–over the next couple of weeks.

Currently, Facebook is testing its dating app among employees. No, the company isn’t trying to hook up employees in some sort of odd Facebook-only dating scene, it’s just keeping the testing of the app close to home. Testing was discovered by Jane Manchun Wong, who came across the evidence in the app’s source code earlier today.

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It was first announced that Facebook would be going through with the service back in May but nothing else was mentioned about it. Since it’s now in testing, it appears that the company is close to pulling back the curtain on it. The service works by only featuring users who aren’t in a relationship as the “dating pool”–not Facebook’s term–and probably works the same way as dating sites such as eHarmony, Match, or Plenty of Fish.

Facebook lets it be known that it is currently in the testing phase–which it calls “dogfooding”–and that it is purely meant for finding bugs and addressing UI issues. It ends with “This is not meant for dating your coworkers.” As part of the testing, employees are to use fake information for profiles. These testing profiles will be deleted once the product is released publicly.

Could dating be the next big thing that Facebook breaks into successfully? Or will it end up being one of those services that eventually stir up more trouble for users’ private lives than revenue for the company? Will it even be launched to the public? No reason it shouldn’t, right? Facebook does have all the data on users on the platform.

We’ll have to wait and see.

Chat-fiction is a form of interactive storytelling that takes place in the form of text messages. You usually have a smartphone UI and every text, photo, or video you get from characters tell a story. Hooked is one of the popular ones at the moment, but SIM – Sara Is Missing was my introduction to the genre. Amazon has an app dedicated to chat-fiction called Amazon Rapids–which is now free.

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When Amazon Rapids first launched in 2016,  it was $2.99 per month and mainly targeted at children between 5 and 12-years old. As it happened, teens and adults picked up on chat-fiction as well but Amazon kept the focus on a younger audience.

For those who don’t use Amazon Rapids, stories available can be read by the app and gives a glossary for young readers to find unfamiliar terms. Essentially, Rapids is a learning or “edutainment” app. One of the most recent features for Rapids is that some of the stories can be enjoyed via Storytime mode in Alexa.

So while there’s nothing here for the older fans of chat-fiction, the youngsters can enjoy reading by making it fun through something they regularly use: their mobile devices. It’s even better now that the app is now free. That said, it’s always good to get kids to crack a book whether it’s paper or on their device.

If you enjoy Electronic Arts’ titles and would pay $15 a month–or $100 a year–to have access to them of them on PC, then you’re in luck. EA will be launching a new subscription service called Origin Access Premier.

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The service announced during EA’s quarterly earnings call. Apparently, they did well enough that they will confident about a premium subscription service. The current services Origin Access and Xbox One’s EA Access do the same thing for the most part but subscribers have to wait some time to get new games.

Meanwhile Origin Access Premier will give players full access to the back catalog and a five-day head start on the official release of new titles.

It is a good step for EA who is the first to jump on this. If successful, we could very well see other PC-oriented developers dive in. After all, subscriptions are hot at the moment. Spotify, Tidal, or Apple Music for your tunes. Netflix or Hulu for TV and film. Marvel Unlimited, Comixology and now Ultimate DC Membership for your comics. Subscriptions are really hitting it out of the park as far as getting what you want, when you want it, and for however long you want it.

If the idea of having infinite access to EA’s library of games appeals to you, the service goes live on Monday.

Spectrum has lost a foothold in a major market: New York state. The cable and internet provider failed to deliver fast internet in the state. To remain in New York, Spectrum had to provide services in rural areas after the Time Warner merge roughly two years ago.

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The cable provider had enough time to meet the state’s terms and as a result, it’s been given the boot in addition to a penalty of $3 million. While it will have to leave the state, Spectrum will remain a service in New York for 60 days or until the state finds a replacement.

“Regrettably, rather than honor its commitment, Charter, doing business in the state under the name Spectrum, has repeatedly failed to meet its obligations, particularly to rural areas, where building out broadband is more expensive,” the state’s Public Service Commission said in a statement last month.

In 2016, the state supported Charter in its acquisition of Time Warner. In doing so, it found a company that could bolster services in rural and underserved areas as part of its “100% Broadband for All” initiative. As for the actual numbers, The Verge reports that Spectrum added an additional 86,000 to its subscribers in servicing customers in the city. New York expected the company to provide access to 145,000–so it fell very short of the state’s goal.

Taxis are a big part of New York City given the density of the population and the vastness of the city. It was the perfect place for ride-share giants Uber and Lyft to present their services. Now it looks as though they’ve worn out their welcome with more traffic.

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The city is looking at laws to limit how many Uber and Lyft cars are allowed on streets. There was an attempt by Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2015 but that stalled after both companies pushed back. Now legislators are backing a second attempt to get it done. The New York Times reports that the City Council is expected to vote on the law on August 8th, giving the companies little time to push against the attempt.

One bill would put a freeze on the hiring new drivers for a year. This is to give the Taxi and Limousine Commission time the need of ride-sharing companies, how much they contribute to travel congestion and how they serve different areas of the city. The Commission will also look at driver income as a factor.

This ties into another bill which would freeze new hires by location. If a neighborhood has enough taxi and ride-share services, expect to see no new Uber and Lyft cars on the road.

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The dominance of Uber and Lyft in the city has seen the two services operate outside of the same laws that apply to the taxis they’ve damaged financially. On the other side of the coin, the services are viewed as convenient for riders.

As expected, the two companies are spinning this as an attack not against them but the neighborhoods and demographics they serve. On top of that, they’ve become separate ad campaigns against the proposed bills. In the end either the city will reign Uber and Lyft in or they will continue to operate as usual. It’s a reached a point where the latter might be unlikely. Then again, so does Uber and Lyft being limited if there is enough public outcry.

Gameplay

The GST games tend to feature the same mechanics which is good because you really don’t need to mess with a game development sim title too much. If you’ve played Kairosoft’s Game Dev Story or even checked out the Smartphone Tycoon games, you basically have a clue on how to move around.

In short: your developer starts making games and resources are built up as the process continues. Once completed you release your game, it gets reviewed, and it will sale accordingly. As I said, the core gameplay of these games tend to keep it simple and don’t mess around the wheel too much.

Where things get a little challenging–but fun–is that there little extras to manage. While you can train your team, it’s more like Game Dev Tycoon in that you can select what skill area to train and to what extent. You’re also able to select more than one genre at the start which is a welcome bonus.

Everything else you will find in other tycoon games. You can upgrade your studio from your main character’s bedroom to a proper studio to an even larger studio. It costs more money but it results in you being able to get more resources in the development phase and complete non-development jobs faster.

You’re able to attend a trade show to promote your game, there’s an end of the year awards ceremony, you can spend cash on advertising either to bump your fanbase or hype the game. Game Studio Tycoon 2 also allows you to research technology that will allow your company to make sequels, improve graphics/sound/etc, and more.

VERDICT

Game Studio Tycoon 2 is a fun business sim game for your Android or iOS device. You’re also able to play it on Steam and get it from the Microsoft Store. It sits right there between Game Dev Tycoon and Game Dev Story–not quality-wise but in what it offers.

While there isn’t anything new here if you’ve played these kinds of games (especially focused towards game development), you’ll still sink hours in trying to get a strong team and state-of-the-art studio to make incredible games. That’s where the fun in Game Studio Tycoon 2 lies and it really delivers.

Grade: A