After last week’s craziness with the debut of new Android smartwatches and phones, this week was one of rest. And that means time for some gaming! I’ve never been a fan of on-screen controls though; I simply don’t like how one has to cover the screen to use them. And I prefer having my controls in the exact same spot all the time. For me, that means a hardware solution is needed.
I ended up spending $ 50 on the Moga Pro: A Bluetooth controller that can hold a smartphone, making the whole package look like Nvidia’s $ 299 Shield. Note that the high price of the Shield does offer a more powerful package: A Tegra 4 chip and and strong-sounding stereo speakers, for example. I wasn’t looking to spend that much, however. Was the lesser investment worth it?
To me: Absolutely! I can easily clip my Moto X handset in the Moga Pro and the device pairs over Bluetooth without any issues. The controls are great for casual gaming. There are a pair of analog sticks, a directional pad, bumper buttons, triggers and four action buttons. Not every Android game is optimized for the Moga, but even those that aren’t can still work through a secondary mode on the controller.
The Moga Pro should work with nearly any Android phone, including the new Nexus 5 that’s been the talk of late. This week, the FCC certified a phone that looks exactly like the handset with a Nexus logo spied earlier in a Google video. It looks like LG got the nod to build the Nexus 5 based on the FCC’s documentation and images.
Little else is known about the LTE handset although its expected to use a Snapdragon 800 chip, have a full HD screen and will likely launch with Android 4.4.
There were also many Windows devices announced this week. What does that have to do with Android? Nothing, save for the Asus Transformer Book Trio, which I find to be an interesting concept. The device looks like a standard Windows laptop with an Intel Haswell chip and other internals. Here’s the twist: The 11.6-inch display undocks and works as an Android tablet.
This works because Asus included an Intel Atom chip, battery, memory and more inside the display. The Transformer Book Trio runs Android 4.2 and has its own 802.11n Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth 3.0 radios inside. Best of all: the keyboard can be hooked up to an external monitor if you want to keep running Windows while using your Android tablet. Asus hasn’t announced the price but since you’re getting a pair of devices in one, I wouldn’t expect the cost to be under $ 700.
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