Fully Charged: Lollipop on just 18% of Android devices, and Peter Dinklage dropped from Destiny

Just 18% of Android devices have Lollipop

How rough is Android device fragmentation? After nine months on the market, Lollipop (version 5.0+) is only found on 18.1% of phones and tablets. The most popular version remains KitKat (4.4) at 39.3%, while Jelly Bean (4.1-4.3) isn’t far behind with 33.6%.

This isn’t a new or surprising issue, really: the fact that manufacturers control the flow of Android updates is the reason why the recent Stagefright flaw is so devastating. Most devices get the latest software slowly, if at all, and it leaves users behind the curve in terms of features and security measures alike. Meanwhile, iOS 8 adoption is at 85% in roughly the same timeframe.

[Source: Android Authority]

Dinklage punted from Destiny

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Peter Dinklage is a brilliant actor – when it’s not just his disembodied voice in the role, at least. Millions of gamers discovered the discrepancy when his lead role in Activision’s Destiny ended up delivering laughably bad lines. It’s gotten to the point where even developer Bungie is moving on without Dinklage as the voice of Ghost.

When the game is updated with this autumn’s The Taken King expansion, Dinklage’s voice acting will be replaced by that of Nolan North, the video game veteran best known as Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series. North is redoing all of Ghost’s existing lines, plus handling all the new ones going forward.

Director Luke Smith tells Game Informer, "We wanted Nolan North’s version of the Ghost to wake you up at the start of the journey at level one and follow you all the way to level forty." Given the collective groan issued by players to Dinklage’s original rendition, we can’t help but think it was a surprisingly easy decision to make to switch gears here.

[Source: Game Informer via Kotaku]

Halo Wars 2 coming to Xbox One, PC

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The original Halo Wars did a great job of bringing a PC-like real-time strategy experience to Xbox 360, even if genre die-hards from the mouse-and-keyboard side complained about it being too streamlined. Luckily, Microsoft is making a return trip, recruiting Creative Assembly (Total War series) to create Halo Wars 2 for Xbox One and PC.

We don’t know too much about the follow-up, except that Microsoft promises "fast-paced action, massive battles and an all-new Halo story." It’s due out in autumn 2016, while this year’s big series entry is Halo 5: Guardians, of course.

[Source: Xbox Wire]

See the explicit Deadpool trailer

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Most superhero movies aim for a kid and teen-friendly rating to maximize box office returns, but that approach just wouldn’t feel right for Marvel’s foul-mouthed, ultra-violent Deadpool – and thankfully, 20th Century Fox isn’t blowing its opportunity on that front. Check out the first red band trailer for the film, which is very much not safe for work and offers a great sense of what to expect when the film hits cinemas in February.

[Source: YouTube]