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Keep your NVIDIA Shield safe and give it a new look with these official accessories

To go along with our review of Shield, we're also taking a look at a couple of accessories being released by NVIDIA. Today we're looking at the official custom carrying case as well as the custom lid. The hard case is exactly what you think it would be, along with a nice surprise around back. It's custom molded to fit Shield perfectly, with moldings on the inside for the triggers as well as a small mesh pouch for smaller accessory on the top half. The inside is lined with a soft felt, and we've yet to notice it leaving any marks on Shield. You'll see some nicely done Shield branding on the front, with "NVIDIA green" piping accenting the bottom half of the case. It also has a wrist strap, which is removable if it's not really your thing. I haven't dropped it, but it's built well enough to take a decent impact. I wouldn't go throwing it across the room, though.

The custom lid is something that allows you to personalize Shield more to your liking. Initially they will be available in glossy black and carbon fiber. I don't have the carbon fiber here, but the glossy black is very well done. I've used it almost exclusively, and it's held up well, with no nicks or scratches to be seen anywhere. Whatever NVIDIA used on this particular lid needs to be shared with other manufacturers it's that durable. They are held on magnetically, and try as I might, I can't make it not line up the way it's supposed to. Initially NVIDIA used a type of clip to hold them on, but switched to magnets based on feedback from industry experts. It works really well, and kudos to them for listening to the feedback and making appropriate changes.

You can pick up the custom carrying case for $39.99 and the lids for $19.99 each from your local Shield retailer. We have a hands-on video and a few pictures after the break.

Have questions about Shield? We'll have all the answers you want in our Ask Me Anything thread.

NVIDIA Shield review NVIDIA Shield forums

Faster speeds and better bandwidth allocation coming to the nation's largest markets.

With its LTE network deployment in full swing, T-Mobile is hoping to step things up in the most crucial top markets by deploying more spectrum to the new network. According to a statement given to Light Reading, T-Mobile said that "Nationwide, we plan to deploy 10+10 MHz of LTE in 90 percent of the top 25 markets by the end of the year."

Although the network is currently live in 116 markets, T-Mobile is primarily using a2x5MHzdeployment, which offers less bandwidth and potential to handle a large number of customers on each tower. Testing of the new 2x10MHz network is currently ongoing in New York City, where network engineers have been dropping the HSPA+ network from 42 to 21mbps in order to use those resources for LTE.

When the network eventually rolls out to these large markets in full capacity, T-Mobile plans to run both the HSPA+42 and LTE networks concurrently. As for speeds, CEO John Legere has been showing off some pretty impressive speed test numbers in New York City we'll see how that holds up when the network gets more saturated.

Source: Light Reading

Googler chimes in in our forums with tips to improve your Photo Spheres.

We're slowly seeing more and more emphasis being put on Photo Spheres, and Google is offering a few tips with a new tutorial video. Between software improvements for taking Photo Spheres in Android 4.3 and new ways to upload and share them on Google Maps, you want to be able to take the best 360-degree views possible. The main tips may seem counterintuitive, but Google seems to have worked out a system here:

• Hold the phone close to your body
• Keep the phone in portrait orientation
• Make full rotations holding the phone at each angle until a full 360 is achieved

ThatAdamGuy, a Googler working on Photo Sphere has also chimed in in our forums to offer a few tips, mirroring many of the things pointed out in the video. He says that Google is working to create more documentation for Photo Spheres, which should help users get a better hold on the technique for creating great images.

If you're interested in working on your Photo Sphere skills or have a question about the topic, hit up the forums below to join in on the discussion.

More:Photo Sphere tips from the AC forums

Soon to be available in black and white for599.98 inc VAT

Unlocked Mobiles has put up their pre-order page for theSony Xperia Z Ultra, with launch details very to close to what we already expected. Sony's latest phone, packing a 6.44-inchTriluminos display and a Snapdragon 800 processor with Android 4.2, will be available September 12. Pricing comes in a little lower than previously thought, at 599.98 inc VAT and 499.98 ex VAT.

Following the official announcement of this monstrous phone, the official specifications were released for those interested. To get an up close and personal look at the new addition of the Xperia family, be sure to see our hands-on video.

Source: Unlocked Mobile

We have a new mission: Make getting the latest and greatest content from Android Central as quick and as easy as possible. And to that end, we're proud to present the Android Central Chrome Extension.

As the name implies, it's an extension that lives in your Chrome browser that serves up the latest headlines from us, Android Central. No mucking about with RSS feeds. (You can find our feeds here.) No separate Android apps. (We've got a really good one here that you should download ASAP.) A full web page? Bah. (You should really check out this extension while simultaneously browsing our web page.)

Just install, click the Lloyd icon in your browser, and you're good to go. It's quick, it's easy, and it's available now.

• Check out the Android Central Chrome extension!

Real-time routing available in 43 major cities across the United States

Transit App has gotten quite a reputation with theiOSfolks. Now, the Google Maps alternative for public transportation is also available for Android. The app works in 43 major cities includingNew York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC, and Philadelphia.

It offers real-time public transit schedules, a multi-modal trip planner showing the four fastest ways to your destination, saves frequently used routes as favorites, and promises always up-to-date data.

Of course, this is a new release, and there are still some kinks to work out. I could only get "out of range" errors when trying to navigate around town in Boston using my Nexus 4, despite it being listed as an officially supported city. My route from JFK to John's Pizza on Bleaker St. worked great, though. Check it out for yourself with the Play Store link up top.

Scheduled job power conditions, data exclusion for media storage, and bugfixesalso added

When Android 4.3 was released, those who root their phones updated and quickly rooted with the only Superuser app that was working at the time. The next thing many of those same people probably did was try to restore their apps using Titanium Backup, only to be greeted with a blank list of backed up applications.

Thankfully, Titanium Backup's fame is only exceeded by it's update frequency. A new update has been pushed to the Play Store, adding initial support for Android 4.3. Further compatibility will likely come soon in subsequent updates.

Along with the added Android 4.3 support, a few new features were added, and a few bugs have been fixed. Read past the break for the change log, and follow the Play Store button above to update or download.

Full change log:

• Can specify power conditions on scheduled jobs.
• Added initial support for Android 4.3.Added data exclusion for Media Storage (ie: gallery cache) (enabled by default).
• Fixed "convert to system app" issue on Android 4.2+ (some converted apps failed to work).
• Fixed issue with XML call log restore: the names weren't getting restored on some platforms (eg: HTC One).
• Fixed Android 1.5 support (was broken in TB 6.0.5.1).
• Updated translations.