The Google Nexus Q might be good enough for your garden-variety home media sharing for video, pictures, and music, but gamers will want to keep their eyes on a new Kickstarter project called Ouya. It aims to be an open Android-powered gaming console that retails for $99. One of the main goals is to provide a home platform that's free from the big-money competition and publisher pressures that plagues traditional console gaming and keeps hip indie devs away. Here's a spec rundown on the Ouya.

• Tegra3 quad-core processor
• 1GB RAM
• 8GB of internal flash storage
• HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth LE 4.0
• USB 2.0 (one)
• Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
• Android 4.0

There's already a bunch of developer interest, including the guy behind Canabalt, the folks at Owlchemy Labs (Snuggle Truck and the upcoming Jack Lumber), Madfinger Games (Dead Trigger, Shadowgun, Samurai II), the devs behind Triple Town, and even Madden NFL 12 showed up on one screen, indicating EA is getting involved.

The one catch? All developers submitting their game has to provide at least some gameplay for free. That's awesome for end-users, even if that means that freemium upgrades, in-app purchases, and banner ads are likely to be found everywhere. Twitch.tv is also on board for streaming live sessions of StarCraft and other games, so we may very well see other non-gaming apps get involved.

Ouya's Kickstarter campaign is already well over half of the way to their $950,000 goal after launching just this morning, but there are still plenty of pre-orders available for backers. Ouya is expected to ship in March 2013, and backers will get their mitts on it before it hits stores.

Gamers, are you interested, or do you think there will be something just as cool (if not cooler) out by springtime next year? Will an open Android box be able to realistically compete with Xbox and PlayStation, or has Google TV already shown us just how well Android does on the big screen?

Here's a quick heads up for those of you who were eager to snag the Samsung Galaxy S III flip case and wanted to support your favorite Android site in the process. ShopAndroid.com now has the cool little case available in stock. As you'll recall from our first look at the case, it's a replacement battery door with a cover attached that wraps around the side, and then protects the phone's gorgeous 4.8-inch display. And because it's using a stock-style battery cover, it adds the bare minimum of thickness to the phone, and you can quickly flip the case open (thus the name) to get to the phone.

Folks have asked about access to the buttons and cameras. You'll have to flip open the case to get to the buttons and front-facing camera. The rear camera's as available as it is without the case, but you'll still have to flip it open to activate the shutter.

Note that ShopAndroid.com currently has the blue model in stock. The white version will follow.

With a massive screen such as the one on the Samsung Galaxy Note, chances are it's going to be used to play some pretty sweet games. On-screen game controls still take something away from the gaming experience though, and while there are ways to use controllers, it's never the most elegant way of gaming.

One thing we can never accuse the Android community of, is a lack of creativity. What we see here is a bit of a homebrewed effort at creating a portable games console using a Galaxy Note, a PS3 controller, and some bits and pieces. The results are pretty impressive, and just goes to show what a bit of desire and creativity can do. 

Source: Clove

Clad in blacks and grays, the Nexus 7 itself may be an unassuming beast, but it seems manufacturer ASUS is looking to spice things up a bit with its range of covers. The Nexus 7 maker teased a first look at its official accessories for the soon-to-be-released tablet on Twitter, showing some more colorful versions of the grey case that's listed -- though not yet available -- on Google Play. There's no info on pricing or availability just yet, but we're sure Nexus 7 early adopters will be looking to protect their investment with something like this following the tablet's release.

More: Nexus 7 review

Source: @ASUS