Mobile | JayMonster Reviews

Alchemy for Android

September 7, 2010 By JayMonster Leave a Comment

Alchemy is really a very simple premise of a game. You start with 4 elements, and by combining them you create other elements (for example earth plus water equals mud), then from there you create other items by combining what you have. When I started out there was 270 items, but recently the author, through update has increased this total to 300.

Again, simple easy to understand and control wins the day. There is no lengthy manual for Alchemy… none is needed. Simply a couple of prompts that inform you of what to do on each screen and you are good to go. The things I like about games like Alchemy is that you can play them for as little or as much time as you have at any given time without losing your place. That being said, I have spent quite a bit of time mixing and finding combinations and have lost several hours to its addictive powers.

There are two things that make the game a bit frustrating… the negatives if you will. The first is that some of the combinations are just plain hard to figure out, and (as far as I can tell) there is no way, that based on logic alone that you will be able to figure all of them out. It has taken me at times, just addding a bunch of random items onto the screen to see what else I may come up with accidentally. The second is some of the items that are meant, I guess, as sort of tongue in cheek. For example (minor spoiler alert) combining cancer and Bicycle give you Lance Armstrong. I understand what they were going for… but it seemed a bit tacky to me.

But overall it is an enjoyable game that has a most excellent price of free. (It is ad supported). The author of the game on the website also offers “hint packs” as a source of revenue… this also borders a bit on the tacky side, but if you search the web, you will more than likely be able to find some clues without having to resort to paying for the clue packs. I don’t begrudge anybody for trying to earn money on the products they create, but I would rather he have a “pro” version that you could purchase, or just go ahead and have a donate link. Personally, I would be happy to pony up some cash for all the entertainment the game has provided. And right there, is about as good an endorsement as I think I can give. Here is a game that I would be willing to pay for, but (at least right now) you have have for the grand sum of nothing.

If you enjoy simple but addictive puzzle games, download it and give it a try. And don’t forget to come back and tell me what you thought of the game.

You can scan the following logo with your android phone and it will bring you directly to the game in the Android marketplace.

Filed Under: Software

First Look: Angry Birds for Android (BETA)

September 6, 2010 By JayMonster Leave a Comment

Angry Birds is nothing new for iPhone users, and I was more than a little curious why this game was so talked about and so highly anticipated coming to the Android platform. I have been told it is available for the WebOS platform, but did not see it on the market, and to be honest, while I like the WebOS platform, what few games I have tried playing on my Pre has left me running for the much bigger screens of my Android devices. But this is not about the Pre, it is about Angry Birds.

Now given the hype surrounding this game, I tried to prepare myself for a let down. After all, it is still just a BETA, and how could a game made for a phone be “all that?” For the few people that have not heard of Angry Birds before, the premise is quite simple. The back story is that a group of pigs stole bird eggs and the Angry Birds are trying to get them back. What the game does is bring you through a series of “fortresses” that the pigs hide in and you must launch from a pre-set slingshot the Angry Birds at the fortresses in an effort to take out the pigs. In a sort of sub game to the game, you get points for how much of the structure you take out, so while taking out the pigs on some of the earlier levels is relatively easy, you still wind up trying multiple times to maximize your score and garner a 3 star rating on each level.

I loaded the game on my Droid X, and the game graphics were incredibly sharp, and the game runs suprisingly smoothly considering it is a BETA (your milage may vary in this regard as I have seen a number of reviews complaining about issues with the game starting up… most notably on the HTC Evo 4G.

So, by now I am sure you are wondering, but how is the game itself. Well, to put it simply, I now understand why this game is so liked and was so highly desired. It is very addictive! How addictive? I had planned on writing this Saturday, but found myself engrossed in the 15 levels provided in the BETA (Lite) edition. The game is extremely easy to control and understand, it is just hard enough to keep it from being too easy, and hard enough to frustrate you into trying again and again. When you boil it down, it is really nothing more than a game of physics and geometry, lauching at this specific angle creates chain reactions and causes the structures to fall. I have seen in a few reviews claiming that the version for the iOS is a bit smoother, and if true, it must be an amazing feat, because this game plays incredibly smooth with no perceptible lag or jagged graphics on the Droid X.

While the Beta is currently free, if it keeps the same price as the iPhone version, you can expect it to cost around $4 once the game is officially released. The download weighs in at around 11.5 MB, so devices with limited space may find it a bit much (though if you have Froyo, you can load it on your SD Card), but other than that, I highly recommend downloading and trying out the Angry Birds BETA while it is available. Just be aware… you may find time slipping away as this game engulfs you when you first start playing.

Filed Under: Software

First Look: Windows Phone 7

September 1, 2010 By JayMonster Leave a Comment

I was quite excited when I found out that Microsoft would be showing off Windows Phone 7 at BlogHer ’10. I was even more thrilled when I was able to get a personal walk though of the device at a time when nobody else was around. I felt a bit more comfortable that I would get some complete answers rather than the typical marketing speak that you usually hear at such events.

Most of that worked out, I did get a fairly complete look at the new metro interface that graces Windows Phone 7, but I couldn’t get past the marketing speak, which I found somewhat condescending when they trying to use terms like “the myth of multi-tasking” to try and cover up some of the known flaws of this phone.

If you are paying attention to the SmartPhone market at all over the past couple of years, there are some obvious things going on. Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android are presently running away with the market. Palm has a decent contender in the WebOS, however some lousy hardware, a terrible marketing campaign (seriously what was up with the creepy, pasty white woman in their ads?), and pockets not deep enough, combined to keep WebOS from competing (though we will see what happens now that HP picked up Palm). And Microsoft. Poor, poor Microsoft was left holding the bag with the severely outdated and difficult to use Mobile OS that shed marketshare the way the winner sheds pounds on the Biggest Loser.

After finally acknowledging (after an simply abysmal launch of Windows Mobile 6.5) that they needed to go back to the drawing board, that is exactly what they did. They opted to try and mimic the model that worked so well for Apple. They took back control of the OS, the specs, the set requirements of what the phone must have in order to be allowed to put Windows Phone 7 on a device.

Except, they may have gone a bit too far in copying Apple. Major features like Cut and Paste and Multi-tasking, two huge issues for the iPhone for a long time (and finally included in iOS 4) will be missing from Windows Phone 7. Microsoft, while having a fairly strong hold on the Corporate market opted to go after the “fun and games” crowd, and tightly integrated this phone with both the Zune Marketplace and the Xbox. Which is fine if you are 16 to early 20s, but is going to do nothing endear them to corporate users or IT Departments.

The front screen shows the “social” face of the phone, the “hip” that Microsoft is going after (and failed to acquire with their aborted Kin product earlier this year). It is a cutesy interface, the sort that many Android phones sport, and most power users immediately take off the phone as soon as they get it home. Except you can’t do that with Windows Phone 7. The tile interface is broken down into what Microsoft calls “hubs” There are hubs for games, for apps, for social, etc. It looks fairly clean on a new device, but as each application adds itself to a hub and creates a tile for itself, I see this interface becoming cumbersome and unwieldly for most people to use.

People that are using devices like the Blackberry Bold, the Palm Pre or (heaven forbid) Windows Mobile 6.x devices might be able to be swayed over to Windows Phone 7, but at first glance I see nothing in Windows Phone 7 that could pull an iPhone or Android user over to the Microsoft camp. Honestly though, having been a developer dependent on Microsoft technologies for more years than I care to admit, if you look at Windows Phone 7 as a version 1.0 product (which really that is what it is since there is no legacy for older apps from Windows Mobile 6.x and earlier), then this might be fully flushed out, fixed and ready for prime time in Windows Phone 8 or 9. Considering that would mean 2 or more years down the road, based on this first look, I’d say look elsewhere for now, and then revisit Windows Phone X when your contract is us in a couple of years. There is no sense in bogging yourself down with this until they work everything out… unless you spend most of your life listening to music and playing your Xbox… if that is the case… then it might be worth waiting to see when the Windows Phone 7 Series phones hit the market and see if it is for you. But if you want to actually be productive and are still missing Microsoft, get an Android device and load the Bing app and Bing Maps… it will be like having a Microsoft device without the limitations of Windows Phone 7.

Filed Under: Featured, Mobile, Technology

Droid X

July 31, 2010 By JayMonster Leave a Comment

Due to a fortunate (for me) need to get a new phone for my princess, an opportunity arose. My wife was finally interested in getting a SmartPhone due to all the things I had told and shown her I could do with my original Droid, and the little one had be pestering us to get her something other than the Blitz pre-paid she has had for the past year. So, we shifting things around. The princess got the LG enV Touch that the wife had originally selected for herself, the Wife took command of the Droid, and that gave me the opportunity to go out and pick up the newest member of the Droid family of phones from Verizon Wireless, the Droid X.

For those that haven’t already seen or heard about the Droid X, this is one BIG phone. It sports a 4.3″ screen, roughly the same size as the HTC Evo available on Sprint. This is a huge plus for some, but a major drawback to others. Those with small hands or tiny pockets may find this phone unmanageably large, but at the same time it is easy to look at and read apps and websites from thanks to the larger size, and typing on the virtual keyboard is easy for even the most ham handed of us that have trouble typing on a smaller screen,

Like the Evo, the Droid X currently runs Android 2.1 (with 2.2 promised as an update later this summer). The Droid X includes a customized interface from Motorola (an improved version of MotoBlur, though Motorola is reluctant to use that name on the interface) that adds some functionality to the base Android operating system and a bit of eye candy for the iPhone envious types. 2.2 is supposed to increase speed, and I am curious just how much faster this phone can get, because with the 1GHZ OMAP processor supplied by Texas Instruments and the fact that Blur interface does not slow down the phone as much as Sense does on HTC phones like the Evo makes this phone crazy fast to begin with.

Call quality (yes iPhone users, some people actually care about call quality) is good, but not nearly as close to perfection as the original Droid was. That phone was as close to landline quality as I have had in a mobile phone. The X is good and better than many mobile phones out there, but just not up to the bar set by its older brother. The phone also has 3 microphones, the standard to speaking of course, a second for noise cancellation (which works, though not as well as most good noise cancelling Bluetooth headsets), and a third for shooting video.

The Droid X sports an 8MP camera (which is curiously defaulted to 5 MP), and HD video capture, which you can playback either through the HDMI output or through DLNA for those who have such enabled devices (I do not, so I couldn’t test the DLNA). As I mentioned, the Droid X has 3 microphones, and in a very nice (and smart) move, enable you to use the one on the back (where the camera is) if you are trying to record the sound from the source of the video, or you can enable it to use the standard phone speaker (on the face) if you are narrating what you are taking shooting in your video. It is not an earth shattering feature, but one that shows some forethought, and almost makes up for the fact that the Droid X does not have a front facing camera like the iPhone 4 or the HTC Evo.

The phone is incredibly thin, except for a protrusion at top where the camera and flash is housed. Since they took up that much space I was hoping that the camera performance (one of the weak spots of the original Droid) would be improved. And it is… somewhat. They camera is still a little sluggish in focus and shooting and while once again, daylight performance is good, in poor light the camera does not perform as well. Video performance however is as good if not better than any smart phone I have seen so far.

One of the biggest fears of a phone with a screen this large (and one of the biggest complaints most people have about the Evo) is battery life. Battery life on the Droid X is not as good as an iPhone, but better than the Evo, and actually (and quite surprisingly) about as good as the original Droid, that is to say, it will get you through the day with moderate use. A larger capacity battery will be offered later (presumably with a custom back cover replacement) that is supposed to offer longer life and only add a few millimeters of thickness to the phone if you actually need more time.

If the size is an issue, you may wish to wait for the Droid 2 which is anticipated to be released in mid August (sadly, the original Droid has not been served its end of life papers, and while you still may be able to find it in some stores or authorized dealers, I would be wary of recommending somebody buy of phone that is already discontinued, especially when you factor in the 2 year contract), or the Samsung Fascinate (I will have a review of this phone soon as well)… or if you can be patient enough for it to (finally) get back into stock, there is always the Droid Incredible. But if you want someething that can double as a small eReader (thanks to the Amazon Kindle app or Barnes and Noble Nook app), can play video (or the TV.Com app from CBS Interactive) that you can actually see and not have to squint, the the Droid X is an excellent member of the Droid line of Android phones from Verizon Wireless.

Filed Under: Featured, Mobile, Technology Tagged With: Android, Droid, Droid X, review, Verizon Wireless

Palm Pre Plus

June 7, 2010 By JayMonster Leave a Comment

There was a time I wouldn’t have bothered with looking at the Palm Pre Plus. Then a few things changed. None of them actually affect this phone directly, but did make a difference in how I look at the phone.

First of all was the acquisition of Palm by Hewlett-Packard. True this doesn’t make the phone itself better or worse. It does however breathe some new life into the WebOS platform, which is what I find most intriguing about this device. Palm took forever to build this new OS and it is every bit as stunning and smooth as described. The financial woes of the company concerned me however. But thanks to the takeover by HP, that is no longer a concern. I expect to see a new phone and/or a tablet running the WebOS before the year is out.

Then there is the price. Yes, SmartPhones are starting to take center stage in the mobile space thanks largely to the popularity of the iPhone and to a lesser extent some of the newer Android phone like the Droid, NexusOne and Evo, but all of those phones come with a price tag that is at or around $200… or more. True, the recently released version on at&t is at $149, but I expect that to drop in very short order as you can pick up the same exact phone (well, the CDMA version anyway) on Verizon for under $50. Yes, less than $50 (and free if you qualify for a New Every 2 rebate from Verizon Wireless). for a smooth (mostly) multi-tasking SmartPhone. Less than you would pay for messaging phone posing as a SmartPhone like the Kin 1 and Kin 2.

Now, the next reason is why I had this phone issued to me. VZW is currently (I don’t know when this offer ends) is throwing in the hotspot abilities for free. I had been begging my company for a Mi-Fi Card (a 3G wireless hotspot card) to go along with my corporate mobile. With this deal, I got both in one device, and can save the extra expense of a second account. Using it as a hotspot couldn’t be easier. Simply select the Hotspot “app” to turn it on, and find it with your laptop as you would any other wireless router, and boom, you are up and running on the Internet. (Just as a reminder, “unlimited” data means different things to different carries. With VZW 5 GB is “unlimited” at&t no longer offers an unlimited data plan at all, only offering a scam of a 250MB plan for $15 and a 2GB plan for $25/month. T-Mobile doesn’t charge users who go over 5GB, but reserves the right to “throttle” their bandwidth over 5GB, and Sprint currently says it has no plans to put any sort of cap on usage).

But what about the phone?

OK, so I have covered everything about the phone… except the phone itself. Let me start with the negatives first. (Since I know that I usually want to know up front if their is some dealbreaker up front rather than reading all the good stuff only to find that there is something that will prevent me from buying a particular phone).

Small screen. 4 or 5 years ago, when every phone was about how thin and/or small it was, this would have probably been considered a HUGE with a 3.1″ screen. Now, it is considered and feels tiny. Now granted, that may not be a negative to everyone. The phone is small and sleek, and almost feels like a polished stone in your hand. But when trying to browse the web, or even read an e-mail, that small screen can be annoying.

Small Keyboard. It is sad that the keyboard on the Pre Plus is *much* better than the original Pre. I guess it is better, but only marginally. Only the slightest of hands can possibly find this thing comfortable to type on for any length of time. True, the Droid’s keyboard is lacking as well, but at least with phones like the Droid, the Devour and other Android phones with a physical keyboard, you have the option of using the onscreen keyboard. The Pre Plus does not offer this convenience, so you have to get used to the keyboard.

No speed demon. Many people expected a boost in processor speed when the Plus came out, instead the same slower processor (a 550 Mhz OMAP) was put in here. It is enough for most basic tasks, but start using the great multi-tasking this device offers and suddenly you find lag coming up to bite you pretty quickly.

The Good Stuff

Since I only have VZW’s CDMA version, I can only speak for that one, but call quality on the phone is acceptable to good. Some might consider it great, but I was spoiled by the superb call quality of the Droid, and it is the gold standard by which I now judge, so the bar is set pretty high.

Screen clarity and contrast blows just about every other phone out of the water. I hated the whole concept of VZW marketing this phone as the “only phone to keep up with Mom” But I have to admit… they may be on to something there. I used this phone today is broad daylight. A bright sunny day, and I didn’t need to turn away from the sun or do anything else to read the screen. I could read it easily. The HVGA display looks almost “eInk” like in contrast quality making it the easiest I have seen in the bright sun. For the”soccer mom” trying to keep up with schedules, e-mails, Facebook posts, twitter, and so on, this is a major benefit. Heck, for anybody that needs to be able to read e-mails outside, this is a cool product for that alone.

Apps… yes it does to have apps. It may be disappointing to anybody coming from Android or an iPhone the number of apps that are currently available in the Palm App Catalog, but while small, at least it currently has an ecosystem to play with, which makes it better than messaging phones like the Kin 2 and Kin 2, the Chocolate Touch, the EnV Touch, etc.

Summing it up

So who is this phone for and who is it not? If your an Apple Fanboy, there is nothing here that will change your mind.

If it is about power… or apps or… or browsing the web… or other such things… then no, this may not be the device for you.

If you want a SmartPhone, but don’t want to pay the price for one of the bigger devices, but still want to be able to browse the web, and run an app here and there. Then yes this phone could be for you.

If keeping up with task lists and e-mails and calendars rule your life… this phone could be for you.

If you want a phone that easily fits into a shirt (or skirt) pocket… this phone could be for you.

If you want hot spot abilities to connect your other devices to the web wirelessly without having to buy a data card, this definitely could be the device for you.

The Pre Plus is more about the promise of what might come next more than what it is now. But what it is now, could be just enough to satisfy some people… especially at the current price.

What do others think?

Too Vague? Too Technical? Want another review from a real live parent using the phone (as opposed to those blogs that only want the “latest and greatest” and anything older is “outdated”), then also check out some other reviews of the Palm Pre from some of my favorite sources that I trust.

Busy Mom Reviews - Palm Pre Plus from Verizon Wireless Review and Giveaway

This Full House Reviews – Palm Pre Plus Blogger Review and Giveway

(sorry the giveaways are over, but the reviews are still worth reading).

Filed Under: Mobile, Technology Tagged With: Android, HP, iPhone, Palm, Pre, SmartPhones, WebOS