Paper Camera stands out among the wide sea of photography apps in the Play Store. When I first saw the real-time application of its quirky filters, I knew I was going to have fun using it. There’s a lot of potential for your photos with this app –  it’s just a matter of letting your imagination take the lead.

Controls

There are a dozen effects to choose from – but first, let’s look at the basic controls for taking and editing photos. Upon opening the app, the camera is immediately ready to take a photo with a default effect (Comic Boom). Take a photo by pressing the red camera icon in the bottom right corner.

The left and right arrow keys allow you to change the effects and view them using the app’s camera. Additionally, there are controls to adjust the photo’s properties such as contrast, brightness and line thickness. You can use these editing tools before or after you take a photo.

If you want to undo all the tweaking you just did with a photo, there is a Reset button for that. The paper icon opens existing images on your phone instead of taking a photo with the camera. You can then proceed with using the app’s effects and editing tools. Once you shoot an image, a Share button appears on the top right corner of the camera’s screen so you can share it to your preferred social network.

Main app screen

Although the controls look simple enough, it can be confusing to use them at first. I was also surprised to find that there are additional options when pressing on my phone’s Menu button: zoom, send photo by e-mail, toggle flash, and share.

A tutorial for the controls would be helpful for first-time users, considering some of the icons are unlabelled.

Effects

Now for the fun part. The twelve eccentric effects are the app’s best features. I particularly like how different they are from each other and how each is unique.

Comic Boom

This is the default effect when you open the app. It’s the closest thing you’ll get to converting your images into comic strip likeness.

Comic effect on soft toy

Sketch Up

This effect transforms your photos into a black-and-white pencil sketch. With its contrast of light and strong strokes, it’s great for portraits and random objects.

Purse rendered in sketched effect

Aquarello

Aquarello reminds me of my laughable attempts at watercolor painting when I was younger. This is a high contrast, saturated effect that gives any image intensity and lots of color.

Daytime Aquarello shot

Old Printer

True to its name, this effect might bring back memories of your old dot matrix printer. It truly makes any image fly back to 1994.

Parked train on Old Printer effect

Neon Cola

This effect is cool but a little bit tricky to use. I noticed it doesn’t detect soft lines and tends to work best on objects with clearly defined edges.

Coffee table clutter in Neon Cola

Con Tours

A more basic version of Sketch Up, this effect applies lesser, stronger pencil strokes.

Keyboard and mouse on Con Tours

Bleaching

A faded version of Comic Boom, this effect uses subdued colors and darker shadows.

Mug shot with Bleaching

Gotham Noir

This effect reminded me of the film Sin City. Dark and gritty, it transforms any photo into an interesting piece of art.

Beach in Gotham Noir

Half Ton

Light and ad-friendly, this effect can bring back any product shot to the 60′s.

7-Eleven's Big Gulp in Half Ton

Granny’s Paper

This effect renders the image into a dark brown canvass, giving any image the ultimate vintage look.

Coffee shop sign in Granny's Paper

Pastel Perfect

An effect that gives any image a feminine touch by retaining pastel hues. Great for flowers and other pleasant things.

Mug and pillow in Pastel Perfect

Andy Pop

A tribute to the founder of pop art, this Andy Warhol-inspired effect is as cool today as it was decades ago.

Baby in Andy Pop

 Conclusion

If you’re ready to take photo effects to the next level without having to worry about tweaking anything, then Paper Camera has got it all covered. With this app, there’s no need for guesswork when applying effects, as it’s immediately viewable on the Main screen. The effects themselves are also pretty impressive and definitely in a class of its own. For any photo enthusiast who wants to play with images, Paper Camera is one of the best apps to have.

So, it’s finally official: Google has acquired Motorola Mobility, after a lengthy process that began last August. Back then, Joe Casabona looked at why Google might have done this (aside from picking up some patents); today, I’d like to see what you’re hoping the news will mean.

Personally, I hope we see some quality handsets running vanilla (and up-to-date) Android. The Galaxy Nexus is great and all, but a whole range would be fantastic. Given the rumours from last week, I think this is quite likely.

I’m also keen to see Eric Schmidt’s goal being reached: for smartphones to get as cheap as feature phones.

What about you? I’ve put a few ideas into the poll already; feel free to add new ones, and clarify them in the comments below.

Immersive, easy-to-play and above all fun, Zombie Flick is a great addition to the series and demonstrates that the Play Store’s zombie fetish is far from over. Lock all your doors, board up your windows and read on for more…

Introduction

One the best-loved scenes from the popular British zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead was where protagonists Shaun and Ed throw kitchen items and then vinyl records at the heads of oncoming zombies. You can see the clip below (does contain the odd swear word):

This kind of action has been wonderfully crafted into game form with Zombie Flick. Using the trusted flicking methodology you might have picked up from playing any of Full Fat’s ‘flick’ series, throw household objects at the heads of zombie hordes and take them down! You are surrounded, so it’s all about how long you can last.

Alone and standing on a pile of throwable junk, you await the onslaught

Controls

To throw items you need to flick your finger over the heads of the zombies as they stagger towards you. Done correctly the item will fly true and take their heads off swiftly. You can also achieve multiple hits by dragging your finger in a line across the heads of other zombies; the resulting toss can result in a multiple take down! If you miss their heads they don’t automatically die, just fall to the floor and crawl towards you.

Slo-mo mode lets you fling multiple objects in quick succession

Zombies come at your from all sides (you begin at a kind of crossroads on a pile of throwable stuff), so to turn you need to tap the side of the screen to face a new direction. This movement is remarkably smooth and makes the game quite realistic.

With enough hits you build up a fantastic slo-mo bonus which slows time right down for a short period and lets you throw multiple items in quick succession. Another element you have control over is the barriers that surround and protect you. After a heavy zombie attack, these depreciate and need to be repaired. You do this by tapping repeatedly to fix them.

Repair barriers by tapping

Graphics

Graphics are deliciously 3D and pretty much console quality throughout. The zombies are well lit, very detailed and animated perfectly in the stooping, lurching, staggering style of popular films. There are plenty of different zombie types, however: some are harder to kill while others will run at you. This is all rendered brilliantly and looks superb.

Thrown correctly, even a banana will take the head off a zombie

The throwing motion is gore-tastic with slick detail and the slow-motion modes are also incredibly visualised. There are seemingly hundreds of items to throw and each of these look great (especially as they fly through the neck of a zombie!).

Sound

Sound is extremely rich and diverse. The music is cinematic and perfectly done and the sound effects are numerous. I particularly liked the item-specific sounds you get in the game. For example, if you pick up a Speak n Spell machine (remember them?!) it will momentarily talk, spelling out the words ‘Full Fat’, pretty cool. There are radios that make suitable noises as well. It’s quite simple really, but adds to the realism and immersive nature of the game.

Typical game view. The one in the middle is tough and throws dumbells at you

You then, of course, get the unsubtle noises of gore as items take off the heads of your enemies. This perhaps isn’t a game for the faint hearted or very young – the rating is Medium maturity and I think for good reason!

Downloading

The game costs £0.69 ($0.99) and with that you get all the modes to unlock and a starting pack of items to throw. These are all pretty effective and work well. However you can also, for an extra cost, download additional item packs which certainly look more deadly than rolls of toilet paper and frisbees.

In-app purchasing will let you buy extra item packs

I’m not the biggest fan of this model – when you pay for a game I think that should be it and you shouldn’t be made to feel like your’re missing out if you don’t get extra resources. Full Fat might be forgiven as the game is exceptionally fun and thoroughly enjoyable, but I really don’t like this mode of monetization and I hope it’s just a phase developers grow out of.

Addictiveness

Zombie Flick is pretty addictive too. You have to score a certain amount to unlock later modes and it’s clearly a game Full Fat are continuing to develop more for. There are also loads of stats to build up: total time played, zombies killed, headshots, longest streak, objects thrown, accuracy, slo-mo time and more. If you have a competitive spirit, this alone will keep you coming back. Additionally there are a few different scoreboards in the game, so if you want to see your name up there you’ll have to keep trying.

Various scoreboards

The only thing that put me off a little was how difficult it was. Hitting zombies is fine, but there are so many of them you can decapitate before your flicking finger becomes tired! However I think once you get into it and your accuracy improves it gets a bit better. The game is certainly enjoyable and there’s clearly more to come – new modes and new achievements which haven’t been added to the game yet – so it’s a title that will evolve a little in the coming weeks and months.

Zombie Games

To suggest the Play Store isn’t swarming with Zombie titles would be incredibly naive and the words of someone who really has been bolted up in a secure place for some time. Not so long ago we even compiled a round up of apps to help you survive a zombie apocalypse, but specifically zombie themed titles continue to come thick and fast, much like the undead masses they market. Gaming behemoths Zynga have recently got in on the zombie action with the release of ZombieSmash and it would seem many game series have a zombie spin-off.

The last thing you see

The undead continue to intrigue popular culture in a variety of ways, from the ongoing Resident Evil series of films (themselves of course based on video games) to truly ingenious events such as 5K Zombie Infested Obstacle Races at runforyourlives.com. With this kind of popularity I’m sure new zombie games will continue to be developed and loved.

Conclusion

Zombie Flick is a through-and-through beautiful app that engages players from the moment you open it. With clever wordplay the ‘Flick’ means the controls, but also the ‘movie’ feel of the menus and non-game screens. Really clever and incredibly potent for gamers who love zombie films. I think Zombie Flick ticks lots of gaming boxes. If you like zombies, action games or any of Full Fat’s ‘flick’ series of games, you will undoubtedly enjoy Zombie Flick.

It will happen eventually

As games go it has everything you might look for: it’s got great graphics and brilliant sound, it’s easy to play, and it features enjoyable gameplay. I think it could be argued that it becomes a little repetitive, but with new modes to be released and unlocked it will improve with future updates regardless. Definitely give it a try.

Fluffy Delusions, the developer behind Extensive Notes, recently released a new app called App Garden, which takes all those extra tools and wraps them together into a single multi-purpose package. The point of the app is to provide dozens of tiny but useful tools to help you with day-to-day tasks without having to install separate apps for each one.

In this post, I’ll try to make sense of what the app has to offer, where it shines and where it needs more work. It is a tough ask, mind you, since there are so many tangentially different things you can do with this thing. Let’s start with a quick overview of what it has on offer.

Swiss Army Knife… and Then Some!

Calling App Garden a Swiss Army Knife for Android might well be an understatement. It come with not 10, not 20, but a whopping 45 apps at last count – some of them even with more apps within them. I’ll not bother covering everything here for the sake of brevity, but here’s a quick sample:

• Health related tools like BMI calculator, calorie intake, body fat, heart rate, and metabolic rate calculators
• Language tools like dictionary, thesaurus, spelling suggestions, phrase lookup, word suggestions, and pronunciation guides.
• Music and movie related tools including album art search, artist information, and film reviews and info.
• Finance related tools like mortgage calculator, tip calculator, stock quotes, and tax calculators.
• Knowledge and general information tools like Wikipedia search, weather, urban dictionary, and area code lookup.
• Miscellaneous utilities like reminders, stopwatch, timer, unit and currency conversion, notes, audio recorder, and system stats.

A very small subset of the tools in App Garden

And trust me, I’ve not even listed half of what’s available. As you can tell from the list, the developer went all out in trying to cram anything and everything that one might want on their phone into one tiny package (and I do mean tiny – it’s under 1 MB).

On deeper inspection it is evident how they have managed to do that, but I’ll come to that later. For now, I’ll focus on that fact that all of this does prove useful when you get down to using it. Most smartphone users tend to download and install tens, if not hundreds of apps on their phones, only to use them just once in a while, so having all these small tools waiting for you to feel the need for one, without hogging all the memory and screen space on your phone, can be quite empowering.

Of course, you can expect to be sliding through a long list of nearly 50 apps to find what you need, so there’s the “Favorites” list so you can pin the ones that you think you will be using most and have really quick access to just those at a glance. As far as app-wide features go, this is pretty much as fart as App Garden goes. You can set your preferred location, currency and units from the app’s Settings menu, so the tools will start up the way you need them.

The Favorites list and Settings

It is hard to choose favorites when there are so many things one can do with the app, but if I were to highlight some of my most used tools from App Garden, it would have to be the timer, financial calculators and unit conversion. Although the unit conversion toolset contains currency as well, that one’s pretty much unusable because the list of currencies is not sorted in any decipherable way. Given how many options there are, it is close to impossible to find what you are looking for without literally going through all hundred-odd entries one by one!

Calculators and the rather intimidating list of currencies

Minimalism Above All Else

So here’s the downside of trying to cram all of that power into a tiny little package: all you get are the bare basics. Sure, the app feels extremely minimalistic and turns out to be pretty snappy in the process, but there are times when it leaves much to be desired.

Take the timer, for example: you can set a time and the app will count down just fine, but there is no audio or vibration notification at the end. You need to be looking at your phone to be able to tell when it reaches zero. The Start and Stop buttons are always there and active, so I can tap the Start button while the timer is on, although nothing happens. This is a common pattern across most of the tools.

Also, tools often have the exact same look, with absolutely no way to tell what they are supposed to do. Look at the example below. The two screens belong to the Timer and the Audio Recording tool. Can you tell which is which?

Timer and Audio Recorder - your guess is as good as mine

To top it off, a big chunk of the functionality is dependent on an active data connection. That would be generally fine, as long as the app made it clear that it couldn’t do something because you don’t have a data connection. Instead, App Garden just throws a “An error has occurred” message at you. The least one would expect is a message explaining what the error was.

Another example of simple oversight is the list of currencies, which (as I mentioned before) is not sorted in any decipherable way. It is minor niggles like this that take away from an otherwise excellent and well rounded toolset.

Conclusion

At its core, App Garden gets the idea right – it’s a set of disparate tools all packaged together for you to use the way you need to. It is a no-frills yet comprehensive app that set out to do some simple things and do them well. There are niggles and surprising omissions that keep the app from being really great, but don’t really take away too much from the feat it achieves in the end.

QuickPic

A great, very lightweight picture viewer, which loads pictures faster than the standard Gallery app. The only downside is that, to do this, it has to build a thumbnail cache and a preview cache, which slows things down a bit initially.

Quick Pick. A great Gallery Alternative.

Instagram

I’ve been waiting for Android to get Instagram since I first saw iOS users posting snaps on Twitter and Facebook. I really like how it integrates with the social networks and also has a network of its own.

Captain Jack Sparrow and Master Yoda chilling on my laptop.

The filters are amazing and the newly added Tilt-Shift effect is well designed and very cool. The application is also stable; it doesn’t crash or freeze. In fact, it moves quite fast on a nearly-one-year-old LG Optimus One P500.

Battle.net Authenticator

If you have an online Battle.net Account and want that extra safety, this application is very useful. Once you’ve linked it to your account, every time you log in through the website you’ll be asked for an authentication code. Just fire up the application and type in the code that it provides.

A very simple and clean user interface.

It only uses data when you link to your account and for those of you who are worried, no I doesn’t use your whole data plan; just a few megabytes.

Be sure to write down some of the information that is provided after you link it. You’ll need it to restore your Authenticator if you reinstall the application.

Google Play Music

The Music Player that comes with Android feels very outdated, and frankly I think it should be replaced with the new and more modern looking Google Play. This music player has a more refined look to it, both on smartphones and tablets – and being able to store 20,000 music tracks on Google’s servers is a great plus. It means that you have your music anywhere with an internet connection.

The Great UI for Google Play

Lets not forget about the Instant Mix feature, which creates a playlist based on a single track. Sure, it’s not the most polished feature of Google Play, but it’s pretty good.

Kingsoft Office

As a student I have most of my lectures in an electronic format, and this application can read pretty much every format I need: from PDF files, to Word Docs, to even Excel spreadsheets.

A Microsoft Word Document opened up in Kingsoft Office.

It also has some nifty options like text reflow after pinch to zoom. The only problem is that this feature is dependable on the format of the document. I’ve noticed that documents that don’t have standard formatting (and by that I mean equal indents for each paragraph) it just zooms and does not reflow the text. This might be annoying for people with small screened devices, but it’s not a deal-breaker.

ES File Explorer

Like I said, I am a student. I keep most of my notes on my phone, using it like a small notebook. Every time I need to look up something I just pull out my phone, load ES File Explorer, and immediately find a document.

Explore your files with ES File Explorer

As you can guess from the name, ES File Explorer is designed to explore files on your phone’s storage – so you’ll need to keep your folders organized to make the most of it. It also features a FTP browser for those who want to pull down files off their own servers.

Calendar

Yes, I’m talking about the built-in Calendar application. It doesn’t have all the fancy features of premium calendar apps, but it does have what I need: Google Calendar synchronization and notification reminders. Frankly, you don’t need anything else.

Different Views of Calendar

I’ve scheduled all my exams and tasks, and I’ve never missed a test or deadline (well, almost). If you’re on ICS you also get the great Holo Theme which in my book is the best thing since Android.

Gmail

Last but not least, another great application that I use is Gmail. I get around 30 e-mails per day (from work, college, Facebook and various newsletters) and without Gmail I would be lost.

Gmails Great Holo Theme

Google has done a great job with the service in general, and the app is no exception – especially the Holo Themed version for Ice Cream Sandwich. Every time I open it up all of my labels show up in the e-mail header and because they’re color coded I can easily find what e-mails I’m interested in.

All and all these might seem like your typical run-of-the-mill applications, but they do their job very well, even if there’s nothing too fancy about them. I use them on a daily basis and I’ve never encountered any problems. I’ll happily recommend them to anyone.

Fortunately, there are many Android apps built for just this type of help – let’s take a look!

Recipe Search

Though design isn’t my top concern when looking for a worthwhile food app, Recipe Search impressed me with its intuitive interface. All the recipes are well categorized and easy to navigate through, and there are neat extras like ‘Top recipes of the day’ and cook-off competitions between users. But the thing that really sets it apart from the rest is its very active forum accessible right from within the app.

The only downside is that you need to be connected to the Internet to browse through or find recipes – though at least this is better than having to download every single recipe at once, as some apps insist on doing.

Price: Free
Requires: Android 1.5 or above
Market Link: Recipe Search
Developer: allthecooks.com

Timer

Now you’ve got your recipes, it’s time to get cooking! However, with you being busy handling the rest of the house, it becomes easy to forget your cake in the oven – at least until you start smelling it burning. This app will help you remember to check how your baking’s going.

Start a new timer by tapping in a name, turning the knob and hitting the start button; you can also run multiple timers at the same time. That’s pretty much it for functionality, but then what else would you want it to do?

Price: Free
Requires: Android 1.6 or above
Market Link: Timer
Developer: Intuitit

Chore Master

In contrast to Recipe Search, this is not the most beautiful app to work with. Nevertheless, it definitely earned its place here, with its great task management features. It’s especially good at tracking time spent on different chores or errands.

To get started, create a profile, at the ‘Newbie’ Level, and start recording the time you spend on chores. For every chore you complete, you earn a point. Get the necessary number of points, and you’ll level up! Chore Master can chart the number of minutes you’ve spent on housework over the week, and display pie-charts showing how you’ve split your time.

Price: Free
Requires: Android 1.5 or above
Market Link: Chore Master
Developer: mindbeach

DressCARE

DressCARE makes it easy and straightforward to decipher those strange symbols on your clothing tags. You scroll dials to match the symbols on the screen to the ones on your tag, and the app tells you what they mean: “Do not tumble dry” or “Machine wash normal”, for instance.

You can filter your search according to criteria like the type of laundry (washing, bleaching, ironing, and so on) and feature (like temperature to wash at, and things not to do). I didn’t even know so many laundry symbols even existed, but now dealing with them has become a breeze.

Price: Free
Requires: Android 1.6 or above
Market Link: DressCARE
Developer: Lyubozar Dimitrov

Baby Monitor & Alarm

The first thing you’ll notice when you load Baby Monitor and Alarm is the design. It’s definitely designed for babies although I don’t know why, because it’s not like they will be using it.

The app listens for sound activity, with the sensitivity being adjustable. If it hears any sound, like that of a baby crying, it has three different options on what to do. The first is to call a predefined ‘Alert Phone Number’, which of course is of the baby’s caretaker. The second option plays the mother’s prerecorded voice in an attempt to calm the crying baby. The third option allows you to play any sound, which could be a lullaby or Coldplay’s Paradise.

Price: $2.99
Requires: Android 1.6 or above
Market Link: Baby Monitor & Alarm
Developer: TappyTaps

MORF

I’ve saved the best for last. MORF is my favorite of these apps, and one of my favorite apps ever. Its tagline is “extraordinary uses for everyday things”, which sums it up nicely. The app offers all sorts of awesome MacGuyver-style tips and tricks for many, many objects, arranged into five sections:

• What can I do with… – Objects listed along with their uses
• How can I… – Possible problems listed with their solution
• Search – Search the use of an object, or for a How To
• Make a MORF – Add a MORF to the database
• MORF of the day – The most voted MORF of the day

MORF also has social features that allow you to Like a MORF on Facebook, tweet it, or just vote it up for MORF of the day.
Price: $1.08
Requires: Android 2.1 or above
Market Link: MORF
Developer: Inochi Ventures

Got any other apps or tips for how you can get more out of your handset around the home? I’d love to hear them!

The Basics

PlayUp allows you to share and IM, almost exactly like Facebook or Twitter, but focusing on a a little more than just general socializing. You choose which sport you want to keep updated on, and have the option of selecting either a live game or a past game; PlayUp then displays the game’s stats along with the posts of other users that are keeping themselves updated on the same game.

PlayUp Menu

PlayUp also allows any user to create different rooms and private chats during a current game, which makes socializing even more simple. The basic interface of the app is very clean and easy to use, even for people new to Android. There are many other sports apps for score updates, like ScoreMobile and ESPN ScoreCenter, but they lack the social features of PlayUp.

Social Features

While posting about your games you may share your favorite posts with Facebook and also Twitter. PlayUp is focused on the game scores and keeping you updated, offering notifications for scores, friend alerts, team scores, private messages, posts, hangouts, and more. As well as all this, the app also makes it easy invite other friends from Facebook and Twitter.

PlayUp Game Stats

The social features do require Facebook and Twitter to use them fully, unfortunately; I hope they will add an email login for the users who do not want to link their other social accounts.

Messaging and Posts

The app allows you to post both public and private messages to your friends and other sports fans. The messaging adds a great feature that other game score apps do not have available; it is very easy and clean and makes watching sports just that bit more entertaining.

However, the first time I checked out the posts on a game’s page, they were quite full of spam. PlayUp may currently be working on the issue of spam, but currently this does cause a very big issue with socializing and the complete experience of the app itself.

Graphical Interface

The application itself is easy to use and is looks great. PlayUp has sliders and clear buttons for ease of use, and overall feels very sleek and well made.

When viewing posts and replying to them, sharing them is just one button away. The sharing buttons for posts and feeds are right above they keyboard which I love – much better than having a drop-down menu or having the options off to the side somewhere. Details like this really add up.

Score Feed

PlayUp offers an enormous amount of sports to choose from, with live scores and stats for over 28,000 games. It also offers boards of currently live games to choose from across the world.

After choosing which game category you would like to view, you may choose whether you want a live game, a past game or an upcoming game. It shows the current scores between teams, and you may easily change the week and day to filter games.

PlayUp Live and Past Games

At the end of the game you have chosen, the app displays a pop-up box of the last play with the player name and other information. It also displays the top performances of the total players and their info.

Available Languages

At the moment PlayUp only supports English, Italian, and Korean. The last two languages are recent additions, so I think it’s likely that more languages will be added as the app grows.

App Permissions

The app itself has access to quite a few permissions – phone calls, storage, system tools, hardware and vibration controls, and all network communication tools – but does not overload with unneeded app persmissions so seems safe to use.

Comparison

PlayUp is missing some great features that other apps have – for instance, other apps have a wide range of subjects of videos, such as footage of the games, special plays, and interviews with the players. There’s also no sports news feed covering general information about matches, announcements, and so on.

That’s not necessarily a problem; just bear in mind that this is primarily a social app, not a sports news and info app.

Final Thoughts

PlayUp gives you way more than just a way to catch up on scores, it gives you a whole new way to interact and share with other sports fans. Compared to the other sports apps available on Android, PlayUp is missing some great features as listed above, but does have some unique features that may make up for that, depending on what you’re looking for.

When I used it I had a great experience with the app itself. I did have minor issues with loading some elements but the issues stopped after some time, so I’m not sure whether it was an issue with my phone or on PlayUp’s end. I would highly reccomend PlayUp to any hardcore sports fans.

The Nexus One, Nexus S, and Galaxy Nexus are all flagship Google phones, each being the first to use the then-latest version of Android (2.2, 2.3, and 4.0, respectively), each being free of any third-party UIs like TouchWiz or Sense, and each being the only flagship phone at any one time.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google might change how it handles that last point. Apparently, rather than partnering with one handset manufacturer at a time to create a single, de facto flagship device, Google might work with up to five manufacturers at once, to create a whole stable of Nexus devices – including tablets.

For more details, read the original article. Do you think it’s a good idea?

If you like dairy, and also like your games Mario-esque and dripping in cheese, this is the game you’ve been waiting for. Grab a cracker or some nachos and read on for more…

Intro and Controls

You control Manu – who sits inside a cogwheel – using the two arrows on the left-hand side of the screen to roll left or right. When you need to, there is a jump button on the right-hand side. Typically, the in-game physics work as you would expect; you need to avoid falling into the molten lake of fondue that poses a real hazard throughout the early levels. Some blocks can be broken by charging into them, which requires a double tap in the direction you want to smash. Pretty cool, and it obviously adds to gameplay and level design.

Levels are well created and full of detail

The joy of Manu’s cogwheel vehicle is that it can climb walls; all you need to do is walk into one and Manu will begin to ascend. This certainly adds to the dynamics of the intelligently designed levels as you get to climb quite a lot and it allows you access to plenty of otherwise inexplorable areas. It’s often in these hidden areas you find the recipes you need to collect. There are three in each level and they’re not always easy to spot, so it’s certainly worth spending some time and exploring every nook and cranny to find them all.

Levels are bright, colourful and rich with places to explore

Other tasks to perform include collecting little Mousy coins. There are plenty of these dotted about, but can you find them all? Levels differ and feature all kinds of environments but each tend to be that little bit trickier than the one before it. You will encounter all kinds of obstacles and apparatus to help or hinder you but at the end of each level is a little flag you must raise.

The Super Mario Factor

You may have noticed the significant nod this level end marker gives to the world of Super Mario – and it’s not the only reference. You take out baddies by jumping on them and they move very similarly to the way the creatures move in the popular Nintendo games. Additionally there are various areas that are accessible by smashing brickwork. You do this in exactly the same way you would have done with Mario: standing underneath it and jumping. To be honest, I thought this homage to the Mario games was sincere and quite cute – it certainly makes some of the gameplay features automatically familiar.

Some levels appear heavily inspired by Super Mario

Graphics and Sound

The world within Cheezia: Gears of Fur is a bright one, full of colour, animation and movement. The graphics are remarkably slick and controls are responsive. It’s an immersive and engaging cartoon world of gloopy cheese, spinning wheels, platforms, baddies, recipes and coins. Everything looks incredibly smooth and natural, making the game a joy to play but also great to look at. There are plenty of small animations and effect too which bring the world to life. For example, when you smash bricks Mario-style there are little clouds of dust, and when you jump on a baddie he kind of bounces off the screen.

Smash brick-work like Mario

Everything is strictly 2D but this shouldn’t put off gamers who like their graphics as realistic as possible. Simply put, if you enjoy platform games, this is a visual treat and well worth checking out.

Sound too is very polished and well thought out. I’ve played some great games in the past that have been tragically let down by terrible music and sound effects, however Cheezia: Gears of Fur is very different. The soundtrack is catchy and gentle, while the sound effects; jumping, collecting coins and recipes are refreshingly subtle, meaning you won’t be reaching for volume settings too quickly to turn it all off.

Addictive

Because the game is so very easy to pick up and play, and offers rich environments, things to collect, places to explore and a cute narrative, the game is typically very addictive. Although the blurb doesn’t explain it very well this game offers the first world absolutely free. Here there are six levels which is more than enough to get a feel for the game. You can unlock 16 more levels if you buy the full game which, at £1.19 ($1.89), isn’t very expensive.

Bounce on the heads of baddies to kill them

I did feel that the first six levels were quite easy and quick to complete, so I think this level count might be a little on the small size. I guess, however, that, as the game gets more popular, some more might be added as we so often see with games like this. These free levels do give you plenty to go on, though, so by the end you’ll know for certain whether you want to continue the adventure and purchase the full game.

Avoid the molten cheese

Similar Games

You can’t get too far into the game without noticing the Mario themes, and there’s certainly some Sonic the Hedgehog-style rolling influence too. While we haven’t seen the small Italian Plumber splash onto Android in any official manner, Sonic already has had a couple of adventures (Sonic 4 Episode 1 and Sonic CD) ported to the Android environment, so there is some familiarity there.

Climb walls with your handy cogwheel

There is an original Cheezia game which is a kind of cute cheese packing puzzle title. While the gameplay is completely different, if you really like the Cheezia universe, this might also be worth checking out.

There are, of course, plenty of 2D platform games on Android. Perhaps some of the best known include Cordy, Muffin Knight and Roboto. Each has proven to be very popular and worth exploring if you haven’t already. Cheezia: Gears of Fur is a superb game that adds itself well to the very best of this genre. It offers a different kind of gameplay in a familiar setting which, while it doesn’t break boundaries, is fun, engaging and perfect for both children and adults.

Thankfully there are checkpoints to save your progress

In Conclusion

Cheezia: Gears of Fur is a brilliant example of great platform gaming on the Android platform. Graphics, sound and gameplay are all superb and there are some cool physics-based control features which make the title stand out. It’s addictive, fun to play and enjoyable for adults and children alike.

I think perhaps the full version of the game requires a few more levels to make purchase more appealing, but if you’re a big fan of the platforming genre it will make sense to upgrade and get the extra levels. There’s very little not to love about this gorgeous little mouse-based homage to Super Mario, and I would certainly recommend to anyone to give it a spin.

Organization requires three separate tools: a calendar, a to-do list, and a shopping list. They are all needed in our every day life and it’d be nice if they all worked together in tandem, and worked for the whole team (or family). Cozi is all of these tools in one convenient app, and they’ve included a journal to boot…

Getting Started With Cozi

Getting started with Cozi is as simple as heading to Cozi.com and signing up for an account for your family. It’s easy to invite the rest of the members and they all log in with the family password. The Android app is available in the Google Play Store for free (and also as an ad-free paid version).

The Tools

You’ll be impressed by the tools you’ll have at your fingertips:

A Calendar

Many people stick with the same ol’ Google Calendar to keep life on schedule, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Using the Cozi Calendar just adds that little bit of synergy working together with the rest of the app and staying accessible to the whole family. Each family member can have their own calendar events and can even view them together on one easy to follow family calendar.

Cozi Calendar Interface

Adding and viewing appointment dates is as simple as in any other calendar app, and you can even have a weekly summary of the family calendar – an appointment guide of sorts – emailed to each family member each week so you can all stay on the same page.

A to-Do List

The to-do list part of the Cozi app has everything you’d want in a to-do list app. You can easily add and delete tasks, cross them off as you go, and even switch up the order as importance changes.

Cozi To-Do Interface

As Cozi does well, each member of the family can have their own to-do lists. This means that the husband’s to-do list widget on his Android can turn into his honey-do list for the wife at home adding tasks for him on her laptop (using Cozi’s web interface, of course).

Then there is room for a general to-do list for the whole team to work on and cross off as the tasks are accomplished.

A Shopping List

Shopping lists are a dime a dozen in the Store but it’s hard to find a good one. I haven’t personally found a better shopping list app than Cozi. It works very similarly to the to-do list but is more catered to reminding you what you need to get at the store. You can have several categories of shopping lists going at once, letting you keep your head on straight while out and about.

Cozi Shopping List Interface

Just like the to-do list, the shopping list is made super easy to update on the go. One family member can be at the local market tearing through their list of grocery items, and someone else can remember something they forgot to add to the list and go ahead and edit it and have it sync on the fly. You may want to shoot the person a message just to make sure they notice the new item though.

A Family Journal

Cozi’s Journal makes it very easy to keep the rest of the family aware of what’s going on. This tool can be used in several ways, such as letting others know how specific events went or just taking a quick photo of something interesting you come across that the rest of the family might find cool.

Cozi Journal Interface

The app has a simple interface which allows the user to quickly add text or a photo for sharing. It’s kind of like a mini blog for the eyes of your family only. Just one more way to bring the family closer when everyone has their own busy schedules.

Widgets Are Wonderful

One of the reasons Android rocks is because of widgets. You can use one of your home screens to keep an eye on just about anything you can imagine. Cozi has several size options for each of the first three tools: the calendar, to-do list and shopping list. In fact, you can have several widgets housing several different lists. For example, you can have both your own to-do list and the shared to-do list as widgets on the same home screen.

Cozi Widgets

Editing a list or calendar is as easy as tapping the widget. You also have simple access to the settings by tapping the gear icon in the lower corner.

Conclusion

Cozi really is several apps brought together into one synergistic app syncing the whole family’s lives into one convenient place. But as far as whether or not Cozi is for you… that depends. How many lives are you trying to bring together in an organized way? This could mean your family, or a group of work colleagues. If you’ve got a group of people you need on the same page, Cozi can work for you.

One downside of Cozi is that the Android app is currently only available in North America. They plan on opening it to the rest of the world eventually, but it’s not clear when. Meanwhile, the website is open and so is the mobile version of the website, albeit with limited functionality.

If you are lucky enough to be able to get the Cozi Android app, you will see how simple it can become getting your family organized, on the same page, and closer together through the Internet and Android phones.