The first iPhone in 2007 planted the seeds of the notion of a transformation in productivity in the minds of people. It seemed like the last straw to drowning souls when you think about those who expected to reduce their procrastination or stop it altogether. Other expectations were such as doing serious stuff on the go and multitasking more. The email apps failed dismally to meet these expectations. They seemed innovatively designed to accumulate your unread mail in your inbox very effortlessly.

It would seem like a long shot to now dream of an app that actually makes emailing easy. Even so, a number of brilliant startups appear to have learnt well from the strengths and weaknesses of previous productivity apps like the email, to-do-list, calendar, and personal assistant apps. After five years of the wanting existence of the App Store, there is now a suit of email apps that are attuned to the usage habits and needs of iPhone users.

Sparrow ($2.99)

Sparrow is so much more superior to Google’s Gmail app and Apple’s Mail app that Google couldn’t help buying it in 2012. It is an iPhone mail client that has an intuitive design featuring a unified inbox, new threading system, photos and images attachment, and pane navigation. There is full POP and IMAP support, which means that you have access to your Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, iCloud, Google Apps, Mobile Me, and custom POP/IMAP accounts. You feel the love put into the design radiating as you manage your inbox and soak into the joy of having an efficient mailing experience. Though Push notification is still missing, you’ll never look back with Sparrow.

Mailbox (Free)

Mailbox is one ultra-hyped 2013 iPhone app with such an alluring “snooze” functionality that you can’t afford to miss out. This function lets you remove select messages from your inbox temporarily to return them when it suits you. The app works splendidly with Gmail accounts and is the quick answer to those who need a quick way to handle the steady torrent of messages when they are on the go. You can just quick swipe your messages into the archive or trash, and the click of a button will convert other emails into snooze emails. In short, it archives, temporarily kicks out, or deletes messages to allow you to respond to your important mails. Mailbox has been designed to bring a whole new inbox with fast, light, and mobile friendly emailing. Released just weeks ago, the app has already acquired wait list of over 750,000 people. Tells a lot- doesn’t it?

Triage ($1.99)

If you are caught up in an un-ending battle to maintain your email inbox at zero but Mailbox is too feature-heavy to let you do this, you need Triage. This is the new solution to email burden for iPhones. Triage is a new but rather basic email app that is designed to help you chip away the mail piling in your inbox to zero. It won’t actually replace your email app; it just keeps your unread count low. You can think of it as more of a simple Mailbox in basic functionality since both are designed to lighten your inbox. Triage stands out because it takes on a first-aid approach to email by giving you an option to archive or to keep. However, you may find it simple to the extreme and opt for another alternative.

Email ‘n Walk ($0.99)

Picture this wild idea, dripping with fantasy, of being able to spy on your friends with your iPhone camera while typing a mail. This is the very clever reality Email ‘n Walk brings. It overlays the window for composing email on top of your iPhone’s camera view so you can see behind your phone as you compose the mails. It certainly has “your back” as it lets you watch where you’re stepping as you walk. Once your email is written and ready for sending, you just have to hit send for the normal window in Mail to open. Of course it’s not recommended that you entrust your life to your iPhone’s camera, but there is no reason why you shouldn’t have some naughty fun!

Taskbox ($2.99)

For the very first time, we have Taskbox available as a free app on the App Store. This iPhone mail client has a clean, intuitive design and will help you reduce your inbox to zero while converting the emails into tasks. The swipe function is much like that of Mailbox, as you perform actions by simply swiping right or left. In just under 60 seconds, you can archive, delete, complete and add tasks and have a very clear inbox. You get to organize your emails by due date, received date, and priority. Taskbox is one app you shouldn’t waste time getting as the free edition may be on for just a limited period. What’s more, what better way is there to manage your hectic Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Google Apps, and AOL account inboxes?

According to a research study, an experimental iPhone app could become critical to the treatment of heart attacks.

Presented at the American Heart Association’s Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2013, the study claims this inexpensive app could speed treatment for the most fatal heart attack, known as STEMI (ST segment elevation myocardial infarction), which involves a clot blocking blood flow to the heart, by transmitting diagnostic heart images more quickly and reliably than the usual emailing of the photo images.

In this study, the app transmitted the iPhone photo images of the electrocardiogram (ECG) in 4-6 seconds, compared to 17-48 seconds for the large-size e-mail images and 38-114 seconds for the actual-size images. Its failure rate is 120 seconds, which is a little under 0.5 percent, compared to the 3-71 percent failure rate of e-mail.

According to the study’s lead author, David R. Burt, M.D., “Simple cellular technology can save lives.”

The researcher, who is an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, said, “This system may make pre-hospital ECG transmission a more inexpensive and reliable option. That can translate to faster treatment and saved lives.”

The app has been designed to take an ECG photo, center it, reduce its size, and still maintain clarity. It is currently undergoing tests.

Image: Forbes

Free app of the week! No questions asked, no ratings checked, no quick peek at the screenshots. just tapped download. And what? Phoster is awesome.

On a first glance, this looked like an app for professionals or business owners who could design posters on their own. I wondered why the Editors would select an app with such narrow spectrum of beneficiaries. Spending some time with Phoster, I realised that this is the coolest app anyone who ever have.

Making greeting cards, invitations, announcements, Facebook memes etc is a walk in the park with it and the end result is spectacular. Don’t expect it to be graphical or photogenic; instead Phoster believes in keeping it simple, colourful and contrast.

The main screen is a show case of innumerable templates for posters, sorted into landscape, portrait and squares. Love a template and mark it favourite for quick access. Add a picture, take a photo, change colours and add custom texts using any colour or font. Resize, reposition, change the order and many more, so that all those posters look completely different. Things aren’t over yet. The last screen presents you with some jaw dropping paper effects like, folds, crumble, crushed, muddy, tea spilled, dirty, porous and more.

In short, with couple of taps and typing in your content, you’ll have your breath taking poster. This end result from Phoster is sure to attract eyes and win over hearts, perfect for sharing on Facebook. Believe me, I’ve tried and people love it. Simplicity is the ultimate beauty, they say.

The success of eBay’s apps developed for Apple’s iPhone is largely due to the iPhone being the first mobile computing platform to become a commercial hit, and this success has revitalized its online marketplace in recent years. The company wants to ascertain that in case Google Glass is the next big thing in mobile platforms, the eBay apps will be the first arrivals there too.

eBay developers are working on possible apps for the Glass project by Google, which introduces a whole new concept of using wearable technology to shop and conduct broader commercial activities. Glass is an electronic screen the size of a stamp designed for mounting on the left side of a pair of eyeglass frames and capable of retrieving Web information, accessing messages, and recording videos.

eBay spokeswoman Amanda Miller said, “eBay Inc is participating in the beta of Google Glass and we are exploring the various use-case scenarios.”

According to her, the Innovation and New Ventures group of eBay, currently running under former eBay mobile executive Steve Yankovich, is participating in the trial program of Google Glass.

Golf was the first sport I ever picked up, and undoubtedly mini-golf was something that further enticed me. As a kid I was often bored to bits honing my skills on the putting green, until one day my father brought me to a mini-golf complex and I was amazed. I mean, compare tapping a ball around a plain green field to a miniature arena filled with fantasy designs, it’s rather obvious how the latter appeals more.

What really drew me to the game wasn’t how the game controls worked or adapted. I mean, it’s your run of the mill drag and release game after all, nothing much to rave about. The key factor of this game lies in the beautiful ‘scenery’ where different holes are aptly designed to fit certain themes.

Did someone say pirate ship?

Yeah, I was lucky (and glad) to have a certain update make it in time prior to downloading the game for this review. The developers had added a pirate themed course and I must say it marks itself as my favorite amongst the rest. Not to say the other themes are sub par though, especially when you have marvels such as octopi creating bridges with their tentacles and whatnot.

I wouldn’t count on expecting realism in this game, after all mini-golf has always marketed itself as some sort of fantasy reality. The game does wonders in that department.

Of course, being a free app to download, there has to be some sort of real world monetary value pinned somewhere. Levels, or themes as I would prefer to cal it, are made available through in-app purchases. That includes the beautiful pirate theme, which I found was very worth the money. Of course, you’ll also have the standard ad remover and coins available for purchase.

As much as iPhone 5 seems to be the genie-in-the-bottle’s doppelganger with its ability to meet the demands of the smartphone market as if by magic, there are still a few glitches the iPhone savvy will point out. The battery falls smack in the middle of this category. Give yourself a couple of hours, maybe at a stretch from morning till midday, while intensely using its functionalities and apps including the camera, GPS tracker, games apps, and playing music, and the phone battery will die on you right when you most need to receive that life-and-death call.

With the right iPhone 5 battery case, you literally get another leash of life. Don’t think about it; just grab a wad of cash and hit the stores for one of the numerous iPhone 5 battery cases promising more juice for your gadget.

If you have a crazy daily schedule that makes you nothing less than a 9-5er, the Mophie Juice Pack Air is your go-to iPhone battery life extender. This is a rechargeable external 1,700mAh battery, usually concealed inside a snuggly designed, protective and form-fitting case. With up to 100% extra battery (8 more hours), this is virtually double the charge. The seductively light and thin snap-on pack comes with a smooth finish and refined outer band that tell you it’s going to be great protection against everyday wear and tear. It also features exposed connector ports for simultaneous charging with the phone. Mophie may make you spend the most cash, $100, but no other battery case can beat it in best looks and track record.

If you are insatiable when it comes to innovative gadgetry designs, the uNu Ecopack battery system may be just the fix you need. Put together green engineering ideas, lithium polymer, and a detachable battery (the only one of its kind) and Voila! You have uNu Ecopak!

It’s a snap-on case whose switchable, vibrant color and 21 stylish combinations will woo your eyes before the functional design and 2,500mAh battery woo your heart. Your iPhone 5 gets twice its lifespan; 10 talk time hours and 310 for standby. Just like that. Only possible problem- you won’t be able to plug it directly into the phone but have to snap it onto the phone’s back side and use a short USB cable for tethering. Awkward, right? You can get the case at $40.

Maybe the juice is less than that of Mophie Juice Pack Air, but Mophie Juice Pack Helium is one helluva thin protective case that gives you power that is lighter than air. Fancy that! The 1500mAh battery gives your iPhone 80% extra life, which basically equates to 6 hours of talk time. The juice pack is designed to split apart and then reattach around your gadget to form a case. To charge it, you’ll find a built-in adapter at the bottom section that connects to the iPhone; so charging the two devices is simultaneous. At $80, the Mophie Juice Pack Helium case is a worthy investment if you aren’t willing to spend a third of an iPhone’s cost to get Mophie Juice Pack Air.

Don’t judge a name. iBattz Mojo Refuel is the very first of removable power solutions for iPhone 5. The battery case has a rugged design and styling that you’ll find suspiciously looking like Mophie, but then again who says you are a patent guru?

With this removable battery case you get a 2200mAh battery that is snap-in and replaceable. So, rather than having to charge the whole case, you change only the battery. At $90, you are bargaining for all-round protection against shock and impact from a slim, snug-fitting case with a modular design and that delivers boundless power. The only thing stopping you is the number of battery modules you carry.

Sounds like Rock n Roll? This is no song but an impressive battery life extender made by PowerSkin for your iPhone. The design alone is capable of bewitching your mind with the images of the thousands of tiny fish (plecostomus) it conjures. Away from the unique design, a 2000mAh battery will give your phone a 70% life extension. Another thing that will get you hooked is the lightness-power combination of the PoP’n pack. You won’t even see the powerful punch delivered by only 10mm thickness and 86 grams of weight coming until you are some hours into extra time with your iPhone. Charging the battery is no problem, thanks to a flex tip Micro USB connector and soft rubber suction cups that are heat-injected for attaching the charger. PoP’n costs you only $69.

If you are talking of the most popular iPhone 5 case design, Maxboost Fusion should feature somewhere on your list with its snap-on pack and 2000mAh battery capable of doubling the life of your battery. You get 8 extra hours of talk time. If you are talking of the most unique cases, Maxboost Fusion will still feature for its integrated lightning connector. The case also comes with a MicroUSB input port and cable to enable simultaneous charging with the phone. One feature you are sure to champion, though, is the innovative detachable design that allows you to remove the battery and enjoy the ultra-slim protection of the fusion case. And to imagine all this at $70!

The facts are straight. i-Blason PowerSlate Plus is an external rechargeable battery slim-fit case that is innovatively designed with a secure slide for the ultimate iPhone 5 protection and convenience. An incredible 2800mAh battery powers you and you get 100% extra life while the case still allows for full phone functionality. So you can still use the camera phone, headphone jack, and controls, something that other battery cases have not managed to do, after spending only $69.95.

If you want guaranteed quality in your iPhone 5 battery life solution, Lenmar Meridian is the answer. The rechargeable extended battery case is MFI Apple approved. It is slim, rubberized, and designed to give you access to all ports, hence delivering convenience and protection. The highlight of using this device is the 2300mAh battery that doubles the life of the phone’s battery. In short, spend $90 and eliminate all power boundaries. Only then will you truly start enjoying surfing, talking, texting, taking photos, playing games…anything you can think of doing with your iPhone.

“CAT”-a-tonic is a cat vs. dog game that can now be found in the App Store. Indie developer Mike Thomas, who hails from Canton, Georgia, has drawn inspiration from the hostile dog-cat relationship.

Constant battles are waged every day by these house pets and even if they may not involve paw swinging, barking, or hissing, they are ever jockeying for position. The dog, being larger, is always at an advantage. In “CAT”-a-tonic, years of being attacked and chased by the larger dogs have finally made the cats fed up. They unite and go on the offensive.

You’ll have to choose one side: cats or dogs; Offense or Defense. There’s a Bone vs Yarn battle and if on defense, you’ll be able to protect your base with laser power. If you choose offense, you get cannon power.

Any dog lover or cat lover is sure to love “CAT”-a-tonic, as will game lovers. Perhaps this is thanks to the realistic physics animations and graphic explosions for the not so fortunate dog or cat. You can download the app on iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch with at least iOS 6.0.

“cat”-a-tonic – Cat vs Dog game, an all out battle [iTunes link]

Last week, BlackBerry created quite a stir across the industry with their announcement of a launch of their BlackBerry Messenger app for iOS and Android, among other platforms that are outside of BlackBerry 10.

However, whilst the popular app lands on the App Store, it won’t be heading for the iPad at the time of launch. The same presumption can be made for Android platform, where the app won’t be landing on the Android tablet. BlackBerry Messenger is set to initially launch on the iPhone and Android phones.

This news has been released by BlackBerry software portfolio chief, Vivek Bhardwaj, who affirmed that the company’s agenda does not support tablets in its cross platform launch of the BlackBerry Messenger.

Bhardwaj said, “At this point it is iOS and Android, and that’s iOS phones running iOS 6 and higher.”

On the app, he added, “Smartphone is our real focus and again it comes back to what BBM is. If you look BBM and the engagement and the activity, it’s because it is mobile, because people are on the go.”

As Apple announced hitting their 50 billion download milestone, the 50 billionth app downloader was awarded a $10,000 prize.

The California-based company said that the number of downloaded mini-programs from its App Store has hit 50 billion and in celebration of the moment, it gave Ohio-based Brandon Ashmore a $10,000 App Store gift card for downloading the 50 billionth app. He downloaded Say the Same Thing, a free word game developed by Space Inch LLC.

“We’re absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years,” said Eddy Cue , the Apple senior vice president of internet software and services, adding that “The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers.”

According to Apple, the average rate of the mini-programs downloads from the App Store are 800 per second. The online store has over 850,000 apps for iOS device users today, a long way from the 500 apps that it opened its virtual doors with five years ago in July 2008.

Ravenous Games has ben churning out buckets of quality games over the last year. Most of them follow a similar formula: find a gameplay gimmick and then build a short game that utilizes this gimmick. The asking price of $.99 you get a couple of hours of fun.

Infestor is right in line with this building plan. You take on the role of a slimy parasite that is able to infest humans and make them do your bidding. Each level is a platforming puzzle game where you must use the unique abilities of each human to each the end. Not only are there a seemingly endless number of things to kill you, but you can very easily get stuck if you kill of an infested human too early or in the wrong order.

The controls are super each with a left/right on one side and a jump/infest on the other. When infesting a human with a gun you get a third button for shooting. At first I found the buttons to be spaced too close together and I was miss tapping at inopportune times. Lucky Ravenous Games has a great options area where you can tweak and move each button on the screen to your liking.

Infestor delivers a fun concept that I feel is underutilized in the current game. The levels themselves don’t really feel difficult until right near the end. I think that while I had a fair amount of fun with Infestor and the price is right for what you get, I am still lefts with a nagging feeling that this game had potential to be an amazing game.

For all those who haven’t had the time or were too lazy to search the App Store, we make things easy for you. See here are our top picks for this week.

Can Knockdown 3  ($0.99)

I just can’t get enough of this game. I have played both its predecessor and they were in no way bad games. But, can knockdown 3 is too good that the first two seem like a big flop. The gameplay is unchanged as the ultimate goal of each level is to make sure that no can remains in the bar. Throw baseballs with a swipe and the angle, speed and strategy plays a major role. Can knockdown 3 not only improves with jaw dropping graphics and console like execution but also introduces a new tinge of puzzling to it. Spend a dollar and get addicted.

Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery : Episode 1 ($2.99)

Little Jacob has been naughty this year and he’s sent to a summer cam. Though Jacob Jones reaches there hesitatingly, he finds himself friends with the big-foot giant ‘Yeti’. Though the story line goes that way, the gameplay mostly involves multiple conversations,  interactive environment  vast variety of puzzles, collecting and cracking clues and so on. I have to note here that, no other app has popped my eyes like Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery – this one from unreal engine is at par in graphics with their other titles like Infinity Blade. More episodes are yet to be released and I’m waiting!

Zolo  (Free)

Though the app description didn’t make a great impression, as it was just an app for kids to experiment, the screenshots got me interested enough with the unique design and an unseen plot. Open Zolo and you’ll be amazed by the mixture of folk guitar music, simplest possible interface, cute shapes and the unlimited flexibility of the characters. There are different shapes, colors and designs of body parts which your toddler can combine in any combination to form a toon.  Zolo can do wonders to your kids as it pushes his creativity and imagination.

Redline rush ($0.99)

There is absolutely no bounds of how an addictive endless runner can manifest and in Redline Rush, its sports car vs police. No turns, no traffic, no opponent and not even accelerate. All you need to do is change lanes and keep collecting gold and evade as long as possible.  Crash into something huge and its Game Over. With Breathtaking visuals, 8+8 sports cars, 3 amazing tracks, epic crashes, ‘challenge your friends’ and GameCenter integration, you’ll surely have your money’s worth.

Gravity guy 2 ($0.99)

You’ll be familiar with the original Gravity Guy where you can flip gravity and send our hero from ground to roof to ground and so on. To my initial disappointment, Gravity Guy 2 is nothing like before and is just a new game. Though I felt a bit cheated first, my tears were soaked when it turned out to be as good as any! Here, the guy just keeps running and we have to raise the platform and make his run undisrupted. We also have a jump button to dodge pits. The expert combination of jump and raise will be required to effectively evade lasers, pits, fires and more.

Those who missed the podium by a hair’s breadth:

Frozen Synapse

Fall Down 2

Bomb cats

Apps with awesome updates:

Instaweather pro

Facebook

Nook

Apps filling the headlines:

Fast and Furious 6: The game

Chasing Yellow with Friends

Hangout

Festival de Cannes

Lately, a lot has changed in Apple’s app featuring methods and it’s been a boon for people like me. It’s become real easy to find awesome apps like Le vamp. So lets cut open Le Vamp.

Little Le Vamp has skipped his bed time to go to the outskirts and enjoy some pig blood. This surely has made daddy vampire real mad, but meanwhile, the villagers aren’t amused either. They start chasing him down.

If you have a folder named endless runners, Le Vamp is sure to be a long time neighbour of Temple Run and Subway Surfers. But when I say this, don’t think that Le Vamp is just a traced out version of these games. In fact, they have nothing in common.

To start with, unlike others, we don’t control the hero in the game, but his surroundings. What? Yeah, I can explain. Our little vamp is running the infinite runner and we won’t touch the guy. We touch and manipulate objects around him so that he can have a long and unrestricted run.

All this running surely makes Le Vamp thirsty. Replenish energy by swiping pigs for him to devour but make sure to avoid the garlic pigs. Water slows him down so cut down branches from the tree to make a bridge. Tap on Halloween pumpkins, pull up Spudzies and slash Le Wurst to make way for Le Vamp. Oh, I forgot to mention that Le Vamp is allergic to sunlight or probably you already knew. Make your index finger a shade for Le Vamp and on that note, it is harder than it seems.

Why make your run go to waste when you can pick up some money on the way? Tap the Francs to collect them. Le vamp fits in the recent popular template of completing missions and climbing up in levels, which again awards you Francs. Power ups, charms and clothes can be bought from the inventory using them.

With the amazing animations, fluid controls, sensible gestures and the apt sound effects, Le vamp is the best as it gets. If you love uniqueness and appreciate innovation, Le Vamp is your thing.

So, let’s say you are a duck, and you worship a large tiki statue that has an affinity for omelets made from golden eggs. Still with me? What if I told you that this tiki statue sent you out to collect eggs and to help you on your quest gave you the power to refer gravity?

If you haven’t fingered it out by now, this convoluted premise is just another of Ravenous Game’s platforming releases that they seem to be churning out on a regular basis now. In this game you will have to think about every surface as if it the ground. The controls are super easy. Move and switch gravity; no jumping, no shooting, just gravity. Ravenous makes good use of this mechanic with stations that let you switch from up and down two left and right. This is also utilized like a pipe system to move you around larger levels.

The game does a good job at easing you into the game mechanic and slowly ramps up the difficulty. This is actually one of the game’s greatest weakness. For a game that came from the makers of League of Evil, this game is surprisingly pedestrian. By the time the game has gotten you acquainted with all the elements of a world you are at the end. There are also a handful of really challenging levels and even those where a breeze with just a small amount of practice. I am not a newbie to games, but I am certainly not some sort of savant, and I was able to knock this game out completely in about 1 hour.

While the length of the game leave something to be desired, this really was a fun game to play. The controls worked just as well as previous Ravenous Games, and the mechanic of gravity reversal was used in creative ways. I can’t really complain about a $.99 game which delivers solid gameplay. I just hope Ravenous gives us just a smidge more of a challenge with a level update in the future.

Retreat to the darkest corner of your house, put your headphones on, and wait for a hair-raising and blood-curdling experience from Haunting Melissa on your iPhone or iPad. Creepy chilling tropes will fill up your screen in a serialized video horror of a teenage girl living in a remote farmhouse and her company… a locked door hiding a tragic secret.

This app is a new storytelling platform that raises the quality bar for purpose-built iOS experiences beyond doubt. Get to the App Store today if you are a sucker for horrors, and the first episode comes free. And this is only a warm up of what’s to come. With a push notification alerting you on the next release, you’ll continue to get dramatically creeped out watching in first person “Blair Witch”-esque perspective as Melissa and her friends continue exploring the house.

Watched The Ring? And The Ring 2? Then you have an idea of the chill and thrill to expect. Neal Edelstein, the same Hollywood producer behind these thrillers, is the brains behind Haunting Melissa and its underlying content management platform, Hooked Digital Media, which drives the episodic releases of the serialized video horror. In case you prefer the scenes jumping at you from a large screen, there’s AirPlay output support to Apple TV.

Individual episodes are only$0.99, so maybe it’s time you got those popcorns up close and switched off the lights! Heck, you can even try to unravel the dark mystery yourself with other viewers; after all, the spooky, atmospheric serial is designed to be social!

Haunting Melissa [iTunes link]

On the day of its launch, Overkill 2, a video game app for iOS and Android, received over 250,000 downloads. This huge success goes to the already impressive track record of PreApps, an app social networking ecosystem that helps to promote new mobile apps.

Overkill 2 is one of PreApps’ latest features developed by Craneballs Studios. A free download is available at the App Store. The video game app’s predecessor, Overkill, had over 11 million iOS and Android downloads. With Overkill 2, 11 million may be a mere walkover as the video game has app has definitely killed it. 30 breath-taking 3D weapons, dozens of gun upgrades, and tight gameplay are a combination that offers something for everyone.

If you are into casual play, the game play is arcade-quality with rapid fire as you shoot down targets.  There are first-person shooters too. So if you are into that, there’s no limit to the amount of indulgence in weaponry you’re allowed. You can stock your artillery with longer barrels, extended magazines, dot sights, and even a grenade launcher. Even add some more depth to your experience in ‘survivor mode’, where you’ll unlock call-signs, create profiles, and see your ranking on global leaderboards.

Overkill 2 [iTunes link]

A plus for Apple as they beat Google in more app downloads. At their Wednesday I/O conference, Google couldn’t hide their glee as they announced that Google Play Store has seen their Android OS attain 48 billion app downloads. Now, Apple couldn’t have timed their own announcement any better for hardly had Google made their proud declaration than the hardware designer dropped a bombshell. Apple has hit the 50 billion app downloads milestone. Call it mocking their rival if you like.

The iOS app crowned for taking Apple to that milestone is – Say the Same Thing, a word game from Space Inch LLC. The winner of the $10,000 iTunes gift card has since been named; Brandon Ashmore from Ohio is a very happy fellow- he’ll certainly never forget Apple named him the downloader of their 50 billionth iOS app in May 2013.

Going by the figures- the announced downloads in January were 40 billion- Apple is getting an average of about 78.1 million app downloads daily. The giant sure continues reigning. According to the SVP of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, “The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers. We’re absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years.”

NOOK Media has launched its updated NOOK app for iOS. Thanks to the update, users can now download and read on their iPhones and iPads over 8,000 graphic novels and comics that are available in the expansive NOOK store. The app also comes with a spectacular Zoom View feature that allows readers to automatically focus on individual panels in the comics and graphic novels. This in turn enables them to enjoy the compelling story telling and the stunning artwork, bringing every experience to life.

As a way of celebrating the arrival of NOOK comics on the iOS app, users can now get a free DC Comics 2013 Superman Sampler. The sampler features excerpts from Superman: For Tomorrow, Superman: Last Son of Krypton, Justice League Volume 1: Origin and Superman: Earth One. The free sampler is available to users that download the updated NOOK app. Users are also required to set up a new NOOK account at nook.com/account. This free sampler is only available for a limited time.

NOOK [iTunes link]

Robot Unicorn Attack original was a huge hit, a couple of years back and now, its sequel Robot Unicorn Attack 2 is no different. It’s awesome, addictive, featured and free.

Robot Unicorn AttacK 2 is a game made from a kindergarten girl’s dream. Magic land, floating platforms, silver fairies, dew drops, crystals, dolphins, unicorns, rainbows, clouds and stars. It’s all here.

You are the mythical white horse with high jumping and speed smashing abilities. You are released into the endless wonderland and let the game begin! Hop through the multilevel landscape, jump over pits, double jump over longer pits, rush through the rainbow rings, dash through star crystals, dodge humps, evade laser beasts and more. Ride your one-horned horse as deep into the dream as possible.

Fall through into the oblivion or crash onto a rock and its over.. temporarily. Actually, each game grants you ‘three wishes‘ and your final score is cumulative after exhausting all three lives. Power ups like star dust, vacuum etc are unlocked on reaching higher levels and can help you beat those high scores. An entire new Ice World can also be unlocked using coins.

To sum up, Robot Unicorn Attack 2 is just like any other 2D platformer or endless runner in the gameplay, but the magical feel, colourful graphics and the obvious addiction makes you want more and more.

Always out late and wondering how to turn on or off your lights to make it look like you are home? Philips Hue for iPhone and iPad gives you the perfect solution. The application now offers awesome support to the already amazing Phillip hue lightbulb. With the iOS app, you can without twitching, control the power and color of your lighting using your iPhone or iPad. What’s more, the app allows you to turn on your lights remotely, you never have to come back home to a dark room.

More so, with the app, you can re-live that moment by painting with light any photo on your iPhone. Simply drag the picker across a photo to select a color within the image. Better still, you can use white light scale for the perfect look. The selected wireless bulb will reflect the choice, and if satisfied and happy, go ahead and save the changes.

The Philip Hue iOS app also comes with enhanced support features like the weekly alarm schedule support and improved colors in the LivingColors system. Enjoy enhanced geofencing ability, with the already brainy smart bulb.

Philips Hue [iTunes link]

Infuse is a cool new video player for iPhone and iPad. Here, you have it: all said and done. But truth be told, I put Infuse to tests it wasn’t expected to match and it passed them with note. Read on for the full review.

Infuse is the brand new app from FireCore, known for its Apple TV prowess, where they showcase their expertise in iOS development. For the technical side, Infuse can play MP4, M4V, MOV, 3GP, ASF, AVI, DVR-MS, FLV, MKV, OGM, OGV, WebM, WMV and WTV videos. Which is a long-winded way to say it can play almost anything you throw at it. On the audio playfield, it plays perfectly AC3 and E-AC3. To round it up, Infuse plays nicely with SRT files (subtitle files,) I’ll give more details about subtitle management below.

The interface is gorgeous. Once you have loaded up some files (via iTunes File Sharing) you see them like some old-school movie tickets, with a “play” piece of paper to rip. It’s neat, and it appeals my inner skeuomorphic design love (which is quite picky: I hate the leathery textures in most Apple branded iOS apps.) Aside from some occasional design treats, the interface is clean and effective, trying to be out of the way to a wonderful watching experience.

Video playback, control-wise, you can play, pause, skip forward or skip backward, in addition to the standard video playback slider to select a precise place. There’s also an in-app brightness control, chapter selector and zoom (normal, crop or stretch) factor. For the audio side, you can just choose the audio track (and of course set the volume as in any other app.) For the subtitles you have a wide range of options. It can automatically download them from Open Subtitles if the file metadata is correct, and will use any SRT file with the same file name as default. Once loaded, you can select its color (among predefined colors, sadly), size, weight, outline, vertical alignment and even encoding! So Japanese lovers, this is your happy day. It also lets you set the offset, in case they are poorly balanced. Fully featured!

Instead of watching some random movie, I put it to an odd test, a Coursera course, with its provided subtitles. And Infuse worked so good I have chosen it instead of AVPlayerHD to watch courses. If I were to ask something for a next update from the developers would be speed adjustment, so I can watch videos at 1.5x and 2x (with audio and subtitles in sync, of course.) That would be extremely awesome. As it stands, the app is “just” awesome.

Oh, I almost forgot. Infuse supports scrobbling via Trakt.tv, which allows you to pick up where you left across devices (for example Mac, Apple TV and iPad!) I don’t use this service… But I will start shortly. If you like to watch movies or series both at home and in your commute, this is so right!

In short: Infuse is a great video player. If you are looking for some Swiss army knife of video playing, this is the correct choice.

Loop, an app that allows customers to leave feedback on their overall experience at a business, plans to reinvent the entire customer experience survey by launching its “in the moment customer experience survey.”

So, how does it work? Loop allows users to leave feedback that is captured in real time. This in return, as the founder Rajit Marwah puts it, could see a business get up to 30 times more responses, compared to user-generated sites like Yelp and other traditional methods of generating feedback.

The importance of feedback especially to business cannot be and should not be understated. In order for any business to grow and improve on its products and service delivery, they need to get feedback from the customer, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. Evidently, some of the traditional methods used like filling out of questionnaires are time consuming and not many customers, if any, take their time to fill those. This is where the Loop experience comes in. Loop, being a mobile app, allows users to take a very short (five questions) and interesting survey on the go.

At the moment, Loop is available in 34 languages and in 155 countries.

Loop [iTunes link]

Single-touch games are known to be super addictive and are always a good asset, if you have to suffer alot of boring lectures! That, with the title Chillingo under the app name made me grab Tin Man Can in the blink of an eye. Let’s see how that turned out.

This game tells the tale of a tiny bot, Tic who was drawn into a wormhole during his intergalactic travel and reached an alternate world. You know what to do, Savior! Help him get home and be the hero.

Just like you would expect from a 2D platformer, each level is an uneven road which equally rewards and punishes you. Touch to jump is pretty much the only control. Hovering in the air needs fuel, which is limited and so, you need to collect hovertons to remain afloat. Collect all three Batteries in each level, if you think you’re good.

What if you get stuck? Skip a level or upgrade wheels and exhaust of the unicycle bot, spending Hovatrons. Different cheats to revive Tic can also be availed, in case he shows a ‘battery low” sign. Of course, extra Hovatrons cost you some bucks and that is why, I cannot agree with the initial cost of 99 cents.

The gameplay is simple with over 60 levels of thumb play, through 4 dimensions. Despite the inclusion of colorful powerups, bouncing platforms, jetpacks and boosters, I admit that this game is rather boring. I have seen reviews of the game being referred addictive but seriously, I’m far from addicted!
There is a provision for online racing but I couldn’t find even one user to gain some multiplayer experience. Also, the graphics and sound effects doesnt seem to make any mark.

In a nutshell, with a dull gameplay and below par extras, I’m not impressed with my returns and I would advice you to wait for a free tag before you try it out. But as usual, we would love to hear what you guys think!

BlackBerry Messenger or BBM, as it’s more commonly known, will soon be available on iOS (and Android) as a free download. Although there have been rumors in the past of BlackBerry’s interest in sharing its messaging service in iOS and other platforms, this is now a reality, as the company today announced the arrival of this service to other platforms this summer. The service will be available to devices running iOS 6 or higher when launched. BBM will be available as a free download in the App Store. 

At first, the company says that users will only be able to access BBM chats, voice note sharing, multi-person chats and BlackBerry Groups that will allow users to set up groups and share files, photos, calendars, etc. However, there are plans to later introduce screenshare function, voice and video calls together with the just announced ‘channels’ as subsequent updates. The BBM ‘channels’ will allow and make it easy for users to connect with brands, celebrities, groups and businesses they are passionate about. 

This move by BlackBerry will sure popularize BBM, which already has more than 60 million active monthly users.

Searching for hotspots in your town? Wondering where your friends will be hanging out over the weekend? Well, with HUGECITY iOS app, searching for public events within your locality is now a breeze. How does it work? HUGECITY searches for and puts together all information available on Facebook’s public event data.

For those of you that need to keep some events private or secret, no need to worry as the app only accesses public events and indexes them into a map form for its users. Whether you just want a clue of the most popular weekend joints amongst your friends or want to find karaoke spots, HUGECITY is at your service.

“It is 2013. You should know what is happening around you. HUGECITY is now being used to tap into the pulse of cities in every time zone in the world. This is just the beginning, and there is so much more coming,” said Hugh Malkin, CEO and Co-Founder of HUGECITY.

In addition to making the app available to iPad and iPhone users, HUGECITY boasts a new, fresh and easy to navigate website.

Sometime this week, ABC is set to launch live streaming service via its Watch ABC app for iOS. The first to receive this amazing service will be satellite and paid cable subscribers in Philly and New York areas. This news comes less than two months after The New York Times reported that ABC was crafting up such a service. Indeed, ABC’s live TV on the go is a first in the TV industry.

ABC will avail the service via a “live” button found at the bottom of the app. It is also interesting to note that Hearst TV is the first of ABC’s live stream affiliate. ABC seeks to expand the service to six more cities come summer.

While it may take a while before this awesome service hits your zip code, it is clear that the service will act as an incentive for other networks to catch up and provide such a service of their own. Currently, Fox and CBS TV offer episode streaming through their mobile apps, but live TV on the go is a true differentiator.

Earlier on, Aereo had announced the expansion of its own live-streaming service, but the company is already deep into numerous lawsuits over copyright violations with other networks.

Facebook has updated its iOS app to version 6.1.1. With the updated app, it is now easier to share photos on your Facebook timeline, save photos to the camera roll and even update your profile picture.

Previously, Facebook for iOS only allowed people to comment, tag and like a photo. The new version has brought a more exciting experience with the cool features displayed on the screen, which increase the user’s engagement in sharing of photos. One of the coolest of these features is the Photo viewer button that allows you to save, share or make a profile picture.

The app also has advanced editing capacity that makes the entire photo sharing process just amazing. Imagine being able to snap and share photos right on the spot and on the go. What’s more, you can even edit and skew the pics to your liking.

You can now get the latest version from the App store.

The first impression of this game that struck me hard was how much it resembled Call of Mini, from the top down display to the similar graphic designs and whatnot. I then came to the realization (or expectation) thatTiny Troopers 2: Special Ops would be a game to remember.

There are 2 different types of 3rd person shooters. Heck, shooters in general. You have the ones that stick so closely to reality, looking to replicate scenery and buildings with as much accuracy to real world images as possible. Then on the opposite end of the spectrum you have the ones that plunge gamers into an alternate reality, a fantasy world where everything appears so exaggerated but yet so pleasant.

Tiny Troopers 2 seems to be a combination of both.

While cartoon-like in nature with its 3D graphics, the game retains elements of real world items.

But palm trees in a war zone?

I loved how the game played out with a wide variety of weapons waiting to be accessed. More often than not, the really cool and awesome weapons served as motivation for me as a player to carry on grinding level after level just because I wanted to see what kind of cool stuff the expensive ones did. Then you also have plot twists like zombie survival levels to spice things up.

At the time of this review, Tiny Troopers 2: Special Ops is available as a free app, but not for long. Grab it before its gone.

Oggl is an app that will have you ogling at your iPhone for hours. The innovative design and great look that Hipstamatic has given the photo sharing app makes it a winner even before you start enjoying the features. It certainly comes with a simpler and cleaner interface, lacking the usual clatter of comments peculiar to similar apps.

Having Oggl on your iPhone allows you to become a member of a photo sharing community where you can send and receive photos instantly and also customize them. If you like an image, you just tap on it and it brings up user information including the film and lens used to shoot it. That then offers you the option to use the same combination of settings and shoot your own beautiful photos.

This app will leave you breathless with the array of effects it comes with for shooting. Under the viewfinder are options for lens and film type, alongside preset effects consisting of a specific blend of lens and film. In the unfortunate circumstance that the photo you’ve taken is not as incredible as you hoped, you can apply these effects to enhance it.

The camera button is at the bottom or top of every view from the app, so a single tap is sufficient to get you into shooting mode. To the left and right of the shutter button are one-tap access buttons to the Oggl gallery and exit to global feed respectively. In short, you get to take a unique photo and share instantly.

Oggl [iTunes link]

For all those who haven’t had the time or were too lazy to search the App Store, we make things easy for you. See here are our top picks for this week.

Mosaiquie ($0.99)

Mosaiquie is one of the most uniquely designed game I’ve recently had my eyes on. The gameplay of Mosaique is has the same virtue with a puzzling experience like never before. To begin with, you’ve some colored blocks on the board and another colored block which you’ve to strategically shoot into them. The ‘striker’ blasts all similar colored blocks on the way or switches with a dissimilar one. Think ahead, heap some blocks and ‘poof’ them all to get more points. Know what’s surprising? Mosaique doesn’t have a timer! Take as long as you want and complete the 7 levels of increasing difficulties, to be the master. Don’t worry if you finish the game once. Thanks to algorithmic generated levels, you’ll have an unlimited supply of levels for your brain’s regular workout.

Daddy was a Thief ($1.99)

This is another unique game where you play the role of a thief infiltrating deep into a building, collecting gold on his way. ‘Daddy was a Thief’ is an one-hand endless gamer,  which is real simple, yet addictive.  You are at the top of a Petronas or something even taller, with an unlimited array of floors. Swipe down and you’ll break your ground, landing below. Each floor has a unique obstacle like missiles, cops, angry grannies, lasers etc to put you behind the bars and on the bright side, some levels have heavy tubs, chilling refrigerators etc which can help you in the loot.

Little Dead Riding Hood ($2.99)

This is not a game but a story book. “For children?”, you might ask. Well, I wouldn’t quite put it that way. This is more of a horror story, telling the tale of Little Red Riding Hood as a ghost. Available both in English and Spanish, Little Dead Riding Hood portrays how the classic tale’s heroine and her grandmother dodges some fatal attacks by the Wolf Lupito. It is the wonderful caricatures, tender animations and the bold announcements that projects over the rather vague story-line.  Perfect for kids, I guess!

Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol (Free)

Sid Meier is a well know name in the gaming world and his latest release for iOS is Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol, a turn-based air defense game. Strategy is the key where you manipulate each step of your air borne colleagues and machinery. Each turn gives you 9 directions to move or to attack, if enemy is within range. As you climb levels, more features and options are unlocked. Crack the perfect mix of defense and offense and the game is yours.

Impossible Road ($1.99) 

Impossible it is and you really need to play it, to know it! You have the most irregular, roller coaster type, twisty, curly, curvy & blah & blah  road and you need your fast paced white ball to make it as far as possible. Let me tell you, sometimes you couldn’t even reach a point right in front of you, on the track. Luckily, once fallen, we may maneuver and land back to some other part of the track which makes it “less impossible”. The challenge offered by the game is surprisingly the base of its addiction. Yet, your hands will have a great exercise playing with this 30 megabyte baby.

And the Runners up are:

Running with Friends 

Snoopy Coaster

Chuck the Muck

Apps with notable updates:
Incredimail
Netflix
Sonic Dash

Apps Making News

Loop magazine 
Hipstamatic Ogg
Amazon Cloud Drive Photos

In my non-researched opinion, there are about a gillion pinball games available in the App Store.  With that in mind, any Star Wars pinball game immediately distinguishes itself by having Star Wars in it.

The game itself has marvelous graphics capability and is very fun to play (how else can you describe it when the ball release mechanism is a lightsaber?).  It’s not clearly indicated, but tapping almost anywhere in the lower left and right-hand sections of the screen activate the flippers.  Between levels, it even simulates the graphics of an actual pinball machine by showing monochrome motion graphics at a low resolution.

You can play one-player or multi-player via the Game Center.  Several features are customizable in the Settings including nudge sensitivity and audio effects volume.

The most disappointing aspect of the game is that only one table variation is available upon your two-dollar purchase.  Granted, it’s for the best movie in the saga (The Empire Strikes Back) but it does seem chintzy.  Supposedly more tables will be available in future updates.  In the game’s defense, even though I didn’t do the in-app purchases, the other two tables, which are for the cartoon Clone Wars series and Boba Fett, look pretty cool.

As someone who is old enough to remember playing with pinball machines, this app is pretty great.  It definitely has a retro feel but with enough special effects to make it a fun video game.  Put in a few more table variations in the initial purchase and you got yourself a winner.

Would you like to hire an assistant who will keep note of all your reminders, tasks & calendar and prepare a detailed Agenda every morning? Well, with My.Agenda you’ll have the cheapest assistant ever.

The first thing that will catch your eye in My.Agenda is the amazing interface, stuffed with a dozen options. The home screen is sort of a dream for many, with all reminders, events, meetings, birthdays, todos etc., for the whole week, squeezed to single compact screen. No more holding your call, checking multiple apps, calendars and diary before fixing an appointment; Just a tap and its all there. Quite handy, right!

The calendar tab on My.Agenda picks up events from the native Calendar.app and is more flexible than the latter with quick add options and sorting ability. Surely, you know what the reminders tab does. Now to my favorite - the Near Me section. This one shows a small bit of map with all the items around you, for a predefined radius. This helps a lot to plan the route while driving, so that you never miss a thing.

In addition, Forums, Social network,  Blogs, Faqs and Help can be accessed within the app itself. Passcode Lock and the different themes are lovable features of My.Agenda and so are the Cloud sync and Backup options.

Things are made cream easy by the addition of a HotList tab where we can mark priority tasks. Further, a tap in the shortcut icon on left bottom pops up a beautifully animated set of most used options, which can save those precious moments.

In short, this app is all about making your life easy, quick and sorted. If you ask me, My.Agenda has replaced an entire folder of apps on my iPhone.

Hipstamatic is one of iPhone’s coolest photo-filtering apps and its maker is about to launch a new and similar app called Oggl in the App Store some time before this week ends. The release of Oggl has great significance due to its back story. This app pretty much seems like another version of Hipstamatic, especially with lenses, films and other tools from the older app also featuring here. This raises the question, why the Oggl release?

Hipstamatic is trying to reshape what it already built into something that can reach out to new customers while keeping existing ones happy. That is why tomorrow’s Hipstamatic app will very much look like what is available today. In the meantime, the company will use Oggl as the vehicle that takes it forward. However, in spite of the push, “Hipstamatic Classic is still awesome” as Hipstamatic CEO Lucas Buick says.

Oggl differs from the Hipstamatic app in a number of ways. While Hipstamatic has never been concerned with where users post their photos, Oggl creates a photo community for them to share their best works. Users can also now add filters to photos after taking them.

The new app represents the company’s business model change. Hipstamatic offers occasional in-app purchases of new lenses and film, but Oggl will avail them as part of the subscription. You will have to pay a $0.99 monthly subscription fee or $9.99 a year to have unlimited access to current, past, and future Oggl options.

Oggl is basically a free app that’ll have five pre-loaded favorites: food, nightlight, sunsets, and landscapes, excellent for situational shooting.

iOS developers can now embed Chrome browser in their iPhone apps, thanks to a new tool recently released by Google. The whole concept of the tool is to stop sending iPhone users to Apple’s native browser and keep them in the app for things like clicking on a Web link. For users who’ve installed Google Chrome on their iPhones, this tool will make their experience much more seamless when using apps that are friendly to it.

The new tool is the latest in a string of releases Google has made to enhance the iPhone’s user experience. Earlier in the week, Google released a major upgrade to the iOS Gmail app. And just like with the new tool, iPhone users can move very easily from the Gmail app to Chrome, Google Maps, or You Tube applications without necessarily using Apple’s mapping products, Safari browser, or video app because of the new features.

Chrome, Google Maps, and You Tube for iOS are all superb stand-alone apps. Even if the two, Apple and Google, are in competition, Google still caters for the iPhone crowd because they are aware of the affluence of the iPhone users and their willingness to spend on the items usually advertised on their devices.

If someone asks me to pickout the most visually stunning app I use, it would be none other than Flipboard. From the time it was released, Flipboard has been the best of its kind and more importantly, it has maintained the status even after this long.

It is unlikely that you haven’t used or at least heard about Flipboard but if so, let me start from scratch. Flipboard is a social media client which brings all your connections over various networks under a single roof. Supported services are Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Instagram, LinkedIn, tumblr, 500px, Flickr, YouTube and more.

Unlike some other clients or even the official apps, Flipboard considers links and shares to be a major part of social interaction and makes sure, you never miss any. All your social data including photos, links, videos, status updates or jobs are arranged in the iconic folded or News Paper like animation. The screenshots would make much more sense.

In addition to these social media options, you can also subscribe to Flipboards own genres which always has the hottest News you care about. The in built browser to read more and ability to share and bookmark your favourite article are the deal makers, for sure.

Flipboard is not about the content or the interaction. If it were so, we’ve a plethora of other apps and clients, but Flipboard is about the innovative and unprecedented experience of social networking and browsing the web, in the form of a magazine. I can assure that once you use it, you’ll never delete it.

The iPhone gaming arena has had a popularity explosion, quite literally, with new puzzle, strategy and action games hitting the App Store on a daily basis. You can get the coolest strategy games on your iPhone today with a mere click of a button. Strategy games are spreading like wild fire because of their killer styles and designs, and intricate plots. If you are pumping with adrenalin, there are fast and reflex-y games to sweep you off your feet. If you prefer a slower pace, you’ll have the lean-back, contemplative experience you are craving for.

Foundation Wars: Elite Edition (free)

This is one of the top strategy and action games for iOS. There is another world where another you exists; where inequity and constraint are non-existent; and where the human culture is facing its end. Foundation Wars connect you to this other you and you have to do with basic rules to acquire the honor that is rightfully yours. There are three human races: ordinary human, super-powered light human, and huge-bodied steel human. There are also three arms of soldiers: the sniper, the assault, and the heavy infantry. The sniper is perfect for long distance attacks, the assault will help you when you need speed, and an excellent defense is put up by the infantry. There are other resources you have to choose carefully, too, in order to increase your military power.

You can play with thousands of players online and forge diplomatic alliances with friendly foundations. You strategize on live chat in real time. Identify the advantages you have and put your humans and arms in the right positions, and you’ll win maxima with the least cost.

Army of Darkness Defense (free)

Now this is a work of art. The stunning animated graphics will have you drooling for some action before you’ve even downloaded the game onto your mobile device. The vast military knowledge this game displays easily makes it the most well-balanced and tightest action you may have seen. Ever.

Your quest is very straightforward. Army of Darkness Defense takes you back in time and you have to fight evil at every turn, even ready to lay down your life, to protect King Arthur’s castle. Of course your importance to the king’s army cannot have you dying! The game is a perfect combination of magnificent graphics and casual gameplay, surrounded by armored knights, swordsmen, and archers. Special abilities aid your quest, such as spells, the 88 deathcoaster, the boomstick, and the chainsaw. Talk of relieving the Medieval Era on your phone as you fight alongside the legendary King Arthur!

Talisman Prologue ($4.99)

This is a board strategy game that has you exploring the land of Talisman. The legend of the Talisman unfolds as you go through a series of adventures on a board. The deep story is created as you play a game of dice to move along all the regions of the board: these are the inner, internal, and external regions. Each space has you drawing a card and using special effects to guide your hero across a land full of possibilities. You will come face to face with monsters, discover loyal followers, and amass treasures. The Talisman Prologue is so engaging that no one would accuse you, even if you are a veteran, for expecting multiplayer gameplay.

Virtual City 2: Paradise Resort (free)

At last, the long-awaited sequel to Virtual City is here. Virtual City 2: Paradise Resort may even win the hearts of more millions than its predecessor. You will still go on constructing your dream city in the picturesque Utah Mountains, Alaska’s snowy expanses, Nevada’s arid lands, and Florida’s sunny sea coast. With 29 distinct mission scenarios, 12 production chains, 73 building types, and 98 achievements just waiting for you a couple of buttons away, there is no restrictions to the kind of Casino you can build, sky resort you can open, or ice hotel you can design. Imagine having the opportunity to be all-powerful, building your very own virtual city and having the liberty to upgrade it as you fancy!

Plants vs. Zombies ($0.99)

From the word go, you start strategizing on the potato mines to set up, peas splitting fruits to shoot, cherry bombs to set off, and a bunch of other awesome plants in your arsenal to protect your home from an invading fun-loving zombie army. You’ll be caught in a desperate fight with the zombies on four levels, and you must mulchify them while using very little sun. When you are done and just about to throw your zombie-zapping plants in the dumpster, even more difficult challenges come up and the battle is pretty much endless. Gear up for the fight of your life against 26 types of zombies. This game is greatly improved, with an infinite mode plus five new levels, as well as really powerful new hammers for fighting against Gargantua.

The popular “news discoverer” – newscover,  has been just updated to version 2.1 that allows to add more countries to your feed, includes the possibility of adding new customized channels to the current section and brings new sharing options – Pocket and Google+.

Users can now create all the categories they want by selecting search terms they found interesting. Considering these terms newscover will show related news on the personalized channel. Users can also hide unwanted sections included by default in newscover.

After the success in Spain and the United States, the portfolio has been increased with more Spanish-speaking countries such as Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Chile and USA (Spanish sources). The number of English-speaking countries also grows by adding The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Ireland.

The app continues being totally free and without advertising.

Read our review of newscover.

nevscover is available for free from the App Store.

Pocket Planes is the new casual game by Nimblebit, creators of last years’ free blockbuster Tiny Tower. Even more addictive than Tiny Tower, Pocket Planes will keep you very entertained (and hooked.)

Pocket Planes follows the same revenue model as Tiny Tower did: it plays on your impatience to get you to buy in-game money using your hard-earned real life money. What’s the game about? An airline, your airline. You buy airports, new planes and level up to get more available airports and planes. Airports are bought with coins, and planes with bux. You can get coins from bux (in the game bank), but not the other way around… You can buy bux with real money, as in-app purchase. Your primary source of coins will be moving cargo and passengers from airport to airport.

But Nimblebit developers always allow their players to be able to play without spending a dime, you can get bux occasionally as payment for transport. Also, while planes fly coins will fly by (you can tap them to get them) and some other bux will appear sometimes. Finally, you get bux by levelling up and by joining an existing fly crew and participating in an ongoing challenge. Find a big one for a better chance!

In short: Pocket Planes is addictive and easy to play. An enjoyable time waster.

The iPhone has proven it is capable of performing many amazing feats. One of these is obviously being able to stream live TV shows, live broadcasting, and movies in a high resolution screen. It’s more like being on holiday in Ibiza, virtually, but without having to tote around a large or cumbersome laptop. On your very iPhone, you can stream full TV episodes from networks such as ABC and ESPN. Even better is that most of the players on this mobile bandwagon provide these entertainment apps freely. So, if you find it more impossible to miss your favorite show than fly to the moon, you can always watch it on the go or later.

Viggle (free)

Get paid to watch TV? Crazy, but true. That’s Viggle for you. Viggle is the new app that will pay you for watching TV. It lets you sync to a featured TV show and gives you rewards points on every correct reply to the trivia questions asked.

A TV show alone can never be enough, and Viggle also lets you interact with content. The app works by using your iPhone’s mic to listen in on whatever you are watching, whether movie or TV show. You tell Viggle what you are watching, and it shares this with your friends via the Facebook and Twitter integration, as well as pay you points per minute. You accumulate these points to unlock the rewards in the app’s rewards section. You can redeem them for prizes at retailers like Burger King, Best Buy, Old Navy, Sephora, and Fandago.

For the ultimate TV lover, Viggle is living the dream. You even get bonus points for watching ads or tagging TV shows and special events. If it sounds too good to be true, think of the 7,500 points you have to earn to redeem a reward. That’s the only catch.

WatchESPN (free)

Sports fans, this is the app for you. WatchESPN is the easiest way of enjoying your favorite live sports and live events on your iPhone. The app brings you streaming feeds from ESPN networks and you have direct access to thousands of live events and shows.

You have 24/7 live programming from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU, Buzzer Beater, and Goal Line. You never miss out on the live action too, with the streaming of live events like college basketball and football, NBA regular season and playoffs, Barclays Premier League, U.S. Open, The Masters, and The Open Championship, and the four Grand Slam Tennis Events. You can also just hang out casually while watching SportsNation, SportsCenterr, Mike and Mike in the Morning, Baseball Tonight, PTI, and any other original ESPN studio show you can think of.

What determine the WatchESPN live video you have access to are your Internet and TV service providers. As long as you are covered, you get sports entertainment wherever and whenever you feel like.

Yamgo (free)

Feeling a little cheeky? Fancy yourself watching the most popular TV show before your friends and family, and not on TV. Yamgo is the app you should be thinking about here. You’ll either impress them, or turn them into little green monsters!

Yamgo lets you watch live mobile TV without spending a dime. You actually have access to more than 100 free TV channels, bringing you the best in live news, movies, sports, fashion, music, entertainment, and Bollywood. There is no more fighting for the TV remote in order to watch your favourite channels.

TV (FREE)

For timeless entertainment, you should take a shot at Tap TV. This is a platform with one of the greatest channel selection in the Apps Store. There are hundreds of shows usually streamed, including documentaries, audiobooks, cartoons, movie trailers, app trailers, music videos, the best YouTube videos, and even Silent Classics. Everyone will find something to entertain them.

Crackle – Movies & TV (free)

Crackle is a real Sony gem. The app offers quality TV series from Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, Tri-Star, and more. Whether you are using 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi, it will stream HQ video and you can even create a watch list. This is one of the fastest growing digital entertainment networks.

With Crackle you get to watch hundreds of full-length, free, and uncut Hollywood movies, such as BIG DADDY, S.W.A.T., MR. DEEDS, SAVING SILVERMAN, PANIC ROOM, JOE DIRT, STEP BROTHERS, STRANGER THAN FICTION, SNATCH, and so many more. There are also top rated TV shows and series, which include anime, such as RESCUE ME, THE THREE STOOGES, SEINFIELD, SPIDERMAN, and QUEEN’s BLADE.

There are many genres of games that have had a hard time breaking into the mobile scene in a big way. While there are RTS games on the iOS, They are few and tend to lack the general appeal of their desktop counterparts. While gamers that enjoy the desktop gaming have a desire to play the genres they love on the go, it can be difficult to translate them effectively onto a touch screen. One genre in particular hasn’t seen any love in the mobile space. Multiplayer online battle area (MOBA) games like League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients has enjoyed explosive growth on the desktop in both players as well as spectators in the E-sports arena. One game that has finally taken a stab on bring this genre to the iOS is Heroes of Order and Chaos by Gameloft. While it definitely has the polish and backing of a major developer, the question remains if they can successfully translate this game into the mobile space.

MOBA games are a bit of a hybrid game that picks two teams of heroes against each other in an arena where the object it to destroy the opponent’s base. To accompany the heroes are endless streams of minions that follow predetermined paths toward the other base. These minions are mostly cannon fodder, but the players must utilize them to control the opponent’s stream as well as upgrade them to give them an advantage on the battle field. The heroes themselves also need to upgrade with unique abilities and attacks that when used in combo with teammates can decimate your foes. Games on this genre are hectic and require a large amount of multitasking to keep up with the many tasks you must complete.

Heroes on Order and Chaos follows fairly close to the format on League on Legends. You can a rotating series on free heroes to choose from to play in arenas against others or on teams against a computer AI. You may also pay money through a IAP to purchase characters and equipment to customize your particular character. In the arenas you must fight you earn money that is used to purchase upgrades and you must rally your forces to take out your enemies strongholds. Each character has several small attacks and one or two large “nuke” attacks/abilities that can either do massive damage or give your teammates a temporary boost.

Heroes of Order and Chaos succeeds in so many ways. It is a faithful reproduction of an insanely popular desktop title. It provides a robust online battle system and provides an opportunity to customize and expand user’s characters. The problem with Heroes is twofold. Firstly, the characters become difficult to accurately control in larger battles. There is such a mess of enemies and friendlies on the screen at once that mis-tapping is almost a certainty and will delay or ruin any strategy you had. Secondly, and more metaphysically, Heroes fails to provide gamers with anything unique. It is like watching a movie studio rip off the latest summer blockbuster. Yes, the movie may be decent, but it really only serves to remind you of the original and you wonder why you are not just watching that. I don’t feel like playing more Heroes when I finish a match, I instead feel like I really should be playing League of Legends. It was a valiant effort on Gameloft’s part, but I really feel they could have done better. Heroes on Order and Chaos is a free game that can be played at a basic level without IAPs so if you want to give it a go, then you won’t have to put anything but time on the line. Perhaps you will enjoy it especially if you are not familiar with the games from which it derives.

There are many cue sport simulators out there, and most of them function in a similar manner. Drag your finger backwards much like a catapult, then release to send the cue flying forwards to strike the ball. 8 Ball Pool by Miniclip included.

It was a real disappointment to find that Miniclip barely had any distinctive features in their rendition of a cue sport simulator to distinguish it from similar games in the app store. I was expecting something greater given the great repute of the developer but it seems like the biggest draw of the app lies in the multiplayer function, which again can be found in lots of other simulators available for download.

But to assess it as an individual app on its own, I must say that 8 Ball Pool does what it was designed for very well. There’s hardly much to gripe about. Visuals are clear, with the table and balls clearly drawn and marked without fanciful effects that more often than not worsen things. Control were great too, with the standard pull back and aim method working fairly accurately, though I would say an iPad user will most definitely have an easier time aiming compared to one on the smaller screens found on iPhones and iPod Touches.

However, what upset me most about this game was the inherent urge for players to get themselves in-app purchases to advance well in the game. Despite being a paid app for download, 8 Ball Pool charges players further for unlockable perks and whatnot.

To be honest, similar apps with standards on par with if not better than this one can be found for free on the app store.

I’m a fan of the Marvel Comics movies, particularly the Avengers ones, so already I’m biased towards this game. Even if I wasn’t, this is a terrific game.  And it’s free!

The game could be categorized as simple.  The objective is to fly Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man along the backdrop and avoid some obstacles while shooting others (known as an “infinite runner” style game).  There are plot points that tie into the Iron Man 3 movie, but the game overall isn’t as sophisticated as the one for Iron Man 2 (although maybe more than Iron Man).  Okay, there is a complaint:  Robert Downey Jr. didn’t provide the voice of the title hero.

The game graphics, created by the experts at Gameloft, is sophisticated enough for any adult while playing the game is easy for any child.  You tilt or slide your finger across the screen to move Iron Man and tap to shoot his repulsor rays.  Obviously, since this game is to promote the movie, they want to cast as wide a net as possible (did I mention it was free?).

You can earn points in various levels to upgrade armor or simply get different armors.  Gameloft makes some money from the impatient to buy said points with real money.

If you’re any sort of Marvel Comics fan with an iDevice you’ve probably already downloaded this game (as mentioned, free).  For the rest, it’s worth your time.  Between the price and the decent graphics and gameplay, I’d say this purchase is a no-brainer.

My first cell phone was the (at least in the US) ambiguous Nokia 5110. With its monochrome screen and great battery life, the “candy bar” phone was known for containing one of the earliest cell phone games; Snake. While many versions of this classic game exist, Very few exist on the iOS platform, or garner much attention.

Nimblebit took this as a sign for them to intervene, and so they did with Nimble Quest. Nimble Quest is at its heart a snake clone with a fantasy dressing. Nimblebit wasn’t satisfied with the classic gameplay so their quest has a unique spin on the old productivity reducer. Instead of eating apples to grow your snake. You are an adventurer that moves around the board and picks up companions to help you fight the endless hoards of baddies. Each character is your typical archetype of fantasy and while each has their own special abilities, don’t get too comfortable with them because The constant barrage of fire and arrows will whittle down their health quickly and you will be replacing them.

Every time your kill and enemy, they spill out piles of coins to collect. Coins can be used to upgrade your adventurers and the spells that appear during the game. There is of course the option to purchase coins to grease the gears of the grind. IAPs like this don’t bother me much if they balance it enough that I feel they are not necessary. The grinding you need to improve your characters is long, but the gameplay is fun even if you don’t advance very far.

Nimble Quest is a fine example of free to play gaming. The gameplay is fun and the improvements are gradual but don’t unobtainable. If you are looking for a new distraction for your daily commute, Nimble Quest is free and a pleasant way to pass your day.

Only a few years ago, you would have thought a simple sport like running, essentially requiring you to just place one foot in front of the other, was light years away from having anything to do with gadgets…and then there came modern technology and smartphones.

Look around you today and you’ll spot every runner sporting at least an iPod, cell phone or GPS running watch. Running has evolved into a whole new sport with technology somewhere close to its core, and Apple has amazingly wised up to this opportunity. Smartphone apps are making it easier and easier for people to track their running and if you dare say there’s an ongoing war of apps for running, then the iPhone apps are at the frontline. You’ll find apps designed to provide GPS analysis for your workouts and apps for getting an aspiring runner into fighting shape. The range is so extensive and innovative that were there to be a zombie uprising, you’d still find apps to help you get away!

1. Running Club

The Running Club is one of the most fun iPhone GPS apps to ever hit the stores. Whether you are a whimsical runner or a neurotic marathoner, it lets you schedule live and interactive runs against your family and friends across the country, delivering a very motivational and social experience. It helps the advanced runner up their speed as they re-race themselves or try to beat their friends’ times, and it helps someone who is only after getting into shape. The features include Re-Race, Ghost-Race, Pace-Race, audio cues, map route, integrated iPod, chat option and running stats.

2. iMapMyRun

With this app you find the usual dose of route, pace, distance and elevation tracking to help with your workout. However, there are two things you won’t find in just any other running app. With iMapMyRun, you can select a new route for each run from a database brimming with more than 26 million routes. Also, it keeps track of your calories- you actually get nutritional info and on those days you find yourself moving slower than usual, you can check your good days’ diet and stick to it. The app even provides an estimate of the amount you should eat as well as the necessary glasses of water. There is no other way of saying this: iMapMyRun helps boost your overall health.

3. Nike+ GPS

  

This has to be the crowning jewel of Nike’s dalliances with technology- the app has quite successfully managed to streamline everything you would ever need to do while out on a run. You can map out your routes, record your run times, have some music pumping you up, and calculate the distance, elevations and average speeds. It’s a far cry from the Nike+ run-tracking software that had you pair your iPhone or iPod with a shoe-mounted sensor, which was very restrictive of the running shoes you could wear. Now with the Nike+ GPS app, you have a record keeper, motivator and fitness guru, as well as a groovy choice of running shoes to boot. This is a very polished app whose budget price of a mere $1.99 makes it a sure winner.

4.     iSmoothRun 

  

This app may not have the ubiquity of other iPhone running apps, but it aptly makes up for the lack with a full package of ground-breaking features. iSmoothRun has all the creature comforts runners love, including data analysis, GPS tracking and workout scheduling. The whistle blowers, though, are the more unique and astounding features- it allows you to post all your athletics activities to a warehouse of various tracking sites and keep track of them on your favorite page independently, as well as track your treadmill activity. There is also cadence tracking that lets you in on your footfall pattern!

5.     Zombies, Run! 

 

If you see any zombies in your neighborhood, Zombies, Run! is the app that gives you wings to run as fast as humanly possible. Your almost-boring morning jog becomes a survival tale with this app, as numbers and stats are not the only things you are tracking; you are building a supply base and zombie chases serve as your periodic training. If you are obsessed with stats, this is the wrong app for you. However, if you hate jogging but know you must do it for the sake of your health, the guarantee of a fantastic experience is right in front of your eyes.

King of Dragon Pass is one of these games I’m puzzled to discover in the App Store. Very good, deep and old. Meaning I’ve been idling for a long while without finding it. But first a warning: it’s not a game for everyone.

King of Dragon Pass is the iOS port of what was originally a PC game. I had to look this up, since the app looks perfect in its iPad setting, as if this was its original platform. It is a kind of mix of Civilization and Choose your own adventure books. Odd, very odd, but incredibly catching. Oh, and it is a universal app, working seamlessly in iPhones or iPod Touches.

In the game, you play the role of guide of a clan of Orlanthis, recently settled in Dragon Pass after running from your enemy in your original land. You are there together with other Orlanthi (as the settlers are called, as followers of the father god Orlanth) clans that fled. Your goal is to emulate the gods and rally together enough clans to form a tribe in Dragon Pass. More precisely, there are two winning conditions (which you choose on starting the game): the short game and the long game. For a short one, a member from your ring (in short, something like the board of directors of your tribe ) has to be king (or queen) of your tribe for 10 years and your clan has to complete 2 hero quests. For a long win, you have to do 7 hero quests after forming a tribe.

Only in this short description I have hinted at a lot of stuff that makes not a lot of sense, haven’t I? Orlanth, hero quests, Ring. The game comes with a short tutorial and a long manual. It is very recommended to read it… Or play a few games, be crushed and start anew, as I did, reading along things that surprised me or I wasn’t able to figure out.

The game is divided in turns (seasons) and in each turn you can make two actions. An action can be raising warriors (weaponthanes in KoDP lingo,) sacrificing to your gods, establishing trade… There are many possible actions to be done, and many ways to screw up and be terminated. After all, you are managing everything from the tribe: how many crops they plant, how many hunters are in the wild, which gods you sacrifice to. It’s a hard game, but it is very enjoyable. When you manage to win, it is awesome.

I don’t think I can find any drawbacks to King of Dragon Pass. It is a deep game, well executed and with quality drawings (there are no graphics, everything is text-driven with images to go along, very well designed overall.) It can be considered a little pricy for what iOS games are usually, but this is well worth it. Gameplay is basically random, so every game you play will be completely different. Replayability is thus huge, as number of hours the game will keep you entertained.

In short: How come I hadn’t find about King of Dragon Pass before? Definitely a game I can recommend.

Not too long ago, the word saw North Korea announce its declaration of war. Has anyone ever wondered what it would be like to be a commander at the front line?

Battle Nations gives a slight insight to what commanding an army is like, albeit simplified and a little exaggerated.

In this game, players are in control of their own nations, equipped with armies and even espionage units for saboteur missions.

Players can choose to pit themselves against the AI, or against real players around the world. Gameplay involves strategic placement of units as well as the actual raw strength of each unit which can be upgraded as the game progresses.

But while the gist of the game deserves many thumbs up, with its depth of content and features, the true cost of the game might come across as a drawback for potential players.

Even though the game is labelled a free app, in-app purchases run expensive with some perks coming up to $49.99. Like most free games that depend on in-app purchases for income, Battle Nations is playable totally free, but after the initial few levels things get extremely difficult and these expensive in-app purchases provide a more than imbalanced edge over other players without them.

What better time than now to up your biking experience with the trendiest iPhone cycling apps? I mean- who still uses those dedicated cycling computers to monitor their riding distance, time and speed when we are in the age of a whole range of smartphone cycling apps that are a heck more helpful and cheaper. The word out there is technology for fitness; so you only need one awesome cycling app on your iPhone and… eureka! You have an incredible mobile GPS tool with features like Twitter and Facebook integration and iPod support.

There are many cycling apps options you can have for your iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4 or 5, but who says you shouldn’t have the best? With an iPhone, you are the only thing standing between yourself and the next level of tech-assisted cycling. The following five are some of the best iPhone apps for cycling and not in any particular order.

Map My Ride (free)

MapMyRide is a terrific interactive map that, of all apps of its kind, has the best route creation tool. It’ll let you keep track of all your cycling data, including route traveled, distance, duration, speed and elevation, and you can add a dongle to enable it to track your heart-rate data too. Of course this dongle is a separate purchase. The full package is laden with features that rival most cycling apps; you’ll have access to exportable maps, superb route overview screens, easy route and map sharing, list and search events, as well as a calendar for workout scheduling. The basic features are available in the free version but to access the ground-breaking and more useful ones, subscribe to the premium version for only $6.49 monthly or $31.99 yearly.

Strava Cycling (free)

Now this is the app that truly seems to have thought of everything cycling apps should have. Perhaps the most striking thing about it is how it spurs you into a competitive frenzy even when you are riding alone; Strava allows you to race against your best record. You can also time yourself on a popular and competitive stretch of road or track, after which the app ranks you among other riders who’ve recorded the same stretch. It brings you all the necessary data and standard statistics for tracking your rides along with enabling you to socialize with fellow Strava users. Add a couple of other equipment and you’ll have your “suffer score” too, as it tracks your heart rate. Like other top apps, Strava has a free option and the premium version that you acquire for $6.49 per month or $64.99 per year.

Cycle Watch ($1.99)

For the budget-conscious, this app is exactly what you need. Featuring all the must-haves- You can calculate distance, time, speed and elevation- Cycle Watch is the best cheap GPS cycling app. There is also a map that displays cycling routes, as well as a feature that allows comparison of times to previous outings on a specific route. It costs you $1.99 to get it on your iPhone.

Runtastic Road Bike Pro ($4.99)

With $4.99, you can have Runtastic Road Bike Pro, which has most of the features other cycling apps have. These are such as a detailed route map, weather information and calculation of distance, time and average speed displayed in real time and on a customizable dashboard. What makes it so special and irresistible, though, is its integration with social media outlets, which means you can easily share your rides with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers. It is indeed an excellent alternative to a cycle computer, as it offers even a historic mapping function that lets you compare all your rides at a later date.

Cyclometer GPS ($4.99)

Cyclometer is the most accurate solution for your biking. The app is mountable on the bike front and requires no account sign-ups or subscription fees for you to track a ride and make calculations. With this app, you can do all else other cycling apps can do, besides using Google Maps to share your cycling route on Facebook and Twitter and using the audio feedback feature that tells you your progress. With Google Maps, Cyclometer allows switching between Map, Satellite and Hybrid forms. On top of all these, there are iPod integration and email alerts. You get a ton of tracking and reporting features for only $4.99.

It’s cute, it’s funny, it’s addictive, its free! No wonder it seldom gets out of the topper list. This never-ending  chase is different from others in the sense that Chasing Yello is an aquatic sport while others are running from temple demons or railway guards over mother Earth.

This story is about a tiny gold fish reminding us of the classic Cleo or perhaps, Nemo, who is the pet of a 10 year old girl. You know how some of them can be! Yello is fed up with the life in plastic bags & glass tanks and is forced to run for his freedom. Swim through the river while she chases you around. Its always disappointing to know that you’re never gonna escape in this endless platformer!

The river is filled with stars, floating logs, rocks, burning wood (!) and piranhas. Sometimes the girl herself chases you in a boat. Sway, jump or dive to evade obstacles and collect power ups. Reach the farthest and complete missions in the process.

The indispensable parts of every free game – ads and in-app store also makes its way in this game. You can get continue, head start, upgrades, power ups, themes and boosts using stars and you surely know how to get some extra twinklings!

The graphics and sound effects are great, while occasional comments by the girl is super challenging. The overall experience is really pleasing and addictive. With the lowest tag possible and an inexpensive optional in-app catalogue, Chasing Yello will never let you down.

I swear, this has been the most stressful 94 Seconds of my life.

In this game, the instructions are clear and simple. A theme is given as well as a random letter of the alphabet, and players have 94 seconds to start listing all the possible words between the two given parameters. Of course,the objective of the game is to get as many words as possible within the time limit, which links back to the game title.

I do wonder if there a reason or hidden meaning behind the number 94?

The game is real simple, and makes for a quick escape for those looking to take a short break or have a perk me up without wasting too much time. I guess the only downside would be that this game is simply too addictive and minutes will pass like water flowing out of a running tap.

I love the entire concept of the game as a whole, how it’s so addictive and seemingly unique. I’ve yet to find a similar app out there, and 94 Seconds has quickly become one of my most frequented apps.

Free for download, additional levels, ad removals and whatnot can be purchased for an extra fee.

Knights of Pen and Paper is a quite odd game. A metagame of sorts, if you know what I mean. Maybe you don’t, and this is why I should explain something more instead of just writing a 1-line review.

Knights of Pen and Paper (which, by the way, is a universal app running both in your iPhone and iPad) is a peculiar take in the classic RPG gaming. Why? Well, in computer RPG you usually play inside the simulated RPG world as a character. In Knights of Pen and Paper instead you play on your iPad (or iPhone) a game which is played in a basement, with the standard classic RPG lore. A table, a few chairs, a dungeon master, dice and the like. This is why I told you this game is a metagame. You play a game inside a game.

The game is pretty classic in essence, asking you to perform certain feats along a simulated world, being the heroes and this standard stuff. It gets a little different at the end… But I’ll leave this to you to discover. Because you’ll get there sooner or later: Knights of Pen and Paper is a fairly short game, albeit a very good one.

Graphics are old-school pixel art, with simple bouncy animations and fades. After all, this is a turn based game where animations don’t need to be top notch, gameplay is king. And the game plays fairly quickly, getting you into the “just one more fight” mode where you end up wasting 2 hours when you wanted to play for 5 minutes.

In short: Knights of Pen and Paper is original, amusing and fun. Get it. Or not.

Everyone loves a good racer, and fans who have played the previous 2 installments of the Real Racing series can attest to how legendary the games have been. However, when it comes to Real Racing 3, my thoughts are a little mixed with this one.

To start off the game does a wonderful job with actual gameplay, living up to and even superseding the benchmarks set by its predecessors. Graphics run real crisp and smoothly, with cars rendered so beautifully it easily beats certain desktop and console racers. I would say Real Racing 3 has one of the nicest graphics in a mobile racer I’ve seen. Gameplay is awesome too, with very responsive controls.

However, the downside to the game lies in the monetization. The game is plagued with advertisements, and prompts for in-app purchases which can get very annoying as the game processes. Also, gameplay seems to revolve around depleting your stash of in-game cash as quickly as possible by the most ridiculous methods, such as implementing random wait times and needing to pay to bypass such times. To get more cash, players can of course buy them for real life currency.

So while a really great game, the strong demand for monetization really spoils everything.