App Review: App Info+ Gives You All The Information On All Your Apps

I’ve had quite a streak of amazing Apps to review lately from my friends over at Nokia Dvlup. The talented developers there continue to astound me daily as I keep going through the lists of Apps that are messaged to me or sent to me via email. Today, I had the pleasure of taking App Info+ from Ocean68 Studio for a test drive. If the name of the developer sounds familiar, it’s because they are on the ones that brought us 11,000 Cool Facts. That App garnered a great review from me previously. That said, App Info+ does exactly what it says it does, it tells you information about the App before you grab it.

App Info+ starts off with an easy enough screen. The App simply has a search bar at the top of the screen and a deals icon at the bottom. The search bar at the top is also accompanied by a region selector as well. There is also the ad support space just above the deals button. To use App Info+, you simply enter the name of the App you want information on and watch the list populate below your entry.

When you select the App you want from the list, a window pops up offering you information on the App itself. In the info box, you will see the number of ratings and the average rating. You will see the price of the App, when it was released and the date it was last updated. It shows the download size and the install size. It also offers an estimate on the amount of internal storage needed for the App to operate.

I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed with the data that App Info+ offered in such a quick fashion, especially with my limited 16GB device. Unfortunately, the data that App Info+ offered me and the actual install size of the App I checked was very different. According to Nokia Storage Check, App Info+ is using 19MB of data where as the App Info+ total shows the installed size as near 8.28MB. I would love to see this cleaned up in a later release, but for now, I’ll accept it as a bit of a bug. (See the update on 5/8/14 on why this line was removed.)

The last awesome feature of App Info+ is the linking to the App AppDeals, which offers daily free and discounted Apps. This little gem is a great addition to any Windows Phone all on its own. Ocean68 Studio was brilliant to loop this freebie into App Info+ and for that reason alone this is a 4 star App. Adding the additional information that App Info+ provides easily makes this App worth the 19MB’s of space on your device. If you are a frequent App installer, check out App Info+ and gain one touch access to all those Apps you want to install.

UPDATE 5/8/14

I was contacted by Ocean68 Studio about the method that I used about determining the App Size information used in this post. I currently use a Nokia Lumia 925 for my daily testing phone and at the time that this post was written, Nokia Storage Check showed the App was using 19MB of space on my device. Post the 8.1 Developer Preview, it shows 18.04MB in the new Storage Sense feature. This varies from the ~8.28MB amount that the App stated that it used.

Ocean68 Studio did point me to the fact that their App matches the Windows Phone Store data exactly, which I will give them credit for. While my storage check Apps may not be 100% accurate compared to the Store amounts, App Info+ is correctly showing the data required by the Store to install the App and that is what that feature is designed to show. For now, I will continue to use Storage Sense or Storage Check for review purposes, but it's nice to see that they have an explanation for the difference and how they made it all work. Great job guys!

Game Review: Salvo A Throwback To Arcade Perfection

If there is one thing that I love about Windows Phone developers it would have to be that they remember what real video games are and what they should be. Not that I’m against games like Grand Theft Auto or Halo, but those things are a serious pain for old folks like me to master. I want my Asteroids, Space Invaders and Pole Position games from yester year. I want arcade action without all the fluff. I want Salvo!

Salvo from Caleb Khazoyan is simply arcade classic fun with a minimal learning curve. It takes only minutes to figure out and, if my first few games are any indication, quite some time to master. Just a quick press of the New Game button and a selection of opponents will have you ready to engage the enemy fighters in space.

Game play couldn’t be easier to figure out. First you select the direction by dragging inner circle to the edge of the white circle. This will move your ship to the location where your next turn will start. Next, you move the target circle where you think your phaser or torpedo will do the most damage to your opponent. If you are a bit too close to losing the battle, you can use the shield generator to recoup some of your shield’s power. This will help you outlast those pesky opponents that just won’t let you win.

After a few rounds of torturous combat, the controls will become second nature. I found out quickly how and when to switch weapons for the most damage and the highest experience gain. I have a feeling that as I advance in levels that there will be more weapons and harder opponents awaiting my phasers, but I’ll see about that later.

When you reach the pinnacle of performance, you are met with the screen of victory. This, of course, is the sign of a true Salvo warrior and is never that easy to achieve. Well, maybe it is, but I sure loved the first time I saw it. Of course, one crank up of the opponent level and I was right back to seeing…

Yes, it can be a challenging game. If you fail to blast your nemesis before they destroy you, then you are met with the screen that greeted me a few times before I figured out the game completely.

Salvo is a classic arcade, turn-by-turn space shooter that is well worth the 37MB installed size. Game play is quick and easy. The soundtrack is well done and the fully unlocked version of the game is only $2.99. The only thing missing is a multiplayer mode. I still give this a solid 5 star rating, but with multiplayer added in, this game would be worth $5 easy. You can snag a free download of Salvo by clicking the link below.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/salvo/0c29bcb8-47ea-4080-9eb6-208487c4ecdb

Better Bluetooth Music With The CredDeal Sport Wireless Headset

When you are in the mood to go for that run or working out at the gym, you don’t want to deal with cords hanging all over everything. The CredDeal Sport Wireless Bluetooth Headset does a perfect job of getting rid of those cords on your Bluetooth enabled device. The lightweight design fits comfortably around the back of most people’s heads and the in-ear speakers are sized to fit the average user very easily as well. With a sub $25 price, the CredDeal Sport Wireless Bluetooth Headset is quite a value for any music lover.

The construction of the headset seems very solid. The earbuds do not feel flimsy or cheap. The sound quality is more than adequate for the average 192-320kbps MP3 file and the 8 hours of claimed playback time is almost accurate. My tests came in right at that mark with Nokia Mix Radio, but your results may vary. The construction continues with the sides of the CredDeal Sport Wireless Bluetooth Headset which feature playing controls on one side and the volume controls on the opposite. The 30g weight is almost half the weight of the popular Motorola S10-HD headset.

The charging mechanism on the CredDeal Sport Wireless Bluetooth Headset uses a standard mini USB cable. This works with any USB plug or USB wall/car adapter. The headset went from empty to charged in about an hour and a half. This makes it easy to pop it on the car charger while at work and have it primed for that afternoon workout or even an early morning workout the next day.

Overall, the CredDeal Sport Wireless Bluetooth Headset is quite a find. It is available in Black, Blue, Green and Red. It is also an Amazon Prime item for those that have an Amazon Prime membership. Your music will sound great and the light weight, comfortable design will allow you to listen longer and enjoy more music.

App Review: Notebot Pro

I love note taking Apps and even though I usually end up back where I started with OneNote, there are always a few that just do a better job. NoteBot Pro from erickfiveten is one such App. NoteBot Pro is simplistic to use, yet powerful enough to make even the most daunting notes (or to-do lists) seem easy. The interface is surprisingly basic, yet once you scratch the surface of this App, NoteBot Pro surprises you with an infinite amount of customizable options.

As I said above, the layout of the app is about as simple as you get. Your note starts with a date and then you type it in. Want to start a new note in the list with a new date? Just tap the calendar button at the bottom to insert the current date. Don’t feel like typing in your note? Press the microphone button and record it. Need bullet points? Got that covered too with the checkboxes in between the voice and calendar controls.

Reading mode, yes, I just made up my own name for this mode – but simply put, it’s the one without a keyboard on the screen, allows ample view of all the notes you have stored.

When you delve into the settings menus, things start to get real fun, In the style menu, NoteBot Pro allows you to select font styles, sizes, colors and even the background of the note screen. It lets you completely customize how your notes are going to look. It simply blows away anything else on the market right now as far as customizable looks go. Kudos on such a flexible design.

As we get to the next settings screen, you can set a few very handy features. First, you an set the controls to your liking with the appbar button control. You can set up everything from font adjustments to Tap+Send with these specialized buttons. Again, flexibility that should not be found in a App that is free, but we threw out the rules with the formatting options that were made available earlier.

The full screen mode allows you to take off the appbar menu and the system tray to keep the viewing area as large as possible. The keyboard section on NoteBot Pro will automatically show the keyboard when you open, but by turning this off, it goes straight to that reading mode that I mentioned above until you tap in the reading area to start typing. The orientation lock is pretty self explanatory, but it will lock the screen in portrait mode to keep you from having your view switch constantly if you are taking a note in a weird position. Finally, the auto bcc setting will take your NoteBot Pro notes and email them to an address of your choice.

It’s completely nuts that this many features were built in to NoteBot Pro, but there they are. When erickfiveten submitted this App to me, I figured it was going to be a 5 minute review of yet another note taking App for my phone and a quick delete after using it for a few hours. Needless to say, it’s a month later, and I don’t think I have used OneNote nearly as much this month – actually, I’m not sure if I used it at all during this month. So, consider this advice: if you take notes on your Windows Phone, go download NoteBot Pro right now. I mean it, stop reading and go get NoteBot Pro right now. It’s the first 6 star App that I have had the pleasure of reviewing from the Windows Phone Store.

Windows Phone 8.1 Has Arrived

After months of wondering what the new Windows Phone offering would bring, yesterday at the BUILD conference Microsoft finally made it official. What does this new update include and most importantly, is your phone getting it? Let’s take a look at the devices that are getting the update first, then what the update will feature.

Carriers were quick to confirm which devices would get the update to Windows Phone 8.1. Sprint was the first one out of the gate with the news that the HTC 8XT and their rendition of the Samsung ATIV would be getting the update this summer. T-Mobile followed with the 925 and 521 both receiving the nod – there was not mention of the 810, which probably means no Lumia Cyan update, but the Developer Preview should still work on the solid 810 hardware.

Verizon had already confirmed that the Lumia Icon would be getting the 8.1 update, but has not officially released a statement on the 928 or 822 at this point. Personally, I expect the 928 to see the update, but I’m not so sure on the 822. The Samsung ATIV and HTC 8X should also both see the update at some point this summer. AT&T rounded out the news carriers with the 1520 and 1020 both getting the update for sure with their 920 and 925 expected to get it as well. The 520 should also support the update as its sister phone on T-Mobile will be getting it.

Now, with all the hubbub about what’s getting it and not getting it mostly out of the way, what can you expect to find in the new update if you are one of the lucky ones to get it?

Cortana: Microsoft’s Personal Assistant. You can use it to launch apps, call people, post updates and from the previews, do just about anything with your device. Hopefully the videos for Cortana aren’t like the original Siri videos where they ‘exaggerated’ what the system could do, but for now, it looks pretty stunning.

Greater Personalization: You will have more options for setting live tiles and backgrounds on your device. You can now select a photo to overlay your stock live tiles. Of course, as screens continue to grow, your tile layouts can be even more suited to you as many newer devices feature three column layouts instead of two.

Camera: The new camera software will feature burst mode capture, There is also the new collections feature. This allows for custom slideshows to be made from your device’s images and videos.

Connected Devices: Finally the three screen concept is getting closer to reality. While it isn’t quite the ‘mirror’ of the devices from one to the next that Microsoft teased us with when Windows Phone 7 launched, it is getting much better. The unification of interfaces, if by look only, is much stronger. When you use a system like OneDrive across your phone, tablet, laptop, PC and Xbox, you really start to see where this is going. There is also information coming out that Miracast and USB video is coming, but that is not confirmed on the Microsoft website at this time.

Finally, the behind the scenes features that everyone has been waiting for.

The Word Flow Keyboard – think of this as Windows Phone’s version of Swype. You can ‘type’ by sliding your finger around the keyboard instead of pressing individual letters. Many people consider this one of the biggest features missing from Windows Phone.

The Action Center – is the notification center that everyone has been complaining about. Personally, tiles did just fine for me, but now everyone will be happy. The new action center lets you see everything that is happening on one screen with one swipe.

Battery Saver – it’s back from WP8, and tweaked to work even better than before!

Storage Sense – if you have an SD capable phone, your life just got awesome. With the addition of Storage Sense, you can now move Apps from the internal memory to the SD card. This takes the limits off of those Lumia 520-521’s that are out there. Go order that bigger SD card now so you are ready later!

Data Sense – again, one of my favorite features of Windows Phone. Data Sense compresses data prior to it hitting your phone. This means less data used and you have an on-board data counter to keep track of your throttled times or overage fees.

Wi-Fi Sense – this one intrigues me so much. Wi-Fi sense will track public Wi-Fi logins and keep the sites you OK in memory. Then when you return to that McDonald’s for that cup of coffee, your phone will remember the information to log back in to the Wi-Fi connection there without having to log in through your browser. If this really works, it’s epic for me – and a ton of others out there.

As much as I hate to say it, that about rounds out the update. Of course, this doesn’t include any of the feature set of the Lumia Cyan update that is coming with this one for most Lumia handsets, but we will see more details on that one later, I’m sure. For now, watch your phone and this site for when the updates start to roll out.

Grab A Nokia Lumia 925 For $169.95

Every time another price drop hits the Nokia Lumia 925, I wonder what is coming next to replace it. The 4.5” device that is armed with a 8MP camera and 16GB of internal storage has officially dropped below the ridiculous line on HSN.com. The current street price for the device is $199.95, but with a quick click of a coupon code, that price falls to a lowly $169.95.

Beyond the basics listed above, the Lumia 925 features full offline mapping with Here Maps, offline music streams via Nokia Mix Radio and Data Sense to keep an eye on that ‘throttled’ data plan that you might be on. The device is locked to T-Mobile’s network, but it will still work with T-Mobile MVNO’s like Spot Mobile, Simple Mobile, Net10 (T-Mobile SIM) and Straight Talk (T-Mobile SIM.)

When you visit HSN, you should see a pop-up window asking you to join their mailing list. By signing up for that list, you will receive a coupon code that allows you to save an additional 15% off any single item that HSN offers. I would be willing to bet that this deal won’t last long, so grab one this morning before they disappear.

Click the link to get this awesome deal: http://www.hsn.com/products/nokia-lumia-45-smartphone-with-gps-and-87mp-camera/7439113

App Review: Guess Tunes Proves You Really Don’t Know Music

I normally don’t open with an “about section” screen shot, but seriously, you need to read what this is, because it is just plain crazy-awesomeness. Guess Tunes is another solid App delivered to us by Maftusoft, the same author that brought us Just-Me that I featured in my last review. First off, I recommend playing this game on Wi-Fi, not just because of the amount of data it uses, but also, over slower cell connections, the buffering can take a few extra minutes.
Now, the premise of the game is very simple, it’s name that tune. Guess Tunes uses Nokia Mix Radio to power the audio samples. I assume that they are the 30 second clips that you can preview in Mix Radio, which gets around all sorts of crazy licensing deals and such, which just make the programmer of this even more brilliant. The selection of genre’s, songs and styles is amazingly deep. The game modes are single player or two player, in either enter artist and song or multiple choice selections.

Guess Tunes is simple to play as you hear the streaming song, you simply press the talk button (that’s the big green one) or type your answer in the box. If you are right, you get 5 points each for artist or song title. You can rack up points pretty quickly, but spelling seems to count. If you use the ‘voice’ translation, make sure it gets it right for you.

Two player mode works in an additional box below the first in order to allow two separate people to buzz in. It works the same way though after you buzz in, you can use voice or text to enter your guesses.

Multiple choice mode is also available. This gives you three choices that the song could be and you can simply press the 1, 2 or 3 number to guess, or enter the guess via the voice or text input as well. This mode also works great for team playing as well.
Guess Tunes is a great game, though it appears in the “App List” not in the games section after install. It is a clean game with install size of 9.5 MB. With the only speed bump with this game being that I recommend Wi-Fi usage to keep data levels lower and keep buffering to a minimum, I have no problem telling everyone to grab a friend and download this today. You will have a great time playing Guess Tunes both alone and with your friends. You can even break a group into teams and play that way. Guess Tunes makes the perfect addition to any party.
Swing into  the Windows Phone Store today and grab it while it is still free: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/guess-tunes/f55b9a41-af16-4133-be84-0abfc5189714