Author Archive for ChiffaN

Soya Comics ~ Social RSS feed reader for all your favorite web comics in Review – A very limited RSS reader

How do most people start their day at the office? With a morning dose of coffee and check-up of their favourite news feeds, right? I don’t know about you but among mine is a daily dose of Dilbert. The mishaps of his office life that often dangerously remind me of my own experiences certainly give me a boost of optimism about the future. And this daily check-up has just got much easier with Soya Comics ~ Social RSS feed reader for all your favorite web comics.

Epic War TD in Review – More of a tale than a legend…

It’s quite interesting to note the torrent of Tower Defense games that has been flooding the App Store for last year or so, is slowly but surely slowing down to a trickle. And more and more of the new releases try to do more to distinguish themselves from the crowd in one of the most populated genres. While some try to leverage famous franchises like Star Wars: Battle for Hoth (TMA Review) or The Lord of the Rings: Middle-earth Defense (TMA Review), others go for features like Sentinel 3: Homeworld (TMA Review) or Guns’n'Glory (TMA Review).The recently released Epic War TD is definitely one of the latter…

iCamera HDR: All-in-One in Review – The wonders of modern photography…

For the longest time, even considering the iPhone camera to be a viable solution for taking everyday photos was out of the question for me. But that all changed with the release of the iPhone 4. The larger sensor, advocated by Steve Jobs, does indeed make a difference, and despite its somewhat slow focus, the latest iPhone has essentially replaced my point-and-shoot camera for most occasions. After all, they say the best camera is the one that is always with you! That said, its performance is not quite perfect (in spite of the touted built-in HDR photography feature) and if you really want to get the most out of your i-photos, the optimal solution involves dedicated photography apps like iCamera HDR: All-in-One.

Ascendancy in Review – Ascend from the darkness, come to the light of the App Store!

Looking at the power of modern mobile devices, it’s no wonder then that more and more of them are the target of developers, looking to get more life out of their classic titles. And this is even more true with the iOS family, with a single point of sales and an extremely low entry barrier – costing a measly $99 per year for a developer’s license. I can’t say that every such upgrade goes without a hitch, but that certainly doesn’t stop people from trying. Ascendancy has been universally praised back in the mid-90s and we’ll soon find out if it still has the spunk to reach out to today’s iOS gamers.

DOTORI PLAYER in Review – Popcorn not included…

I know many of you were left with a VLC shaped hole in your iOS souls when the original developers of the open source media player filed a complaint to Apple and had it removed. And all that for a technical inconsistency with the GPL license! Still, life moves on and other developers have moved in to grab at the now empty spot. Some time ago I reviewed AVPlayer (TMA Review) – quite a strong contender for the crown of universal multimedia players on the iPhone. Most recently I had the opportunity to take a nab at DOTORI PLAYER, a similar all-in-one media player app from a Korean developer.

Hamlet or the Last Game without MMORPG Features, Shaders and Product Placement in Review – None of the above, but a devilishly good puzzler

The adventure game genre has seen quite varied incarnations on the iDevice. From ports of the classic games like Broken Sword: Director’s Cut (TMA Review), to all original hardcore adventures in 1112 episode 02 or HECTOR: Badge of Carnage Ep1 (TMA Review), to more light hearted ones such as Mystery Mania (TMA Review), a good number have found their rightful spot in our App Store’s Best Adventure list. And it is this last genre that has just been updated with a title with the very long name of Hamlet or the Last Game without MMORPG Features, Shaders and Product Placement.

Tiny Wings in Review – I dreamed I could fly…

With all the major (hardcore) releases lately from big publishers, it’s easy to forget that not everybody looks for something that complicated in terms of gameplay on the iOS. While creating a runaway hit game that is wholeheartedly embraced by the masses is often difficult to achieve, the ones that do become a screaming success, like Doodle Jump or Cut the Rope. And almost out of the blue, a new star has risen on the horizon with the simple name – Tiny Wings.

The Pantheon Cycle: Shrouded Aspect in Review – Simply doesn’t measure up to the competition… even one released 2 years ago.

A rare guest in our laboratory tonight, we welcome a member of the tactical turn-based strategy. The genre itself has seen various implementations on the iDevice, from the excellent Battle for Wesnoth (TMA Review) and Highborn (TMA Review) to the more obscure titles that have languished in the App Store. Personally I’ve always been quite fond of such games, ones that truly challenge the mind and strategic skills of the player. That’s why even despite the less promising screenshots of The Pantheon Cycle: Shrouded Aspect I still took it for a spin, hoping against hope it will prove me wrong.

iPod Nano 6th gen software update brings playback control via the hardware buttons

One of the most welcome updates to the iPod line at Apple’s Sept’10 event was the overhaul of the iPod Nano, streamlined to be just a tiny bit bigger that the iPod Shuffle 2G/4G, while getting a fully-functional touchscreen interface. I myself immediately fell in love with this superb device and having been given it as a New Year’s gift, have never looked back since.

Unfortunately, using it in the not-so friendly winter climate of Russia is sometimes a bit difficult. Probably the most annoying is the necessity to wake it up and then find the pause button whenever I want to distract myself from the wonderful sounds it produces. It might not seem like a big deal but when it’s -25 degrees centigrade outside, doing all of the actions necessary to pause playback with the gloves off is not especially attractive. And my second frustration was with the podcast playback, which is what I mainly use my iPod for – after a track finishes you have to manually toggle the next one. Again, -25 degrees, remember?

Today having plugged in my lovely iPod for a podcast update I was excited to see a new software update was available. And with it, both my nagging issues have been resolved.

Official list of changes can be found after the gap…I’m off to enjoy my podcasts.

PC Monitor in Review – Big brother is watching you!

With communication devices getting more powerful by the day, it’s not uncommon now to see a system administrator huddled over his smartphone somewhere in the subway, fixing an urgent issue on one of the company’s servers remotely. Keeping the herd of PC’s in check is often a challenge in this day and age, and sometimes the IT guys have to work day and night to ensure everything is running smoothly for us end users. That said, I bet our IT guys would love something like PC Monitor to ease their mind…