Given the inherent limitations of mobile devices, RSS (feeds) can be a very useful way to consume content from your favourite sites on the go. Symbian offers a basic feed reader in the Web application, but you'll need to turn to a third party for something more powerful. Horus is a new entrant in this space, offering a visually compelling way to consume feeds. It also features offer some clever platform integration, including the ability to play back audio and video podcasts in RSS enclosures and full support for the Symbian browser system.
Calling all ace pilots, there's another 3D shooter in the Ovi Store. 3D Sky Fighter 2 is a forward scrolling accelerometer-controlled shoot 'em up. This is a bare bones game, with no instructions and minimal controls. That means the game will fly or crash and burn on its gameplay alone. Read on to find out whether it's a soaring success or a descending disaster!
Twitter is a must-have on any mobile phone these days. Fortunately, there are no shortage of applications out there to fill that need. TwimGo is a relatively new Twitter application, written by Tommi Laukkanen. It's available for both Maemo and Symbian, and is available for free in the Ovi Store. If you've outgrown Nokia Social, but still want a free Twitter client, is this the one for you? Read on to find out.
The clue is in the name of the game. Retro. Because RetroCosmos is harking back to the old days, the days even before Galaga and Defender ruled the arcade halls around the world. If there was a big timeline of arcade games where we would place Fabien Chereau's title, it would be sandwiched between the original Space Invaders and the more colourful Galaxians.
In the depths of winter, ITV subject the United Kingdom to The X Factor, a rowdy show where people cast votes so that judges can decide which of the two unpopular candidates they will save each week because they'll probably sell more MP3s come Christmas time. And in the summer months, they do exactly the same, except jugglers can be involved, and it's called Britian's Got Talent.
This looks promising - seven spinning dials with various coloured marbles that need to be lined up so they can disappear, to be replaced by more random coloured marbles. This sounds like an arcade/puzzle game that I could get used to. Unfortunately, it's missing some mojo to lift it out of the sea of nice ideas in order to make it to gaming nirvana.
It's not one hundred percent clear if this game is officially derived from a "Bomber Man" licence or if it's just very clever use of language in the Ovi Store description ("Brave Pipyakas, the offsprings of Bombermen, settled down in cozy world of watermelon trees"), but I'm not that bothered, because what's on offer here is a wonderful mix of exploration, adventure and arcade action.
There's no doubting that Harald Meyer is the king of aftermarket Symbian hardware utilities. His CameraPro is what creates all the close-up videos in my Phones Show, while his PhoneTorch has been used by thousands here to provide LED illumination on the way home from the pub! And now we have his latest creation, CameraFX 2.0, offering real time image mangling of a pretty high order. Is it useful in any way? Not at all. Is it fun, cool and geeky? You bet!
There's some wonderful photography on the Internet, uploaded from anyone with a camera and an Internet connection. Flickr and Picasa are two of the biggest players in this area, and searching their content for keywords can bring up a treasure trove of images. Accessing them on your phone via a browser can sometimes be a clunky experience. This is where Pocket View steps in, allowing you to discover photos with a slick Qt user interface. But does it have everything? Read on to find out.
Here's something unusual - an application from Offscreen Technologies which, depending on the version you grab, isn't necessarily free! Video Poker Touch is one of their titles which is sold as a commercial app - which makes a review even more appropriate, as you need to know whether it's worth buying. In summary - possibly! - it depends on how hooked you are on the concept of video poker and how concerned you are about the relative 'flatness' of the game. As hinted at above, there is a free version, but only for Qt-compatible handsets and with in-game ads.
