Anyone spotting the name Polarbit know to expect great graphics, coupled with an absorbing game, and I’m glad to say that Iron Sight HD continues that trend. This artillery-based game is not without the occasional quirk, and has a steep learning curve, but for those gamers who stick with it and learn the game, it’s very rewarding. As I've found out.
The Symbian Calendar is lacking a good old agenda view; something that Psion and Google Calendar users alike will be all too well aware of. However, help is at hand by means of a highly configurable application called "Coming Next". Coming Next works on S60 5th Edition and Symbian^3, and is available in the Ovi Store for free. If you've been waiting for an agenda view on your Symbian phone, then read on and find out why you should take a look at Coming Next.
Sometimes you need something that just works - no bells, no whistles, no fancy graphics. You just want to move a file from your phone to a computer. What options have you got? Well now there's one more for Symbian smartphones. Dukto is a Wi-fi based file transfer system that not only is fast, but also multiplatform. Symbian to Mac, PC, Linux, or another Symbian device? No problem at all. Looks like I've one less need for the Nokia Ovi Suite. Here's why.
Offscreen are a company who have a veritable armada of applications in the Ovi Store, and here's one of their latest, Currencies Touch, available for free. Drawing information from the European Bank about exchange rates between thirty four currencies, this provides a user friendly interface for getting quick currency conversions on your phone.
Dropbox is one of the most popular cloud storage solutions out there, and applications for Android and iPhone are much touted features. However, there are various forms of support for Symbian too. Options include Dropbox's mobile website; the upload agents, Pixelpipe and Furtiv, and other miscellaneous workarounds. However, there is also an unofficial Dropbox application, called NDrop, available on the Ovi Store. Read on for an overview of how to access your Dropbox account on Symbian phones and a mini-review of NDrop in particular.
So part of me is thinking that this game is little more than a branding exercise for Barclaycard. And that part of me is one hundred percent right. With the strong visuals in their current UK TV commercials of a roller coaster winding around New York (and the passenger reaching out for some contactless card payments), this game sees you: a) in a roller coaster 'winding around New York' and b) reaching out to grab power-ups and points. There are subtle but obviously references and images of Barclaycard, but the rest of my brain is screaming “this is a really good mobile game!”
Offscreen are developers with a certain reputation for their single screen applications with very narrow functionality, but while that may have been the case at the start of their run of releases, they do deserve a second look. And while looking for some nice card games for the latest Symbian powered devices, I came across their version of Freecell. It’s still as close to a single screen application as it could be, but now there’s a menu screen and a game screen. And a lot of gameplay.
One of the elements to Facebook that I use a lot is normally the first to go in any portable version. Both in Nokia’s Social Networks widget and the regular mobile page (or even the more finger friendly touch.facebook.com) you can’t get access to Facebook’s IM system. I have said on many occasions that IM on a mobile is the holy grail that never delivered, but I still find it useful. So here comes Friendchat, a Facebook IM client for S60.
Tetris and electronic gaming go hand in hand, of course. Over the years there have been hundreds of versions on a dozen platforms, not least my own Atomic on Psion and the Nokia Communicator (ah, the memories...) There have been quite a few versions for S60 and then N-Gage too, but we now have something of a next-generation winner in Tetris HD, an official - though commercial - adaptation from Electronic Arts. With traditional and 'souped up' modes, it's a class act from start to finish.
It's been too long since we last had a go on a tower defence game for Symbian. So stepping up to fill the gap is Robodef from DaSuppaStudios. To those familiar with tower defence games, Robodef is a standard romp. And if you like to have a dose of Mecha in your video games then look no further. Robodef is available on the Ovi Store for S60 5th Edition and Symbian^3, there's a free trial and the full game is only £1.50. Read on to see my verdict.
