Ewan Spence
Ewan has been working in the smartphone market long before they were even called smartphones. Covering the early Psion, Palm and Windows Pocket PC machines first in Technical Support, then as a developer and publisher, and finally as a reporter he has been one of the more outspoken and long serving members of the All About family. When not working on the All About sites, Ewan produces a variety of entertainment-based podcasts and writes in his personal blog.
You can contact him at ewanspence@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at the admirably short @ewan or on Google+.
Recent Content by Ewan
Review: Jetpack Joyride (Xbox Live)
So let's talk about Jetpack Joyride. If you've ever picked up a handset, running another smartphone platform, with a handful of games, the chances are you'll have come across Jetpack Joyride. It's an infinite scrolling game, where you fly with your jetpack for as long as possible. Windows Phone is still playing catch-up in terms of the expected mobile games, so Halfbrick's arcade button presser is the latest 'historical' to get the Xbox Live branding.
Review: Fairway Solitaire
If there are any Psion Series 3 owners reading this, then Fairway Solitaire is going to be a very interesting walk down memory line (with a twist or two), recognising the card game 'Homerun' (plus there's the 'Fairway' reference, used by our own Steve in his Psion golf sim!) I'm pretty sure that everyone else is going to recognise the golf mechanic that has been jauntily placed on top of a simple, yet addictive card game.
Of course Microsoft should spend big to get the big apps
A simple question. What's wrong with Microsoft paying developers to code applications for Windows Phone 8? As the weekend opened, Business Insider noted that Redmond was paying 'up to $100,000' for hand picked developers to write for the mobile platform. Of course, the vast majority are looking at a much smaller return. But what, precisely, is wrong about an app bounty?
Can Windows Phone avoid the app clone wars?
As more people start to buy into the Windows Phone system, more app developers will be looking at the platform and wondering how to make best use of the opportunities on offer. One route I personally hope that they ignore is 'cloning' popular applications from other platforms and dropping them into Microsoft's mobile machines.
Review: Dots
Dots is addictive, intoxicating, and perhaps one of the weirdest gaming experiences I've personally had during 2013. Earlier in the year the game "Dots" was released on iOS from Nerdy Octopus and Betaworks. It's still horribly addictive. And now it's (kind of) here on Windows Phone.
Review: Temple Run: Brave
Right then, Temple Run Brave. The easiest way to review this would be quite cynical - just cut and paste the original review of Temple Run (which you can read here) and add in a paragraph about the new 'archery' section you can romp through. Then I would need to talk about why there's an archery section, why there's a different character, and we're back at a full review. So let's just go with that.
Review: PicasaSync
While Microsoft might want you to use SkyDrive for everything, including uploading your pictures, there are other services people use. One of them is Picasa, and Ahtut's client, PicasaSync, sets out to help you use Picasa with your Windows Phone.
Six Things Windows Phone Could Learn From iOS
With the announcement of iOS 7 for developers at Apple's WWDC, one of the rival mobile operating systems to Windows Phone steps forward with new ideas and presentations. But if you take a closer look at iOS, is there anything that stands out as a lesson that Windows Phone needs to learn? Here are six...
Review: Doom & Destiny
The Role Playing Game genre (RPG) doesn't have a huge number of titles on Windows Phone, so when a new one comes along, it not only has the expectations of the gamers on the platform to satisfy, but RPG's have a long history and any new title will be measured against it. I get the feeling that Doom & Destiny is counting on that.
Review: CycloMeter
The personal smartphone presents an interesting platform to developers to try out some ideas. Many of them have decided to try building an exercise tracker app, and CycloMeter is another addition to that list. Focusing on the cycling fans who own a Windows Phone, CycloMeter tracks your trips, lets you upload the data in a usable and portable format, and lets you race against a ghost of yourself.