You'll recall that the world of Windows Phone podcatchers is a little crowded? My own round-up ran to about 5000 words and had to be split into two parts! Well, we now have yet another challenger, in Podcast+ Pro, currently free (though claimed to revert to commercial at some point) - it learns a lot of tricks from other clients, adds a few UI twists of its own and largely manages to get close to the top of the pile.
It would be slightly unfair to lambast Perfect Shift as a cynical money making opportunity for the developers - this is actually what it is, of course, but it's lovingly and glossily done, and with a fair jolt of adrenaline for the player along the way. Would I prefer to see a Riptide-style commercial/freemium hybrid? Absolutely, but don't dismiss Perfect Shift completely because it's completely free up front...
After reviewing quite a number of emergency power banks on these sites, most of which have been quite impressive, I think we have a brand new winner. In terms of build quality, output, capacity and sheer value, the Omaker Premium 15600 wins out over the rest of the competition by a clear margin. As you'll see from my illustrated review below, testing the Omaker with Symbian and Windows Phone smartphones, plus an iPad or two...
It's sleek, it's colourful, it's cheap, and it doesn't come from Nokia or Microsoft - it's the Yezz Billy 4.7, in hand at AAWP Towers. I've been looking at it in detail and it's stunningly thin and light. In terms of functionality and performance it's - in theory - exactly halfway between the Lumia 535 and 735, I'd say. Which would put it in pretty good company, were it not for the unforgiveable lack of attention by Yezz to the finer details of getting going with a new (to the company) operating system...
One of the peculiarities of the Windows Phone lockscreen system is that you can only really have one set of overlaid details (e.g. weather or social or Bing image, etc.) at a time. In other words, you have to choose. Awesome Lock mainly takes away that pain by providing multiple data sources within its own custom lockscreen environment. It's a trifle garish at times in terms of set-up, but it does work and you can see why this has become many people's default lockscreen on the platform.
Guest writer Mayuri Mehrotra had been looking for a Windows Phone DLNA server app for all her media... and finally there is one – Linada Share. A DLNA server app basically allows your phone’s media to be accessed by other UPnP/DLNA clients, with a common WiFi connection. When Mayuri had come across this app earlier, it allowed access only to photos, but now music and videos are accessible too. warranting a proper review here on AAWP.
It comes to something when the worst things I can say about the brand new Microsoft Lumia 535 are that the colour and finish on the case plastic are not to my taste. Glossy orange would not be high up my personal wish list. However, away from that factor, it's hard to argue against the balance of budget components and features in the 535 - it's finely pitched to impress as much as possible for as low a price as possible and, in that regard, succeeds.
It's a fair cop - I'm whiling away the time to Christmas and Lumia Denim/Camera 5 arriving by play-testing the latest games for Windows Phone. But then the chances are that you're on a bit of a wind down to the holidays too, so why not have a crack at a game? Mini Golf Club is somewhat minimalist and, by default, ad-strewn, but zap these with an in-app purchase and you've got six 9-hole courses of gradually increasing crazy golf intensity...
If there's a guaranteed way to engage my interest in a game, it's titling it something like 'Strike Wing: Raptor Rising'. It turns out that this is a space-based combat flight simulator, that it's cross-platform, and that it's unbelievably beautifully rendered. Often in real time.
Outrageously (way beyond fashionably) late to the party, Candy Crush Saga has arrived on Windows Phone. Trailed by legendary tales from friends and colleagues on iOS and Android who have had their lives ruined by getting addicted to this 'delicious puzzle adventure'. It's freemium, of course, so let's see how it balances out on Windows Phone. Whatever happens, it's another of the high profile apps and games that was apparently missing and is now present and correct, so colour me happy(ish) and time to unwrap another celebratory candy...
