It's a fair cop, Netflix isn't a new release on Windows Phone. In fact, it was one of the first, back in 2010. Yet a) it has been consistently updated ever since, and b) we've never (unbelievably) reviewed it before. Which is why, if you're fed up with Christmas TV fare, I thought I should point you in Netflix's direction on Windows Phone - it really does work very well indeed.
It's something of a rite of passage for a geek with a new computing platform - to run through every single Twitter client in search of 'the one', the application that does everything perfectly. This was me on Windows Phone, with my personal search ending with Twabbit - it's slick, it's customisable, it's fast and, somewhat reassuringly, it's not (compulsorily) freeware. Meaning that there's a developer behind it who's being rewarded for his efforts and is therefore likely to carry on developing updates and fixes as needed in the future.
Looking for a strategy game that has tactical depth, is fast to play, and works well on a touch-screen smartphone? If so, your hopes could well be answered by Chris Hanson's Alpha Invasion, an ad-supported arcade game for Windows Phone.
Ragdoll Run is an 'infinite running' game, where the challenge is to avoid dying for as long as possible. There are many games like this over all the mobile platforms, and while some of them stay with the classical ideal of having just a single control to act as the 'jump' button, Ragdoll Run expands the options and controls available to the player - but the developers have forgotten to make an engaging and rewarding game.
A little burst of mariachi music greets you as you open up Call of Carlos, a platforming arcade game from developers Games Academy. To go alongside the background music, there's a strong Central American feel to the graphics, which adds a lot of atmosphere to this well balanced and fast slice of twitchy controlled fun.
Alphajax has taken an unconventional route to Xbox Live. Originally an independent release in the Windows Store, Microsoft noted its popularity and has brought it to their flagship brand. But it's an app with some problems, and that dulls the impact.
Continuing our fine tradition of 'no stone left unturned' reviews, Rafe Blandford here looks at the Nokia Lumia 820, the little sister of the attention-grabbing, optically-stabilised, larger-screened Lumia 920. The attention difference is somewhat unfair though, as you'll see in the review part below - the 820 still has a lot to recommend it.
Any busy metropolis is going to have a complicated public transport system that takes many months for those new to the city to understand. In historical times this meant lots of paper maps, guesswork, and leaving a lot of spare time. Now you have any number of public transport applications on your smartphone. Given the increased complexity of London, how well does London Travel handle the options? Quite well, actually!
Every time I come across an app from Beautiful Mind Games in the Windows Store, I'm amazed how they can take a well known gaming mechanic, twist it just enough to be something new yet familiar, and produce a really good gaming title. While there is no single wow moment in their latest title Orientile, it continues a strong run of successful games.
Replicating the exact behaviour of something in the real world inside a smartphone is never trivial. Or even, necessarily, desirable. Yet this is what RC-AirSim: Model Airplane attempts - and succeeds wildly. The downside, as you might imagine, is that all the frustrations of the real world come over as well. This is part game, part simulation, part tech-demo for the developer's physics and graphics algorithms - yet I love it. Read on for why....
