With the Tour de France on right now (and the final stage happening on July 22), fans of the flagship cycling race might want to have a look at MetroTour, a third party app that keeps you in touch with details on the annual spectacle. It includes stage maps, timings, standings, a dedicated Twitter feed, and more.
Not everybody in the world will have a Windows Phone, so how do you share content from your smartphone? You could use the built-in sharing and transmit your details (through email, phone messaging, or anything else you have installed), or you could go for a more interesting solution and use the QR Code application, Square.
First there was Bejeweled, the match-3 game that became the benchmark for gamers and developers around the world, on multiple platforms. Now, with just a little bit of searching in any App Store, you'll find a number of match-3 games. If you've decided to skip over Bejeweled Live (one of the many Xbox Live apps for Windows Phone) and look for something a little different, why not consider Alawar's 'The Treasures of Montezuma?'
Super Monkey Ball has a long legacy with gamers, and this twist on the maze game has been frustrating players since its appearance in arcades in 1999. It's a simple game, all you have to do is roll your monkey (who is in one of those pet exercise balls you see for gerbils) around the level to collect as many bananas as possible and then head to the exit, without falling off the platform.
One of the essential tools for any enthusiast, blogger or journalist, is RSS feed reading. Google Reader is one of the most popular online readers, which many smartphone users require an app for. That's just what we have for Windows Phone 7 with Nextgen Reader. This app has been actively supported, with regular updates and user interface improvements. So it's definitely a good investment. For more details and to find out if it’s the tool for you – read on.
Many developers have attempted to bring 'collectible card game' style titles to gamers, and now it's the turn of Nex Game Studio to woo Windows Phone players. Summoner Call is the usual mix of wizards, spells, and creatures, shuffled together as players go head-to -head in magical combat. It's quick to play, but does that speed hide a fundamental gaming problem?
So how do you start a review about yet another title in the 'Tower Defense' genre? Well you could point out just how similar all these games are, how they need a careful balance of resources and enemies to attack during each level, how everything should build on previous lessons learned on these levels, and there needs to be a strong visual design to make the title stand out. Or you could mention all of the above, and point out that Radiant Defense does it all.
Miniclip have a strong catalogue of Xbox Live titles and, if you look at the titles, there are certain things Miniclip like to do. They like to have a very simple game mechanic, they like to have a generous demo mode, they like to provide a few different ways of playing, and they like to provide a huge number of levels. But with Fling, there's a feeling that Miniclip are going through the motions, and that as a gamer I've done this all before.
New this month in the Windows Marketplace is Cyclocomp, a tracking application aimed at cyclists - but joggers, runners, and other mobile fitness fans could find some value in here. It's a nice piece of code, that does the job of tracking where you cycle and for how long, but it's missing a few tricks in terms of functionality, and I'm struggling to find enough confidence in the application to commit to it.
Final Fantasy is a big name in gaming. It's one of the leading role playing game (RPG) franchises, which has been releasing new titles for the last twenty five years. With fourteen titles in the 'main' line and countless other compilations, spin-offs and off-shoots, the basic style of Final Fantasy is known the world over. Does the Xbox Live version of the game match up to the expectations?
