Downloading YouTube videos - we all do it once in a while. That documentary or that music video or that comedy routine, any or all of which you'd like on your phone (or tablet or whatever) because then you could watch it when you like without worrying about using up cell bandwidth. Or, in my case, having videos to hand when out of coverage - in the UK countryside, on a train, on the tube, on a plane, etc. Which is where YouTube downloaders come in, a specialised breed of utility, exemplified by the rather nice AllTube Grabber for Windows Phone here. As a bonus, it also works with three other video streaming sites.
It's not often I review a web browser - for the very good reason that Internet Explorer in Windows Phone 8.1 is now pretty capable. And Surfy is no doubt based on the same underlying web rendering controls - but it claims to add all sorts of 'bells and whistles' too, making it well worth a look. (Note that I'll be reviewing several other third party browsers in the coming weeks, before declaring a favourite!)
Ever fancied driving a huge articulated lorry? Or being a manic 'white van man'? Or being an army delivery driver with fragile nuclear weapons in the back? These are typical scenarios in this, Delivery Simulator - it's also immaculately programmed and presented (exclusively on Windows Phone?), is well pitched in terms of difficulty and is also great, great fun!
Build up your own base, be recruited by the Empire or fight for the Rebellion, create a stronghold and an unstoppable army, Star Wars Commander promises all of that - strictly speaking it delivers. It's just that the pace is glacial, the game is boring, and the ideas are unoriginal. This title relies far too much on the franchise rather than solid gameplay.
It's one of the ironies of Nokia's original oversampling concept for its Windows Phones with high resolution cameras, that quite a few utilities have now arisen to circumvent or avoid using the oversampling at all. Nokia itself didn't help, by issuing an update for Nokia Camera that offered the chance to shoot in 'DNG' format, i.e. RAW, resulting in large, full resolution files, for the hardcore photo enthusiast. And up until now, doing anything with these files required a desktop OS. Enter Rawer, for Windows Phone....
If you're a fan of smartphones - or at least enough of a fan to be reading this - then the chances are that you like gadgets too, specifically radio-controlled gadgets. In a pretty good simulation, in 'Helidroid 3 : RC 3D Helicopter' you're effectively left to play at home (with swimming pool, too!) and no interruptions, with three r/c helicopters and a variety of challenging 'missions' to accomplish. Easy to get started with, hard to master (in terms of time and stars), my only complaint here is that I'd like to see more variety and more missions.
The Nokia Lumia 530 is here - and, showing the long time scales upon which phones are developed, there's no mention of 'Microsoft Mobile' anywhere on the box - you actually have to remove the battery to see the first evidence of Microsoft's involvement in the hardware. It's the new bottom end of the Windows Phone range and in some ways it shows, but there's still plenty of value for money for buyers.
TouchRetouch is, as the name sounds, a photo retouching application, but don't dismiss it too lightly, as this has previously existed on all other mobile and desktop platforms, meaning that the intelligence behind the retouching is really rather extraordinary. When this works, it's jaw dropping. When it doesn't, it's still pretty useful. And, overall, deserves a high score here on its latest implementation, on Windows Phone.
I have to admit that any music player on any platform has an uphill struggle, given that all OS have default music playback applications and that they're all usually very functional. What's needed for a third party music player is to offer extra functions, extra playback possibilities, extra beauty. Music Now starts off looking the part but ultimately comes off looking a little amateurish, despite many, many updates in the Windows Phone Store.
Fresh from my case selection for the Nokia Lumia 1520, let's go down to the other extreme, to the best selling Windows Phone ever - the budget Lumia 520. Again, I'm going to take three of the best selling cases from a major retailer, with very different characteristics, and see which one comes up trumps.
