The first in this week's look at Nokia's American flagship, the Lumia 928 available exclusively on Verizon, looks at the hardware in the handset, the design, and the differences between this handset and the Lumia 920 and 925. Later on in the week, we'll have a look at Nokia's additions to Windows Phone 8 for the US market, and think about the 928's unique selling points, and if this is the handset to go for in America.
It's a bit of a blast from the past, but Nokia's Xbox Live exclusive title NBA Jam is going to set many hearts a flutter. This classic standalone arcade game from 1993 started the whole NBA Jam series off, and even today it remains playable and challenging. Yes, even on a Windows Phone device.
Pushing the envelope for Windows Phone gaming is the Xbox Live title N.O.V.A. 3. Along with Modern Combat (also from Gameloft), the title is a fully featured first person shooter. Can the modern smartphone handle something as complex as a home based console? Almost...
History Daily is one of those fun little apps that seems curious when you come across it in the Windows Phone store. The description is simple; "Every day, get one short story about what happened on this day in history" and it delivers on that promise.
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.
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.
There are several Camera 'replacements' for Windows Phone, even though none (as at the current OS version for most handsets) can be set as the 'default' application when you mash down the camera button - you have to launch them as 'lenses' or pick them from a Start screen shortcut. Camera Pro is geared towards the photo purist who wants to fiddle with every setting under the sun, while this, Camera360, is aimed more at someone who wants to delve more into the world of filters. If this sounds ghastly to you then move on, nothing to see. If built-in filters sound good to you then read on for my review, though note that there are still too many caveats to recommend the application in its current version.
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.
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.
Right then, you've all heard of IMDB, the definitive movie database for all platforms, with facts, links, quotes, trivia, the works? What room is there in the market for another movie-centric application for Windows Phone? The answer is to turn to the graphical nature of films and concentrate on the visual side of things more than facts and figures (though you get a few of those too). Film Closet is not only sumptuous, it's also perfectly optimised for Windows Phone and it's also free.
