Of all the Twitter clients I’ve tried Tweetbot is at the top of a very long list of Twitter clients. Tweetbot ranks among the top of all Twitter clients because it easy to use while still being robust enough to handle the most demanding of Twitter users. Among the more useful features are sliding a tweet right to view replies and sliding left for more detailed view of the tweet (scroll up for replies, if any exist). Most timelines include the ability to search the downloaded tweets (use search on the left navigation bar for a more powerful search).

What Tweetbot doesn’t do for you is make you fit into how the developer envisioned the application being used as the only way it can be used. Tweetbot offers quite a few options to help customize it to suit you. You can change the font size (tiny to huge), display name ( full name, user name or both), date format, navigation (hiding or displaying favorites, search, profile, lists, re-tweets and mute filters), streaming, quote format and much more.

Beyond the left and right sliding of tweets Tweetbot makes use of another gesture: triple tap. Triple tapping can cause one of the following user configurable actions: reply, re-tweet, favorite, translate, or view in Favstar. Translation occurs in the app in the form of a dialog box. In the few tweets I tried translating, it translated quick enough to be useful. Presumably translation translates tweets to the default language of the iPad, as this is one of the few features without any user customization. Given that the developer’s domain has DNS entries for Google Apps, translation is likely handled by Google. Having never heard of Favstar I found it to be an odd choice for the triple tap gesture however, users of the site might like it. Favstar allows users to get more detailed information about tweets; think analytics for tweets.

One feature I especially liked is the ability to import and export Twitter accounts into Twitter’s iOS application. This meant I didn’t have to re-type all my Twitter account information to start using Tweetbot. People with multiple Twitter accounts will particularly like the easy transition.

Tip: Leave your Twitter account setup in iOS and uninstall the Twitter app to retain Twitter integration in other applications yet save the space; this will also stop double data and Twitter polls from both Twitter applications.

Alerts in Tweetbot work as they should except for one simple oversight. Tweetbot doesn’t have the ability to run in the background and poll for new tweets in your Twitter stream. Tweetbot alerts for mentions and direct messages any time but the lack of background updating for Twitter stream as a whole feels like an oversight; for users that want or need such a feature. Tweetbot does allow for “streaming” of your Twitter stream but only when open and the active application.

Although Flipboard is exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy S III, that doesn’t stop the Android community from getting it out there to the masses. We’ve installed it and gave it a run through and so far we like what we see. While there are many other visually oriented news readers out there, Flipboard is gesture heavy and focuses on discovery. Hit the read more link to see how Flipboard for Android stacks up against the other news readers.

While this is an early version of the app and the widget doesn’t show up on all phones (works fine on my Galaxy Nexus), it is very stable and fast. It is defiantly ready for everyday use. First thing you do is setup your sources. Flipboard gives you some general categories like auto, technology, celebrity, news etc.. but you can also add your own sources. Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, Instagram are just some of the choices you have.

The app looks gorgeous and really emphasizes imagery to attract you to an article. The interface works with a number of gestures controls. On the main page you flip from bottom to top in order to see all of you sources. Clicking on a source opens up the latest article from that source. The same flick up and down let you browse the articles, while a swipe from left to right will take you back to the main page. When the articles refresh you get a neat little animation of the article folding down like a rolodex. The visuals and animations look fantastic and add a level of polish not seen in some of the other reader apps. Flipboard also lets you star items from your Google Reader, favorite articles from Twitter, save off line with apps likes Pocket, Instapaper, and Readability as well as use Android’s “share” function to send your articles to just about any app.

I do have a complaint with Flipboard’s lack of order. It is really great for discovery, which I think is important, but if I want to get to a specific news source’s articles, there is a ton of clicks you have to go through. Also adding an RSS feed is not particularly easy and even when searching for the exact feed URL, other sources often show up before your intended site. My last amd final complaint is that the app doesn’t follow the Android design guidelines. The settings button is on screen (the little gear), but the menu button is not. The settings are a mess and very difficult to drill through. I was surprised seeing as how gesture based Android is becoming that the developers did not take that into consideration. However, these are minute complaints that don’t take away from the overall experience of Flipboard to much. It really is a fantastic app and it’s too bad it is going to be a Samsung exclusive for a period of time. If you don’t want to wait for it to hit the Google Play Store, you can easily find the APK install-able file. Hint: Its in the first sentence of this post.

With a simple push of the button, Game Stew Studio hopes to show you a “Reel” good time with its latest release, Tower of Fortune, out now for iOS ($.99).  Can a monochrome, slot machine RPG really hope to hold its own amongst some of the heavy hitters currently making the rounds in the iOS App Store?  Only The Gadget Gurus can say for sure!

Gameplay

Tower of Fortune attempts to take one of the most complex styles of gameplay and reduce it down to one that takes little-to-no effort.  Tower of Fortune is an RPG, set long after the adventurer in the story has retired.  His daughter has been taken from him, and there’s nobody left but he to rescue her.  That’s about all of the story we’re given and, more or less, all of the direction we’re given for gameplay.  You’ll spend the first few minutes trying to figure out what to do, and end up spending a few hundred gold coins in the tavern.

It’s in this tavern that you’ll learn the two basic parts of Gameplay: “Spin” and “Stop”.  That’s it.  Sure, there’s a few other parts such as assigning weapons and armor and buying goods from the market, but at its heart, Tower of Fortune is a slot machine game.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this is a lot more fun than it sounds. Each wheel of the slot can have attack, be attacked, earn XP or earn money, with the first wheel dictating the actual turn of play.  If more than one wheel matches up, the action is multiplied.  This can be good or bad; imagine getting attacked with each wheel matching!  Subsequent actions result in combos that amplify the effect of the action.

Unfortunately, none of this is explained to you anywhere, and you’re forced to find it all out on your own.  This game would really benefit form some sort of tutorial or manual, and it loses a point or two for its lack.  The game will often find players starting out by wasting all of their money at the tavern before they learn how to earn more.  You haven’t figured it out, yet, have you?

To make more money, we go back to the main screen and select any portion of the tower (hence, TOWER of Fortune).  From here you’ll battle enemies and bosses in an attempt to win back your daughter.  The gameplay, while a bit repetitive, is still fun and I’ve found myself coming back to it while doing various tasks throughout the day.  With simple, one-handed gameplay, it can be played waiting in line at the supermarket, sitting on the bus on the way to work, or on the couch while you watch TV.  Once you’ve figured out HOW to play, it’s a fun little game with a great gameplay style.

Graphics/Design

Tower of Fortune’s unique, monochrome design is actually quite refreshing.  It’s very 8-bit and retro and feels much like the Gameboy games of old.  Detail isn’t applied so much to the graphics, but rather to a gameplay style unique to the app store.  In a world full of “HD” and “Retina Display”, having a throw-back to simpler times is pleasing to the eyes and well worth the purchase.  The lighter design also makes it easier to see in the dark, so if you’re concerned about waking your significant other while you play in bed, you can turn down the brightness and still see the game.

Enemy units are all unique and follow themes based on your location in the tower.  Bosses are bigger than the average enemy, and all characters animate in a retro-style that fits in well with the rest of the game.  The only issue with the animation and graphic style is the fact that animations happen every time and there’s no way to skip them.  After you’ve been bonked on the head with a bottle for the 100th time, you’ll wish something else would animate.

Sound

In line with the graphic style, the sound design is 100% retro.  It’s a lot of chiptune-type, 8-bit digital music and it really fits with the overall style of the game.  At maximum volume, it can get a bit loud, but is pleasing to the ears at lower volumes.  Each move of each character makes noise, and Big Stew has stated that they have plans to increase the amount of background music and make improvements there.  Much like games of yore, the sound and background music can get repetitious, which seems to fall in line with the rest of the game.

Overall

With a retro feel in both sight and sound, and a simple style of gameplay, Tower of Fortune has the chance to provide a decent amount of fun.  Players who find time consuming games a bit too…time consuming, will enjoy the quick-hit style of one-click play, and players looking for a bit more under the hood will enjoy the RPG elements.  Neither style really overpowers the other, which may deter users who would prefer one over the other, but this game is certainly playable by players of any skill level.  While sound and animation can be a bit repetitious, it shouldn’t drive players away from enjoying this game.  At $.99, this game is perfectly priced and certainly prepared to give you a dollar’s worth of entertainment.

Guru Review Score:

Gameplay: 8/10

Graphics/Design 8/10

Sound: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

The Gurus are back with another week of tech news goodness. This week we talk BlackBerry 10, Galaxy S III, Kindle in Target, and our NYC correspondant Craig, gives us a review of the AT&T HTC One X. And of course we also talked A LOT about The Avengers! Enjoy the show!!

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Back in 2008 when Iron Man was released and we saw Nick Fury first approach Tony Stark about the Avengers, it was a pipe dream. The idea was cool, but it could never really happen. Could it? Movie after movie, post credit scene after post credit scene, it was becoming more real. Finally May 4th , 2012 audiences get to see The Avengers assembled for what could have been a disaster, destroyed by the epicness of itself. Fortunately Marvel’s Avengers doesn’t just “not suck”, it kicks ass!

The movie doesn’t waste time getting into the swing of things. There are no origin stories to tell (the five stand alone movies do that), no back story to drag down the flow, and the action starts from the top. The plot is pretty cut and dry. The earth is about to be attacked by Loki (Thor’s brother) and an army of space creatures. S.H.I.E.L.D is responsible for stopping the upcoming conflict, but of course they are overwhelmed. That’s when the Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk are called together to stop Loki.

Of course these guys don’t all get along right off the bat and the banter that ensues is pretty awesome! Joss Whedon knows how to mix action and comedy and this is immediately evident when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes get together. The one liners and digs at each other are priceless. I found myself actually laughing out loud many times.

The pacing of this movie is fantastic. There is literally never a dull moment. From start to finish stuff is happening. Whether it’s Cap and Iron Man repairing a turbine or Hulk smashing through alien forces, the film is always moving forward. Every character had their time to shine and it never felt like a one horse show. Eventually the team figured it all out and started to work together. When this happens, not only does the banter and comedy get better, but the action sequences really shine. Seeing the avengers all working together is a geek dream come true. There was never a moment where I thought “Where is so and so?” or “I wish I saw more of XXXXX”. Everyone got great screen time and one character never overshadowed another.

This movie could have gone bad in so many different ways with all the egos, standalone franchises, and just all around “weight”. My expectations were set so high because I am a huge fan of Joss Whedon, as well as being a huge comic book fan. I am really happy to say The Avengers met and surpassed all of them!

Last week Mike asked if any of the GG fans lived in NYC and could pick up a test unit HTC One X for a review.  Thankfully, I live in Queens and thus was able to head into the East Village to snatch one up.  The event was held in the Crosby Hotel in Manhattan, i.e. pretty swanky place.

I was so absorbed playing with my review unit that I actually missed lunch (props to HTC and ATT for some seriously good smoothies).  I got a good demonstration of Sense 4, the new Beats audio software, and a couple of the One X accessories, so stay tuned.

The Phone Itself…

…looks like a standard HTC slab of a phone upon first glance.  4.7” screen, slightly bowlegged (rounded on the left and right).  Feels good in the hand – it’s slim, light, and has the slightest pebbling of the “high-tech polymer” that the phone is made of. I think HTC is taking a little bit of Apple’s unibody design to heart here; the entire polymer/plastic is a single piece machined out of one block of plastic.

The earpiece and external speakers are drilled out of the block instead of separate grilles attached to the body. The HTC rep said that this reduced much of the tinny sound that comes from smaller speakers.  The speakers do sound better, plus they look better than the normal wire mesh for a speaker.  All in all, this phone is pretty sexy.  My only complaint about the look is that the phone I was given is white…:

…which looks as ugly as sin to me.  The black is a lot more attractive in my opinion.  I work as a used car parts sales guy during the day, and the white smudges pretty easily.  Granted, it does clean off easily.

The screen is incredible.  I’m normally running a Thunderbolt, which has a good screen but nothing amazing.  This is a full HD screen running about 317 pixels per square inch.  It isn’t quite up to the level of Apple’s Retina display, but it does look amazing.  Many are saying that it’s the best screen on an Android device and I’d have a hard time arguing with that.  I didn’t even notice how much clearer and sharper everything as at first.  Initially I wasn’t really impressed, but the more I use it the more I appreciate how excellent it is.  It’s bright enough to use in direct sunlight, and the colors really pop out when you’re in standard indoor lighting.  Sometimes the colors are so bright and saturated that it almost hurts to look at.  The Gorilla Glass seems pretty tough, and I’m rough on phones.  Two weeks with me and we’ll really see how tough it really is.

Room for Improvement

There’s really only a couple of small defects in the build that I’ve been able to find: the SIM door on the back (right under the power button) doesn’t really seem to sit right and the volume rocker slides around a little bit.  Using the enclosed SIM Door Tool (or a paperclip) to unlock the SIM card door makes it look a bit better, but like I said it does not sit completely right.  I think the proper word for this would be sloppy.

Break time for a Public Service Announcement

And We’re Back with a Special on Buttons

As for the external buttons, the volume and power buttons feel a bit mushy to me.  What I mean is that it is hard to tell when you’ve pressed a key and it’s easy to press one without meaning to.  The placement of the volume buttons is a head-scratcher too – they’re about a third of the way down the phone and I’m used to them being a lot higher up.  This has resulted in me pressing the Up volume button thinking “Why am I hitting the Down and blowing out my eardrums?”

The three hardware buttons at the bottom light up when the phone is in use and in a dark environment.  I’m not a fan of the non-existence of a menu button, though that’s just an ICS “feature” so I can’t dock the One X for it.  I say that if you’re going to have the hardware buttons, then have all four.  If one of them has to use up screen real estate, just make them all on screen. A minor complaint, to be sure.  But still.

The Camera

The camera (along with the audio) is what HTC focused on for this phone.  The UI has been changed in that looks different, but it’s not difficult at all to get used to.  I do end up hitting the filter button instead of the shutter button.  There are a ton of Instagram-esque filters…I don’t use them, and now that Instagram is on Android I’m sure they won’t be used by too many people.  In addition to the normal options (flash, timer, front/back camera), many options like ISO and exposure have been added to increase the usability for more advanced users (a.k.a. not me, but enjoy these nevertheless:)

The video camera is great, recording in 720p.  To me, the coolest thing about it is that is has the ability to take stills WHILE taking video and the ability to hold the shutter button on the still camera to take 4 pictures a second for five seconds. When you finish with these burst photos, you can pick the best one and delete the rest.  You can also take stills from a video that you’ve shot but the quality will be slightly degraded.

I attempted to upload a three minute video, but the upload took well over twelve hours…not sure if it was a network thing (tried on both WiFi and LTE) or an actual bug, but it sure took forever.  The video was defaulted to private also.  The camera app always starts up quickly, which is a huge boon for those who always miss their shots like I do.  You can load the app from the lock screen by bringing the camera app into the unlocking ring, instead of swiping the ring upwards like normal. By doing this, you can use the camera without unlocking the phone.  This also works if you use unlock gestures, passcode, or facial unlock.

Sense 4: Addition by Subtraction

Sense 4 is a great improvement over earlier versions.  HTC listened to many of us who complained that Sense was too bloated and needed to be slimmed down.  The widgets are still present and very functional, but many of the pointless animations and less-used features have been removed.  Along with the improved 1.5Ghz dual-core Qualcomm processor, this phone blazes along with nary a hangup or any lag to be seen.

HTC included a couple of task manager features: apps can be closed one by one in the “Recent apps” view by swiping up, and another more more intricate one under your app list.  Many people don’t think that Android devices need an task manager; apparently HTC disagrees.  I personally like having the ability to close an app, but I prefer to let Android manage most tasks.

The stock apps are actually pretty good- the browser in particular is great for a stock browser.  The mail app finally has threaded messages (I use the Gmail app though, so I avoided this).  The messages app doesn’t seem to have changed much but it still isn’t as good as HandcentSMS.  The stock keyboard now has Swype-like motions that are pretty accurate.  I’d have to say that it is one of the best stock Android keyboards around.  The browser now supports a sort of Readability knockoff, stripping most pictures and ads in order to just get you the content of whatever articles you are reading and also has a builtin Pocket/Instapaper offline article reader.  All of these work great, but with the lack of real tabs like DolphinBrowser or most other third-party browser apps, I don’t use it.

The Real Question: Does It Function As a Phone?

One thing I tend to ignore when considering phones is how well it works for making phone calls.  I can attest that this is a HUGE improvement over the Tbolt.  The audio is a lot clearer than any ATT phone I’ve ever had and is considerably better than my Verizon Thunderbolt.

ATT has made huge improvements in its New York network, which is good because it used to suck hardcore.  At the end of my 3GS’ lifespan, I wasn’t able to make phone calls that lasted more than 5 mintues without dropping the call.  Their LTE network is amazing: I got speeds of up to 33mb/s downloading, and 14 on the up.  That is considerably faster than Verizon’s network, but it isn’t very widespread.  Once you get out of the city itself and into more suburban areas, you revert back to 3G/HSPDA+. ATT still calls it 4G (coughliarscough) and the phone only shows 4G when on HSPDA+, but says 4G/LTE when on a real 4G network.  Their 3G/HSPDA+ speed is pretty good compared to their old 3G.  I’ve been averaging about 3mb/s upload and between .5 and 1 on the upload.  I’ve found that running on HSPDA+ is pretty harsh on the battery; I’m assuming it’s only because the phone’s LTE antenna is still seeking out signal and burning a lot of battery power that way.

The Audio

My two biggest worries for the phone were the nonremovable battery and the Beats audio.  The Beats audio was something I wasn’t sure was going to work: full disclosure, I loathe Beats headphones.  You’re just paying for bass and looks.  Apple gets crap about making expensive stuff that looks good, but at least it all works well.  Beats headphones sound terrible and are way too expensive.  But I digress…

The HTC reps stated that the audio portion of the One series has been one of their biggest improvements.  The phone recognizes when you have a Beats product (over the ear cans or earbuds) or a non-Beats audio device plugged into your phone.  If you have a Beats device, it recognizes which one and turns on a pre-installed set of equalizers and a “sound profile” for that headphone.  If you’re not rocking a Beats audio solution, there is still a Beats equalizer that automatically turns on… too bad it sounds like crap.  All it does is boost the bass, treble, and volume a bit.  Sounds good when you listen to whatever top 40 hit is popular today (“oh, snap!” – my girlfriend), but if you’re looking for nuance in your music choices, avoid the Beats software like the plague.  The phone audio is my biggest gripe about this phone; the Beats “profile” sounds awful but I’m sure it’ll sell well since I’ve seen so many people wearing those awful headphones around NYC.  Come at me bro.

The Battery

The battery was a huge concern for me.  A non-removable battery is okay as long as you put a huge battery in.  The One X battery is only 1800 MaH, which is big but not as large as I’d like a battery to be.  Supposedly Sense 4 was written with performance in mind: both running more smoothly and not being such a battery drain.

I’m happy to report that HTC has hit it out of the park with this one, too!  The battery lasts all day with medium to heavy usage, such as LTE most of the day and HSPDA+ and a couple of hours on WiFi.  I unplugged the phone at 7:32AM and it was at 33% at 813:PM.  So, nearly 13 hours later, and still having a third of the battery life leftover… that’s pretty good.  I had drained it down to 7% by the time I went to sleep at around 11:30PM.  Usage was mostly streaming Pandora and Slacker Radio on LTE, some GPS usage, lots of texts and Google Talk, Twitter and G+ usage, internet browsing, a couple of short phone calls, emails, camera shots; really just a normal day’s usage for me.  That’s about three times as good as my stock Tbolt battery though, so I’m not complaining. I really don’t forsee the battery being a huge problem while the phone is new.  But, once the phone starts to age a bit…I’m just wondering how long the battery will  hold the full 1800mah charge.  If you switch phones more before your two-year contract is up, I wouldn’t imagine it being a problem. If you use the entire two years, not so sure there.

The Accessories

I got a short demonstration of a couple of accessories designed for the One Series.  The most impressive was the MediaLink dongle that attaches to any HDTV.  If you have the device and use three fingers to swipe upwards, whatever’s on your phone’s screen will be projected on the television screen.  The link is either through the wifi network or a Peer-to-Peer DNLA link.  There was only a small amount of lag a couple of times.  Most of the time, however, it was a quick link to the dongle and no lag when switching between photos or videos.  Quality was amazing and I’m pretty impressed with this device.  The presenters stated that most photos and videos would simply mirror whatever’s on the screen, but certain things would be shown on the screen but controlled on the phone (slideshows, Powerpoints, etc).  I asked if there is/would be an APK for devs to design apps around the MediaLink device, but that hasn’t been decided upon yet.  I thought it would be great to use the phone as a controller for games or just as a keyboard to use the TV as a monitor.  While the MediaLink looks great, the ATT-only Beats wireless speaker is a joke:

While wireless speakers are cool, this one sounded terrible. You can’t dock your One X with it, only connect via wireless.  You can, however, dock an iPhone/iPod with it. How does that make any sense?  And to top it all off, ATT will let you have this hideous speaker for the low, low cost of $400! 

Drumroll for the Final Verdict…

All in all, I’d have to give this phone a 9/10.

The updates to Sense, amazing screen, fantastic processor, and ICS make this phone a true joy to use. I can only really dock it for the cheap plastic construction that’s a bit shoddy, buttons that aren’t well placed and don’t have any click to them, and of course the blasphemy called Beats audio.  These “imperfections” don’t take anything away from using the phone and are just nitpicking items that I don’t like.  When your biggest complaint about a phone is where the volume rocker is and if it has Beats branding, that’s really just showing how great it is.

Personally, I find this phone to work so well it’s nearly impossible to pick one thing out that’s awesome about it.  Everything simply meshes together well and… the phone just works like a great phone should.  If only there was some way to keep this phone without the GG getting some serious heat from HTC!

I Can Haz Fone?

The HTC One X is a blast to use, and I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity that I was given to test this phone out and write a review on it. If there’s anything else you want to know about this phone, just let me know.  I’ll do my best to answer you.

- Craig

With an exponential increase in usage, Social Media appears to be here to stay.  Amidst the influx of tweets, status updates, photos and videos, the occasional bit of knowledge may rear its head, just waiting to be absorbed into the sponges that are our brains.  The problem with this?  Those bits of knowledge don’t always come along at the best time to read them, watch them or just generally absorb them.  What, then, is the solution to not missing out on these bits of knowledge?  Enter: Pocket.

What is Pocket?

Pocket, formerly Read It Later, is a tool to “help people who discover an interesting article, video or web page, but don’t have time to view it.“  Think of Pocket as a digital scrapbook, but instead of having to carry the scrapbook around with you at all times, you can use any number of devices that you undoubtedly have to add content on-the-fly, and have it sync up on all other devices.  Pocket is currently out for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire and Mac/PC.  On any single one of these devices, an article, video or picture can be posted, and accessed from any other device you might have.

How does Pocket work?

In line for coffee at Starbucks and someone tweets a great Gadget Gurus article, but you just don’t have time to read it?  Add it to Pocket and read it when you’re “on the throne” at a later time!  Pocket works flawlessly with a large number of pre-existing apps including, but not limited to, Tweetbot, Flipboard, Pulse, and Zite.  Probably my only complaint with Pocket is how much you have to jump around amongst the various apps in order to get them talking to each other.  Once you’ve done that, however, it’s extremely easy to add articles from these social apps, most times requiring only a long press and selecting “Send to Pocket”.  Personally, it would be great if more iOS apps interacted with the rest of the environment.  In this, Android reigns supreme, but I digress.

Once you’ve added articles, videos or pictures to your Pocket, they’re easily viewable in your Pocket list in a simple, easy to read view.

In much the same way as other content aggregators, articles can be marked as read, favorited, or shared out to other people from nearly any screen in the app.  From the list view, swiping the particular article will yield similar options.  I found the interface to be extremely easy to use and very intuitive.  There’s a reason that Pocket includes little in the way of instructions. Beyond the initial setup, Pocket behaves exactly as you think it should, a sure sign that the developer put a lot of thought into its design.  These design features and highlights only look that much better on the iPad version, with that particular app being little more than a better looking, bigger version of the iPhone app.

How Does It Look?

Probably the biggest highlight of Pocket isn’t how it works, but how it presents that usability to the reader.  When viewing the articles, each one is presented in a format that fits well with the particular device that it’s being read on.  For images, they show up clean and crisp. One of the more interesting features that I’ve seen with Pocket, and one that I like the most, is the ability to lock the screen orientation when viewing video.

Every single aspect of Pocket allows you to view each piece within the local app, so there’s no need to worry about popping out to the browser, or the YouTube app, or some other third party app.  While I generally prefer to view things in their native app, Pocket presents things in a great way, and one that doesn’t feel like a slapped-together add-on.

Conclusion:

If you’ve ever been concerned about losing a piece of content because you just don’t have the time to read it or view it, then Pocket is most certainly a must-have app.  At the wonderfully low price of FREE, it’s really tough to pass up and probably one of the apps that I would recommend every iOS user have on their main screen.  For the tech-savvy, on-the-go individual of the day, you absolutely need some sort of aggregator to keep track of what’s important to you.  I cannot recommend Pocket enough.

Guru Review Score:

Ease of Use: 9/10 (Takes a little knowledge to integrate with other apps)

Graphics/Design 10/10

Overall: 9.5/10

]]> http://thegadgetgurus.net/a-new-name-brings-a-new-face-to-pocket-review-ipadiphone/feed/ 0 http://thegadgetgurus.net/wrestling-manager-attempts-to-pile-drive-the-competition/ http://thegadgetgurus.net/wrestling-manager-attempts-to-pile-drive-the-competition/#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:58:04 +0000 zegolf http://thegadgetgurus.net/?p=10332 Serious Parody bills Wrestling Manager (iOS) as the “best wrestling game for mobile phones”.  It also makes mention that it’s the “ONLY WRESTLING MANAGEMENT GAME ON iOS”.  Whether or not that second statement is true is neither here nor their, but the one thing I did set out to find was whether or not it really was the best wrestling game for mobile phones.  Would it put the rest of the competition in a headlock?  Did Serious Parody body slam the other contenders to the title belt?  After sitting down with the game for a few hours, here’s what I was able to find out.

Gameplay

The premise of Wrestling Manager pretty much gets explained in the game’s title.  Wrestling Manager is an iOS game that allows you to play the part of the less-often explained and, until recently, less-often seen side of the professional wrestling world.  You take on the role of the owner of an upstart backyard wrestling organization with a goal to dominate the world of professional Wrestling.  You become the promoter, match planner and boss of whatever league you decide to develop.

The main interface centers around a calendar of events.  Here you’ll put together promos, matches and special events, all selected through a random pack of cards that you’re given at the beginning of the game.  In much the same way as many games on the iOS market today, more cards can be bought for a nominal price, or earned with an inordinate amount of in-game currency.  It’s this calendar section that makes up the brunt of the game and where you’ll spend most of your time developing each day’s card.

Once you’ve developed your entire card, you’ll launch into that day’s event and the game will simulate the results of each match and promo in an attempt to level up your wrestlers and the remaining cards.  Depending on the level of your success, you’ll be given feedback at the end of each match.  Admittedly, over the few hours that I played, I wasn’t able to put together much of a card that would earn me anything than some beat writer telling me that I sucked.  I’m not quite sure what the secret to success is at this point, but i hope to find out over more time with the game.

It’s all pretty standard simulator-style gameplay.  There’s a lot of reading, a lot of stats, and a ton of number processing.  You’ll need a decent amount of time to plan a really good card, which is where the automated setup portion comes into play.  At any point in time, during selection of promos, matches, etc., you might see an “A” in one of the boxes.  Clicking this will allow the simulator to set up whatever it is you’re trying to select without you needing to give it much thought.  In my experience, the game did a great job of selecting things for me, but it’s just not a fun way to play the game.  The real fun is in making your selections!

Graphics/Design

It’s obvious that Serious Parody spent a great amount of time with their design of this game.  From the naming of the wrestlers and locations to each individual screen, the visuals in this game are really pleasing to the eyes.  Screens are consistent across most of the game, and it always gives me a chuckle to see what wrestler names are going to come out of the next pack!  The high resolution on the iPhone is crystal clear, but a word of warning: this game gets a bit grainy up-scaled on an iPad.

Sound

So here’s my biggest (and really only) complaint with this game.  There’s no sound.  I reached out to Serious Parody and was informed that it was either a choice between sound or adding factions.  Their next decision is between achievements and sound and, considering the landscape of gaming today, I’m guessing sound is going to lose this match, as well.

Overall

I’ll come right out and say it: I really like this game.  I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy another sim game.  I’ve played all of the kairosoft games and was really hoping this wasn’t going to be a clone.  Thankfully, Wrestling Manager takes on a life of its own, with it almost being a deck building game, akin to Magic:TG and the latest Assassin’s Creed card game.  Games like that are a nice change of pace from the Angry Birds and Draw Somethings.  I’ve got a few issues with some of the aspects of this game, so it’s far from perfect.  It’s a bit pricey, which seems to spit in the face of the fact that they’re also charging for in-app purchases.  That whole “No Sound” thing is a HUGE bummer.  It would have been great with a few audio clips of fake wrestlers cutting promos, but it’s understandable why it’s not there.  But this game is a solid purchase and definitely shows a lot of promise.  Whether or not this game will ultimately justify it’s $10 price tag is really up to you, but if you’re looking for a great wrestling simulator (especially in the giant sea of wrestling simulators on the market…wait…) than Wrestling Manager is the game with which to go.

Guru Review Score:

Gameplay: 9/10

Graphics/Design 9/10

Sound: 0/10

Overall: 8/10

How “good” Good for Enterprise is for you may largely depend upon how your company’s IT department implements it. Good, after all, isn’t designed for you rather it is designed to meet the company’s needs first and foremost. Good is a self-contained universe to give employees secure remote access to corporate email, calendar and sometimes more. How useful Good is for you will largely depend upon how restrictive your IT department is in the deployment.

In the world of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), Good is an oasis for your IT department. Activation is simple for the end user (you). To activate Good you only need to download the free application from the App Store or Android Market and then type in your company email address and activation key. Once activated your device, whatever it might be, will start downloading your data as allowed by your IT department.

Alas I have jumped ahead, before you decide you Good is a good fit for you there are some things you need to consider. For example there may be extra charges from your wireless carrier. Verizon Wireless users need to upgrade their data plans to a corporate data package (currently $15 extra per month). In my experience AT&T will tell advise you need to upgrade to the corporate data package however, I have been able to get more than a dozen different people setup on AT&T without upgrading. Sprint and T-Mobile do not have any additional requirements. The data plan upgrade only applies to mobile phone data plans, not tablet or iPad data plans. Not all companies reimburse for this extra data charges. In my company they will give you a Blackberry, billed on the corporate account, or you can have Good on your personal device but you cannot expense any of your wireless charges. Many of our executives and management have opted for Good despite this simply for the convenience of carrying one device instead of two. I choose to use Good on my New iPad. Good licensing requires a license for every device that is connected so your IT department may not allow multiple devices: a prudent cost saving measure in my opinion, but it is possible to have Good on multiple devices. I once heard of a user having it activated on three devices.

Assuming you choose to precede Good is a self-contained universe, so there are limitations to what Good allows you to do and these are all by design. For example you won’t be able to save attachments from your company mailbox to your device nor will you be able to email attachments on your device using your company mailbox. It is important to understand there is a clear division here and that dividing line is Good. Good keeps all your company data separate and completely encrypted from your personal data. Your IT department in a flash can zap everything inside Good. IT has the ability, by design, to remove all of the company’s data from your device. This is vital in a world were devices are lost and stolen all the time. The alternative is that your IT department could control and wipe your device instead.

As I mentioned before how much you like Good will largely depend upon how your IT department allows you to use it. For example how often you are required to enter a password to access your email from your device can vary from every instance you launch Good to every few minutes between use. In my case IT gives everyone a the option to select 1, 2, 5, 10 or 15 minutes in addition to “Require on Launch”. My IT department also sets limits on passwords. Our passwords must be at least 6 characters and include at least one letter and one number: less stringent than our network passwords.

One thing I find particularly annoying with how Good is configured for the company is that calendar reminders are very generic for me. My IT department chose not to allow any information about the calendar events to display. Good alerts me when I have a calendar entry; I have to open Good to see any information about the appointment. This is not a defect upon Good’s functionality rather the restrictiveness of IT Security. Your IT department may allow the subject of the calendar entry to appear, as this is an administrative option.

Remember I said that Good is a barrier between your company information and your personal information? As with everything there are exceptions. One such exception, again if allowed by IT, is contact syncing. Good does allow for synchronizing of contacts in your personal corporate email address book to your personal device address book. There is a catch! The catch is you will have to turn off syncing with your personal address book in iCloud, Google, etc. Leaving syncing on with multiple sources with multiple applications is very dangerous. If you are brave enough to go down this road, please, pray to whatever deity you believe and then make a back-up: you will need it.

Very soon my company will be rolling out the built-in web browser for Good users. Our office is a heavy SharePoint office so I’m sure it won’t be an outstanding experience on my iPad nevertheless I do look forward to being able to access the Intranet from my iPad. I’ve become very accustom to the ease of accessing my email, calendar, and corporate directory on my iPad, having similar, even if limited access to the Intranet will be very helpful.

Bringing your own device to use on your company network is still very new so it is not without flaws. All in all, Good for Enterprise is a well designed application that does what it is designed to do well. Most of the limitations or issues I have had with Good aren’t with Good rather with IT policies that have been implemented. As a friend likes to say, “Good is good!”

Images via [Good Technology, Inc]

The first thing that you’ll notice with these cases is that that the designs are aesthetically pleasing. There are numerous designs offered by Limited Luxury to please virtually everyone. The cases aren’t bulky and are very light weight.

The cases are easy to put on, with the simple two part slide-on design. The case will provide you with moderate protection in case of accidental drops, along with providing a great grip to help prevent drops from happening. The one aspect I wasn’t to big of a fan of was that the case didn’t have a “tight” fit, meaning that the iPhone shifts very little distance in the actual case (but nowhere near to the point where it causes the case to come apart). Overall, these feel of these cases were suggest that the materials used are much higher than others I’ve used in the past (especially those you get from the mall).

There are many interesting options available online. I suggest making Limited Luxury Cases one of your top priorities when it comes to iPhone protection. You get great protection, beautiful designs, and the knowledge that you’re using a very quality product at an affordable price.