Tiny Wings

4/5 Stars

My current favorite game is this simple to play, fool proof game called Tiny Wings. I am not alone here as Tiny Wings has knocked the Angry Birds off the No.1 one podium spot of the Top App in the Apple App Store.

Game play is simple, one touch of the screen to make the bird plummet down from the sky and try to gain momentum by catching the correct timing and flying up back to the sky. The objective is to travel as far as you can before the sun sets and there are also some challenges which will give you extra points multipliers. The graphic are simple and they change everyday keeping the game "fresh" to your eyes.

I noticed that the game tends to be laggy sometimes on my iPhone 4 on iOS 4.2.1 and very laggy sometimes on my iPhone 3G on iOS 4.2.1 which seems pretty unacceptable as the game and graphics seems not so intensive to lag my devices especially the latest iPhone 4. And i Quote from the dev "runs smoothly at 60fps even on older devices" - if it aren't doing very well on my iPhone 4, i wouldn't expect much on my iPhone 3G.

Then again, i am a sucker for Game Centre integration as i want the world to know my achievement and Tiny Wing doesnt have it.. In the next updates i hope to see some fix to the laggy issue and also Game Centre will be coming as promised by the dev.

Tiny Wings USD$0.99

Pictureka HD - iPad

3.5/5 Stars

A board game turn iPad game, like all other board games have done so, is what Pictureka HD is. The game layout is neat and easy to understand with animation and cool sounds effect to go with tap on the buttons. Unlike the traditional board games, Pictureka HD gameplay includes "Play solo or against computer". Of course you could play with other opponents with "2-4 Player Pass 'N Play". If you missed the original board game, you could "Play in Classic Mode based on the original board game". Last but not least, you could challenge yourself in the all-new Adventure Mode! Travel through 5 islands, and complete different game boards and unique bonus challenges — all against the clock. Score more time for every successfully completed challenge.

Positive:

It is a very fun game to play on the iPad which has a larger screen estate compared to the iPhone/iPod Touch. Best to be played against human instead and you could customize each person's avatar and add custom sounds to it. The multiplayer screen is neatly design with a fruit machine style layout which is definitely the first of its kind - very creative in my opinion. Definitely awesome fun time with your family or friends as you beat each other's time to find the object the fasters or trying to outbid each other to the numbers of items that you can find.

Negative:

In the multiplayer gameplay, 4 players are tasked to find the same item starting with the first player. The item to be hunted will be shown in black and white initially but it will sometimes be in colour on the picture board. For instance a fish is shown initially without colour, but on the picture board it is red in colour with everything else in black and white making it easier to spot. And if the next players saw this, it would be an advantage to them as they know they will just have to look for something red. Other than colour, sometimes the picture board could be exactly the same as the previous player and the item placed at the exact same location and you are a fool not to spot it. These unfair advantage can be prevented if the screen is not shared during gameplay, but where is the fun in that?

Something that it lacks in this new iOS game ecosystem is the integration of GameCentre. But nevertheless you could still complete achievements as you progress through the game.

Download on iTunes for USD4.99

Maps Update: Public Transport Mode (Singapore)

Everyone in Singapore who has an iPhone would know that when you search for a route to take, you could only select the travelling mode from either vehicle or by walking. I'm not sure when this kicks in but hey!, it is now working for Public Transport mode as well!

You could see which bus or train to take to reach your destination, a feature which was previously not working. A pictorial below shows how to go to Safra Mt Faber from my Current Location:

Another thing you might have notice is the recently added Traffic Flow feature on the map. It is not a completely new feature just that it aren't available in Singapore before. Traffic Flow shows real time traffic conditions in various colours, Green for Clear, Yellow for Moderate and red for Jams. Very useful!

Google Street View was supposedly out for Singapore in a news article recently but i have yet to see this function on my iPhone 3GS anyone has any idea how it shows up on the iPhone please let me know.

Updated Google For iPhone now in App Store

An all-new Google for iPhone was recently released in the App Store and announcing the news from the Official Google Mobile Blog, Alastair Tse, Software Engineer said: "Hello, iPhone users! We have just received the good news that our new version of Google Mobile App for iPhone was approved and is now available on in the App Store everywhere."

For those less utilitarian and more flamboyant, Google have exposed a visual tweaks settings called "Bells and Whistles". You can style your Google Mobile App in any shade: red, taupe, or even heliotrope but i find this kinda boring as it only changes the colour, nothing fancyful. If you're on a faster iPhone, like the iPhone 3GS, you may want to try the live waveform setting which turns on, as the name suggests, a moving waveform when you search by voice.

The accuracy of the voice search aren't 100% right all the time, Google might want to consider acquiring Dragon for voice dictation? Anyway searching by voice could be improved by selecting your spoken language or accent, although the list is not very comprehensive, i assume more will come forth later on in the updates.

Clicking on the left side of the search bar, you can bring up a search menu which lets you select from "iPhone and Web, Maps, Images, News and Wikipedia". This function i believe is worth mentioning as it aren't obvious.

A list of useful Web Apps are also present in the App's Dock, examples are Gmail, Calendar, Docs etc. Unlike the search results, this Web Apps opens out in Safari Browser instead of in the app itself. To overcome this, you could simply search Gmail and open it from the in app browser. Although i would just create a bookmark on the Springboard and check my email faster that way.

All in all, i believe this Google Mobile Map has come a long way and i would recommend it for faster searching on the go. If you haven got it on your device, its time to check it out on iTunes Google Mobile App and did i said it was FREE?

Note: Voice Search works on iPhones only.