Loo-Lee.com

I've spent a fair amount of time playing dead simple iPhone games that you can pick up and learn in a second. I generally gravitate towards these types of games because well, I don't have much time to play mobile games. So if you're going to get my attention, it has got to be easy to play (see Doodle Jump review).

So I was a little concerned when I downloaded The VOID from Beautiful Pixel. First of all, the game is large (52MB) so it was taking awhile to download which usually isn't the case. Secondly, there is a fair amount of rich graphics and things to figure out before you even get started. You have to choose your ship, weapons, and equipment and you only have a certain amount of money to start, so you have to figure out how much things cost, etc.

The game is marketed as a "space based role playing game" and by looking at the screenshots and video, my initial reaction was that VOID looked like a suped-up version of Asteroids. (Note: I was never very good at Asteroids and these types of games in general are not my favorite.)

Well, after struggling a bit at the start to learn the controls and objectives, I found myself getting sucked in to a very fun and sophisticated game.

Per the developer's blog, these guys spent over 6 months developing this game, and it shows. Tons of levels, and options that would provide a hardcare iPhone gamer with literally hours of entertainment. Personally, I made it through a few levels and had to put it down but I'm sure I'll be back at it later. The game is selling on iTunes for $4.99 which is on the higher end of pricing in the AppStore but there is way more than $5 worth of value here.

If you like these types of games, go buy it.

Find iPhone apps at AppStoreHQ

I've spent a fair amount of time playing dead simple iPhone games that you can pick up and learn in a second. I generally gravitate towards these types of games because well, I don't have much time to play mobile games. So if you're going to get my attention, it has got to be easy to play (see Doodle Jump review).

So I was a little concerned when I downloaded The VOID from Beautiful Pixel. First of all, the game is large (52MB) so it was taking awhile to download which usually isn't the case. Secondly, there is a fair amount of rich graphics and things to figure out before you even get started. You have to choose your ship, weapons, and equipment and you only have a certain amount of money to start, so you have to figure out how much things cost, etc.

The game is marketed as a "space based role playing game" and by looking at the screenshots and video, my initial reaction was that VOID looked like a suped-up version of Asteroids. (Note: I was never very good at Asteroids and these types of games in general are not my favorite.)

Well, after struggling a bit at the start to learn the controls and objectives, I found myself getting sucked in to a very fun and sophisticated game.

Per the developer's blog, these guys spent over 6 months developing this game, and it shows. Tons of levels, and options that would provide a hardcare iPhone gamer with literally hours of entertainment. Personally, I made it through a few levels and had to put it down but I'm sure I'll be back at it later. The game is selling on iTunes for $4.99 which is on the higher end of pricing in the AppStore but there is way more than $5 worth of value here.

If you like these types of games, go buy it.

Two new Samsung mobile phones have been spotted in picture form and although details concerning the specification are almost entirely conjecture, it’s still good to take a look, especially when they look as good as the S8000!  This is another touchscreen mobile phone, presumably using the TouchWIZ operating system, with looks similar to the original HTC Touch, with call and end buttons flanking a navigation key.

Pictures of the rear - a gorgeous piano black panel - reveal the lens for a 5 megapixel camera complete with autofocus and a dual-LED flash.  GSMarena speculate the S8000 will also have GPS and HSDPA 3G, due to the mobile’s similarity to the S8300.  The phone wears Samsung’s Korean Anycall branding, but it’s reasonable to expect a European release sometime later in the year.

The second handset is the M8000, obviously a close relative to the S8000.   Looking extremely similar, this doesn’t shout about its camera - aside from the fact it has one - but in the pictures we can see a dedicated music key above the display and a 3.5mm jack plug on its side.  Both of these are great looking handsets and are perhaps more ‘mature’ in style than we are used to from Samsung, so we look forward to knowing more!

Post from Dial-a-Phone, UK's no. 1 for Mobile Phones.

I've never been a social website junkie. Well, that is if you discount user-submitted news sites. I only got into Facebook about six months ago, and thought it beat the baggy, sagging pants off of MySpace. I jumped on when right it became "the New Facebook," so I had nothing to complain about - unlike millions of other loyal users.

I tend to roll with changes at websites because the landscape evolves so quickly that websites must adapt. It leads to cool surprises. Facebook's latest reincarnation however, may be a bit drastic. It's losing the characteristics that make it unique - not just growing to meet users' needs. But I probably don't need to tell any of you that. Still, huge friend lists are the norm, and confirming that you actually know somebody seems little more than troublesome nag-screen. So maybe it is appropriate that they are adopting the tools and techniques of sites designed for mass communication. How else can they compete?

Anyway, I've gone looking for some alternatives recently, and one day not too long ago, the Mother Feed icon turned up in the Market. I had never used friendfeed before, but I knew what the program was for based on the font and logo color. I set up my account and started to explore. Being new to this site, I might miss some things that old-timers consider required functionality. But I've tested everything I can see on the site in Mother Feed, and it seems practical to me.

First of all, I like lists. It makes sense for IMs, and it makes sense for micro-blogging and link sharing. Mother Feed doesn't allow you to add or remove people from your lists, but it's organized according the way you've set them up on the site. Rooms are a great feature as well. In fact, while checking out this app for review, I'm becoming a fan of friendfeed. Not only is the web experience unique, but there's a free client out their that offers at least read-access for all of the web features.

Mother Feed has five tabs - Home, List, Rooms, Me, and Account. The options are simple. There is no long-press, and the context-sensitive menu key never offers anything beyond post, refresh, logout, and about. But the interface is clean, the content is well-organized, and posted photos are scaled to the G1's screen size.

I could complain about the inability to add rooms, move friends from one list to another, etc. But how often do you really need to do that stuff? Besides, it's free! For those as clueless as myself, friendfeed can be linked to your Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Amazon, and a few other accounts. It's definitely worth your time to take it for a spin.

Verdict: Thumbs up.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2009 will take place June 8 12 in San Francisco's Moscone West convention center, the company announced today. Engadget notes that last year's WWDC marked the unveiling of the iPhone 3G, so if there's going to be a new iPhone at all this year, the chances are excellent that this will be the place to announce it.



WWDC events will span technical sessions, hands-on labs, and other fun stuff, with three tracks for attendees: iPhone, Mac, and IT. (You know the one we're most interested in.) Beyond cell phones, other rumors making the rounds revolve around Steve Jobs using the event to mark his return from medical leave, and the appearance of the much-anticipated Snow Leopard operating system, complete with revised interface.

Who needs General Hospital, with drama and anticipation this high? I'm totally hooked, and can't wait to see how these developments shake out.

If you're planning to go, please, please register early. This is sure to sell out quickly. Attendance is $1295 pre-April 24th, and $1595 after. The website, which was reported to work, was down when I checked. (Maybe an onslaught of traffic today brought it down? Who knows...) But if you're persistent, you can try periodically to see if it gets back up and running. Good luck!

After years of drab, boring handsets, the good looking devices coming to the iDEN side are a treat, to say the least.  Right off the heels of the Motorola Stature i9, Engadget Mobile has obtained pictures of the Motorola i856, a device sporting the sliding form factor.  Details are incredibly sparse at the moment, but it has been confirmed to have a 2.2-inch display screen, Bluetooth, microSD card slot and a 1.3 megapixel camera.  Music junkies will love the phone, as it sports a quick access button to the player, along with volume controls.

Motorola may be in the midst of restructuring their team, but leaks such as these show that they're actively working on new devices!  And though I love the i9 and the recently launched Curve 8350i, the iDEN side could use a few more new models.

I've never been a social website junkie. Well, that is if you discount user-submitted news sites. I only got into Facebook about six months ago, and thought it beat the baggy, sagging pants off of MySpace. I jumped on when right it became "the New Facebook," so I had nothing to complain about - unlike millions of other loyal users.

I tend to roll with changes at websites because the landscape evolves so quickly that websites must adapt. It leads to cool surprises. Facebook's latest reincarnation however, may be a bit drastic. It's losing the characteristics that make it unique - not just growing to meet users' needs. But I probably don't need to tell any of you that. Still, huge friend lists are the norm, and confirming that you actually know somebody seems little more than troublesome nag-screen. So maybe it is appropriate that they are adopting the tools and techniques of sites designed for mass communication. How else can they compete?

Anyway, I've gone looking for some alternatives recently, and one day not too long ago, the Mother Feed icon turned up in the Market. I had never used friendfeed before, but I knew what the program was for based on the font and logo color. I set up my account and started to explore. Being new to this site, I might miss some things that old-timers consider required functionality. But I've tested everything I can see on the site in Mother Feed, and it seems practical to me.

First of all, I like lists. It makes sense for IMs, and it makes sense for micro-blogging and link sharing. Mother Feed doesn't allow you to add or remove people from your lists, but it's organized according the way you've set them up on the site. Rooms are a great feature as well. In fact, while checking out this app for review, I'm becoming a fan of friendfeed. Not only is the web experience unique, but there's a free client out their that offers at least read-access for all of the web features.

Mother Feed has five tabs - Home, List, Rooms, Me, and Account. The options are simple. There is no long-press, and the context-sensitive menu key never offers anything beyond post, refresh, logout, and about. But the interface is clean, the content is well-organized, and posted photos are scaled to the G1's screen size.

I could complain about the inability to add rooms, move friends from one list to another, etc. But how often do you really need to do that stuff? Besides, it's free! For those as clueless as myself, friendfeed can be linked to your Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Amazon, and a few other accounts. It's definitely worth your time to take it for a spin.

Verdict: Thumbs up.

Made famous for helping users easily locate clean bathrooms and other amenities, SitOrSquat (which is, by the way, possibly the best name for an app ever) now has a new sponsor, and it's none other than TP kingpin Charmin.



In addition to its involvement with the app, which works on both iPhones and Blackberries, the company is also launching a new global sponsorship of the "SitOrSquat" website. (Huh? There's a website dedicated to this?!) The service works off a Wiki for global bathroom info, and users are encouraged to add content and give feedback when they've used one of the toilets featured there.

"Our goal is to connect Charmin with innovative conversations and solutions as a brand that understands the importance of bringing the best bathroom experience to consumers, even when they're away from home," explained Jacques Hagopian, Brand Manager of Charmin, which is the first toilet paper to partner with a downloadable mobile app.

Innovative conversations about the bathroom experience? (I'm laughing so hard, I had to type that twice due to typos.) Man, that's a lot of serious talk about tinkling. Someone's literally got a case of potty mouth.

It gets even better: According to the press release, Charmin has been dedicated to giving consumers a great public bathroom experience for nearly a decade. It "Charminized" public restrooms at State Fairs in 2000, provided "Potty Palooza"  mobile units from 2003 2005 and offered 20 free Charmin Restrooms in Times Square, making it one of the most popular destinations out there during the holiday season. (Uh, destination or pit stop? You decide.)

Since SitOrSquat launched, more than 1,600 users have downloaded the app, and the website has had over 500,000 unique visitors.

Well, this partnership's a no-brainer. In fact, I wonder why it took so long. SitOrSquat's been in the App Store since last October. I guess when it came time to either get off the pot or... well, you know, Charmin decided to sit and... (oh, forget it! I'm NOT going  there.)

I have to drop a quick update here to my lukewarm post on aHome. Three days after I reviewed it, mAPPn released version 1.4.0 of the program, and almost all of my complaints have were addressed.

First and foremost. aHome now has the Cupcake QWERTY, widely available in both portrait and landscape modes - it won't assist you in other apps, but works for all OS and at least some widget text fields. For instance, I can tweet using quicktweet without sliding my screen open. There isn't any haptic or audio feedback, but it's a tantalizing taste of things to come for Android fans. The keyboard now changes your view to typed text is never blocked, but try hitting menu with the soft kb on screen - your options pop up behind the keyboard. Minor bug.

Overall, I'm seeing a major performance boost. And my app menu is black and beautiful. aHome has also taken a huge leap forward in theme support, allowing users to download themes from within the program and save them to an SD card. I downloaded the entire 10 MB "March Collection" last night. That's a great touch - bundling a bunch of skins for mass download.

I still don't like that I have to receive my upgrades via email, as that's supposed to be a solution for customers outside of the US. I'm not sure what's going on with that, and apparently, neither is mAPPn. Still, the priced Market is new, and there are bound to be a few copy protection issues. I still say aHome is the best Android home replacement. Open Home fans would likely debate my reasoning passionately.