Akinator, the Web Genius

Akinator, the Web Genius

Hello! Sorry I haven't been posting to my blogs the past week or so but I just received my new Android phone, a beautiful white HTC Evo 4G. Its such a pleasure to have a device more than capable of handling any app you can throw at it. I will talk about my new Evo on my tech blog later but here I will review some new apps I've been playing around with since I got the Evo.

The first one is Akinator which is a neat 20 question type of program, the link above will take you to their home page where you can play online or download the ap to your device.

Think of a character real or fictional and answer the questions and Akinator will figure out the name of said person, its a great game to play with friends. We've had alot of fun using it and it never fails to impress us when it comes up with the right answer, I couldn't believe how it guessed Orson Welles or Mozart in just 7 or eight questions.

You can download the lite version for free and give it a test drive, the full version will set you back $2.30 on the Android Market.

Netflix - Android Market

Netflix - Android Market

Netflix finally? For some yes but for most not just yet. I was not able to find this app on the market using my phone but here it is in the above link from the Android Market via the Internet. Personally it won't let me install it from the net saying my Samsung Intercept is not compatible.

For this review I used the Netflix app on my iPhone and from what I've read it is the same as far as features except the iPhone has subtitles available and the Android does not as of this moment.

Everyone will have a different experience with Netflix on their handheld device depending on several factors, connection speed, processing power and of course the resolution of your device. On the iPhone 3G that I use for testing the picture is beautiful and aside from being 4 inches it looks as good as the HD viewing on my monitor.

Since I'm streaming wireless at home and have the highest speed available there is no stuttering whatsoever, in a word it is fantastic. If you have Netflix and your device is able to handle it then get the free app and give it a whirl, you may not have a very good experience on 3G but any wi-fi signal will do the trick.

I don't know how well it will do say for watching a movie streamed while your a passenger in a car or on a train, I can only imagine it would not be good. Regardless since the app is free and if you have a Netflix account then you should definitely try it out and see where and when it will work out for you.

If you don't have an account with them then you can try the service for free for one month at home and on any of your Netflix capable devices such as Android, Xbox etc. So give it a shot and let me know what you think.

PhotoFunia - Android Market

This is a great free app that i actually use on my PC through the Internet version, so you can do this at home on your computer or on the go with your android device.

This program is very simple, fun and handy. Basically it takes any picture you choose and puts the subjects face into a different scene such as a magazine cover or on a billboard. There are hundreds of different choices, I love the Warhol template that uses the iconic artists famous four color style.

Once you make a photo you can share it with friends and family straight from within the app via email or social networking sites. If you don't like your work simply click undo and try again, put your head on a bodybuilder or in an astronaut's suit!

Some of the choices won't look very real but many will have friends truly thinking that's your wife on the movie poster with Brad Pitt. Here is just one example, your face on television with a captive audience.
PhotoFunia - Android Market

Shazam - Get Shazam (Or Not)

Shazam - Get Shazam

So I've known about this app for ages and thought it seemed like a cool idea but never downloaded it. I just couldn't think of a circumstance where I would use it, driving down the road hearing a song on the radio and using my phones app to figure out what song it is?

Tonight I was watching a movie from South Korea called The Good, The Bad and the Weird. Awesome movie by the way, anyway this music started playing during a long battle scene on horseback and I recognized it as a disco song from my youth. It was driving me crazy and then I remembered this app for Android or iPhone caled Shazam, I downloaded it right away while I paused the movie.

I tried 10 times using Shazam to find out the song with no luck, then I remembered you could alsome sing or hum the tune since the film had background noise from gunshots and explosions. So I hummed it a few times and again it could not make a match, guess I'll never know what the song was since I couldn't read the Korean credits at the end.

I can see how the social networking aspect could be cool, sharing musical likes with your friends via tagging. The thing is you can already let people know what, who, where and everything else using Twitter or Facebook. I can see people reading about this app and getting it, I just don't see where many folks would keep it and use it long term.

Jenga - Android Market

Jenga - Android Market

OK took a day off for my birthday so just a quick review to save people some money. Jenga is a popular board game and many people might just purchase this on impulse.

I was excited to see this game hit the Market thinking it would adapt well to play on a handheld device, I was wrong. The game just doesn't play right, its very hard to just choose a piece and remove it from the stack. It is just a game that will frustrate you and waste your time and for $2.99 you expect a perfect game not some buggy unplayable garbage.

I don't like to use such harsh language in my reviews but for a game they charge 3 times more than many smash hits you would think this was beta tested before release. I'm sure they made tons of money just from name recognition and Android owners appetite for new games, any games.

So please save your money and remember if you buy a game you have 15 minutes to change your mind after installing it, I'm a firm believer in lite versions and am always skeptical of high priced games. Isn't it funny how all the best game apps are 99 cents? They make money by selling large numbers of the app via word of mouth. Big name games always charge a premium and like some big budget movies never live up to the hype.

They are just trying to make as much money as fast as possible before the public catches on, OK rant over. This game was tested by both myself and my wife, we both agree the graphics are outdated and while the game physics look and feel fine this is just a monotonous boring endeavour.

Robo Defense FREE - Android Market

Robo Defense FREE - Android Market


Today just a brief review about a game thats been around on the Android since 2009. Robo Defense is available in a free version with one level that reaches 11 degrees of difficulty. If you decide to upgrade and buy it you get more levels and unlimited upgrades and difficulty levels.

This is the classic tower based stratagy game that first became popular with two enormous hits on the iPhone, Fieldrunners and Star Defense. Robo Defense play mechanics are exactly the same as those but of course the machines, characters and weapons are different. The publisher Lupis Labs is very good about updating the app so there is always new content trickling in and bugs being ironed out.

These types of games are very addicting and easily the best suited genre for use on a small gaming device such as a cell phone. The full version is $2.99 which is the same price as Fieldrunners on the iPhone. Even so you can grab the demo and get a couple hours of gameplay before deciding yourself if its worth the money. Enjoy!

Wonderful World of Widgets

Today I wanted to talk about widgets that allow you to customize your phone. There are many clock and weather widgets available in the app markets but the most popular one is Beautiful Widgets followed by Fancy Widget Pro.

Both of these are paid apps although fancy Widget has a scaled down free version as well, they both have clock and weather widgets with customizable skins available. Beautiful widgets comes with a few extras such as blue tooth, brightness and a few other settings toggles.

Is it worth buying either app? In one word no. Yes these two apps have bundled together some widgets that will make your phones home screen look very nice but if you do a little searching in the app store you will find some free alternatives in no time.

Go ahead and download the Fancy Widget free version for the clock and weather, they are almost identical to the paid ones. My personal favorite is an app widget by the name of 3D Digital Weather clock by Factory Widgets. In my opinion this free widget blows the other two away in terms of looks and while it doesn't have different skins it does have several options to change the appearance subtly.

It also gives you the choice of displaying your battery level or turning on or off what city your in. You can also set what app should open when you press the time, for instance have the clock open to set the alarm. Pressing on different corners will also open either detailed system stats such as battery temp and sd card space and pressing on the weather will open a detailed forecast screen. Example of 3D Weather Clock Widget on home screen.

So now we have the clock and weather for free and making your Android look oh so pretty, what else can we get for free that comes with those paid apps? How about those toggles that save you opening up your settings to turn on or off blue tooth, wifi, GPS or brightness. Well if you didn't know it already Android has that widget built into the system, just press your home screen and when widgets appear choose the power control one.

There are a host of other free widgets out there in the market, just do a search for widget and you'll have pages of them to check out. Why spend money for something when there are plenty of free apps that look as good or better?

So here's a list of some widgets that are free and I use on my phone, I switch from time to time to keep it fresh. 3D Digital Weather Clock is definitely my favorite but you have to check out Minimalistic text as well. It takes a little time to get it setup but its well worth it for the all text look, here is an example. Some of you are lucky and have extra widgets available depending on what company manufactured your phone and all of us have a few built in to the Android OS. One of the main reasons to own an Android over an iPhone is the ability to customize the look of our phones and the widget is the wonderful tool Android has that Apple doesn't. So go crazy and start trying them out, make your phone your own!