NEW Release: BuzzE for iPhone (Quick Review)

BuzzE

FREE

iPhone/iPod Touch only

Version: 2.0.1

Tested on: iPod Touch 4G (iOS 4.3.2)

BuzzE is an exciting social networking app which is just released today. It allows you to interact with the people around you, friends and family, wherever you are. You can use BuzzE to buzz your friends notifying that you're online, to chat with your family, to play interactive games with friends, to look for local events, or even to find new people near you. The app really does a lot of things socially and really worths to try it with your friends.

First, you need to sign up for the BuzzE service. It's a free signup and you can pull your details and avatar from your Facebook account to fill up your profile quickly. Then, you can either find new friends or you can invite your friends to signup for BuzzE too. I think you can find new friends up to at least 220 miles from where your current location is, so you don't need to worry about having a cold feet start with BuzzE Your friend requests need to be approved before you can see them as your friends. I think this is a good way to meet new people, and it only gets better with more people joining in.

Once you have friends who are online at the same time as you are, the app really shines. You can involve in multiple chat conversations with your friends at the same time, exchange gifts, and even playing fun games at the same time. It's always entertaining and fun to be involved in a hot potato game while you're chatting with your friends. It's almost like the real world. 

Hot potato isn't the only social mini-game available in the apps. You can also invite your friends to play the "I Found You" game. It's a unique game where you see a pile of photographs piled up, and you need to find your friend's profile pictures and put it into the bin faster than he/she does with your pictures. This is a great game which allows you to interact with your friend in real time. It's especially good when you just find a new friend on BuzzE.

Another game that's just great with new friends, especially from the opposite gender, is the "How Hot are We?" game. The game asks a series of 10 questions which you and your friend just need to say Yes/No as your answer. If both of you give the same answer, regardless of the answer is, then the game considers both of you as "Hot", otherwise you're considered as "Not Hot". It really is a fun game. The questions are very intriguing, and I believe more interesting questions will pop up in the future updates of this app.

BuzzE also allows you to find local events near you with its Hot Spot feature. You can also find details information about these public events. If you want to create your own private event, BuzzE also helps you to invite your BuzzE friends too. 

Overall, I think BuzzE has a lot of potential to be a great social networking app. It may start as a strong local app, but once you have a lot of people joining, I think this will become your favorite social networking app for the iPhone. Today is just the starting point for the app, and I'm looking forward to its future updates. Meanwhile, please download the app and add me as your friend on BuzzE. We can chat about your favorite iPhone app while playing the "Hot Potato" game. And I think, you'll find new friends too that have the same interests as you or get to know other readers of our site who are also joining in on BuzzE.

Check out my other iPhone app reviews here. 

Auryn Ink for iPad: Get a Chance to Win a Copy

Auryn Ink

$4.99

iPad Only

Version: 1.3.2
Author: Evan

Auryn Ink is a revolutionary application that creates the authentic simulation of watercolor painting intuitively and easily. It provides everything you need to create, export and share beautiful works of art on the iPad. With this app, you can generate complete paintings with the touch of your finger. 

This app is selected as the best app in art category by Fast Company magazine. It even uses brushes and the paint reacts to the kind of digital canvas you use. Now, the developers of Auryn Ink want to give you a chance to win a copy of Auryn Ink.

For a very limited period of time (the codes expire on May 29, 2011), you have a chance to actually win one of the two promo codes for this great art app. And, here are the steps you need to take to get a chance to win the promo codes:

1. Follow @appenthusiast on Twitter
2. Tweet this: "Auryn Ink makes watercolor painting fun, and get a chance to win a copy! http://bit.ly/ktzPC4 via @appenthusiast" or just click the small blue Twitter share button on the top right of this post.
3. The contest ends on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 23:59 PST
4. I will choose the two winners randomly

Check out my previous iPad app reviews here.

iPhone Game Review: Block the Laser, Plus a Chance to Win a Copy

Block the Laser

$.99

iPhone/iPod Touch Only

Version: 1.0.0

Tested on: iPod Touch 4G (iOS 4.3.2)

Rating: 4 of 5

Block the Laser is an unique maze-morphing puzzle game for the iPhone. This gameplay is somewhat hard to describe and sometimes it's even harder to digest during the first few levels. Only after playing it for  a while I come to realize how to play this game. First, it is a maze game. Each level is a maze of its own. But it's not just any maze, because what you are doing inside the maze actually changes the maze. I guess that is why the developer calls it maze-morphing game. The maze morphs as you move in it.

There is no better way to explain the gameplay than showing a few examples of how a level would be played. Above is some screenshots of how Level 2 is setup and played. As you can see in the pictures above, the exit door in each level is identified with the arrow mark. Most, but not all, levels have doors that can be past through from left to right, from top to bottom, and vice versa. This is necessary for you to travel within the maze.

The screenshots above also show you how to play the game. Colored doors can be opened or closed by walking through the button with the same color. For example, if you walk through the purple button, the purple door which is closed will be opened, and the other purple door which is opened will be closed. The same would be applied to the blue doors when you walk through the blue button. I am pretty sure you can figure out how the game works by looking at the above four screenshots.

In the next level, you are introduced with the rotating doors. Pay attention to the rotating marker in the center of the door. Not all rotating doors would have all four door segments, but they will all be triggered by the buttons with associated color and move in the direction showed by the marker. Every time you walk through the button, the door will rotate automatically, and sometimes this means you will be pushed by the rotating door. Pay attention to the three screenshots above to figure out how the rotating door works in Level 3.

Until now, you only see doors after doors. You must have been thinking where the laser is. Well, doors and buttons are essential elements to this game, and you need to be familiar with it before you are introduced to the lethal laser. Yes, the laser is lethal, so do not let yourself get burned by it. In the above screenshot, you will see that lasers have colors too and they can be turned off and on, using buttons with the right colors.

Check out the above screenshots of Level 4 to learn how the lasers can be controlled by the button. If you have more than one laser, please be careful when you hit the button. The orange button above, for example, controls two orange lasers.

The last element of the game is mirror. In the Level 5, you are introduced to a lot of lasers and mirrors. No buttons this time. This is to allow you to focus on learning how mirrors work in the game. Since there is not any button available, you cannot turn off any of the lasers. You can only change the direction of the lasers. This is where the mirrors can help. As you can see in the screenshots above, they always have a diagonal position to deflect the lasers in a safe direction.

You should always keep yourself on the back of the mirrors, then push the mirror towards a direction that would be save for yourself. Please be careful when pushing the mirrors, or else you can be burned. Learn from the screenshots above on how you can use mirrors to deflect the lasers in safe directions as you walk through the maze to get to the exit.

This game is an awesome game. It took me a while to learn about how to play the game. But, it definitely worths the learning curve. Overall, I really recommend this game to anyone who loves puzzle and strategy games.

Now, for a very limited period of time, you have a chance to win one of the five promo codes for this great maze-morphing puzzle game. And, here are the steps you need to take to get a chance to win the promo codes:

1. Follow @appenthusiast on Twitter
2. Tweet this: "Play this great maze-morphing game for #iPhone, Block the Laser, and get a chance to win a copy! http://bit.ly/mGMv6M via @appenthusiast" - or click the Twitter share button on the top right corner of this post.
3. The contest ends on Wednesday, May 4, 2011, 23:59 PST
4. I will choose randomly the five winners

Check out my other iPhone apps reviews here.

Upcoming Update: Angry Birds Rio (Next Week)

Great news to all Angry Birds fans out there. The Finnish publisher, Rovio, is planning to launch an update to the Angry Birds Rio next week. With Rio the movie is still playing in cinemas this weekend, there's no better time to launch the update. Rio the movie has made over than $80M in gross revenue at the box office, and Rovio has made over than 140M downloads on all Angry Birds series. I guess more success for the Finnish publisher in the coming weeks.

If you haven't get your copy of Angry Birds Rio, I highly recommend you to get it now. Their Facebook photo post asked whether you've found all the Golden Pineapples and Bananas or not. You don't want to miss more actions and secrets in the upcoming update, right? I will leave you with the quotation from their Facebook wall, and keep you posted on the update. I hope they'll bring this update across all platforms, including the iPad and Mac versions too.

BREAKING NEWS: Apple's New Policy for Reviewing Apps on the App Store

A new post in the Touch Arcade forum highlights a very important change in Apple's policy regarding how iPhone/iPad apps are being rated/reviewed in the App Store. Now, it is no longer possible to rate or review an app if it was downloaded using a developer's promo code. This change seems to have been in place for the past 2-3 weeks, but it's getting more and more consistent now. We're guessing that the older codes of which developers have released in the past might not be affected with this new policy, but every new codes from now on can't be used to gain reviews on the App Store. 

This change will affect how developers would distribute their promo codes now. With this new policy in place, giving away codes in the various forums/contests would not get them anywhere, not even a good review on the App Store. It seems that a good way to use the codes is to share it with review sites like ours. Having the reviews published in public sites (other than the App Store) has been a good marketing strategy for app developers in the past, but this policy change has made it a more important success factor for the app.

I would leave you with the e-mail quotation that's been spreading across different users who have asked this question to Apple, where they seem to get the same exact response. And if you're an app developer, please investigate whether you're affected with this policy change or not. And if you are affected, please share in the comments section with us, what you think this would affect your marketing strategy. As always, we would love to help you reviewing your apps on our site. Please contact us if you want to get your apps reviewed on our site.

Hi, 

Anand here again from iTunes Store Customer Support. Thanks for writing back and letting me know your concern. I understand that you are still not able to write a review. I know how disappointing it can be when things don't work out the way they should. I am sorry to inform that it is no longer possible to rate or review an app if it was downloaded using a developer's promotional code. 

However, I took the liberty of submitting your feedback to Apple on your behalf. Please know that Apple takes the feedback from our customers very seriously. This is the reason for our feedback page - to create a forum where our users can vent, praise or share whatever feelings they have to allow us to meet your needs, and grow as a company. I suggest that you use the link in order to share your feedback with us. I would also encourage you to share this link with all of your friends and family who wish to submit the feedback, and have them all submit the same request." 

----- 

"It is no longer possible to rate or review an app if it was downloaded using a developer's promotional code.
You can review this app by purchasing it on a different iTunes account using something other than a developer's promotional code, such as a GiftCard, Gift Certificate, or other payment options."

Check out our iPad apps reviews and iPhone apps reviews too while you're here.


UPDATE: If you're someone who wants to publish your reviews on the App Store but can no longer do so (because of this new policy), please don't hesitate to drop us an e-mail. We may be able to help get your reviews published here on our site. 

iPad Game Review: Bloons TD HD 4

Bloons TD HD 4

$4.99

iPad Only

Version: 1.1

Tested on: iPad 2 (iOS 4.3.2)

Rating: 4 of 5

Reviewer: Evan

Bloons TD 4 has been a great iPhone game for the first few months of the year 2011. Now, this great Tower Defense game finally arrives to the iPad. The game has been optimized for the best gaming experience on the iPad. It is now one of my new favorite games and has earned a first class spot on my home screen. It took a long time for me to finish the game but it's definitely worth it. Everything from the icon to the menus is of high quality and very easy to use.

When you start the game, you can always choose to start a new game or to load the one you've been playing. If you start a new game, you can choose among the 17 different tracks. And, with the new version which has just been released a few days ago, you can choose an Apopalypse mode. In this mode, you can play Bloons TD nonstop. There will be no pause in between rounds and the Bloons just get stronger and stronger. This is a good challenge to see how long you're able to survive.

The object of this game is to use the items provided that you have to pop all the balloons thrown at you throughout the levels. As if there aren't enough options, you can also choose the difficulty level as you prefer. This game also provides the players with a new ranking system that you can build up your experience and gain access to even more powerful towers and upgrades. In total, you have up to 16 items that you can use to pop the balloons.

Overall, I personally think this is a great game and works wonders with the high quality graphics card on iPad 2. I had a lot of fun playing this game. Playing with up to 75 levels with different difficulty levels and being integrated with Game Center achievements is a real gamers' game. What are you waiting for? Get your copy now and discover what you can unlock with the GC achievements.

Check out my previous app review here.