Author: The Editor

Game Review – F22 Raptor

NAME: F22 Raptor
VERSION: 2.0
COMPANY: EA Games
PLATFORM: JAVA
GENRE: Top scrolling shooter
SIZE: 580KB
TEST PHONE: Nokia 6500
RATING: 5/10
DEMO:

Welcome to the F22 Raptor game review for mobile phones.

We’ve reviewed a number of top down shooters and from recollection not many of them are memorable enough to play after a while except for Centipede which is not really a plane shooter but comes close.

F22 Raptor follows the same path as the others with what we feel is a good control system but there are several things missing. It is the power up system way too slow – and hence excitement.

Gameplay, graphics, sound are all pretty much standard as won’t go into detail. Dare we say there’s not much here to look at, play or write about. If you collect shooter style games than you’d probably like it but for others it doesn’t have enough. It technically works well but that’s it.

February 24, 2010

Game Review – Command & Conquer Red Alert (Mobile)

NAME: Command & Conquer Red Alert
VERSION: 1.0
COMPANY: EA Games
PLATFORM: JAVA
GENRE: RPG Action
SIZE: 800KB
TEST PHONE: Nokia E71
RATING: 8/10
DEMO:

Welcome to the Command & Conquer Red Alert game review for mobile phones.

The Command and Conquer C&C game franchise has been around for at least a decade on the PC. We first experienced the original version on the 1St Gen Playstation all those years ago. It’s a classic and genre defining game. The Red Alert version puts the player in an alternate universe to the regular tiberium story line.

There are not many games that replicate the C&C gameplay and this official release of the C&C Red Alert for a mobile phone was something we where looking forward to! So read on to see how they have changed the PC game play for the mobile phone and whether its really any good!

Graphics for C&C red Alert are very good for a mobile phone games. It is all in 2D like the original PC game but shruken and updated! It looks better than the original PC game – and so it should. The E71 we played this game for has more CPU and graphics power then PCs 10 years ago! The menus and navigation all make the game feel well made and even close to the iPhone/iPod touch version. The Natasha icon doing kung fu moves during any loading sequence is a nice touch! We also like the Kirov’s.

Music and sound effects are limited to the standard MIDI tracks. You can play the game without sounds or music easily which helps in public places.

Gameplay has substantial missing from the PC games. The radar the buildings and units are all available and honestly do look good. Even the story line adds to the overall playability. There are some visual gags like snowmen which does help lighten the mood. Game speed is very good although the environmental effects can be jerky – which looks intentional rather than a fault of the game.

Changes from the PC version are substantial, missions and resource collection are simplified for the limited screen size on the phone. It all makes sense and works on the mobile phone platform.

Overall Command & Conquer Red Alert is a pretty good game even if your not into the resource collection because the revisions have been made to appeal to a broader range of players. We liked it overall but found the the missions take a tad long to be playable unless you’re at home. This is the best of its type for the mobile platform we’ve seen to date.

February 22, 2010

Apple iPhone 3GS Review
Welcome to the Apple iPhone 3GS review. The iPhone 3GS was released in mid 2009 and a quiet release compared to the regular iPhone 3G. Both are physically identical except for branding and unseen hardware improvements! The 3GS improves on the former 3G in noticeable ways when you actually use it. Apple says the 'S' is for speed and that is certainly obvious. Everything about the phone just works better. Hardware improvements include a faster CPU, compass and video capability. Other improvements are OS software related eg. voice control. The iPhone 3GS is probably what Apple should have released as the original 3G but clearly commercial realities made that not possible. Purely due to its speed pick the 3GS but if your budget doesn't stretch that far then the 3G is still a good choice. There are probably 2 features that we think are overdue and most appreciated. They are the battery percentage meter and the hardware compass that improves GPS performance. Mind you battery life is still very poor - lasting barely 12 hours if receiving push emails, running a few games calls and test. If left purely on standby the phone could possibly reach 3 days but hats the point of that. Since the App store is easy to use likewise the browser it has encouraged networks all over the world to update their networks to a 3G standard. The Safari web browser is not the best out there but because he iPhone is so popular lots of websites customize for the specifically for it. Once again we can't write anything that hasn't already been said countless times and all the positives about the iPhone 3GS phone but we can add some reasons why you should consider other phones. 1 - its expensive to buy outright or plan 2- it is rarely on a pre-paid plan and even if so it is expensive 3- you need a decent data plan even if you use its Wi-Fi 4- browser does not do FLASH websites 5- limited OS customization features - you can't even change the messaging ringtone 6- it goes through the battery more quickly than any phone you have ever had 7- keypad is hard to use 8- call quality is very average 9- its very big and a protective case is essential 10- cannot add more memory 11- additional functions have to be bought 12- average to poor camera and video 13- still no radio 14- everyone has got one Overall and regardless of any criticism the iPhone 3GS does work better than the iPhone 3G. As a phone it works just as well as any other phone but it does have poor reception and voice quality. The iPhone is very easy to use and there are plenty of Apps if you are interested but it still lacks a lot of features that other phones have as standard. The forth coming iPhone 4 may solve some things but will create others. If you've got the cash and an iTunes account and credit to spare then look no further. Specifications
- Apple iPhone 3GS
- Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Tri-band 3G 850/1900/2100 HSDPA 7.2 data speed (download)
- Design Touch screen
- L115.5 x W62.1 x D12.3mm Weight 135 grams
- Display/s External TFT 320 x 480
- Camera 3.2MP
- Video Camera 640 x 480 30 fps
- Connectivity Wi-Fi (except for China) Bluetooth V2 Micro-USB
- CPU ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz Graphics: PowerVR MBX-Lite
- Memory From 8-16Gig
- Ring tones Purchase or iStudio only and vibration
- Features A-GPS Accelerometer Proximity sensor Multi-touch screen Music and Media player Remote security Contacts/Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email Speaker Phone/Hands free Battery 1000 mAh Up to 300 hours Standby Up to 12 hours Talk Time
- Price history From $879 AUS 2010 (Outright)
February 10, 2010
Apple iPhone 3G Review
Welcome to the Apple iPhone 3G review. The iPhone 3G was released to very keen world in mid-2008. It was superior to the original GSM only iPhone in many so many ways. The original iPhone was a huge hit and the 3G capable replacement was finally the model that started a world wide shift to everyone wanting one. Over 150 million sold in less than 2 years is a lot of phones. The iPhone 3G is an amazing phone. Sure the hardware the iPhone is built on was not particularly exceptional bar the multi-touch screen it is/was the software or Operating System (OS) that made the iPhone stand out amongst the crowded smartphone market. It certainly made a dent to Nokia's sales and the contributing factor in the demise of Windows based phones! And yes the iPhone 3G is not a perfect phone but because it was so easy to use and that it was also an iPod at the same time and of course all the Apple fans overcame any limitations it may have had. History will remember the iPhone and it will be a benchmark OS for quite a number of years to come. We can't write anything that hasn't already been said countless times and all the positives about this mobile phone but we can add some reasons why you should consider other phones. 1 - its expensive to buy outright 2- it is rarely on a pre-paid plan and even if it is it is expensive 3- you need a decent data plan even if you use its Wi-Fi 4- browser does not do FLASH 5- limited OS customization features - you can't even change the messaging ringtone 6- it goes through the battery more quickly than any phone you have ever had 7- keypad is hard to use 8- call quality is very average 9- its very big and a protective case is essential 10- cannot add more memory 11- additional functions have to be bought 12- average to poor camera (no video on the 3G version) 13- missing a radio 14- requires a computer with iTunes to use it properly 15- everyone has got one Overall and regardless of any criticism the iPhone does work very well. If you've got the cash and an iTunes account and credit to spare then look no further. We can still recommend getting an iPhone purely because its so easy to use. Specifications
- Apple iPhone 3G
- Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 3G 850/1900/2100 HSDPA 3.6 data speed (download)
- Design Touch screen
- L115.5 x W62.1 x D12.3mm Weight 133 grams
- Display/s External TFT 320 x 480
- Camera 2MP
- Video Camera N/A
- Connectivity Wi-Fi (except for China) Bluetooth V2 Micro-USB
- CPU ARM 11 412 MHz Graphics: PowerVR MBX-Lite
- Memory From 8-16Gig
- Ring tones MP3, ACC, vibration and others
- Features A-GPS Accelerometer Proximity sensor Multi-touch screen Music and Media player Remote security Contacts/Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email Speaker Phone/Hands free Battery 1000 mAh Up to 300 hours Standby Up to 10 hours Talk Time
- Price history From $719 AUS 2010 (Ouright)
February 10, 2010
Samsung S8000 Jet Review
Welcome to the Samsung S8000 Jet review. The S8000 Jet is another touch screen mobile phone from Samsung was released in late 2009. This is one of Samsung's top range phones using their own OS. The S8000 Jet is appropriately named because this is a fast phone. The OS works smoothly although still has the occasion lag for what ever reason. At a guess the OS works 98% impressively smoothly as the iPhone. The phone also debuts the 3D cube menu system and a Vista like animation for certain apps. It appears identical to the one LG already uses. Whatever you thin k it does work well and looks good. The extra processing power means that the widgets system works the way it should along with everything else on the interface. It makes the slower models in the Samsung range and indeed the Nokia models feel ancient by comparison. This include the Dolfin web browser which has a popup-ad blocker can handle JAVA and FLASH. Being a top range phone you'd expected decent construction and materials - tick. You'd expect a hi-def screen - tick You'd expect GPS and Wi-Fi - tick. It's got a decent camera and does video well and the usual option filled control panel. So there's everything you could possible expect in a phone like this. Since this is a AMOLED screen its nice and bright and shows off the screen nicely. Again it doesn't have that Blackberry Bold's impressiveness for some reason. It's a fair comparison since they are in the same price category. Overall a great touch screen mobile phone that has all the communication options you could want. We have no problems recommending the S8000 Jet. However in this price range there are so many just as impressive options to choose from. Eg. the iPhone 3G, N97 and N97 Mini and so forth. Specifications
- Samsung S8000 Jet
- Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 3G 900/2100 (Dependent on country) HSDPA 7.2 data speed (download)
- Design Touch screen
- L108.9 x W53.5 x D12 mm Weight 110 grams
- Display/s External TFT 480 x 800 AMOLED
- Camera 5MP Auto-focus LED Flash
- Video Camera 720 x 480 pixel video camera
- Connectivity Wi-Fi Bluetooth V2 Micro-USB
- CPU 800Mhz
- Memory Up to 8G available to user MicroSD up to 16Gig
- Ring tones MIDI, MP3, vibration and others
- Features A-GPS Touch screen Accelerometer Widgets Music and Media player Remote security Word/Excel/Powerpoint/PDF reader Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email JAVA MIDP 2.0 FM radio with RDS and recording Speaker Phone/Hands free Battery 1100 mAh Up to 250 hours Standby Up to 3 hours Talk Time
- Price history From $799 AUS 2010 (Ouright)
February 1, 2010
Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH Review
Welcome to the Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH review. The 2009 S8300 ULtraTOUCH is another touch screen mobile phone from Samsung and clearly designed to take on other mid-range handsets regardless of keypad type. It was released in Mid 2009. The UltraTOUCH is a tad different from the other touch screen models from Samsung in that it also has a slide out numeric keypad. It's RRP is higher then the others at about $500 (2009). The higher price tag is justified in that the construction materials and quality is higher than say the Preston. Afterall it does have brush metal and higher quality plastics. It also features the much promoted AMOLED screen. True the screen is brigher and certainly much more viewable in daylight but whether the screen quality is better as a result - not so sure. You see we also have a Blackberry BOLD 9000 that's screen is exceptional and its not an AMOLED. The S8300 ULtraTOUCH is a curvy box that is relatively small and also well made. It is easier to hold due to the curves and is well put together phone and looks pretty good too. The slide out keypad feels solid too. So its looks good but when you start to use the phone things are still good but not as good. The phone is a touch screen as well as having the keypad. It is confusing at first before you work out that the keypad doesn't actually do much but to allow you to input numbers. The interface is not as smooth as the other models in the Samsung range - disappointing considering that cheaper Preston version is easily faster. The S8300 UltraTOUCH is thus a bit of an oddity. We don't think the setup works well. Apart from that the phone gets all the same functionality as the other models in the mid-range but with the inclusion of A-GPS receiver. Its runs a custom Samsung Mobile Navigator software or can use Google maps. The camera is a 8MP unit and the result look good and the video recorder's results looked good too. Again nowhere near a dedicated digital camera but good nonetheless. The internet browser was also surprisingly good, being able to play Flash files on most websites we visited. Overall a Ok sort of mobile phone. It has all the communication options you could want. It does work well but not as well as the cheaper models in the Samsung range purely because it was relatively sluggish. So unless you really want a slider phone with a touch screen then this is just perfect for you. We reckon that you'd probably be happier with the S5600 Preston as an example. Specifications
- Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH
- Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 3G 850/900/2100 (Dependent on country) HSDPA 7.2 data speed (download)
- Design Slider and Touch screen
- L110 x W51.5 x D12.7mm Weight 105 grams
- Display/s External TFT 240 x 400 AMOLED
- Camera 38P LED Flash
- Video Camera 720 x 480 pixel video camera
- Connectivity Wi-Fi Bluetooth V2 Micro-USB
- CPU
- Memory 80MB available to user MicroSD up to 16Gig
- Ring tones MIDI, MP3, vibration and others
- Features A-GPS Touch screen Accelerometer Widgets Music and Media player Remote security Word/Excel/Powerpoint/PDF reader Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email JAVA MIDP 2.0 FM radio with RDS Speaker Phone/Hands free Battery 1000 mAh Up to 350 hours Standby Up to 4 hours Talk Time
- Price history From $549 AUS 2010 (Outright)
February 1, 2010
Samsung S5600 Preston Review
Welcome to the Samsung S5600 Preston review. The version we sampled was labeled the Samsung S5603T. This model was released in mid 2009 so you can expect to see it around for a year or two. (Also check out the LG Optimus GT540 for an even better phone.) The S5600 Preston ICON is another touch screen mobile phone from Samsung and clearly designed to take on other mid-range handsets regardless of keypad type. How do we know? It's price is very very competitive. It's actually cheaper than the F480. To cut a long review short yes the S5600 is better than the F480 in every way. So why is the F480 so expensive - who knows? The S5600 Preston is a curvy box that is relatively small and also well made. It is a tad longer than the F480 but feels easier to hold due to the curves. It is very well put together phone and looks pretty good too. Although we haven't seen it as a pre-paid package yet but you can be sure it will be in 12 months or so. The S5600 is an impressive phone to use! The operating system and the Touchwiz interface work without any of the lags its predecessors including the F480 clearly have. It is easily better than the interface on touch screen Nokia's of 2009 but does feel a tad crude next to the iPhone - don't they all? 2nd best interface in he world is not a bad thing! Again, rather than bore you with the phones technicalities we'll get to the real story! As you can guess we think the S56o0 is a very good phone. We think that it is probably the best priced and feature packed mid-range mobile phone available at the time this review was written (early 2010). It has a lot of features that will impress anyone. It includes a decent screen and size, a good 3.2MP camera, video, calender, media/file organizer, FM radio lots of memory and 3G capability. However before you go out an buy one remember that the S5600 is still a 'standard' phone. It does not have features like GPS or Wi-Fi so if your needs only involve standard messaging - voice and video calls, SMS, MMS, IM and Email then this phone will meet your needs. Ming you it also comes with a document viewer for Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF files. The S5600 has a few surprise features not found on many other phones one of which is a program called Mobile Tracker. Basically if you lose the phone and the thief or dishonest finder changes SIM cards the phone will automatically send the SIM's number to your own SIM card. Excellent and simple precaution - make sure you activate it though! The other is a Shazam! (for iPhone) like program that allows you to find the name of a song your listening to - handy to some I suppose. For the price category it only has a 3.2 megapixels but the results are just as good as others with more megapixels. So if you want to fall into the trap of wanting greater megapixels as opposed to better quality pictures then go else where. The menu system is easy enough to use and there are plenty of options and apps you can play with. However there are few interface customization options. That said the graphics are already quite good so I don't think most will think it needs to be changed. Samsung have also developed a widget screen which works very well. Unlike other mid-range Samsung's it does not slow the phone down. The widgets look cool but there lots of in-built widget options worth selecting. The web browser is quite good for a non-smartphone so only very basic web surfing on it but it's fine. Overall the S5600 Preston is a very good phone. It has all the communication options you could want. The price in 2010 is very acceptable. We recommend the S5600 above the F480 quite easily although in terms of communication options is doesn't do any more. So if you want the best touch screen 3G mobile phone for the least amount of money then the S5600 is it! (Early 2010) There are no other touch screen models in this price category that work quite as well as the S5600 (at the time of this review). Note: since the price reduction in mid-2010 to less than $200 we think this one of the best cheap touchscreen mobile phone on the market. However spend a little more and get the LG Optimus for a even better phone! Note: The price drop to under $100 in November 2010 as a pre-paid phone makes the S5600 even more appealing. Note that Android OS based phones that can be purchased for less the $300 is probably a better choice - outright only though! Specifications
- Samsung S5600
- Network Tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 3G 900/2100 (Dependent on country) HSDPA 3.6 data speed (download)
- Design Touch screen
- L102.8 x W54.8 x D12.9mm Weight 96 grams
- Display/s External TFT 240 x 320
- Camera 3.2MP LED Flash
- Video Camera 174 x 144 pixel video camera
- Connectivity Bluetooth V2 Micro-USB
- CPU
- Memory 80MB available to user MicroSD up to 8Gig
- Ring tones MIDI, MP3, vibration and others
- Features Touch screen Widgets Music and Media player Remote security Word/Excel/Powerpoint/PDF reader Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email JAVA MIDP 2.0 FM radio with RDS Speaker Phone/Hands free Battery 1000 mAh Up to 350 hours Standby Up to 6 hours Talk Time
- Price history Under $100 AUD November 2010 (Pre-paid) Under $190 AUD Mid-2010 (Outright) From $349 AUSD 2010 (Outright)
February 1, 2010
Samsung F480 Tocco Review
Welcome to the Samsung F480Tocco review. Note that there are several versions of the same phone with slightly different specifications but all run the same OS. Eg. F480T, F480i and TouchWiz. We got the F480T version. Priced as a feature phone for around $500 it is now a cheap mobile phone (2010). The F480 was released in mid 2008 to most parts of the world as Samsung's solution to touch based interface mobile phones. For a 2008 mobile phone it is a very good and decent offering in comparison to all except the original iPhone. Lets face it nothing comes close to the iPhone in terms of user interface presentations and use for 2009. Hence the F480 is a rectangular box that is relatively small and also well made. Although pricey when first launched it is now a pre-pay option in most markets and that is why we are looking at it. Certain colors make it look a tad tacky but overall not too bad. Rather than bore you with the phones technicalities we'll get to the real story! The F480 is a very good phone. it is better than any other touch phone in the market including the market leader Nokia that is priced in the same category. There are much better though but you have to pay more! It has a lot of features that will impress anyone. It includes a decent screen and size, a satisfactory 5mp camera, video, calender, media/file organizer, FM radio lots of memory and 3G capability. The menu system is easy enough to use and there are plenty of options and apps you can play with. However there are few interface customization options eg missing themes. That said the graphics are already quite good so I don't think most will think it needs to be changed. Samsung have also developed a widget screen which works well but when using this view option it does make the phone noticeable slow down. The widgets look cool but there are few widget options worth selecting - very basic is what we'd call it. In widget mode it is not jerky just slow to respond. The web browser is quite good for a non-smartphone so only very basic web surfing on it but it's fine. Overall a good phone. It has all the communication options you could want. The price in 2010 is still very high considering you can get the Nokia E63 which is easily a better phone that includes Wi-Fi but the E63 isn't a touch screen but it has a pretty good QWERTY keypad. So if you want the (cheapest) best touch screen pre-pay mobile phone (Late 2009) then the F480 is a very good choice. However we can also recommend the Samsung S5600 series if you want an even better touch screen than the F480 or other 'standard' phones. The S5600 is cheaper and in our opinion also works better - check out the review on the site. If you don't need a touch screen then there are lots of much better options to choose from in 2010. Specifications
- Samsung F480
- Network Tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 3G 850/2100 (Dependent on country) HSDPA 3.6 data speed (download)
- Design Touch screen
- L98.5 x W55 x D11.5 mm Weight 100 grams
- Display/s External TFT 240 x 320
- Camera 5 MP LED Flash Autofocus and Digital zoom
- Video Camera 174 x 144 pixel video camera
- Connectivity Bluetooth V2 Micro-USB
- CPU
- Memory 200MB available to user MicroSD up to 8Gig
- Ring tones MIDI, MP3, vibration and others
- Features Touch screen Widgets Music and Media player Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email JAVA MIDP 2.0 FM radio with RDS Speaker Phone/Hands free Battery 1000 mAh Up to 250 hours Standby Up to 3 hours Talk Time
- Price history From $299 AUS 2010 (Pre-paid) From $399 AUS 2010 (Ouright)
February 1, 2010
Nokia E63 Review
Welcome to the Nokia E63 review. Released in late 2008 this was the cheaper entry model of the E71. Sure in the pictures it looks the same as the E71 but there are very important differences that will effect your decision to purchase. It goes without saying that the E71 is a very popular model because it does everything that you could possibly want in 2009 and more! So much so that it is the benchmark mobile phone to get if you can't which model you want! We've included a quick review on the website because it will run all the free screensavers and powersavers that we've made. To capitalize on the E71's success the E63 was released for those who found the E71's price unreasonable. Personally we think it's price and positioned perfectly! Anyway it probably easier to talk abut what the E63 doesn't have rather than what it does. So here goes: - The construction is all plastic compared to the E71. - The case is bigger and thicker than the E71. - Missing A-GPS. - The camera is only 2MP. - Missing Infra-red. - Pre-installed games. - Reduced music audio quality. - Missing pre-packaged SD memory card in some countries. What is does have is a 3.5mm audio socket so that normal headphones will work. The screen appears to be the same too! Otherwise the E63 works exactly the same way as the E71 - which is very good. When compared to other models like it from other manufacturers - there's nothing else like it. Sure what about Blackberry? Well they are still $100 more than the E63 and offer the same thing. Both do push email now so there's little difference. Overall and in isolation the Nokia E63 is a very good phone and you probably will not miss any of the omissions from the E71 unless you really need GPS on your phone. At the same time the major problem is that it must be compared to the E71 because the price difference is quite small at release. Thankfully since then the difference has widen and some very good deals can be had for E63 now (2010). Go for it if you must but make sure you try out the E71 at the same time to see if the price difference is worth it. Otherwise go for which one you think looks better! Specifications
- Nokia E63
- Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800 /1900 MHz) 3G 900/2100 (varies by country)
- Design Candy Bar L113 x W59 x D13 mm Weight 126 grams
- Display/s External TFT 240 x 320
- Camera 2MP main camera Picture format: JPG
- Video Camera 176 x 144 pixel Movie format: MP4
- Connectivity Micro USB Bluetooth V2
- CPU ARM 11 369Mhz
- Memory Up to 110 MB available to user Up to 8Gig MicroSD Flash cards
- Ring tones MIDI, MP3 and others including video
- Features SMS, MMS, WAP, EMAIL JAVA MIDP 2.0 Flash compatible web browser Word/Excel/Powerpoint editor PDF reader Music player FM radio and visual Radio Speaker Phone/Hands free Customizable themes Picture Viewer Voice memos Voice command Calender and organizer Battery BL-4L 1500mAh Up to 20 days Standby Up to 11 hours Talk Time
- Package contents Personal hands free kit Travel charger
- Price history From $299 AUS 2009 (Pre-Paid) Under $350 AUS 2010 (Outright)
January 14, 2010