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Logix3D Is a Challenging Brain-Twister for Nokia Touch Devices

Posted by MartinMarshall, 09/08/2010 10:01:10 AM

Logix3D is a fascinating little logic game that gave me all the challenge I could handle while still having logic level depths to spare. It is built using the 3D interface for mobile Java, and thus it presents many 3D views of the game action. The game action itself is played on a 2D grid.

The game action is reminiscent of an old puzzle game from the physical world in which you have one empty space on a grid of movable blocks, and have to move the individual blocks around to solve the puzzle. In Logix3D, however, the object of the game is to get a set of colored boxes to line up so that they fall directly on top of similarly-colored ‘target’ boxes.  The fewer moves it takes to do so, the better. The targets are distinguished by their appearance of 3D effervescence, or tiny bubbles circulating above the target cells. In the screen below, for example, the target cells are in the upper portion of the screen and the boxes you need to move are in the lower portion of the screen.

I played the game on my Nokia N97 using the 5-way rocker (D-switch), but it can also be played on the touch screen by tapping on the screen itself. There are no virtual keys, as it is controlled by gestures. You just touch the screen to get its attention and then gesture right, left, up or down to move the blocks of cells. All of the boxes move together, while the targets stay put. Boxes that are blocked by a wall cell that is in their way do not move. That is the point, really, because you will not be able to solve the puzzle without differentiating the movement of the individual boxes by ramming some into walls while others are unobstructed.

Below is a simple example of doing just that. It is the middle of the game started above. I noticed in the initial position that the sequence of colors of the target cells was exactly the opposite of the sequence of  colors of the regular boxes. So, I used the wall cell in the middle of the maze to shear off boxes from the line so that they could be re-arranged individually. The screen below shows that I was about halfway through the re-alignment process, as the three boxes on the left are aligned while the other three are not.  Notice that the number of moves is also shown in the upper left. If I were to do this level again, I’m sure I could do better than that.

There are 120 levels of play in Logix3D, each with five degrees of difficulty of game play. The maze showed above is as simple as possible, while the mazes shown below are a little more intricate.

Advanced players can also build their own mazes using the edit function of the game. As the screen below shows, you can place wall cells one by one to create the maze, and then place boxes and target cells where you want them to complete the initial frame of the puzzle.

Overall, this is a very intellectually challenging game from the Czech Republic-based Jollybox. I found it much more fun than just using the 5-key repeatedly to shoot down space aliens. Logix3D is priced at $2.99 (USD) in Ovi Store.

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Logix3D Is a Challenging Brain-Twister for Nokia Touch Devices

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The Ovi Blog Gets Its Own Official App for Nokia Touch Devices

Posted by JasonBlack, 09/07/2010 9:01:26 AM

Our good friends over at the Ovi Blog have launched an app of their very own, and it’s a good looking download. As they note, this is the official Ovi Blog Application, and it features content from both their blog as well as from Nokia Conversations. It also includes details for the latest Twitter feed from @ovibynokia content, and details about upcoming events, like Nokia World 2010 which will take place next week in London.

This new video shows the Ovi Blog app in action, on a Nokia N8 – pretty cool. You will notice that content from the Ovi Daily App is featured prominently in this demo – our thanks both to Nokia Conversations for continuing to highlight our best work each week, and to the folks behind the video for making sure we were included!

The app is entirely self explanatory. There is a section on the left for the latest blog content, including stuff from Nokia Conversations; the right-hand side has the Twitter details; and the space along the bottom is reserved for events. When Nokia World ends, expect to see recap and highlight information until the next big show comes along.

As you can see, this app is viewable in landscape mode, and it works very smoothly on Nokia touch-enabled devices. Clicking anywhere within a colored section will pull up all of the latest content for that part of the app.

Click on a headline to see the full blog post, including large reproductions of any images associated with a specific blog post. Additionally, as you can, you can Tweet about any of the posts you see – you just need to log in to your individual Twitter account from the app.

Once you dig in to a specific post, the back button at the top is just a click away, and then you can explore other content, such as the Twitter feed, or event information.

The details for Nokia World may come in handy if you’re attending the event next week, as you will have the schedule at a glance.

The official Ovi Blog Application is free to download from Ovi Store.

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Be Prepared for the Worst with Mobil Firstaid on Your Nokia

Posted by KevinSharp, 09/07/2010 5:01:38 AM

Last week marked the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Whether you consider that devastating event to be a natural disaster or a man-made debacle,  one thing is clear: professional, official health care providers were overwhelmed. People survived or not based on the first aid skills of themselves and their neighbors. Would you be able to help? How about something more common — do you know what to do if you come across a traffic accident or see someone choking in a restaurant? With Mobil Firstaid from the Danish Red Cross and developer Infooverflow, you can learn.

Mobil Firstaid is compatible with Symbian OS – S60 3.x and 5.0 devices. I received a “not compatible” error when installing on my N97, but I ignored the warning and the app works fine.

Learn how to handle the top three emergencies or explore other lessons in first aid.

The opening screen gets directly to the point — learn how to deal with cardiac problems, bleeding, or choking. Each emergency condition is treated with a series of screens that show in words and pictures how to respond. For example, with Cardiac Arrest, it steps you through the “A B C’s” — check the Airway to make sure it is open, check Breathing to make sure the patient is moving air in an out, and check for Circulation to make sure the oxygen is being transported from the lungs to the brain.

If the patient is not breathing, Mobil Firstaid shows you how to perform CPR the traditional way — with 30 chest compressions followed by two rescue breaths. The app even provides you a counter to help you pace your compressions and breaths.

Provide chest compressions followed by rescue breaths to keep the brain supplied with vital oxygen.

The training about how to deal with bleeding starts with the basics — know if you’re dealing with an artery or a vein. Then apply pressure (a finger or palm usually does the trick). If you have one patient you’re done — hold the pressure on the wound until help arrives. For situations where you need to deal with more than one patient, the app includes a good tutorial on how to create and apply a pressure bandage, including the advice to include a stone or other hard object to apply pressure in place of your finger.

Pressure bandages can include a hard object to focus pressure on the cut vein or artery.

Once you read through and understand the three main emergencies, Mobil Firstaid provides you a learning path you can follow a few minutes at a time in your spare time. On the opening screen you will see the Four Key Points article queued up under the Learn First Aid link. This is scenario-based training where are provided a theoretical situation and asked how you would:

  1. Ensure safety for yourself and others so no further injuries occur.
  2. Assess the person / people. Quickly assess the Airway, Breathing, Circulatory, and other injuries on scene to prioritize your rescue.
  3. Get help. This is really your first priority — professional first responders can do much more than you. You can help by letting them know what they will face and by doing what you can to help people survive until they arrive.
  4. Administer first aid. Only when you have contact the professionals should you begin your work directly delivering first aid. Unless you’re in the middle of a hurricane and there are is no help coming.

After you complete the Four Key Points lesson a new training segment will appear in your Learn First Aid link. Each lesson is drawn from the list that you can access directly through the Other Situations link from the home screen.

Think through what you have learned in the context of some real-world scenarios.

In drastic situations like Hurricane Katrina there are no first responders to summon. People of New Orleans were on their own, and personal knowledge and the support of neighbors made the difference between life and death. For most of us most of the time, the most important service we can render is to call in professional first responders. In the US, that means dialing 9-1-1. In Denmark and much of Europe the code is 1-1-2. You will see 1-1-2 repeated throughout the lessons. If you find yourself traveling and don’t know who to call, Mobil First Aid provides over 100 emergency numbers from around the world.

Emergency numbers from around the world at your fingertips.

Check out Mobil Firstaid for $1.99 (USD) in Ovi Store. If you need the information, it just might be the best money you ever spent.

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Who is the King of Currywurst? On Your Nokia, it Might be You

Posted by JasonBlack, 09/05/2010 5:01:24 AM

So when a game has a name like the King of Currywurst, you know you want to try it, right? I knew I did. And let me start  right off by confessing: I am not the king. I am not even sure if I am ready to be a line cook for the king.

But don’t let my lack of skills in this puzzle game that offers a distinct twist on tetris-style gameplay serve to diminish your appetite when it comes to trying it out on your own.

In this seemingly simple game, all you need to do is make sausages as fast as you can, by using the assortment of curved links of meat that fall on to your grill just as fast as you can turn and rotate them into shape.

This game, from Germany-based exozet games, has a succinct help section that makes the object of the game as plain as can be.

And, within the settings you can control the language options, as well as turning the in-game soundtrack on or off.

I’ve been trying to become a master of the sausage grill on my Nokia E72, and apparently, I should stick to my real backyard BBQ grill instead – at least there, I know when to flip the burgers.

In King of Currywurst, all of the pieces of sausage are turned and divided into smaller pieces. You can use the cursor on your device to turn individual segments of sausage so they touch one another, forming links. The longer the links, the better. As you complete links, those segments of cooked sausage vanish from the screen, and new ones quickly fill in to take their place – this is no grill for the meek, or the vegetarian-leaning among you.

If your grill fills with pieces of meat that are not joined together, that’s it. Game over.

Happily, there seems to be a never-ending supply of animated meat to cook, and as long as your fingers are quick and you can keep tabs on the entire grill, you should be cooking with gas.

So, whether you are enjoying a long holiday weekend like those of in the United States, or if you just want a clever diversion when you have some spare time, the King of Currywurst invites you to dine with him. Table for two?

The King of Currywurst is available for $1.99 (USD) in Ovi Store.

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Who is the King of Currywurst? On Your Nokia, it Might be You

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Offloading Messages to PCs Just Got Easier with Best MessageStorer

Posted by JohnVerity, 09/04/2010 5:01:02 AM

For a growing number of people these days, text and multimedia messaging is a way of life, the preferred way to make plans, update friends, revise schedules, ask for directions, or even propose marriage or dump a spouse.

Helping make all kinds of mobile messaging, including e-mail, more useful, of course, has been the advent of nifty new phones with real keyboards, like the Nokia N97.

As noted periodically here on the Ovi Daily App blog, a variety of apps have become available to help devoted messagers better manage their messaging, so to speak. The latest of these is Best MessageStorer, priced at $1.99 (USD) and developed by Smartphoneware, based in Odessa, Ukraine. It’s designed for the person whose phone has accumulated many SMS, MMS, and e-mail messages – or only a few – and wants to move those items to a computer for safe storage or some other use.

To cut to the chase, MessageStorer collects your messages into a single file of either plain text or CSV (comma-separated values) format. That file can then be kept on your phone or sent through the usual channels to your Windows-based PC or Mac. In addition, the software can sort and filter messages by type, data and time, and sender.

You launch MessageStorer the usual way, from within the Applications screen. Its appearance is pretty much exactly what you’d see in Nokia’s built-in Messaging software: a list of mailboxes such as Inbox, Outbox, Drafts, Sent, and those for any email accounts you may have set up. Touching on any of these mailboxes will open to reveal their contents: again, a familiar list of messages.

Touching on a particular message, however, will not open it for viewing. Instead, all that happens is that a check mark will appear just to the right of the name (sender or recipient) associated with that message. That means the message has been selected for storage. Now, one by one, you can select as many messages as you like this way – all within the current mailbox, that is.

When you’re finished, the app’s Options menu – in the usual, lower-left corner of the touchscreen – will offer a choice of Saving the messages as either a text or CSV file. After you’ve chosen a format, the app will ask you where within the phone this new file should be stored – in the phone’s C: memory or the E: memory card. The latter, with much more room availabe, is probably the best place for such files. Next, you can give the file a name, or use the default name, which will look something like bmessagestorer(17).txt. And finally, after the file’s stored, you’ll be asked if you want to send it somewhere – by SMS, email, or Bluetooth, for instance. Sending via a phone-to-computer USB connection is possible, too.

Now, to go back one step, just where you are about to Save your selected messages: It’s also possible, right there, to Filter your selection by categories such as SMS, MMS, Email, or Other. Or, you can Sort the items by time, Sender, or Type, in either ascending or descending order. Once any Filtering or Sorting is completed, you’re free to proceed with Saving as described.

One other menu option the app offers is to Mark selected messages – or the entire contents of a Mailbox – as either Read or Unread. That could be handy, we can imagine.

Once a file full of mobile messages has been delivered to a PC or Mac computer, you’re free to do what you want with it. Perhaps you just want to archive the file. Common programs such as the PC’s Notepad and the Mac’s TextEdit can open the file for viewing or for cutting and pasting to other programs. Microsoft’s Excel program, meanwhile, can convert CSV files to show up as multiple entries in an electronic spreadsheet. That’s possible because CSV keeps each data field in a message separated from the others. In the end, the possibilities for using these files in a computer may be limited only by your imagination.

One caveat: When this software saves an MMS message, only the text of that message ends up in the resulting file. As most readers are surely aware, photos (and other items) arriving as part of MMS messages may be saved from within the phone’s Messaging function, to your Photos folder, for instance, or to another selected memory location.

The bottom line: Best MessageStorer works just as advertised – straightforwardly and glitch-free. And it may even live up to that first word in its name – a word, we notice, that Smartphoneware boldly tacks onto the front of each of its many titles. In fact, this is the only app we’ve come across, so far, that’s dedicated solely to storing mobile apps. Any others out there? We’re glad to know.

Editor’s Note: There is a version of Best MessageStorer for both Nokia Symbian OS, S60 5.0 devices, as well as for S60 3.X devices. Both versions of the app are priced at $1.99 (USD) in Ovi Store.More information is available on the Smartphoneware website.

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BallZ: A Retro Classic for the PC is Remade for Nokia Touch Devices

Posted by JasonBlack, 09/03/2010 5:01:10 AM

Do you remember a game called JezzBall on the PC? No? Well, that’s OK. Honestly, I wasn’t aware of it either, until I got a chance to try BallZ on my Nokia N97 mini, and then I needed to do a little digging to learn more about the source of inspiration for this challenging puzzle game.

So, for those of us who are new to the idea of JezzBall, it is a game from the 1990s that was originally created for a Microsoft Entertainment Pack. Apparently, it has inspired many a clone over the years, including the game BallZ, which the developer – interestingly, in my opinion – first created for play on devices uses the Palm OS. I kid you not. Both the original version of BallZ, and the new version for play on Symbian OS, S60 5.0 (touch-enabled) devices like the Nokia N97 mini, were created by Austria-based Tamoggemon Software.

To further explore some trivia behind this game, I want to point out that the new version of BallZ for use on Nokia devices was developed using Qt; and the head of Tamoggemon, Tam Hanna, recently told me he was able to do the necessary work to bring this game from one platform to the other with ease. He is self-taught in the use of Qt, and said he was able to pick it up very quickly.

So, enough back story … let’s take a look at the game. BallZ is deceiving in both its look and feel, as well as in its objective.

As you can see, the game has a distinctly retro vibe to it, intentionally crafted to mimic the look of the original JezzBall style game. I like that when you begin, you are offered a variety of skill levels to play, ranging from “very easy” to “insane”. It was a bit hard to tell the difference between very easy and just plain easy, but as soon as we switched to the “moderate” format, the game got harder in a hurry. And, for the record, I was toast by level 2 when trying the “insane” setting.

All you have to do to play is make either vertical or horizontal lines across the visible grid, to separate chunks of space from the little balls floating around on the screen. As you make cuts, you confine the balls to smaller and smaller areas of space. Once you remove at least 75% of the grid, you move on to the next level, and as you can see from the screenshot below, the game gives you a percentage tally of how much of the level you have completed. Additionally, for the first few levels, the game include a few helpful pop-up style messages that give you instructions and guidance about what to do next.

In the early levels, you only have to keep two balls confined. But do be aware, if one of the balls hits a line in the grid, as you are making that cut, you lose one life in the game. Additionally, as you progress in the game, new levels add more balls to the scene, adding to the on-screen chaos. At the same time, as you move through different levels, there are the occasional messages carved into the grid to taunt you. (Go on, BallZ, bring it!)

BallZ includes 30 different levels to master, and if you consider that the game changes once you decide to increase the level of difficulty of gameplay, those 30 levels start to become more challenging as you go.For instance, as you can see in the example below, this level has four balls floating around at the same time – higher levels = more balls to wrangle.

My daughter’s and I have been playing the game, and my oldest likes to make it clear that she can “kick my butt” at any time while playing. I’ve been able to make it to the mid-teen levels without too much difficulty, but my teenager does like to show me how it should be done.

The game automatically plays in landscape mode on your Nokia touch-enabled device; and to add to the throw-back inspired fun, it includes a catchy, pulsating music loop to make sure you are paying attention. (If you don’t like the music, you can adjust the volume within the game Settings.)

The game BallZ is available for $2.99 (USD) in Ovi Store. A trial version with a few sample levels called BallZ Free is also available for download. (Note: the installation file for BallZ is quite small, but it does require a one-time download of Qt-related components which can be as much as 13 MB. Once you have these Qt files, you will not need to download them again.)

More information about BallZ is available from the developer’s website; and you can get to know the work of the developer in TamsS60 blog.

Do you have a favorite game today that is also a blast from the past? Share your memories of by-gone games in our Comments section below.

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Happy Anniversary to Us! A Look Back at Year No. 1, and Looking Forward to India

Posted by JasonBlack, 09/02/2010 8:01:57 AM

Today marks a milestone for all of us here at the Ovi Daily App blog, and we figured it would be alright if we toot our own horns just a little bit. You see, today is the one-year anniversary for the blog! Wow. We made it. And, we’re still going strong! In fact, in many ways, this is just the beginning.

As we move in to our second year of reviews of mobile apps and content in Ovi Store, we have plenty of good stuff in the works for you. Starting with our new section devoted to regional apps. Now that global app coverage is humming along, we figured it was time to take a look around, and begin to see how others are using content in Ovi Store. So, we will be rolling out various regional, or country-based portions of the blog, starting with India. (If you look at the right-hand column of the blog, you will see a link over to the start of our India-specific content and reviews.)

This new section will be a work in progress, so please be patient with us. We won’t have daily reviews just yet … we need a little bit of time to get it all organized! For now, expect approximately three reviews per week in the new India section of the blog, in addition to the daily reviews that will continue in the global part of the site. And, in case you were wondering, we have found a local writer living in India who will prepare all of these reviews for us. Her first post is already available.

And, while we’re excited about what is coming up next, we’re also feeling a little nostalgic. We took a look back at the posts here in the blog from the past year, and /tried/ to identify the best stuff for a short trip down memory lane. But believe me, this was no easy task! After more than 410 posts in the blog over the past 12 months, we wanted to remind you about the following apps – some will be names you may recognize, and at the same time, I think you’ll see we have a few (almost) hidden gems in the mix, too.

Looking back at the best of Ovi Daily App reviews

September 2009:
Was there something about the letter P? We had Pixelpipe QuickPost and Playlist DJ. Another music app that had our attention at that time was Midomi SoundHound (it was called “Midomi Music Identifier”).

October 2009:
We had some great utilities to share, including: Worldmate 2009 and Vlingo. And, just for fun – we were stunned and amazed at the little app with a big promise, Vibrate by Pico Brothers.

November 2009:
Here we had a device enhancer in FlipFont as well as a tool to make sure we got out of bed on time with HappyWakeUp.

December 2009:
We got excited about the prospect of video calls with fring and began to get organized with SPB Wallet.

January 2010:
We got our hands on the ever-cool Nokia N900 mobile computer, and immediately got busy with Evernote. At the same time, we rediscovered the joy of music videos with LP33.TV.

February 2010:
We practically fell in love this month, with two social, sharing tools in Socially and Snaptu (both apps are free, by the way, and both continue to be fan favorites). We also found the call of the wild (even though sometimes it was in the urban jungle) with both Trimble Outdoors SE and Wikitude World Browser.

March 2010:
We got caught up in the joy of funny sounding names – and really cool apps from Goojet and fizwoz. We also featured our first review in two languages at the same time for Sonico (that one’s in English), and in Spanish, too.

April 2010:
We had fun with some “fake” apps we’d still love to see, as well as a series of reviews to honor Earth Day. We also had a great time with Mobbler for music, and My Magic Pencil to bring digital drawing to life.

May 2010:
This month we found a great resource for podcasts in Yasssu, and we were thrilled to finally play with the functional little MoBots, too.

June 2010:
A great guest writer helped us appreciate the night sky with her review of Norbsoft SkyMap; and all that fresh air made us hungry, so we went straight to OpenTable for a quick dinner reservation. We also had a laugh with everyone’s favorite office-based misfit, Dilbert.

July 2010:
This summer month had us going ga-ga for the sound of our own blog with BlogRadio turning RSS into portable podcasts. We also enjoyed the sound of our own voice with Speereo Voice Launcher. And of course, we were moved by the sentiments and sharing found in Touchnote Postcards, which happily now works wonderfully on Nokia Symbian OS, S60 5.0 (touch-enabled) devices, and even includes an option for in-app payments.

August 2010:
Just last month, we marvelled at the coolness factor of both SPB Mobile Shell (for UI enhancements on your device that will blow you away) and SpeedHero whose sports radar gun-like functionality is a marvel to see. One more thing we  liked to see were the results delivered by the Qt-based kooaba visual search. And of course, we’re always looking for an excuse to read comics, like Astro Boy and Stark Trek.

This list brings a smile to my face, and reminds me that there is plenty of really cool content in Ovi Store. I can hardly wait to see what we find next.

Tomorrow we’ll take a quick look back at some of the best games we’ve reviewed from the past 12 months – that list is still being debated among the team.

Now it’s your turn … Take a moment to tell us about some of your favorite apps in Ovi Store using the Comments section below.

Happy Anniversary to Us! A Look Back at Year No. 1, and Looking Forward to India

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