Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by lcy851031

Double the fun as DualShot lands on the WP8

lcy851031 — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 00:09:41 +0800

By Daniel Rubino, Friday, Sep 27, 2013 at 10:39 am

Last night we gave you a sneak peek at DualShot, the new app meant to replicate the popular Frontback app on iOS. That free app has now gone live in the Store for all to download (well, Windows Phone 8 users at least).

By taking two photos—one with the rear camera and one with the front—DualShot allows you to capture a new perspective on the world. Now when you share your photos, people will see your reaction to whatever it is you’re actually seeing at the moment. We could imagine a lot of hilarious images could come out of usage of this app, indeed you all can see that I’m not a morning person in the photo above (yes, my hair is even crazier).

DualShot is built off of the Nokia camera SDK and it’s a well-designed app—fast, fluid and simple to use. Once you are done with the photo, you can apply some filters to spice things up and then directly share to Facebook or Twitter. Of course a copy gets saved to your camera roll as well, should you want to save it for later. The app also features Lens support for quick access and the saving to your Lockscreen directly.

It’s a fun app, free and of high quality. Nothing speaks better to Windows Phone than those qualifications.

Pick up DualShot here in the Store now and show us what you see.

http://www.wpcentral.com/dualshot-lands-windows-phone-store

Tetris Blitz arrives for free on Windows Phone 8

lcy851031 — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 09:20:48 +0800

By Paul Acevedo, Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 at 1:14 pm

September has been a strong month for Xbox games on Windows Phone, especially given the scarcity of titles in previous months. Six-Guns, The Sims FreePlay, and Angry Birds Star Wars II have all debuted as free or 99 cent titles. Now we can add another free to play game to that list with Tetris Blitz from Electronic Arts.

Tetris Blitz is a fast-paced two minute version of the classic puzzle game. It runs on Windows Phone 8 devices (including those with 512 MB of RAM). Head past the break for plenty of gameplay details and Store link!

Not your grandpappy’s Tetris
Tetris has always been a puzzle game mainstay, so what makes this version special? Tetris Blitz was designed from the ground up for mobile play. Instead of marathon gaming sessions, games of Blitz last for two minutes at a time. It’s a mad race to earn the highest possible score within that time and hopefully outdo your friends.

Adding to the excitement is the new Frenzy mode. Rack up enough points to fill a meter and you'll enter Frenzy mode. With Frenzy active, you earn twice as many points and have extra cascading opportunities. It also makes four-line Tetris matches harder to pull off though. Getting a Tetris increases your score multiplier, so you’ll need to balance everything all out to get high scores.

Touch-screen controls and Tetris haven’t always mixed very well. Yes, it’s a puzzle game, but one that involves rapid movements and the need for precision. Thankfully EA created a smart control system for Blitz. The game automatically highlights several locations to put each falling piece. Players can either tap one of those locations or cycle through them with the Cycle button. No need for virtual sticks here!

Complete games of Tetris Blitz to earn coins. These can then be spent on power-ups. These provide effects like removing random lines from the playing field, showering blocks onto the field, increase the score multiplier, add extra time, and more. You can take up to three power-ups into a match, greatly increasing scoring potential.

Not every power-up can be bought with coins, though. Several must be unlocked via In-App Purchase (IAP). Blitz does have a ‘Power-up of the Week’ feature in which one premium item cab be used several times for free. The weekly power-up can be permanently unlocked at a discount, should players fall in love with it.

Yes, Tetris Blitz offers numerous In-App Purchases. Players can buy coin packs in various sizes, unlock power-ups, and more. We’ll have a full In-App Purchase evaluation next week along with our review.

Whether you’re a diehard Tetris fan or never acquired a taste for the game, Tetris Blitz is worth a download. It’s great to see another Xbox game from EA, especially one that all Windows Phone 8 users can enjoy. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Tetris Blitz – Windows Phone 8 – 32 MB – Free

Store Link

http://www.wpcentral.com/tetris-blitz-arrives-windows-phone

Galleries, a photo folder app for WP8

lcy851031 — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 00:30:40 +0800

By George Ponder, Tuesday, Sep 24, 2013 at 8:38 am

Galleries is a Windows Phone 8 photography app that will let you build custom photo galleries and generate collages, pin your galleries to your Start Screen and more from the pictures within these galleries.

Need to create a slide show from photos of your kids, Galleries will do just that. Need to generate a collage of your favorite scenic images, Galleries will do just that. It even has a clock function that transforms your Windows Phone into a digital clock personalized with your own photos.

While Galleries has a lot going for it, there is room for improvement. Still, it's a nice photography app for your Windows Phone 8 devices that is worth a try.

When you first launch Galleries you are greeted by a blank screen with a "+" button sitting at the bottom of the screen. Up under the three-dot menu you will also find options to rate the app, view the "how to use" screens, and access the app's settings.

Galleries settings cover how the gallery tiles react to touch (open gallery, open digital frame or open the clock), lock screen sequencing, digital frame settings, clock settings and viewing an about screen.

To create a gallery, just tap the "+" button, name your gallery and you are ready to start adding photos. The gallery listing on Galleries main page has five options (button controls) that are displayed out besides the thumbnail. The buttons include:

Collage building: The collage builder has eighteen patterns that you can use to build collages from your photos. Images in the collage can be randomly generated or you can tap an image frame to pick your own image. Finished collages can be saved your Saved Pictures folder in your Windows Phone Pictures Hub. Collages can also be shared within the app to your typical Windows Phone sharing outlets (tap+send, messaging, email, SkyDrive, other apps, etc.).

Clock: Galleries has the option to display a digital clock with your images rotating in the background. You can choose to display a collage of images or a single image at a time. This feature turns your Windows Phone into a nice bedside clock that supports landscape or portrait display.

Slide Show: Turn your Windows Phone into a slide show viewer that automatically rotates through all the pictures within a gallery. You can change the interval timing, sequencing, and how the image is displayed (fill screen or uniform) in Galleries settings. This feature turns your Windows Phone into a digital picture frame of sorts.

Lockscreen: If you want Galleries to be your Windows Phone lockscreen utility, tap the button with a padlock on it. This will rotate your lockscreen image from that particular gallery.

Pin: If you want to access your gallery quickly from your Windows Phone Start Screen, just tap the pin button. The Live Tile will display images from your gallery.

When you enter a particular gallery you will see thumbnail images that populate the gallery. To add a photo, just tap the "+" button at the bottom of the screen and you'll be sent to your Windows Phone Pictures Hub to select your photos. If you need to import multiple images, there's an option beneath the three-dot menu to do just that.

Galleries also has the ability to launch the native Windows Phone camera app to capture a new photo for the gallery. Additional options include the ability to edit (delete) specific images from the gallery, delete the entire gallery and rename the gallery.

The one feature that Galleries lack is the ability to view a single image. Sure you can view your images with the slide show feature but you can tap all day long on an image thumbnail but nothing will happen. It would be nice to be able to view single images and maybe share them from Galleries. Another minor nit is that while the clock feature can be useful, there is no alarm feature. You'll need to set an alarm through other means.

Lastly, while Galleries is a free app with no ads you will randomly see a pop-up window appear inviting you to rate the app in the Store. It's a way to give the developer feedback but unless you rate the app, this pop-up window won't go away. I understand the need for feedback and ratings but developers should be able to take no for an answer. The pop-up should time itself out after, say, three "cancel" responses.

When all is said and done, Galleries isn't a bad photography app. It has room for improvement but if you have the need to build galleries that can be used for slide show viewing, collage building and a digital clock...Galleries is worth a try.

Galleries is a free app for Windows Phone 8 that you can pick up here in the Windows Phone Store.

http://www.wpcentral.com/galleries-photo-f...windows-phone-8

Store Link

Halo: Spartan Assault now available for WP8

lcy851031 — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 08:57:43 +0800

By Daniel Rubino, Thursday, Jul 18, 2013 at 7:01 pm

It’s been teased for a month now and we even told you that it was coming out today, but now we can tell you officially that Halo: Spartan Assault, is live in the Store for Windows Phone 8.

Building off of the hit franchise and 18 months in the making, Halo: Spartan Assault is Microsoft’s attempt to capitalize off of the famous first shooter game for mobile. Instead of just “porting” the FPS model over though, a paradigm that is difficult to translate onto tablets and smartphones, Microsoft and 343 Industries opted for a third-person overhead view, which is more arcade style. The game’s timeline takes place in the four years between Halo 3 and 4.

In addition, the developers spent months honing game play to make the frame rate as high (and smooth) as possible and just as importantly, ensured that the game controls were fluid and flexible. From our last 24 hours playing with it, we can confirm that as a “casual gamer”, we found the game highly accessible and extremely well-polished.

[YOUTUBE]Rox9qiNKIy4[/YOUTUBE]

From the game description:

“Halo: Spartan Assault brings the excitement of Halo combat to touch-based devices for the very first time. Battle your way through 25 action-packed missions against the Covenant as you explore the origin of the Spartan Ops program and Halo 4's Spartan Commander, Sarah Palmer.”

And don’t let those 25 missions fool you as Halo: Spartan Assault isn’t a one-off game for Microsoft, but rather the beginning of this game’s story. In the future, we can expect more missions and add on packs to be released, ensuring the game’s longevity long after you beat all of those levels (2.5 hours of gameplay).

In addition to Windows Phone 8, the game is also available for Windows 8 PCs and Tablets (including RT), scaling up the action to your larger screened devices.

Game Features
Original "Halo" gameplay. An action-packed, single-player campaign spanning 25 missions in battles never before experienced in the Halo Universe, all played from a top-down camera view.

New and immersive storyline. An original story set between the events of "Halo 3" and "Halo 4," experience a new war with the Covenant, the first missions of the Spartan Ops program and the rise of Commander Sarah Palmer, all with best-in-class graphics and audio.

Built for simplicity. A unique fusion of touch and console-like controls for easy pick-up-and-play gaming, with the added flexibility of keyboard and mouse controls on Windows 8 PCs and tablets.

Integration with "Halo 4." Earn experience points (XP), all-new Achievements, and unlock emblems for your "Halo 4" Spartan career, with additional integration features available after launch.

Nonstop competitive fun. Compete against friends in Leaderboards or hone your skills against an onslaught of Weekly Challenges while collecting more than 40 in-game Achievements and Medals.

Only on Windows. Available only on Windows 8 PCs and tablets and Windows Phone 8 devices.

Finally, the game also supports optional in-app purchasing to gain more credits (credits are earned with normal game play too). We wrote about the IAP system back in June, noting:

“Those credits can be spent on different equipment to customize your loadout with prior to starting a level. Loudouts include both primary and secondary weapons, armor abilities, and boosters. A few armor abilities we know of: a health regeneration field, overshield, and sprinting. As for boosters, they make the game easier to play by increasing the damage that players deal and other beneficial effects.”

Overall, Halo: Spartan Assault for Windows Phone 8 was a worthwhile wait. Microsoft and Windows fans finally have a notch on their belt of one more “must have” game and the title should appeal to everyone from casual gamers to the hardcore user.

Pick up Halo: Spartan Assault here in the Store for $6.99. Windows Phone 8 only, 1GB of RAM, 691 MB.

In the US, restricted to Verizon wireless customers only for 30-days. 512MB devices to receive support in August, 2013.

Head to the Windows Phone Central game zone to discuss Halo:Spartan Assault, get help or look for tips! forums.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-games

Store Link

Trial version (first stage only):

Store link for trial version

Source

Photo Editor by Aviary released for Windows Phone

lcy851031 — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 13:50:59 +0800

Over a year ago, Aviary released their photo SDK for Windows Phone. It allowed developers to quickly and easily add photo editing capabilities to their applications with relatively little work. A lot of apps added Aviary to their already existing app in the Store, like Rowi. Now, the company has a new app called Photo Editor just for Windows Phone 8. Let’s check it out.

Photo Editor by Aviary is a Windows Phone 8 app based off their popular photo SDK. If you’re familiar with the apps that use Aviary as their photo editing controls you’ll find yourself right at home with Photo Editor. Its interface is similar, but the speed of this app feels a lot faster than what you might be used to. Here’s what you can do with Photo Editor by Aviary.

Enhance – Quick presets (Auto, Night, Backlit, Balance) that you can apply to your photos instantly
Effects – Various filters to get different looks with your photos.
Stickers – Fun little images that you can add to images. You can change orientation and size to make them fit perfectly.
Orientation – Switch the direction of your photo. Flip on either the vertical or horizontal axis, as well as rotate.
Crop, Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, and Sharpness – You can fine tune your photos through sliders.
Text and Drawing – You can add both text and drawings to photographs. A fun little twist to send caption photos to friends.
Redeye, Whiten, and Blemish – Additionally you can fix the subjects in your photos. Nothing ruins a picture like redeye, take it out instantly here.

Editing photos with the app is easy and fast. And with a variety of controls and filters you’ll be able to create the final vision you have in store for a particular picture. Sharing is your photos is also another feature you can do quickly within the app. Just long press any image in the gallery or your finished image to bring up the share command. From there you’ll be able to send the photo to whatever apps share on your device.

Right now, Photo Editor by Aviary is free in celebration of its launch on Windows Phone 8. If you have a Windows Phone 8 device and want it you can go to the Store, use the QR link below, or swipe to the right in our app.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/ap...7c-941912c4dfd5

http://www.wpcentral.com/photo-editor-avia...ee-limited-time

Official Tapatalk app for Windows Phone now availa

lcy851031 — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 00:52:48 +0800

Official Tapatalk app for Windows Phone now available as an early-access purchase

This morning, the official Tapatalk client for Windows Phone (both 7.x and 8; optimized for WP8) has been released to the Store and is now available as part of an early-access program for enthusiast users.

Tapatalk is the leading standard for discussion forums, allowing users a common system by which to access and utilize internet communities. Official apps have been available on iOS and Android for some time but today, Windows Phone users finally get their due with an app built from the ground-up.

Windows Phone Central readers were treated to our sneak peek of the app a few weeks ago, where we noted that the app was close to release having been in a private beta.

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App description

Not familiar with Tapatalk? Here's what it's all about:

“Discover great internet communities or stay connected with your favourites community on-the-go with this award-winning mobile app, now for Windows Phone. Tapatalk is the only mobile app combing over 60,000+ internet communities with a streamlined mobile experience, allowing you to share and follow thoughts and opinions to all your communities within a single app.

Tapatalk aggregates content from network of communities of common interests, from automotive to parenting, from gardening to horse-riding - You will meet passionate people who share the same interest and participate in great discussions on topic only you and the like-minded members truly appreciated.
Download Tapatalk today to see a native community experience on Windows Phone. Special Thanks to Microsoft to donate devices and provide technical support in building this application. Tapatalk acquired Foroplex and this app is a product of both the Tapatalk team and the original Foroplex developer Jagoba Los Arcos from Spain.”

Early access and an introductory price - $2.99

The app is being made available slightly ahead of schedule and will cost $2.99. While that seems expensive, the app will go FREE after one month (in addition, trial should be added too).

The developers are doing this for a few reasons, none of which are to hoodwink Windows Phone users:

Larger base of dedicated users who can provide feedback
Gives the developers some breathing room to fix bugs, tidy issues up, before it goes wide-release
Consider it donation-ware/support to the developers for their hard work

Indeed, being a part of the beta and seeing the intricacies involved with testing (quick: think of how many sites you know have support forums—now imagine getting them all to work within one client), we can vouch for the developers who put a tremendous effort into the app, resulting in a solid representation for Windows Phone.

Of course if you are a casual user, than paying $2.99 is probably not an option and that’s fine—this is being made for the “forum junkies” who want early access and a chance to test out the app before everyday folk get their hands on it.

Stay tuned to Windows Phone Central for when the app goes “GOLD” and drops in price!

Store Link

http://www.wpcentral.com/official-tapatalk...phone-available