Does anyone else see the problem with this picture? EB Games is offering Burnout Paradise – The Ultimate Box for $39.99. It is also offering the game in its digital downloadable form for the same price !

Shouldn’t there be some reduction in price if the digital version no longer comes with any physical media, printed booklets, plastic cd case or cardboard box?

 
I’m one of those casual gamers who is always engaged by the Bejeweled experience. When I thought the iPhone version of Bejeweled was the greatest thing since sliced bread and it couldn’t get any better, PopCap Games continued to richen the Bejeweled experience by releasing a Facebook version of the game, Bejeweled Blitz.

Bejeweled Blitz takes the Bejeweled 2 formula and allows Facebook users to play through a timed (1:00 minute) round. After a minute, your round ends and your score is updated on your high score table (along with the scores of your Facebook friends who are also playing).

From playing quite a few rounds of Bejeweled Blitz, I have come up with a few tips and observations that help me accumulate my high scores.

1. Play often and play quickly:

Bejeweled Blitz adds the Speed score feature that is vital if you wish to increase your overall score. For ever successful match of 3 of more gems that you make, the Speed score will increase in increments of 100, until it reaches 1000. For your first successful matching, you’ll get 100 extra points. If you’re quick enough to make another matching right after, you’ll get 200 extra points. When you reach 1000 points, you will be awarded 1000 extra points for every successful QUICK match that you make.

Be warned: if you wait too long and don’t make a successful match, you’ll lose the Speed score multiplier and you’ll have to play quickly to rebuild it.

2. Get those Bonus Multipliers:

Bejeweled Blitz also adds the Multiplier feature that adds a multiplier gem to the game-board if you manage to cascade 4 gem matching in a row. For your first successful cascade, you’ll get a 2x multiplier that doubles the amount of points you gain after you clear the multiplier off the board. The next successful cascade will get you a 3x multiplier and so on. These multipliers are critical for accumulating a high score in one minute.

From observation, if the multiplier is near the top of the game-board and there are no similar gems near it to eliminate it from the board, try the following. Removes gems near the multiplier and the new gems that fall down onto the game-board (more often than not) will yield a gem or two that will help you eliminate the multiplier.

Also, if you have a power gem on the screen near the multiplier, just blow it up. That will save you having to match the multiplier with gems of the same color if none are available.

3. Turn the Sound Off:
The sound effects that play when you’re only left with a few seconds of time can easily break your concentration. I usually play with the sound off and don’t worry about the audio time warnings at the end of the round.

4. Don’t Look at Your Score:

This only distracts you when you’re playing. You’ll know your score after the minute passes, so concentrate on matching gems.

5. Have Fun:

Why overthink it? I just did that for you. Enjoy your Bejeweled Blitz experience !

I had a disappointing experience installing the latest firmware update for the Nokia e71. Don’t get me wrong, the installation of the firmware went as described by the Software Updater. Unfortunately, there is still a lot left to be desired.

I backed up the phone appropriately. I sync’d my phone one last time with Outlook, so my contacts, calendars and notes were all saved. I also manually backed up any pictures, videos and documents that were on the phone. Since the Nokia e71 does not have User Data Preservation (UDP), the firmware installation caused the phone to reboot after installation and wiped the phone clean. The next time the phone started up, I was inputting setup information for my phone. This is something that I do every time I run a firmware update.

The bigger problem is that any 3rd party applications that I have installed are also wiped from the phone and the re-installation of these applications (such as Calcium, Worldmate and Nokia Mail), took almost 2 hours. This is a hefty amount of time to dedicate to getting my phone back in order after an update.

After using an iPhone for a phone, it is obvious that Apple has all of the other handsets beat in this area. All an iPhone user has to do to update their phone is to sync it before the update, run the update, and then sync it again after to transfer your information. The sync not only transfers your contacts and calendars but it also transfers your photos, videos and 3rd party applications that you’ve purchased from the AppStore. It’s a painless 3 step process: sync, install, re-sync. Your smartphone should be this easy to update!

The average user will not go through the hassle of having to reinstall applications manually on their phone after an update. They simply do not care. Sadly, Nokia hasn’t made it easier for those who do take advantage of firmware updates for their phone. And if you’re listening Nokia, let’s try to reduce the disparity amongst your handsets. I was once a Nokia n82 and that phone had  UDP. UDP shouldn’t be a feature that you choose to deploy on some handsets and not others, this should be a STANDARD feature.

People are still mystified by smartphones. Lack of features such as UDP don’t help the demystification process either. If these devices are that cumbersome to maintain after a firmware update, the average user won’t care to install them. In addition, even the seasoned user would become wary of the process. I felt like going back to my iPhone after my e71 got wiped clean and I realized that I had to go through the entire re-installation process again.

In the smartphone world, it’s quite easy to get lost in the wide selection of phones available. Are you a corporate email junkie? Maybe you’ll get a Blackberry to satisfy your email fix. Are you addicted to Outlook? Maybe you’ll get yourself a Windows Mobile powered smartphone. From form factor to operating system, there are many variables to consider before choosing your smartphone.

For me, I needed a smartphone that handled my email needs, had a qwerty keyboard and didn’t make my pocket look like I was happy to see you. Being comfortable with Nokia handsets (previously owning the Nokia E61, Nokia N82), the Nokia E71 was my choice and I was satisfied with it’s feature set (qwerty keyboard, gps, wifi, 3G).

When I decided to start developing applications for the iPhone / iPod Touch, I thought it would be wise to get my hands on a used iPhone (1st Generation). In order to acclimatize myself to the iPhone experience, I decided to spend the Christmas holidays with just the iPhone.

How has the experience been so far?

Here is what I miss about my Nokia E71:
- The keyboard: as small as it was, I miss the tactile keyboard for rattling off quick emails and messages

- Push email: Nokia’s Push Email service isn’t perfect (hey, it’s still in beta) but it did a reliable job of getting my email on my handset. Integrated hotmail support was also a plus.

- Worldmate: Living in Michigan has made me weather conscious. I set up Worldmate (www.mobimate.com) to read out weather reports to me twice a day and I definitely miss it.

But with the bad comes the good.

Having been using the iPhone for about a week, here are some of the features that I do enjoy.
- AppStore: Apple has set the bar on centralizing and distributing applications for it’s mobile handset. I can easily jump into AppStore and search for games, tools and productivity apps whenever I feel like it.

- The Touch Screen: There is a learning curve when you move from a tactile keyboard to a touch screen device. Once you overcome that, using the device becomes a joy. Tapping, sliding and pinching all become fun finger gestures on your phone’s screen.

- Games: I will always say that the mobile market was neglected as a viable gaming platform…until now. Nokia tried with N-Gage and then tried again and still haven’t nailed it yet. The same goes for blackberries and window mobile handsets. Although the iPhone doesn’t have it’s killer iPhone game yet, my hours spent playing Bejeweled 2, Frenzic and Scrabble rival my time spent playing on my Nintendo DS and my Sony PSP.

- Photo App: Using images and pictures as wallpapers and contact images is a breeze. Anyone coming from a Nokia E-Series background knows it takes some needlessly convuluted menu navigation to get these things done.

For now, the experience has had it’s ups and downs but is positive overall. As my “weekend” phone, the iPhone hits a sweet spot of productivity and entertainment. After I post this from the iPhone WordPress App, I’ll load up Bejeweled and see if I can’t beat my high score!

I’m currently working my way through the process of becoming an Apple Developer so I can start peddling my warez on the App Store. I’m already working on a few ideas that I could possible use as the basis as my first game offering on the iPhone (and iPod Touch).

What kind of game do you think my first offering to the App Store should be? Take the poll on this site and let me know. I look forward to knowing what kind of game people would like to see on the iPhone/iPod Touch.

Let’s get straight to the point: to Europeans (and anyone else who loves football), FIFA 09 is a big deal. FIFA 09 had its biggest franchise debut in the UK last week and the North America release is tomorrow. In all honesty, when Americans hear the word ‘”football”, they think of the NFL and nothing else. They worship Madden games as much as Europeans and the rest of the world’s sports-gamers worship FIFA.

As an informed consumer, I’m always making myself aware of game reviews that help me make informed decisions before I spend good money on a game. FIFA 09 for the PSP has been out since October 3rd, 2008 in the UK. Being a big deal in Europe, I assumed that IGN UK would have jumped on the opportunity review one of the biggest sports titles on that side of the world.

This picture is the FIFA 09 PSP page. This is from IGN UK. Note that the Release Date for the game is tagged as Unreleased. Fair enough but this screen was taken after October 3rd, the game’s release date in the UK. So one of the biggest reviewers of games online does not a review to usher in the release of FIFA 09. Now that the North American release date is here (October 14th, 2008), there is still no review to be seen.

This is the Madden 09 PSP game found at IGN.com. 3 Days after the North American launch of the title (with no indication of a release date in Europe), a review of the game was posted on the UK site. Before I go any further, I have been an avid reader of IGN for years and I’m also a big Madden fan. I can clearly say that Europeans and the NFL (on the whole) are like oil and water, they don’t mix. It boggles my mind the disparity in coverage of the two sports titles. FIFA 09 is dominating in Europe but not getting the proper press coverage that it deserves but Madden, that is much weaker in the given territory, is given more coverage.

With that said, I have purchased my FIFA 09 for the PSP (sans reading any reviews). It would have been nice to read one ahead of time and continue to be an informed gamer. I guess I’ll wait until tomorrow and come up with my own review !

Once Berbatov is in my Manchester United line-up, I’ll be fine.

With the current onslaught of new cellular devices invading the market: the Blackberry Bold, the HTC Diamond, T-Mobile/Google G1, the Nokia N96 to name but a few, I thought it would be good form to reminisce about my evolution to a smart-phone user.

I recall owning a really old Nokia (candy bar, green scale screen), as early as 1999. That lasted me about a year of basic phone usage and I moved on to the standard issue cool phone at the time in 2001: the Motorola StarTAC. This phone was simple but it got the job done. I did abuse this phone and it took a beating and eventually passed away in late 2001.

The next phone I remember using was an LG VX phone. It was one of the early models, maybe the VX 2000. I do remember that it was a flip phone (since I was still weaning myself away from my long lost StarTAC) and it had something my other 2 phones didn’t have: a colour screen.

I eventually got bored of this simple phone and started exploring the benefits of a feature reach phone that would help me be more productive (although I was an undergrad at the time, I don’t know how productive I was hoping to be with it). This is when I learnt about the Sony Ericsson P910i. I was in gadget heaven. This brick of a smart phone was the pride and joy of my pocket. I could manage all my PIM data, make calls, surf the web, play games and have an mp3 player all in one device. At this point, I was sold on the idea. Every since I sold my Toshiba PDA (that ran Windows something or the other, before the line was rebranded to Windows Mobile), I knew I needed a mix of mobile device and PDA or I wouldn’t be happy.

All good gadgets do come to an end and so did the P910i. I now wanted a device that had a full qwerty thumb board and powerful software to match. Hours of product research brought me to the only viable conclusion: the Nokia e61. At this point, I was again transported to geek heaven. Even without a camera, this phone had it all (for me at least): full qwerty thumb board, wi-fi, a growing library of solid applications (and as we know today, Nokia’s full support behind its handsets – hardware and software), removable storage and it was easy on the eyes (if you looked at it the way I did !). It just got the job done. I wasn’t fond of the directional stick but I got used to it. Through this phone, I rekindled my love for Nokia devices (did I really love my first phone…I can’t remember. Maybe it’s a subconscious return to my initial brand choice). I knew the ins and outs of the Symbian OS. And I tracked Nokia’s every move. I became addicted to Nokia blogs across the net, which I still enjoy to this day. All About Symbian, Darla Mack, E-series dot org. These were the blogs that tutored me into becoming more productive with my smart-phone.

Sadly, I outgrew my e61. My needs in a mobile device had changed. While debating what I should replace my Nokia e61 with (I contemplated the e61i), I ended up getting my hands on the Nokia N810 internet tablet. But that’s a story for another day.

My new need was for a phone that could be as powerful as the e61, if not more so and be able to snap incredible pictures. This was a tall order but once again, Nokia delivered. I replaced my Nokia e61 with the Nokia N82. At first, the N-series phone confused me. Why was my standby screen not exactly like my e-series phone? I was able to overcome this and enjoy this beautiful, powerful phone. N-Gage kept me busy when I had a few minutes to play, I once again had a mp3 player and I had a camera that allowed me to upload pictures directly to online sites such as Flickr, Ovi and Facebook.

Unfortunately, my perfect phone was pick pocketed away from me during the summer and left me wondering what to do. A lot of new phones were cropping up on the market and the new iPhone 3G was about to drop. I contemplated the move to AT & T and iPhone but opted not to. My loyalty was definitely to my brand.

By then, I had been researching the Nokia e71 and was plotting my return to my e-series roots. How could I be disappointed by the sleeker, more powerful successor to the Nokia phone that brought me back into the fold? After purchasing the phone (at the Nokia Store on Regent Street !)

I was definitely apprehensive about purchasing the phone but after seeing it in person and playing with it for only a few seconds, I knew this was the phone that I needed.

It has been lauded with praises from all around the blogsphere and to be fair, it’s well deserved. This smart-phone is as powerful as it is beautiful and is a joy to use. With Nokia’s continued support and their drive to make their mobile devices more productive (e.g. The Nokia Beta labs and all the good software that has come from it), I knew I had made the right decision.

GO MANU !

I have taken the plunge and updated my website’s version of WordPress to 2.6.

Now I can update my site using my iPod Touch. So much for listening to music on this awesome, little device.

After it’s trial run on Nokia N81 devices and then it’s lackluster launch, the gaming world still snickers at N-Gage. Why do I say this? After reading Konami’s announcement to back the N-Gage platform and bring solid titles to it, including Metal Gear Solid, I was dismayed to read the comments left after the article.

Bearing in mind I read the release on Joystiq which I’d like to believe is a site for informed gamers, the comments that followed the article really shed some (dim) light on the lack of promotion of the N-Gage as a gaming platform (at least here in the States).

For example, the first comment to start the thread was "…Does anyone here even have an N-Gage?".

Obviously, people and more importantly, gamers, still believe that the N-Gage being referenced is the N-Gage Classic QD and gamers are unaware that N-Gage is now a platform that is available on numerous N-Series devices. Bad Nokia !

One commenter did clear it up for the person who made the comment above, explaining exactly what N-Gage was and that it was no longer a device but a platform, much like Xbox Live.

To this, the once under-informed commenter posted, "That clears it up…I don’t think I’ve seen any advertising for N-Gage as a service ever." And on this side of the world, this is very true. There is no advertising for the N-Gage (or N-Series phones) anywhere. The only reason I know is because I am a self-informed consumer. I chose the Nokia N82 because of its camera and gaming abilities. And I knew where to purchase the handset online.

To everyone else though, the N-Gage platform might as well be a unicorn or sasquatch.