Omio

Recession bingo

By Peter RosscloseAuthor: Peter Ross Name: Peter Ross
Email: peter.ross@trafficbroker.co.uk
Site: http://www.omio.com
About: Raised by wolves, in the darkest of woods, Pete eventually left the pack. He emerged into the world blinking and half feral with one true dream: to write about mobile phones on the Omio blog.See Authors Posts (47)

Here’s a fun game to while away all the CES speeches and presentations it’s the patented Omio recession bingo. Every time they mention the dreaded R word you get a make a note. It’s not really like bingo, there’s no big marker pens or elderly, infirm gamblers but it gives you an interesting insight into the secret fears of the speakers. The more they mention it, the more threatened they feel, so the thinking goes.

I first noticed the R cropping up in the LG keynote although I wasn’t making a note, I reckon there were 3 mentions of recession. Whereas in Ballmer’s excellent keynote speech it was referenced a whopping 8. In fact within 1 minute between 18.37 and 18.38 that foreboding word was mentioned 4 times. Ballmer is typically bullish and stated that in a recession people will choose Microsoft over their rivals as they produce most cost effective products.

Ballmer’s statement lead me to think of another game, the patented Omio Apple bingo game. However this would be boring as everyone so far from the mobile industry seems unwilling to even mention that dreaded scourge of the smart phone market. It seems almost pathological. As Suzanne points out, the LG speaker didn’t even acknowledge the popularity of Smartphones let alone their biggest rival in this market.

iPhone nano Revealed?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

Posted on Macrumors is a very interesting early Xmas present for Apple fanboys, allegedly depicting the iPhone’s successor - the iPhone nano.

Shown next to its big brother for scale, the iPhone nano seems to be…a smaller iPhone 3G. Not exactly what the world has been clamouring for (I think the iPhone is a perfect size), but a sleek little iPod sized mobile, offered for free on a super cheap tariff, available to all networks?

Just a sales serving suggestion, but it sounds good to me!

The usual suspects to confirm Apple rumours are also coming out of the woodwork, in the form of accessories. There are tons of iPhone nano-sized case images doing the rounds, and that is how new iPods always get found out ahead of time, why should this be any different?

Well, we’ll have to wait for the Steve Jobs-less MacWorld swansong in January to find out the truth…Macrumors is erring on the side of caution by not slapping an ‘official’ sticker on these photos!

iBoobs App Denied On Apple App Store, Victory For Taste And Decency

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

If you’re a fan of computer generated physics-based representations of the female anatomy, then this iPhone app may be for you. Except it’s not for you, as Apple will not approve it for distribution on their App Store.

Can’t think why.

If you’re not a fan of computer generated parts of the female anatomy, please don’t click on the above video and become offended.

We’ll never be able to see their ‘ideas for touch screen support’ for future versions of iBoobs come to pass either. That’s the real tragedy.

Source: Kotaku

iPhone Game : Touch Grind

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

Just stumbled upon this game for the iPhone. Downloaded, had a quick go, review coming soon.

It’s a skateboarding game which uses your fingers as feet! The tricks are pulled off just like you would in real life! Kickflips are performed by shifting your foot/finger position on the board, and moving them in a pretty realistic manner. It is just so intuitive to perform tricks! Talk about a steep learning curve to perfect it though…which I will be doing!

Just add it on the pile of games which legitimise the iPhone as a gaming platform. What’s the chances that Tony Hawk’s iPhone Adventure (it’ll be coming, mark my words!) will be exactly like this, except with more product placement?

Pharrell Williams : “I’m A PC…Only Not.”

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

He’s a super producer, super recording artist and now a super fashion designer (Season 8 BBC/Ice Cream Lookbook here), so Pharrell Williams was obviously a cool choice for Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” response to Apple’s campaigns. Also because that craziness with Bill Gates and Seinfeld really didn’t catch on.

Watch the new advert here:

All good, yes? Well, except the fact that Pharrell is known for being a pretty big Apple fan:

Gold plated iPhone big. He upgraded after getting bored of his gold plated BlackBerry 8800…obviously.

Guess they must have gone to him after those insanely successful Hewlett Packard ads, but it’s just embarrassing to pick someone who was so firmly entrenched in the Apple camp when it came to mobile phones.

Who knows? Perhaps he’s traded it in for a platinum HTC Touch HD! Or not.

iPhone Games Using Dirty SEO Tactics To Top App Store Search

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

This might prove interesting to our Trafficbroker readers….

Ever find it really tough to find the app you want just by searching Apple’s App Store? Yeah, well that’s because canny app developers have started filling descriptions of their own (completely irrelevant) titles with just the keywords you might be searching for…

Searching for Bejeweled for example brings up plenty of games that use the old ‘if you like Game X, then try our lame version!’ tactic, but then others have gone the even naughtier route of plastering a long list of popular names in an effort to lure more suckers satisfied 59p app buyers!

First there was that debacle of calling games ‘1A1 Poker’ or even leaving blanks before the name to scam their way to the top alphabetically, then apps switched from free to paid to break into the top 100 apps list, and now people are taking the (very basic) Search Engine Optimisation route to gain attention. Also very sneaky to word them similarly to Amazon’s recommendations, giving the impression of some actual association to the good apps…

Our tip? Read the reviews. You can post the plants a mile away, and somewhere between the reams of “OMG 5****** It’s tEh best!” and “I wish this app would die of an incurable illness, 0 stars,” you will be sure to find some useful, lucid public opinion.

I am glad to say that Omio is, has been, and always will be above these underhanded tactics to climb Google’s ranks.

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Source: Tapbot

Game Review: Is Rolando Proof The iPhone Is Built For Gaming?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

Publisher ng:moco has a lot riding on this little one. For a game which looks and plays suspiciously similar to PSP system-seller Loco Roco, is the heavily-hyped Rolando for the iPhone really worth shouting about?

To quote a good friend of mine, hells yes.

There is not a game for the iPhone quite as ready as this. This is not a cynical brand building exercise or a free viral app or a crippled version of some Flash demo. Rolando is a game. A saccharine-rich, gameplay-filled gorgeous rolly madness buffed to a platinum sheen.

The game is very similar to Loco Roco. Both have a visually striking look. Both make you smile spontaneously as you play, and both make you become amazingly defensive of squidgy rolling blobs with eyes (and in some cases, glasses), each injected with their own unique personality.

There is an equally cute story about saving their cute world from cute naughty things, but it is irrelevant. Guide your troop of Rolandos through garishly beautiful areas, working co-operatively to reach each level’s goal. You can move them one at a time, or as a group by drawing a ‘binding box’ around them.

Combine that with the tilting of the screen to roll them around, and you immediately see that this is the title that Loco Roco wished it was. The subtlety and nuance that the accelerometer provides, allows so much control over your little denizens of Rolandoland, and a genuine feeling of relief and accomplishment after navigating a treacherous level and emerging unscathed.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sim City Now On iPhone!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

Now we can all live out our Eliot Spitzer fantasies ( of civic planning rather than ‘Client 9 fun time’) as EA Mobile has released the seminal management simulator Sim City for Apple’s iPhone.

Available right now on the App Store, Sim City lets you design and build a cityscape from the ground up. From sanitation to transportation, everything is managed with a pinch, a swipe or a poke at your handset!

This isn’t by any means a simplified version either, with all of the budgetary concerns, moaning citizens and threat of impending natural disasters to contend with from the PC original.

Reviews so far are very positive, but some have issues with occasional crash bugs. This is becoming a bit of a recurring theme, so be sure to turn the phone off and on after the initial install, to ensure there is enough free memory to run it and avoid crashes.

Sim City costs £5.99, and is yet another sign that EA Mobile means business when it comes to iPhone apps!

SNAKE!!! Konami Announces Metal Gear Touch on iPhone

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

The new Metal Gear game that was rumoured by a spooky ‘A Next Metal Gear Is…’ website has now been comfirmed as Metal Gear Touch for iPhone!

An original game set in the timeline of Metal Gear Sold 4 for PS3, MGS Touch will have 8 stages and will be controlled using the touchpad.

A screenshot in fabled Japanese magazine Famitsu showing gesture-based gameplay, so pinching and zooming for picking off enemies could be the rules of engagement. Given the pedigree of unique Metal Gear experiences, expect some crazy uses of the iPhone’s accelerometer and touch interface throughout the game!

Check out some of the best Metal Gear bosses EVER to see how awesome the Metal Gear series has become, and just how crazy game director Hideo Kojima is!

Metal Gear fans will enjoy the unlockable wallpapers and ringtones, and new levels will be released as time goes on…probably not for free.

It will be out in Spring 2009, and hopefully won’t be the last we see of the war-weary Solid Snake.

New iPhone Game Makes Your Friends And Family Sick!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

Dr. Awesome, MicroSurgeon M.D.

I rest my case. Any game which can take itself that humourously with a name like that gets my vote. Rather than claiming to be the game that turns your iPhone into an arcade machine or redefine gaming and your life for only £1.19, Dr. Awesome is just plain fun.

Don’t be put of by the visuals coming off as a poor copy of Phoenix Wright and Trauma Center, both seminal Nintendo DS titles. This is certainly on purpose, and the tongue-in-cheek nature continues during your tenure as Dr. Awesome!

You play the hero, and you spend your time fighting off viruses and illnesses that course through the bodies of your various patients. The difference is…you know them all! The patients are names from your iPhone’s own address book, immediately lending the game a personal air and making it a lot more amusing!

So when your next patient is wheeled in, and it says that (insert name here) has a horrible fungus in their ear which must be removed STAT, it can’t help but to raise a smile on the most jaded gamer.

The actual gameplay is familiar to anyone that has played the classic arcade game ‘Qix,’ where you have to regain control of an area by sectioning off pieces of the playfield with your device whilst dodging foreign bodies. Acquire 75% of the level, and you move onto the next stage.

The game is fairly simplistic tilt-y based action, but combined with the hilarious comic narrative and the inventive use of contacts, Dr. Awesome is worth far more than the 59p sale price they are currently charging for it.

It is the latest title from start-up ng:moco founded by former EA guy Neil Young. They are one of the new developers that have sprung up to make the most of the iPhone’s App Store. It looks like they are doing a pretty good job so far, focussing on smaller and cheaper titles rather than the epics others have tried.

The sooner developers realise that quick fix gaming is what people want on the go, not a magnum opus spanning many hours,the quicker they will profit from the App Store.

Download Dr. Awesome now from the App Store.