App Bites #41: Fotor

Welcome back to another App Bite. Before the break we were talking about some of the best apps found on Windows 8 and we will continue this trend today with Fotor.






Fotor:

Fotor is a photo-editing app that lets you play around and do all the very basic type of editing things that you might like to do. I like to think of Fotor as a the photo editor tool for the people of casual intentions. So what can you edit? Well basic things like the tint, temperature, contrast, brightness, etc. You also can add borders, captions, effects, and you can crop the picture. So like I said these are very basic photo editing tools, but this isn't what makes the app great. What makes it great is how nice the setup is, how smooth everything works, and how great the overall experience is. For someone who just wants to quickly make some minor adjustments to their photo this app is perfect. So to those people I recommend checking out Fotor in the Windows 8 app store, or just follow the link here. (Note that Fotor is also on Android here and iOS here) (Second Note: Fotor is free on Windows 8 and Android but three dollars on iOS)

Recommendations of the Week: December 5th

Well it's that time again, December! And with December comes winter break, delicious feasts, and of course shopping. "But Ernesto you're forgetting the most important thing that December brings", you might say, and in response I'd say "Oh right silly me, December also brings more Angry Birds!"




Angry Birds Seasons: Winter Wonderham

As always Rovio releases an update to their Angry Birds Seasons game which packs in another set of themed levels to the already massive Angry Birds archive. Like in years past, the levels from this update work like an advent calendar. Each day of the holiday season a new level becomes available for you to launch some birds at pigs (but with holiday spirit). Of course only a few levels are available at the moment, but so far nothing is new as compared to past Angry Birds games. Personally I would have liked to see an Angry Birds Star Wars Christmas themed level pack, so for now I'll just slash my lightsaver on some snowy levels and pretend its Christmas.

Of course the levels are still fun, so I can't complain. Yes I'm tired of playing Angry Birds (though the Star Wars version was great and definitely renewed my interest in the game, if only for that one app though) but I still feel I need to mention every time Rovio updates one of the many games.

If you don't have Angry Birds Seasons then you can grab it here for iOS or here for Android.

Halloween Special: Halloween Apps

If you're looking to play some Halloween themed apps then you've come to the right place. Below are some apps that have some sort of Halloween theme to it that I recommend checking out.




Cut the Rope: Spooky Box

The latest update to Cut the Rope brings the all new "Spooky Box" full of ghosts and more. Check it out in the App Store here.

Doodle Jump:

Doodle Jump is back with 10 Halloween costumes available to buy for your Doodle character. Pick it up here.

Halloween Pumpkins:

This is more of a little kids game. It's just a matching game but with pumpkins and a Halloween type themed look to the game. Grab it over here.

Halloween Speical: Angry Birds Halloween

Yes as suspected Rovio is back again for the third Halloween themed update so far for Angry Birds Seasons. So what is new? Ghost blocks that's what! Ghost blocks are these brand new block which, in the name of Halloween, are pure evil. Basically they can hold up other blocks, but if you launch a bird right at it, the bird will just continue right on through. The only way to destroy the ghost blocks are to have them tumble down causing them to split into four which, if they tumble enough, will then finally cause them to disappear.

Other then ghost blocks, though, there isn't really that much that is new. A new pig called Frankenswine is introduced and the other pigs have various Halloween costumes on, but other then minor aesthetics like that nothing has changed. The levels are still fun to play nonetheless and they get you in the Halloween spirit.

If you somehow don't already have Angry Birds Seasons you can click either of these links to pick it up.                                                            App Store | Google Play

App Bites #35: Rayman Jungle Run

Welcome back to another edition of App Bites. Today we look at a relatively new app by Ubisoft Entertainment called Rayman Jungle Run available in the  Play Store for $3.02 (CA) and the App Store for $2.99.

Basically what you do in the game is just run around jumping through these various worlds trying to collect as many of these yellow "sprite" type creatures. The more you get the better of a jewel your awarded. This is one of those apps that you get to keep you entertained at the bus stop, in other words it's short. There are 40 levels in total in the game which span over four different "mode" styles. What I mean by mode styles is that there are, for instance,  ten levels where you can only run and jump, and then ten where you can hover, etc. Each of these levels are extremely short, but like I said it's more about keeping you busy for a few minutes when you have to kill some time.

The only complaints I have about the game is that it is short, and that it's on the pricey side. Three bucks is getting on the high end of the price point for apps, so for that money I expect a bit lengthier of a game. The game itself is great, I wouldn't change much about it except maybe the music- it's just the number of levels that bugs me. But who knows, maybe more levels will be added as is common place for such a thing to happen with apps.

At the end of the day though this is still a fun game, not worth three dollars, but fun nonetheless. Or maybe it's just the warm nostalgic feeling that I get playing this game as it reminds of the good old days playing Rayman.

6 Billion Phones Eh?

Because it's always a good time to show off a Galaxy

The International Telecommunication Union has revealed to the world a very interesting statistic. They found that at the end of 2011 there was 6 billion phone subscriptions, or active SIM cards (as is a better way to think about it), world wide. Considering that the world just passed the 7 billion mark in population, we can get a pretty good sense of just how important and common place phones have become.

Of course you have to keep in mind that we're talking about SIM cards here. There are quite a number of people who own two or more SIM cards, and since each card is counted as one phone, the whole "almost everyone must have a phone" argument doesn't hold any water.

If we break it down a little more, we find that developed countries rank in at 70% online and that developing countries come in at 24% online.

It is said now that mobile phones are now twice as numerous as the traditional fixed or "house" phones.

I just find it really amazing how fast the world is adopting mobile phones. It's no longer a matter of comparing how many phones were used last decade, but how many were used last year. We live in a time when mega-powerhouse companies like Google are pumping in around a million added subscriptions each day, and that is just one company. Sure others like RIM and Nokia have taken a hit over the last two years. But there loses do not even come close to the gains made in the mobile phone market. We literally live in the time now when you can take a look down the street and confidently say that almost every single one of those people has a mobile phone.

These are fast moving days people. Sometimes it's just nice to stop and look at how far we've come.

Android Apps Galore

Remember when that good old saying "there's an app for that" came out and the only company that could actually say that and not be lying was Apple? Then Android popped out of no-where and slowly started amassing thousands of apps. And those apps grew exponentially in number. Apple's have too, but not quite at the same speed as with Google Play. Now, as of September 2012, Google Play has over 650 000 apps with over 25 billion downloads! Those figures are still lower then the App Store's 700 000 apps and 30 billion downloads. But the point here is that Android is getting close to Apple's iOS. Android already dominates the market as far as market share goes, and it will be only a couple more months now till Android dominates in apps too. The glory days are soon upon us.