SPB Software has done it again, by porting another great game, Quads (check out Brian’s review of SPB Quads for Windows Mobile)  to the iPhone platform.  SPB Quads is now available for iPhone OS 3.0 and higher for 99 cents from the APP Store per the press release below.  SPB Quads is also available for Windows Mobile Pro Smartphones.

January 12^th, 2010 – SPB Software, a leading mobile applications and games developer announces the release of the iPhone version of SPB Quads – an extremely addictive mobile game created to help killing time with use. Now iPhone users have a good way to spend 5 boring minutes in line or challenge their Windows Mobile rivals’ dominance in our online score table.

Based on SPB Quadronica game, SPB Quads is the new arcade game for iPhone/iPod touch in which one has to put together all his/her pattern-finding skills to succeed. A player’s goal in this game is to reveal and mark rectangles’ corners of the same colors in a field filled with color bricks, thus “destroying” them and earning scores. There are two modes in the game: a time-limited mode and an endless, “strategic” mode. This effectively creates two different scenarios of playing.

SPB Quads for iPhone Main Features:

• Addictive game play
• Two game modes for different gaming scenarios
• Attractive graphics
• 6 different types of bonuses
• Online high scores

Pricing and Availability

SPB Quads for iPhone is compatible with iPhone OS 3.0 and higher, and may be purchased for $0.99 from the Apple AppStore. SPB Quads is also available for smartphones running Windows Mobile touchscreen version.

Further Information and Downloads

SPB Quads for iPhone webpage

SPB Quads for iPhone screenshots

About SPB Software (www.spb.com)

SPB is a leading brand in mobile software, standing for a unique line of popular consumer products and partnerships with the world’s most innovative handset makers and wireless carriers. SPB’s software solutions deliver richer smartphone experiences and enable subscribers to do more with their mobile data connections. SPB Software is the maker of the world’s single number one bestselling mobile application – SPB Mobile Shell. For more information, please visit www.spb.com.

Follow SPB Software on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/spb_software

Connect with SPB Software on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/spbsoftware

Thanks to Orbit Social Phonebook, users will be able to enjoy new ways of interacting with contacts and social networks via one intelligent and intuitive interface, from their iPhones.

Orbit is a free phonebook application that will change the way you interact with your contacts while on-the-go. Orbit groups your friends into so called “Orbits” so you can choose how often and how much you hear from them, giving you the power to keep things quiet or receive real-time notifications about your contacts.

Read the press release below:

LAS VEGAS, January 6, 2010 – Orbit Media, an innovative developer of social networking and mobile search applications for today’s most popular smart phones and portable devices, today announced that Orbit™, the first cross-platform, cross-network, cross-device social phonebook application, is now available for download to the iPhone through the Apple App Store.

Orbit cleverly organizes today’s most commonly used communication channels – voice, text, e-mail and social networking communications – into one central location for easy management. Orbit users can read real-time status updates from their contact list, send text and email messages from the same place where they send Facebook notes, read Twitter postings and make traditional voice calls. By putting today’s most frequently used communication mediums in one place, Orbit makes it easier than ever for users to manage and interact with their contacts.

Orbit offers additional value via two unique features:

• The “Inner Orbit” option, where users can group like-minded contacts together to easily manage and communicate with them, such as setting a “Work Orbit” or a “Family Orbit”.
• The “Social Volume” control, which allows users to adjust the frequency of communications received from individual contacts or specific Orbits by turning the volume up or down – thereby increasing or decreasing the push of information to your handset.

“In the past year we’ve seen a boom in social networking – both on the PC and the handheld. And, while it’s great that these experiences have gone mobile, users now have to manage several communication channels in order to remain connected to their social and professional circles,” said Alex Panelli, CEO of Orbit Media. “Orbit solves this problem by enhancing the traditional phone book and providing users with one place to communicate with and organize all of their contacts – including the ability to easily manage the flow of social information from individual contacts or groups of contacts.”

Orbit – Fast and Intuitive

Orbit was designed with a simple and fast setup process. With the click of a button, Orbit synchronizes with the device’s existing phone book. The app then begins a rapid intelligent matching process that fuses users’ core contact list with their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Once this is complete, users have the option to set up an “Inner Orbit”, allowing them to follow a select group of contacts more closely.

Additional features of Orbit include:

• Improved Core Controls – Use Orbit phonebook just like a native phonebook; make calls, send text messages and e-mails. Orbit includes an enhanced A-to-Z scrolling feature to greatly improve the iPhone’s navigation of contacts.
• Orbits – Users can group contacts into “Orbits” so it’s easier to manage their communications. (Users can put your close friends in the “Inner Orbit” and create new Orbits for college friends, colleagues or family members, making it easy and convenient to keep track of everyone’s updates.)
• Social Volume – Use the “Social Volume” tool to manage the level of communication from contacts. Users can turn up the volume to be alerted to every update or turn it down when they don’t want to be disturbed.
• Connected Phonebook – Orbit offers over-the-air updates for a seamless integration of content. The app also organizes and consolidates contacts and auto-generates a favorites list based on the people the user communicates with most.

Pricing and Availability
Orbit is free and is available now for the iPhone from Apple’s App Store or at the iTunes App Store at http://itunes.com/app/orbitsocialphonebook <http://itunes.com/app/orbitsocialphonebook> .
Versions for the BlackBerry OS and the Android platform will be available in the near future and for other platforms (including feature phones) thereafter.

Thus you will be able to access just from one place to common phone activities as well as to Facebook and Twitter social networks, thanks to a seemingly vanilla configuration of the app.

“Orbits” will come handy as profiles are for the phone usage, even if this comparison for sure underestimates the “Orbits” usefulness.

Orbit “Social Volume” and “Global Volume” settings

So, if you are looking for a cross-platform, cross-network, cross-device social phonebook application, take a look at Orbit for iPhone, available for free via the Apple App Store.

You can also look at this video with a demo of the software in action.

Via: Orbit Media

I am a huge fan of Poker.  Like most of America, that typically means Texas Hold ‘Em Poker these days.  I love getting together with friends for a late night game, and I even enjoy watching it on TV.  Most of the time, though, I find myself playing on my mobile device.  There are a few reasons for this.  First, I can play from anywhere, regardless of whether I have ten friends and a deck of cards handy.  Second, it is great practice, but most importantly, it is free.  You see, as much as I enjoy Poker, I tend to lose a lot more money than I win.  So, when I can enjoy the game I love without putting money on the line…well, sign me up.

The other great thing about Texas Hold ‘Em on mobile devices is that everyone has produced their own take on it.  The problem is, they are all basically the same.  Sit at the table and try to win as much money as possible.  In some games you progress through various tables of increasing difficulty.  But, on your device, as in real life, that is about all there is to it.  Deciding which one to buy really comes down to personal preference more than anything else Though some do have particularly bad animation or artificial intelligence).

I was pretty excited, therefore, to find Governor of Poker in the iTunes App Store.  Sure, like any Poker game, you will still spend an awful lot of time sitting around tables playing Poker, but you will also find a whole storyline wrapped around this concept, which ultimately sees you (you hope) owning the entire state of Texas.

The game, as you may have surmised takes place in Texas, spread across thirteen towns and cities throughout the state.  You start the action kicks off in your hometown of San Saba. 

Your first goal is to become the mayor of San Saba.  In order to do that, you will need to purchase all of the buildings in the town (there are five, ranging in price from $150 to $300).  In addition to moving you closer to your goals, owning buildings also helps generate income, which you can use to enter poker games. 

Obviously, in this game, in order to really generate money, however, you want to play poker.  This results in an ever growing circle of action, in which you use buildings to generate income, in order to play in better poker games, in order to win money to purchase more buildings, so you can enter even better tournaments…and so on. 

There are two kinds of games, tournaments and local games.  Tournaments generally are larger affairs, with lower buy-ins, but offer payouts for the top three or six finishers.  local games are much smaller, but with a larger buy-in and winner-take-all format, the payout can be quite large.  Additionally, if you own any buildings, you can use them to up the ante in a local game. 

In addition to just winning buckets of money, though, your success in tournaments can also lead to various awards.  Things like bluffing, busting out opponents, and finishing in the top 6 will earn you a medal.  The only problem I had was that there is no way to preview each award until you have actually earned it.  This makes it difficult to strive for each award since you have no idea which actions will lead to the next one.

Once you have become the mayor of San Saba by winning enough games to buy all of the local buildings, it is time to move on to other surrounding towns.  In order to do this, however, you will need some form of transportation, and that means playing poker again.  You will need to play one last game, a head-to-head against San Saba’s best player in order to win a horse, which will take you to three more towns.  From this point forward, each additional mode of transportation (there are four, the horse, wagon, carriage, and car) will take you to a group of three towns reaching further and further across Texas.  Once you complete each group of towns, you can play that final head-to-head in order to win the next mode of transportation.  Win enough games and tournaments to become mayor of all thirteen towns and you will be crowned the Governor of Poker.

With all of that said, let’s take a closer look at the main element of this game, the poker.  You can easily identify the townspeople who are ready to get a game started.  Just look for the “i” icon over their heads.  They will tell you whether they have a local game or tournament starting, and how much it costs to join.  If you do not have enough money to join, tap next day and you will collect the rent on all of your properties (sometimes you will need to do so a few times in order to generate enough income to join).

I really liked playing poker in this game.  Since everything takes place in the state of Texas, everyone in the game wears a variation of the wide brimmed cowboy hat, in a rainbow of colors.  Since the view of the table is a static, bird’s eye view, all you can see of each player is that hat, and that is how each is identified throughout the game.  It is a unique, whimsical,and fun approach to the game. 

For those of you not intimately familiar with the rules of Texas Hold ‘Em, each player will be dealt two cards face down.  Then, the dealer will show the flop (three cards face up), turn (one card face up), and river (a last card face up).  Using your two cards and the five community cards, you must make the best possible hand of five cards.  Between each round, there is a round of betting as well.  The rest, you can pick up as you play.

When it comes around to your turn, a board will appear at the bottom of the screen, allowing you to fold, call (or check), or bet/raise.  One thing I did not like was the manner of setting the amount of your raise.  While sliding a horseshoe to raise or lower your bet did fit the theme of the game, it was terribly imprecise.  I found myself constantly sliding right past my intended bet, or just giving up and tossing in something close to what I wanted.

Overall, I really enjoyed this unique twist on the Poker game.  While the artificial intelligence could have been better, the unique format and Monopoly-like gameplay more than made up for that.  The poker is fast paced and well designed.  The western theme gave some unique opportunities for fun within the game (like the hats).  As a stand-alone Poker game, it is probably not the best I have played.  But the complete package, with both the Poker and non-Poker elements, this is one fantastic and really unique game. 

Governor of Poker is available from the iTunes App store for $4.99 from Youdagames.  There is also a Lite version available, which allows you to take a free look at the first level of the game.

I just love Spiderman!  I have ever since I was little and spent my Saturday mornings watching “Spiderman and His Amazing Friends”.  So, when I saw these new earbuds from Nemo, I had to pass along the news.  No worries if Spidey isn’t your cup of tea, there are other choices as well.  Nemo also has Iron-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, and Spongebob Squarepants earbuds.  A fun electronics gifts for the young or simply the young-at-heart. 

Via Gearlog

For all of you relying on standalone GPS devices, TomTom could have really good news.

Here is the press release:

Concord, MA – 7 January 2010 – TomTom, the world’s leading provider of navigation solutions and digital maps, today announces that it will offer Lifetime Map Updates, a feature that allows customers to automatically receive map updates as they become available. This feature will be incorporated into a range of TomTom products in 2010.

“Roads are continually changing– from new street names to closed bridges – so it’s important for users to always have the most up-to-date maps,” said Jocelyn Vigreux, president of TomTom Inc. “With the introduction of Lifetime Map Updates, customers can rest assured that the directions their TomTom device provides will always be the most accurate and efficient available.”

Highest Quality Maps

TomTom Lifetime Map Updates utilize Tele Atlas maps, which are continually updated to include improvements on 6.5 million miles of roads, millions of Points of Interest and map updates and speed profile data generated by the millions of drivers in the TomTom US user community.  Tele Atlas’ comprehensive network of global resources – ranging from government documents to satellite and aerial imagery, in conjunction with continuous input from TomTom’s user community enable TomTom to deliver the highest quality maps to its users.

Availability

In order to download TomTom’s Lifetime Map Updates, TomTom users need to simply connect their device to TomTom HOME, TomTom’s free desktop software, and if map updates are available, they can be downloaded to the device. Registered TomTom users will be notified of new map updates as they become available. Typically, Tele Atlas releases maps on a quarterly basis.

The new Lifetime Map Updates will be bundled with a wide range of TomTom devices starting in early Q2, 2010.

These are really good news, but after the October announcement of Google’s free turn-by-turn navigation all major GPS devices producers have been obliged to make a move to fight the aggressive behavior of Big G. Thus the choice to offer Lifetime Map Update bundled on some selected devices starting Q2, 2010, is not a surprise.

No details are available until now on the range selected devices and their price, but I expect them to be the mid to high specs ones.

I hope TomTom will carefully study the price tag of its new offer, as many smartphones with a built-in GPS will be preferred by consumers, even if a data connection is needed.