For iPad owners, the wait is over. Starting today, you can update your iOS device to version 4.2. The biggest update for iPad users being the ability to multi-task and add folders. Included in the update are both AirPrint and AirShare. With AirPrint, one can print wirelessly now from their iOS device to a printer. AirPlay allows for one to stream audio and video to an Apple TV or audio devices that support AirPlay for audio.

Find my iPhone is now available for free for all devices and no longer requires a Mobile Me account to gain this feature. iPhone users now gain some nice new features such as adding tones to different people who you text message with, enhanced keyboard and dictionary, the ability to reply to calendar invitations in iCal now, Notes now has the ability to change fonts, and Accessibility gains more support for bluetooth keyboards for braille.

What are you waiting for? Goto iTunes and update your iOS device today.

Ready for some tiled fun?  Astraware is pleased to bring you Mahjong for your iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad!  Featuring Retina display graphics and Game Center achievements with the unlockable Golden Tile Set, Astraware Mahjong is sure to keep you entertained for hours on end.

You’ll be able to play the Mahjong of the Day Challenge where you’ll duke it out against the world!  In addition, all puzzles are guaranteed to be able to be solved.  You’ll get 30 different layouts, a full blown tutorial, ability to play in landscape or portrait modes, and much, much, more….all for the low price of $0.99 at the Appstore.

There’s a certain buzz going through the networks that Apple is almost ready to give iPad users the version 4 treatment.  Amongst which include multi-tasking, folders, and the game center.  Some say the launch would be today.  But according to macnn.com, iOS 4.2 was delayed due to a Wi-Fi bug found in the Gold Master.  Further news from macnn is tha iOS 4.2 is expected around November 16.  Right before Thanksgiving!  There sure is much to be thankful for this year.  Family, friends, health, opportunities, and of course all the worldly possessions (like my iPad) which are great to use as both tool and toy.  Well, as soon as we get more info on the new iOS, you can be sure that you’ll find out about it here on JAMM.

I am a huge fan of hidden object games. I have been enjoying them on my mobile devices ever since my early days with Windows Mobile and the Dell Axim.  I always felt, however, that the small screens on most mobile devices limited these games.  A larger screen, it seemed, would allow for a more complex level of difficulty due to the increased detail available to developers.  As such, I was pretty excited to dive into this genre an the iPad.  Unfortunately, the waters of this genre turned out to run much deeper than expected.  Every time I sat down to start writing this article, another entry was added.  So, I will go ahead and apologize in advance for the length and scope of this one, as well as the myriad of games which I was not able to include.  You can blame the developers for that.   So, without taking up anymore of your time, let’s get to the games.

Alice in Wonderland Hidden Objects: This was the first hidden objects game I tested out on the iPad, and I have to say I found this game from the developers at Warelex to be a bit of a mixed bag.  Unlike many of these games, there is not a plot tying the levels together, just a map tracing your route through 15 different levels (there are a few other secrets in there, which I have yet to find).  Although arrows guide you from one level to the next, there is no requirement that you complete them in any particular order.  I thought the graphics in the introductory screens and map were terrific, offering a slightly twisted take on the Alice in Wonderland characters and locations.

Once you get into each of the levels, however, the Alice in Wonderland theme dissolves into a series of more or less unrelated garden scenes, each of which (obviously) contains a list of items for you to discover within the image.  Again, however, while the graphics were outstanding, these items bore no little to no connection to the Alice in Wonderland theme suggested by the title.  As I understand it, however, some of the secret games did relate to the Alice in Wonderland theme, though they were simply too difficult to find within the game.

If you are not familiar with hidden object games, this one offers a nice place to get acquainted with the genre, as it allows you to focus exclusively on finding objects, without getting distracted by other forms of mini-games or plots.  We will save those complexities for a bit later.

Alice in Wonderland Hidden Objects is a universal app available for all iOS devices from Waralex and costs $0.99, or a Lite version is available for free.

Cassandra’s Journey: The Legacy of Nostradamus: This hidden object game started with an interesting story line.  You play Cassandra, the granddaughter of a fortune teller, yearning to take over the “family business.”  To do that, however, you will need to enlist the help of the ghost of Nostradamus and find your grandmother’s lost ring.

Although the game features a variety of different puzzles and mini-games, I did not find that it held my attention in the same way as many of the other games in this genre.  For one thing, the games were all just too easy, allowing you to complete the game extremely quickly.  Unlike many hidden object/puzzle games, the complexity and difficulty level did not increase significantly as you progressed through the game.  Additionally, there was a real disconnect between the plot and the mini games.  The plot seemed to exist as a mean to shove you along from one game to the next; and other than unlocking new levels, the mini games did not seems to relate to or significantly advance the plot.  Finally, with respect to the plot, I found the writing to be simply sub-standard.  While the idea behind the story was sound, it was simply not well told throughout the game.  This game would have been better had the developers abandoned the idea of a plot, and released this game as a simple collection of unrelated puzzles.

Cassandra’s Journey is a universal app available for all iOS devices from Avallon Alliance for $3.99. 

Mumbo Jumbo Premium Casual Games: To paraphrase (badly), they developed the best of apps, they developed the worst of apps.  The first game I played from Mumbo Jumbo was Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials.  This quickly became one of my favorite hidden object games.  For starters, the plot is fantastic, a time bending mystery in which you must unravel the events leading up to the death of Nathanial Hawthorne (the famous writer).  I have to say that Mumbo Jumbo really impressed me with this one. 

Not only were the graphics exceptional, but the plot was also original and engaging.  Even the mini-games did a remarkable job of working with and furthering the plot, rather than simply existing despite the plot.  This was a really impressive game.

In fact, I liked Salem Witch Trials so much, I immediately set out to review Mumbo Jumbo’s other hidden object game Samantha Swift and the Fountains of Fate.  Shockingly, for two games released by the same developer within weeks of one another, I could not have had a more completely opposite reaction.  Although I did enjoy the similar quality of graphics, the plot on this one was as flimsy as an invertebrate’s spine.  As near as I could tell, it involved the search for immortality…and relics for a museum. 

The whole plot really just felt like a cheap excuse to string you from one puzzle to the next.  Ultimately, I got stuck when it wanted me to use an object which I had not yet found…and could not go back to get.  This one is pretty much as bad as Salem Witch Trials was good.

The other problem I had with these games, regardless of how good or bad they were was the pricing.  Both cost $9.99, which is incredibly expensive in a world of games which typically cost under $5.  To top it off, there are a number of extras in each game, which will also cost you a pretty penny.  Additional content, strategy guides, and even hints will all cost extra.  I found it to be a bit annoying that this content (with the exception of hints) could not be unlocked by progressing through the games.   This pricing structure is severely out of sync with the rest of the games in this genre.

Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials and Samantha Swift and the Fountains of Fate are both developed by MumboJumbo, and are each available from the iTunes app store for $9.99 (plus the additional cost of in-game purchases).

G5 Entertainment: What impressed me the most about G5’s catalog of games in this genre was the way they effectively maintained diversity throughout their games without sacrificing quality.   So far, they have four games in the hidden object genre: Mushroom Age, Paranormal Agency, The Mystery of the Crystal Portal, and Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold.  While these games all featured a similar goal (finding hidden objects and solving the puzzles), they featured a variety of approaches to the genre. 

Paranormal Agency, for example, is the only game which features a timer, along with penalties for taking too many missed guesses (there is an untimed mode for more relaxed play). 

The Mystery of the Crystal Portal and Treasure Seekers (above), on the other hand, feature a unique approach to the genre.  Rather than simply searching for a list of objects, you must first find a receptacle.  Each receptacle will show you the objects which must be placed within it.  Not only do you have to find the objects in question, but drag them to the correct receptacle. 

In addition to the variety of approaches to gameplay, I was also impressed by the different plots featured in the games.  From the mind-bending, time traveling adventures of Mushroom Age (above) to the Ghostbusters-esque Paranormal Agency, I think G5 Entertainment has done a spectacular job of publishing only the best written games, which really makes an incredible difference in this (and any) genre of games.

Overall, I found that the games published by G5 for the iPad were really consistently superior.  I have played dozens of hidden object games on numerous platforms, and those published by G5 rank among my all time favorites…especially Mushroom Age, which has been enthralling my children for months.

All four games cost $4.99 for the iPad and $2.99 on the iPhone or iPod Touch.  A free version of each is also available.  I thought this was a bit on the expensive side for the iPad version, especially since there was no significant difference between the iPhone and iPad versions to justify the difference in price, along with the fact that games in this genre really do not have any replay value once you have finished the story.  Still, the games are engaging enough that even with a $4.99 price tag, you will never really feel like you overpaid for any of these games.

Laura Jones Series: If the Laura Jones duology from Astar-Nevosoft looks familiar, well, that is because they are familiar.  Nevosoft, one of the companies behind this series is also the same company behind G5’s Mushroom Age game.  So, you can imagine that the graphics are of the same quality, although I found the plot to be a bit less consistent on these than on Mushroom Age and some of the other G5 games.  That is not to say, however, that the Laura Jones games lack for creativity.    Both Laura Jones and the Gates of Good and Evil and its recent follow-up, Laura Jones and the Secret Legacy of Nikola Tesla offer  fantastic gameplay with extremely creative and varied puzzles. 

How many other games in this genre feature a puzzle in which you must correctly replace one character’s piercings after they were accidentally knocked off.   While I thought the sequel was a bit better than the original, both were solid and enjoyable games, which held my interest and provided challenging mini-games along the way, even if the mini games did not always mesh seamlessly with the plot of the games.   Most importantly, both games allow you to go back and replay any levels or mini-games which you have already completed.  This feature was noticeably absent in many of the games reviewed for this article.

Both games are available in the iTunes App store for $4.99 ($2.99 on the iPhone or iPod Touch).  Again, I did not really understand the difference in pricing since there is no significant difference between the two versions other than the screen resolution.  So, it would have been nice if these had been universal apps.  There is also a free version of each, which guides you through the first few levels of each game, giving you a good taste of what is yet to come.

Little Things: This is the point in the roundup where we take a complete 360.  With Little Things, developer KlickTock has eschewed everything which is extraneous to the gameplay itself.  No fancy graphics, no plots, no variety of puzzles.  Just you and a screen full of objects.  Well…not quite.  You see, the point of Little Things is that the objects filling your screen or composed of, well, smaller objects (hence, Little Things).  Each puzzle consists of a selection of Little Things, formed into the shape of one of the object puzzles.   Of course, as you progress through the game, you will unlock new and more complicated object puzzles to solve. 

Little Things costs $4.99, though a free version is also available.  It is not currently available for the iPad.

I was thoroughly impressed by many of the games available in this genre for the iPad.  across the board, they featured exceptional graphics, and a myriad of creative mini-games.  I did find some of the writing was a bit inconsistent, but most of the games featured very good plots and stories, even if the execution was not always as good as expected.   I was a bit disappointed by the pricing structure of some of the games in this genre, particularly those which cost almost double the price of their iPhone counterparts.  Nonetheless, if you are looking for a great distraction with a some significant entertainment value, then the games in this genre will certainly deliver.

Not long ago, I took a look at a pretty cool new app, an interactive, 3D storybook for the iPad called The Wrong Side of The Bed.  My thoughts on it previously were pretty positive.  It is a good story, with great graphics…not to mention that it features eye popping 3D and a well read narration should you choose to listen to the book instead of reading it yourself.

The new upgrade features some fantastic interactive animation.  On many pages, you can tickle the main character, Mott, to see his different reactions to the situation at hand.  The new version of the book is also chock full of new animations and sound effects, which really add to the story’s entertainment value.  Check it out for all iOS devices in the iTunes App Store.  The interactive ebook costs $2.99 for the iPad and $1.99 on iPhone and iPod Touch.