Super Crate Box is a platformer whose graphics and style offer a throwback to a more simple time in gaming history. Its 8-bit style graphics, gameplay mechanics, and music all engross the player in an experience thought only possible through a time machine. Your goal is simple: collect as many crates as possible without dying. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Well, it actually would be quite simple if it wasn’t for the waves of enemies that are thrown at you.

Thankfully, players won’t have to worry about sluggish controls as Vlambeer worked very hard on getting the controls just right. The only issues I had with the game’s controls was playing on the iPhone, it was hard to tell where my character was due to the controls being in the way. This would cause me to move my fingers off the screen for a second to see where a crate could possibly be, which with a game like this, could be a huge mistake to make.

At launch, the game has three levels: Construction Yard, Rocket Silo, and Moon Temple. If you collect a certain amount of crates within a level, you’ll be able to unlock two new modes within each level that increase the difficulty. SMFT mode warns players to play it after the children have gone to bed, and the following Ambush mode is as deadly as it sounds as enemies frequently pop up out of nowhere.

Not only can players unlock new modes, but also a number of new characters that cycle through randomly each time you play as well as new weapons such as the Shotgun, Rocket Launcher, and fury causing Disc Gun. Unlocking each weapon won’t take much effort, but in order to unlock every character, you’ll need to collect a certain amount of crates in each level before dying.

FINAL THOUGHT: Super Crate Box wants its players to go back to a time where your high score meant everything to other players. Its super tight controls, addictive gameplay, and unlockables is perfect for a quick game or a marathon session.

Super Crate Box ($.99) – [iTunes Link]

Super Crate Box iOS – Announcement from Vlambeer on Vimeo.

Unlike the previous Dungeon Hunters, Dungeon Hunter 3 lacks any real story. I’m not entirely sure if this is a good thing or bad seeing as I really didn’t pay much attention to the story in the previous Dungeon Hunter titles. Instead, you select one of four classes for your character, their sex, name, and off you go. You’ll play 80 challenges across 4 different worlds, with each challenge increasing its difficulty as well as offering bonus coin and experience points for completing missions within the challenge. Missions can vary from easy tasks such as killing an individual enemy a certain number of times, to some things a bit more time consuming like killing a certain enemy who spawns once during a challenge 5 times using a skill.

When you complete a challenge, you’ll be given access to a treasure chest that rewards players with more coin and experience points. The only way to open the chest is by unlocking them with a key, which if you ever drop below having 5, will replenish every 30 minutes. If you run out of keys and absolutely need to open a chest, you can then spend jewels to purchase more keys. In fact, jewels can be spent on nearly everything in the game, from gear, to speeding upgrades, to purchasing more potions during combat if you need it. But, unlike most F2P titles, Dungeon Hunter 3 doesn’t make players rely on spending jewels for things as the majority of gear can be purchased or upgraded with coins, which can be obtained through playing the game.

Instead of picking up gear from treasure chests like most dungeon crawlers, Dungeon Hunter 3 relies on a shop that can be accessed between challenges which holds all of the gear that you’ll access for your character. As your character levels up, you’ll unlock access to purchase gear. You can purchase gear one of two ways: by spending coins or jewels. The game also implements an upgrade system for your gear that can be upgraded up to four times. Each time you upgrade something, it’s sent off to the Blacksmith, which means your upgrade won’t be available for a certain amount of time. This serves as another way to get those impatient gamers who need access to their things ASAP to spend jewels to speed up the process.

When you get over all of the F2P hoops you need to jump through, the actual game is rather enjoyable as you’ll fight wave after wave of enemies in order to complete a challenge. Characters, levels, and special effects all look great, as is expected from Gameloft. The missions also add a healthy bit of replayability by rewarding players with additional coins and experience points by completing them. I’ve gone back to specific challenge 3 or 4 times just so I could complete the missions involved with it. Dungeon Hunter 3 also includes a daily reward that rewards players with more coins, jewels, or experience points depending on the reward.

One issue I had with Dungeon Hunter 3 was its mission system. The mission would require players to kill a certain enemy, but some enemies weren’t labeled, making it difficult to know which enemy I need to attack a certain way. Being unable to access the missions from the pause menu was also annoying as I wanted to see how I was progressing through the missions. Also, there should be multiplayer in Dungeon Hunter 3, but Gameloft announced it will be available some time in early 2012. The sooner, the better.

FINAL THOUGHT: Being a free-to-play title, I can’t help but think it silly if I recommend this game or not as you won’t lose any money for picking up the game and trying it out. The F2P system doesn’t tie down its players to spend their cash on anything as nearly everything can be accessed through good old hard work. And isn’t the point of playing a game to.. you know.. actually play it? Dungeon Hunter 3 will keep fans of the previous games entertained for hours, while bringing in a new group of gamers who live, breathe, and eat F2P.

Dungeon Hunter 3 for iOS (FREE) – [iTunes Link]

From my little time I’ve ever tried to use virtual desktop applications, the set up has always been cumbersome, which ultimately made me stop. After seeing how easy it is to set up PocketCloud Explore, I actually care, finally. All you need is the application itself and the companion program and after signing in to your Google account, you’re good to go. The fact that the application plugs into your Google account to log in is a pretty big deal, as the last thing I personally want is another username and password to remember.

Say I’m away from the office but need to send a picture over to Marin that’s on my computer. Better yet, I even forgot what computer the photo is on. A simple search within the app will search both computers and I can send it straight to Marin, no matter where I am. Once I find the picture, I can transfer the picture to my device and send it straight to Marin. Easy Peasy.

The application didn’t always play nice with my Galaxy Nexus but  performed perfectly for the most part. Even if this isn’t an application you think you need, the day you do need it is when you’ll wish you got it for $.99.

Check out the video below and be sure to hit up the Android Market link here to grab the app!

Wyse Delivers Innovative Secure Mobile Cloud Search App

Wyse PocketCloud Explore app enables users to conduct secure, reliable and simple content search and management on any remote computer from anywhere

SAN JOSE, Calif. – December 15, 2011 – Wyse Technology, the global leader in cloud client computing, is changing the way people search, view, and organize their digital lives while on the go with the launch of the Wyse PocketCloud Explore mobile cloud app. The app also pioneers multi-device search, allowing users to easily access files anywhere on their device or remote computers.

Connecting Android devices to content on computers, Wyse PocketCloud Explore enables users to view and share that content from mobile devices. For example, if a user wanted to find the folder of photos from a combined business and vacation trip but could not remember whether it was on their home computer, work computer or office server, they could search all the devices at once and open it on their Android phone.

“At its core, Wyse PocketCloud has always been about making computing on mobile devices easy, intuitive and secure, and Wyse PocketCloud Explore is a perfect example of our dedication to this philosophy.” says Daniel Barreto, general manager of the mobile cloud business unit at Wyse. “With Explore we are providing a way for people to finally search their entire digital lives from absolutely anywhere.”

The Wyse PocketCloud Explore app provides the convenience of remote file storage and access without the extra cost or security risk of placing files in third-party storage clouds. Where cloud storage companies charge hundreds of dollars to store files, Wyse PocketCloud Explore allows unlimited access to the files already on users’ devices. This allows users to remain in control of their own content and still have anytime, anywhere access to their digital lives. In short, it no longer matters which device a file originated from or where you saved it, with Wyse PocketCloud Explore you’ll be able to find it, organize it, and share it and quickly and easily.

Wyse PocketCloud Explore features include:

•          Search and browse all files and folders on your computers and Android devices

•          Unlimited copying and moving of video, image, and audio files between Mac or Windows computers and Android devices

•          Open remote files in the app viewer or edit in your choice of Android apps

•          Create and delete folders and rename or delete documents

•          Open a remote computer file from Android email client and send as attachment

Wyse PocketCloud Explore allows users to finally achieve a sense digital harmony with the efficiency of multi-device search, the power of full mobile computing, the beauty of a native Android interface, and the security of retaining control of digital content. Wyse has not only pioneered multi-device mobile search, they have created true digital Zen.

Wyse PocketCloud Explore for Android is available now for $4.99 and can be downloaded here:http://market.android.com/details?id=com.wyse.filebrowserfull

About Wyse Technology

Wyse Technology is the global leader in cloud client computing. The Wyse portfolio includes industry-leading thin, zero and cloud PC client solutions with advanced management, desktop virtualization and cloud software-supporting desktops, laptops and next-generation mobile devices. Cloud client computing replaces the outdated computing model of the unsecure, unreliable, energy-intensive and expensive PC, all while delivering lower TCO and a superior user experience. Wyse has shipped more than 20 million units and has over 200 million people interacting with their products each day, enabling the leading private, public, hybrid and government cloud implementations worldwide. Wyse partners with industry-leading IT vendors, including Cisco®, Citrix®, IBM®, Microsoft and VMware®, as well as globally recognized distribution and service partners. Wyse is headquartered in San Jose, California, U.S.A., with offices worldwide.

For more information, visit the Wyse website at www.wyse.com or call 1-800-GET-WYSE.

In Grand Theft Auto III, you’ll play as a silent protagonist by the name of Claude who was double-crossed by this girlfriend during a heist. Claude is arrested and stuffed in the back of an armored vehicle with other criminals on their way to jail. Luckily, one of the other would-be jail-mates was a somebody to someone whose crew breaks him out, and even more lucky for Claude, leaves the back of the armored vehicle open for you to escape with another criminal.

The graphics in GTA III look spectacular when you consider the source material. Everything in the game has been lovingly and painstakingly been brought into HD. Main characters have all of the looks and attitude as I remember them, while regular people on the street have enough detail to them to distinguish between one another. You’ll also experience changes in the environment such as day to night and the occasional rainstorm.

If you’ve been pampered with recent open-world games’ GPS systems, then you’re going to receive quite the reality check with GTA III’s GPS system, or should I say, lack thereof. Not everything ages like a fine wine as you’ll need to navigate your way to your destinations with only the game’s mini-map helping you. Regardless of the lack of GPS, the game makes it easy to recognize where missions are by placing large letters at the edge of the mini-map.

The on-screen controls take a bit of getting used to, especially when you’re being chased by the police, FBI, and army all at once. The great thing about GTA III is Rockstar has given the keys to the game’s control scheme to the player. Don’t like how small certain on-screen inputs are? Resize them to your taste. Are you lefty? There’s a setting for that. Want all of the user interface to be microscopic so you can enjoy all of the wonderful HD detail? Yep, you can do that too. In other words, there should be no complaints about the game’s controls as it’s completely customizable.

FINAL THOUGHT: Ten years after its release, GTA III is as fun as I remember it to be. The sights, sounds, and mayhem have all been successfully brought onto both iOS & Android devices. If your device is supported to run GTA III, then you should absolutely pick up this game.

Grand Theft Auto III: 10 Year Anniversary Edition for iOS ($4.99) – [iTunes Link]

Grand Theft Auto III: 10 Year Anniversary Edition for Android ($4.99) – [Android Marketplace]

Activations/Marketshare

Comscore’s latest numbers for Android in the US pegged the OS with a 44.8% total marketshare for the month of September and we can only imagine that phones like the Galaxy Nexus, Droid RAZR, and HTC Rezound will only strengthen these numbers going forward.

In July of 2011, Google announced that 550,000 Android devices are being activated every day. That number didn’t change when we got a quick update in mid-November but it’s hardly something to scoff at, either.

OS updates

Android 3.0 Honeycomb & Motorola Xoom

In late February, the world got its first Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet, the Motorola Xoom. The interesting holographic user interface was easy on the eyes and provided loads of other features to boot. Problem is, Honeycomb wasn’t received all that well. This is mainly due to the fact that it was essentially released in half-baked form and it wasn’t until tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 came around that people took notice of Google’s tablet-centric version of Android.

Honeycomb received a couple of updates since it’s debut and has only provided minimal enhancements. That said, the updates were desperately needed and made Android tablets more usable than ever. Still, with a tablet market completely dominated by Apple’s iPad and iPad 2, not many people were sure they needed Android on a big screen and sales have ultimately suffered because of this. If anything, it won’t be until Ice Cream Sandwich hits Android tablets before people start to take notice. Maybe.

Android 3.1 & Google TV

One of the updates mentioned above for Google’s tablet version of Android was 3.1, which brought a few new features to the table but was nothing spectacular. What was interesting about the update is that existing Google TV set-top boxes and TVs would receive this update, ridding the GTV software of the aging Android 2.1.

Said to launch this summer, the Google TV update didn’t start rolling out until about a month ago for Sony TVs, with the Logitech Revue left to wait it out. In fact, my Revue received the update just a day prior to writing this.

While the 3.1 update only provided small tweaks for tablets, Android 3.1 for Google TV was rather significant. The cluttered UI was simplified in many ways, the Android Market was officially introduced, and a level of polish was found throughout that may have been the most surprising.

So how is Android 3.1 on the TV? Meh, it’s ok. The Android Market is just about as sparse as can be and installing apps on the Revue can take a while. We’d say that Google TV is in need of some Ice Cream Sandwich love but we have a feeling that won’t be happening anytime soon, especially for the Revue.

Gingerbread

Android 2.3 Gingerbread may have been released in 2010 but it wasn’t until 2011 before a majority of phones began to ship with it. In the beginning of the year, a majority of phones were still shipping with Android 2.2 Froyo but that slowly changed and Gingerbread is now the most widely used version of Android today. In fact, Gingerbread is running on more than 50% of all Android devices today, leaving Froyo at the wayside.

Ice Cream Sandwich

When we first got a glimpse of Ice Cream Sandwich at the Google I/O, even though it was said that it will bring all of the goodies from Honeycomb to the phone, we still had no idea what we were in for. There’s absolutely no question that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is the best version of the OS to date. Debuting on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Android 4.0 does indeed brings Honeycomb to phones but in a way that will make you smile.

After seeing the mess that was the Honeycomb launch earlier this year, some may have begun to question Matias Duarte’s position as design lead. Well, Honeycomb was rushed for two reasons: Google needed to get a tablet OS out as fast as possible and Android 4.0 was the obvious main focus.

Android 4.0 signals a new beginning for the OS, plain and simple. Said to be the version that will put an end to fragmentation, which is a bold claim, Ice Cream Sandwich will be able to run on both Android phones and tablets. It will likely take a while for Ice Cream Sandwich to dethrone Android 2.3 Gingerbread but once it does, hopefully the numbers Google updates us with every month will begin to even out.

For more on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, be sure to check out the official review here.

Manufacturers

Samsung became King

In 2010, one could easily peg the likes of HTC or Motorola to be the king of Android, with Samsung not taking the OS too seriously until the launch of the Galaxy S phones. (Remember the Behold II?) Today, the landscape is quite different in the Android world. The year of 2011 brought us probably the best Android phone to date, with the exception of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, the Galaxy S II.

The obvious successor to the original Galaxy S handset, the Galaxy S II literally almost doubled all of the specifications over its predecessor. The Galaxy S II also shipped with the Super AMOLED Plus display, which is still one of our favorites today. In both 4.3 and 4.5 inch variants, Samsung’s latest flagship handset definitely needed to be handled to be experienced and the hardware was so nice, even the unintrusive but useless TouchWiz was bearable. The US versions of the handset featured a TouchWiz update that offered up a lot of nice tweaks that made the handset my hands-down favorite phone I’d ever touched and I would have one in my pocket right now had it not been for the Galaxy Nexus.

Samsung has its display tech to help them with its phones, and even though the Galaxy line is made of plastics, it was the WVGA Super AMOLED Plus screen that drew you in and bested even some of the qHD displays found on other devices.

Simply put, Samsung has taken the Android world by storm by providing great handsets and probably one of the best known manufacturer-made handset brand name for Android, the Galaxy S. Plus, Samsung also ships arguably the best Android tablet available today. Until the Transformer Prime is officially available, that is.

If I went to the past and told my past self that I would be singing the praises of Samsung to this degree, I’d probably cry a little, laugh a little, and promptly punch future me in the face.

HTC Kept Making the Same Phone

In stark contrast to Samsung, HTC has always relied on its software to differentiate itself from the competition and it’s worked out pretty well for them, too. Couple the sexy Sense UI with probably the most solid hardware you could find on a smartphone today and you’d think that HTC was destined to always be on top of the Android landscape. Well, HTC hasn’t stopped making great handsets but it continues to make the same handset, essentially.

This Sense phone has 3D, and this Sense phone is the same thing with a slightly different design with no 3D. This Sense phone has 4G. This Sense phone has Beats audio. This Sense phone was designed specifically for women. This is the sequel of that one Sense phone and it looks exactly the same but it’s better. This Sense has the best camera available on a smartphone today. Wait, this one too.

In 2011, HTC handsets became a thing of monotony. HTC Sense became over-bloated and uninspiring after a while, as its now filled with useless applications you’ll probably never use. HTC Sense was once needed to cover up Android’s shortcomings. That’s no longer the case anymore and while many people love HTC’s software, anytime we pick one up we’re bored immediately. Plus, 2011 was the year where it was discovered that HTC’s customization had made security holes in its phones.

I’ve seen too many big clocks on HTC phones than I care to and I only hope it will consider creating a brand with its hardware instead of its software.

All that said, HTC still makes the best hardware when it comes to Android devices today and that’s something that is pretty hard to argue with. Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky in the coming years and HTC will get to make another Nexus handset. We can only hope.

LG Became Notable

To everyone’s surprise, LG popped onto the Android scene with handsets that didn’t look like afterthoughts. Sorry, LG Eve. In the beginning of 2011, LG released the world’s first dual-core smartphone, the Optimus 2X, which eventually landed on T-Mobile USA as the G2X. LG also offered up the first glasses-free Android smartphone, the Optimus 3D, which later landed on AT&T for the Thrill 4G.

LG’s software wasn’t anything special but it was easy to appreciate its subtlety. Handset designs that likely aimed for understated came off as boring. Still, LG tried their darndest and with phones like the Prada K2 on the way, LG has no intentions of getting out of the Android game anytime soon. So, let’s hope it can bring a HTC level of quality to its handsets without needing to paint over Android dramatically and it just may get a bit more respect.

Motorola got Bought Out

Probably some of the best news to hear was that Motorola was acquired by Google in mid-August. Not because Google needed the patents, which it did, but the simple fact that there may be a slight chance we may never have to see a Motoblur phone again.

Motorola attempted to do some interesting things this year and is now tweaking its hardware with the same design aesthetic as the Droid RAZR and Photon 4G. The designs aren’t anything special but you can see that the upcoming XYboards and the Droid RAZR are in the same family and I think people will enjoy that sort of familiarity.

Motorola produced some decent handsets this year and while they may not be the hottest sellers on the market, you’ll probably find a few in people’s pockets if you look. We’re glad to see Moto trying some new things but we also wish they would rid itself of some old ones. Motoblur being one, and the useless laptop dock  that likely no one uses should be put out to pasture.

Although Google has come out and said that Motorola won’t have first dibs on the Nexus line, we wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a Moto-Nexus in the future. We really need to wait and see what comes of this but we’re sure that Motorola Mobility is perfectly fine being owned by Google right now.

Sony Ericsson Tried

2011 was the year that the world saw the very first PlayStation phone made by Sony Ericsson, the Xperia Play. The bulky Android smartphone packed a slide out gamepad and came with a handful of pre-installed Playstation one games. The handset launch was followed by a handful of rather ridiculous ads that featured Kristen Schaal and a thumb harvesting Android ad campaign. Verizon Wireless eventually launched the handset, with AT&T to follow.

The idea of a PlayStation phone sounded great at the time but we were ultimately disappointed. We would have much rather waited to see a dual-core toting Xperia Play and not a handset that is almost considered low-end at this point. Either way, the PlayStation phone debuted with a little less than a splash but that certainly wasn’t the only phone we saw come from Sony Ericsson this year.

Probably one of the sexiest phones we’ve ever seen came out this year in the form of the Xperia Arc. The super slim phone “arced”  in the middle, which made for some gorgeous profile shots. The handset never saw a US release on a carrier but SE did eventually make the Arc and other handsets available unlocked. Not even a 8 months later, Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia Arc S, which is essentially the exact same phone in terms of design but with better specs. Oh yeah, and lets not forget about the Nozomi, or the Arc HD that looks like it will deliver the goods when released.

Sony Ericsson has always pushed out unique and sexy hardware but we wish that we’d see more handsets come to the US. Maybe 2012 will be that year.

Some bigger, non-handset related news about SE would be that Sony is purchasing Ericsson’s half of Sony Ericsson, and by the middle of 2012, you’ll only see Sony branded handsets. We don’t care what name is on our phones, just give us the Play 2 already.

Android Market Webstore

In early February, Google launched the Android Market Webstore. Simply put, the Webstore was a new way of browsing Android applications, which was previously only possible by going to the Android Market on a phone. The Webstore also took advantage of a feature announced with Android 2.2 Froyo, Chrome to Phone, which would allow you to install applications on your phone by clicking a button on you computer.

Just a few weeks after the launch of the Webstore, a tab was added for users to access Google Books, which launched in late 2010.

Google Music Beta

It wasn’t until the Google I/O until we saw Google Music Beta, which wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone. What was surprising is that Google actually wasn’t selling music but allowing users to upload their music library to the cloud and play it back on either a computer or smartphone. The feature was baked right into the new Google Music player that launched the same day but you could also get access to your tunes by going to music.google.com. That said, the service remained invite-only for quite a while.

Google Music Beta allowed a user to upload 20,000 songs into the cloud for free. In comparison, Amazon’s cloud service limited uploads to 5GB but you could pay for more space if you so chose. Google’s cloud-based music service was nice but it wasn’t exactly what people were looking for.

Google Movies

Google Movies also launched alongside the Google Music Beta, allowing Android users to rent a wide variety of movies. The selection may not be terribly robust but there’s definitely enough movies to choose from that should keep you occupied. A new version of the Android Market began rolling out to phones and a new tab for movies was found right on the Webstore.

After successfully renting a movie, you have 30 days to start watching the rental but once you do start it, you only have it for 24 hours. You can also watch the movie as much as you’d like within that 24 hour time frame but who would want to?

The introduction of Google Music Beta and Movies was the real beginning of the search giant building out a real ecosystem for Android. While it still may pale in comparison to that of iOS, Android could finally compete in some facet. And Google wasn’t finished.

(Real) Google Music

Music Beta and Movies may have occupied some for a while, but Google certainly wasn’t done. It took quite a long time but in November of 2011, Google officially announced the availability of Music in the Android Market. The service seemed to have been stalled quite a few times, as Google hadn’t sealed deals with all major record companies. That didn’t stop the service from launching and now, just like Google Movies, Music can now be purchased from the Android Market Webstore and directly from handsets.

Not only could you purchase music from the Android Market, but Google partnered with a handful of artists to give away free songs. There’s also a Free Song of the Day section to keep your music collection growing.

One of the more interesting features of Google Music is that you can allow your Google+ friends to listen to a track or album you’ve just purchased for free. Google has also made it easy for independent artists to add their own music to the service and choose how much to charge.

2012 Predictions

It’s been a pretty strong year for the Android OS and we’re more than certain that 2012 will be no different. We can expect the introduction of Android Jelly Bean and whatever it brings to the table, as well as Ice Cream Sandwich beginning to ship on more and more phones.

Android has been going strong for a while now but that doesn’t mean that iOS,  BlackBerry and Windows Phone haven’t seen some great changes this year.

Below is an excerpt from the Galaxy Nexus review’s software section, along with a break down of more features found within Ice Cream Sandwich.

* I’m running a custom ROM on this phone at the moment, so disregard any inconsistency you’ve seen on the stock Galaxy Nexus. There is no dedicated search option on the soft keys but is just an option for this ROM*

Obviously, the Galaxy Nexus has Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as its main weapon and the latest version of Android is definitely enough to choose Samsung’s latest offering over the competition. Ice Cream Sandwich is a dramatic departure from any other version of the OS found on a phone today and will forever change the way you use and see Android. In a good way.

Goodbye, buttons

One thing that will immediately change the way you use Android on the Galaxy Nexus is that fact that there are now on-screen keys for navigation instead of physical or capacitive buttons. Ice Cream Sandwich also does away with dedicated search and menu buttons in favor for in-app options, which can take a bit of getting used to.

The three buttons that made the cut for Ice Cream Sandwich are back, home, and multitasking. The multitasking option will display your most recent applications via thumbnail and you can simply swipe apps away if you’re done with them. This doesn’t actually kill the task but it allows you to get at what’s most important to you more quickly. You may find yourself ignoring the multitasking option in the beginning but once you get the hang of it, you’ll wish it was always there for Android. More on multitasking later.

 Lockscreen

The changes begin at the lockscreen and it now features the familiar look and feel of Honeycomb. A small ring is found at the bottom of the screen and you can drag it to the right to unlock the device or slide it to the left to immediately open the camera application. Unfortunately, Google has removed the option of silencing the device from the lockscreen.

A nifty feature for unlocking the device is Face Unlock. It’s there for novelty more than security but it’s certainly an interesting feature. Face Unlock allows you to take a picture of yourself and will scan your face when you turn on the phone to unlock it. If you have a very good picture of the person, it can be tricked, but it’s definitely a feature to show off to some friends rather than securing your device.

Ice Cream Sandwich now allows you to drag down the notification bar while your screen is locked and dismiss them if you so choose. Last but not least, if you’re listening to music, the lockscreen will have music controls, along with the album cover art for easy access.

Homescreen

The Android Homescreen is familiar enough but it’s full of new features. You’re still given the same five screens to customize with applications and widgets but there’s definitely enough differences to get excited for.

Similar to Honeycomb, the you’ll find the static Google Search bar up at the top of the screen at all times. For some reason, even though you can’t remove the Google search from the top of the screen, there’s still a Google search widget available.

Moving to the bottom of the screen, the favorites tray now has two more slots to place applications or folders and is completely customizable. The only option in the favorites tray that is non removable is the all-apps soft key.

Folders have also been revamped for ICS and the new method takes heavily from iOS, as you simply need to drag one application over another to create a folder. From there you can customize the icons where you want them and rename the folder. Even better, after you have your brand new folder created, you can now put it into your favorites tray.

Multitasking

The way you switch between applications is unlike anything you’ve probably seen on a phone before. Similar to Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich shows you thumbnails of the application to give you a quick glimpse of what screen you left off on in the app. Unlike Honeycomb, however, dismissing applications can be done with a simple swipe gesture, just like dismissing emails, texts, etc. in the notification panel. This gesture is universal throughout Ice Cream Sandwich and you can also dismiss browser tabs in the same way.

Keyboard

If you thought the updated keyboard in Gingerbread was nifty, you haven’t seen anything yet. It seems that Google has actually implemented the BlindType tech this time around, as the keyboard is a joy to use.

The mix of the large screen and the updated keyboard make typing on the Galaxy Nexus a pleasure. Luckily, because the updated keyboard software is that nice, phones with smaller displays will likely be able to enjoy it just as much as larger phones.

Just like previous versions of the OS, Ice Cream Sandwich features voice-to-text right from the keyboard but Google has taken it to the next level. Voice dictation is not only more accurate but it’s also nearly instant.

As a lover of physical keyboards, for the first time ever I think I’m done with them for good.

Apps and Widgets

Accessing all of your applications hasn’t changed in Ice Cream Sandwich but the way you navigate through them has been tweaked quite a bit. With Android 4.0, you scroll through applications horizontally now and swiping to another page will produce a nice animation. Adding an application is done in the same way as previous versions of Android but when you long-press an app you’re presented with an option to uninstall said app on the top of the screen.

Another Honeycomb feature that made its way to Ice Cream Sandwich is that Apps and widgets now live in the same place and widgets now have their own dedicated tab at the top. You can also get to your widgets by swiping past your last page of apps. You’re now given a preview of how your widget will look on the homescreen, which is pretty nice. That said, it can be a bit overwhelming if you have a lot of widgets.

The new way of moving through apps and widgets may take some getting used to but it’s cleaner and much easier on the eyes.

Google Apps

Maps

Google Maps is just one of the many applications Google has revamped for Ice Cream Sandwich. Since a physical or capacitive menu button is no longer needed, most of your options are displayed on the screen.

Most of these revamped Google apps all share the same dark grey bars lining the top and bottom of the apps, which is where you’ll find the action bars. The bottom gives you the option to search, immediately jump into directions, go to the built-in Places app, layers, and the new on-screen menu option, which reveals options for My Places, Clear Map, Latitude, and settings.

The latest update of Google Maps adds more options to the top action bar for quick access to other Maps features.

Gmail

Probably my most-frequented application on any Android phone, Gmail has received a great facelift with Ice Cream Sandwich.

If you haven’t noticed the trend, these newer Google apps have most options found in the action bars on the top and bottom of the application. Gmail’s bottom action bar allows you to quickly compose a new email, search, change labels, refresh Gmail, and the menu option to show more settings. The top bar will allow you to quickly switch accounts.

When one or more emails are selected, the options on the action bar change. Once selected, an email can be archived, deleted, have its label changed, be marked as unread, or starred. The on-screen menu found on the bottom right of the action bar will allow you to mark the selected emails as important, mute, or report spam.

Navigating through emails is now easier than ever, as all you need to do is swipe to the left or right to get to your next email in your inbox. Sadly, Gmail still doesn’t support multitouch.

Calendar

Google Calendar has been tweaked a bit but not as dramatically as some of the other Google applications.

Probably the nicest tweak found in the calendar app is that when you’re in the week view, you can pinch to zoom on the screen to show more or less information on your appointments. So if you have many appointments on your plate for the week, you can expand the view easily to get just the right amount of information displayed for you at one time. However, the new zoom feature can not be used when the calendar is in the month view.

Only one action bar is used in the calendar application, which is found on top. The action bar allows you to easily jump into day, week, month, or agenda views, and the menu soft key found on the right allows for search, adding a new event, refresh, calendars to display, and settings.

Movie Studio

The Movie Studio application from Honeycomb has made its way to Ice Cream Sandwich and offers up all the features you’d expect. Once a video or picture is added to the current project, you can trim and edit the video, as well as add a music track on top of it.

Movie Studio isn’t the all in one video editing software but it’s a great start and coupling it with the decent photo editing in the gallery as well as video recording options in the camera app makes for a powerful set up.

YouTube

If you’re someone who used YouTube frequently, you’ll love the changes made in the Ice Cream Sandwich version of the application. The changes aren’t as dramatic as other Google applications, as one could tell YouTube was leaning in this direction when it was updated late last year.

The main screen on YouTube, like the previous versions, will show trending videos but if you’ve set up your account on the application, it will display suggested videos that are more relevent to your YouTube viewing habits. A quick swipe to the left will show you a new Browse option, which breaks down videos into the standard YouTube categories. Another swipe will bring you to your account page, which shows your uploads, favorite videos, playlists, and subscriptions. You’re also given the option to upload a video right from the gallery on this screen.

Selecting a video will bring you to a familiar screen, which displays the video on top and information of the video on the bottom. You can +1 the video, give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down, and  view the description. Related videos and comments for the video are just a few swipes away.

Data Usage

Ice Cream Sandwich not only sets out to make the user experience easier on the user but to keep them in control of their experience as well. This is where the new Data usage manager comes into play and if you consume a lot of data every month, you may have just met your new best friend.

The Data usage manager will not only show you the amount of data you’ve used for the month, but it will break it down into what applications are using the most data. Because we live in a world of tiered data plans, the data usage manager will allow you to set a mobile data limit on your phone, which will warn you when you’ve hit a certain amount of data for the month and completely turn off data once you top out. Better yet, if you notice a specific application that is sucking down data like oysters on a half shell, you can block the application from using data altogether.

Notifications

The notification bar has been revamped in many ways and we’re loving what Ice Cream Sandwich brings to the table. If available, texts, emails and others will show a picture of the sender next to the notification. This adds a more personable touch to the notification panel and it simply looks nice.

While you’ll still be able to clear all of your notifications with the simple “X” symbol on the notification bar, Google has made it easier than ever to dismiss specific notifications by using a simple gesture. The gesture is found throughout the entire OS, which is a simple swipe. The new way of dismissing individual notifications is definitely a nod to WebOS, and custom ROMs like CyanogenMod have had this method implemented for some time now.

One small tweak that has been added to the notification bar is that there’s now a dedicated settings option that’s found right next to the date. This will alleviate the need to dig through your applications or even go to your homescreen to get at the settings menu and we’re more than happy to see it.

In addition to the many new navigational methods found within Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, virtually every core Google application has been revamped. Stay tuned for a more in-depth review of Ice Cream Sandwich in the coming days.

Browser

The web browser is a joy to use on the Galaxy Nexus and just makes one of the best experiences even better in Ice Cream Sandwich. The look and feel has been refined in the browser and since there’s no dedicated menu button any longer, you’ll find everything you need at your fingertips.

As expected, you’ll find the address bar along the top of the browser, as well as the soft key for showing all of your open tabs and the three dot menu soft key for settings options.
Not only is the browser within Ice Cream Sandwich significantly faster, it also brings along some great features along the way. One feature that many people have been waiting for is Chrome Sync, which will sync all of your bookmarks on the Chrome desktop browser to your phone. This feature is especially nice for those who flash custom ROMs and are used to manually backing up their bookmarks every time, as it’s all done for you now.

Another feature found in the browser is Incognito Mode, which doesn’t save browsing history or cookies. This is a simple feature that has been available in CyanogenMod for some time now and it’s just nice to see that the stock Android browser is sharing many of the same features found in the Chrome desktop browser. Another feature is the ability to request the desktop version of a website. This is very useful for websites that recognize you’re on a mobile device and don’t offer the option for accessing the desktop version of the site.

At the moment, Adobe Flash is not available for Ice Cream Sandwich but we do know it will become available before the end of the year.

People

The People application, which is Ice Cream Sandwich’s new Contacts application and the first thing you’ll notice is that it looks like it was taken right out of Windows Phone 7.

The People app is broken into three sections: Groups, contacts, and favorites. You can sync your Twitter and Google+ contacts and when viewing a contact with either of these services, their latest updates will be shown.

The favorites page is displayed in a thumbnail view and allows for high-res pictures for your contacts. You’ll probably need to manually update these photos, as the first time my contacts were synced, all photos looked rather distorted but you’re good to go after that. This would be completely alleviated if Google still allowed your Facebook contacts to be synced but that likely won’t happen anytime soon.

Below your favorite contacts is a list of your most frequently contacted people, whether its text, email, or calling. It’s pretty nice to find these contacts in the same place, no matter what way you communicate with them.

Beam

Android Beam is a nifty and novel way of sharing content from one phone to another. You can easily share YouTube videos, contacts, applications and more simply by putting two Galaxy Nexus phones together and tapping on the screen. Before we tested it out, it seemed as if Android Beam would fall into the same gimmick realm as Face Unlock but we walked away pretty impressed. Check out the video below to see Android Beam in action!

Screenshots

A feature that many have been requesting for some time in Android has finally arrived in Ice Cream Sandwich. Screenshots. While the feature isn’t necessarily the most useful, it can be helpful and just plain fun. Previously, screenshots were a bit of a hassle to get working on most Android phones, as it required the Android SDK and connecting the device to a computer. Now screenshots can easily be taken by pressing the volume down button and power button at the same time for two seconds.

To add a bit of visual flair to screenshots, a simple poloroid-esque animation is displayed on the handset when a screenshot is taken.

Gallery

The Gallery application has been significantly revamped and now offers a built-in photo editor. Also taking heavy cues from Windows Phone 7, photos are displayed in a magazine-style and doesn’t offer much spacing in between photos. This is easy on the eyes but can also make the gallery app feel a bit noisy.

Tapping on a photo will allow you to edit it and apply all sorts of filters and after-effects. The editing options are actually pretty decent for what you’d find built-in to any phone. HEre are just a few options you can choose from: highlights, Shadows, Auto-fix, Cross-process, Posterize, Lomo, Documentary,Vignette, Film Grain, Fisheye. There are also more color effects and other photo manipulation options, like straighten, sharpen, etc.

Conclusion

After using the Galaxy Nexus as my primary phone and adjusting to Ice Cream Sandwich, I doubt I’ll ever be able to go back. Android 4.0 is a dramatic update that still keeps surprising with these subtle, well thought out touches.

Ice Cream Sandwich is very easy to use but it can be a bit unintuitive to use at times. I’d almost say it may be harder for an existing Android user to wrap their head around some of the changes in ICS than a person that’s never owned any smartphone before. Existing Android users will have to break habits of previous versions that a new user simply wont.

Still, small things like the on-screen menu button not being in the same place in every app and other things of the sort can sometimes make Ice Cream Sandwich a bit messy but these issues are very minute and will likely get ironed out in time.

Overall, Ice Cream Sandwich really is the update that Android has needed for sometime. It’s still powerful enough to keep the hardcore users but easier to use and prettier to attract other people using different mobile operating systems. Android 4.0 is modern and elegant, with eye-candy found throughout. The latest flavor of Android changes the way you use the OS in almost every way for the better. Android has essentially been reborn because Ice Cream Sandwich is such a step up. Such a bold revamp of the OS could have had negative effects and we’re glad that Google went there because it paid off.

Matias Duarte did Google a huge solid with Ice Cream Sandwich and even though it’s essentially Honeycomb for phones, Android 4.0 is miles ahead from version 3.0 and much of its competition.

Infinity Blade II starts where the original Infinity Blade ended. You play once again as the Hero, or better known as Siris. Siris continues his adventure and is in need of assistance from The Worker of Secrets who has been locked away in a large castle which you must navigate to find him. There is way more to the story with a good amount of twists and turns, but I’ll leave the synopsis at that as to not spoil the great adventure ChAIR Entertainment has put into place for Infinity Blade II. Let’s just say there’s way more story elements in this game than there was in the last.

With a year of development, ChAIR has made an already visually impressive experience and upped the ante with some amazing visuals that I would never think were possible on a mobile device. Siris armor and weapons all look great, while the Titans and other enemies he faces off against all look extremely intimidating and fierce. Lighting effects have also seen a vast improvement as solar flares and other lighting techniques give the game a real world feel.

Infinity Blade II’s combat system has received improvements as well as you’ll now be able to use 2-handed and dual-wield weapons along with the traditional sword & shield combination. Each weapon style has its own strengths and weaknesses such as 2-handed weapons usually offer higher damage output at the cost of speed. Offering a wider variety in weapons guarantees players will find a fighting style that they’re most comfortable with in order to dominate their foes as well as allowing them to change the pace of action by fighting with different weapon classes.

Enemies in Infinity Blade II have also received some combat improvements. At times, your enemy’s combat movements may be easily tracked, but there will be times where you’ll find yourself guessing wrong as your enemies have now learned some new combat moves that will keep you guessing. Certain enemies will even use magic against you which you’ll need to dodge.

After you successfully eliminate each enemy you encounter, you’ll be given Experience Points (XP) and Gold. Your XP will not only level up Siris, but also the gear he is currently equipped with. The Gold you receive can be used to purchase new gear from the game’s store, or you can now spend your gold to upgrade any piece of your gear to master it. That experience from Infinity Blade has, for the most part, been left unchanged, but a new gem system has been added that allows you to place gems into your equipment to give them boosts in various aspects which are dependent on the gems. Also, certain enemy engagements will require you to perform specific tasks, such as blocking 10 times or stunning your opponent, which will give you bonus XP once completed.

One thing that seemed to get old fast in Infinity Blade was the somewhat linear journey the player would take through the castle. There were only a small amount of different paths you could take to get to your final encounter with the God King, but Infinity Blade II feels less linear compared to the original. I know that’s easy to say when playing a new game, but I’ve played for hours and every time I always find some new area to explore or enemy to encounter.

Final Thought: I said it earlier in my review, and I’ll say it again: You’d be a fool not to get Infinity Blade II. The game has received so many enhancements over the original that I not only can highly recommend it to any iOS owner, but I also highly recommend non-iOS owners to consider picking up an iOS device as I feel you’re missing out on another great accomplishment in mobile gaming if you don’t play Infinity Blade II. Infinity Blade II is an even more visually stunning, addictive, combat exploration game which needs to be in your iOS gaming library.

Following the launch of the 9900, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 hearkens back to the slimmer 9750 and 9700. It’s very light, and carries with it a few new design changes, like beveled keys on the outer edges, and a repositioned micro USB slot, but keeps the single top lock button and redesigned side media control keys. From a specs perspective, the Bold 9790 is a notch behind the 9900, if not a huge one. The 5 megapixel camera is actually a slight improvement, considering it has autofocus, but it’s a bit smaller at 2.4 inches, and the resolution is down from 640 x 480 to 480 x 360. The 1 GHz processor is a decent improvement over the old 9700-series, and only a little bit behind 9900 / 9930. NFC is included, though dependent on carrier cooperation. That feature is more about future-proofing at this point; right now, I’d like to see RIM finally get mobile Wi-Fi hotspots working, and after that, DLNA support. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

In my brief time with the device, I wasn’t particularly blown away, mostly because the OS 7 experience is largely unchanged. Everything operated smoothly, and I think RIM will do a fine job in delivering a 9900-esque experience in a more affordable package, but the current pricing data from TELUS puts the 9790 only $40 cheaper than the 9900. Is that going to be enough of a price drop to make this phone accessible to no-contract markets, like the Indonesian one RIM is marketing the BlackBerry 9790 for? I doubt it, but maybe we’ll see some significant price cuts after a few months following the launch.

In any case, here’s a walk-through video with one of RIM’s product managers and a bunch of stills. What do you guys think – will this at least tide RIM over in international markets until BBX handsets start getting announced?

The BlackBerry Curve 9380 has a 480 x 360 3.2-inch touchscreen like the Torch 9800 of yesteryear, along with having a similar 5 megapixel camera, but at least the processing speed has been bumped up from 624 MHz to 806 MHz (similar to the Curve 9360). There’s a batch of tricks introduced over the summer that continue to be standard with the 9380, including a magnetic compass for augmented reality apps, near-field communications, and support for 3D graphics. Since the 9860 didn’t have NFC, the 9380 does have a slight leg up on its predecessor, but still no mobile Wi-Fi hotspot function; I gather that RIM is still working on it.

The difference in processing speed compared to the Bold 9900 is most readily apparent when downloading and installing apps but when running through the usual day-to-day stuff, like checking e-mail and casual browsing, the 806 MHz processor isn’t particularly slow. The screen quality is a bit rough if you’re accustomed to anything sharper, but for an entry-level phone, the image quality is good enough. The 5 megapixel camera seems like it’s “enhanced depth of field” like the Bold 9900, which is code for “no auto-focus and therefor crap at taking close-ups”, but I’ll have to double-check that in our full review later on. I didn’t have a chance to test out the Bold 9780, but seeing as the spec sheet uses nearly identical verbiage for the camera, I’m going to guess it’s in the same boat. One of my biggest nitpicks about the 9860 was the bar at the top of the virtual keyboard which was easy to accidentally press and hide your keyboard, but the RIM guys showed me where the option was to disable that.

While I doubt the BlackBerry Curve 9380 will pose any serious threat to top-end Android hardware, I think it may get existing BlackBerry fans who are tempted by the big screens out there to give RIM one more shot, especially if the the 9380 can maintain a reasonable price point. TELUS is selling it for $49.99 on a three-year contract, which one could easily see dropping off to $0 after two months or so. I’ll be getting a full review for this one out shortly, but in the meantime, here’s a video and some pictures to tide you over.