1st Impressions

So you’ve now installed Google Sync on your iPhone.  All your Outlook contacts and Gmail contacts are now together.  So are all your anniversaries and birthdays from Outlook and Google Calendar.  Then, you’ve done something bright like backed up the SIM card contacts from other family member’s phones, and even downloaded your Facebook Friends’ birthdays and imported them into Outlook, Google Calendar, or both.  Maybe you’ve used something like Export Friends To CSV or the iCal exporter.  Maybe you have even used Fonebook to import all your friends profile pictures into Outlook.  You may even, like myself, manage an online site and have downloaded a CSV of 1500+ member’s names and email addresses.  But now, there’s a problem.  A HUGE problem.  When your son calls, your iPhone notifies you that “Kevin or three other people” are calling.  When your wife’s birthday rolls around, you get multiple alerts that it is “Terri’s Birthday”, “Terri Eaton’s Birthday”, and “Terri Shedd Eaton’s Birthday”.  You look and you have chaos in your contact list and calendar.  One contact has their address info and home number.  Another has their profile picture.  Yet another has their cell phone number.  What to do?

Enter the Outlook Duplicate Killer from 4 Team.  As you may have figured out in my opening paragraph, I was in a nightmare situation.  I looked around for different solutions, tested several, and settled on Outlook Duplicate Killer.  The 14-day free trial that would show you all your duplicates and then allow you to merge a limited few of them was enough to convince me.  This thing works, and works very, very well.  It’s a bit pricey on my budget, but at $29.95 it will save you a lot of time and grief over trying to sort through and merge hundreds (if not thousands) of duplicate entries in your system.  It works on addresses, calendar events, tasks, notes, journals, and even emails.  In other words, if it is in Outlook, this thing can tackle it.

Outlook Duplicate Killer integrates seamlessly into Outlook 2007 on Windows 7 (my current configuration).  It can run through your entire set of contacts (or whatever else) searching for duplicates based on a number of pre-configured options, or you can set custom options to look for (more on that later).  It can also be used to select to contacts in your system and merge them for you manually.  In other words, it is not limited to just merging what it finds.  This is helpful when you have things like “Me”, “Daniel”, “Daniel Eaton”, and “Dad” references where my number may be listed as “home”, “mobile”, or “work”.

The custom search criteria is a powerful tool in Outlook Duplicate Killer.  When I imported my birthday and anniversary data from different sources, for example, I ended up with entries that included first name, first and last name, and even first-maiden-last name format.  Some of the Facebook stuff that came is was actually based on their Facebook profile name that listed a couple.  So you could do something like matching all events that shared the same date and recurrence pattern.  You wouldn’t want to automatically merge everything it finds that way, but it allows you to select which items to merge.

As with most of my reviews, I have suggestions.  First, it would be cool if there was a bit more AI where you could find duplicates based on things like a match of first word of the subject or something like that.  This would also help when you have Joe with primary number and Joe Smith that has the same number but specified as as a mobile number or birthdays listed for the same person three different ways.  If it would recognize the type of event (“birthday” or “anniversary”) and the first name, it would be great.  Second, a side benefit of being able to add those birthday and anniversary dates to the Birthday field or Anniversary field of the contacts would really make this a killer application.  Still looking for a way to do that.  Finally, if it would remember that “Terri”, “Terri Eaton”, and “Terri Shedd Eaton” was the same person (especially if any other field was the same), subsequent merges could be much easier as well.  I could download updates to Facebook birthdays and it would remember all the prior matches

Once you have your data all merged and cleaned up, the Google Sync setup on your iPhone will keep all your contacts and calendar events synchronized and backed up online (should Outlook or your computer ever crash).  Changes made at any of the three places will be reflected at the other two.  If you don’t have that on your phone, or if you prefer a desktop solution to keep all this in sync, 4 Team also has a desktop solution called Sync2 that will not only keep our Outlook data synced to Google, but also to a long list of other places.  (If I can get a code for it, I’ll be testing it and posting a review of it a well.)

Now if I can just find a batch process to import iCal birthdays and anniversaries into the appropriate fields in the Contact database.  Maybe some iCal to CSV converter….Hmmm…..Better yet, maybe 4 Team can link contact info with calendar info!

I do all my email in Gmail.  Nothing comes close to it’s feature set.  Well now, there’s an app for that.  iGmail is a native app for the iPhone that does more than just give you access to your mobile Gmail page.  It does that as well, but adds some really nice features that, in my book, make it worth the $1.99 price.  First, you are able to use the app while offline.  This includes a list of your contacts (with the top 20 most used addresses sorted for easy access), and the ability to write or respond to email and have it saved as drafts for the next time you are online.

Other nice features include an optional menu to get to your Google Calendar, Chat, News, and other Google products, the ability to view email full-screen, shaking your device to select or de-select the emails on the screen, and a unique overlay of icons for easy navigation.  There is even a built-in browser for viewing the web version of your mailbox or any HTML email you receive.  You can tell this was put together by a real Gmail lover and a lot of thinking went into it.

Having said that, there is a big elephant in the room that I must address.  The one HUGE missing piece of this application is push notifications.  If it were to add that, it would definitely be worth the $1.99 price point.  As it is, I’d really recommend it for the heavy Gmail user, but not the casual user.  If you are just a casual user, I’d wait for either push notifications or it going on sale again for $0.99.

Overall, as a heavy user of Gmail, I’m pleased with the $1.99 purchase.  The developer is still working on the app and promising more updates.  I am looking forward to what the future holds for it.  Unfortunately though, the developer’s web site is down and the only way to get suggestions to them appears to be the reviews on the iTunes store.

Two new games have hit the App store recently that follow in the genre of those parking lot puzzles or traffic puzzles where you attempt to move the pieces around until you free a designated one. In this case, the designated one is appropriatly identified as the Blue Block. The clean interface of the game is due in large part to the lack of concentration on different kinds and/colors of vehicles. This game offers a simple GUI and graphics that do not distract from the goal at hand.  It makes up for that typical eye-candy with a massive puzzle database. When I say massive, I mean to convey an almost limitless supply.

Blue Blocks is currently free and contains a virtually endless number of levels (literally tens of thousands) starting with kiddy difficulty levels and immediate levels and going up. Virtual endless game play at a current price of zero should be a no brainer… ButWait!!!!  There’s More!!!

Not to be satisfied with the free Blue Block game, the developers took a common genre and stepped it up a notch. They added an additional blue block. This makes any given level twice as difficult. The almost 4,500 games in this pack are devided between medium, hard, and expert difficulties. If you want something at the kiddie or easy level, go back to the free game.  The difficulty levels seem well set. My attempt at the very first level ended me finishing with close to twice as many moves as it could have been done by a master at these. I learned real quick that I am no master. LOL

The game interface is simple.  Pieces slide with the swipe of a finger just as you would expect.  The status bar across the top displays your chosen difficulty level, the puzzle level you are working on, the number of moves you should be able to complete it in, and, in my case above, the fact that it took me almost twice that to complete it.  Once a level is complete, you can choose to re-play it and try to better your score or to move on to the next level.

I do have a few suggestions for the game(s).  First, I like it when a game has multiple player profiles.  My iPhone is the only one in the house and more than one person plays games on it.  Second, while I would not like a timer to stress me while I played the game, it would be nice if the level selection screen that showed how many moves a complete level took also displayed the time it took you.  Where this could really benefit is if the game added an online leader board that showed a score calculation based on your speed and a percentage of par.  Ability to optionally post these scores to Twitter and/or Facebook as some other games allow would not only allow for a bit of bragging, but also drive some attention to the game.  Finally, I would love to be able to move a piece, change my mind, and move it back without it counting as a move.  My scores are going to be plenty high as it is without my fat-finger mistakes adding to it.

Overall, I’d give this pair of games a solid 10 out of 10.  They make my Must Have list and have replaced any of the competing products on my iPhone.  Close to 40,000 combined levels for a total price of $0.99 is an incredible bargain.  If you want to try the double-block harder levels without the $0.99 expense, there is even a lite version that offers 50 puzzles for you to try.  My recommendation is to skip that though and grab Blue Block while it is free and Blue Block Double while developer still has it at a $0.99 price.  It’s worth a lot more.

I know my last couple of reviews have been for Chillingo releases, but they’ve been real busy over there lately and this is another one.   Horror Racing is a top-down racing game with a twist.  The twist is that your car has mounted guns and, as you race, you can pick up ammo and “health” on the track and shoot at your competition.

As you can see on the screen, your steering is controlled on the bottom right.  Controls for firing are on the bottom left.  Top left shows the location of the cars on the track, and race progress is displayed on the top right.

Personally, I found a lot of this information very helpful, but was generally too busy trying to keep my poor little car headed in the right direction to pay attention to much else.  LOL  The game offers a lot.  Not only are there 15 different tracks, but several different players/cars to choose from.  Three modes of difficulty are available as well.  As you play the game and earn money, you can also upgrade your weapons.  Besides having a promo video on YouTube, there is also a lite version available for free on the App Store.  The full version runs for $2.99 in the App Store.  If you like racing games, I’d recommend that you check this title out.

Underground is one of the latest releases by Chillingo.  Chillingo does an excellent job at taking a familiar concept and putting it in a whole new setting.  This is one such game.  As the YouTube video of the game play shows, the game is a ship-shooter game but instead of being set in space, is set in a graffiti-plastered underground subway.  The music and background graphics really add to an urban feel.

Game play utilizes both tilt controls and touch controls in three modes of difficulty in a typical 2D side-scrolling arcade fashion.  If you are like me and prefer puzzle games over arcade games, you probably won’t find much here to excite you.  If, on the other hand, you want excitement, the game play combined with the sound track, sound effects, and moving train backgrounds really add up to get your heart pumping.  The game features 11 different weapons and 60 different enemies and is available for $3.99 in the App Store.

Cash Cow is a new game from Chillingo.  Expect it in the App Store shortly.  A great video on YouTube shows the game in action.  It is a port of a very successful game that has already been out for a while.  Game play is similar to the ever-popular match the gems kinds of games, but is totally different.  Instead of just matching colors or shapes though, this requires a whole new thought pattern and seems to exercise a whole new area of the brain.

The object of the game level shown is to match up 5 pennies to make a nickel, some combination of pennies and neckels to make a dime, some combo of those to make 25 cents, and some combination of all of that to make up $1.  Your goal is to collect enough of all of that to meet a set amount for that level.

But this type of level is just one of many available in the game.  Others challenges exist as well.  Things get trickier when you add counterfeit money, ladybugs, gold nuggets, glowing coins, and powerups into the mix.  With the money you collect, you can upgrade your farm.  If you like gem-matching games, you should really try this one when it comes out.

Transformations is an INCREDIBLE word game.  It is definitely a Must Have for anyone that likes crosswords or any other kind of word game.  For $0.99, you get 2,000 puzzles like the one pictured.  Each word is changed a particular way, called a transformation, from the one it connects to.  This can include adding a letter (or two), re-arranging the letters, replacing a letter, and words that sound the same.  It is definitely a mental challenge.  If you get stuck, a two-finger tap on the screen brings up a menu to change to a different puzzle, fill in a letter, show your errors, and even an option to move on to another level.

The game offers three different difficulty levels and two different modes of play.  One is relaxing, and one is timed and you try to complete as much as you can before you run out of whichever time limit you select.  You get points based on the number completed puzzles and the number of correct letters on the current one when the time runs out.  The game also has the nice feature of allowing you to play music from your library while playing the game.

My suggestions for this almost-perfect game are few.  A leader board reflecting how long a particular level takes to complete would be nice.  Adding a transformation for synonyms would make for a nice addition.  Additions to the game is not what makes it just barely less than perfect though.  The keyboard is custom.  It has that “delete word” key on the bottom left.  The keyboard has a slightly different feel to it from the default iPhone keyboard though.  On a couple of occasions, I found myself having to tap a letter twice.  It doesn’t negatively impact overall game play, but if it was refined a bit, it would make this truly a masterpiece.

Overall, if I were to rate the game, I would give it a 9.5 out of 10 stars.  It’s that good.  If the $0.99 isn’t enough to make you want to rush out and get this, a lite version containing 40 puzzles is available for you to try.  If you like word games though, skip the lite version and go for the full thing.  It is guaranteed to bring you hours and hours of fun and challenge.

Super Shock Football is a new release from Chillingo.  It is  sloughing it’s way through the tedious Apple submission and approval process now, so expect it in the app store soon. As with other Chillingo releases, the graphics and sound are excellent.  The game has a very nostalgic feel to it, and the background sound gives you the feel of being at an enthusiastic collage football game.  For a sneak peak of what this game looks like and wide range of options available, watch the YouTube video of the game walkthrough by the developers, Steamroller Studios.  Expect a full review once the game is released.

Cubit is a great little game that just hit the App Store in August.  It is a wonderfully executed puzzle game.  As you can see in the screen shot, the top of the screen has three views that show you where your block(s) reside from three different perspectives.  The goal is to move it/them so that the numbers on your “key” at the top correspond with the number of sides that are touching.  The numbers turn yellow as you achieve that goal.  As you move your finger around on the bottom of the screen, your field of play rotates around so that you can view it from any angle.  By touching a block, you can move if forward/backward, left/right, and/or up/down.  It sounds a lot more complicated than it really is.  It is actually very intuitive and the means of play in no way gets in the way of the game.

In many ways, this game reminds me of the old Nonogram style games.  In this case though, it has been elevated to 3D.  It is this increasing level of complexity with a small playing field that is perfect for the iPhone.  Larger puzzles with massive grids would be too difficult to casually play.  I would, however, love to possibly see 4×4 grids added in the future.

Some real thought went into this game.  There is no timer or anything to cause you stress.  As you finish a level, you can post the fact that you completed it on Twitter.  The first few levels are nothing really to brag about though.  If this feature were disabled until you got into more advanced levels, that would be fine with me.  Other thoughtful things are that you can leave the game at any time.  When you come back, it not only remembers what level you were on, but the position of your blocks as you left them.  If you get stuck, you can skip to the next level (as long as you stay in the same difficulty level of 20 puzzles) and return to the current one at another time.  As you get close to completing the puzzle, it will even tell you how many moves it will take to finish it.  While sometimes this appeared helpful, when you are really stuck, it is a taunt at how close you are.   One undocumented feature is that you can turn off the sound in the game and listen to your iPod library of music while playing the game.

My suggestions are few.  I’d love for there to be some hint system for the more difficult puzzles.  When you are getting up to 5 different blocks to move around, it would be nice of you could replace the actual view of things as displayed on the top with the front, side, and top view of what the solution looks like.  In other words, you would see the solution represented graphically instead of numerically.  Having both modes of play would really help, I would think.  The only other suggestion I would have is to add additional levels that are generated on demand and/or levels with an increased playing field size.  While I think the higher levels of the game are probably smarter than I am and I’m likely to never get finished with them all, I could see the benefit of having more puzzles available in the cheaper difficulty levels.

The game currently consists of 100 different levels that get increasingly more difficult.  If the $2.99 price tag is too much for you, a free lite version is available that contains the first 15 levels.  And, if you can wait until September 5th, the app will be on sale for $0.99.  At that price, it definitely makes my Must-Have list for any puzzle fan and deserves the 5-star rating in the App Store.  While I don’t give out stars here, this game made it to my single partially-full iPhone screen of favorites.  So, out of the hundreds (300-400) apps and games I’ve tested and/or reviewed, this makes it to my list of top 10-15 games.  So my suggestion is simple.  Download the Lite version to play with for the next 72-hours, then grab this thing while it is on sale.  You won’t regret it.

UPDATE: Seems that once you get past the novice and beginner difficulty levels (40 puzzles), you do get into 4×4 grids.  This means that you have 64 possible positions for blocks instead of 9.  My genius son played some of these higher levels (as well as everything before them), but found it more difficult to maneuver the blocks where you wanted them.  It became frustrating.  It also revealed the need for keeping track of user progress for more than one user.  If I am any indication, the game gets too difficult at some level that probably differs from one person to the next.  That is why I would love to see it generate new levels within a certain selected difficulty level.