Reviews

While Fitness Month is focusing on sleep and relaxation, part of a good night's sleep is waking up on time. Right? In that spirit we now turn our attention to an alarm clock app for your Windows Phone.

Night Stand Clock is a resourceful alarm clock app for your Windows Phone that has a wide selection of clock designs, includes integrated weather and can double as a flashlight. It's a nifty alarm clock app that should help you rise and shine from a relaxing sleep.

Hopefully last week you caught my comparison between the Fitbit One and Nike FuelBand as devices to help measure your activity. In addition we’re hoping you joined our Fitbit group, where you can also win a prize (we just hit 200 members!).

As we continue our Fitness Month here at Mobile Nations, we’ll continue to explore how technology can help improve our health. Today, we’re talking about a scale. Yes, a thing to measure your weight and this is by far the oddest “review” I’ve had to do.

The Aria scale (made by Fitbit) ties in nicely with their One fitness activity tracker. Think of it as the other half of the equation. The scale is not cheap: it goes for $130 on Amazon, which last we checked is hella expensive for something that may depress you every day you use it.

 But my fellow tech geeks, this scale has Wi-Fi.  So is it worth it? Read on to get my answer.

The Quote is a popular Windows Phone app that has made the leap to Windows Phone 8 offering support not only for all the screen resolutions but also support for the various live tile sizes and lockscreen support.

It has been a while since we last looked at The Quote and with this recent update, we decided to revisit the entertainment/reference app.

There are only a few Windows 8 laptops in production that we can consider to be the ‘high end’, machines with exacting build quality and specifications to match. While many PC makers are content to push out hum drum machines with middling specs and so so performance the same cannot be said for Lenovo and their ThinkPad range. Over the years their quality and reliability have become legend amongst the most demanding of laptop buyers.

The ThinkPad X1 comes in a body woven from Carbon fibre in a style similar to that of the current crop of Ultrabooks. Lenovo seems keen on finally shunting the look of their machines forwards and have recently adopted Chicklet keyboards and of course the wedge shape body design we have all come to recognize of late.  I’ll be kicking the tires on the X1 to see how well Lenovo have melded the heritage of ThinkPad with the modern styling of an Ultrabook.

Nokia’s Lumia 620 could be Palm Centro of 2013

The Nokia Lumia 620, a modestly priced entry-level Windows Phones, represents one of the best value devices we’ve encountered yet on the platform. The 620 replaces the Lumia 610, a device that went on sale last year and now runs Windows Phone 7.8. But in our opinion, the value impact of the 620 is leaps and bounds higher than its predecessor.

Make no mistake, this is an entry-level device that is not meant to rival the 800/900 series of Lumia Windows Phones. But also know this: it is one cool device and we’re having a hard time putting it down.

Packing a lot of power, the Brando Power Jacket is a nice solution for those who don't mind the extra bulk

Back a few weeks ago we reported on Brando bringing their seemingly high quality Power Jacket to market for the Lumia 920. The $37 item features a massive 2200mAh battery that “wraps around” your precious Nokia phone, allowing you go all day and night all at the price of extra size.

Our ‘Jacket showed up yesterday and we’ve been toying around with it. Verdict? For $37 we think it’s a good deal. There’s no doubt that it makes the Lumia 920 even huger but let’s be clear, this is for specific moments where you need extra power—traveling, long hikes, camping, power outages, etc. For that reason, it’s quite a nice addition.

Head past the break to see our video review and photo gallery.

Super Voltage is a Windows Phone puzzle game where you race to solve puzzles.  It reminds me a little of the Windows Phone game Metro Pipes but instead of racing a clock, you're racing pesky little monsters.  Super Voltage features Koo Monsters who, when they reach the bottom of the screen, drain you of health point.

You are tasked with solving a series of puzzles and as you do, the Koo monsters are slowly working their way down your Windows Phone screen.  However, as you complete one of the puzzles, super voltage electricity power is unleashed that destroys any monster lying within it's path.  Again, if the monsters make it to the bottom of the screen, you lose health points.

Super Voltage is a fun, fast paced game that is full of challenge. It's a nice addition to the Windows Phone gaming library.

Microsoft has never released a portable console like the Playstation Vita or 3DS, instead opting to publish Xbox-branded games for Windows Phone and Windows 8… A wise choice given the modern trend towards smartphone and tablet gaming over handheld game systems. With the Xbox 360’s excellent lineup of downloadable games, Windows Phone users rightfully expected the chance to play many of their XBLA favorites on their mobile phones.

Unfortunately, the number of robust, XBLA-quality titles released for Xbox Windows Phone to date is incredibly small. I count only Final Fantasy, Puzzle Quest 2, Castlevania Puzzle, ilomilo, Plants vs. Zombies, Sonic 4: Episode I, and Sonic CD as games with full console-level production values and quantity of content. Crimson Dragon Side Story, Hydro Thunder GO, and Civilization Revolution would be on there too if not for their Playstation One-era graphics. Maybe 11 games out of Xbox Windows Phone’s over 150 titles feel like full XBLA games and not just smartphone/casual titles.

Well, add another game to the top-tier pile because Skulls of the Shogun from 17-BIT and Microsoft Studios fits right alongside the XBLA and Windows 8 versions that released alongside it.

Plane in Storm is a fast paced arcade game for your Windows Phone that has you piloting a plane, trying to out run bad weather, dodging flying objects, storm clouds and lighting bolts along the way.

The game is nicely animated with two game modes and plenty of bonus items. I'm not sure if Plane in Storm can hold up to marathon gaming sessions but it's a nice way to pass short bits of time with.

Gestulator is a gesture based calculator app for your Windows Phone. We took a look at the app some time ago and found it to be an interesting, handy calculator app.

Gestulator was recently updated to provide Windows Phone 8 support that also addresses a few stability issues. The Windows Phone 8 support allows the app to be compatible with all screen sizes and overall, the app seems to have a little more zip.  If you're looking for a basic calculator with a speedy interface, Gestulator is worth trying.

One aspect of fitness is dealing with the weather in a healthy and safe way. The Windows Phone app WeatherCare hopes to help you combat the elements in a healthy, safe manner by providing weather tips based on your current conditions.

Tips range from health related to clothing tips to driving tips. On rainy days you may get a tip to watch for slippery spots on the road or on sunny days with a high UV Index, tips to wear sunscreen for protection.

WeatherCare has potential and I like the concept, but the app still needs a little fine tuning.

SophieLens Pro is a photo editing app for your Windows Phone 8 device that lets you apply a wide range of filters to your photos.

SophieLens Pro is a fairly straight forward photography app that launches straight to a camera app that previews the selected filter in the view finder. The filter style is noted in the bottom left corner of the view finder and two button controls sit on the right edge of the view finder that controls the flash and changes the filter.