comics

GoComics launches official app for Windows Phone, get your Dilbert on the run

Apps

By Sam Sabri, Wednesday, Apr 17, 2013 at 11:11 pm

GoComics is a popular website launched back in 2005 for both strips, panels and editorial cartoons. It features virtually all of the major comics and cartoonists you can think of. And there is now an official app for Windows Phone to satisfy your comics need on the run.

Soul Gambler, an interactive way to risk your inner being

Games

By George Ponder, Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 at 8:53 am

Soul Gambler is a rather interesting role playing game for your Windows Phone. Not only in the game play itself but also in that game's future hinges on a Kickstarter project's success.

Soul Gambler is a interactive story game where you control the direction of the story and the fate of the main character. You play the role of Faust who is given a chance to sell his soul for the life of his dreams. The interactive comic is an interesting game and in a way a tease of things to come if the developer gets enough support from his Kickstarter campaign. Soul Gambler may not appeal to everyone but it does make for a unique Windows Phone game experience.

Manga Reader for Windows Phone is now free

By Rich Edmonds, Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 4:37 pm

Manga Reader, a popular Japanese comic reading app for Windows Phone, has recently turned free - as in completely free with no advertising. Users are able to browse comics from multiple sources and download multiple chapters / titles. It's a full-featured client with favourites, orientation lock for reading in bed and zoom functionality, to name but a few features.

Some feature highlights of Manga Reader:

Multiple sources of manga series
Search titles on multiple sources
Set multiple chapters and title for download
Pause and resume download
Streaming of manga to read
Single or continuous viewer is available
Pinch and Pan to zoom
Double touches for quick zoom
Lock Screen feature to read in bed
Add manga to favourites and manage it
Library of manga for downloaded chapters
Recent list of viewed manga
Latest update from server as reference for manga update
Custom background of the application
Sort chapters in settings

Should you be interested in checking out Manga while on the move, you'll definitely need to have Manga Reader in your app arsenal. The offline viewing functionality gives the app an edge with expanding usage to commuting and when in roaming situations. You can download Manga Reader for free from the Marketplace.

Thanks, Jeremie, for the tip!

Pocket Meme for Windows Phone heading to the Marketplace [Video]

Apps

By Daniel Rubino, Tuesday, Mar 13, 2012 at 6:43 am

Our own Matt aka RogueCode has a new app heading to the Windows Phone Marketplace this week. Built off of the success of the Ffffound app (plus Tweet This Song! and Project Mosaic) but going further, Pocket Meme is an app for accessing those popular single-panel comics from QuickMeme.com directly to your phone--no ads, no chrome, just hilarity.

The app will allow you to save, view in high res and share (SMS, Email, Social), giving you full access to both the front-page as well as each meme's own section. Plus the coolest part: the random Meme selector (a 3D cube that you spin around).

Other features include the ability to Pin-to-Start individual memes, shake to randomize and in a future update, Live Tile support. All in all a fun app if you're a fan of QuickMeme (we are, in fact we asked Matt to make this!).

The app should be hitting the Marketplace this week and will fetch for $0.99.

Dilbert Hub goes Mango

Apps

By George Ponder, Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011 at 9:35 pm

The Dilbert Hub has gone Mango. For those not familiar with the Dilbert Hub it's a Windows Phone app that brings all the Dilbert comics you can handle to your Windows Phone.

The update, version 3.0, Mango features such as fast resume and Live Tiles into the mix but also the comic strips are now touch zoomable. While the Dilbert Hub supports landscape view which enlarges the strip somewhat, being able to zoom into the strip is a nice bonus.

The Live Tile support brings the "Daily Dilbert" comic strip to your Start Screen. Once pinned, there is a little bit of a delay (up to thirty minutes) in initiating the tile where it will display the "Daily Dilbert" tile.

The Dilbert Hub is still laid out nicely giving you access to over twenty years of archived comic strips, featured strips, and the ability to search the strips by keyword. Add the ability to share comics via Facebook, email or SMS and you've got a fairly complete Dilbert resource.

The Dilbert Hub is a free, ad supported app for your Windows Phone. You can download the updated, mango version of the Dilbert Hub here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Dilbert Hub - App Spotlight

Apps

By George Ponder, Thursday, Oct 27, 2011 at 12:16 am

We were tipped about a highly recommended Dilbert app over at the Windows Phone Marketplace and decided to take a gander. The Dilbert Hub is your one stop for over twenty years of daily comic strips.

The app is designed nicely, taking full advantage of the Windows Phone hub. Pages include:

Menu Page: links to the latest strips, pull up strips at random, and access the apps settings.
Archive Page: The Archive page displays a months worth of comic strips. By default this page will display the current month's strips but you can change the month displayed from the date field.
Search Page: Here you will find a keyword search field.
Featured Page: The Featured Page highlights eight comic strips.

Comic strips are displayed by thumbnail images of one frame of the strip. To view the full comic strip, just tap on the thumbnail. Dilbert Hub supports vertical and landscape orientation. The only downside to the Dilbert Hub is that the comic strip view is not zoomable. Some of us old-timers may have trouble reading the fine print.

When you find a comic strip that needs to be shared amongst friends, you can tap the three-dot menu to share the strip via Facebook, email or SMS. The app does use your location services (can be turned off in the settings) to localize the ad banners.

All in all, the Dilbert Hub is a nice looking app that brings all the Dilbert you could want to your Windows Phone. Dilbert Hub is a free, ad-supported app that you can find here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Thanks goes out to Mark for the tip!

Flickr and Lindy Reader joins the Mango crowd

Apps

By George Ponder, Sunday, Oct 2, 2011 at 6:19 pm

Add two more apps that have been updated to enjoy the Windows Phone 7.5 features. Flickr and Lindy Reader have been Mango-fied.

The official Flickr app (updated to version 2.0) not only gives you access to your Flickr account but now it is integrated with your Windows Phone camera. You can launch the camera app from within the Flickr app, place a grid overlay on top of the viewfinder to help with cropping, and access camera controls/settings.

You also have Live Tile support for the camera function, your galleries (launches directly to your photostream), contact activity, as well as the app itself. The update brings a significant amount of bells and whistles into the mix and adds a good amount of functionality as well.

We first took a look at the Lindy Reader earlier this year. It's a comic book reader that let's you download comic's save on Dropbox. The Mango update (version 2.2) improves the speed of the app, adds fast resume, thumbnails, banners, and folders to make your comic book reading easier.

The Lindy Reader does have a free, ad-supported version which you can find here at the Windows Phone Web Market. The ad-free version will run you $1.99 and you can find it here at the Web Marketplace.

Flickr is a free app which you can find here at the Web Marketplace.

DC Comics gets updated

Apps

By George Ponder, Tuesday, Aug 2, 2011 at 1:59 pm

DC Comics hit the Windows Phone Marketplace towards the latter part of June, received it's first update on July 2, 2011 and one month later has been updated yet again. With no change log posted, we can only assume the updates address the stability and download issues present with the comic book app.

DC Comics is still a fantastic looking application that delivers titles such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern to your Windows Phone. You still have free and paid (about $1.99 an issue) comics you can download. As well as the ability to order print versions from the Windows Phone app.

But, based on the comments on our original post and over at the Marketplace DC Comics had a tendency to crash and deliver incomplete downloads. While the comics are impressive, receiving half a comic or having the app crash in mid-sentence is never a good thing.

We've downloaded to updated version (v1.2) to see if the stability and download issues are still around. If you're a regular patron of DC Comics, do you see a difference with the update?

DC Comics is a free app over at the Marketplace and you can download the updated version here (opens Zune).

Thanks goes out to Shipwreck for the tip!

Custom "cute" Capt. America wallpaper for your Windows Phone

How To

By Daniel Rubino, Sunday, Jul 31, 2011 at 8:04 am

We've seen some "epic" style Captain America wallpaper a few weeks ago, but how about some custom "cute" styled ones? In the traditional Chinese style of taking all things menacing and making them freakin' adorable, those cats at IHeartWindowsPhone have made two versions of Capt. America that are pretty slammin'. Or just cute. Whatever.

We're not even comic fans but have to admit these are pretty great and since their free, why not just grab them here. A big thanks to IHeartWindowsPhone for sharing.

DC Comics official app now in the Marketplace

Apps

By Daniel Rubino, Thursday, Jun 30, 2011 at 9:00 pm

It just won't end, will it? Yes folks, DC Comics now also has an official app for Windows Phone and it looks pretty awesome to these eyes:

"DC Comics is the biggest and best North American comics publisher, featuring a wide variety of characters and genres. Renowned for the World's Greatest Super Heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and many many more. DC has thrilled readers with fantastic tales from the DC UNIVERSE in dozens of languages around the world for decades.

Publishing more than 80 comic format titles monthly and over 1,000 comic books and graphic novels annually, DC also presents different flavors of graphic storytelling through its diverse imprints."

We're sure there's a few comic readers our there who will be exceptionally pleased with this app, which is of course free. Most comics are $1.99 and even have an option to buy in print right from the app. Sounds good? It's live here in the Marketplace. Go, go go! (Thanks, Larry B.!)

Read Comic Books! - How to for Windows Phone

By Rob Alvarado, Tuesday, Feb 1, 2011 at 2:19 am

Comic books! Everyone has read a comic book at some point in their lives. Comics were a fundamental part of many kids' lives and are still very much a part of some adult lives. I loved comic books as a kid and still do. The format has changed a great deal since I was a kid though. I rarely read a graphic novel on paper anymore. Digital delivery applications across dozens of platforms and superb net-based readers have become the industry standard. Scans (literally meaning a scanner was used to make a digital backup of a comic book) and drm-free fan-produced e-books have become the anti-industry standard.

I have a fairly decent sized digital library of comics and graphic novels but I never get to read them when I'm well and truly bored. Like when I'm stuck on a train with just my phone. You guessed it, "Until Now!" Read on to see the ins and outs of not just reading comics on your WP7 device, but how to get 'em on there.