roundup

Windows Phone games that could be the next big thing

Games

By George Ponder, Friday, Jun 14, 2013 at 8:55 am

Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: The Next Big Thing

Microsoft started adding collections to the Windows Phone Store that groups like minded apps and games. You have a photography collection, the Red Stripe Deals collection and few more.

With this week's Windows Phone Central roundup, we take a peak at the Next Big Thing collection. It's a group of games that have the potential of being big hits. They have strong ratings and it's a nice way to showcase the independent developers.

We picked four from the current collection that we think are quality additions to the Windows Phone gaming library.

Windows Phone Apps to help weather the storms

Apps

By George Ponder, Friday, Jun 7, 2013 at 9:01 am

Windows Phone Central App Roundup: Emergency Apps

We had a request for a roundup of emergency oriented apps and with Hurricane Season getting underway, it was good timing.

From weather forecast apps to emergency first aid titles, these Windows Phone apps can be a solid resource to help you weather the storms.And it doesn't have to be a weather related emergency. If could be a car accident, camping mishap, or your run of the mill household catastrophe.

We've posted emergency app collections in the past and they can really come in handy when the bottom falls out. Today we're only scratching the surface of all the emergency oriented apps available in the Windows Phone Store. We tapped two apps to help you track the storms, one to help keep emergency information close at hand, and one that will help you help others.

Enjoying a good book on your Windows Phone

Apps

By George Ponder, Friday, May 31, 2013 at 8:36 am

Windows Phone Central App Roundup: eReaders

We have a mixed bag of Windows Phone reader apps for this weeks Windows Phone Central App Roundup. We have one of the cornerstones in electronic reading, an audio book centerpiece, one that doubles down, and one that is more genre specific.

These apps not only come in handy for those who like books but also for those looking for something to pass the time with other than games. There's a healthy selection of readers in the Windows Phone Store and we tapped four that stood out by name, reputation and ratings.

If we've overlooked your favorite Windows Phone reader app, feel free to spill the beans below in the comments.

Windows Phone shopping apps, helping you survive the bargain hunt

Apps

By George Ponder, Friday, May 17, 2013 at 8:35 am

Windows Phone Central App Roundup: Shopping Apps

Shopping. Everybody does it. Some enjoy it, some despise it but few will argue that making shopping easier is a bad thing.

In this week's Windows Phone Central app roundup, we're taking a look at a few shopping apps designed to make it easier to find the best prices and/or make your purchases on the go. As with all our roundups, if we missed your favorite shopping app feel free to sound off in the comments.

Can you be a wizard with these Windows Phone games?

Games

By George Ponder, Friday, May 10, 2013 at 8:35 am

Windows Phone Central Roundup: Pinball Games
Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: Pinball Games

Any aspiring pinball wizards in the house? If so, we've there are a handful of pinball games available for our Windows Phone. These games are fast paced, full of detail, a fun way to pass the time and the focus of this week's roundup.

For those who cut their teeth on buttons, flipper, bells and lights of an arcade pinball machine, these games might be a decent substitute. Granted you can't bump the game with your hip or bounce the pinball off the glass but these games can hold their own.

Windows Phone photo apps that you may have overlooked

Apps

By George Ponder, Friday, May 3, 2013 at 8:13 am

Windows Phone App Roundup: Photo Apps
Windows Phone Central App Roundup: Photo Apps

When I sift through all the apps on my Windows Phone, photo apps seem to be the dominant app of choice. Everything from Instagraph to Soviet Kam to Photo360 seems to have found its way onto my phone.

But what about the seldom seen Windows Phone photo apps? For this week's roundup, we went all the way to the last page of the "best rated" photo app listing in the Windows Phone Store. We picked out four of the dozen or so photo apps that were on the back page to highlight.

Most are fairly simple photo editing/enhancement apps but simple isn't necessarily bad.

These Windows Phone games are for the birds

Games

By George Ponder, Friday, Apr 26, 2013 at 8:49 am

Windows Phone Central Roundup: Bird Games
Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: Bird Games

As The Trashmen so aptly put it, "The birds is the word" with this week's Windows Phone Game Roundup. These are games with the central character being a bird.

Most are really nice games to pass the time with and include an Xbox Live title, a sequel, and one that can easily get tangled up in knots. We picked out five games that stood out in the Windows Phone Store and there are still a large flock of "bird" games loose in the store.

If we've missed your favorite game of birds, feel free to chime in below in the comments with your recommendations.

Keep your photos private with these Windows Phone apps

Apps

By George Ponder, Friday, Apr 19, 2013 at 8:36 am

Windows Phone Central App Roundup: Photo Lockers

The other day we took a look at the Windows Phone app Pic Lock Ultimate. It's an app that lets you store photos in a secure environment, away from prying eyes. Pic Lock also goes a little further with some neat security features to discourage and even photograph those trying to sneak a peak at your photos.

This week's roundup is going to focus on four alternatives to Pic Lock Ultimate. These photo lockers are amongst the higher rated apps of this nature to keep your photos in a secure area. While these picture lockers may lack the anti-intrusion features they aren't too shabby in their own right.

Take home the Green Jacket with these Windows Phone golf games

Games

By George Ponder, Friday, Apr 12, 2013 at 8:56 am

Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: Golf Games

There's a small golf tournament going on over in Augusta, Georgia this week where one golfer will take home a coveted Green Jacket (and a healthy pay check). In honor of this event, we felt that a roundup of golf games would be fitting. Plus the weather's getting warmer and if your a golfer stuck in the office, these games might help take the edge off the need to hit the links.

Sure you have Shotly Golf to help you keep score and find courses. Then there's Golf Live to help you keep up with all the golf news out there. This roundup deals with golf games for your Windows Phone. Everything from a wonderfully animated Xbox title to a challenging round of golf featuring a stick man. We even throw in a putt-putt golf game for those who prefer to putt around over dealing with fairways and roughs.

Baseball apps for your Windows Phone, just add peanuts and Cracker Jacks

Apps

By George Ponder, Friday, Apr 5, 2013 at 8:47 am

Windows Phone Central App Roundup: Baseball Apps

Last week, Major League Baseball kicked off the 2013 Season and we thought it fitting to take a look a the baseball oriented apps in this week's roundup.

You do have sports apps like ESPN Scorecenter and ScoreMobile that will pull MLB news and scores to your Windows Phone but these are baseball only type apps. Apps that will keep you up to date with all the scores, stats and standings and one app that will help you score games yourself.

If you've got a favorite baseball oriented app, feel free to sound off in the comments.

Windows Phone games suitable for the zombie hunter in all of us

Games

By George Ponder, Friday, Mar 29, 2013 at 8:45 am

Windows Phone Central Roundup: Zombie Games
Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: Zombie Games

Zombies. A pesky bunch of creatures that have had a presence in movies and television of years. They also seem to have a strong presence in our Windows Phone Store. These brain hungry monsters can be found in a ton of Windows Phone games from Zombies Ate My Pizzas! to Zombies, Run!.

For this week's roundup we picked three popular Zombie games along with one game that had a unique approach to taking out the Zombies.

With so many Zombie games available, it was tough picking just a few of the gaming titles. If we've overlooked your favorite Zombie game, feel free to shout out your recommendation in the comments below.

10tons worth of games now in the Windows Phone 8 Store

Games

By George Ponder, Friday, Mar 22, 2013 at 8:54 am

Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: 10tons
Windows Phone Central Roundup: 10tons Games

10tons isn't new to mobile gaming development with successful titles over on the Android and iOS stores. Over the past few weeks (or has it been months) 10tons has released a handful of games for the Windows Phone 8 platform that should be just as successful.

This week's roundup focuses on a handful of 10tons' games from the action/adventure to the challenging puzzle games. Each game is uniquely challenging, has great graphics and a very nice addition to the Windows Phone Store. Hopefully, what we can find now in the Windows Phone Store is but the start of a beautiful relationship between 10tons and the Windows Phone platform.

NCAA Tourney Apps, bring a little madness to your Windows Phone

Apps

By George Ponder, Friday, Mar 15, 2013 at 8:48 am

Windows Phone Central App Roundup: March Madness

There are plenty of Windows Phone apps out there to help us follow the world of sports (ESPN and ScoreMobile come to mind). In a few days, teams will be announced for the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, affectionately known as March Madness. Office pools will be created and tournament brackets will be filled out by the bazillions. People who haven't watched a single collegiate basketball game all season will call in sick to work so they can catch all the games. Madness may be an understatement.

With such an event just around the corner, this week's roundup will focus on March Madness apps. Windows Phone apps that will let you create your own bracket prediction, help you track tournament scores, and compete online to see how well your bracketology skills are.

Windows Phone platformer games to help pass the time with

Games

By George Ponder, Friday, Mar 8, 2013 at 8:44 am

Windows Phone Central platformer game roundup
Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: Platformers

Now that Fitness Month has passed, we'll return to our regularly scheduled roundups for the other various games and apps available in the Windows Phone Store. This week we revisit platformer games.

We grabbed a handful from the "Top Free" platformer section of the Windows Phone Store that includes a bouncing ball, a lost space traveler and a hedge hog. As with all our roundups, if you've got a favorite platformer game sound off below in the comments with your recommendation.

Counting sheep and catching a few winks, Sleep apps for your Windows Phone

Apps

By George Ponder, Friday, Feb 22, 2013 at 9:05 am

Windows Phone Central's Roundup of Sleep Apps

Just as we put our Windows Phone on the charger to re-charge its batteries, getting a good night's sleep is our way to re-charge. This week for Fitness Month we focused on sleep applications and accessories that can help with relaxation and get a productive rest.

So it's fitting for our weekly roundup to feature a collection of sleep and relaxation apps. We have a few sound generators to calm your spirits, a sleep calculator and an alarm clock to make sure we don't over due things.

There's a lot of similarity amongst these apps and if we've missed your favorite sleep or relaxation app, feel free to share in the comments.

Windows Phone Fitness Roundup: Counting the calories and eating healthy

Apps

By George Ponder, Friday, Feb 15, 2013 at 8:56 am

Windows Phone Central App Roundup: Nutrition

Fitness Month marches on here at Windows Phone Central and this week we're concentrating on nutritional aspects of staying fit.

While you may enjoy an afternoon slice of pie, eating right is an important aspect of living a healthy life. Even if you aren't into pumping iron or running marathons, a proper diet is key (wow.. my mom was right!). Sometimes this means eating the right foods or simply watching the calories you take in.

This week's roundup focuses on five Windows Phone apps that look at what we eat and help track our calories.

Sweating to your Windows Phone with these exercise apps

Apps

By George Ponder, Friday, Feb 8, 2013 at 9:05 am

Windows Phone Central Fitness Month App Roundup: Exercise Apps

February brings about Fitness Month around these parts and there are plenty of Fitness oriented apps available in the Windows Phone Store to help everyone get fit and survive the month. You have apps that help you develop and track your exercise routine, apps that track your calories and apps that help you relax and recharge.

This week's app roundup focuses on the exercise apps for our Windows Phones. Apps that will track our exercise progress, give us a little motivation or simply lay out an exercise routine for you to follow.

We picked five such apps from the various Windows Phone Store "top" categories (top free, top paid, best rated, new+rising). The roundup is but a sampling of what is available. As always, if you have a favorite exercise app that isn't mentioned speak up and throw out your recommendation below in the comments.

Prepare for Snowpocalypse 2013 with these essential apps for Windows Phone

Apps

By Sam Sabri, Thursday, Feb 7, 2013 at 11:20 pm

In less than 24 hours a winter storm is expected to hit the Northeast United States. Big deal right? Nope, most meteorologists are already calling this one for the record books. Mostly because it is two wild storm systems that are going to combine into one apocalyptic blizzard. While Windows Phone Central can’t stop the impending snow, closed roads, and a weekend spent indoors – we certainly can help prepare you with some ‘winter storm’ apps.

XIMAD's fun and games for your Windows Phone

Games

By George Ponder, Friday, Jan 25, 2013 at 8:52 am

There are a handful of Windows Phone developers out there that offer a diverse portfolio of apps and games. XIMAD, Inc qualifies as such with offerings ranging from children's books to bible apps to games.

XIMAD has had a presence in the Windows Phone Store from early on (back when we called it a Marketplace) and for this week's roundup, we'll concentrate on the gaming aspects of their collection. Most of XIMAD's games are free but for those who want to drop the ad banners, there's often a paid premium version available.

The XIMAD collection of games are often on the simple side as far as game play is concerned but challenging and entertaining nonetheless and nice ways to pass the time with. There's even a few that will get you hooked into playing a little longer. We picked a handful that we think you might like and if we've missed your favorite XIMAD title, feel free to share in the comments.

A quick look at New+Rising games for your Windows Phone

Games

By George Ponder, Friday, Jan 18, 2013 at 9:30 am

Windows Phone Central's Roundup of New+Rising Games

Sure... you can use your Windows Phone for checking email, making phone calls, taking pictures, and other productive activities. But it's also a great device to play games on.

Couldn't really come up with a good theme for this week's Windows Phone Central Roundup so I decided to pick a few games from the New+Rising list over at the Windows Phone Store.

No rhyme or reason as to which titles made it to the roundup and if you've stumbled across a new Windows Phone game you'd like to recommend, sound off in the comments.