App Review: Order and Chaos

Written by Doug Puccetti(Me) on www.techhog.com:

Order and Chaos is a must have for anyone with an Android or iOS device!

Overview:

Order and Chaos by Gameloft is an Massive Multilayer Online Role Playing Game or, more simply put MMORPG, that is available for your mobile device (sorry Windows 7 users). It is one of its kind having 3D graphics and being a real time, open world MMORPG for your mobile cell phone or tablet. With little to no game lag and only a few minor glitches, it is defiantly worth the $6.99 purchase price in the market. Normally MMORPG’s like World of Warcraft and Aion require a hefty monthly payment. Order and Chaos is different when it comes to this.
When you first purchase the game from the market or Gameloft’s website, you have to set up a Gameloft live account. It’s simple and the account is free to have. After you set up your account you will then have 3 free months of play time for Order and Chaos. This is pretty neat knowing you just spent $6.99 on it. After the 3 months are over you’ll be prompted to purchase more game time. Have no fear, it wont break the bank. He are the prices for game time:
$0.99 a month is fairly cheap knowing that games can sometimes charge an upwards of $15.00 per month. Its a total of $6.00 a year if you buy two 6 month subscriptions. There is no way this game will break the bank. Purchasing things is as simple as taping on your inventory, going to ‘Get More Coins’, taping on what you would like to purchase (game time, runes, in game gold), and paying with your Android Market account or iTunes account.

Introduction:

Like I stated above, the game runs flawlessly and has pretty decent graphics for a cellphone/tablet game. The graphics do remind me and others of World of Warcraft but that is something I can see past. Before you start playing you have to double check and make sure your WiFi is connected. If its not than you will get prompted to change your setting for this game uses a lot of data.
After logging in to your freshly made Gameloft live account, you will get to the character selection screen. This allows you to create 3 characters (4 if you purchase the slot) choosing between Orc, Undead, Human and Elf. You then will have the option to customize your character with over 100 different combinations such as hair color, skin color, face features and hair style. When that is all said and done you will be able to choose a class. Pick between Warrior, Ranger, Mage and Monk but choose wisely, what you pick is what you get. Then name your character and select what server you want to play on. As of right now there are only 4 servers and the game is not cross platform. Meaning people with the Android version can not play with people that have the iOS version… yet.

Controls, UI and Gameplay:

The controls and UI are user friendly in my book but I will say they took a while to get used to. Playing in landscape mode you need to use the left thumb to move and the right thumb to change camera view, jump, attack, use spells and abilities, loot monsters and pretty much anything else you can think of. Pinch in and out with your fingers to zoom the camera in and out.Your health and vital information is in the upper left (including your current level) and enemy vitals as well. Your mini map is on the upper right allowing you to tap it to open a larger world map. At the bottom of the screen you see and arrow pointing up. Tap on that arrow and it expands the real time in game chat. There are options for talking globally, locally or whisper to a friend. The arrow on the right expands out and allows you to store more items like potions and food.
When in your menu/inventory you will be able to look at what things are in your bags, inspect items you might have, check quests, see what friends are online, etc.
You will also be able to choose from a few different professions in game. They include Blacksmithing, Tailoring and Leatherworking. Through out your journey you will be able to level professions through 5 ranks; Primary, Intermediate, Advanced, Professional and Master. Another thing to note are deaths. When you die you can choose to re-spawn at your location for 1 rune or at a local graveyard for a loss of gold if your character is above level 10. If there is a nearby monk, they can resurrect you instead.
 

Conclusion:

When you’re first starting you might get frustrated with how slow the game play is, but as you progress things happen faster and become more challenging. The game sometimes feels repetitive at times when you just do quests and kill creatures, but you can also join a party to defeat dungeons together or elite monsters. I have encountered a few glitches while playing Order and Chaos. First glitch that I keep running in to is my target gets DE-targeted until it attacks me again. That bothers me most when I’m at low health and trying to finish the fight before I die. Other than that there are times where NPC’s (Non Player Characters) get glitched or wont talk to me when I need to hand in a quest (I hope its not because I forgot to shower…)
Gameloft has provided us, as gamers, with a wonderful and mind blowing game for our cell phones/tablets. So what are you waiting for, head over to the Android Market, Apple’s app Store or Gameloft’s website and join thousands as they fight the battle of Order and Chaos.
For detailed in game information check out the Order and Chaos Wiki

Windows Phone 7 Look on Android Using Launcher 7, Statusbar+ and WP7 Lock

Written by Doug Puccetti(Me) on www.techhog.com:
If you're anything like me, your phone looks different every week or so. I either change my Home Launcher application from ADW to MIUI or Launcher Pro or Launcher 7. But the one I've seem to have been using the longest is Launcher 7. This is a Home Launcher Application that mimics the metro UI of WP7 (Windows Phone 7). I enjoy the look of WP7 but love the Android market place. So having them both is pretty awesome. The applications I will be covering are Launcher 7, Statusbar+ and WP7 Lock.

Launcher 7:

Launcher 7 has been around for a while. When it first came out I tried it, but there were too many bugs and not enough options. Now, using version 1.0.1.18, most of the bugs are gone. This launcher runs smooth while scrolling through the apps and even main screen. There is a free and paid version of this application. Ive noticed that the free version drains battery faster than the paid one. Could be because the adds but who knows. You can change the color and transparency of the metro tiles, make a tile display as an image and pretty much short cut anything to the main screen just like on a normal WP7 device. There are three background themes; Black, White and Wallpaper. The status bar can also be changed to Black letters, White letters or Transparent bar. I feel this is the best WP7 launcher for an Android device.

Statusbar+:
This is also needed because Launcher 7's status bar disappears when you aren't on the home screen. Statusbar+ allows the status bar to stay the whole time no matter what app or setting you are using. So there is no more frustration when your cool WP7 notification bar disappears.  You can change the color of the status bar, enable click to drop display icons (like WP7), enable swipe down for notifications, etc. Some setting changes require you to reboot your device for them to become active. This is definitely an essential piece to the Wp7 look on Android. There is also a free and paid version of this as well.

WP7 Lock:
Wp7 Lock is a lock screen that looks just like a WP7 lock screen. You swipe up to unlock. The lock screen shows Messages, missed calls and emails. You can also change the unlock image by changing your background image in your phones settings. This some times force crashed or doesn't load at first. Just go to your apps and click on Wp7 Lock and disable and re-enable it again. Than it should work.
Well there you have it. The three essentials for converting your Android phone to a WP7 mimic. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Any questions feel free to ask me or the developer of Launcher 7. He is very helpful and quick to respond to any issue you are having.

Download the apps here:
Launcher 7, Statusbar+, WP7 Lock

Porting Android Applications to Blackberry Made Easy

Written by Doug Puccetti(Me) on www.techhog.com:

Recently Blackberry released a packager for Android apps that will allow Android developers to redesign, format and submit their application to the Blackberry platform using the SDK and ADT plug-in's provided by RIM. This tool kit will package all your information, sign and prep everything you will need for a successful submission. This is mainly for porting games and applications to the new Blackberry Playbook and such. Devices that will make user experience very enjoyable on both platforms (less likely on phones but, still available).  But is this a good idea? As we know, Blackberry is pretty much a dying market for most mobile users. Most of Blackberry's revenue comes from company's who use Blackberry's as company phones due to contracts. So are company's going to want to play your android games or use your apps? Applications ported to Blackberry that may be useful will be programs company's can adhere to and use on a daily basis.

Will this move help Blackberry out of it's slump?

PDAnet Application for Android/Windows Mobile/iPhone

This is a wonderful application for your smartphone device. This allows you to take your laptop or tablet on the go with you and tether your phones internet to your device/laptop. So if you're outside with no WiFi, but you have cell phone service, just plug your phone in to your device and now you'll have internet access. But, you can also take any device that has WiFi and tether that to your phone. All you have to do is go to the PDAnet webpage and download this application on your computer. It will prompt you with step by step instruction on how to install this to your phone as well.

On top of that, while you phone is plugged in to your computer, there's a program in PDAnet called SMS agent. This program allows you to receive text messages to your computer from your phone in an instant messenger style. This feature is what I take most advantage of when I'm using my laptop. Its just convenient and i don't have to keep switching from my phone to my computer.

The free version of PDAnet only allows you to access certain sites on the web. Mainly sights that have high security are blocked(bank sites, etc). However, there is a paid version which varies in price depending on week it seems. I bought it for $9.99 about a year ago. Now its on sale for $15.99. its only a one time payment and can be used on any device with your log in credentials.

Personally, I think this is one of the best apps I have purchased. It's a must have for any android, iPhone and Windows Mobile user.

Android Finally Gets Netflix!

Windows users have been bragging about the netflix app on their phones for a while now(Too long in my opinion). Now, android users can finally know what its like to have netflix on the go(Yay! *And the crowd goes wild*). So if you're an android user and a netflix member, go to the android market and download netflix today! If your not a netflix member, its simple and easy to join on their website.

Happy watching!