Supermarket Management is a time-management game, meaning that you are working to accomplish numerous tasks in a certain amount of time to reach your goals and keep your customers satisfied, getting harder with each level. The game is available on multiple platforms, but for today (10/10) only it is FREE on the Amazon Appstore! Go grab it now!
A few months ago I reviewed the iPad version of Special Enquiry Detail 2 – Engaged to Kill HD and found it lived up to the high level of the original. Now G5 and Floodlight have released the game for the Kindle Fire. The port works perfectly, with the characters and mystery every bit as intriguing as before.
In the world of hidden object games, developers can craft purely hidden object screen game types as well as more adventure-oriented games. Where Angels Cry is on the adventure side of the genre, which forces more plot and character development. I said in the iPad version review the game handles these well, and the Kindle Fire version is also great. Type of app: Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure (HOPA) Platform/where to buy: Kindle Fire; available in the Amazon App Store Developer: Cateia Games / G5 Entertainment Description: Here are some of the features: ? 18 amazing mini-games and puzzles to solve…
Have you played a good book lately? Huh?!? Well, Silicon Sisters Interactive wants you to curl up with Everlove: Rose, an interactive story where the dialogue choices you make impact your relationships and can change the game outcome as well! It is a very well done game, and while aimed at girls and young women, I found it fun, too! Type of app: Interactive Novel Adventure Game Platform/where to buy: iPad / iPhone, Kindle Fire, and Android. Developer: Silicon Sisters Interactive Description: “Everlove: Rose brings romance to life. Games have that power,” says Brenda Bailey Gershkovitch, Silicon Sisters’ CEO and…
Along with the new Kindle Fire HD and HDX models, Amazon introduced a few other interesting items. These include a new Kindle Fire OS, Offline Streaming of Amazon Prime videos, and an always-ready video help system called ‘Mayday’. With these value-added features Amazon hopes to distinguish itself and move beyond just being an Apple alternative by taking a leadership role. Amazon OS 3.0 ‘Mojito’ Amazon announced ‘Mojito’, Kindle Fire OS 3.0. The new OS brings native Android App compatibility, HTML5 app support, in-app purchase support and more. One of the biggest features is the new ‘Mayday Button’, which I’ll explore…
Overnight, we got word from Amazon that they were releasing a new line-up of Kindle Fire models. The current 7″ HD becomes the low-end, and they fill out the high-end with new quad-core based 7″ and 8.9″ HDX models. This is huge news in terms of features and pricing, but also a clear distinction between Amazon and Apple. The two Kindle Fire HDX models are packed with loads of updates including new productivity apps for email and calendar, new X-Ray for Music, and ‘Second Screen’ which let’s you send contents to a smart TV or Playstation 3/4. You will also…
The latest rumor from The Verge about Amazon’s mythical phone is that it will be free, or nearly free, even if you don’t have a phone contract. Is this enough to get people over the hump of Amazon’s legendary tracking and into their waiting arms of Amazon Prime and the Amazon App Store? Personally, I’m on the fence. I see two sides to this. On the one hand, this could be a very compelling extra phone or backup phone. For free, or nearly free, it makes for a good “what-if” device to keep in a drawer, or use as a…
Read anywhere, anytime with Amazon’s new kindle paperwhite. The new paperwhite is faster brighter and more responsive than ever. It features smart lookup, better searching/scroll features and it is more sensitive to your touch. Plus its great display just got even better. And it is just $119 with Special Offers. The 3G version starts at just $179. Preorder here.
I reviewed The Secret Society for iPad, noting how it balanced ‘play’ versus ‘pay’ elements. It recently arrived for Android and Kindle Fire with massive updates, and while it feels cramped on my Galaxy S3, on Kindle Fire HD it is perfect (at stealing reading time)! If you have a tablet and haven’t played, check it out free on iOS, Kindle or Android. Here is the trailer:
My sons will be super excited to learn that Amazon has provided their Kindle accounts with 500 free Amazon Coins which is basically worth $5. The company just announced the coins which can be used to buy apps, games and in app purchases from the Amazon App Store and on the Kindle Fire. While it sounds like each is worth a penny, it is actually an even better deal since there are discounts when users buy additional coins in bulk. Savings of up to 10% can be attained buying the coins, so if/when you stock up, go big! I can…
I’m heading to Telenav’s annual Waypoint conference next week. Since this is a fairly short trip, I’m looking to keep my baggage fairly light. I’d like to minimize my time lugging items around the airport, and with some careful planning, I think I can cut way back on my tendency to turn every trip into “my backpack is a mobile Radio Shack.” What’s on my packing list? Read on…
Amazon announced today that they’re buying Goodreads, a social book site that lets you review books you’ve read, and look for recommendations based on your reading list and the books your friends are reading. Needless to say, this is a slam dunk match for Amazon and Goodreads, as they really can complement each other nicely. There are a lot of reasons why this is good for everyone (Amazon, the Goodreads team, Goodreads users and Amazon Kindle users), but it does strike me that Goodreads being off the market is a potential loss for a few other big ebook players…let’s look a little…
Over the past few years working with G5 games as they have grown into one of the more successful casual games publishers on smartphones, I have seen a fairly standard formula: they publish for iOS first, then Android and finally for the Mac (and occasionally PC). But with Fate of the Pharaoh we get a first – G5 is releasing an Android game before the iOS version! How does it play? Let’s take a look! Type of app: City-Building game Platform/where to buy: Available for Android systems (including Nook and Kindle Fire tablets); available from Amazon AppStore, Google Play, or…
Amazon’s new Kindle Paper White commercial shows just how far we have come in a relatively short period of time. Allow me to offer a bit of personal background. A little over a decade ago, a debate raged within my religious movement regarding rabbis officiating at ceremonies celebrating same-sex couples. My position on it was clear, and I told my Board of Directors. One of my most stalwart supporters, a man whose wisdom guided me on many issues, disagreed strongly and went so far as to almost beg me to vote otherwise or, at the minimum, to abstain. I respectfully told…
I love books. I know I am slightly biased, being a former bookstore employee, but I like to think that most people like reading books. The hard part is finding books you want to read. Maybe you can’t find the right authors, or books have gotten too pricey, or you haven’t made the leap to ebooks yet…but don’t worry. No matter the obstacle, at Gear Diary we are here to help you make sure your 2013 reading list stays nice and full! Book Discovery: This is the hardest part. Maybe you have a local bookstore you can pop into…
It is not terribly surprising that oodles of new devices were opened up and activated on Christmas morning – in fact, we had three new iPhone 5 activations in our house alone! The site Flurry.com tracks and estimates the daily activations of iOS and Android devices, and is reporting that more than 17 million activations took place on December 25th alone. As it is, 4 million combined smartphones and tablets is a HUGE number – and that is happening every day! Now think that on Christmas there were more than 4 TIMES that many activations … insane! But wait –…
In our Gear Chat, I said to Dan that the iPad Mini was the ‘best small format tablet I have ever touched’. So what does that mean in context? Well, aside from the Mini, I have had a couple of Samsung 7″ tablets, one each from ASUS and Acer, HTC Flyer, original Kindle Fire, and most recently the Google Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD. Those last two are currently very popular, so I wanted to take a hands-on look at all three and compare them across a number of criteria. Here are the comparison points I used: 1. Size…
We now know that the iPad Mini is the first iDevice with stereo speakers. But they are located on either side of the downscaled Lightning connector port. I have also touted the excellent sound and stereo separation of the Kindle Fire HD. Now that I have both tablets … let’s put them to the test! The first thing I did was a series of basic stereo separation tests, some of which you can find here. The results? The Kindle Fire HD shows much more dramatic stereo separation and better ‘sound location’, which makes it very immersive when watching a video…
Royal Trouble Hidden Adventure is a Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure (HOPA) game for the Kindle Fire; it is available in the Amazon AppStore for Android, and its developer is Orchid Games / G5 Entertainment. Description: In this critically acclaimed adventure quest, help two charming royal heirs escape from a secluded island! Princess Loreen and Prince Nathaniel find themselves locked in a dungeon without any idea of how they got there. She is bright, witty and rebellious. He is handsome, smart and brave. Unfortunately, they can’t stand each other! Take control of both the Prince and Princess and help this hilarious…
Image courtesy of Pinoytutorial There is one very clear reason (or rather – TWO) that Apple needed an iPad Mini this year: the success of the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire. I wrote about things I love about each device recently, and I also noted an analyst report that pegged Google-based sales of the device at ~1 million for the second quarter. Turns out that things (as always) aren’t so simple. First off, Amazon went immediately on the attack as Carly noted here, citing that their BEST Kindle Fire HD sales came after the iPad Mini announcement. Amazon said: “Wednesday…
I have been highly critical of Android tablets (shock, I know) for a number of reasons, and 7″ tablets in specific. But as has been pointed out, I also tout enjoying the Google Nexus 7 quite a bit for a number of reasons. I was also the last one holding on to my launch-day Kindle Fire from last year, and pre-ordered and have happily kept the Kindle Fire HD. All of that screams ‘cognitive dissonance’ to me, so I thought it was worth explaining – and what better way than to list a bunch of things I love about each…