If the story sounds familiar, that’s because it is. You want to be able to use your iPhone while synching with iTunes, so what do you do?
You jailbreak your iPhone, and install one of two tweaks: Synchronicity or FreeSync. Both tweaks do a good job at allowing you chug away at your iPhonely duties while syncing with iTunes, and both are similarly priced.
With that in mind, which jailbreak tweak should you go with? We’ve already covered Synchronicity — a tweak that made it into our Top 10 Jailbreak Apps for 2010list– so lets look at the flipside of the coin with FreeSync…
Verizon has been stealing attention away from the iPhone’s original carrier, and it looks like AT&T is doing all it can to keep disgruntled customers from jumping ship.
500,000+ Verizon iPhones have already been pre-ordered, and the device just became available for purchase on Apple’s site.
Needless to say, AT&T is definitely feeling the heat from its new competition, and it’s doing everything it can to ensure that customers don’t cross over to the dark side…
The latest release of the GreenPois0n jailbreak for iPhone 4.2.1 comes with a nice little surprise: you can now add animated boot logos to your iPhone. We already showed you how to do this manually, today we’re going to show you how to do this directly from Cydia.
In order to do that, you’ll obviously need a jailbroken iPhone on iOS 4.2.1, either using GreenPois0n (see our tutorial), or the tethered version of RedSn0w. You will not be able to install animated boot logos unless you are on 4.2.1 jailbroken iPhone with GreenPois0n or RedSn0w tethered… (…) Read the rest of How to Add an Animated BootLogo to Your iPhone
Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 0.75 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 2.79 out of 5 stars
First off, before you start your Mandala Memory experience, you should first know what a mandala is. The developer so elegantly states: “The images of hand-cut paper mandalas are a series of subtle unfoldings, variations on the circle and the square. A focusing of attention will reveal the fine distinctions between the patterns.” In laments terms, mandalas are the artistic, professional versions of those snowflakes that you use to make in preschool.
Cut away all the artistic fluff, though, and what you have is a basic memory matching game. There are four different grid sizes to play with, but all you have to do is pick out the shapes that match. Game over. Done.
What makes the purchase palatable is the game’s massive attention to detail. Each mandala (there are 54 in the game, all hand cut from mulberry paper by Zoe Keramea) is rich in detail and possesses a specific bell tone. The combination of sight and sound memory (as well as an extra color feature for those who think the game is too hard) goes a long way in aiding your memory. In addition, the bells also make for a great mental diversion from the menial task at hand.
Any way you cut it, Mandala Memory is and will always be just a simple memory game. It very well may be the prettiest, most ambitious memory game on the planet, but it’s still a memory game. As a piece of art I can certainly appreciate the fine craftsmanship, but the game needs to do a whole lot more for me to drop my hard earned cash. Perhaps your experience will be different, as there are some good qualities here, if you like matching games.
Developer: Chillingo
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 3.39 out of 5 stars
Etolis Arena reminds me a good deal of Unreal Tournament when it first came out. Instead of using a planned storyline, Unreal Tournament used some hokey side story to explain why you were stuck in a death match against countless people. It did go on to revolutionize the online FPS genre, however, which is quite a bit more than I can say for Etolis Arena.
The basic story in Etolis Arena is that you are the star of a death match for the queen’s entertainment, meaning that the queen will give you weapons to make things entertaining, but you will die. As you progress throughout the fairly standard dual stick shooter, you’ll earn honor points which allow you to buy better weapons. Much like The Running Man, it’s a kill or be killed ordeal, except in this one you have no chance.
With no story to speak of and no real motivation to go on other than gameplay, I have to say that the attempt is extremely average. You do get a decent assortment of guns and grenades, but the enemies have no personality. Even the above average graphics can’t get me past the fact that progressing throughout the game feels more like a chore than a challenge. Just run around the screen shooting everything you see and you’ll be just fine.
What Etolis Arena really needs to be successful is a purpose. Since there isn’t a real multliplayer mode a la Unreal Tournament, the game needs to try to fake the real life fear of dying. Perhaps if they gave every character a 1-2 hit limit before they die, and then let them lean around walls for kills I would be more happy. I don’t know. All I do know is that in its current form, Etolis Arena is on the lower end of the dual stick shooter spectrum.
Cut away all the artistic fluff, though, and what you have is a basic memory matching game. There are four different grid sizes to play with, but all you have to do is pick out the shapes that match. Game over. Done. 
The basic story in Etolis Arena is that you are the star of a death match for the queen’s entertainment, meaning that the queen will give you weapons to make things entertaining, but you will die. As you progress throughout the fairly standard dual stick shooter, you’ll earn honor points which allow you to buy better weapons. Much like The Running Man, it’s a kill or be killed ordeal, except in this one you have no chance.
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