What’s shakin’, bacon? Fight to stay off the dinner menu in Iron Snout+ for iOS and Android phones and tablets. Your porcine hero is surrounded by hungry wolves, and you must use your thumbs and kung-fu to go down swinging. Controls are very simple: the pig stays rooted in the center of the screen, and tapping or swiping on one half of the screen makes him attack in that direction. You can jump and duck to avoid attacks and set up lethal combinations, and also grab the weapons the wolves drop and swing or throw them right back! You just keep punching and kicking until you run out of life (represented by bacon strips) and your tally on how many wolves defeated is up in the corner. The new “+” version adds variety to the wolf enemies. From axe-wielding lumberjacks and billy-club-equipped SWAT officers to Pokemon trainers and Miley Cyrus-impersonating wolves (swinging in on a wrecking ball with a sledgehammer, of course), you’ll have your piggy hands full beating back the endless hordes. Iron Snout+’s gameplay is a blast, but it can easily get repetitive if you play it too much; there are only two modes (regular and sudden-death) and two levels, each with a different cast of wolf baddies. I keep it on my phone as an “I need to kill 5 minutes” option, usually while waiting for an Uber or to get through a boring conference call, and with its fast boot-up time (about two seconds on a Galaxy S6) it works wonders in that regard. As a beat-em-up game, it’s going to be a little violent. Cartoony blood spatters appear for a second or two after hitting a wolf, and it’s possible to punch their heads off (which you can grab and fling at foes), so it might not be great for the little ones. Hopefully future updates allows for turning off the “gore,” as otherwise, the game is perfect for kids, with its bright, cutesy characters and easy controls. It’s a free download with no in-app purchases, just some occasional ads. You can even give it a try in-browser here.
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iPhone 5 v. SGS3 v. HTC One X: Photo & Video Quality
The process of choosing a new high-end smartphone to buy may seem exciting at first, but things can get confusing once you start focusing on the technical aspects of the product. Two important features for many smartphone users is the ability to take good photos and videos. Let’s compare image and video quality of three very good smartphones: Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC One X and iPhone 5.
Battle of the Smartphones: Round 1 – Picture Quality
If the overall picture quality is considered as the benchmark, HTC One X is the best option because it tends to over-sharpen the image thereby minimizing degradation. Yet, iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3 cannot be called poor in this aspect.
If you want a phone that reproduces colors perfectly, then you ought to choose iPhone 5 because it does justice to snaps with natural and warm colors. The One X seems to overdo this aspect by bringing a yellowish hue into the images.
Exposure wise, the One X lags behind the other two because it tends towards under exposure. iPhone 5 scores the highest as far as dynamic range is concerned.
Smartphones will get used indoors very often. Hence, this is an important parameter. iPhone 5 scores high again and produces very good images irrespective of the quality of lighting. SGS3’s flash does a good job of taking good snaps even in poor lighting but does not match iPhone’s performance.
Round 2 – Video Quality
What about video? It is Apple all the way. Want HD videos with crisp details, perfectly natural colors and super smooth recording all the way? Choose iPhone 5. The iPhone camera seems to get great quality, well encoded video. The S3 fails in suppressing wind noise. One X just does not make the cut here. Details are vague and the capture rate is plain slow.
And the Winner is…
When you analyze the quality of images and video, there is no doubt that iPhone 5 comes out on top in a close race. It is easy to use and pretty fast too. Other two options are impressive and definitely score over similar products in the market. However, it cannot be denied that they fall behind when one compares with iPhone 5.
Regardless of the model you choose to buy, keep in mind one important fact: the device is delicate. If anything happens to your new smartphone, you can save your tears: iFixYouri specializes in repairs for all 3 models!
Microsoft Surface Review: Worth the Hype?
Microsoft is making a great effort to stay relevant in a world that is increasingly post-PC. Microsoft is doing this with Surface, its first attempt at creating its own computer hardware. According to the early reviews, Microsoft has more work to do in order for Surface to be a competitive replacement for laptops, Android tablets and iPads.
The hardware that is earning good reviews for Microsoft is the kickstand and keyboard cover. However, many people wonder if Surface is really useable when holding it on a lap. The Windows RT software raises a larger question because it is limited, has bugs and cannot run the old Microsoft applications as well as Windows 8 can. Surface Pro, created to run Windows 8, may be better received when it debuts within a few months.
Microsoft Surface Reviews
The following are comments from well respected reviewers:
David Pogue stated in the New York Times that all but the cold-blooded will not be able to keep their pulses from racing when they first see Surface: the potential, the beauty and the instant change to PC from tablet. He goes on to say it is incredible that Microsoft created this envelope-pushing, bold design because up to now they only produced a feeble imitation of the fresh ideas they saw in other companies. One glitch, though, is that Surface does not have proper support and is let down by Microsoft’s own specialty—their software.
Peter Bright from Arstechnica had this to say: This makes the decision to buy Surface dependant not on the hardware itself, but on the Windows RT software. To run on Windows RT, third party applications must use the Metro Interface and purchase it through the Windows Store. Right now, there are not enough applications, and the ones that do exist are mediocre.
Others said the tablet is beautiful and well made, and serious work is possible on the device, but unfortunately it functions more as a laptop on a desk.
One thing is for sure — no matter what the technology, or how well it functions, it is susceptible to damage or breaking. Fortunately for the new owners of the Surface tablet who have already managed to damage the item, there is professional help: tablet repair from iFixYouri.