"If there is an app for that"

Your Next Asian Vacation Spot is on HomeAway

April 22, 2016 by macjeff

Vacation rentals can look very attractive when compared to ever increasing hotel rates. In fact, vacation rentals offer more amenities and space to the visitors. However, looking for the perfect vacation rental in Asia is not be an easy thing to do.

Features

That’s where the right app can make all the difference in the world.

HomeAway Asia makes it as easy as possible to look for the best vacation rentals across Asia according to your specific needs and requirements.

In fact, HomeAway Asia looks a lot like an upgraded version of TravelMob, with a wide array of additional impressive features.

HomeAway Asia, from HomeAway.com, Inc., can be used to look for any different vacation rental as per your preferences. In other words, you will be able to look for unique places to stay. They include everything from basic rooms, houseboats, luxury villas, spacious apartments to even private islands.

They have a good collection of vacation rentals across the world in their database and there is something for everyone. This social marketplace can easily be used to look for that perfect destination to spend your next vacation.

User Interface & Design

Both travelers and suppliers can use HomeAway Asia. The travelers can search for vacation rentals according to their destination and budget. Travelers will also be able to include their specific travel needs in order to narrow down the results.

In fact, the features that are available in HomeAway Asia will give travelers the opportunity to save a lot of time as well as money. They have also included a separate section in HomeAway Asia for special offers.

If you are looking forward to save few additional bucks, you can have a look at these offers and discounts. This section also includes information about last minute deals that are provided by suppliers.

The reservation process of the available vacation rentals is pretty straightforward and you can do it right through the app.

You can either call them from your phone or make the payment via your credit card. Once you make the payment and confirm the booking, you will be provided complete access to your itinerary along with contact details and address.

Then you can start communicating with the supplier and make other arrangements. The best thing about HomeAway Asia is that it includes reviews about available suppliers. These reviews have been posted by the individuals who used HomeAway Asia before.

Therefore, you don’t need to worry about the accuracy of details that can be found in these reviews.

Suppliers can also use the HomeAway Asia app in order to come across potential customers. They can upload information about their vacation rentals and make them visible for the tourists who are planning to travel.

Suppliers will also get the chance to keep track of their reservations right through the app. They can announce their offers to the customers through HomeAway Asia as well.

Overall Value

Overall, HomeAway Asia is one of the best platforms available out there to bring together tourists and suppliers of vacation rentals.

HomeAway Asia requires iOS 8.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. A small expedited fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

Blast the Enemy Away in Bunker Buster

April 22, 2016 by macjeff

Bunker Buster is a fun game that challenges your quick thinking skills as you blast away buildings. Offered for free in the App Store, this game features a continuous barrage of action during each round of gameplay.

Features:

Just like its name indicates, Bunker Buster, an app by Humanoid Mobile, is an app where you goal is simple: You must destroy the bunkers and other buildings before you’re destroyed yourself.

This is accomplished by bombing enemy turrets with your own drones before the turrets have the chance to take you down. High scores are kept in the app, letting you challenge yourself to beat your best each time you play.

When first starting out, figuring out how to best manage and utilize your resources takes a little time to get used to, but once you get the hang of things, the mission of Bunker Buster becomes much more manageable.

The in-game action is quick and simple to understand, making Bunker Buster an exciting little game to play.

However, long video-style advertisements in between rounds of gaming really kill your momentum and detract greatly from the overall enjoyability of the app.

Appearance and Layout:

Bunker Buster is a very simply designed app. While this simplicity is appealing to some extent, a bit more detail into the graphics of the game would definitely have been appreciated.

The graphics of Bunker Buster are reminiscent of an era in mobile gaming when non-detailed games were more common. Because of this, this game definitely feels more dated than it is.

The layout of this app is fine though; an easily understandable tools bar at the bottom of the screen keeps you informed of your playing options constantly, and a simply designed home screen leaves very little room for navigational confusion.

Value:

As indicated above, Bunker Buster is a free app. However there are a lot of in-app ads that appear in between games.

If they were just pop-up picture ads, then they wouldn’t be quite as disruptive, but as it stands, most of them are fairly long video ads. Because the ads are so long, it really makes it difficult to get into any rhythm of gameplay with Bunker Buster, and a player’s interest in the app definitely dwindles while these ads go on.

Bunker Buster requires iOS 7.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. A small expedited fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

Pryvate Now Offers a Secure Way to Call, Chat, and Email

April 22, 2016 by macjeff

Pryvate Now is a powerful app that delivers secure communications between users. In a world where security is quickly becoming a top priority, this is a very intriguing app.

Concept and Functionality:

Encrypted private communications apps like Pryvate Now function by requiring all parties involved to use the same app.

In the case of Pryvate Now this enables serverless RSA 4096-bit encryption, although requiring both parties to use the same app can also pose a problem because it’s not always easy to convince other people to download apps on their device. Of course in a business setting this may be less of an issue.

Setting up Pryvate Now, a free iPhone app by Criptyque, is pretty easy though, and only requires a phone number and email address.

Once you’ve created an account, your 30 day trial begins. During this trial, you have unrestricted access to everything that Pryvate Now offers. This is a great opportunity to take the app for a test drive and see if it’s the right fit for you.

While testing Pryvate Now, however, I did notice that the app uses a registration server that must be functional in order for users to access features within the app. If the registration server is down, you cannot make phone calls or access email.

Features:

When it comes to navigation, Pryvate Now certainly isn’t difficult to figure out. There are many features that look just like other apps you use, including the dial pad for calls. You can also securely chat with other users and even browse your email within the app.

The privacy of your communications is assured through the use of RSA 4096-bit encryption, which is VERY strong and virtually unbreakable.

I do want to mention that Pryvate Now is available on many different platforms and mobile devices, meaning iOS users and Android users alike can communicate with each other.

Value:

Pryvate Now is available to download from the App Store for free and is designed for iPhone. Once you are free trial is up, you have to commit to a subscription in order to ensure full functionality of the app. Subscriptions vary from $5.99 per month to $59.99 per year.

Overall, Pryvate Now is designed well and your actual communication does not rely on servers or middlemen but it does use a validation server in order to grant access to the app. This means that users are stuck if the server goes down. We expect the service to implement redundant validation servers with hot backups to eliminate this issue. Hopefully it will be changed soon so the service is uninterrupted.

Pryvate Now requires iOS 6.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Buddy Rush: The Legends is the Cutest RPG Ever

April 22, 2016 by macjeff

Company 100 Inc.’s Buddy Rush: The Legends game offers players the opportunity to lead characters to fight in the “cutest RPG.” Free through the iTunes Store, this app is a sequel to the previously created Buddy Rush game.

Features:

Buddy Rush: The Legends is an thrilling RPG that brings the charm of round, cute-looking little cartoon characters to the arena of battling iOS games.

Players in this game can choose different characters to play, with the additional option of accessorizing them to make them uniquely yours as well. Battling is set up to be against players all over the world, but this PVP mode is not really the main focus of the app.

Instead, Buddy Rush players are challenged to embark on different missions that are all designed to “help bring peace to the kingdom.” This app features many different characters and battle pieces, making it a bit of a hefty space-taker on your iOS device.

Operations seemed to run fairly smoothly though, which was definitely appreciated during battles. Buddy Rush, like many other apps of its type, is meant to be played while connected to wifi.

While outfitting your character throughout the app is definitely possible without making any in-app purchases, it should be noted that a lot of the optional in-app purchases are offered to improve your Buddy Rush experiences.

Appearance and Layout:

As promised, the developers of Buddy Rush: The Legends have created a game with “cute” graphics.

The cartoon characters are bubbly and unique, giving an interesting “cutesy” twist to a game of battling opponents and questing for treasures.

Colors are vibrantly bright, keeping in line with the overall mood of the game. As with most games, getting used to the layout and controlling of Buddy Rush takes a little time at first, but other than this initial period of getting oriented, the layout is pretty easy to understand.

Value:

As indicated above, Buddy Rush: The Legends is a free app. However, just like with Candy Crush or Clash of Clans, there are a lot of optional in-app purchases that could really hike up the cost of playing this game. All that being said, you can play entirely for free if you choose to.

Even though these purchases are purely optional, they seem like they could really be useful within the app, making players more than likely to try them out.

Overall, while Buddy Rush is a fun game, it’s playability “value” is brought down a little by the importance of these in-app purchases. Still, for fans of the game’s characters, Buddy Rush is well worth trying out.

Buddy Rush: The Legends requires iOS 6.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

Experience English Myths and Legends with Preston Sterling

April 22, 2016 by macjeff

Preston Sterling (full name: Preston Sterling and the Legend of Excalibur)is a story-game app by Animated Arts Creative Gmbh.

This beautiful hidden object game transports players “into the world of English myths and legends” and is a must-play game for anyone into King Arthur.

Available for $1.99 through the iTunes Store, this app is designed with anyone who loves puzzle storyline hidden object type games.

Features:

Designed to be a puzzle-filled storyline, Preston Sterling sends players out in a world of danger and intrigue as they guide the game’s protagonist to find the mythical sword of King Arthur. Like most games of it type, Preston Sterling takes players a little time to get used to figuring out how and where to control its character; in-app tips keep you informed on how to best navigate levels when you’re just starting out though, so these little guidance-feature definitely makes Preston Sterling a very user-friendly app.

There are no in-app purchases, so you also don’t have to worry about needing to purchase any extra help to assist you through the puzzles. This app is available in English, German, and Russian, giving it a multi-language appeal.

However, while controlling the characters in this app was easy to get the hang of, and the puzzles were fun, I was really disappointed in the length of the game; for most storyline puzzle apps it takes longer to complete all of the challenges than it does in this app.

While this makes it a great option for beginners, anyone looking for a longer storyline challenge will probably be disappointed with their purchase.

Appearance and Layout:

The appearance of Preston Sterling and the Legend of Excalibur is really its greatest feature.

Specifically, the graphics of this relatively inexpensive app are very impressive. The characters are obviously all cartoon depictions, but the level of detail put into the graphic design aspect of Preston Sterling is well above that of many other puzzle storyline apps.

Figuring out how to control your character is pretty easy, and the layout of the app also makes general in-app navigation impressively smooth as well.

Value:

As mentioned previously, this app costs just under $2. There are no in-app purchases or ads in Preston Sterling and the Legend of Excalibur, a fact that certainly helps add to the value of your initial investment.

The graphics and storyline for this app are impressive and the attention to detail is definitely appreciated we just wish the game took longer to complete. This adventure has a relatively short storyline and so you wind up finishing it fairly quickly.

While this short storyline/gameplay might appeal to anyone with a very short attention span, users looking for a more long term gaming investment will be disappointed with this app.

Preston Sterling requires iOS 6.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.