Amazon's Free App of the Day - My Paper Plane 2 (3D)

written by: Nick Kosmides

My Paper Plane 2 was free yesterday.  What can I say.  I found life without my phone yesterday in my many outdoor hobbies.

I downloaded this but didn't have time to play it, so a review would have been fabricated.  My Paper Plane 2 may be worth the $1.98 they are asking if you are into flight games with slightly old school 3D graphics. Not the 3D from all these glasses-free devices you may have heard about, just "plane" old 3 dimensional graphics, pun intended.

With four backdrops and 16 levels to fly through, Amazon's Free App of the Day helped to garner over 70 reviews for WaveCades first app in the Amazon Appstore for Android.  So, with a lets congratulate the developer for a fine title and if you managed to miss out on this app entirely, don't worry, there is a Lite version you can download to run a test flight before you take to the skies in the full version.

My Paper Plane 2 (3D) - $1.98

Amazon's Free App of the Day - Random Mahjong Pro (ad free)

written by: Nick Kosmides

Shall I start by saying I love Mahjong Solitaire, and this is by far the BEST Mahjong game I've ever played.  Not only is it amazing, its free today!

The interface is simple.  This is important and so many other games are so busy and over done.  The color palette is classy and sharp, which makes this a very appealing game to play.  The sounds are simple as well, and perfectly balanced with gameplay.  Try to select a piece not on the edge and see and hear what happens.  Perfection.  You may think I'm going a bit over board, though as long as you have no device issues, you will agree this is sheer perfection.

 I played this thing all night, still can't get enough.  Puzzles are randomly generated but sophisticated and extremely challenging.  I chose Easy at first just because I'm not cocky, even though I'm good.  Got five puzzles in and started failing to solve!  I was blown away.  Tried Medium and couldn't solve the first puzzle.  I eventually did, but they do seem to have only one solution in the Medium difficulty. What's Hard like?!!

Please do not hesitate on this one.  The dev deserves the credit for this masterpiece Mahjong solitaire gem and you deserve the free-ness of it all.

Random Mahjong Pro - $1.99 FREE

Amazon's Free App of the Day - Pocket Salsa

written by: Nick Kosmides

Pocket Salsa is free today, fulfilling your video downloading desires.

This is basically a portal to download the videos.  Welcome to Salsa 101, and mobile app 101.  Anyone who thinks downloading the videos through the app is a pain should not own a smartphone.  Apps are in nature meant to be portals to websites and databases.  Most apps are just shells and the internet is the filling, if we're making stuffed shells.

Pocket Salsa brings over 100 instructional dancing videos to your phone in an attempt to make you active.  When it comes to smartphone users, not to many people can be caught dancing while holding their phone in one hand.

I must warn you though as many downloaders are complaining about the permissions.  There is an unexplained number of permissions, not to mention the personal nature of the data these permissions have access to.  Download with caution.  Although we can trust Amazon to a certain extent, these developers may have a completely different agenda.

Pocket Salsa - $1.99 FREE

Amazon's Free App of the Day - Car Maintenance Reminder Pro

written by: Nick Kosmides

Yesterday was the day of car maintenance.  You missed out on nothing, and if you think you did, I feel sorry for you.  Having downloaded Car Maintenance Reminder Pro free yesterday, you will discover that this app loves to run continuously in the background despite turning all alerts and notifications off.

The UI is clunky and leaves something to be desired.  My big problem with the app is the commitment.  You won't realize it when you download it, but this app does nearly nothing for you right away.  Every other app you've downloaded has something for you to use or benefit from almost immediately.  Once you input all the details of your vehicles the next step is nothing.  You wait.  The app simply tells you when things need to be changed on your car.

When I think car maintenance, I'm not only thinking regularly scheduled maintenance.  What if you get a flat and need to find a tire repair place.  It would be convenient of this app included this feature, utilizing Google Maps api to help you find this or a gas station.  How about cheapest gas prices, or oil change specials.  I think the reason for this not being available is because the dev clearly states the app does not use the network in any way when you go Pro.  Maybe to prove there are no ads.

In this case it hinders the true potential for a "pro" car maintenance app.  Though, there is that word "reminder" in the app title.

Car Maintenance Reminder Pro - $1.99

Amazon's Free App of the Day - Aporkalypse: Pigs of Doom

written by: Nick Kosmides

Another late Amazon Free App of the Day update from me, but another awesome free game from Amazon.  How can you be mad at me, this game is worth the 99 cents they wanna charge.

Great graphics using a very basic palette in a game where you control a fat hungry pig out to stop an apocalypse - err aporkalypse - with the help of some other porky friends on a grid patterned world.  The object is to move square by square to the end of the level.  With puzzle elements creating the challenge and some 30 levels keeping you coming.

I've only just scratched the surface of the game, having only freed the first of my pig friends.  He appears to be a tank pig, aka War Pig.  The first pig was Hunger Pig and he is used to eat bales of hay then spit them out.  There was actually an eat button followed by a spit-up button.  Hilarious!

If you enjoy humorous puzzlers with subliminal "America is fat" jokes then download this game pronto.  I may have made that last part up, though given that the company is from Giebelstadt, Germany and Bucharest, Romania and another of their free games is called Super Dynamite Fishing where the protagonist is a redneck America breaking the law on a daily basis to impress a woman, I feel I may be accurate.

Aporkalypse: Pigs of Doom - $0.99 FREE

Amazon's Free App of the Day - Turbo Grannies

written by: Nick Kosmides

Ironically, Turbo Grannies involves only one granny.  The name suggests there are multiple grannies in the game yet there is only one.  No multiplayer of any kind will be had.  There is no mention of at least unlocking more grannies, hence justifying the title.  Though a proper playthrough is needed to confirm this anomaly.

Turbo Grannies is indeed free today.  A simplified yet beautified version of Excite Bike for Android featuring a whopping three courses.  Navigate your racing granny using her scooter through the Mountains, Suburbia and Desert tracks.

Though Turbo Grannies is yet another free game to add to your collection, it may not be all that fun with so many complaints pertaining to the sluggish or unresponsive tilt controls.

Turbo Grannies - $0.99 FREE

Amazon's Free App of the Day - mSecure Password Manager

written by: Nick Kosmides

mSecure - Password Manager is a very successful iPhone app available for Android free today, offering localized password storage among other nifty features.  As this is a tough app to review due to the current state of digitized personal information storage with large companies like Sony, I'm simply going to list the key features as they appear on the Android Market page for this app:

KEY FEATURES 

✔ Native Android look and feel
✔ 256bit Blowfish encryption to protect the confidentiality of your data
✔ Full landscape support (can be disabled if not desired)
✔ Password protection with hint feature
✔ Premium user interface features like collapsible section headers and Optional viewing mode by record type or record description
✔ User customizable type templates with unlimited fields
✔ Integrated search capability for quick record look-up
✔ Self-destruct mode to delete your data after given number of failed attempts
✔ Password Generator for strong passwords
✔ 144 colorful icons for personalization of item types
✔ Full-sync with mSecure for Windows or Mac (separate purchase)
✔ Import and export data from various file types (with mBackup) 

mSecure on the Android Market is receiving very positive reviews.  Its also interesting to note that the app advertises a free download of mBackup for Mac or PC with purchase.  This is not stated on the Amazon Appstore for the same app listed at the same price.  In fact, the details spread is not nearly as complete as on the Android Market.

So, for the complete listing of features, visit the Android Market.  Then, return to the Amazon Appstore for the free download today.

mSecure - $4.99 FREE

Amazon's Free App of the Day - Office Jerk

written by: Nick Kosmides

Let's cut right to the chase.  I downloaded this app right away as I usually do for these free apps, and the first thing I did was play it.  And the last thing I did was also the first thing I did, right before I uninstalled it.  The round trip time was a total of three minutes.  Lets see if you can beat that.


Office Jerk is a game very much like a series called Flick Kick on the Android Market.  Use your finger to guide an object from the bottom of the screen to a destination in the environment.  The app takes into account the speed and the length of your finger swipe to determine where the object will land.  This is easy except for the added challenge of variable wind.

This is not an original game, nor is it a good copy.  If I were Amazon, which I'm not, I would not be advertising this game let alone as an "Exclusive launch".  Office Jerk is no where near the caliber of any PopCap or Rovio game!  I did post a review for this app on Amazon's site and warned people that they may be forced to give it a 1-star rating after downloading simply because its that bad.

Try it if you have absolutely nothing better to do.  Seriously, think about what I just said for at least 10 whole seconds before you decide.

Office Jerk - $0.99 FREE

Amazon's Free App of the Day - TaskKiller Pro

written by: Nick Kosmides

TGI...wait, damn it!  It's only Thursday.  Though, by the time you read this your work day will be over and you will be stuck in traffic somewhere waiting for that tasty dinnertime meal of room temp left overs and hopefully a tall glass of Guiness left over from your last party.  No you won't, because that's my evening!  Ha ha!!!  All except for the traffic.  Gotta love unemployment.  Its the bees knees.

TaskKiller Pro is today's free app from Amazon.  Please don't ask me why there isn't a proper space between the words "Task" and "Killer" even though the second letter "K" is uppercase.

Grammatical issues aside, I cannot recommend this app to everyone.  Who I can recommend this to are Android users with any OS prior to 2.2.  As with Android 2.2 or higher the system manages battery consumption and background processes in the most optimized manner without any external task killers.  Just read the reviews and you'll get this hint.  This is also the case with almost every task killer on the Android Market.

These apps were at one time a necessity.  With older Android operating systems there was no task killer or battery management system built in to the OS.  Along come these apps and people began screaming hallelujah.

One thing is certain, if you feel your battery isn't lasting as long as it could here are a few options for you to consider, none of which are magic cures:

- reduce your use; change your habits and reduce how much you are on your phone doing whatever.  Turning devices on/off constantly, powering the screen, connecting to cell and data towers, even constant wifi use all add up to daily recharges.

- crack the whip; tell those apps you don't want to see then running in the background by adjusting their settings.  Most apps have settings that ask for your permission to run in the background and often times these settings are enabled by default.  Look for notification preferences or sync options.  Crack the whip!

- uninstall unused apps; the simple fact that they are on your phone allows them to open themselves all willy nilly.  When cracking the whip doesn't work then there is something else in the app, maybe an overlooked permission, that is allowing it to operate in the background.  Many people say this can happen to help quick start apps as well.  Though if you do not open a particular app for a very long time then this should not be the case.

- ignore it all; just pretend for a week that you don't know anything about apps running in the background.  Try a little bit of everything above until you get to this last ditch effort and just ignore it all. This will help calm you about this whole app killing thing and let you face the real tough challenges in life.  Just say to yourself "Killing is bad, life is good."  (results may vary)

Got anymore system resource saving advice?  Post it in comments, please!

TaskKiller Pro - $1.99 FREE

Amazon's Free App of the Day - Pac-man

written by: Nick Kosmides

Pac-man is one of those games that should need no introduction, no explanation, and no profitability.  It should be free to everyone who has a social security number, free for being born.  A gift from Namco for joining us on earth, a type of fruit we can all juice.  Ok, I've lost it a bit on that one.

My point is thankfully its free today, but I can't honestly say I would ever pay $4.99 for this thing.  Especially given that the controls are the #1 problem with it.  This applies to all touch screen versions on Android and iOS.

Now that the dust has settled, please just go get what's owed to you and yours.  Tell your friends and family to download Pac-man today.  Its just the right thing to do.  Its our birth right to bare no-arms and eat pellets all day.  Go...go now.  Before the ghosts get you.  And if you're wondering, the ghosts aren't gay because they are brightly colored and after your big yellow ball.  They are gay because they choose to be.

Pac-man - $4.99 FREE