Sketch Camera

| $0.99 | ljezny

Sketch Camera update brings new effects into play - wpcentral

Sketch Camera is a photographic app for your Windows Phone that applies artistic filters to your images. We liked what we saw back in our review and the application was recently updated to bring a few more effects into play. The new filters are: You still have sketch, oil paint, pencil drawing, bathroom reflections and chalk effects that carried over from the previous version. The developer decided to remove the brick wall effect simply because not many liked it. Along with the new effects, there were some minor tweaks to fix some bugs and a few cosmetic changes to the photography app. The additional effects that the update brings to Sketch Camera are nice and expands the potential of a very nice camera app. There is a free trial version available for Sketch Camera that is limited to the sketch effect. The full version will run you $1.49 and you can grab it here at the Windows Phone Marketplace. Read More

Ask Ziggy

| FREE | Averotek

Siri for Windows Phone – Ask Ziggy - IntoMobile

Windows Phone users may find Apple’s Siri service so awesome that makes the default Bing Voice look like an ancient technology. No more, thanks to the new app called Ask Ziggy. Available as a free download, it will understand your question (thanks to the Nuance-powered technology) and assist you in areas such as emailing, texting, calling, social network (Facebook and Twitter) updates, and getting directions. In addition, Ask Ziggy is said to be good for mathematical questions, checking flight status and random trivia. What’s more, when a general question is asked, Ziggy will scrap the web content and match patterns to return relevant result. If such thing is not possible, you’ll get a search bubble with a link to see web search results based on your query. Love it, though unfortunately not all features are instantly available. The application you can download today from the Windows Phone Marketplace is pretty solid, though an update is waiting for Microsoft’s approval and will be released shortly. You can check out a short video demonstrating some of the Ask Ziggy’s capabilities below. Enjoy! Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is Read More

MiniSquadron

| FREE | Microsoft Studios

Xbox Live: MiniSquadron control bug discovered, plus an easy workaround - wpcentral

Since its announcement, we at WPCentral have been eagerly anticipating the release of MiniSquadron on Xbox Live. Imagine my disappointment then when I booted the game up on Wednesday only to discover that the virtual stick simply did not work. As a result, I couldn’t steer the plane or do much of anything besides get an Achievement for bouncing into the walls. A quick check of the comments section on Wednesday’s announcement article and other gaming forums reveals the problem is fairly widespread, though it doesn’t affect everyone. Thankfully there is a fix for MiniSquadron’s control problem. If your game’s virtual stick isn’t working, simply restart your phone. The next time you boot up the game, the controls should be fixed. You’re then set to enjoy some 2D aerial combat! Fat Pebble, the developer responsible for the Windows Phone port of MiniSquadron, is aware of the control bug. They have promised to fix it as soon as possible. While the inconvenience of the bug seems like a total downer, it’s actually a boon for gamers. You see, MiniSquadron was developed prior to the Windows Phone Mango update and therefore doesn’t support Fast App Switching. Now that the devs have to update Read More

Battlewagon

| $2.99 | Ironsun Studios

Xbox Live: Battlewagon & Doodle God make it to the Marketplace, breaking & making things all the while - wpcentral

Joining the free game on Xbox Live this week are two paid titles, Battlewagon and Doodle God. Both games are now available on the Marketplace. Battlewagon is a curious and very British game that takes place during medieval times. The object is to retake your lands from four evil barons. Battlewagon’s 68 levels encompass a variety of gameplay styles: firing a catapult from a stationary wagon, winding up the wagon just the right amount to stop it within a designated zone, jumping over or barreling through obstacles and enemies, and tossing bombs at specific parts of enemy castles. While the gameplay is creative and the art charmingly retro, Battlewagon shows a few rough spots out of the gate. The slingshot mechanic could work better as you don’t have much room to aim without hitting the edge of the screen; it’s easy to fire accidentally too. The game seriously needs a retry option from the pause menu and after failing levels as well. Doodle God is a popular indie game that has been upgraded to Xbox Live status. It’s a hard game to describe, but think of it as an alchemy simulator. You start out with only four elements to mix and Read More

Sudoku

| FREE | Microsoft Studios

Fun new Xbox LIVE games come to Windows Phone - Windows Phone Secrets

Microsoft announces today that it has released two classic games, Minesweeper and Sudoku, for Windows Phone. The games are both free, which is great. But they’re also real Xbox LIVE games too, which is even better as they bring Achievements and power ups to the mix. Sounds good to me. The goal in Minesweeper is to clear the board using flags to safely mark potential hidden mines. One wrong move and it’s game over. The new Xbox LIVE version comes with two modes—Classic and Speed—and as many as 4 different levels of difficulty each. Sudoku, the hit Japanese numbers-based logic game, challenges you to fill a 9×9 grid with the numbers 1 to 9. (But of course it’s not quite as simple as it sounds.) Play it in Classic or Lightning mode. Update: Unfortunately, these games appear to be US-only. Sorry for the confusion. Read More