comiXology app review

    Overview

              I know there are plenty of comic book reader friends out there looking for a review of the conglomerate known as comiXology a cross platform app that acts like a digital locker for your precious graphic goodies. Personally I'm a fan of a novel or a movie but a graphic novel acts like a good middle in the road to visualize what is happening without sound (unlike DeviantARTs newest motion books which are amazing, btw). So I decided to spring for comiXology despite a few bad reviews. Overall I thought app was good, had a large category of titles, and the design was good in theory but the app was sluggish some and there wasn't a home button.

Functionality

      It's kind of hard to define "functionality" for a comic book reader app, but if your talking guided panes view, large title category, some free titles, and good prices (noted I'm not the guy for comic book prices I'm going on rates for books then translating them into comic book prices) then you have to use the comiXology app. Buying comics require a credit card and an account even if you are just looking for free ones (like me). After a simple in app registration you can buy books to your hearts content without leaving the app (unlike Kindle) and reading them straight from the glorious cloud. Of course you can choose to download for offline reading for summer road trips where some graphic entertainment is essential. One thing I wasn't happy about (as usual) was the lack of sharing. Every app should use the sharing charm even if it just posts a message to social media saying your using/enjoying etc in comiXology and since it is a website where you can get graphic novels they should at least include a link which guarantees free marketing even if only about 5% of their users use it. So the core functionality is good only thing is the app isn't completely fluid and it can be a bit hard to maneuver around the app on a laptop.

Design

      This is a two fold part. First part is the main page/store. The use of rectangles/boxes has a template look but somehow it looks good. The store isn't hard to maneuver around and purchasing is easy. The reading experience is great feeling very gratifying. The guided view is my favorite and I really enjoy using it with the cool use of zooming and focusing on one pane instead of having to zoom in constantly. Design is good enough for this kind of app and can't see how you could improve it.

Conclusion

      4/5 Good app has some great bones with a great ecosystem. As a first time user I was using the app fluently after about 10 minutes of fiddling around. I am not a collector (don't have any big graphic novel collection just a few like a classic fav of mine Bone the first free one of course) or a big fan but the app as a novice was a great experience. I recommend it if you have an existing comiXology account with a big collection of media.

Guns Windows 8 app review

Overview

Just about every platform has some kind of app that mimicks the sound of a gun like an M-16, Deagle, or .50 cal as a prank or just for fun. I installed the highly acclaimed Guns HD which closes as soon as I open it. This app had a surprisingly nice design with 8 guns and various achievements. It could use some work with bugs etc but overall nice experience.

Functionality

The app isn't hard to figure out. It has eight guns of various classes that you can tap to fire. I've had a couple of gun apps (albeit for Android) that I was surprised not as good as this app. Start up speed was average, the tile was nicely designed, and the app was very nice overall. No speed issues and the sounds were pretty authentic. The app doesn't have any sharing features or any settings which wasn't too surprising. The app never crashed on me and the animations are so - so. The sounds are pretty loud and the information was very well informational. The achievements could be good if they worked. Sometimes they do sometimes they don't. Obviously there are bugs to be fixed but the app was free so I can't really complain too much.

Design

This is where I give the app major kudos. The design for an app of this caliber (no pun intended) was phenomenal. It had a perfect MDL content first look and feel. Never have I seen an app with a (obviously) low budget have such a grand design. It does have its pitfalls like it doesn't have the best background (quality a bit low) but overall it is a winner for me. Information is well laid out and the typography is neat.

Rating

4/5 The design really resonated with me above the average functions for this "category" of apps. I was satisfied that the dev put enough effort into this app and its Windows Phone counterpart that we will see updates later on to make it a five star winner.

Tom and Jerry App review

The world's favorite cat and mouse TV show has an app for Windows 8! The app hampered by a lackluster design and limited feature set does do a good job of showcasing content first.

Overview
       
      The app performs fairly well. It took 8 seconds on my low end machine with a couple other apps opened to load up. When you open the app you are greeted by a grid of 40 Tom and Jerry episodes. Design is a bit simple and really unimaginative. Just click on the arrow to go to the next grid of 40. In all there are 161 episodes that really aren't long about 6 minutes on average. Right clicking on an app gives you the option to pin to start. The video experience is less than stellar with buttons that make absolutely no sense at all.

Functionality
                
     The app loaded videos in a few seconds and playback wasn't anything to write home about. Videos never stuttered and the quality wasn't bad (of course these videos were made before HD) plus the ability to pin individual videos was nice. What was a major knock in my opinion was the lack of sharing. I mean they could have added to ability to tweet, share, or blog what episode I was watching and attach their website. Just common marketing. The video experience was clouded by completely random buttons. Top right was a weight with a random number, bottom left was a clock with the wrong time, and then there was a Wi-Fi indicator and all of these do nothing when clicked. Weird? Not only that but the buttons were like bigger then needed. I know it is a touch enabled app but they were beyond the point of touch friendly unless you were a dinosaur or Sasquatch.

Design

      This was the worst part of the app the design. I realize MDL (which this blog follows) a.k.a Microsoft Design Language does say put #contentfirst which +lloyd slichenmyer my fellow editor posted recently. The design does show you content immediately it is poorly designed. They could have a spotlight, highly rated, have information about the show, etc. There is great potential for a great blockbuster Tom and Jerry app but the design really hold it back.

3/5 The app has potential to be an end all app for Tom and Jerry fans like me if it had a wealth of information, sharing options, a background, and a nice Metro design like All Recipes but it failed. Hopefully the app makers might improve in a later version.

Windows 8 App review: Allrecipes

     Overview

         Windows 8 originally started out with 2 cookbooks: Cookbook by Bewise, and icookbook. Now we have 9 food and dining apps available in the store including the Allrecipes and videorecipes apps. I used to use the Cookbook by Bewise app, but it didn't have printing features. This app has a great printing feature, can share to virtually any app, and features the largest library of recipes that I have seen. The live tile is very beautiful and the layout is very intuitive. It could be faster, but that is yet to be seen for the Windows 8 release.

     Functionality

          I have used the website before and was very surprised to see a Windows 8 app. The app opens up in around 3 - 6 seconds or more depending on how many more programs running. After it loads it takes you to a beautiful and slightly cluttered home page. You can log into your Allrecipes.com account or join allrecipes.com to save recipes to your lunchbox. First comes up are ideas and then there is the ingredient section which shows you an ingredient and you can click on it to see recipes to get rid of your bacon from your fridge. There is a lot of creative ideas and recipes and you can always search for a recipe. The search is slow too and can take up to 12 seconds to load. Sharing is one of the Allrecipes app strong suits where I can share to any app that can share. There is a nutrition fact sheet that tells you all the calories and such. Not every recipe has them, but the majority do. There is a review section, but you can't add reviews. Allrecipes.com is user based, but you can't add recipes. Still this is a stellar app worth your time.

     Conclusion

     The app is very well designed and has a lot to love and little to hate. It is the only app that I know of that I visit more than the parent website.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Windows 8 has hit RTM

Well finally after a lot of hard work Windows 8 has reached RTM. It will be available August 16th.

Source: Windows8Update

Windows 8 App review: Fine Cooking

     Overview

     I have always loved magazines and a good "magazine" app is hard to come by. This app shows true potential among the current crop of preview apps. The other magazine that I have reviewed My History Digest goes with a more web styled approach, but the Fine cooking magazine follows the path the Fine Homebuilder app took: the traditional magazine look and feel. The app has a lot of good features that all work unlike the Homebuilder app, and it also has a beautiful look and is pretty quick in app. The speed stops there. It took me 30 minutes to download 1 issue and there was only two to choose from. I was pretty disappointed at the lack of issues, but that is becoming very common among magazine apps before RTM. Another piece of criticism I have to give is that the text is too small for comfortable use. You are forced to view any content in zoomed view otherwise it is unreadable on a 1366x768 screen (a full HD screen renders text even smaller). In zoomed view you can not leaf to another page which forces you to exit the current view and then leaf over. Currently pages are rendered in two page mode so if it was rendered say in 1 page mode the problem would be fixed.

     Functionality

     Loading the main screen was pretty quick probably because there is nothing there. Loading up a pre-downloaded magazine takes about 4-6 seconds and there are some pictures of recipes that work part of the time. In a design aspect there is a lot of empty space that could be utilized by even a simple Office 15 like theme where they put flowers on the edges or lines you understand. It is not like the issues are even new they are from May and April. After you open your downloaded issue you have two options: 1 go to a recipe or 2 start reading the issue. Navigation is powered by the hated side buttons or if you click in the article you can use the left and right buttons. There is no fancy turning animations and the zoom function is not completely polished. There is a full screen mode which wastes some space on the side and the text is still too small for reading. If you try going through the magazine quickly then it starts to stutter and some pages do not display. There are some other functions like showcasing all of the articles in a grid or strip function. 

     Conclusion

     It did not provide the most pleasant experience, but still it laid a good groundwork for what looks to be a solid app come time for the RTM or Windows 8 release.

Rating// 3.8 out of 5

Windows 8 App review: Engadget

     Overview

     Engadget is a widely known source for all things things tech which is why I am reviewing this app. The other tech blogs that have approved Windows 8 apps are Ubergizmo, Appy Geek, and Tom's Hardware. I was surprised more than impressed with the appearance of the Engadget app. For a news blog that has some pretty critical reviews on Operating Systems and most Windows laptops they are not good at making a Windows 8 app. First off the article navigation is pretty solid, but the overall is pretty clunky like a few other apps. The app is a bit like the Ubergizmo setup or the Appy geek which looked like they were based heavily on a more default look.

     Functionality

     I frequent Engadget a lot for tech news and reviews and I thought this app might replace my need to visit the website. I was utterly wrong. First off it shows there is pictures on the home screen, but when you click on an article no pictures in any article. There is a gallery section with pictures oddly enough, but only from recent times. There is a video section with recent videos that do work. The app will never replace the website soon and according to the developer himself it is a "work in progress." Also no Distro app was very disappointing. The app loads up in 2 seconds and in app usage is very laggy. So far there really is no incentive to getting the app except for quick sharing to Facebook or twitter which works surprisingly well. If you do not care about pictures then this app would be great for you since you technically can go to the gallery section. What is surprising is when I go to certain articles from a category list it will not let me share at all stating that the app can't share! I was pretty baffled about this and was very angry. Navigation is very clunky in app at all times. If they took some cues from the Bible+ app I would be satisfied.

     Conclusion

     Well I was pretty surprised at a very critical company making an extremely poor app. Tom's Hardware or the regular News App are better. Engadget please make a good Distro app that looks along the lines of a Fine Cooking app. I really love the Android app and hope it looks the same, but metrofied. 

Rating// 3 out of 5

Windows 8 App Review: Journal

      Overview

     Normally a lot of the apps that are in the lifestyle are very horrible and boring to use. At least 4 of the 9 apps in the section do not belong, and those are the best ones! This app is the best designed app that I have ever seen yet on Windows 8. It is almost finished, but has a long way to go. It takes a considerable way to go and only 5 fonts work. I think it is a bit hard to use on a laptop, but on a tablet it would be a dream. It feels like a real journal with the ability to change the environment and you can move the journal around on your desk. It feels very refreshing and with a tablet it feels surreal. I have never heard of life scribe the developers of this app but kudos to them for making a good app. So far I have only seen the Windows Journal app that provides half of the experience you see here. I am a bit angry for not saving my rantings and ravings as I write because I overloaded the app and it crashed deleting my data, and I did not feel like typing it up again. Also you cannot buy things from the market yet which does not make much sense. The page limit is essentially a money trap to make you buy more journals and the font problem is extremely annoying.

      Functionality

     It takes from 3-7 seconds for the app to load which is understandable for the high demanding graphics, but is much to long for my needs. It does work well enough for day to day use and does not have much noticeable lag. It has crashed on me once when I was trying to turn the page too quick. It does not save where you are at unless you do it manually which is a bit mean and annoying if it crashes. For a really old laptop and a really nice HD app my computer handled it well and the app was so beautiful and hard to resist.  One of the quirks that I hope to resolved soon is the app has 25 fonts listed and only 5 are usable. I have listed all of the problems that I have experienced to the developers of this app and they have said that they will fix it. In regular use the app works well enough to warrant the good reviews it deserves. I really love the Journal because not only because of the UI, but it is an original idea. There are plenty of note apps and games, but there are no other journals in the store.

     Conclusion

     This is a great app and the design UI and UX is very unique and beautiful. The faults are very minor and the scrapbook type theme is a bit like the old Memories app from Developer Preview days. The ability to add photos, videos, music, and pictures is really cool. 

Rating// 4.2 of 5

Windows 8 release date

     Well guess what we know when Windows 8 will be released!!! On October, 26, 2012 we will see droves of people heading to the big box stores: Staples, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target. Amazon will be buzzing with sales, and Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Nvidia, and the other chip makers will have a big quarter. Expect PC sales of over 10 million on day one and many stores selling Windows 8 tablets, laptops, desktops, and even server sales with Windows Home Server 2012. So far we do not have a date for Office 2013, but I can at least tell you that the Windows RT 2013 will be available for Windows RT users. 

Windows 8 App review: Office 2013 CP

   Microsoft Office 2010 PC Home And Student Edition - MSCD04771WI

  Overview

     Well you might be asking, "This is a desktop app not a Windows 8 app?" Well actually the Office 2013 suite is so metrofied that it feels like a Windows 8 app. The new Office 2013 or Office 15 has some great improvements like, edit PDFs, embedding videos into Word documents, adding social sites, blogging in Word, and many other goodies that some where already in Office, but are now revealed and make it much easier and fun to use. At the bottom of the page you can see some screenshots in the usual slideshow. I have installed: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Onenote, Access, Publisher, and Outlook.

Word 2013

     I was happy to see a host of new features available in Word 2013. To some power users dismay the ribbon is back, but this time it is in a new metro encasement. I really like the addition of embedding videos into word files and the editing of PDFs was a great choice too. Slowly but surely Microsoft is turning the Office suite into a one stop shop powerhouse. Of course small time developers will not like this because their applications that may have converted files are being neglected, but it all works out for the consumer in timely fashion. Touch optimization was not that bad considering the whole rectangle and square approach instead of the old circle approach. It felt a bit under professional with the entire Metro theme compared to 2010 and looked a bit retro and consumer like, but it did the job much better with no lag. I was surprised at how fast text entered and how quick pages loaded. I was pretty happy to see a very clean design and quick performance. Everything is very clean and loads up faster then some metro apps. You can easily customize the background with a couple of different ones from the Start screen. It is a very clean typical metro interface that is very easy to use and I enjoyed using it. Is it touch friendly? Depending on how big your screen is and how many pixels you have. If you have a 1920x1200 AIO than this would be great. On smaller devices it is a big upgrade from Office 14/ 2010, but still has a ways to go. 

     Excel 2013

     I do not use Excel much except when I am at school until I saw the new version. It almost compels me to make up charts that I will not even use (much). It connects to my Sky Drive to keep my spreadsheets anywhere and everywhere. I really like that so I can edit that no matter what I am on with either Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 or Android using the Office Web Apps. I really love the simplified approach of metro and the Excel app really excelled my spreadsheets.

     PowerPoint 2013

     

      I used PowerPoint a lot in school during Computer class and I think I might have done it easier with the new PowerPoint. The app is not only lighter it runs so much faster and text input is just as buttery smooth as Word. There has been some improvements like adding glow effects and it is so easy to move pictures around. Borrowing from Google's term "Project Butter" everything has been smooth from text to moving from page to page. There has not been that much change for PowerPoint. It is more of a cosmetic change and the integration of social media. The template "store" is very beautiful and looks really cool and touch friendly. I really like the look and feel of the entire suit and PowerPoint was no exception. It does have a uniformity of the entire suite, but I like the look.

     One Note 2013

     The best and probably most used college tool is OneNote. I know a lot of people that do use Word to take notes, but the new and improved OneNote is more than able to take graphs and all other types of statistics and notes of course. It can accept either drawing or typing whatever you choose. This is the only app that the Microsoft team decided to make a Windows 8 full metro app. The metro app is more touch friendly and is built sideways not top down. It is called OneNote MX (as seen above) and looks really cool and is very quick and easy to use. The good thing about it is whenever there is a crash or a bug found it will automatically send a bug report to the Microsoft dev team. It is a bit hard to use, but when you get used to it actually it is very quick and fun to use. I could see someone using it paired with a Asus tab 810 or Surface Pro with a stylus writing down notes super quickly. The desktop app has a lot of more features and looks beautiful and has a little snipping tool. 

     Publisher 2013

     I have only used Publisher twice in my life, but both of those times I fell in love with it. It reminds me of the PowerPoint app with the glow effects and the easy picture swapping. It comes with a little tutorial with some high quality photos probably from a Nikon or Canon dSLR. The tutorial is simply a publisher file with some information about the new features. It is the tool of the advertiser and the student who needs to make pamphlets or any other publication that your little heart may need. In reality there is no other Publisher equal. Google Docs or Open Office do not have anything that has the same level of sophistication or large size of templates. The entire metro feel flowed right through to this app and is excellently shown.

     Outlook 2013

     This is the most used app that I have used in all of my testing Office 15. it can effortlessly open my e-mail accounts faster than gmail or even the mail app for metro. By far the Outlook 2013 is the most changed from Office 2010. Not only does it have metro up top it has it everywhere. It was a bit hard to use at first, but when you get used to it it is fast and easy to use. I really love the entire look and design of the app and it supports pen input and can support multiple inboxes no matter if Imap or POP. It is the most used I have with Word behind it. It is the best e-mail app I have ever used because the mail app does not support e-mail accounts from carriers. It feels like Word and advanced e-mail functions are mixed together. Once again the text is fast and fluid like Word. It works like a dream and I never have had a bug in it yet. 

 Conclusion

      I have to say that I was a bit leery of Office 15, but now that I see it is a one stop shop for much of what I do. It provides all of the services you already use in Office 2010 with added functionality, speed, and a beautiful new design. When I type in Word and compare it to blogger.com Word wins every time. Also the Office 15 suites are not processor hungry unlike Google Chrome or Open Office. I am very happy to use Office 15 and can not wait to test this on a touch enabled laptop.

Rating 5/5

     

     

Windows 8 App review: Free Books

     Overview

     Doesn't everyone love free stuff? What if you had 23,469 ebooks for free with no catch or ads? Well your wish has come true. Many great authors like Jack London, Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Dickens, Author Conan Doyle, and many others who are renowned authors, scientists, and inaugural addresses. I originally rated the app a one star since it would not load when I first tried to use it, but it finally came around and now I use it more than some other apps. The e-reading experience is bare bones with no settings at all. When I try to go to something else in a different app the app shuts off and displays the splash screen when I do go back. The formatting is a bit bad on some books and others it is a lot better. I rather a nice consistent experience all across the board. What really surprised me was how well it handled the search and share charm features. The search was pretty nice for a pretty bare bones app. There was a simple download function just tap twice and overall it was simple to use since there was nothing to use. It has a large library of information including many Inaugural addresses from many presidents.

pi      Functionality

     This app gives Windows 8 multitasking a bad name. Unless you like looking at the splash screen a lot then don't leave the app or you will get it. It does load up in an average 2.5 seconds and the splash screen looks okay. It loads up to the "My Library" section and since you do not have any books it will show the featured articles, collections, and big authors. The app works very well in snapped mode letting you shop for books, but you have to be in fill or full screen mode to read books. The books are in a kindle like two pane and are not very formatted too much. The share function works with apps like mail, quicknote, and wordpress. The app is built on the classicly.com website where you can upload free classics and other documents that the public should see.

     Conclusion

     This app is really a mixed bag. In some parts like the large library of books and not a bad overall e-reader and has a great search and share charm functions. In other respects there is no option to zoom or reading in snapped mode like the kindle app. I prefer the kindle app because you can leave the app and come back to your page instantly and it has a lot of more bells and whistles to give you a better reading experience. 

Rating 3/5

Windows 8 App review: Basketball Clipboard

     Overview

     Well we do know that one basketball team uses the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and this can be a game changer with the right hardware. I may have played basketball, but I am no coach. I have used the app and found it very cool, but it lacking some pretty core features like exporting a play as a video or sharing the play to your team via e-mail or Facebook.

     Functionality

     The app takes a bit long to start up which I thought was long for a light to medium application. I did experience when running a video off of the internet, open word document, and two opened Google chrome tabs that I experienced some crashes when I was in the app which makes it seem very unstable. The app is a bit complex for me because in the app screenshots it has the players with names underneath the little circles. Nowhere in the app command bar or the charm setting bar does it have an option for names underneath the players. It works by you (the coach) creates a play step by step and then saves it to the coaches clipboard in a proprietary file format and has a little tile in your clipboard. It says that there is an option to export your file which is nothing, but it only exports it as an XML file not a video file like an AVI or H.264. Truthfully the app is still a bit lacking in terms of speed with nothing open.

     Conclusion

     The app builds on a nice concept and helps prove the point that Windows 8 can cater to all needs in any profession. I will not let the pre-build argument fly here since basic needs are not met with exporting files and sharing. Also a bigger tile would be nice that displayed your plays and a pin to start menu option would be nice too.

Rating// 3.5/5 

Windows 8 App review: TouchMol

     Overview

       I am a tech writer and blogger not a chemistry wizard so if anyone tells me I did something wrong that is a chemist please tell me. First off it starts up pretty quickly like most other apps. It shows three base chemistry formulas which have some information on them. You can import your own and when the IOS and Android variations launch share them with your friends. This is one of the first apps that I have seen that will go ahead and launch with Windows 8 before IOS or Android. It is a pretty solid app and does all of the functions that it advertises except searching for others creations. I showed it to my mom who loves chemistry and she thought is was very intuitive and cool. She wants to open up a little laboratory and this app paired on my (about to be) Asus tablet 810 with an active digitizer and a 10 point multi touch screen. I could see professional chemists using this to aid them in their investigations. I really do not know much about chemistry save a few basic things so please bear with me.

     Functionality

     Not only does it open up fast it loads up everything fast. Text is very clear and sharp. I was pretty surprised at how the recognition was on my laptop which in my performance test scored 1 FPS and 10 FPS respectively in high and medium graphic tests. I really liked how the app was fully featured and came out before a more popular Android and IOS release. I was very pleased at the overall quickness of it even for a metro app. My only niggle with it was there was only 3 pre-loaded drawings and there was no ability to see what others made as it advertised. 

     Conclusion

      I do not use this app much on a day to day basis, but I really like the look and feel and would give it a better rating if it had either a community where others have their drawings or a larger amount of pre-loaded content. 

Rating//: 4.0/5

The Surface as I see it

     The Microsoft Surface is a very unique being that was launched a few weeks back and it took the entire tech world by storm. There were many questions left answered and unanswered and everyone had mixed views when leaving MILK studios. The Surface has two variants: 1 Surface RT which is launched at the same time as Windows 8. Most likely we will see the Surface and Windows 8 at some kind of event with Windows Phone 8 and probably have some other ground breaking news like Windows 8 will launch with 100,000 apps (for WP8 and Windows 8/RT). 2 Is the Surface Pro which will be launched three months after the Windows 8 launch with (speculating) the new Xbox 720/8 machine. The Surface machines have their own dedicated website surface.com with some specs and a gallery of photos. So far we have only seen two "accessories" that look like they will come with the devices depending on which one you buy. The Surface RT looks like it will get the touch cover that comes in five different colors that works like a big tablet with a slightly raised surface that the keys you touch with no tactile feedback. Then the Surface Pro looks to come with their innovative type cover that is a little thicker and comes with keys that provide a tactile feedback and only in black. Also the Surface Pro will come with a Wacom active digitizer that looks buttery smooth in action. So if you really want the full Windows 8/7 side with an intel core i5 processor and unknown amount of RAM the Windows 8 Pro running Surface Pro is really the best out there. There is no flex from the magnesium made casing and they are both super slim considering they both sport USB ports. Also the MagSafe connector can (as per a patent) not only charge the device but transfer files. The Surface is a halo device. 

     The Surface is made to force other OEMs to make better devices than what is currently out there to beat Apple at their own game. The Surface is the epitome of quality and beauty in a slim and functional shell. The surface is very impressive and the specs are very good. The one thing is price. Everyone has their own quote and since it is a premium product it will be at a premium price. I think the RT version will go for $499 for the 32GB version to try and undercut the Ipad. The RT 64GB will roll at $599. The Pro 64GB will be $699 also beating the Ipad competition and the 128GB model will go for $799. The touch covers will come with the RT versions and the type cover will come with the Pro models. Of course this is all speculation, but isn't that what everyone else is doing?

Windows 8 App review: My History Digest

     Overview

     The My History Digest is a magazine style app that currently showcases some premium looking articles that are pretty in depth into history. I really like the layout of the application and think other magazines or news websites like, The Verge, Engadget, and Better Homes and Garden should really follow the History Digest route. There are two other apps that follow a real magazine layout like this are the Fine Home building and the Telegraph which I both do not use (yet). The layout has a consistency with the horizontal scrolling of Windows 8 that shows itself in the start screen and the Windows Store. The My History Digest is an excellent looking app that is designed nicely but the content situation is very bad with only 3 articles. Still there is so much information there it might be enough to satisfy your history buff self. 

    Functionality

     The one good thing about the My History Digest is the premium app feel. It loads first time in around 3 seconds which is faster than Slap Dash Podcast and opens up to the screenshot seen above. Surprisingly for a free app that is a magazine it has very little lag when going between articles. Sadly there has been a lot of reading apps in the Windows Store (You version Bible, Bible Pronto, Free Books) that have some lag between turning pages and the Free Books app has horrible formatting. The lag is only when you turn pages in an article which is very annoying. Instead of the Wikipedia approach they took the Free books approach that is these little side buttons you press that we saw in the original Kindle app. Still they are a lot more responsive than the ones found in the You version Bible app. You can see the design and effort that was put into this app that really makes it shine far above many apps. There maybe only 3 articles but remember this is not a big company behind this project like the History channel that can fund it and how many writers work for no pay. Remember that this project looks like a group of developers, graphic designers, and History guru's converged and decided to make a Windows 8 app.

     Conclusion 

      This app is very eye catching and even with only 3 articles they are jam packed with a lot of information and is very well displayed. My only two quirks are the annoying side bars which may be more responsive than others that I have seen. Also it is short on content which I think since the articles are probably 3,000 + words are being hammered out and lay in preparation for Windows 8 as we speak.
 Rating//4.8/5

Windows 8 App review: Slap Dash Podcast

 

     Overview

     Podcasts are pretty important in our lives whatever we do. In the techie world podcasts are vital to getting our message out whatever it maybe. The Slap Dash Podcast app is where all of your video and audio podcasts come together for you to either watch or listen on that long plane flight. Sadly you can download audio podcasts only and the ability to download video is coming soon in the Windows 8 final version. Video and audio quality is great and there is not a big selection but there is enough to suffice for tech or liberal media needs (Conservative here with only a Fox News video podcast). The UI is nice and the audio and video looks and sounds great I can not wait to be able to download my favorite Paul Thurrot and Mary Jo Foley Windows Weekly video podcasts.

     Functionality

     The podcast app did crash once or twice while I was using it, but overall it provided a silky smooth performance. Pages did load up quickly and video and audio looked and sounded like HD quality stuff. The one thing that I experienced was a slow start up time. The splash screen was there for about 5 seconds which is really bad for any app. 

     Selection

     The podcast store does not have a very wide selection that I was looking for. Some independent blogs like Goodereader did not have their podcast inside the store. The food section was very boring and the one or two apps that I like one of them had no podcasts in it. The other sections like news do not have many podcasts in it and I only found the Fox News podcast to my liking. There was a bunch of liberal media stuff like the Bill Maher Show and Rachel Maddow which are liberal media and not my material. The tech selection thankfully was good with my favorite Windows Weekly, The Vergecast, Engadget, CNET, and TWIT, which I am very thankful for. The selection in the Slap Dash podcast app is about equal with the Tune In Radio app since in Slapdash you can watch videos. 

     Conclusion

     This app is pretty colorful and actually is useful but the lack of downloading video podcasts and can't download in the special podcast file is not very good. The usefulness of this app is questionable depending on what you need it for. There is some podcasts that are based on radio shows like Focus on the Family and the Dave Ramsey Show and Bill Maher and National Public Radio. If you like business stuff than there is a good selection in the business section and there is a lot of "yuppie" podcasts in the lifestyle section. If you like podcasts and have a Windows 8 pc or Windows Phone than this is a solid choice. 

Rating//4.5/5

Windows 8 App Review: Wikipedia

     Wikipedia may not be accepted in all schools as a source for research papers but it is dandy a great source for regular information. This is the first app that I have seen that not only has a clean and easy to use UI it also has no bugs that I have noticed. Windows8update.com also made a review of the app and they loved it just like me.

      Functionality

     The app starts up very fluidly and has no noticeable bugs in this current iteration. Performance in my perspective is much faster than the browser version in Google Chrome. The information is nicely spread out and takes 2 seconds to start up. It shows four columns featured pictures, featured articles, on this day in History, and recent changes. On my computer the app does not looked either stretched and pixel peepers would be satisfied. Clicking on an article brings up a horizontal row of words and depending on the article it will show on average the usual info box which either tapping or clicking on it will bring up a pop up box that you can close out by tapping the article again. Also below that is a table that when tapped will lead you to other articles that pertain to this article or if it is in a chain of events. Going from left to right will take you to the rest of the article and references. Fluidity and an easy to use interface makes for a great app and no qualms about it. 

     Conclusion

     I found that the Windows 8 Wikipedia app is the best app in general so far I tested other than the TuneIn Radio app.
Rating 5/5

Windows 8 App Review: Naturespace

     

            Overview 

      This app is currently the only one of its kind in the Windows 8 Store and one of few in the IOS realm. There is no current WP, BB, or Android version yet. This app is made to relax the body and provide calming, soothing music. In the two weeks I have been using this app it has mostly been playing whenever I write or read. It feels very abstract as some subtitles suggest and can really lull someone into sleep. If you feel very vexed and need something to help you calm down the rain into water or even the night at the lake unknown are some great soothing songs. 

             Functionality

       The app is so easy to use and is pretty reliable even though there are a few noticeable bugs but that might be a localized issue but it is still an issue to the end user. For one thing you have to close the app in order to stop the music since the pause button does not work and if you want to play a video and don't want the music anymore you can turn down the sound but that is it until we get a bug fix. Another bug is when you do turn down the sound when you turn it back up or on it will not come on unless you go into the apps little circle to change the sound. Other than those audio playback is smooth as silk and played at studio quality it sounds so real. 

            Design 

         It is probably one of the most beautiful metro apps and I have seen a lot of metro designed apps. From the clean slick side left to right interface to the beautiful pictures. I would prefer to see some looping images, but they are a big drain on the battery as we see in the original weather app. There is no lag when moving from screen to screen or opening the information and reviews circles. The information circle usually has some tips about what is happening and how to process what you hear in your imagination. You can read the review circle for some reviews of other users. So far you can not add a review in the app, but we image updates to the app will soon be made. 

                 Conclusion

             Out of all the apps this is my favorite since it can play in the background as I write. Like usual you can see the app pictures below and now we are showing screenshots instead of pictures. 

Our Precious Ecosystems

     Many people think that the recently revealed Surface and the just released Nexus 7 are nothing more than Halo generating products that are aimed for pushing OEM's to make better products not necessarily market share is a farce. The Nexus 7 and the Surface are poised to take two different markets. They both feature the luxury of full compatibly with their respective app markets and a high quality build and a relatively low price for their markets. Recently revealed is that the Android army consists of 400 million Android devices + compared to 350 million IOS devices and a small number of Blackberry devices and  Symbian and relatively few Windows Phones. I foresee the Blackberry market losing business share to Windows Phone/Windows 8 and the IOS kingdom under attack from the Android advance. Even if Windows 8 fails sadly Linux will not rise to the top even though Android is Linux at her core. Today at the Google I/O conference they announced 600 million apps in the Google Play store and a new magazine and movie store with movie rentals and tv series which will defiantly rival that of the 550 million app packing Itunes store which also features newsstand for magazines, and sells movies like the Google Play market. Microsoft will integrate the Zune software into Windows 8 and currently features movies, music, podcasts, but no book store (possible B&N integration but that is speculative) and no magazine store. The biggest seller to the general public is an ecosystem which Google looks like it has it all wrapped up. The Nexus 7 which will be up for pre-order soon and features a kindle fire like look with a 1280x800 IPS display and a tegra 3 core and most important Android 4.1 jelly bean. This device will be the one to beat in the current 7 inch market recently dominated by the Kindle fire in price and the Galaxy tab 7.7 tab in quality and I think the Surface will knock the Ipad off of its pedestal where whenever you have a review people will say it is better than the Ipad, but I think in quality and design will compare their devices to the Surface even though it is a tough act to follow. The IOS ecosystem is expanding at a quick rate and the Google Play ecosystem is at an even faster rate and the Blackberry system is dwindling and the Microsoft system is emerging into a viable contender.