Reviews

Brando Hermes Music Dock Review

A while ago Brando Workshop announced that they were to produce a music dock for HTC Hermes based devices. As soon as it became available we just had to get one to review. ‘Orange M3100 Docking Cradle’ and ‘HTC TyTN Docking Cradle’ are two of the more popular search phrases on the site at the moment.

The TyTN Music Dock is of a silver-grey colour which closely matches the TyTN. It measures a mere 176 x 70 x 42 mm and is of a decent weight which makes it feel quite sturdy when you place your device in it. The placement of the phone connector at the bottom of the unit is better than on other docking solutions which means that the device slides into place a lot easier. The soft rubber feet mean that it stays put on your desk.

The cradle comes with the required USB cable to plug it into your PC and a mains adapter if you want to charge your device without using a PC. It also comes with a 3.5mm Stereo cable so that you can use other audio equipment with the dock. As with the standard Hermes Dock that Brando make, there is a blue LED to indicate that the unit is powered up. Fortunately the LED isn’t as bright on this unit and is a lot less distracting.

Having docked my Orange M3100 I connected the unit to my PC using the supplied USB cable and straight away ActiveSync found the device and synchronised.

The SPV M3100 looks just as nice in the Music Dock as the TyTN, in fact I quite like the black and silver contrast. Both devices fit in the Dock perfectly.

The cradle is suitable for Dopod CHT9000, Qtek 9600, i-Mate JasJam, O2 XDA Trion, HTC TyTN, HTC Hermes, htc Z, Orange SPV M3100 and T-Mobile MDA vario II devices.

Having tried the Music Dock with my SPV M3100 I have to say that I’m impressed with the sound quality. It’s a whole lot better than the M3100 loudspeaker. You are never going to get powerful bass out of such a small set of speakers but the range is pretty good and, using the volume control on the top of the dock, it goes pretty loud!

The only criticism I have of the dock is that there is no socket to attach headphones. A headphone socket would be pretty good as it would mean that you could sync and charge your device at the same time as being able to use headphones.

Overall the Music Dock works well and the sound quality, for such a small unit is pretty good. For the money, around £15 + p&p, I think it’s a bargain!

Visit Brando Workshop for more information.

We’ll be giving one of these Brando Music Dock units away as part of ’12 Days of Christmas’ competition later this week.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Orange, M3100, HTC Hermes, HTC TyTN, SPV, Orange SPV M3100]

Number Dropper game Review

When Matt asked me if I wanted to review some games for my phone I wasn’t sure as I really don’t use my phone that much nor did I know when I would fidn the time to play games but I thought why not!

So the first game I have chosen to review is number dropper. It is only available on Pocket PC.

Number Dropper is a very a simple idea, it’s somewhere between Tetris and Bookworm. It involves falling tiles. You have to remove all the tiles before they fill the screen. Each of the tiles has a number on and you can only remove tiles by clicking on the tile numbers that add up to the number at the top of the screen. Sounds easy and it starts off easy but soon gets more tricky!

In later levels bonus tiles are added. The golden bonus tile when used as part of a number chain removes the numbers from the remaining tiles for a short period and this enables you to remove the tiles where two or more of the same colour are touching.

Even further in to the game levels there are locked tiles which only show their number once they have been allowed to fall. In later levels some of the tiles have negative numbers on them!

This game has a very simple concept but is highly addictive and easy to play. I even gave it to Matt’s mum to play and despite the fact that she has never used a PocketPC before, she picked it up straight away and got hooked so much so that she ran the battery completely flat.

I would recommend this game as it is easy to learn and you can pick it up for a quick game now and then. Later levels get quite tricky as the target number at the top gets bigger so you have to do your mental arithmatic on the fly. It’s good brain exercise whist still being a lot of addictive fun!

Check Number Dropper on ClickGamer.

Tracy

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Mobile Games, Clickgamer, Tracy & Matt, pocket pc games, M3100 Software]

Parrot MINIKIT Hands-free Speakerphone review

I’m sure that everyone knows by now that using a mobile phone in your car without some form of hands-free apparatus has been illegal in the UK since the end of 2003.

As I do a lot more driving these days I asked Matt to get me a in-car holder/charger for my T-mobile MDA so that I could use it legally with my Bluetooth Headset.

The trouble, I found, with Bluetooth headsets is that the sound quality isn’t that great for either party during the call. Several we tried seemed to pick up the road noise over and above my voice. The other problem I had was that it was never charged when I needed it!

The other option was to have a Bluetooth car kit fitted to my car. However I really didn’t want to do that. Firstly they seem to be quite expensive and they also need (ideally) professional installation. As my car is new I didn’t really want to have someone fitting anything to it.

When I found out about the Parrot MINIKIT hands-free speakerphone I asked Matt to get me one to try as it looked ideal. No installation necessary, just charge it up and use it!

A few days later the Parrot MINIKIT arrived and we charged it up for the prescribed amount of time. Pairing with MINIKIT with my phone was so simple, exactly the same way as you would deal with a Bluetooth headset.

The Parrot MINIKIT requires only three buttons to operate it. There are buttons to make and end the call plus the big button in the middle that serves as a menu button and volume control. As there is no screen on this MINIKIT the menus are accessed by voice prompt which allows you to change things like the language setting, volume settings and Bluetooth pairing. In practice I don’t think you’ll need to use the menus at all.

The MINIKIT can be ‘installed’ in the car in one of two ways. Firstly, thanks to the soft rubber feet on the bottom, it can be simply placed on the dashboard of your car and used in that way. The feet are soft and ‘rubbery’ enough to stop it sliding around under all but the most extreme of vehicle manoeuvres. The only trouble with placing the MINIKIT on the dash is that it’s on show and you really have to hide it away when you leave the car.

The other way and, in my opinion, the best way to fit it is to attach the metal clip which is included with the kit and clip it on to the drivers side sun visor. In this position it’s at the right height to pick up your voice and also nice and easy to reach in order to press any of the buttons. It also makes it unobtrusive and harder for a would-be thief to see.

So what do I think of the Parrot MINIKIT?
I’m very pleased with it actually. When I first used it I called Matt while I was driving to work just to try it out. Matt didn’t even know that I was in the car as all of the vehicle noise was cancelled out. Matt said that it was just like speaking to me on a regular phone. From my point of view the sound quality was great. The loudspeaker is certainly loud enough and very clear.

Where it is mounted on the visor above my head is also ideal as I don’t have to fumble for a device sitting loose on the dash or look for a Bluetooth headset and pop it in my ear quickly before the caller rings off.

The other thing that has really impressed me about the MINIKIT is the battery life. I’ve been using it for about 2 weeks now and it’s still on the first charge. I know I don’t use it a great deal but the standby time is amazing!

What’s also important to me, being girly, is that there are no cables dangling or trailing from the unit to make my new car look untidy and nothing permanently fitted to my car.

CONCLUSION
I really like the Parrot MINIKIT, it’s ideal for me. I cant find anything bad to say about it! If you are someone that doesn’t get on well with Bluetooth headsets, or wants something a little bit better but without having anything too complicated or that needs to be installed then I would say that the MINIKIT is for you.

At the RRP of £59 I think it’s an absolute bargain!

Parrot MINIKIT Specification:

Bluetooth:

     •   Headset Profile HSP 1.1

     •   Hands-free Profile HFP 1.0

     •   Object Push Profile OPP

For more information and where to buy, please visit the Parrot website.

Tracy

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Parrot, MINIKIT, Speakerphone, Bluetooth, Tracy & Matt]

SanDisk Sansa e270 MP3 player review

There is no denying that there are a lot of MP3 players on the market at the moment. Players range from under £20 to several hundred pounds and capacities of 128mb to over 100gb.

SanDisk is a name that most people will recognise and associate with memory products. However SanDisk has fairly recently launched a new range of MP3 players. The Sansa e200 series has players ranging in capacity from 2 to 8gb. Here we are reviewing the e270 which is the 6gb model.

The Sansa comes in a rather attractive looking box and the contents are well laid out and presented. It’s always nice to see some effort going in to the packaging, especially as MP3 players are very often given as gifts.

Design

The Sansa e270 is a sleek looking device, glossy black on the front with a metal alloy back which is said to be extremely scratch resistant. It measures 88 x 44 x 13mm and weighs in at a mere 75g. The alloy back feels nice in the palm of your hand. It has a similar look to the iPod Nano but is slightly larger and heavier. Personally I quite like this as I find the Nano just a bit too small. On the back you’ll also find four screws. These allow you to remove the back and replace the li-ion battery. SanDisk sell replacement batteries for around £15. This is a great idea and one area that the Sansa shows the iPod a thing or two!

The e270 has a 1.8″ colour display in portrait orientation. This takes up almost half of the front of the device. It has a maximum resolution of 176×220 and 65,000 colours. The large display allows for a decent navigation system and is both sharp and well lit.

Below the screen you find the navigation buttons. This includes a ‘Thumb Wheel’ which seems to have become a prerequisite on MP3 players these days. The thumb wheel differs from the Click Wheel that you find on iPod’s in that it is mechanical rather than touch sensitive. The thin circular dial has raised bumps which makes it easy to use while spinning the wheel provides tactile feedback. I like this method of navigation but found the dial sticks up from the chassis just a bit too much for me, it made pressing the surrounding buttons a bit tricky for my fat fingers. This is only a minor issue though.

Looking at the rest of the Sansa, on the right hand side we find a microSD card slot. This is an excellent feature which allows us to increase the memory capacity of the player by up to 2gb (at the moment). The left hand side has a record button. This allows us to record voice notes straight on to the Sansa. I like this idea.

On the top of the device you’ll find the headphone socket a lock switch and the microphone. The headphone socket is a standard 3.5mm jack which allows you to use any standard headphones. The lock switch is another nice feature, there is nothing more annoying than accidentally pressing the buttons when you get MP3 players in and out of your pocket or find that the battery is flat as it’s turned itself on in your bag.

The bottom of the player is where you will find the ‘dock connector’. This is where you plug in your USB cable to charge or to upload content. This is a proprietary connector similar to that found on an iPod. It allows you to connect the Sansa to Various Accessories. I dislike devices having proprietary connectors. I understand that it is to allow for accessories to be connected but, if like me you want to charge the player both at home and at work, it does mean that you have to either carry another USB cable around with you or else purchase an extra one.

Also in the box you will find a pouch to put the player in, a lanyard and some headphones. The headphones aren’t actually that bad considering they are the ones bundled with the device. I have seen, or rather heard, a lot worse in the past.

Software

Navigating through the menus on the Sansa could not be easier. The interface is extremely intuitive and simple to use. The main menu is icon based and offers us the choice of Music, Photo, Voice, Video and Settings. These are all accessed using the thumb wheel. Each section has a sub menu which is again navigated using the thumb wheel.

The music library filters are pretty standard on the SanDisk Sansa e200, with Play All tracks up top, along with Artists, Album, Songs, Genres, My Top Rated, Recordings, and Playlists as options. On the playback screen, you get thumbnail album art, track info, and a time-elapsed meter. Pressing the select button takes you to a neat graphic-level meter, full-size album art, and the next song.

As mentioned before the screen is reasonable large and well lit. I uploaded some photos to the Sansa and was quite impressed with how good they looked. However this looking at photos on the device does show up another niggle. The viewing angle of the screen is quite narrow and looking at the screen in portrait can strain your eyes after a while as the view you get with each eye is slightly different. If you turn the screen 90 to landscape it’s much better.

There is also a PC application on the supplied CD. ‘Sansa Media Converter’ is a tool for converting and uploading content to the player. It will convert Music as well and Video and Photos into a format compatible with the device. I was quite impressed with the software’s ability to convert DivX video clips, although this process is somewhat time consuming. However, as the connection to the Sansa is USB 2.0, once the media is ready the upload speed is pretty fast.

Sound Quality

So lets get down to the important matter of the sound quality. I have tried a lot of MP3 players in the past from cheap players that come free with your cornflakes to expensive high end equipment. I have to say that in a blind sound test I would definitely have to put the Sansa at the top end of the spectrum. I listened to hours of music on the supplied headphones and on my own quality headphones and also connected the player up to my hi-fi. There is plenty of range to the playback. The low end isn’t quite as tight as it could be but playing with the equalizer sorted that out.

One of the first things a new user should do is download the latest firmware from SanDisk. The installed firmware has a really limited volume level, couple this with average headphones and the experience isn’t great. However the latest firmware has an option in the settings menu for volume and you can set this to high. It makes a big difference. The latest firmware also adds a custom setting to the equalizer.

Sansa e270 Specification:

Package Contents

Conclusions

Overall I really like the Sansa. I have been using it for about a week and have found it to be a very capable device. The battery life is every bit as good as they claim, I’ve only needed to charge it once during testing. This equates to about 15 hours which is very good when you consider that I have been playing with the menu system and looking at photos rather than simply listening to music.

The sound quality, with my decent headphones, is fantastic and the minor niggles I have with it are nothing when you look at the complete package. I think the Sansa is better than any other MP3 player I have ever had, it offers excellent value for money and is well worth considering.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): MP3 Player, SanDisk, Sansa e200, media player, SanDisk Sansa e270]

VITO ScreenCapture Review

Lately Tracy and I have been reviewing more PocketPC and Smartphone software and we needed a way to capture screen shots to illustrate our reviews.

In the past we used the screen capture tool that’s part of Microsoft’s power toys, however, this tool doesn’t work with WM5 devices. We needed to find something else.

I had a good look around the web and asked other people what they like to use to capture screen shots from their PocketPC. There are quite a few products out there that can do the job but many of them are rather expensive.

I started having a look though the products available from our ClickApps Store when I came across VITO ScreenCapture.

VITO is a name that I knew and I had seen their products before but I had no idea that they did a Screen Capture application. So I decided to give it a shot and download the trial.

Installation could not be easier, you simply run the Executable on your desktop PC and it’s all done for you. There isn’t anything to install on your PocketPC or Smartphone, it’s all done from the desktop. Just connect your device via active sync and start the ScreenCapture application.

You are presented with a very simple window which gives you three buttons. ‘Capture Screen’, ‘Copy to Clipboard’ and ‘Save to File’. It’s dead easy to use. You press the capture button, you see a screenshot from your mobile device and then you can either save the screen as a file or copy to clipboard. That’s all there is to it!

Having played around with this for quite a while I haven’t found anything that it wont capture. It works equally well on PocketPC or Smartphone. What’s more the tool costs less than £5!

Description :
VITO ScreenCapture is a small utility to make screenshots of your Pocket PC or Smartphone from a desktop PC. With VITO Screen Capture it’s a matter of two clicks. VITO Screen Capture automatically detects your Pocket PC or Smartphone when you connect it to your desktop PC and start ActiveSync. Now you can capture the screen image on your Pocket PC. It is immediately displayed on the desktop PC, you can save it as a bitmap image file or copy it to the clipboard.

Compatibility:

For under a fiver it’s well worth the money, everyone should have this app in their arsenal! Go and buy a copy now!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Vito, Screen Capture, M3100, Pocket PC Software]

HTC MTeoR Review

There are lots of images in this post so please be patient if you are using a slow connection. Click any of the images for a larger view.

I used to be a big Smartphone fan. In fact I have had almost every type of Smartphone device released over the last six years. However, once Orange released the SPV M1000 (HTC Himalaya) I have been a PocketPC device fan through and through. Sure I still have some Smartphone devices that I play with but I use them more for software testing than for day-to-day use. I find that PocketPC mobile devices work much better for me with the touch screen and, more recently, the advent of slide-out keyboards.

The HTC MTeoR is one of the few Smartphone format devices that I have seen for a while that has really grabbed my attention. Lately my HTC TyTN has started to feel a bit big in my pocket so I have been considering a ‘Candybar’ Smartphone.

Smartphones have progressed a lot recently with the advent of push-email and now 3G connectivity they are becoming a more realistic alternative to PocketPC mobile devices.

So can the MTeoR win me over and turn me back in to a Smartphone user?

As I mentioned before the HTC MTeoR incorporates 3G which makes it the worlds first 3G Windows Mobile Smartphone, what’s more, the MTeoR is a slim, pocket-friendly size make it a highly desirable device.

Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 technology with Direct Push, gives you instant access to your emails, this coupled with 3G connectivity make this device a pleasure to use.

There is a back-mounted camera and this shoots stills at up to 1.3-megapixels, but has no flash or self portrait mirror. The picture quality is nothing special and is much the same as any other 1.3mp phone camera.

On the front you’ll find a 5-way joystick style navigation control. What’s quite nice about this is that it has a rubberised middle which makes it easier to use.

The Smartphone menu has recently undergone some changes (since I last had a smartphone anyway). You don’t have to click ‘more’ to see the next screen of options, you can simply scroll down.

‘Jog Wheels’ have been recently added to several devices and the MTeoR has its own version. This isn’t a wheel as such but more of a self centering rocker on the left hand side of the device. This works well when scrolling through emails or webpages.

The overall dimensions are 112.4 x 49 x 14.8 mm. The MTeoR weighs in at just 120g and feels nice in the hand. I like the

One thing ‘missing’ from the MTeoR is WiFi. It seems that people have come to expect WiFi to be included with every device now. I must say that WiFi isn’t something that I miss, I seldom use it on my TyTN and don’t know of any hotspots that I might use other than the WiFi at home where I would use a PC anyway.

The HTC MTeoR accepts microSD cards which seem to be the HTC standard now. The memory card slot is situated on the left side of the device. There is a rubber cover over the microSD card slot which I liked. I have dropped other devices from time to time and this almost always resulted in the memory card ending up on the floor. When this happens with a microSD card it can be pretty hard to find!

Like the other HTC devices coming through at the moment, the MTeoR has a combined USB/Headphone socket. As a result you can only use the woefully inadequate headphones that come with the device unless you want to modify them and use your own. Either way, until HTC release the splitter that has been on pre-order with Expansys you’ll not be able to Sync/Charge the device at the same time as listening to music. This is something that bothers people wanting to use these devices in their car.

Having switched to the MTeoR from the TyTN I find myself trying to press the screen on quite a regular basis. Not having a touch screen is taking some getting used to and is probably the thing I miss most compared to PPC. I would love to see a device of smartphone format with a touchscreen.

The other thing it takes a while to get use to again is using T9 as the text input method. I used to be quick quick at tapping out a message and could do it without looking. It took me a few days to get used to it again and after that I was away. What helped out here was the fact that the keys on the MTeoR are really positive and not too small.

So has the MTeoR turned me in to a Smartphone user? Well, no BUT I have to say that the HTC MTeoR is quite possible the best Smartphone I have ever used. If you are a Smartphone user thats looking to upgrade, you are going to love this phone!

HTC MTeoR Specification

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Orange, C700, HTC Breeze, HTC MTeoR, Orange SPV C700]

Parrot Photo Viewer review

The Parrot Photo Viewer could not have arrived for review at a better time. Having just returned from holiday Tracy and I have tons of photos to show off!

I have been looking at digital photo frames for the last few months and really like the idea. I wanted to get something for my desk at work but the frames tend to be rather large.

The Parrot Photo Viewer is unique in that it uses Bluetooth technology rather than a USB cable or SD card in order to upload and display pictures. Parrot have aimed this product at people with camera phones, giving them the ability to transfer their favourite photos from their phone to display them on the photo frame.

At just 8.6 x 10.6cm the frame is pretty small. It’s slim too measuring just 1.5cm deep. However these dimensions include the frame, the LCD screen has an effective diagonal of just 3.5 inches and has a resolution of 320 x 234. This may seem fairly low but on a screen of this size it works out quite well. The backlight is bright and evenly lit and can be adjusted to suit your needs.

Available in 8 frame designs the frame can be used in either portrait or landscape and what’s more, the frame has a built in sensor that can tell which way is up and rotate the images on screen to suit; a pretty cool feature.

Uploading images via Bluetooth is dead easy. On my HTC TyTN I simply browse through the images I have saved and choose the one I want to send. Selecting beam file brings up a window where I can search for devices in range. Once the Parrot Photo Frame is shown on the list I click send and a few seconds later the picture is displayed on the screen.

Transferring files from a PC is equally simple but gives you the added benefit of being able to send more than one picture at a time.

The Parrot Photo Viewer will accept jpeg images in a variety of sizes and will automatically scale them to fit the screen. That said, it is a good idea to resize large images on the PC before you transfer them to save space as the frame has only 32mb of Flash RAM available for images. This may not seem like a lot but if you resize jpeg down to the frame’s native resolution of 320 x 234 they end up at around 30k each. This means that you could theoretically upload hundreds of images, however, there is a limit of 125 images that you can store at any one time regardless of how small the files are – I found this limit rather odd as the 125 images I uploaded took up much less than 32mb.

The photo frame has a built in menu system that allows you to change various settings, review and delete stored images alter the backlight brightness, etc. The on screen display is really intuitive and is accessed by three buttons on the rear of the frame. You can also alter how frequently the images are changed from 5 seconds up to a few hours. One thing that I would like to see added is a random option as the photo frame will currently only display images in the order in which you uploaded them.

The Parrot Photo Viewer is mains powered and comes with a slim power adapter. I would like to see a battery power option for this as it really is the ideal size for passing round to show people your photos. When most people see it for the first time they immediately want to pick it up.

The box for the Parrot Photo Viewer is also impressive and is ideal for anyone purchasing it as a gift for someone.

The firmware on the Parrot Photo Viewer can be updated via bluetooth. I think this is just as well as I did experience a few problems with it. Occasionally when tranfering images via Bluetooth the Photo Viewer would stop responding and the only solution is to unplug the power!

High-quality display
Featuring a high-resolution LCD screen with 320 x 234 pixels and 262 144 colours, the Parrot PHOTO VIEWER benefits from the TFT technology to guarantee you the highest level of rendering in terms of colours and sharp details.
It comes on during the day and switches off at night
An LCD screen gives off light, which can be a pain if you want to put it on your bedside table. The Parrot PHOTO VIEWER features a sensor that switches off the frame when the light level drops.

Technical and commercial specifications

Bluetooth® wireless photo viewer

Bluetooth®

Dimensions and Weight

Processor

Conclusion
I like this Parrot Photo Viewer and now have it sitting on my desk at work, it’s ideal for those photos that I have on my mobile and for uploading those holiday snaps to. However, I think it’s just a bit too small to use at home, it would be lost in my lounge or dining room. It’s a great idea but I’d like to see some things fixed/updated in a new firmware release.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Parrot, Photo Frame, Gadgets, HTC Artemis]

Astraware Bejeweled 2 review

INTRODUCTION

I thought that reviewing a game over the weekend would be a lot easier than trying to fit it around work, boy was I wrong! It wasn’t the fact that I was busy, it was because my phone would disappear for hours and only came back when the battery needed charging. I’d charge the phone and Tracy would run off with it again! I had to make sure Tracy had her own one to play with!

Bejeweled was first released as a web based game followed later by a PC version. The Pocket PC version was originally released as Diamond Mine in 2001, with the first release as Bejeweled coming in 2003. It featured two games modes, ‘Easy’ for relaxation and ‘Timed’ for fast paced, frantic action. The idea of Bejeweled simple all you have to do is tap two adjacent gems to swap them and make vertical or horizontal lines of three or more. Matching gems are then removed from play, their spaces taken up by new gems that fall from above.

Bejeweled(left) vs Bejeweled 2(right)

Bejeweled 2 uses the same idea with a few nice touches and some small changes that make all the difference. Bejeweled 2 has 4 different game modes, Classic, Action, Puzzle and Endless plus 5 unlockable bonus play modes. Classic has no time limit and is played until there are no more moves left, Action has a time bar at the bottom which decreases when you are not swapping gems and increases a little when you make a chain of gems.

Puzzle mode was not included in the previous Bejeweled and is a great addition. Instead of having the screen full of gems they are placed on the screen in specific patterns and the level is completed when you have cleared all the gems. Often there is only one solution to the puzzle. Finally, endless is a relaxing game mode with no time limits and where there is always another move to make.

The game is easy to pick up and learn but requires skill to get past the first level. The updated graphics between 1 and 2 make all the difference. Although in Bejeweled 2 the gems are smaller due to the placement of the pause button but they are a lot clearer. The background pictures which change when you go up a level are also a nice touch. The sound is clearer although the music is still slightly repetitive, but if you have a memory card you can put a few tracks on that.

Other than game modes, graphics and sound there are a few great features that the previous Bejeweled was missing. For instance the clock to tell you that you have been playing the game way too long and you should have been off lunch 30 minutes ago. The battery display to show how much more battery you have and a screensaver for the very rare occasions when your not playing this game.

Bejeweled(left) vs Bejeweled 2(right)

CONCLUSION

This game is highly addictive and has great replay value which will have you playing ‘just one more’ all day long. The graphics are clear and a vast improvement over the last one, although I would have liked the gems to be a bit larger and maybe have the pause and hint buttons on the bottom. If you have the previous Bejeweled and are wondering if it’s worth buying Bejeweled 2 then answer is yes! The extra game modes and 5 unlockable modes will keep you playing for ages. Although I do suggest keeping the game away from partners, friends, children, work colleages or even people on the bus.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to Astraware and check it out!

Review by Russell.

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Astraware, M3100, Bejeweled]