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Angry Birds Updates Aplenty!

Posted by Blake Grundman on May 16th, 2011

Just when you think that Angry Birds may finally be ready to slink away from the top of the iOS sales charts and make way for some new hotshot developers, another update hits for the most successful portable game franchise in the history of the platform.  That's right folks, it is time to fire up your iPhones and get ready for the long awaited and eagerly anticipated May update for Angry Birds Rio to land on your iOS device of choice.

After facing a barrage of emails, tweets, and Facebook messages when the first of May came and went without new stages being added to their beloved Angry Birds, Rovio decided to head speculation off at the pass, and released the following trailer:




Finally landing last Friday, the expansion pack nicknamed "Beach Volley",  features thirty new stages to add to the initial sixty included in Rio's original release.  This time you will take the primate assaulting to the surf and turf, in search of more birds that desperately need to be freed.


But that is not all folks, because it looks like the original Angry Birds may be getting some downloadable love as well.  According to Rovio's official twitter feed, late this month will also see brand new content come to roost on the first game that just kept on giving.  Honestly, the concept of continuing to update the first title when the sequel is already selling like gangbusters baffles me slightly, but who am I to sneeze at new, not to mention free, content.


In one last revelation to sneak out over Rovio's twitter account, they seem to be targeting June to release another update to Angry Birds Seasons.  Given that June 21st officially marks the start of summer, it would seem appropriate to see how everyone's favorite swine embrace the sweltering heat.  Oh, and just a note, in case you couldn't see the theme of this article, if you are a fan of Angry Birds, you should really be following Rovio on twitter.  It is a veritable news bonanza!





This Week in Updates: Sleep Cycle, Twitter, Boxcar

Posted by Kyle Flanigan on November 19th, 2010

A string of major free updates have landed this week in the App Store, just in time for the beginning of the holiday season that always witnesses fierce competition and price reductions for consumers. This week, Sleep Cycle, Twitter and Boxcar all rolled out significant additions to their already impressive applications, enhancing functionality dramatically.

Developers Maciek Drejak Labs rolled out version 3.0 of Sleep Cycle alarm clock, rated 5 stars by 148Apps and holding the position of #1 top paid application in numerous countries. The $0.99 application tracks your sleeping pattern in an effort to wake you up during your lightest sleeping phase. The free update now allows you to wake up to your own music from the iPod application, or choose not to have an alarm at all but still track your sleeping pattern. In addition, the application now offers full support for iPod Touch and is "up to 5x more sensitive to your movement". A new intelligent snooze feature has also been integrated, along with a plethora of general improvements that make this application a thorough 'buy' recommendation.

In social networking news, a much-anticipated and long overdue update to the official Twitter application for iPhone and iPad brings push notifications for @replies and direct messages, a feature that third party applications such as Boxcar (see below for a twist) offered to satisfy users who were forced to make use of an unofficial alternative.

However, Boxcar, an application that satisfied push notifications for Twitter before the update, have gone one step further still and now offer push notifications from anyone on your timeline, regardless of whether or not the message is a standard tweet, @reply or direct message. This is big news, particularly for twitter feeds dedicated to posting breaking news, where speed is everything. Version 4.1 also provides Foursquare, Gowalla and Reddit push integration.

With the holiday season fast approaching, expect more and more developers to provide added incentives, release significant updates and reduce prices in a bid to ensure that their application remains top of the charts. The best things in the tech life really are free - updates!



More Physics-y Goodness: Angry Birds, Rafter, and Doodle Bomb Updates

Posted by Bonnie Eisenman on February 23rd, 2010

Three games from relatively recent reviews have all received robust updates of late. Forgive me if these aren't exactly "new," but if you passed on these games in the past due to concerns about content, take note: now's the time to try them again.

Angry Birds
Clickgamer's Angry Birds won my heart with its quirky style and cheerful, bizarre art. One feature that was notably absent from the birds-in-a-slingshot game, however, was online high scores. The 1.2 update remedied that with Crystal integration, which brings leaderboards and achievements. It also included 42 new levels for an already-great game.

Fieldrunners 1.3 Update Brings New Maps, OpenFeint Integration

Posted by Jeff Scott on December 29th, 2009
iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
Our rating: starstarstarstarstar :: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED :: Read Review »

Another hotly anticipated update for the tower defense game Fieldrunners has been released. This update to the favorite tower defense game brings integration with the OpenFeint social gaming network and long with it achievements, challenges, and competition against friends on OpenFeint. In addition there are two new maps, each with new towers and fieldrunners available for in app purchase.

Each of the new maps, Skyway and Frostbite are available for $0.99 via in-app purchase. Here's a quick video of the Skyway map in action:

And another video preview of the Frostbite level.

Unfortunately reviewers are not being kind to Subatomic for this update. While the update itself provides some great features for free including the OpenFeint integration, the maps requiring purchase has upset the I want it free mentality of the average App Store gamer. At the time of the writing, There were as many 1 star reviews as 5 star reviews for Fieldrunners version 1.3. Compare that to the total ratings for all versions for the app which had 12x as many 5 star reviews as 1 star reviews.

Fieldrunners is still $2.99 and a great bargain for a fantastic tower defense game. And both new maps are highly recommended if you are a Fieldrunners lover.

Imangi Studios: Harbor Master to Get Multiplayer

Posted by Arron Hirst on October 15th, 2009

By now I'm sure you're all aware of Imangi's Habour Master. Ever since it launched back in June of this year, it's been a well loved, and treasured App Store classic.

Similar to Flight Control, Habor Master centers around line-drawing, an App Store genre of game which first hit the App Store in January, with pretty big fanfare. In the game you're in control of a busy harbor, controlling shipments of goods and packages, and docking the boats in a frantic bid to deliver these shipments to the right ports. It's a fun title, taking into consideration the true mechanics and value of the iPhone platform, and taking advantage of touch, to create an overall addictive experience.



A few days ago, we got the heads up from Imangi Studios' very own Natalia Luckyanova, on a new upcoming update to Harbor Master which should hit the App Store any day now, and is bound to make you fall in love with the title again. The update we're talking about is version 2.0, and it's set to bring with it wireless multiplayer matches via Bluetooth. With the update, you'll be able to select from the 6 included maps, battling to clear the harbor of ships, all the while playing against a friend.

But how are you going to keep track of all these boats? And just how exactly is this 2-player gameplay going to work? The studio explained:

"When a player sends an unloaded ship off the screen, it appears on the other player's screen, at the same spot, fully loaded. That way, a player can use different strategies to try to overwhelm their opponent, such as timing waves of ships to send over all at once. The player who crashes first loses."

We are told that the 'Multiplayer' aspect of this update will only work on OS 3.0 or higher, and you'll have to have either an iPod touch (2nd Gen), iPhone 3G or a later model. That said, Natalia ensures the rest of the game will still work on all devices and OS versions.

But the fun doesn't stop there. Oh no, the update will also include a highly anticipated feature, which is been present in other titles for a while. A fast-forward button. Plus, we're also told you'll also be able to adjust the speed of this 'fast-forward' motion.

I for one love Harbor Master, I think it's great - and this update looks like it'll have me playing it even more! Look out for this mutliplayer update hitting the store very shortly!

CozyQuest

iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
By Billy Miller on May 20th, 2009
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: Potentially Classic MMORPG
CozyQuest is an answer to the desire for traditional RPG action in an MMORPG that is being built from the ground up and provides some of the best developer feedback around. While it needs time before it can completely dominate its space, there's an awful
Read The Full Review »

2.0.1 OS Update Results: Go for it

Posted by Jeff Scott on August 12th, 2008

We've been running the 2.0.1 OS update for a few days now and our advice is to go for it. Install the update only once you have a full and complete backup though.

We've had fairly good luck with the update -- even though we've just had our 4th restore, 2.0.1 seems a little faster if not more stable.

The install was quick and painless -- much quicker than the restore process (3+ hours in our case). Let us know your thoughts.

iPhone OS 2.0.1 is Available in iTunes

Posted by Jeff Scott on August 4th, 2008

Apple today posted the first update to the iPhone OS for both generations of iPhones (original and 3G), and the iPod Touch. The updated only lists mysterious bug fixes. Some users are reporting that it gets rid of the lag seen in Contacts and the Camera. We'll be trying it once a few more brave souls have and report back. Hopefully it will address some of the more serious bugs as well.

[originally spotted at TUAW]