Features:

• 3D graphics
• Three difficulty levels in Campaign, with each level containing 35 stages
• Six different modes in Challenge
• Nine different upgradeable weapons and three different types of upgradeable support equipment

Game Play

In Heavy Gunner 3D, you are a soldier and your mission is to kill all the aliens.

There are Campaign and Challenge modes in Heavy Gunner 3D. In Campaign, there are three difficulty levels that each contains 35 stages. You can choose to play Normal or Hard, but the Extreme level requires you to finish the Hard level to unlock. In Challenge, you need to finish the first 25 stages in Campaign to unlock the Infinite A to E, with each 5 stages corresponding to 1 Infinite.

Each stage has different requirement that you need to meet in order to clear the stage and proceed to the next one. Some require you to survive for a certain amount of time, while some require you to kill a certain number of a particular alien. As you further to the later stages, the game becomes harder as the time or the number of the aliens killed has increased.

There are total nine weapons such as crusader LMG, plasma shower, and AM missile, and three types of support equipment. You can pick two weapons to the battlefield, but you can only use one at a time. You are free to switch your weapon at any time though. Weapons and support equipment are all upgradeable. You can upgrade them with points you earn in the game that are given based on your performance. By upgrading them, you can increase their damage, reload speed, and so on, depending on the weapons and the types of equipment.

There are several aliens in Heavy Gunner 3D that are different in appearance, size, and speed. However, their only way of attacking you is suicide attack, which they use their bodies to crash into you. Your life is determined by Shield and Hull. Once you run out of both, you will be dead. Therefore, you need to kill them using your weapons before they get close to you.

Control

The dual-stick controls in Heavy Gunner 3D allow you to control your weapons independently. In other words, you can shoot aliens with the weapon on your left hand aiming one side while the weapon on your right hand aiming another side. This gives you better efficiency in killing.

You tilt your phone to change the vision, which is the default setting. However, you can change the setting to Touch or Tip. You can even change other settings such as vibration and sensitivity.

Overall

As its name suggests, Heavy Gunner 3D has absolutely stunning graphics. The variety of weapons also increases the fun of playing this game. However, it does have some shortcomings. While 35 stages sound like a lot, it only takes two hours to clear them all. I would also like to see more different aliens. In short, if you are looking for a graphics-rich shooting game, Heavy Gunner 3D is the one you need. If you need something to play for a long period of time, you might want to think twice.

Heavy Gunner 3D is currently available from Android Market for $4.99.

Reviewed On: Google Nexus One with Android 2.2

iPod shuffle

The redesigned 4th generation iPod shuffle brings back the clickable front-facing ring buttons (play/pause, previous, next, volume up, volume down) and keeps VoiceOver control (it speaks artist and song name, multiple playlists, and battery status in 25 different languages) and the back clip. It now supports playlists and Genius Mixes. The tiny square casing includes the on/off/play in order/shuffle switch, a VoiceOver button and a 3.5mm headphone jack for audio and USB charging. The battery holds up to 15 hours of audio playback.

The shuffle will be available in 5 different colors (grey, blue, green, orange, and pink). A 2GB model will start shipping in one week for $49.

iPod nano

The redesigned 6th generation iPod nano does away with the click wheel and adds a 1.54 inch (240×240) multitouch display. It adopts the tiny iPod shuffle aesthetic; it’s even got the built-in back clip. It is 46 percent smaller and 42 percent lighter than the previous nano model. To navigate around touch interface, swipe left and right to access different pages of icons, up and down to scroll through lists, double tap to zoom in on photos (there is no pinch-to-zoom), and tap to access other areas. Any time you want to go back to the home screen simply tap and hold anywhere on the screen (there is no home button). You can even rotate the screen using two fingers. You can customize the pages of icons by touching and holding an icon down until it jiggles then dragging it to the desired position. Everything here should be very familiar to iPhone and iPod touch users; it’s all just miniaturized. The home screen gives you access to playlists, now playing, artists, and Genius Mixes. Also available is an FM radio, Nike+, a clock, Voice Memo, and access to Photos, Podcasts, Settings, and music categorized by song, album, genre, and composer. The small enclosure includes a sleep/wake switch and volume up and down buttons on top and the 30-pin dock connector and 3.5mm headphone jack on bottom. It also has a built-in accelerometer and supports VoiceOver in 29 different languages. The battery holds up to 24 hours of audio playback.

The nano will be available in 7 different colors (grey, blue, green, orange, pink, charcoal, and red).  8GB ($149) and 16GB ($179) models will start shipping in one week.

iPod touch

The 4th generation iPod touch gets even closer in design and functionality to its iPhone cousin. The new touch features the same 3.5 inch (960×640) Retina Display, Apple A4 processor, 5 megapixel back camera and VGA front-facing camera, and three-axis gyro sensor as the iPhone 4. The back camera shoots HD (720p, up to 30fps) video that can be edited on the device with simple trimming (included) or with more advanced editing (the $4.99 iMovie app now supports the iPod touch); it can also shoot stills. The front-facing camera can shoot stills and supports FaceTime chats over WiFi with other iPod touches and iPhone 4s. The external buttons and input/output holes remain the same: sleep/wake switch, volume up and volume down, the home button, 30-pin dock connector, 3.5mm headphone jack, build-in speaker and microphone.  802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, Nike+, accelerometer, ambient light sensor are still there as well. The battery holds up to 40 hours of audio and 7 hours of video playback.

The touch will be available in polished aluminium on black only. 8GB ($229), 32GB ($299) and 64GB ($399) will start shipping in one week.

iTunes 10

The next version of iTunes brings with it a slightly new look. One significant change is a new “hybrid” view. If selected, your iTunes library will recognize which songs are packaged together by album name and display the album art in a column next to the songs in a particular album. Normally, all of the songs in the same album simply list the album name repeatedly; the hybrid view replaces the repetition of words with the corresponding handsome album art. Also, Apple has finally decided to ditch the old iTunes CD logo for a fresh blue-hued icon.

Packed into iTunes 10 is Ping, “a social network for music”. Essentially it’s a mashup of Facebook and Twitter that allows you to discover and share music with friends and follow your favorite artists. When you sign up for a Ping account, you are given a profile page that prominently features a “recent activities” pane. This area is constantly updating with all kinds of information; you can see what your friends are listening to, what music they’ve purchased, and see what your favorite artists are up to. Songs, pictures, and video can be uploaded to this area. You can preview and download songs with a single click and comment on activities that pop up in the pane. Your profile page also includes personalized Top Charts that shows you what songs and albums your friends are listening to most. Professional artists are free to create “fan pages” for you to follow; their profile page will include artists they listen to, their recent activities, and links to purchase tour tickets provided by LiveNation. You can find friends and artists to follow by searching their name, email address, or through Facebook.  Privacy settings are super simple with Ping. You can make your profile and recent activities as public or private as you like. You can make yourself completely searchable by all, or you can make it so that only a select group of friends or family members can search and follow you. Ping is free to use and is accessable in iTunes 10; it’s coming to the iPhone and iPod touch (it’ll be located within the iTunes Store app) when iOS 4.1 releases next week.

Next up is AirPlay. Apple has dumped the name AirTunes for AirPlay. Why?  Because iTunes is now capable of streaming not just music but also photos and video. AirPlay allows you to stream over WiFi (or Ethernet connection) content from your PC or Mac to any iOS device (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch) and third party speaker docks, AV receivers, and stereo systems that may reside in your home. Early partners include Denon, Marantz, B&W, JBL, and iHome. AirPlay-enabled speakers with graphical displays can show song titles, artists, album names, elapsed and remaining time, and album artwork. More on AirPlay’s awesome capabilities in the next section.

iTunes 10, along with Ping and AirPlay, is available today for free.

Apple TV

The refreshed Apple TV is tiny, cheap, and oh-so-much more functional. The tiny matte black box is 80 percent smaller than the previous generation and it manages to stay cool and quiet without a fan. It is powered by Apple’s A4 chip and features the following ports in the rear: power, HDMI, Ethernet, optical audio, and micro-USB (for service and support only).  802.11n WiFi is built-in. Apple TV supports HD (720p) video and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. There is no local storage here; all content is only accessable by streaming it over the air (or in “the cloud”). The advantage? Now you won’t have to worry about reaching a hard drive capacity.

The new interface includes the categories Movies, TV Shows, Internet, Computers, and Settings. Since there is no local storage, you cannot purchase content for keeps.  You are restricted to renting movies and TV shows. HD and SD movies rent for $4.99 and $2.99, respectively. Once you purchase a movie you have 30 days to start watching, and once you press play the movie will expire in 24 hours time. Movie pages now feature customer reviews and ratings from Rotten Tomatoes. TV shows (from ABC and FOX) can now be rented in HD for the low, low price of 99 cents. Apple is hoping more networks jump on board with the new pricing scheme soon. Once you rent an episode you have 30 days to start watching, and once you press play the episode will expire in 48 hours time. There’s a new TV section called favorites; here you can organize your most watched shows and Apple TV will alert you if you’ve missed an episode from one of those shows.

The Internet category houses access to Netflix, YouTube, Podcasts, flickr, and MobileMe. If you have a Netflix account, you can tie it to your Apple TV to browse the Netflix library of movies and TV shows and watch content from your Instant Queue. The Computer category lists all of the computers in your home and allows you to pull content (music, photos, and video) from your PC or Mac to your TV over WiFi. You can play music through your stereo speakers, play snazzy slideshows with pictures from your recent vacation, and watch movies and TV shows you purchased on iTunes.

Now here’s where AirPlay comes into play. In addition to pulling content from your computer to your TV, soon you will be able to push content from your iOS device (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch) to your TV. Say you’ve purchased Pixar’s UP on your iPad and started watching the first 10 minutes of it upstairs. With the tap of the AirPlay button on the iPad, you can instantly stream the movie (in glorious HD, mind you) directly to your big screen TV downstairs. This really is an awesome capability. You can make this happen in November when iOS 4.2 drops. Apple TV is priced at $99 and will hit store shelves in four weeks. It ships with a small silver remote.

iOS4 software updates

The next iteration of the iOS platform is version 4.1. When it releases sometime next week it will bring bug fixes (for the proximity sensor, Bluetooth, and iPhone 3G), HD video upload over WiFi, TV show rentals, High Dynamic Range (HDR) photos, and Game Center. I’ll go further into detail with the latter two. Jobs explained HDR photos like this. Sometimes when you go to take a picture, it may come out over or under exposed resulting in a crappy image. If you have HDR selected when you take a shot, the camera will capture three different images–one “regular” image, one over-exposed image, and one under-exposted image. The software will combine the best elements from all three images to create a colorfully vibrant picture. Jobs noted that when HDR is selected, the camera roll will save the HDR-enhanced image and the “regular” image; you can decide which one is better.

Game Center was announced a while back, but not it’s finally ready to make it’s big debut. Essentially Game Center is an app that encourages multiplayer gaming.  You sign in with your Apple ID and create a nickname to start. Not all App Store games will be compatible with Game Center. It is up to developers to include Game Center support.  Compatible games will allow you to battle friends and unlock in-game achievements.  And if you don’t have any friends (ha, ha) the software will utilize matchmaking to pit you against an opponent with similar skill level to you.  During downtime you can keep an eye on leaderboard to compare your achievements with friends.  You can also compile a friends list with requests.  At the keynote developers from Epic Games showed off a spectacular-looking demo of an upcoming Game Center title codenamed “Project Sword”.

Jobs went on to preview the next-next version of iOS. v4.2 will finally bring everything we’ve been experiencing on the iPhone and iPod touch to the iPad. The magical pad will get multitasking, folders, etc. The software update will also bring wireless printing to the iPad. Jobs demoed how it will work within the Pages app. Select “Print” and you can select which printer to communicate with and the number of copies you want to make. When a print is in session, “Print Center” pops into the multitasking tray, and from there you can manage and cancel print jobs. Lastly, iOS 4.2 will enable AirPlay functionality on all three iOS devices, allowing you to stream content from them to Apple TV. This update touches down in November.

[via Apple]

Features:-

• Charming visual style with high-definition graphics
• Highly balanced, addictive and fun gameplay
• Spectacular visual effects
• Music wonderfully themed to each environment

Game Play

Fieldrunners for the iPad, from Subatomic Studios, LLC, is a tower defense-style game, where the objective is to obliterate the fieldrunners before they get to your base. To do this, you place weapons on the field so that they will take out all fieldrunners before they get to the other side.

You start the game with 20 lives, which translates into 20 enemies that may pass through your defenses before they take over your base, basically game over. The placement of your defences is in real time, though after each level you do get a small amount of time before the fieldrunners start their attack. Strategy is paramount, as the towers you set up early in the game are still in play for later levels. You do not want to have to sell and move around towers as this will use up valuable resources, which is very much needed as your advance further in the level.

A large green ring indicates where your tower can be placed, a red ring indicates a illegal placement. The size of the ring shows you the range of the weapon, which is very important for game strategy. Just clicking on the weapon will bring up the upgrading/sell options. The game also allows you to choose what difficulty you want to play in. There’s a total of 8 different weapons, but depending on what mode you choose to start with, you get different weapons.

Performance

The graphics and the detail-level take advantage of the iPad’s large screen and better resolution. This means a huge step in game improvements and huge difference between this and the iPhone version. Five different maps with a variety of entrances, exits and obstacles and a total of 8 weapons are available for you during the game, as mentioned above. The iPad’s large screen also has its benefits, such as easier placements of the towers and easier management (less zoom in and out). All of makes the game much more enjoyable.

Overall

Fieldrunners is really fun game for anyone who enjoys the tower defense genre. The increasing levels of difficulty keep Fieldrunners enjoyable and challenging. With the great graphics, Fieldrunners is definitely well worth the price tag. A definite MUST HAVE for all tower defense lovers out there!

Fieldrunners for iPad is currently available from iTunes App Store at $7.99.

Version Reviewed: 1.0.1

Reviewed On:  iPad (Wi-Fi) with iPhone OS 3.2.2

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s unbox the Xperia X10 so we can get this site going!

Take a look at our Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 unboxing:-

Box:

Phone:

Everything in the Box:

The Xperia X10:

A full review is scheduled within the next couple of weeks. Look for it once we get a chance to spend some quality time with the all new Sony Ericsson Xperia X10!

Remember to join us in our Weekly Promo Code Giveaway, where every week, we will be giving away promo codes for your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad. Be sure to follow us closely on Twitter and Facebook for a chance to win! But let’s not forget about some of the favorite applications out there across the smartphone platforms! This week’s App of the Week features gUnit for Android OS, Fotopedia Heritage for iPad for iPad, Fotopedia Heritage for iPhone/iPod Touch and Slider for Windows Mobile.

A simple unit conversion tool with support for more than 2,000 units in 30+ categories including Length, Temperature, Speed, Volume, Weight, Area conversions. Full version available (ads removed) for $0.99.

gUnit Converter – Lite is currently available from Android Marketplace for FREE!

Get ready for an endless visual journey across the 890 UNESCO World Heritage Sites!

Fotopedia Heritage offers you a beautiful way to navigate and discover all of them. Thousands of photographers and hundreds of curators from the Fotopedia community have already brought together 20 000 photos illustrating 3,000 points of interest within these sites. More pictures are coming everyday for you to enjoy!

Built in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Fotopedia Heritage reinvents for you the coffee table book experience. And if you are planning a trip, you will be just one click away from TripAdvisor travel information for the World Heritage Sites you are interested in.

Features:-

• Explore our heritage deeper and deeper navigating carefully chosen tags
• Learn more about each place reading rich descriptions from UNESCO and Wikipedia
• Browse an interactive map and localize precisely each site

Fotopedia Heritage for iPad is currently available from iTunes App Store for FREE!

Get ready for an endless visual journey across the 890 UNESCO World Heritage Sites!

Fotopedia Heritage offers you a beautiful way to navigate and discover all of them. Thousands of photographers and hundreds of curators from the Fotopedia community have already brought together 20 000 photos illustrating 3,000 points of interest within these sites. More pictures are coming everyday for you to enjoy!

Built in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Fotopedia Heritage reinvents for you the coffee table book experience. And if you are planning a trip, you will be just one click away from TripAdvisor travel information for the World Heritage Sites you are interested in.

Features:-

• Explore our heritage deeper and deeper navigating carefully chosen tags
• Learn more about each place reading rich descriptions from UNESCO and Wikipedia
• Browse an interactive map and localize precisely each site

Fotopedia Heritage for iPhone is currently available from iTunes App Store for FREE!

Slider is an addictive and challenging puzzle game with sliding blocks. Use the stylus or your finger to move game pieces around the game board to slide the key game piece off the screen. Enjoy 100 levels of puzzles with progressive difficulty. Click the level indicator button at the bottom of the game board for level select options. All Windows Mobile 6.x smart phones are supported with a minimum resolution of 240×240 pixels.

Features:-

• Addictive and challenging puzzle game.
• Stylus or finger operation on game screen.
• Automatic saving and tracking of game progress.
• 100 levels with mutiple level select options.
• All Windows Mobile 6.x smart phones are supported with a minimum resolution of 240×240.

Slider is currently available from Windows Marketplace for Mobile at $0.99.