In the middle of a redesign...

As you can probably guess, my personal website is in the middle of a redesign. I didn't port the blog template yet, which is why it looks so weird. I'll try to be brief and wrap it up as quickly as possible. The website's Portuguese version will also be up soon.

Android Market Sale - Last day

Well, Android Market's Sale's last day is here. Unfortunately, it's not all that interesting. Today's app list is:
Sentinel 3
Shine Runner
Talking Ben The Dog
Heavy Gunner 3D
Puffle Launch
Apparatus
Camera Zoom FX
Star Chart
Colour and Draw for Kids
TileStorm HD
Hyper Jump

We have a few repeats and mostly average applications. The only one that stands out is Camera Zoom FX, which has some interesting reviews. I'm not saying that this was a negative experience, but it failed to meet its expectations. On a more outlook, I'm sure it showed Google that there's a market for low-priced applications if their quality is good enough.

Android Market Sale - almost done

The Android Market sale is almost over. The positive outlook I had on the first days is definitely fading, as the app selection is being quite poor.

Yesterday's list (which you can still buy today, at least for a few more hours) was:
Where's My Water?
Train Conductor 2: USA
FlightTrack
All By Myself
Instant Heart Rate - Pro
HD Widgets
Flick Golf
Shazam Encore
SlideIT Keyboard
Christmas HD
Sketchbook Mobile

Let's start out with the repeats. Sketchbook Mobile is a repeat from the first day. It's a nice app, worth the purchase if you don't already have it. SlideIT is an alternative for those who don't like Swype or Touchpal... but, from my experience, it's not as good. I tried it for a while and ended up cancelling the purchase, since the prediction was much worse than Swype's or Touchpal's - at least in my language. I tried a few test sentences with SlideIT, but always had to correct something, which didn't happen with the other two keyboards.

From the new stuff, only "Where's my Water?" seems interesting. Purchased it and it's a nice little game, worth the 10 cents. HD Widgets might also be a good choice for those who want an alternative to HD Widgets.

As for today, the list is:
Swiftkey X
Sleepy Jack
ezPDF Reader
MX Moto
Guns 'n' Glory
Tank Riders
Zenonia
Collapse!
Toddler Tapping Zoo
Icebreaker Hockey

There's only one repeat, Swiftkey X. If you're not into sliding your messages, this could be an interesting purchase (but you know what they say, "once you swype, you never go back"). In the app department, we have a single choice: ezPDF Reader. Seems interesting as an alternative to Adobe's own PDF reader (which is free). The remaining are games. Zenonia caught my attention, as I'm a fan of old school RPGs, but that's it. Unfortunately, since it requires an Internet connection to play (for licensing purposes, I presume), I won't get it. Let's see if things get better for the final stretch - although I'm not exactly optimistic.

Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand - Initial thoughts

The Battlelog servers are currently under maintenance, so this is the perfect opportunity to write a few lines about the "Back to Karkand" expansion, which became available today for the PC and Xbox players. This expansion features four maps from Battlefield 2 (Wake Island, Strike at Karkand, Sharqi Peninsula and Golf of Oman), along with some new weapons and dog tags. The weapons are unlocked through "assignments", which is also something new. Basically, they're objectives that the player must complete: for example, to get the FAMAS, the player needs to do 10 revives and 10 heals.

I've played it a bit already, going through all the maps. My initial impression is quite positive. The maps are really good, with a massive amount of vehicles and varied gameplay. There's also a lot more to destruct on these maps than on regular BF3 ones. Sadly, it never reaches the level we had seen in Bad Company 2... but it's an improvement nonetheless.

The thing that instantly caught my eye was the tremendous amount of action you see. On my first round, I spawned near a flag, entered a building and saw bits of it flying all around me as an enemy helicopter made it its target. I then exited it and walked straight into a firefight between half a dozen of my team mates and 3 or 4 enemy soldiers backed up by a tank. Pretty much only had time to hit the ground and start providing cover fire, which a couple of my team mates used to their advantage while flanking the enemy. This may be related to the fact that most players on B2K servers are level 15 and above (those who got it with the Limited Edition) and are already experienced, so they know how to properly work as a team. I'm not saying this isn't seen in the regular servers, but the critical difference is that, on B2K maps, most people worked together. This makes for intense games and awesome moments.

B2K seems to be a worthy expansion. I still haven't tried the new weapons, but the new levels are really nice and the increased teamwork we see on the servers boosts the fun, as well as the difficulty level. I'm not saying it'll be like this forever but, right now, seems like the more veteran gamers are improving the quality of each match. This also means that B2K isn't the place for those who are just starting out... you'll be dead in seconds. But, if you've got a few levels on your back, don't wait any longer and hit the B2K servers - well, as soon as the Battlelog maintenance is over, anyway.

Android Market sale - part 3

We're off to Day 7 and it's once again disappointing. The selected apps are:
Doodle Jump
Flight Control
Blow Up
When I Get Bigger
Block Breaker 3
Roll in the Hole (Rest of World)
Flick Soccer
Super KO Boxing 2
Beautiful Widgets
Sound Hound

"Roll in the Hole" seems interesting, but that's all. Beautiful Widgets and Sound Hound are repeats - Beautiful Widgets is pretty cool, I got it on its first day, so check it if you missed it. Its Clock+Battery widget looks rather nice and the Ring Mode Toggle widgets are also useful.

Android Market sale - part 2

Well, two more days on the Android Market sale. You can still buy the Day 5 apps, although it was a somewhat weak day: Apparatus, Age of Zombies, Zynga Drop 7, Kids Connect the Dots, Snowfall Live Wallpaper, Season Zen HD, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline HD, SlideIT Keyboard, The Sims 3 and Pano. Asphalt 6 is a repeat from Day 1, so might be interesting for those who didn't get it then. SlideIT might be interesting for those who want an alternative to Swype (although there's also Touchpal, which is free). Pano looked interesting, but I've read that it requires a constant connection to check its license, so it doesn't look like a good option - especially since ICS will bring its own panoramic photo app. In short, this will be the first day without app purchases for me.

For Day 6, we have the following apps:
Jenga
Sim City Deluxe
BackStab HD
Raging Thunder
Backbreaker Football
Captain America
NFL 3D Live Wallpaper
Just me and my mom
Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro
Great Little War

The sale started out nicely, but it's beginning to disappoint. Nothing really interesting, plus they're starting to repeat apps... I expected more.