|
| 02 Apr 2007 12:27:10 pm |
 Gaming Phones |
|
|
|
We frequently see questions and reviews about Java games through our web and wap sites, so I thought I would tackle some of these issues head on.
Games
When we publish a new game typically we get 200 different game files depending on the level of phone support the developer has provided. It really is true that game files vary from handset to handset. Screen resolutions are different, processors are different, input is different, sound capabilities vary. Some game files will work across several models but this can mean that the best phone from the group has a game that runs on the least powerful, thus not making the best use of the phone. In truth mobile phone gaming is very fragmented right now so it helps to have the right handset.
A few tips for choosing a 'gaming' phone
If you want the best from RPG's to action packed 3D games then read on as there are a few points worth thinking about.
Does the phone have a lot of features? Look for features that require high levels of processing like a high spec camera or video.
Is the phone popular (and therefore well supported), trying to be different when buying a mobile (like getting LG's Prada version) will mean that you probably wont get any games for it. Developers only spend time porting to platforms (phones) that are popular in the market place and the more popular the phone the more time they will spend on the version.
Stick to well known phone brands.
Slim small fashion phones can be a comprise.
What's the screen resolution?
Does the phone have a GPU.
And if you want to go the extra mile look for:
Look for 'Brew' or Symbian (see below) compatibility.
Practical advice
Some older phones are still very good games phone such as the 6600, but some of the older LG and Motorola phones are a bit under powered. If you have such a phone generally a game that has amazing screen shots and lots of features wont perform as well (some features removed etc) as with the newer phones. Look for games that are based around simpler concepts such as the brain training games which are excellent on all phones.
Same name, different game
Java (J2ME)
Mobile phone games (in Europe) are typically J2ME, that is to say they are written in the programming language Java and run on a on a Java Interpreter or a JVM (Java Virtual Machine),this in turn sits on top of the phones OS.
The JVM can be seen as a middle layer (between the OS and the game/application) this layer is supposed to give cross platform capabilities so you only need to write the code once and it will work on any other similar Java capable devices, although in practice this means that large parts of the game are rewritten depending on the phones capabilities as mentioned earlier.
The down-side is that the extra 'layer' Java utilises means that the platform is the least efficient for running games, it's a bit like the old VHS vs. Betamax argument.
Symbian
The best gaming experience you will find on a phone is a Symbian game which only run on Symbian phones (generally Nokia 6xxx and Nxx phones), these games instead of being written in the Java programming language are written in 'C++' , due to the fact they run directly on the phones OS (Symbian) the games run much faster and can talk direct to the phones OS which means that more of the phones features can be utilised, for instance specific graphical API's. The bad news is that Symbian games are pretty rare as it makes more financial sense for the developer to create Java versions of the game. Games to look for (if you have a series 60 phone) are some of the 3D versions of the GameLoft games such as: http://www.gamemobile.co.uk/asphalt3streetrules3dn73.htm. Our own Symbian section has some real gems.
Brew
In Europe brew is still uncommon but is superior to Java games (J2ME). Brew has excellent 3D capabilities and again uses the programming language C++. Aside from the more powerful gaming credentials of BREW, there are a number of advantages for developers. Firstly, the platform is less fragmented than J2ME. There are far fewer differences in BREW running on a Samsung handset to BREW running on a Nokia model, for instance. Our guess is that you will start to see Brew phones by the end of the year.
Pricing
Be prepare to pay more for symbian and brew games as they are much larger than the Java equivalents and require more development, also downloading the games can be expensive as the game files are typical 1Meg +
If you would like to comment then feel free to contact me via nick.rich@gamemobile.co.uk |
|
|
Posted By : nick
| Category : General Chat |  Comments[0] |  Trackbacks [0]
|
|
|
|
| 29 Aug 2006 09:09:34 am |
| www.gamemobile.co.uk achieves its ten thousandth game review |
|
|
|
With the ever growing number of mobile games coming on to the market we at http://www.gamemobile.co.uk wanted a way for our customers to weed out the good from the bad. We knew that the best way to do this was to allow only the customers who have actually downloaded and played the game to give their opinion.
Introduced just over 12 months ago we are please to announce that we just published our ten thousandth review and rating on the site. On each game page we publish the most in-depth of the reviews for each game with a link to read all the reviews.
So far as we can see http://www.gamemobile.co.uk are the only mobile games download site that publishes such honest unbiased reviews in such a huge quantity and we hope that it helps all our customers to choose the best games for them.
Recently we have also update the search tool on the site so customers can choose to sort their search results by the customer rating of the games which means they can see the best of the best first.
"It is great that so many people choose to review their games. It really helps to build a sense of community that the web is so good for" said Review Manager, Nick Rich. He continued, "www.gamemobile.co.uk are committed to continually building on this success so our customers get the best possible information before choosing to download a game."
A few of our best-reviewed mobile games:
1. Lumines
2. Platinum Mahjong
3. Super Puzzle Bobble
4. My Dog
5. 2006 Real Football |
|
|
Posted By : nick
| Category : General Chat | Comments[0] | Trackbacks [0]
|
|
|
|
| 04 Jul 2006 01:26:52 pm |
| K800i Review |
|
|
|
Stamped with Sony's Cyber-shot seal of approval, Sony Ericsson's hotly anticipated K800i hits shelves with the promise of delivering the best photos shot by a camera phone to date.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the commercial availability of the first real camera phone. Granted, Nokia's N90 came close - but at 3.2 Megapixels and with stunning picture quality, the Sony Ericsson K800i blows the competition out of the water. Fitted with autofocus, an Xenon flash and a camera-inspired user interface, it also boasts 3G, Bluetooth and Memory Stick Micro expansion to boot - all in a compact, stylish and ergonomically pleasing candybar design. For extra bonus points, its BestPic burst mode snaps four before-and-after shots in the course of a second. One word: splendid.
Scoring a world first, Sony Ericsson has also managed to integrate photo blogging software compatible with Google's popular Blogger service into the K800i, rendering the act of sharing drunken shenanigans with the world that much easier. Users simply snap a picture and choose to send it to their blog, subsequent to which the image is resized to a suitable size and uploaded. Blogger accounts can be setup straight from the phone, and once posted, users can display their works of art in the phone's HTML capable microbrowser.
Price and availability
The Sony Ericsson K800i is now shipping across Europe, selling in the €475 range without subscription.
Specifications
- 3.2 Megapixel camera with autofocus and Xenon flash
- 2.2-inch QVGA high resolution screen
- BestPic burst mode
- Integrated, Blogger-compatible photo blogging
- Memory Stick Micro
- USB 2.0 with PictBridge for picture offloading and printing
- 3G (UMTS) with video calling
- Bluetooth with stereo audio support |
|
|
Posted By : nick
| Category : General Chat | Comments[0] | Trackbacks [0]
|
|
|
|
| 10 May 2006 08:44:15 am |
| World Cup Mobile TV - will anyone be watching |
|
|
|
Mobile phone TV (DMB) will be available at all twelve venues of the World Cup in Germany this summer, but whether any viewers will be tuning in is another matter.
Although major supplier Samsung Electronics earlier this year unveiled a terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (T-DMB) phone, the first of its kind for commercial services in Europe, the Korean company decided to delay manufacturing and shipping while it awaited the outcome of a complicated license allocation process in Germany, which is still not completed, according to German news service Heise Online.
A Samsung spokesman told us the firm still expects to deliver on time, but couldnt comment on volumes.
Major DMB phone makers expect high seasonal demand for their handsets ahead of the worlds most popular soccer event, but there are only two months left, and not much is happening in terms of hardware announcements, at least not in Europe.
Dusseldorf-based company Mobiles Fernsehen Deutschland GmbH intends to use the World Cup to launch mobile TV in Germany. Viewers can watch the German channels ZDF, N24, MTV and a comedy and entertainment channel set up by German satellite broadcaster ProSieben. Debitel, the biggest German GSM service provider, has a similar offering. Viewers are expected to pay EUR 9.90 a month after the games are finished and mobile phone TV will be rolled out nationally in Germany.
Both companies still expect the handsets to be ready next month. According to Debitel CEO Paul Stodden LG, BenQ Siemens and Panasonic will all introduce DMB enabled phones, but he couldnt incidate when. |
|
|
Posted By : Admin
| Category : General Chat | Comments[0] | Trackbacks [0]
|
|
|
|
| 10 Jan 2006 03:08:55 pm |
| Get a space invaders clone for your mobile phone for free |
|
|
|
Would you like to Download a space invaders clone for your mobile for free?
We have managed to get a great version of this classic shoot em up for free for people to freely download. Follow the link above and you can either download it via WAP or to your PC and then upload using a connection from your phone.
We have tried it on lots of models and it has worked on every single one. It is a MIDP 1.0 version and so it should work on every phone from the earliest to the latest.
You can also get more free games from our WAP Site.
We hope you enjoy the game.
Regards
Admin |
|
|
Posted By : Admin
| Category : General Chat | Comments[0] | Trackbacks [0]
|
|
|
|
| 06 Sep 2005 02:28:05 pm |
| 4G prototypes reach blistering speeds |
|
|
|
Cellphones capable of transmitting data at blistering speeds have been demonstrated by NTT DoCoMo in Japan.
In experiments, prototype phones were used to view 32 high definition video streams, while travelling in an automobile at 20 kilometres per hour. Officials from NTT DoCoMo say the phones could receive data at 100 megabits per second on the move and at up to a gigabit per second while static. At this rate, an entire DVD could be downloaded within a minute. DoCoMos current 3G (third generation) phone network offers download speeds of 384 kilobits per second and upload speeds of 129 kilobits per second.
The technology behind NTT DoCoMos high-speed phone network remains experimental, but the 4G tests used a method called Variable-Spreading-Factor Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (VSF-Spread OFDM), which increases downlink speeds by using multiple radio frequencies to send the same data stream.
Multiple routes
Another wireless networking trick, called multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) multiplexing, was used to send data via various routes across a network, in order to further increase data capacity. For example, MIMO could enable a cellphone to receive data from more than one base station in range.
The activities are technically impressive, says Lajos Hanzo, a communications expert at Southampton University in the UK. But Hanzo told New Scientist NTT DoCoMo will need assistance from other phone companies if it is to kick-start 4G uptake. In todays world nobody can go it alone, he says. And hence any standard proposal must be internationally ratified, which has not as yet take place.
Some countries have already begun cooperating on such standards. Japan and China signed a memorandum on 24 August to work together on 4G. NTT DoCoMo hopes to launch a commercial 4G network by 2010. |
|
|
Posted By : Admin
| Category : General Chat | Comments[0] | Trackbacks [0]
|
|
|
|
| 10 Aug 2005 01:18:55 pm |
| Get Google Maps on your phone |
|
|
|
Imagine how excited we were to learn that you can get Google Maps on your phone -- satellite photos and all -- with a Java tool called Mobile GMaps.
All you need is a Java-capable phone with an internet connection. Point your phone to the Mobile GMaps WAP site, wap.mgmaps.com, to download the software.
Caution: It is new software, and was buggy in our tests but great, great fun.  |
|
|
Posted By : Admin
| Category : General Chat | Comments[0] | Trackbacks [0]
|
|
|
|
| 14 Jul 2005 11:48:39 am |
| Welcome |
|
|
|
Well, we have gone all Bloggy.
There is always so much to say about the mobile games world and there never seems enough room on the site to say everything we want to about games, new upcoming games, new aspects to the site, etc, etc. that we decided it is time to have a Blog area.
So we are off and rolling now.
Of course the whole purpose is to get feedback too from you, the gamers, as we are always trying to improve the site for visitors so the comments have been enabled. Unfortunately there are a lot of spammers out there so just to let them know we WILL be keeping a close eye on you - so do not bother.
If anyone has suggestions for the categories or information you would like to see on this blog site then put it in the comments of this article and we will do our very best.
OK, for now, we will start getting some useful info on so signing off for now.
Regards
Admin. |
|
|
Posted By : Admin
| Category : General Chat | Comments[0] | Trackbacks [0]
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
