Apple is now requiring users to have actually purchased applications before they are allowed to post a customer review on the App Store.  While there are definitely genuine comments on the iTunes App Store, there’s also too many people that’s decided to use the user reviews as an open discussion forum - asking for reviews, complaining about the price, or leaving advertisements to their websites.

This is a good move by Apple to improve the quality user reviews on the iTunes store.

After a couple of weeks off — we are back in business.  Reviews and news will be coming shortly.  In addition, we’ve been working on “miPhone 2.0″ - complete with a new look, better navigation, contests, and much more.

Stay tuned - miPhone 2.0 is scheduled for mid October.

Let’s cut to the chase.  The 2.1 firmware is out and now available for download on the iTunes store.   Unlike the previous upgrade, which provided such descriptive info as “bug fixes”, the release notes provide a lot more info:

iPhone 2.1 Software Update

iPhone version 2.1 contains many bug fixes and improvements, including the following:
•  decrease in call set-up failures and call drops
•  significantly improved battery life for most users
•  dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes
•  improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
•  faster installation of 3rd party applications
•  fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes if you have lots of 3rd party applications
•  improved performance in text messaging
•  faster loading and searching of contacts
•  improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
•  repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages
•  option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
•  Genius playlist creation

I’m installing it right now and see how it goes!

A well designed game with a smart pricing strategy

• Category: Games
• Developer: IUGO Mobile Entertainment
• Version: 1.1
• Cost:$3.99
• For: iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch
• Download URL

Game developer IUGO promised “intuitive touch and tilt controls, physics-based game play, and platform action mixed with puzzles” in iphone game Toy Bot Diaries - Entry 1; and they delivered. If you are looking for a game that requires both your knowledge of physics and puzzle solving skills, and at the same time deliver cute characters, you don’t need to look any further.

Toy Bot Diaries is one of the rare iphone games out there that truly uses iphone’s tilt function naturally. In fact, tilting your iphone left and right is the basis of movement in the game. Game play is heavily physics-based. In addition to tilting, you move Toy Bot through the 4 levels (with sub stages) by touching metal objects on screen to trigger grappling hook and magnet boots. The controls are so well done that I forgot I was playing a game on an iphone. I hope this would set the minimum standard of game control for iphone games for the next little while.

Back to the actual game: - you aren’t provided with a lot of instructions, so you need to figure out most of it through game play. At the same time, you are also figuring out how to navigate the different obstacles each stage. After all this app is also a puzzle game. Be prepared to get a little frustrated (or a lot) when you are stuck and not know what to do next. It happened to me a few times, but I am the type to persist through challenges. Some may feel so frustrated and just abandon. Dying means going back to the previous savespot, and there are many throughout. If you get really stuck at a spot, you may find it quite repetitive as you perform the same action again and again to make it through to the next savespot.

Game controls for Toy Bot Diaries, as mentioned above, is first class. The game has also got some pretty good graphics and music to go with it. One of my complaints is its lack of indication whether you may be falling into a tunnel to death or onto the next level. Another maybe the length of the game.

The Scoop
This game is part 1 of a series of episodes. It takes an average of an hour to finish the game. For $3.99, it is a fun little game for the casual iPhone gamers out there. But don’t look for a lot of replay value here.

App Score: 3.5 out of 5

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