Here's a game I never saw coming: a driving title where you're supposed to drive like a vigilant hypermiler. Yep, that's exactly what the unholy union of Volkswagen and Fish Labs turned out with the Volkswagen Think Blue Challenge, a game where the goal is make every last drop of your fuel count. Here's something even crazier - it's quite entertaining.

While the premise sounds silly, the challenge is not. It's one thing to delude yourself about your eco-friendly driving abilities when you're on the road. When you've got just a small amount of fuel to make it through checkpoints, though, it becomes a...gasp...game.

In Think Blue, you start the game with a small amount of gas and drive from one checkpoint to the next, getting a small amount of extra fuel for every one you clear. You complete checkpoints by correctly answering a question about efficient driving. Don't worry, if you drive even a little bit, you probably know the answers.

Once you've finished all checkpoints, you then begin driving your car on the open road. Make sure you apply every fuel efficiency trick up your sleeve, from coasting down slopes to managing your throttle to taking turns intelligently, allowing the vehicle to cover as much ground as possible before your tank goes empty. The game does help you out, suggesting how to maximize whatever's in your tank, going so far as to explain why each technique works. You will eventually run out of gas and when you do, the game submits how far you've driven to the online leaderboards, where you can see how you fare among the mass of iPhone-toting hypermilers around the world.

Volkswagen Think Blue Challenge is built upon the same engine as Fish Labs' Rally Master Pro 3D, so the graphics and the mechanics are all awesome. While it's not going to be the most exciting game in your library, it is quite addicting, especially once you see how far the top performers have gotten. Plus, you might even learn a new thing or two about technical driving. You can download the game for free from the App Store.



Palm just announced the release of a new software development kit that they're calling a PDK. It's not an SDK since the folks behind the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi have already released one of those. Instead, the new system stands for a "Plug-in Development Kit," and is designed to extend the functionality that webOS-powered devices can handle.

One of Palm's earlier selling points for webOS was the ease with which developers can put together apps on the platform, being based upon web technologies such as HTML and Javascript. Problem is, that didn't exactly make developing 3D games for their handsets easy. With the depth and variety of games turning out to be a major selling point for Apple's iPhone, that's not a good thing.

So what exactly is a PDK? In Palm's terms, the new mobile development platform allows programmers to run C and C++ code on their phones, practically extending the range of software that can be run on their handsets. That means having the power to produce more compelling games than what simple web technologies would have allowed.

For developers, that means getting an existing game or application onto either the Pre or the Pixi won't require a complete redesign, allowing you to reuse existing code. Sure, it's not as simple as recompiling the exact same library for new hardware, but it will entail both less cost and effort.

[Palm via Mobile Crunch]

At the time it came out, the HTC Hero was, by far, the best Android phone on the block. With the HTC Legend, the manufacturer took everything good about that handset and made it even better.

Physically, it looks a lot like the Hero, down to the trademark chin. The body is cut from a single piece of aluminum (taking a bite out of Apple's aesthetic), making it both more attractive and durable at the same time. Replacing the trackball with a metal-trimmed trackpad also raises the style points up a notch, apart from working just as effectively.

Display is a gorgeous 3.2-inch AMOLED screen, with 320x480 resolution. Colors literally pop out, adding a "wow" factor that you seldom get with the mass of Android phones in the market. At 3mm thinner than the Hero, it's easily one of HTC's more pocketable devices.

As a phone, the HTC Legend manages slightly above average call quality. Voices sound natural with plenty of volume to go, although we did encounter a slight amount of distortion. Speakerphone worked just as well, perhaps lacking just a tad more volume to my liking. Battery life is quite disappointing, though, likely requiring a recharge every day and a half for most common uses.

While the Hero suffered from some form of sluggishness (which they later rectified via firmware), the Legend runs with satisfying speed out of the box. Navigation is smooth, transitions are fast and apps launch quick, putting all 600Mhz of that processor to good use. Web browsing (both over WiFi and HSDPA) is exceptional, with pages rendering almost twice as fast, compared to many Android phones we've seen. Plus, the browser's got multi-touch and some amount of Flash support.

It delivers all the usual Android 2.1 favors, from the nominal music player to the mass of Google apps to extensive messaging capabilities. HTC primps it up with their fancy Sense UI, which adds a lot of value to the device, including features such as being able to add mail to your Outlook folders, an improved mail interface, a very good onscreen keyboard and the MotoBlur-like Friend Stream. The latter, by the way, doesn't work as well as expected. Expect software updates on that end. Camera module is a 5.0 megapixel unit that manages to snap average-looking shots.

Sure, the Motorola Droid and the Nexus One have probably gotten the most press out of today's Android phones. In terms of overall value, though, I'm tempted to side with the HTC Legend, with its great looks, sleek operation and robust feature set.  Price should vary from retailer to retailer, but expect it between $550 to $600 unlocked.

This is something that could turn out big. A new iphone app called Dreamwalk provides users with a geocaching game that raises the ante a little by getting local businesses involved. Users can use the software to seek out "treasures," just like any similar game. Except, in this case, participating companies get to hide their own prizes for players to pursue, allowing them to get new prospects through the door in the process.

When you launch the app, it shows you a map that details where prizes are hidden. There are three ways to collect bounty - Instant Prizes, Collector's Stamps and Treasure Hunts - all of which require going out into the real world. For Instant Prizes, you simply have to go to the marked location on the map to get the reward added to your onscreen prize bag. Tap that and get instructions on how to redeem. Do note that these are usually simple stuff, like free fries at a local restaurant or cheap tickets to a show.

Collector's Stamps, on the other hand, require you to travel to different locations, gaining letter stamps at each one that spell out the words to the final destination. Treasure Hunts work similarly, except you gain clues instead of stamps. Since they're harder, the prizes for these two are usually bigger (e.g. videocams and gaming consoles).

Because they've only just launched, there are only a few thousand hidden treasures across the US, most of them concentrated in large metro areas (think New York, LA and Washington DC). However, developers at Dreamwalk Pty Ltd are negotiating for new businesses to come in and, potentially, make the loot more lucrative for avid treasure hunters across the country. Participating merchants, by the way, can easily upload new prizes via Dreamwalk's website, which will then turn up on gamers' maps.

Dreamwalk's beauty is that it is a win-win for all parties involved. Businesses get very hip marketing and users get a chance to win loads of free stuff around their area. An excellent concept that's totally worth the free App Store download.

[Dreamwalk Mobile]



What tastes better than a cookie? A freshly-baked chip, of course. Maybe that's what LG was thinking with their brand new touchscreen based off of the popular Cookie (over 12 million units sold). Billed as the LG Cookie Fresh GS290, the phone just received its official stamp today.

The handset sports a largely youthful form factor and appears to be angling for the entry-level slice of the market. It sports a 3-inch TFT resistive touchscreen with 240 x 400 resolution, an accelerometer for auto-rotate and a "cartoon UI," as with the Cookie Plus.

Details of the Fresh GS290 include a 2.0 megapixel camera module, stereo Bluetooth, complete messaging capabilities (SMS, EMS, MMS, email), social networking integration, FM radio with RDS, a 3.5mm audio jack and microSD card expansion (up to 8GB). There's no 3G or WiFi, though, so you're stuck with GPRS/EDGE for connectivity.

The LG Cookie Fresh GS290 is slated for a European launch sometime this month and the rest of the world later in the year. It is expected to be released alongside the slightly more feature-rich Cookie Plus, although no pricing details have been announced yet.

On a side note, this battle of the Korean cheap-ass touchscreen phones between Samsung's ever-growing Corby line versus LG's similarly-multiplying Cookie probably won't end soon, would it?

[via Unwired View]

Need a music phone with a price that's music to your ears? Try the Samsung Trill, a stylish, well-built handset sporting a music player with Bang & Olufsen technology.

Physically, it features slim lines and a curvaceous design. We don't know if you'll love the look (you can judge for yourself in the pic), though I find it a bit too cheap-looking for my tastes. Do note we're talking about the one with the gray and blue color scheme, though - the black version actually looks much better. Overall aesthetic is very similar to the Samsung Trance.

It comes with a 2.1-inch screen, with a 176 x 229 resolution. While small, the display is great with gorgeous-looking color. The slider keypad is a little flat to the touch, but it's well-spaced and comfortable.

As a phone, the Trill manages impressive call quality, with clear calls that are completely void of static. Speakerphone was decent, although voices didn't sound very natural. On the other end, callers reported a slight distortion, but generally good quality. Battery life lasts for around 4 hours of non-stop calls.

Highly-deserving of being called a music phone, it leverages Bang & Olufsen's ICEPower technology to produce exceptional audio quality. With a strong bass and stellar surround sound, it's a worthy replacement for a dedicated MP3 player. The music player is a notch above what you can find in regular handsets, with handy controls, equalizer options, 3D sound and an attractive appearance.

The rest of the feature set is mostly low- to mid-range. There's a 1,000-entry phonebook, basic messaging (SMS and MMS; no email), stereo Bluetooth and GPS. It also comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera module that produces average shots.

Overall, the Samsung Trill is an excellent music phone. If you're looking for a replacement to a dedicated MP3 player and don't mind working with mostly basic features, it can prove to be a great value. US Cellular has it for only $19.99 on contract.



With the help of lip reading cell phones, you may not have to cup your mouth and talk in hushed whispers when you don't want to let anyone else hear what you're saying while on the phone.  Yes, a new technology from German researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology claims to allow cellphones to read your lips and translate it as sound to the person on the other side.

Using the system, all you have to do is move your mouth like you're talking without actually letting any sound out.  A sensor hooked up to the phone will pick up the lip motions and convert it into the equivalent words.  Based on electromyography, the recognition is done by measuring electrical potentials generated by muscle activity on the face, rather than actual lip reading.   What's the catch?  In order to measure electrical impulses from your face, the system requires attaching nine sensors to it.  Yikes.

The signals gathered by the sensors are then fed to a software that records and amplifies each, then passes them to a laptop via a wireless link.  Once on the computer, the group's software decodes the data and converts them into words that a virtual voice can then read to the person on the other end of the line.

Yep, it's cumbersome and the group admits it might not exactly be a mass-market piece of technology.  However, there could be some definite value to it.  According to the KIT team, it can be used to transmit sensitive information (such as PINs and passcodes) over the phone, hold a lengthy conversation while inside a quiet theater, allow people who have lost their voice to communicate verbally over wireless and even translate from one language to another.

Of course, you can always just text what you want to say (unless you're talking to a foreign language speaker), but I digress.  The research was shown off this week at the ongoing Hanover CeBIT trade show.

[Karlsruhe Institute of Technology]

Does your kid have an iPhone?  My nine-year old nephew has one - a hand-me-down from his mom when she got her shiny new 3GS.  While kids will most likely use it to play games, you have to keep in mind that they can also use it to surf the web.

As on the PC, you'd like to keep them off from objectionable areas of the internet.  Problem is, Safari offers zero parental controls on that end.  As such, they're pretty much free to wander about cyberspace unrestricted.

The Mobicip Safe Browser fills this gap, giving you options to block out unsavory websites from being accessed on your kids' iPhones.  Yep, it's an alternative browser that's actually approved by the App Store, because it does offer something that the native Safari client doesn't - a child-safe surfing environment.

Before you can force your kid to use it instead of Safari, you'll have to disable the latter manually: Settings -> General -> Restrictions.  It would have been better if this could be handled right from the app itself, although being a one-time change, it's no biggie.

Its main strength is that it functions and looks nearly like Safari, making the transition from using one to the other seamless, with no required learning curve.  The lack of a facility to import bookmarks is  bit of a letdown, though.

Mobicip itself costs $4.99, which gets you the child-safe browser plus a free account for their filtering service.  Any URL accessed from the app gets filtered through the company's servers, which decides whether to either allow or block it.  Free accounts get three levels of filtering: elementary, middle and high school.

If you want more detailed control of your child's surfing habits, you can also sign up for a Premium account for $9.99 per year.  This gets you plenty of latitude, including the ability to blacklist and whitelist specific pages and categories, download activity reports and manage multiple devices from a single dashboard.

[Mobicip for iPhone]

Sometimes, a unique design may be all you need to sell a new handset.  That could be what they're banking on with the Motorola Backflip, a smartphone with various physical innovations that you might find enticing (or retarded, whichever the case may be).

Physically, the unique flip design definitely makes it a noteworthy device.  While it looks like the Motorola Cliq at first glance, look closer and you'll see the huge differences.  When closed, the keyboard sits in the back of the phone, such that it flips open to the bottom of the horizontal 3.1-inch display.  Sure, it's a novel way to implement a clamshell for a touchscreen device, but the fact that your keys are exposed 100% of the time definitely doesn't inspire confidence.  They also added trackpads behind the display, which are supposed to allow you to navigate the UI without your hands getting in the way.  It works well, although, it's hard to see a real need for it.

As a phone, the Backflip manages average call quality.  It was good on our end, although callers sometimes reported issues on theirs.  We're not sure if it was their phone or ours causing it, however.  The speakerphone was excellent, definitely better than average.  Battery is rated at 6 hours, which should be good for at least two days of normal use.

Positioned as more of an entry-level smartphone, it's equipped with a rather underpowered 528MHz Qualcomm processor.  It only runs Android 1.5 too and performance wasn't the best - there were definite lags even with simpler tasks, such as opening your inbox and scrolling through lists.  As such, it might be a good idea to forget ever upgrading the OS here to a newer version.

It comes with Motoblur and you can read our reviews of other similarly-equipped Motorola phones (Cliq, Devour) to get the skinny on that.  Features are around what you'd expect.  You get the usual Android fare (Google's software suite and read-only QuickOffice), Webkit-based HTML browser (very fast page loads over 3G, by the way), aGPS, WiFi and Bluetooth.

While it continues to use Android's lackluster music player, the Backflip comes with excellent sound quality.  The onboard speakers manage gorgeous sounds, definitely a notch above what you normally get from a phone.  Camera appeared great at 5 megapixels of resolution, but the quality of shots left plenty to be desired.

Overall, the Motorola Backflip is a decent choice for an entry-level Android smartphone.  There are definite performance issues, but it covers the range of features well and it's an excellent music phone.  Price sounds good too - $99 with a two-year contract from AT&T (not sure how much for unlocked versions elsewhere).

While I generally avoid games where the main players onscreen consist of dots, arrows and other simple shapes, Tilt to Live turned out to be a totally different beast.  Despite using simple-looking characters, it manages to deliver an experience that's both very edgy and extremely addicting.

At its most basic, this is just an object-avoidance game, where you tilt and swerve your phone to help your "arrow" avoid the "dots" going after it.  Yep, it's that straightforward.  The way it plays, though, is just a bundle of insanity.

Your arrow does have a wide range of weapons to aid it in subduing the onslaught, each of which require different strategies to be really useful.  These include nuke explosives, an enemy-seeking multi-rocket and a haduken-style fireball, all of which are not only very effective, but are a joy to witness when fired.

The evil dots, on the other hand, aren't just dumb balls rolling forward either.  They band together different shapes (like large arrows) to attack you in one big swoop, crowd you into a corner and circle you like vultures.  Let even one of the dots touch you and you're dead.  Hundreds of them can come up on the screen at any one time, by the way, which just sends the action into a frenzy.

Despite the basic-looking appearance, a lot of serious thought obviously went into Tilt to Live, making the level-ups, unlock-able weapons and other factors fodder for serious strategic gaming.  It's a definite surprise out of left field, one that a lot of iPhone owners can probably appreciate.  Well-priced too at only $1.99.

[Tilt To Live]