So the Pearl 3G hits the marketplace in the Summer of 2010. The Pearl range has been in need of a serious refresh for some time and I’m delighted to see that RIM stepped up and delivered. What’s interesting with the Pearl 3G is that it is supplied with two different types of keyboard (depending on your operator preference).

Here’s what the release says about the keyboard option:

The new BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone will be available in two models and several lustrous colors. The 9100 model features a 20-key condensed QWERTY keyboard and the 9105 model features a 14-key traditional phone keyboard. Both models include SureType software that can complete words as the user types, making texting fast and accurate. The BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone is expected to launch with various carriers beginning in May.

I really do like the idea of the 14-key traditional keyboard. Given that roughly 75% of the planet uses a handset with this layout (a stat given by one of the RIM executives during the press conference) it makes a lot of sense to launch a device with this keyboard format. It also demonstrates that RIM is serious about expanding beyond the traditional BlackBerry markets.

Here are the key features:

- Elegant candybar design measuring 4.25″ x 1.96″ x 0.52″ (108mm x 50 mm x 13.3 mm) and weighing only 3.3 oz (93 grams)
- 624 Mhz processor with 256 MB Flash memory
- 360×400 sharp-resolution display (238 ppi)
- Optical trackpad that makes navigation fast and smooth, plus a comfortable keyboard that enables quick and accurate typing
- Media player for videos, pictures and music (music plays up to 30 hours), plus dedicated media keys integrated along top of the handset
- 3.2 MP camera with zoom, autofocus, flash and video recording-
- Built-in GPS for location-based applications such as BlackBerry Maps, as well as photo geotagging
- Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) – first BlackBerry smartphone to support ‘n’
- microSD/SDHD memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB cards
- Premium phone features, including voice activated dialing, speakerphone and Bluetooth (2.1) with support for hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits (including systems that support the emerging Bluetooth Message Access Profile standard) and other Bluetooth accessories
- Access to BlackBerry App World, featuring a broad and growing catalog of mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry smartphones
- Support for BlackBerry Media Sync for easily syncing photos as well as iTunes and Windows Media Player music with the smartphone–
- BlackBerry OS 5
- Support for tri-band UMTS/HSDPA and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks
- Removable, rechargeable 1150 mAhr battery that provides approximately 5.5 hours of talk time on 3G networks

I should have hands-on with the device shortly.

This thin clamshell iDEN phone sits between the i856 and i9 in the lineup. Key features include a QVGA main display, large outer display with contextual touch controls, 2-megapixel camera, memory card slot, GPS navigation and a hinge that opens with the push of a button.

Oh, infaltion, thou art a wretched beast. A dollar fifty years ago is not the same as a dollar today—just look at the concept of a dime store to tell you that much. DimeTravel is the app to tell you exactly how your money has changed over time. Here’s the developer’s take on a typical usage scenario:

You’re watching an old episode of Columbo on a lazy Sunday afternoon. An episode from 1976. He gets a haircut and it costs him $25. He is shocked with the cost. You open up DimeTravel and ask it how much $25 from 1976 would be today. (answer = almost $100 – NOW i can feel poor old Columbo’s pain).

Pretty staggering, no? Of course, the app can calculate things the other way around, too. Here are a few samples for your amusement, with the numbers taken from this site:

• Coffee cost $1.11/lb in 1954…which is $14.47 today!
• A car (a Henry J, to be precise) for sale in New Jersey in 1950 was listed at $1,299…which is a whopping $27,771 today.
• $1 bought you two large bottles of Clorox Bleach in 1970…that would be $9.55 today.
• Someone needed an accountant and was willing to pay a $9,000 annual salary in 1970…or $85,942 in today’s money!

Conversely, if you take modern numbers and change them:

• A $60 video game would sell for a paltry $4.92 half a century ago,
• and that $200 you spent on your iPhone 3GS would have been just $153 back in 2000.

Playing with numbers is always fun. Sadly, DimeTravel only goes back to 1948 for us Americans. I don’t know why—Wolfram Alpha can handle prior centuries just fine—but even with the current data, it’s still nifty to look at these numbers! And you can look at them, too, because DimeTravel displays the path of inflation as a nice graph. If you’re a sucker for realizing how transient your money is, go ahead and give DimeTravel a look. And more importantly, invest your remaining money wisely, because if you leave it under your mattress, it’s likely to vanish into grasp of good ol’ inflation.

DimeTravel

Category: Finance
Released: 2010-04-16
Price: $1.99

[ Want to Take Your Money through a Time Machine? DimeTravel Is the App for That.. is a post from 148Apps ]

It’s Friday, and that means that it’s time for another Friday Five: five interesting apps released in the past week. Enjoy!

Mikado Defenders
Mikado Defenders is a tower defense game, but with a feudal-era Japan theme. Mystical guardian spirits come to your aid, demons attack, samurai commanders can be recruited, and of course you can improve upon your castle. The traditional-style artwork provides a gorgeous backdrop. You can deploy samurai foot soldiers, archers, and other units. The result is an epic war between demons and Japanese warriors…a neat change from typical tower defense.

MIKADO DEFENDERS

Category: Games / Strategy
Released: 2010-04-19
Price: $2.99

Slingshot Safari
Slingshot Safari is a cartoon-style game that tests your slingshot style against lions, tigers, cheetahs, and more. Animals react differently to your shots, but none of them will be too pleased when you try to shoot them—and you’re far from immortal! The graphics are funny, you can unlock eight levels, Plus+ is included, and the menagerie of ten different animals should keep your slingshot skills sharp.

Slingshot Safari

Category: Games / Arcade
Released: 2010-04-16
Price: $4.99

How to Cook Everything
This extremely useful new app is essentially an iPhone-optimized cookbook based on the real-life one from Mark Bittman. Of course, there are many perks to having a cookbook on your iPhone or iPad instead of a physical book, especially when said book normally weighs in at 1,000 pages. In addition to the 2,000 recipes and 400 illustrations, you get full search capabilities, built-in timers, and shopping lists…all in the palm of your hand, and for only $1.99. The interface is easy to use, and the sheer wealth of information is staggering. No wonder it’s become a bestseller.

How to Cook Everything

Category: Lifestyle
Released: 2010-04-17
Price: $1.99

Field Agent
Like making money? Of course you do. Field Agent is a new app that aims to help you do just that. It lists simple, easy-to-do jobs—going to Wal-Mart and taking a picture of a product, filling out a survey, visiting a website—and then pays you for them. It’s not just pennies, either; all jobs pay at least $3, and some can dish out as much as $12. Money is transferred to you via PayPal. Who knew that your iPhone could do anything but suck your wallet dry? The only downside right now is the lack of jobs, but the app is free to use, so you might as well check what’s nearby!

Field Agent

Category: Business
Released: 2010-04-17
Price: FREE

Fruit Ninja
Fruit Ninja is the epitome of simple, easy-to-play, and addictive. Fruit is tossed onto the screen and you have to slice it before it falls back down. The graphics are bright, the touch controls are simple, and a few neat extras like dangerous bombs and Plus+ integration are included. The premise is certainly unusual, and intentionally silly. Looks like ninjas can make a mean fruit salad.

Fruit Ninja

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2010-04-20
Price: $0.99

[ Friday Five: April 23rd, 2010 is a post from 148Apps ]

When I was first introduced to Ozone, I thought: This game looks awesome, but theres not enough blood, gore or shooting in it to satisfy my gaming needs. After giving it a go, however, I quickly realized that I was wrong; very, very wrong.

The games developers, Geardome, invites players to dive into the galaxy of Ozone and unveil the secrets of this unique audio-visual experience, a mix of art and technology, never before seen or heard on a mobile device. And thats exactly what Ozone does: Its mesmerizing visuals/audio act like a peacocks plumage, enticing gamers to give it a look-see, knowing full well theyll be hooked after experiencing what the game has to offer.

In Ozone, players control a hovering, air-filled inflatable ball through a series of clever, visually appealing, well-designed levels, with the goal of collecting a pre-determined amount of yellow orbs which, when all are collected, opens an exit portal allowing players to exit the level, progressing to the next. In addition, players must avoid various enemies and traps throughout each level, while ensuring their ball doesnt run out of air.

Players control their ball via a virtual D-pad and a brake button. Tapping a direction on the D-pad will cause the ball to propel in the direction pressed, using the air contained within itself and will continue floating along, bouncing to and fro until you either hit the brake button or the ball runs out of momentum. Learning to use the brake button correctly is a vital skill required to collect all of the yellow orbs throughout levels and traverse the various levels successfully.

Each time a player moves their ball, air is released from within it and it becomes progressively smaller. As players use air within their ball to move it, the ball becomes smaller and smaller, until it runs out. This symbiotic relationship forces players to use the D-pad sparingly, incorporating an extra element of strategy within the game.

Once the ball runs out of air, as indicated by a gauge located at the top of the screen, youre all out of love. Players must complete levels without depleting their air gauge, as AGD (Air Gauge Depletion) results in death for your little air ball (I named mine Wilson). Fear not, however, as various weapons and powerups, such as air pumps, are scattered throughout the levels, allowing players to refill their balls with air, but they will still be wise to use the D-pad sparingly.

Three different weapons are available throughout each level. Players can use these weapons to eliminate enemies/clear their path by pressing the corresponding on-screen virtual button (one weapon fires automatically, requiring no input from the user). The Plasma Gun, for example, releases a directional bullet of plasma each time a player taps the button (depending on the direction the ball is traveling in). This weapon is not easy to use. Other power ups, such as a strength power-up, which turns your ball into an invincible ball of steel for 30 seconds, are also available in certain levels.

Graphically, Ozone is a transcendental experiment in vibrant, colorful, abstract visuals sporting high resolution textures and remarkable, relaxing ambient music, which combine to form a highly successful formula for engrossing, immersive game play. The visuals are smooth and beautifully hand-crafted and the ambient music is soft and relaxing: the balls collisions with the walls lining each level release crisp, clean melodic chords/notes that interweave perfectly with the zen-like soundtrack. Ozones audio-visual elements combine to form a superior audio-visual experience players will lose themselves in. So relaxing is the soundtrack, I fell asleep mid-play, only to awaken to find I drooled all over my iPhone and my 11-year old son gorging on Easter candy. Players can even download the games full soundtrack from Geardomes website, for free.

Among its other features are the ability for players to create their own levels, future downloadable content to expand the game and global leaderboards, all adding to the games already-high replay value.

Ozone contains over 50 3D levels spanning 4 gorgeous, themed worlds and a comprehensive, built-in tutorial. Thanks to games superior audio-visual scheme, game play is ultimately dependent upon the player: Players can opt to wind down with relaxing, leisurely game play, enjoying the beautifully-rendered levels and crystal clear soundtrack, or scoot about the levels to achieve a high score or chase their previous high score.

As mentioned earlier, players greatly rely on their air ball’s movement, momentum and trajectory, encouraged by the layout of the level walls, to successfully navigate the levels without wasting their precious air supply. That said, the mechanics of this game play are but one element which contributes greatly to its success, while at the same time hindering the overall success of the games control scheme.

That said, while Ozone can be relaxing, successfully progressing through each level can be anything but. Each level contains a wide variety of traps and hazards that require precision and timing on the players part and game play teeters on the border between being challenging and frustratingly hard/difficult. Fortunately, there are no time constraints, so players can strategize and coordinate their movements at their own pace.

Using the D-pad to maneuver the air ball can also be frustrating and difficult to master, unnecessarily penalizing players required to search and explore large levels of labyrinths. Furthermore, the games beautifully rendered environments contain areas where the players view/perspective is hindered by level walls/elements, resulting in surprise ambushes by enemy obstacles, such as giant iron spikes that shoot forth from the walls, plasma-firing turrets inset into the walls and spinning razors which greatly damage and/or deflate the players air ball.

Aside from the afore-mentioned, I really couldnt find much fault with this game. Its painfully obvious its developers spent a lot of time and effort creating a quality, genre defining game oozing with longevity.

Overall, Ozone is a clever, beautiful, vibrant game that will tickle your visual-auditory fancy. Its sublime levels, decorated with rich, textured art and graphics and polished, engrossing game play will entice you into playing over and again.

[ Ozone In-Depth Review is a post from 148Apps ]