Here’s an awesome app called Cocktail Flow. We heard about this back at Nokia World from Edward Umana who shared this app with us during breakfast. You can get a trial/free version but it is completely worth it downloading the app as it’s very polished and rather impressive.

Anyway, Cocktail flow is a cocktail recipe app that is just brilliantly put together.  The app works wonders with the Metro panoramic style. This is just a great example of how to take advantage of Metro. In the first ‘page’ you can browse cocktails from the list, by category, a random cocktail and you can even download packages (for free) that contain themed cocktails, (e.g. non alcoholic, valentines, st patricks, Superbowl etc).

Swipe over to the right and you can browse based on what you have in your cabinet. You can click on ingredients which are grouped into spirits, liqueurs and mixers (and arranged as if they were on a cabinet). Tapping lights up the black and white ingredients into full colour. Swiping eventually leads you to ‘my bar’ which shows what you can make. There’s an indicator in the top right corner that tells you how many cocktails you can make.

I was actually at an event last week where we the cocktail was made with this app.

Now when you click on a cocktail you can see a picture not only of the cocktail so you know what to expect but the ingredients as well. Not only that, you can tilt the phone  and you’ll notice a kind of parallax movement as objects in the foreground move more than those at the back. It’s pretty cool. Under the name is the ingredients list, and swiping over tells you how to prepare it (with clear icons as well to reinforce the instruction). There’s even a neat community feature where you can see user submitted photos and reviews and submit your own.

Particularly useful is the ‘Similar’ section so if you like a certain drink, you have plenty more to try that you might also like.

Other things to mention include the shopping portion where you are recommended ingredients (which also quite conveniently has price tags on them). I didn’t show this in the video but to favourite a cocktail you just tap the star next to the name. You can then browse favourites in the favourites section. You can also pin cocktails as tiles.

This app doesn’t end there. It has a Guides section that gives you some tips on getting started, barware, and garnishes. The app has push notification options when you set it as a live tile. If there’s anything you’re not sure about, check the app guide.

Overall, a brilliant app. It’s the first I’m giving 10/10 to in all categories. It looks great, it’s really simple to use, it performs great and is so much value for money.

#85) Cocktail Flow 

Price: £2.29 (trial available)

Link: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-GB/apps/ddd1ad08-d9d5-df11-a844-00237de2db9e

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgCRJmcyE1s

 

Developer Blurb:

Happy Holidays with the Festive and New Years cocktail packages!

Browse, find and discover cocktails with a continously growing collection of drinks. The application features beautifully presented recipes and identifies cocktails that can be made from ingredients in your bar. It also gives suggestions on what ingredients to buy next to make additional delicious cocktails.

The application is regularly updated with new cocktail recipes, the latest ones added include several themed drinks.

Rating:

Design: 10

Usability: 10

Performance: 10

Price: 10

Here’s the last of a few Lumiappadays recorded a long while ago (new ones recorded last night). It’s the very simple game of tic-tac-toe or noughts and crosses but with a 3D twist.

You have 3 planes that rotate around the central square. As per usual either X or O and 3 in a line, but you have to worry about 3 going across to the other planes.

You can play against the CPU or another player. To rotate, just glide your finger across the screen.

#84) Tic Tac Toe 3D 

Price: Free or £0.79

Link (Free): http://www.windowsphone.com/en-GB/apps/ec266f35-401e-e011-9264-00237de2db9e

Link (Paid): http://www.windowsphone.com/en-GB/apps/974266d1-4f02-e011-9264-00237de2db9e

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAxb46UJeUc

 

Developer Blurb:

Experience a new dimension of this classic game. Play against the computer or your friend on a 3D cube. Rotate it to get a better look. All you have to do is complete more lines than your opponent. If you do it fast enough you’ll be at the top of the leader board.Feature app description: TicTacToe in real 3D.

Rating:

Design: 8

Usability: 9

Performance: 10

Price: 10

Anyone who’s searched for an online recipe before has definitely stumbled on Allrecipes.com which offers a great range of amazingly delicious recipes whether it’s a snack, dessert or lunch you’re looking for. Allrecipes gives you an extensive list of Lunches/Snacks/Dinners/Desserts each with it’s own detailed instructions/required ingredients, prep time, Nutritional information, user reviews & Ratings.

When searching for a dish you can specify specific classifications for the dish such as: Low fat, High Fiber, No wheat, No dairy, Vegan, Vegetarian and much more; which is extremely useful is your following a specific diet  or regimen. The coolest feature however is something called “Dinner Spinner” which lets you choose a course, main ingredient and prep time and will bring up the best results (Ex: Main Dish containing Chocolate that preps in less than 45 mins will give you Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Porridge, Chewy Granola Chocolate Chip Bars and Chocolate pancakes- Anyone willing to cook for me??)

Allrecipes is available free (with ads) in the marketplace, or if you don’t have a Lumia phone yet go to Allrecipes.com for the same taste cravings.

#83) Allrecipes

Price: Free

Link: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/23828a51-5391-e011-986b-78e7d1fa76f8

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQpzKvj8-Y4

 

Developer Blurb:

Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner is a fun and useful recipe app from the world’s #1 food site, delivering thousands of our members’ favorite quick and easy recipes to your Windows Phone device.

It’s FREE! Thousands of top-rated recipes – each featuring photos and reviews from our community of millions of home cooks – right in the palm of your hand! Plus, time-saving recipe tips from Allrecipes.com Members and their ideas for recipe variations that help to eliminate any guesswork!

It’s EASY & FUN! Dinner Spinner lets you be a picky eater or come hungry for ideas:

• Choose by Dish: Appetizers, drinks, main dishes, side dishes, desserts—the list goes on!

• Choose by Ingredient: Search for what you have on hand or what you are looking to buy.

• Choose by Desired “Ready In” Time: from recipes in under 20 minutes to all-day slow cooker dishes.

SHARE RECIPES! Post to Facebook, tweet to Twitter, or email your favorite recipes to friends. Go ahead—give it a spin!

PIN the app to your home screen to get daily recipe push notifications.

Choose your favorite food category to get new recipes from that collection every day.

Pick your own background!

Visit us at www.allrecipes.com for more great recipes and helpful tools.

Rating:

Design: 9

Usability: 10

Performance: 10

Price: 10

__________________

Here’s another game that I recorded a while back but had not got around to publishing. This one is called Tanks classic and it’s a tribute of sorts to the classic Tank game (Nintendo’s Battle City?) that you guys really liked on S60 3rd edition. You can play their own arcade version or bring it back to the Battle City like appearance (as in the picture).

You control with the virtual Dpad and shoot button. Depending on the mode, you’ve got different tanks with different strengths, speed and armour. It’s a fun game and rather addictive.

#82) Tanks Classic 

Price: Free

Link: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-GB/apps/36e84fb9-5ef9-4c76-9954-cc1228af08f9

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HumbCWF-19Q

 

Developer Blurb:

Tanks Classic brings a retro gameplay with a few twists.

Tanks Classic tributes the classic tank battling games of the 80′s consoles. Enjoy lots of frenzy levels and different worlds. Control different tanks with the touch screen to fight and defeat the enemy army.

Features:

- Up to 50 levels in campaign mode

- 4 game modes

- 14 different tanks to choose

- Pixel style and lots of tributes

- Free

 

Note: The Paid version is the same as the Free one, but it has no advertising banners.

________________________

V1.2 Updates

Added Mango support. You can now take advantage of the multitasking and you won’t lose the game if you accidentally push the Windows or Search buttons.

V1.1 Updates

- Added new virtual pad control system

- New Arcade mode

Rating:

Design: 9

Usability: 9

Performance: 10

Price: 10

Chromatic is an app I recorded a while ago on my Nokia Lumia 800. It’s a simple and fun shooting game where you just tap and aim your gun to shoot at incoming enemies. You have different guns and you can obtain different powerups of which you have to balance correctly in order to kill your enemy.

You can use multiple fingers to fire the default gun at several places though things like lasers and missiles have a longer wait time in between each shot. Also to increase accuracy, you might want to fire less haphazardly.

#81) Chromatic

Price: Free or £0.79

Link (free): http://www.windowsphone.com/en-GB/apps/07c08be8-9f69-44bb-8022-e13eefa7d3be

Link (paid): http://www.windowsphone.com/en-GB/apps/9872fa82-a1d3-4804-9997-343effe94613

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdFbXyMpp2s

 

Developer Blurb:

Latest Notes: Fixed some performance issues

Chromatic is an addictive 2-D shooter where you control a turret and must defend against waves of attacking enemies. Level-up six

unique guns and three unique powerups, each with its own color and power. String together multi-kills for massive points and try to make the global leaderboard!

Features cool neon graphics, custom sound effects, original music, as well as all-time, weekly, and friends leaderboards.

ChromaticPro is also available in the marketplace for ad-free gaming.

Update v1.3,v1.4:

-Bug fixes

Update v1.2:

-Powerups have been added! Level-up and equip the Nuke, Shield, and Multiplier-Bonus powerups for even higher scores.

-Mango support for fast app switching. Wow!

-Crazy Perf improvements!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Help screen adde

Rating:

Design: 8

Usability: 9

Performance: 10

Price: 10

Here’s a game that was ported from Windows Phone over to Qt and running on the Lumia/N9 and Symbian Qt enabled handsets.

Space Blok is a funny 1-4 player block structure breaking game ported from Windows Phone to Qt mobile devices and desktop as well. This game is a FREE example app done by Nokia. The game is implemented with Qt3D and Qt Quick and it utilizes an open source physics engine, Bullet Physics Library, to provide 3D simulation and realistic collision handling for the game objects. The audio framework used in this example is Qt GameEnabler. This example is hosted in a Nokia Developer Project, where you can find implementation and porting notes, discover recent revisions, and contribute to the project.

Video  by nokiadevforum

Another Nokia/Lumia exclusive app for WP, today we take a look at ESPN for WP (on the market place you can find ESPN ScoreCenter and ESPN news, but ‘ESPN’ can only be found on your Lumia Phone under ‘Nokia Collections’); which is why there is no real “developers blurb” and the link below is dead (that’s the link you get when you share the app with someone else through the marketplace on your phone).

The ESPN app brings you the latest sports news be it NBA, NFL, Soccer, NHL, NCAA, Rugby, Cricket, Formula 1 and much more; each sport category includes the latest scores, game highlights, Upcoming and previous games,  and direct links to the websites of all teams. ESPN also has a ‘Social’ section which brings you the latest updates from ESPNs official Twitter & FB, as well as ESPN exclusiv interviews and insights.

Honestly this app has more than enough information jam-packed into it to keep any sports fan happy, short of live game feeds you couldn’t ask for anything else.

#80) ESPN

Price: Free

Link: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/e00b1b51-e747-4c9c-a733-9f01980f22e1

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kgoVT1rYYcY

 

Developer Blurb:

Follow the Latest match results, breaking news, commentary and videos from you favorite sports and teams around the world with ESPN on you NOKIA device. ESPN…The Worldwide Leader in Sports

Rating:

Design: 9

Usability: 10

Performance: 10

Price: 10

Conclusion:

Another great reason to buy a Lumia phone if you’re  a true-die hard sports fan

__________________

We received an email from Srikanth (Thanks!) who shared some screenshots of Skype on Symbian Belle. Not sure how you guys can get this but Rahul tipped in (cheers) of a thread at Nokia discussion forum where a Nokia staff said as an update for Belle devices, Skype might appear Q1 2012.

http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/t5/Phone-Applications/Skype-for-701/m-p/1243307#M24784

Thank you Srikanth and Rahul for the tips!

Finally! Reports say that Microsoft is bringing Skype to Windows Phone. It has been expected for some time now, seeing as Microsoft owns the service. Having Skype may see WP as a real competitor in the smartphone race, since it can essentially become the OS that “connects people” due to its already deep integration of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (not sure how many people use LinkedIn though), and the assumption that Skype integration will come in an update, given the app receives good feedback. (Tango? Apollo? )

Apparently, Microsoft has been internally testing the app, and is reported to release the beta shortly. The following is an excerpt from anonymous email sent to WP7Lab;

“Skype for Windows Phone is just around the corner and we’ve teamed up with the Skype folks to help with beta testing. If you are receiving this newsletter directly, look for an invitation in the coming weeks and be on the inside track for what is sure to be one of the hottest new apps on the Marketplace!”

We should see some leaked content in the next few weeks, and hopefully the official release will be out soon enough.

Cheers Viipottaja for the tip!

Michael

Source: WP7Lab

Here’s another simple but fun game to pass the time. It’s called Stray Sperm, a somewhat odd name and angle for a game but bear with me.

You as the sperm navigate by way of moving the phone around and letting the accelerometer control where you’re going. You have bacteria and viruses to avoid, but you also have pills that when taken can kill them. However, make sure you have collected the little circles first as that fills up the bar at the top to tell you how long the pill action will last.

The music, I think, is Tear Drop – a track made popular by the show, “House” so it fits in this kind of medical related theme of cells, viruses, bacteria and pills.

#79) StraySperm 

Price: Free

Link: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-GB/apps/062f7d51-8814-46f0-bc72-c0ae6f2b6bd2

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2GecpTWGp4

Developer Blurb:

In this game you play as a sperm, which certainly was deposed in the wrong place XD.

You are surrounded by dangerous bacteria, just waiting to infect you. The only thing you can do now is to keep you away from them and strike at the right moment.

But still, not all is lost. With a little luck, you’ll find antibody and then you can fight back.

Stray Sperm is a 2D game you wont find on any other platform so far. On the one hand, it is an action game, but on the other hand, it’s a game where you can just relax

Rating:

Design: 8

Usability: 10

Performance: 9

Price: 10