The Subway Series Game Reviews detail some of the best games to play during rides on the New York City subway system.

What better game to introduce my new series of game reviews about games to play while on mass transit than a game that actually has to deal with mass transit?

What Crazy Taxi did for the Dreamcast and taxi driving, Fare City does for the iPhone/iPod and taxi dispatch. Finkly Interactive took a clever approach to using the features of the iPhone/iPod Touch to make a game that wouldn’t look or play better elsewhere.

The play field’s monochrome backgrounds really make the other imagery pop. Players tap on a taxi and then literally draw its path across the play field to direct it to a waiting customer and then to their destination. Once your taxi is set on a waiting passenger, the taxi then assumes their color. When you set the path to the destination point, your taxi’s path is also that color which is extremely helpful when managing multiple taxis.

If you’re playing this game on the train for the first time, it’s best to try Rookie Mode first. It’s the same as Classic mode but it’s geared towards beginners. If you happen to know the length of your trip, you can always try Time Trial Mode to get your Fare City fix with time to spare so you can make sure you end your game time before you reach your stop!

Along with the game’s increasing difficulty levels and variable speed settings, it’s hard to get bored with Fare City. In the event that you master the first level, the latest update to the game features a new map with an environmental hazard! Now gamers have to worry about more than just slamming their taxis into each other. Every so often, an outdoor train will come barreling down the right side of the screen splitting the level in half. Good thing you can always make your taxis drive off one side of the screen and appear on the other side!

With built in Open Feint features and the promise of new maps, Fare City will always be a great to play on those long borough to borough rides on the subway. I just wouldn’t suggest playing this in an actually taxi though!

Fare City is published by Digital Chocolate and you can try the free version or get the full experience right away.

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The amazing app VideoPano, that only works for the iPhone 3GS, makes panoramic images straight from videos! Will it beat out Pano as my favorite panoramic iPhone app… ever!?

Let’s find out!

Granted, the test image was done in very, very low light. So let’s try the kitchen again, shall we?

Actually…

I’m not even going to post the picture since VideoPano could not do the entire kitchen like Pano. It did only about 1/4 of the room. It’s not even worth posting! I’m upset that it can’t do extremely large panoramics (the Pano shot took almost 16 photos to make), but it does do amazing quick shots and provides the user some really interesting perspectives. Here’s another example:

Where VideoPano differs from Pano is that Pano generally creates hard angles when taking photos like this. I don’t use these panoramic apps to create long shots of scenic areas. I create shots like the one above. It’s a more interesting use of space and because of this, I’m in love with VideoPano.

So who wins? For of it’s ease of use, I would suggest VideoPano… to beginners. It’s great for those who want to take quick panoramics and I love that I can create interesting perspectives on close up shots. For people who want better looking panoramics that take advantage of the 3GS and it’s auto-focus camera, I would say download Pano. Making a panorama takes longer and requires more work, but you get much cleaner pictures, which is worth the effort.

Try them both out for yourself! And if you enjoyed this review and would like to send some love, go to the Support Page! I’ll be waiting!

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Spy Pix for the iPhone
2. Facebook for iPhone – Now with Push notifications.

Uh oh.

Can we agree, as great as Push notifications are, this is really the last thing this app needs? What next? Farmville for the iPhone? This is going to be dangerous, but mostly annoying for most people.

Are you going to enable it?

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Spy Pix for the iPhone

In a recent post about iPhone photography apps, I reviewed 3D Camera by Juicy Bits Software. They liked the mention so much, they suggested I try Spy Pix for the iPhone. So I did!

Here’s a quick review of the software by the company:

Spy Pix uses one of my favorite photography techniques, steganography to make a fun app for you and your friends (or spy agencies!). I gave it a try using pictures of favorite character from Team Fortress 2, The Spy.

Here’s the decoy image:

What’s the fate of the The Sniper? Download the this image, load it up in Spy Pix and find out for yourself! And don’t forget to add my Facebook Fan Page to keep up to date with all my postings, links and discussions!

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1. REVIEW: VideoPano for the iPhone
2. Facebook for iPhone – Now with Push notifications.

If you head over to John Mayer’s website, you’ll see that he has a new music video up. However, it’s the first ever augmented reality video ever!

In this video from Wired, John explains what augmented reality is and what went into the process of making this video:

For those of you who couldn’t get it to work or don’t have a printer or mobile device to use, I made a video showing what the experience looks like. Enjoy!

And don’t forget to add my Facebook Fan Page to keep up to date with all my postings, links and discussions!

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2. VIDEO: My new charity concept – Dance For Dollars!
3. The Great Shaving/Waxing!

What’s Twitter? Google has over 194,000,000 posts to answer that question. But, instead of reading tons of blogs and watching tons of videos, I’ve researched some of the best tips on learning what Twitter is, how to use it and how to maximize its use!

The Twitter.com support page actually uses this Howcast video to explain what Twitter is. And I have to agree, it explains it quite well:

Howcast video link!
(embedded video removed, seems to be messing with RSS functionality?!)
Well, now that you know what Twitter is, now what?

Make Connections

Once you’ve set up a username that suits you, it’s time to actually find people. Twitter has its own built in “Find People” function right at the top of the page that will help you out as explained in the Howcast video. But to dig further and with more purpose, I suggest the following sites:

TwitDir
WeFollow

These are two popular Twitter Directory sites that will assist you in finding more than enough followers. Of course, once you have a ton of followers, you might start to get overwhelmed. Thankfully, other Twitter users have developed desktop applications that will help you manage all your new friends. Some people suggest Seesmic, however my Twitter desktop app of choice is Tweetdeck. While it may not have the best interface and it may even slow down some older computers (depending on what settings you use), the companion iPhone app is amazing (and is cleaner than its desktop brother.) It will allow you to set groups so you can make it easier to read the tweets of all the people you are following.

Maintain Connections

Now that you’re following hundreds of other people using Twitter, it’s time to get the conversation going. Before you even get started, you might get confused by all the symbols and sayings that are plastered all over Twitter. Twitter’s support page once again has all the answers you need, but here’s a run down of the ones you’ll see the most:

@: You’ll see “@someone’s user name” A LOT. Whenever you see that, that means the tweet you are seeing is a reply directed at someone. Sometimes they will be out of context and part of another conversation, but sometimes they could be directed at you, so pay attention! Tweetdeck and the Twitter.com page allow you to see @replys directed at you for your convenience.

RT: This mean “Re-Tweet.” A retweet is the process of passing along someone else’s tweet. Apps like Tweetdeck will allow you to instantly retweet someone else’s tweet at the click of a button. Twitter is about sharing and retweeting is always a good way to share even more information and build good relationships with others using Twitter.

DM: Means “Direct Message” which is self explanatory. You can send these from someone’s profile page on Twitter.com or via whatever app you’re using. Bare in mind, DMs are also limited to Twitter’s character count!

Now that you’re following other users and know the lingo they’re all using, it’s time to tweet! While you may feel compelled to Tweet about your observations, but it’s best to not pollute Twitter with information not worth sharing. You most likely followed a bunch of friends and maybe even some people who are interested in the same activities as you. You’re no doubt following a celebrity or two, blog or book authors, people who share similar interests and maybe even some comedians and musicians. Why not tweet something that will entertain or enlighten some of those people? Being part of a social and active community is about sharing information, ideas and experiences. Sharing funny and interesting links. Showing people what you’re working on or what you’ve been doing lately. Or even engaging in conversation.

Once you’ve followed enough people (and once you have enough followers), the uses of Twitter will become more apparent. It can simply be a soap box for you or it can be a place where you can communicate with millions and make a change! Whatever you can get out of Twitter, make it something beneficial and worthwhile! It can be a place to learn, a place to share or a place to communicate and have fun. Like most things, Twitter is what you make of it.

In the next post, I’ll expand on what you can really do with Twitter and show you some of the applications, websites and businesses that are out there that make Twitter a powerful social tool. And feel free to add me on Twitter, I’m @ohjefframos.

And don’t forget to add my Facebook Fan Page to keep up to date with all my postings, links and discussions!

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1. DO MORE: Learn How To Use Twitter! Part TWO!

Alexis Bauer and the Ignite Show will guide you through the steps!

The Ignite Show is a series of five minute speed-presentations that forces speakers to present awesome geek topics like multi-person pogo sticks to hacking chocolate to crowds of thousands all over the world with auto-forwarding slides and mounting pressure! With a slogan like “enlighten us, but make it quick,” you’ll love these great, quick and insightful presentations!

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1. DO MORE: Learn How To Use Twitter! Part One!

Here’s a video I made a while back explaining how a talk box works.

If you’re not familiar with the talk box, you need only look at two of the greats in talk box history. Legendary funk musicians, Zapp and Roger:

or the legendary guitarist, Peter Frampton:

I hope you enjoy this video. I’ll be doing more instructional videos in the future!

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A study from OTOInsights has shown that Digg users spend just as much, if not more time visually reviewing headlines as opposed to the amount of Diggs an entry has, the accompanying image and even the description itself!

While many blog experts agree they spend just as much time on their posts as they do on headlines, it’s great to know that research has been done to validate their hard work. Check out Nueromarketing’s write up on the research.

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