Games for football lovers on iPhone and Android

The big game is this weekend and most American's will tell you it's a lot more than just a football game.

Many people make an event out of the game with parties, barbeques, and betting pools, even if their favorite team isn't in the running. Even the commercials shown during the game are an event in themselves with advertisers spending huge amounts of money for 30 second and one minute spots.

While you wait for the Sunday's festivities to kick off, I've put together a collection of mobile games to get you excited for the main event. Most of the time I only write about iPhone apps in this space, but this special event calls for a special post.

This week's apps are football themed games for both iPhone and Android and they all let you fill the shoes of different players on a football team. The first lets you run past defenders on your way to the end zone. The second lets you try your luck at being the kicker who needs to split the uprights. The third has you playing as the quarterback, trying to complete perfect passes to open receivers.

Editor's note: If you are right now saying to yourself, "I hate football!" then read Jaymar Cabebe's post on Game day apps for football haters.

Use the juke and sprint buttons to get to the end zone, but once you're there it's time to celebrate.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

Backbreaker Football 2: Vengeance($2.99) for iPhone or Android is the sequel to Backbreaker Football (99 cents), a game that put you in the shoes of a football player running and dodging tackles to get to the end zone. Just like the original, beautiful 3D graphics and solid animations give you the feeling of powering your way down the field. But in BackBreaker Football 2: Vengeance, you now have the ability to play on the other side of the ball as a defender who needs to dodge blockers and ultimately tackle the ball carrier. You start off by customizing a player with a few options for jersey number, skin tone, and uniform, but you'll be able to unlock more uniforms and other goodies as you play the game.

Once on the field, Backbreaker Football 2: Vengeance adds new moves and features to keep the game exciting. In addition to the spin, juke, and sprint moves found in the original, you can now jump over low tackles and objects by tapping on the middle of the screen. You also have a "trucking" move that turns your player into a power runner, bulldozing your way through high tackles and under props on the field. Having a low solid object to jump over or a low-hanging bar to "truck" under look a little out of place on the football field, but BackBreaker Football is an arcade game, and the new additions definitely make for some complicated challenges. You also can't help but feel a sense of accomplishment after a long line of jumping over objects, dodging tackles, and showboating into the end zone.

Like the original, you get more points if you can showboat or high step into the end zone at the end of your run. The Showboating move slows you down, making it possible for tacklers to catch up to you, so you have to choose the right time to start showing off in order to make it to the end zone while racking up the most points. Backbreaker Football 2: Vengeance takes showboating a step further with an extra button that makes your showboating move even more exaggerated and quite a bit slower while doubling the points you'll receive if you make it to the end zone. Don't be surprised if you end up eating the turf 5 yards short of the end zone before you get the hang of it.

Overall, Backbreaker Football 2: Vengeance is an excellent sequel that keeps the best things about the original, and adds a fun new game type and more moves to help you make defenders miss. The game mechanic is very addictive, and as you progress, you'll need to use every move at your disposal to reach the end zone or tackle your opponent. Anyone who played the first game or likes the idea of an easy to pick up and play football game will appreciate the challenge and polish of this sequel.

Kicking several field goals in succession gives you the flaming ball for more points.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

Flick Kick Field Goal (99 cents) for iPhone or Androidlets you take the role of a kicker and use your finger to send a football through the uprights. The control scheme is about as easy as it gets: simply flick the football towards the Field Goal uprights and if you manage to split the goal posts, you score a point.

The game comes with several game modes, but all rely on the simple mechanic of flicking to kick field goals. Arcade mode challenges you to kick as many field goals as possible, and you'll be required to kick field goals from greater and greater distances and account for wind speed. Precision mode challenges you to try to hit the middle of the field goal as many times as possible over the course of 20 kicks. Each area of the field goal is assigned a percentage (100% in the middle, 75% just off center, and 50% on the sides) with the goal of obtaining the highest percentage of perfect kicks possible. There's also a Sudden Death mode where you'll need to kick field goals in the middle to get extra lives, but if you miss three field goals, you're done. Finally, a Time Attack mode challenges you to kick as many field goals as possible in a two-minute time limit with center field goals adding 2 seconds on to your time. Frankly, there is not a huge difference between game modes, but if you like the action of flicking to kick field goals, the variation definitely adds replay value.

Flick Kick Field goal also offers a Multiplayer mode where you can challenge people locally or get matched up with another player online and take turns going for accuracy with your kicks.

My only problem with the game is the way they list wind speed. A 2mph wind is almost unnoticeable, while a 6mph wind will drastically effect ball trajectory. It's not a huge issue, but be aware that the wind speeds get tough quickly.

Flick Kick Field goal is mostly a one-trick pony, but with a few game modes, multiplayer, and great kicking action, this game will appeal to anyone looking for an easy pick-up-and-play game.

Wait until the receiver's circle turns green before letting it fly.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

NFL Flick Quarterback (99 cents) for iPhone or Androidis an excellent touch-screen game concept that manages to make you feel like a real quarterback as you connect with receivers. The game offers a Basic Skills level to get you started and explains how the game works--you must complete passes to open receivers while accounting for both defensive players and wind speed. Hitting an open receiver almost always results in a Touchdown--there's no defense after the catch. But you will need to make crisp passes in order to get high scores.

The game offers a few different game modes and all of them add to the experience of throwing good passes. The main mode is called Playmaker, where you'll need to lead receivers with your passes for them to make clean catches. As the game progresses, more defenders are added making it crucial that you flick the ball with just the right amount of force to get it to your receiver. You'll have some help there--a circle under the receiver turns green when he gets into open space, but you'll still need precision, because a defensive back is often not far behind. Scores are based on how well you lead the receiver and number of touchdowns after successful passes.

A Quick Fire game mode gives you 45 seconds to complete as many passes as possible. Completed passes add seconds on to your time and the quality of pass matters too--with a good leading pass you can get five seconds added on, but with a close call catch, you'll only get three seconds (and misses subtract three seconds). The feeling of urgency forces you to walk the fine line of getting the pass off while remaining precise.

A third game mode called Trick Shot tests your accuracy by having you throw passes into barrels. As you progress the barrels get further away and wind speed starts to play a role forcing you to make perfect passes to hit the target. All of the game modes are fun and different enough from each other that you'll want to try each again and again.

Overall, NFL Flick Quarterback is an excellent game for football fans that want to make the perfect pass. With several gametypes and plenty of variation, this will be the perfect game to check out while you wait for the big game this Sunday.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) SDK for Windows Phone Arrives in Beta

Today, Microsoft also announced the release of a new developer tool for developers interested in packing Amazon Web Services (AWS) with their Windows Phone applications.  The new Amazon Web Services (AWS) SDK for Windows Phone was built as an open source project from Microsoft, providing developers with a speed dial for easily connecting and integrating Windows Phone applications with AWS (S3, SimpleDB, and SQS Cloud Services). Application developers interested in delivering cloud-connected mobile software are also looking for choice and for the possibility to reuse assets and skills. Developers familiar with AWS will be able to take full advantage of the new SDK, when it comes to porting to Windows Phone applications built for Android, iOS or any other platform. “Our approach with AWS is to provide developers with choice and flexibility to build applications the way they want and give them unlimited storage, bandwidth and computing resources, while paying only for what they use,” Terry Wise, director of business development for Amazon Web Services, notes  “We welcome Windows Phone developers to the AWS community and look forward to providing customers with new ways to build and deploy Windows Phone applications,” he continues. Jean Paoli, general manager of interoperability strategy at Microsoft, explains that the Windows Phone platform was meant to be a Cloud-friendly solution, and that the release of this new SDK is another proof of that. “The release of the AWS SDK for Windows Phone Beta proves that Microsoft’s goal of building a Cloud-friendly phone is true across vendor boundaries,” he says.  “It literally takes minutes to create a Cloud-ready application in C# with this SDK. We look forward to this SDK eventually resulting in many more great apps in the rapidly growing Windows Phone marketplace.” The new Amazon Web Services (AWS) SDK for Windows Phone was released under the Apache license, the same as the complete source code for it. Those interested in learning more on what it could offer should head over to the Windows Phone Interoperability Bridges website. Download the Amazon Web Services (AWS) SDK for Windows Phone

Microsoft Gives 20 Free Windows Phones to Android Users

Microsoft has been seizing each opportunity to hit Google’s Android operating system, and a new one emerged only recently.  Earlier this week, the company announced that it chose to deliver no less than 20 free Windows Phones to Android users who have been affected by malware that slipped in the Android Market. On Monday, Microsoft’s Ben Rudolph announced on Twitter that he had 20 smartphones to give to those who had been affected by issues with the operating system. The response was tremendous, with over 1,000 people sending tweets to complain of various problems they had with their Androids. “This week the internet was buzzing about how upwards of 5 million Android users have phones infected with annoying adware,” Microsoft’s Ben Rudolph noted in a blog post. “To help out, we offered up 20 free Windows Phones to people who shared their story about their frustrations with their Android phone, and why a Windows Phone would be a welcome upgrade. “I got nearly 1000 responses since we kicked things off (thanks to everyone who sent in a story!), and out of those, here are our 20 winners.” The said post on Microsoft’s blog explains more on the matter. In the meantime, we should note that this is not the first time Microsoft makes such a move. Last year, the company offered some more free Windows Phones to Android users who got infected. Moreover, Ben was on the floor at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where he offered $100 to any user who could prove his/her phone was faster than a Windows Phone. There were not too many devices that managed to prove faster than Ben’s Windows Phone, which demonstrated that Microsoft’s mobile platform does have a lot to offer to users, even if it did not register the sales one might have wanted it to.

IE9 Is Fast, Secure and Reliable on Windows 7

Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) is the most used browser on Windwos 7 in the United States, and is aspiring for the worldwide title as well.  This is so mainly due to the great choices it provides users with when it comes to speed, security and reliability. Moreover, it also focuses on keeping users’ data private while they browse the Internet. “We build IE for customers who use Windows. IE9 is the browser designed to give Windows 7 customers the fastest, safest, and most private browsing experience – putting the focus on the thing that matters most – your favorite sites,” Ryan Gavin, general manager, Internet Explorer business and marketing, notes. Users’ privacy when online has been a great concern lately, and Microsoft is keen on assuring users that they have nothing to fear when using its Internet Explorer 9 browser to access their favorite sites. “Browse without being browsed. If keeping your personal information private online is important to you, Internet Explorer is the browser that respects your privacy and puts you in charge,” Ryan Gavin explains. “By using Tracking Protection and the other privacy features in IE9, you are in control of who is tracking your actions online – not advertisers.” Clearly, this mentioning of privacy is another hit at Google. The Mountain View-based company has recently announced a set ofchanges to its privacy policies, and Microsoft claims that they are, in fact, restricting users’ control over their online identities. In addition to keeping things private, IE9 is also capable of keeping users away from online threats, and it can do so better than any other browser available at the moment for Windows 7. At the same time, the browser can deliver the speed and performance levels that users are seeking in such an application. “When you browse with Internet Explorer 9, your favorite sites load crazy fast – faster than two other well-known browsers according to recent real world site performance tests from Laptop magazine and Strangeloop web development firm,” Ryan Gavin notes. “As we have said before, we believe real world scenarios around page load times are the right way to measure how you experience a faster Web while you browse.” With IE9, users can also pin websites to the Windows 7 taskbar to access them instantly. And there is also the support for HTML5 and industry-leading hardware acceleration, which makes the web seem more beautiful. “Whether it is the addictive gameplay of Cut the Rope or a truly immersive way for music fans to enjoy the band they love, we give developers a platform to push the limits of what was previously thought possible and push their creativity,” Gavin concludes. Internet Explorer 9 is available for download from Softpedia as well, via this link.

Microsoft Now Testing Skype Beta for Windows Phone Internally

We already knew that Microsoft was planning the release of a mobile version of Skype on handsets running under its Windows Phone mobile platform, but we had no clue as of when it might become available.  Today, however, we learn that it might not be long before the beta flavor of the application is released. Apparently, the Redmond-based company has started dogfooding Skype Beta for Windows Phone. Basically, the software giant is pushing the application to its employees that own Windows Phones, asking them to take it for a spin and to provide feedback on it. This means that the app is usable enough to be delivered to the masses, and that it could receive general availability in the very near future. With the dogfooding process started, any major bugs that might be present with the beta release should be resolved, which would make the app fit for public use. According to wp7lab, a source in the know confirmed that Skype for Windows Phone would hit devices in the near future, and that the beta testing was well underway. The application will be pushed to the Windows Phone Marketplace soon, yet we should expect for Microsoft to have it integrated in future versions of the mobile operating system. For the time being, however, specific info on what Skype for Windows Phone will have to offer hasn’t emerged, though wp7lab suggests that it should not be too long before screenshots with the application emerge. When released on Windows Phone, Skype will be able to take full advantage of the front cameras on the latest devices out there, to provide users with video calling capabilities. Android users can already benefit from this capability on their devices, as the popular VoIP application has been available for them for quite some time now. Thus, it was only natural for Microsoft to have it on Windows Phone as well, since it owns Skype.

Adobe Flash Player 11

What is Flash Player?

Adobe® Flash® Player is a cross-platform, browser-based application runtime that provides uncompromised viewing of expressive applications, content, and videos across browsers and operating systems. 

Top new features in Flash Player

More

Stage 3D accelerated graphics rendering*

Explore a new architecture for high-performance 2D/3D GPU hardware accelerated graphics rendering by Adobe, which provides low-level Stage3D APIs for advanced rendering in apps and gives framework developers classes of interactive experiences.

*Initial support for personal computers.

Native 64-bit support

Flash Player can now take advantage of native support for 64-bit operating systems and 64-bit web browsers on Linux®, Mac OS, and Windows®.

H.264/AVC software encoding for cameras

Stream beautiful video from your computer's camera with higher compression efficiency and industry-wide support, enabling both high-quality real-time communications (such as video chat and video conferencing) and live video broadcasts.

Protected HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS)

Protect streaming video across devices without the complexity of a license server.

First Intel Micro-Server Atom Chip Detailed

Looks like Intel is not lagging in its development of micro-server central processing units, having just started sample shipments of its first Atom-based system-on-chip. 

Anyone wondering what exactly Intel was working on besides the recently benchmarked Core i7 3770K high-end Ivy Bridge CPU (and its family) now have their answer. 

Right to the point, the Santa Clara, California-based company has begun shipping samples of its first system-on-chip devices based on the Atom micro-architecture. 

It is aimed at so-called micro-servers, a market segment where ARM also wants to establish a presence as soon as possible. 

When speaking of the chip, Jason Waxman, general manager of Intel’s data center group, said that the newcomer was “at a performance, power and cost level we like.” 

The man also said that they already had an idea of what to offer with the successor of this processor. 

“In 2013 we plan a part an order of magnitude above it,” the general manager said. 

Operating on 10W of energy, the new chip is based on the Cedarview micro-architecture (constructed on the 32nm process technology) and has two cores. 

Furthermore, it boasts 64-bit support, virtualization technology, error-correcting code and the PCI Express interface, plus Hyper-Threading. 

SeaMicro and Habey are just two of the companies that will design products based on it (the other server players haven't been specifically mentioned). 

“We take nothing for granted and expect ARM licensees to be formidable competitors,” said Andrew Feldman, founder and chief executive of SeaMicro.

“With 90 percent server market share, the ball’s in Intel’s court to be best in class, and we will use processors customers are demanding.” 

Intel has an advantage in the fact that there are no 64-bit ARM chips on the market yet, but this situation isn't going to last for long. Now we can only wait and see how the Atom SoC and Xeon units coexist with rivals.