It seems that the folks at Rovio Mobile have been working on an free update for Angry Birds Halloween… Angry Birds Christmas! According to Rovio’s Twitter account, the update has been submitted to Apple for approval and should be appearing in the App Store in the next few days.

We recently posted that the TiPb Readers Choice Award-winning Angry Birds would be getting a major update this holiday season, with the introduction of many new levels and inclusion of the in-app purchase, “Mighty Eagle”. First that, now Christmas? Sounds like Angry Birds fans will have a lot to enjoy this holiday season.

Screenshots below. So which update are you looking most forward to… or will you be getting both?

[iTunes - Angry Birds Halloween iPhone | iPad]

[Rovio Mobile Twitter, Images courtesy of Ylex.yle.fl]

Angry Birds Halloween getting Christmas update! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

YouTube Link

When I saw John Carmack show off Rage on the iPhone a few months back, I was rather excited. The promise of real console-like graphics were in our grasp. Then, the game finally came out and I was initially blown away, but then…

Rage HD on iPad is set in a post-apocalyptic future. Typical of these types of games where you play a contestant out to earn money by defeating mutants. The game is set in a first-person shooter (FPS) perspective, but it is on rails. This means the game “moves” for you and you are only allowed to maneuver the cursor on screen at any given time. This is okay, as the games visuals are amazing and this style of game worked really well for Doom Resurrection on iPhone.

The screen is comprised of only a few buttons. The left side is meant solely to move the cursor, target enemies, etc. The right side has the action button (to shoot and pick up items like health, ammo, etc), dodge button (the enemy throws bricks at you), reload weapon and select weapon. If the touch screen modality does not work for you, there is a tilt option as well as lefty mode and other configurable choices such as inverted axis and more.

As you start a level, you immediately notice there are several bulls-eyes scattered among the levels. By shooting them, you increase your score. As enemy mutants appear, you target and shoot them. You can often get a one-shot fill if you time your shots appropriately; you get a special reticule when you in the correct area to pull it off.

As you maneuver your cursor around the screen trying to take out bulls-eyes and mutants, you will notice you can also pick up money, health and ammo bonuses; your cursor turns into a green hand. The ammo comes in particularly handy as I found I ran out of ammo a little too fast. The good news is that you have a pistol with unlimited ammo, but takes forever to reload. However, I have played entire levels with just the pistol with no problem. The additional weapons that you can find ammo for are the shotgun and automatic weapon.

The games graphics are really, really good. I mean, really good. It is a testament to iOS’s capabilities. No slowdown, plenty of particles flying at you and a ton of action. But this is where the problems begin for this game. It’s gorgeous. But that is all it’s got. You only have three levels of play, you fight the same enemies over and over. Rage HD is literally a $2.00 technology demo. It wouldn’t be so bad (since the game is clearly score based) if you had Game Center support to see where you rank on the leaderboards and add some challenges with achievements. Alas, none of these options exist.

I am impressed with id’s effort in this title to bring an amazing console experience to our beloved iOS devices. I am not impressed with the paltry three stages and lack of Game Center support. Should you get this game? It’s hard to tell. It is only $2.00, and will hardly break the bank. You will enjoy it till you beat the three levels and you will be left with the insatiable need for more. I am happy to have played it, but after 30 minutes (that is how long it takes to beat all of the levels) you are left with a very, very, very empty feeling.

[$1.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Amazing graphics
• Fun to play
• Varying levels of difficulty
• Different versions of the game for newer/older hardware
• Universal app for iPhone/iPad

Cons

• Only three levels
• Only two types of enemies (really only one type if you want to get picky)
• You are playing for what amounts to a tech demo
• No Game Center support (missing leader boards, achievements, etc)

Rage HD for iPad- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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According to some leaked screenshots and descriptions, Apple’s iBooks app for iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone will be getting an update in the near future that includes “collections”, along with PDF printing and emailing.

Collections are similar to folders. You will be able to make groups of books and PDF’s that are accessible via the new “collections” button as well as from your bookshelf. User-created collections are completely customizable, but the the two default collections, Books and PDF’s, are not.

In addition to collections, the new iBooks update will have the option to email PDF’s and print PDF’s with AirPrint. You will be unable to print or email books, however. (That makes sense for purchased books but hopefully non-protected ePub books will get print and email functionality at some point.)

There is no word on when we can expect to see this update, but we’re betting it’ll make an appearance at the rumored Apple event in December.

Who’s looking forward to this update? What collections do you plan to create?

[9To5Mac]

iBooks for iPad, iPhone to be updated with “Collections”, printing, and PDF emailing? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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