Mike Riley

Author Details

Mike Riley's picture

Author Details

Mike Riley

Mike Riley is a frequent contributor to several technical publications and specializes in emerging technologies and new development trends. Mike was previously employed by RR Donnelley as the company’s Chief Scientist, responsible for determining innovative technical approaches to improve the company’s internal and external content services. Mike also co-hosted Computer Connection, a technology enthusiast show broadcast on Tribune Media's CLTV.

Based within the Fallen London alternate Victorian age universe, Sunless Sea ($9.99) has been recently ported from the PC to iOS.  Like the previously released Fallen London (free) game on iOS, Sunless Sea is considerably text heavy. This intentional design choice gives the crew of your vessel adequate background history and private motivations that help you understand their behaviors and reactions to the events that transpire throughout the game. If this sounds like your cup of tea, read on to find out if it is worth the price of a few boxes of biscuits as well.

Thanks to the growing popularity of real-world board games these days, mobile conversions of these games is almost becoming an expected outcome of the more successful titles in the genre. One of those highly popular board games is Tokaido ($6.99), an adventure game where players compete to acquire material goods while traveling along the East Sea Road. The player who has acquired the items and experiences worth the most value at the end of the journey wins the game. Read on to find out how the mobile conversion fairs compared to other board game conversions in the App Store. 

At its foundation, Kingdom: New Lands ($9.99) is a tower-defense-style game. Build up your kingdom's defenses in order to fend off attacking monsters. If you survive to the next level, you will continue to expand your kingdom and strengthen your defenses while exploring the 2D pixelated lands for the required resources to succeed. You start the game with a queen, a crown, and a horse. Moving your mounted horse left or right reveals landscape that may contain characters to recruit and structures to build. You need to recruit and build to shore up your kingdom's defenses against the night-time raids of demons, ghosts, and other nasty surprises. As you progress and survive, you will level up to even more challenging and enchanting environments. If you die, you start over at the last level reached. Does this mobile port retain the wide appeal it achieved with its PC game fan base? Read on to find out.

The number of Bluetooth wireless speakers available on the market is staggering, and choosing which one to buy is like choosing which outfit to wear. Depending on the occasion, the right speaker can make the difference between an enjoyable experience and an infuriating one. While some manufacturers have designed for very specific use cases, others, like 808 Audio, have opted for a kitchen sink approach. Hence, its Hex Encore XL Wireless Speaker ($399.99) is the Swiss army knife of speaker units. Does it accomplish these objectives successfully and, more importantly, does it sound great doing so? Read on to find out.

If you are an iPhone or iPad user who wants to sync to your new Apple MacBook via a Lightning cable, you will first need to acquire an expensive dongle that converts from the MacBook's USB-C connector to the older USB standard plug. This may also leave you with no way to power your laptop with your iPhone’s cable occupying the port, since the MacBook has but a single USB-C port that also doubles as a power supply port. Fortunately, the power specialists at FINsix have created a power adapter that can deliver both USB-C capable power while also adding a standard USB plug inline to the power cord. It also comes in a package far smaller than Apple's USB-C charger and dongle combined.

Are you yearning for something to complement your active lifestyle? Something a bit different than the usual iPad carrying bag, case, or sling? Maybe an iPad carrying bag that still gives freedom of movement without becoming a bulky nuisance? In this review, I check out the Grab-It Pack Ultra Gadget Holster ($39.95) and Tablet Pack ($45.95) for either the iPad or iPad Mini. Let's take a look.

Based on a popular board game by the same name, Lanterns: The Harvest Festival ($4.99) (Lanterns for short) is a beautifully realized digital conversion of this domino-style color matching game. The presentation of the game is an artful expression of matching patterns of Japanese lanterns in a pond. How well does this serene setting translate into a compelling contest against AI and online players alike? Read on to find out.

Just Mobile offers an ever-expanding line of premium iOS accessories. In this roundup I take a look at three items that help reduce the inevitable clutter experienced by anyone who loves accumulating tech gear. The Xtand Vent helps keep driving hands free by holding your iPhone for you. The AluCharge provides four power-perfect USB ports ready to supply your growing inventory of electronics, and the HeadStand Avant is a new, lighter weight take on Just Mobile's older headphone stand. Do these products meet the level of quality and pragmatic use that Just Mobile's reputation demands? Read on to find out.

TreasureHunter ($4.99) is a  iOS board game conversion of the identically named, mildly popular board game released in 2015. This card game was created by legendary game designer Richard Garfield (the creator of the wildly popular Magic the Gathering trading card game). The conversion to iPad board game app was done by the game's Germany-based publisher Queen Games, a company that has had a somewhat mediocre track record digitally converting its other physical board games such as Alhambra and Kingdom Builder to iOS board games. Does TreasureHunter rise above those previous efforts? Read on to find out.

iPhone and iPad word processors are nearly as plentiful on the App Store as flashlight apps. In order to stand out from the crowded selection, developers need to offer products that meet a specific need. In the case of prose composition, one word processing app that enables the narrative (e.g. story and screenwriting) and article construction and evolution process is Scrivener ($19.99). Originally available only for the Mac, Scrivener has recently made the leap to the iOS platform. How does it fare on both? Read on to find out.

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