The classic has been remastered for mobile devices, complete with 60 frames per second graphics. The memorable characters are there, as the gameplay is virtually the same with touch controls rethought for mobile devices.

Given the game’s excellent reception it furthers the mystery as to why Nintendo has not jumped on board with a mobile edition of its popular games. Super Mario Brothers would likely garner millions of downloads, as Sonic has done rather well on iOS with multiple four- and five-star ratings from users.

Players can unlock Tails and Knuckles; iOS users will need to download an update to the current version in order to do so.

For those unfamiliar with the premise, Dr. Eggman has turned all fo the animals of Mobius into mechanical monsters. Sonic must save the day through sprinting through loops. The key feature is gathering as many rings as possible while racing through challenging stages with the ultimate goal of stopping Dr. Eggman’s plan for world domination.

Download Sonic the Hedgehog from Google Play ($2.99)

Download Sonic the Hedgehog from the App Store ($2.99)

Find out what happens by watching the keynote here:

While some of the add-ons are helpful (there is much about Sense 5 I actually like) they all carry some annoying baggage that can muck up the Android experience. So what to do?

Sure, you can root your device. Yet that path isn’t for everyone, and is fraught with potential issues for those not experienced enough to manipulate the inner workings of their device. A stock Android experience can be found in the Nexus 4, yet that means sacrificing LTE and dealing with abysmal battery life.

Nova Launcher is the right fix. It brings a Holo-like feel back to your device, along with an extensive list of customizations. Users can add in specific gestures, customized icons and folders, along with unique themes to put your own stamp on the device.

For $4.00, the Prime upgrade brings worthy enhancements. While some (wrongly) may balk at the cost, it is well worth paying for something that will optimize your device.

After downloading Nova Launcher, your phone will ask which launcher to use when accessing the home screen. Set Nova as default and you are ready to go.

The most effective features are in the premium version. Add multiple apps to the docks and swipe left or right to access them. Swipe continuously through the home screens to get where you need – no need to stop and reverse directions.

My favorite feature is the ability to customize both the app drawer and number of apps to be displayed on-screen. With a larger device it can be rather useful to add an extra row of apps to the top of the screen. Adding unread counts, one of the few features I miss from the iPhone, is also a nice upgrade. The folders can also look like the standard Android lot or include any combination of a grid or fan design.

Nova Launcher Prime will also eliminate HTC’s BlinkFeed or other home screen annoyances. While I don’t actually mind BlinkFeed it certainly isn’t for everyone. Nova Launcher Prime will allow you greater flexibility in designing home screens.

Adding Nova Launcher can be one of several strategies for getting a more Nexus-like look to your device without rooting it. Yet even if you have a stock Android phone, it is hard to not recommend the tweaking that Nova offers.

Download Nova Launcher Prime from Google Play

Flipboard’s magazine feature, which unleashed some creative personal magazines on iOS, is now available on Android. The 2.0 update brings this along with other improvements to the app for Google’s mobile OS.

Android users can now add content throughout Flipboard into their own customized magazine. By hitting the + button on an interesting article it becomes one of the posts inside your customized publication.

And because you don’t get enough notifications, count on some from Flipboard when others comment, like, or subscribe to your magazines.

Below is the full changelog from Google Play:

-Collect and save content into your own magazines, tap the “+” button to begin
-Your magazines are public, but can be made private
-Integrated Android share: add content from the Gallery & other apps to your magazines
-Bookmarklet to add items to your magazines from a browser
-Get notifications when people like, comment or subscribe to your magazines
-Share magazines via email or social networks
-Personalized recommendations for more to read
-Search is now front & center, with improved results

Google’s subversion of iOS continues. Today the company pushed out an update to it iOS Gmail app that will open links to YouTube videos and maps in those respective Google-built apps. This circumvents the default method in iOS, where links open in Safari.

Google previously had included the choice to open links in Chrome. While these options are turned on by default, they can be disabled. This would return one to the standard behavior of opening a link in Apple’s Safari browser.

This move comes after Google added its Google Now service to the company’s search app. It is another indication that while the Mountain View company would love to have everyone using Android, it knows that it has a large base of its users want to access its services on the iPhone and iPad.

Another minor addition is rather convenient. If you are signed in to multiple Gmail accounts, you can now just sign out of one instead of being forced to sign out of all of them at once. 

These changes further strengthen Google’s position on iOS. It continues what is an unusual win-win for both companies. Apple keeps iOS customers happy because they can access Google services. Google gets to keep users and collect data from those on iOS who want to use the company’s products.

Download Gmail from the App Store

Microsoft wants to make sure as many people as possible like the new Facebook app for Windows Phone. The newest beta of the Windows Phone Facebook app is available in the Windows Store for anyone who wants to try it out.

Instead of going for a specific Windows Phone-style interface, this app, which is built by Microsoft, appears to have much in common with the iOS and Android versions. The goal here is likely to unify the Facebook experience across platforms and make new converts to Windows Phone comfortable with the interface.

Users can share feedback to Microsoft inside the app by going to Settings < About. The app is getting pretty rapid updates, as the most recent change went live today.

Facebook for Windows Phone can be downloaded directly from the Windows Store.

Image credit: Microsoft

Source: CNET

Google Now has been added to the Google search app for iPhone and iPad.

By enabling Google Now, you can get current weather, sports team updates, traffic recommendations, public transit information and calendar reminders. The feature has been available for some time on Android devices running Jelly Bean.

After downloading the update from the App Store you will receive a tutorial on how Google Now works. Then you have the option to enable it or continue with the app as it previously worked.

While the implementation is good, it shows the difference between having it locked inside of an app on iOS as opposed to its operating system integration found on Android. For example, on an Android device the notification center will prompt you to a new score from a favorite team once a game has begun.

Previously users had to purchase the app from the company’s Web site and then load it into their device.

With Swype one can slide their finger across a keyboard instead of tapping out early key. The Swype software then will offer autocorrrect ions to increase the typing speed.

This typing method has been rather popular, as Google has implemented this technology in the stock Android keyboard. SwiftKey recently introduced SwiftKey Flow as an option in version 4 of its Android keyboard.

At $0.99 Swype is a good enough deal that many people may want to try it out. I did the same, with mixed impressions. I like the number of predictions offered for each word and the interface choices. Swype also does a good job at offering words that minimize the amount of typing, or in this case “swyping,” that one must do.

However, I find the predictive power in SwiftKey to be superior to Swype. And if gesture-based typing isn’t your thing then SwiftKey is the way to go without hesitation.

Updating an app’s user interface has been rather popular lately. WordPress and LinkedIn are the latest to jump on the design craze, giving their apps a more consistent look across iOS and Android.

LinkedIn

For LinkedIn, the newest version brings a consistent design to its iOS and Android options.

Gone is the awkward home page that broke everything from the app into four different categories.

Outlook.com

Outlook.com has emerged as a strong alternative to Gmail. However, outside of Windows Phone its mobile component has been lacking, especially on Android.

The new UI in the latest update mirrors the Windows 8 interface and looks great on its own platform, but feels out-of-place on Android. Also the folders found on the desktop to not sync across to the mobile app.

While Outlook.com is a substantial improvement from Hotmail, Gmail power users who rely on labels and the strong integration that Google has built into its Android app are unlikely to be satisfied with Outlook. Nonetheless, grab the updated app to check out one of the alternatives out there in Google Play.

For many, blogging from the iPad is a great alternative to doing so from a computer. Some love the iPad’s singular focus on writing by keeping you dedicated inside of one application at a time. Also, the tablet’s portability and all-day battery life make it very tempting to leave behind a laptop.

However, others find trying to perform this kind of productivity stifling. Writing any long-form content from a virtual keyboard and pulling together links from the web can feel laborious from an iPad.

I have tended to lean closer to the latter camp. Given that I can type 85 words per minute on a real keyboard and how good blogging requires adding a substantial number of links I have felt trying to do so regularly from am iPad would be stifling (of course a Bluetooth keyboard would mitigate some of this).

So for this review I challenged myself to compose the entire post within Blogsy – even using the iPad onscreen keyboard. In all it was a pretty good experience based on how powerful and extendable Blogsy is. Most impressive is the number of blogging platforms supported: WordPress, Joomla, Blogger, TypePad, Tumblr and several others are present.

The dock on the right-hand side of the application also includes a powerful toolset for pulling in images and videos from the most popular services. So if you have an image from Facebook or a video from Vimeo just connect your account and drag it into your blog post. The order in which these appear can also be customized. The only service I found missing is Dropbox – considering I pull in many screenshots across devices having Dropbox would make iPad-only blogging even more feasible. Developer Lance Barton has explained why it is not available in a blog post.

Getting to know Blogsy takes a little bit of work. Barton has included several videos that should smooth the transition. In most cases I ignore any instructions but I found these to be pretty useful. Especially is you want to play with the HTML – the video shows how a three-finger swipe makes that happen.

The only hangup I ran into was when deleting some text near an image. After hitting backspace the entire block of text turned into a link. Fortunately a back button is available for undoing such situations.

Another area that Blogsy gets right is adding links. Just tap and hold and select the text that you want to make a link. Considering this can’t be pulled off from the native WordPress app it gives just one more reason to start using Blogsy. Also, rapid multi-tasking and adding links is not as painful from the iPad as I once imagined.

I also appreciated the ability to email a formatted post including images. It could be useful for sharing it with an editor or colleague.

Yes, the price is on the higher end of App Store applications, but paying upfront for a good app is far preferable to being bombarded with in-app upgrade requests. The bottom line is if you are serious about wanting to work on yor blog from an iPad, then get Blogsy. It is currently the best blogging app on the iPad and could give one serious thoughts about being able to ditch a laptop more frequently.

Download Blogsy from the App Store ($4.99)

On Target:

• Supports all major blogging platforms
• Connect with images

Off the Mark:

• HTML mode not for everyone