Forget the snow-packed half-pipe. How about a subterranean full-pipe? With Radical Tube from Brazil-based Virtue Studio you skate your floating board down a futuristic tube and avoid death-inducing obstacles. If you can.

The game took top honors as the Grand Prize winner of Nokia Calling All Innovators Latin America in May of 2010.  It is compatible with Nokia Symbian touch devices, including new smartphones like the Nokia N8. I tested it on my Nokia N97.

Begin the game by selecting your character. Notice that this choice is more than skin deep; each character posses a unique mix of speed, acceleration, and agility properties. That’s in addition to the speed and response rate of your thumbs.

Choose your character to set the physics of your game.

Leena is the most balanced of the characters.

Jetty is out of control -- max speed, min agility. Keep this guy away from me!

Next you select the shape and colour of your board, choices which I think are purely aesthetic. Colour clearly has no performance impact, and while  I realize that theoretically the shape of a flying board would impact how it performs, I never got good enough to notice the difference.

Choose your board shape and colour.

From here it’s all downhill (pun intended)! You have four controls: your right thumb lets you fly fly up the left or right sides of the pipe; your left lets you jump over or duck under obstacles.

Now move into landscape mode ....

... and fly as fast as you can while avoiding obstacles.

The full experience is better seen in this demo video from Virtue Studio:

Radical Tube for Nokia Symbian touch devices is a great $0.99 (USD) diversion if you are feeling trapped indoors as the winter closes in.

I’m not sure what’s Russian about Russian Fishing, a mobile game for Nokia Series 40 and S60 devices, other than that its publisher, HeroCraft, is based in Kaliningrad, Russia, an historic city on the Pregolya River. But the fishing part? That I get.

In the game of Russian Fishing, you not only try to catch fish, but also accumulate coins each time you do. The coins, once you have enough, let you buy supplies from the game’s store – fishing reels, nets, bait, even boats – that in turn allow you to expand the territory you fish in, and the kinds of fish you can catch.

To start, you pick a location on the game’s map. Starting without a boat, you are limited to spots near the shore.

Next, you have a fisherman’s view of the water and your fishing rod. To cast your lure, you hold and press your Nokia device’s 5 key. Then you wait, just as a real fisherman must. And wait. Suddenly, the message flashes on your screen: Strike Hook! Now you must set the hook, which you do by pressing and holding the 8 key. Do it too slow, and the fish wriggles off the hook. But do it just right, and you are rewarded with the Reel In! command, which you do with the 5 key.

While you are reeling in, you must also maintain line pressure by moving your rod in directions indicated by a series of floating arrows. On a touchscreen device like the Nokia N97 device I used to test Russian Fishing, you do that by touching the side of the screen you want the rod to move toward. Do it just right, and you are rewarded with a satisfying message: CAUGHT!

Depending on the type and size of fish you catch, the game awards you varying amounts of coins. For example, when I caught a small (151 grams) perch, I was awarded 75 coins. A slightly larger perch (191 grams) netted me 95 points. At any time, when you think you’ve accumulated enough coins to make a purchase, you go shopping by selecting Menu > Store.

The catch is, items in the store are expensive. Meaning, it can take a long while to accumulate enough coins to buy anything. A very simple reel, for example, costs 500 coins. A large net, 2,000 coins. A custom rod costs 3,000. The simplest radar costs a whopping 10,000 coins. And a motor boat to get you someplace interesting? An inconceivable 70,000 coins. At my rate of roughly 100 coins a fish, buying that boat would have required me to catch 700 fish. Figuring roughly a fish every minute, that would take me nearly 12 hours of play! Friends, life is simply too short for that.

For those players with more time, Russian Fishing offers nine levels of play, 10 trophy posters, and an online record on high scores.

My other quibble is that when using my Nokia N97 test device, the arrangement of screen and keyboard was awkward. Russian Fishing displays in portrait mode only, but on the N97, when the keyboard is pulled out and facing you, the display is in landscape position. So to play the game, I had to open the keyboard, turn the phone so that the display was in portrait mode, but use the keyboard facing away from me. This meant that the 5 and 8 keys, rather than being to each other’s right and left, were actually above and below each other. Like I said, awkward.

But my biggest surprise was how much Russian Fishing felt like actually fishing. First, there is the tedium of waiting for a fish to bite. Then the anxiety of setting the hook; will he get away? And finally, the excitement of reeling in the fish. It may sound silly, but some part of my brain thought we were actually catching dinner!

Russian Fishing is available in Ovi Store, where it costs $2.99 (USD). The game can be played on all Nokia Series 40 and S60 devices, including touchscreen smartphones like the Nokia N97, Nokia C6-00, and Nokia X6-00.

We just got word yesterday that the latest version of the ultra-smash-hit game Angry Birds, called Angry Birds Seasons, is now available in Ovi Store. Naturally, we dropped everything else we were working on – sorry boss! – and went to go play this new version of the birds-versus-pigs onslaught!

Now, for those who are fans of the Angry Birds series, this new app will be an easy purchase decision. It costs $1.99 (USD) in Ovi Store, but you get 25 winter/holiday themed levels (“Season’s Greetings”), plus you get an extra set of 45 Halloween-themed levels, too.

The way the winter portion of the game is set up is quite clever. Each level corresponds to a day on the calendar for the month of December – much like an Advent Calendar, counting down to Christmas. As such, if the day has passed on the calendar, that level is open to you to play. Levels corresponding to future dates are currently locked, and you will need to wait a day, or so, to play those levels!

Now, of course, I didn’t realize that at first, and went straight to Level 1. And, as luck would have it, Level 1 is really, really tricky! I kept getting stuck, with only one pig left to demolish (see the image below for a sample of my lack of pig-killing prowess – I can just hear them laughing/snorting at me), and would have to start the level over again. I confess, I probably played this level about 50 times before I finally managed to beat it, and move on to the next level.

Although, as we now know, you can play any level that is open, at any point – you do not need to pass the prior levels to move on … live and learn.

At any rate, the game with its snow-covered themes, and fortresses made of snow and rocks, and other odd objects, provides just as much fun and amusement as you would expect from the team at Rovio, who develop the Angry Birds games. The animations are great, and the touch-based interface to the game that is played in landscape mode is smooth as an ice-skating rink.

As always, the puzzles are challenging – some nearly confounding! – and the birds bring a variety of special powers to the fight, as they take their place in the over-sized slingshot that will propel them at the hunkered-down piggies.

So give yourself a holiday treat this season, and curl up with Angry Birds Seasons on your new Nokia Symbian device.

Angry Birds Seasons is available for $1.99 (USD) in Ovi Store.

As we get closer to the end of year holidays, there will hopefully be plenty of occasions to enjoy a good bottle or wine with family, friends or coworkers. Whether it’s a party or a simple get-together, a special bottle of wine can make the event even more memorable. Now we have an easy way for you to both find a nice bottle of wine to pick up for the evening or order off the menu like a pro – and a way to remember what you’ve enjoyed for future reference.

Specifically, I’m referring to the new Corkscore Wine application available for Nokia’s new Symbian devices, like the Nokia N8. This well-organized app makes it easy to find a nice bottle of wine, see what others are saying about it, and even submit your own mini-reviews of the wines you’ve tried.

The app is organized so you can start exploring the world of win right away, with a convenient tab-based format that displays either the “Top Drops” which are the highest rated wines that have been reviewed; and the “Most Recent” reviews that have been submitted (as of a day ago). Now, bear in mind, these ratings are from other Corkscore users – folks like me – so read carefully. But what makes this seem like a trustworthy source is the fact that scores will be averaged out, based on the total number of reviews submitted, so a high score will likely be reliable.

The level of detail provided in the user reviews varies from one user to the next, but it is interesting to see what other people think about the wines they are tasting.

There is a comprehensive search function within the app – and they have a database of more than 100,000 wines to choose from! – that let’s you search by key word for types of wines (such as Shiraz, or Pinot, etc.), the winery or region where the wine is produced. Results will be listed by top matching wines, as well as top matches for wineries. The search function is quick, but note these searches are completed with the app connecting to the web (i.e., you need to be online when using this app).

Find a wine you like, and you can learn more about it, based on the details that are compiled for the app. From there, you can share your find with friends via Facebook and Twitter links built in to the app, or send the listing to someone via e-mail. You will also see the option to “Buy Now” which brings you out to the website for wine-searcher.com, where you can view a listing of various retailers that carry that specific wine.

Now for me, the best part of this app is the ability to keep tabs on my personal favorites, with the option to write and submit my own reviews of the wines we try. Now, I’ll be honest, I’m not drinking that much wine, but when we do, I usually want to have an easy way to remember the wine for another time – now I can keep track.

In order to submit reviews, you do need to join Corkscore – the set up is quick and simple, and can be completed online within a minute or two.

When you create a new review, you can keep track of the name, the producer, the region it comes from, as well as your own tasting notes, and where you happened to have the wine. You can even include a picture of the bottle to go along with the review, so you can more easily identify the wine the next time (the app calls up the device’s built-in camera, but the app does recommend saving the images at a low-resolution, to make the picture easy to upload).

You can also make note of things like how much it cost (and various currency options are available to you), and where you had it (bottle at home or restaurant, for instance). And then you give the wine your own personal rating – the scale is up to 100, where a higher number is better, and depending on how much you liked the wine, your rating will influence the 0 – 10 like/dislike rating scale.

You can choose to make your reviews, as well as your location, private if you prefer. When you are done preparing your review, you can save it and share it with other Corkscore members, if you want.

The layout of the app is easy to follow in portrait mode on your device. You cannot use the app in landscape mode, which is the only drawback I see, because the reviews you write all need to be done with the multi-tapping mode of T9 typing – you cannot access the virtual keyboard from within the app. So, this was slowing me down a little bit, but it wasn’t too much of a deterrent. (I guess this all might depend on how much wine you’ve had to drink!)

So if you’re getting ready for some holiday fun, and want to find a good bottle of wine to impress your friends, take a quick tour with Corkscore first. You’ll find loads of smart things to say about the wine you bring, and perhaps even find something new to enjoy.

The Corkscore Wine app is available for $2.99 (USD) in Ovi Store.

More information about Corkscore, and the Sydney, Australia-based company behind the app, is available on their website or Facebook page.

We are very pleased to announce that the Ovi Daily App is once again hosting the “Must-Have App of the Year Awards”, where you have the opportunity to vote for your favorite mobile apps from the past year in each of six different categories.

Watch this short (and snow-filled!) video to learn all about the awards:

Voting is open now through 31 December 2010 on the Ovi Daily app site – just click on the “Awards” tab at the top of the page to view the nominees and cast your vote.

Apps are nominated in the following categories: Games, Social Networking, Music, Entertainment, Utilities, and Business & Productivity. Five apps are nominated in each category.

What’s in it for you?

As we noted in our video for the awards, one individual that correctly picks all six of the winning apps this year will win a new Nokia N8; and that device will be loaded with the six winning applications.

The winning apps will be announced here in the Ovi Daily App on 5 January, 2011.

It should be noted that all of the apps nominated this year are compatible with Nokia Symbian OS, S60 5.0 devices (such as the Nokia N97 mini), since apps for those devices were prevalent this past year in the app reviews that you found here in the blog. As such, some notable apps from this year that are compatible with Nokia’s new Symbian devices are not included in the nominees this time. (Perhaps those apps will be nominated next year!)

Vote now for your favorites apps of 2010!

And use the Comments section below to share your thoughts with others about which apps you think should win this year!

Thanks for your support, and your votes.

I like Ovi Store’s mix of apps that are serious and silly, sophisticated and simple. Last week I played with the wonderfully complex Stellarium Mobile. This week: the wonderfully simple ComingNext from Michael Prager. ComingNext is free in Ovi Store and is compatible with Nokia Symbian phones with a touch interface. I tested it on my Nokia N97.

ComingNext searches your calendar for meetings, appointments, and anniversaries coming up soon. (You get to decide what “soon” means.) Then it searches your ToDo list for the same purpose: what deadlines are coming up.

The app then creates one prioritized list of everything important the you need to tend to in the next days or weeks. You can see that list in a variety of ways.

Time for screen shots.

ComingNext creates a prioritized list of everything you need to tend to in the next few days.

When you install and run ComingNext you see the full list of deadlines that, as the app says, are Coming Next. You can see the full list by launching the app from the applications folder, but using the app that way is less interesting than using it as an active homescreen widget.

Place ComingNext on your homescreen for a better view than the in-built calendar view.

Notice how the ComingNext homescreen view compares to the built-in calendar view? ComingNext does a better job of highlighting tasks that are overdue (I’m running behind this week) and shows more deadlines. If you want more or fewer lines, click on the options menu for more control than most people will ever need.

Change background colours, lines of display and just about everything else from the options screen.

I like the screen cycle ComingNext gives me from the homescreen. Touch the homescreen widget’s summary display and you get the full listing I showed at the top of this review. Touch the full list and you get the native calendar view ready for you to read details, change status (by marking complete for example) or modify appointments.

Touch the full listing to bring up the native calendar view, ready for modifications.

At this point I have described the entire app as you get it free in Ovi Store, but there is a bit more to the story for those who like to dig behind the scenes.

ComingNext is an open source project which means if you encounter a bug you can report it, and if you’re interested in how the app is written you can see the source code. If you’re a developer, you can even add to the app and contribute your code.

Even if you’re not a developer you might be interested in checking out the sourceforge repository because it contains extensions to the app that are not available in Ovi Store.

ComingNext extensions allow you to have three panes of home screen all showing your priorities.

A zip file available from the project site allows you to spread your list across three panes of your home screen. The distribution includes three separate widgets; you install them all and assign them to sequential panes of the homescreen. The screen you see above is now the default view for my business phone. The project site’s distribution package even includes a slick little app that allows you to change the background of the panes to match your device’s theme.

ComingNext for Nokia Symbian touch smartphones is free in Ovi Store and is one of those simple applications that quickly makes you wonder how you got along without it.

Editor’s Note: This review is the first of several that we will be featuring over the coming year that has been provided to us by a guest blogger. Today’s review is written by Dan Carter, who runs the World Of Nokia blog. Since Dan is in the U.K., he has handy access to Spotify, which we don’t have here in the U.S. – yet! – and he kindly agreed to share his thoughts about the app with all of us. Read on!

Spotify just might be the ultimate music application for your Nokia mobile device. For a small monthly subscription fee you get access to a whole host of tracks in a whole range of genres at the touch of a button or tap of the screen.

The Spotify app is free to download in Ovi Store, and the monthly plan will only cost you £9.99 if you are in the U.K. (other countries have different prices). With Spotify, your play lists are always in sync between your Nokia device and you computer, whether you have a Windows-based machine or a Mac.

This short video shows Spotify in action:

Once you install Spotify, you get a screen of Terms and Conditions, and then a screen asking if you would like to use the app in Online or Offline mode. Online mode connects you using a wireless connection over 3G or WiFi, and lets you stream music directly to your phone and also add new music into your playlists.

The Offline mode is great for people on a limited data plan and who have WiFi connectivity either at home or at the office. Obviously, when you connect in Offline mode there is no network connectivity, however you can still use WiFi to download all your music so you never have to worry about your data charges while using this app.

I downloaded a 157 track playlist in less than 15 minutes using WiFI and a Nokia C6-01; and then paired the device with a Bluetooth BH-905i headset and listened to hours of music when traveling overnight on a coach recently. Offline mode saved the battery and also saved my data allowance, too. Also, it’s worth noting that the 157 tracks took over 1GB of storage, so a memory card is definitely recommended.

The great thing about this service is that you are not charged per track – just the monthly subscription fee, and tracks are updated all the time so you can keep up to date with your all of your music needs. For instance, this time of the year you might like to listen to some Christmas music – no worries with this service – just search for “Christmas” and listen to as much as you want! Who needs to spend £9.99 on a CD you will listen to once when you can just stream it along with your other music?

I first found Spotify from a friend who recommended I try it out, and it has truly changed the way I listen to music forever.

When you are listening to your music you get a wide range of information at your fingertips from the obvious track name and artist, but also you can rate the track you are listening to. There is also an option to ‘shuffle’ which mixes up the order of your music so you don’t have the same list over and over again.

For the bargain subscription price offered by Spotify, and the wide range of support, plus the syncing between devices on the move this is a service you really need to try to truly appreciate. If you are a true music lover then this is the app for you!

Just remember that the music you are listening to is not actually yours, and if you cancel the subscription you lose access to your playlists … but for many of us, renting the music is a much better option.

Spotify is available for a wide range of Nokia Symbian devices, including the Nokia N8, and can be downloaded for free from Ovi Store in the countries where the service is available.

More information about Spotify is available on their website.

About the blogger: My name is Dan Carter and I run World Of Nokia which is a Nokia news and reviews website based in the UK, but with a reach all around the world. My aim for that site is to help promote the brand to the world and help Nokia truly ‘Connect People’. You can find me at www.worldofnokia.co.uk and by following me on twitter @worldofnokia.