Windows Phone 7 Marketplace… on the cheap

Who ever said the the best things in life are free might have been on to something especially if they were talking about the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace. Before you get too excited I’m not saying everything in the Marketplace is free but there’s enough free and trial content to keep you more than busy.

I’ve had my new LG Quantum running Windows Phone 7 for a couple of weeks now and despite a few minor deficiencies, that hopefully will be addressed in the next update, I have to admit the OS over all is pretty solid. But I’m not here to review wp7 so I’m not gonna mention the lack of cut and paste, turn by turn directions, or how awesome the Xbox live integration is.

What I am gonna talk about is the Windows Marketplace, not how it stands up to the other more established app stores, but on it’s own. I’ll admit with both wp7 and windows market place being in their infancy I wasn’t expecting much. To my surprise however, though the offerings may be lean, the content was good and getting better all the time. With new apps everyday and a seemingly endless supply of updates the catalogue is steadily growing.

Two things you need to keep in mind. One, that my phone is always on and in my hands. Two, that I’m cheap… er… frugal, yeah, frugal. So I’ve spent more than a little time perusing the Marketplace for any free content and lets just say I’ve had haven’t been disappointed or bored yet. With that in mind, I’ve put together a little list of my top 3 picks in different categories.

Xbox Live games (trials)

• The Harvest -great 3rd person sci-fi ‘save the universe’ action RPG, yes its a bug hunt, single thumb game. The best part is the trial is pretty substantial with about 15 min of play. I’d actually consider prying my wallet open for this one.

• Need For Speed Undercover – There’s only one track open for play in the trial, but it’s a beautiful looking driving game. You can definitely see the potential of the full game.

• Assassins Creed – Loved this adaptation of a great gaming franchise. Only down side is i found the trial a little short.

Free games

• Impossible Shoota – as the name implies you do a lot of shooting, alien space ships that is, and its damn near impossible. If anyone finds out if there’s more than 2 levels let me know…

• Zombie Master Typing – the pen, or rather your onscreen keyboard, is mightier than the sword in this side scrolling ‘kill the zombies before they eat your brains’ time waster. Its a great way to improve your typing skills and put the undead back in the ground where they belong.

• Spin Crisis – use your accelerometer and/or thumb to spin the maze, to get the ball in the hole.  Sounds simple enough but with what seems like endless levels and increasing difficulty its a great way to pass the time.  Just make sure you bring along your motion sickness pills.

Honorable mention – Birdie Bounce – what can i say? It’s an oldy but a goody.  Use your accelerometer to bounce your little buddy to greater hights. I like the easily one handed play makes smoking and wasting time easier and more fun.

LG exclusive apps

If you have one of LG’s devices (the Optimus 7 on Telus or Optimus Quantum on Bell), you’ve probably already noticed that there’s a separate section just for you in the Marketplace hub, with a dozen or so exclusive apps.

• Scan Search – I haven’t actually used this augmented reality app to find anything useful. But its a super cool idea and a great way to make your friends without awesome phones go damn I need me one of those.

• Panorama Shot – stitch up to 5 pics.  Once you snap your first shot, the app provides a guide to line up the next shot, in the direction of your choosing.  Just follow the arrows to line up the next shot, and it will take the picture automatically.  Then, just like magic, awesome panoramic shots. I just got back from NYC and got some great panoramic shots from the top of 30 rock.  Definitely an app that comes in handy if you travel at all.

• Voice To Text – LG’s voice to text can be a handy app for messages short or long.  Launch the app and pick whether you want to send an SMS, email or tweet (or dictate a note).  Once you speak, it’s converted to text.  Ideally, this functionality would be integrated anywhere there’s a text field sooner as opposed to later, as it works great.

Handy apps

• Weather Bug and/or Weather Network – they are weather apps, obviously.  Try them both and pick one, or keep them both.  As far as I’m concerned they both work and look great.  Ed. Note: Weather Bug supports live tiles, with updated weather information, while Weather Network has more robust support for Canadian users.  For example, both apps have a ‘traffic cams’ page, but only Weather Network accesses Toronto’s traffic cam sources.  Weather Bug gives Toronto user a camera views of various upstate New York towns.

• Flixkster and/or IMDb – Both are robust movie/showtime apps and each has their pluses and minuses.  They’re both free, so try them both out and see which one you gravitate to.  Flixster integrates Rotten Tomatoes reviews, while IMDb relies on it’s large film database.  While both allow the launching of trailers from the app, in tests, IMDb’s trailers are higher quality (and more data intensive).

• Translator – As far as a free 4 language translator goes this one is very cool. Just type your word and it’s quickly translated to text.  You also have the option to play the translated text audibly.  Handy if, like me, you were hooked on phonics.

Honourable mention – 1Touch.  I like the idea.  It’s a 4 page launcher with a very iPhone style icon layout, but at this point it’s pretty limited.  You can add contacts or web page but it won’t pull info from your contacts and all the icons are the same.  Great idea, poor execution, worth watching this one. There is potential there.

More cool free stuff

• Tool Box – a whole bunch of of cool stuff: flashlight, level, etc.  Worth a look. (An LG exclusive app)

• Look ‘n ‘ Type – Are you always ‘heads down’ messaging and letting the world go by?  No more.  This app utilizes your camera to give you a view of the world on your screen as you type.  Very cool idea. (An LG exclusive app)

• Where’s Timmy – looking for a Timmys?  The phone knows.  You just have to ask.  And if you don’t know what Timmys is, it’s Tim Hortons, a Canadian coffee and donut franchise that makes the line up at Starbucks look like nothing.  Canadians love their Tims.

Honorable Mention – Chuck Norris facts.

There is so much out there that didn’t make the list, but hey I have leave some of the exporing to you.