Playing United’s Optathlon Game/App for upgrades and discounts
By woozy | August 11th, 2010 at 1:56pm
So I got this email the other week from United on a promotion to win a millions miles in a sweepstakes and at the same time win prizes instantly including 10% off flights. I decided to check it out as I could use the 10% off a trip I plan to take to Asia.
The link takes you to United’s “Optathlon” website to play simple action games. You can also download them as apps for your mobile phone (more on that in a moment). It really doesn’t matter how well you do (at least to my knowledge) but just that you play the game. At the end of each game you have a chance to enter their sweepstakes to win a grand prize of one million miles. I never think I can win these things so I was really interested in a shot at an instant winner prize of a 10% e-certificate off United flights where you can try once per day. I’m happy to say after my fifth day of trying, I finally got the message that I was an instant winner of the 10% coupon! Not huge savings, but hey – a win is a win, and if you’re considering a trip to Asia in my case that’s $120-$150. You also get free entertainment value vegging out on a semi addicting game trying to beat the outrageously high scores of others that probably are spending way too much time playing. (Ok, i admit, I wasted maybe a half hour or more trying to crack the Top 100 in the “Line Jump Hero” game before giving up. I was close.)
As of this post there are only two games:
“Legroom Legend” is a game where a bratty kid throws stuff at you from the seat in front of you. The object is to kick them on your tray table. (It’s reminiscent of the classic bouncing babies or fireman game). With the right timing, you can get the objects on the tray in fewer kicks. I was a bit tired of this game after few tries.
“Line Jump Hero” is a strange but fun game where you’re scooting on your suitcase to launch over a line of people Evil Knievil style. The object is to jump as far as you can. You pick up speed by pressing the right arrow keys at the right time (think Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution) and then maneuvering mid-air to hit objects that further propel you and extend your airtime. Hitting these objects is more by chance than skill so there’s a lot more luck involved in this game. Your score is the combo of 3 jumps. I found this the more frustrating yet addicting game.
These games are available on both iphone and android devices. I can’t speak for the iphone, but on the Droid it’s a memory hog taking up a whopping 28MBs! (almost as much as Google Earth). It also utilizes quite a bit of resources. If you have a newer Android phone like a EVO 4G or Droid 2 I’m sure you’ll be fine. If not, expect long load times. Somehow the developers fell short on best practice of making this an efficient mobile app. As of this post, the Android Market shows less than 500 downloads with poor ratings with people thinking the app is malicious. You can’t blame them for thinking that. The 3rd party app developer is list as the author instead of United.
Ok the bad aside, the mobile apps do offer additional prizes you can’t win on the website version of the games – free upgrades and passes to the Red Carpet Club. The intent seems to be to for travelers to play the game while waiting for their flight at the airport. If you are an instant winner, you show the screen to the gate agent to redeem your upgrade! If this game catches on, it will be funny to see everyone in the United terminals across the country trying to win before boarding their flight.
Play the United Optathalon games thru 10/31/10 at: www.optathlon.com
Or Download the mobile app on itunes or Android Market
Two Must-Have Video Apps
By woozy | June 24th, 2010 at 12:04pm
When I replaced my Nokia N95 late last year, I was sorely disappointed to find that two of my favorite apps were not available on my then new Motorola Droid. Hearing word that one of the developers had no plans to offer their app on the Android market almost caused me to pass on the Droid and the Android OS completely – no joke. But I figured it was only a matter of time. So for months I toted around my Nokia N95 in addition to my Droid just so I had access to these apps. But alas! Those days are over now that both apps are now available on phones running Android 2.1. The apps I’m talking about are the Skyfire browser and Sling Player.
Skyfire
There are a bunch of different mobile web browsers out there but Skyfire browser does something that no other browser can do on a mobile phone and that’s play Flash content. With many popular websites these days you often get a dumbed down mobile version. I don’t know about you, but this totally annoys me. More often then not, there’s always something missing (content or function) that I desire from the original site. Part of the reason is that these sites are data intensive but the other reason is they incorporate flash which doesn’t work on other mobile browsers. With Skyfire, I can have nearly the same browser experience I have when I’m on my desktop or laptop computer. But what makes this browser sweet is the ability to watch video. Not that big of a deal if the video is YouTube content (you can simply use a YouTube app) but it’s awesome if you want to watch content from some of my favorite sites like ESPN and Hulu. (Update: Hulu seems to be blocking Skyfire servers at this time) I’m still testing it and haven’t decided to completely ditch the original browser that came with my phone making Skyfire my default browser, but so far I haven’t found a reason not to.
Skyfire has been available for Symbian for a while but just launched in April for Android 2.1. Until 2.2 comes out Skyfire has got to be THE browser to use. Of course, it’s not available for iPhones (although I hear they have developed the app should Apple allow it into their app store). www.skyfire.com
SlingPlayer Mobile
SlingPlayer on my laptop was cool. SlingPlayer on a mobile phone is genius and to me more useful. The ability to watch TV or control my Tivo anywhere I have a 3G or Wifi connection is a great advancement in tech and a game changer. Yes, I have Tivo and can just as well record something and watch it later when I get home, but how about having access to instant replay or insight from an announcer while at a sporting event? Having this at the Giants game (on the free AT&T Wifi) is killer and enhances the experience. Also how many times have you been stuck with your friends in a car after hitting the slopes in Tahoe trying to make it back to your cabin or home in time to watch a NFL playoff game? Or when you’re away from home traveling on business? That’s when you can really appreciate it, especially if you’re phone has an A/V output (like the N95 or the soon to be released Droid X) that you can plug into the hotel TV. Traveling internationally you’ll probably want to use a Wifi connection for economic reasons. SlingPlayer Mobile is game changing because I’m no longer in a hurry or feel the need to stay or get anywhere with a TV. I’m still playing around with it on my Droid but so far I must say it is very well done in the way of function and UI – way better than I expected. I’m off to the Giants vs. Redsox game on Friday to give it the true test.
SlingPlayer Mobile has long been available for Symbian, Blackberry, and Palm OS and more recently iPhone. And now, the much anticipated app for Android 2.1 just released. The app costs $29.99 but that’s cheap considering you will now have a portable TV. Of course you do need to buy hardware and connect it at home first (I recommend the Slingbox SOLO
As of today, I no longer miss my N95 (with the exception of its camera) as now I have everything I need and more on my Droid.
