Both the MLB and the NFL have entrenched themselves into mobile phones by way of various apps and services. With the 2010 NBA season having just commenced, pro basketball fans are getting in on the action too.

The National Basketball Association has released the NBA League Pass Mobile, a downloadable app available to all iPhone and Android users that somehow mirrors what’s being offered with the league’s NBA’s League Pass TV package. It’s also coming to Blackberry users before the end of the year.

What does it do? The app lets users watch up to 40 live games weekly directly on their mobile phones. Not all games will be available depending on your location, though, as local TV blackout rules will continue to be enforced (damn GPS on cellphones, right?). You can also watch the games on demand up to two days late, along with game alerts and live statistics.

Sounds awesome? Yep. Priced pretty steep, though, costing $39.99 for the duration of the season. If the price is a little too rich for your tastes, you can opt for Game Time Lite (available on all three platforms above), a free download that lets you read scores, stats, standings and team schedules. For a little more content, you can pay $9.99 for the full version, which offers some games on demand, highlights, live alerts and real-time updates via Twitter feed.

Too cheap for all that? Me too. I just wait till I get home and open up NBA.com on my browser. Works every time.

Ace Combat Xi Skies of Incursion is the latest in the long line of Namco’s flight action series. With numerous sequels over a variety of platforms, it’s one of the longest-running and most engaging games in the category.

This iPhone version brings the full excitement of simulated flight combat right in your pocket. The planes all look and fly great, the background imagery is highly realistic and the controls are downright faultless. On technical criteria alone, this title trumps pretty much every game like it in the App Store.

Skies of Incursion’s flight system is excellent, making the mechanics of flying a plane on the handheld device largely intuitive. It offers two ways to play – a first-person, in-cockpit view or a third-person chase view. Both work very nicely, although I find myself preferring the latter’s less-disorienting perspective.

So, it’s a 5 out of 5, right? Well, not exactly. Two problems mark it that, somehow, really dampen the fun. First is the difficulty level. While it’s about as challenging as in-air fighting should be, the time limits are way too strict. More often than not, you’ll find the timer cutting you off just as soon as you’re peaking in a level. As a result, you end up having to repeat them a lot, until you eventually rattle through enemies as fast as the game requires.

Second, and most importantly, it only comes with a stingy five levels and five planes – the rest is DLC. There are no boss levels or special missions too, so flying while blasting through enemies over five different scenarios are all you get. If you want more jets (there are an extra five available) or more levels to extend the fun, you’ll have to fork out extra cash.

While Ace Combat Xi Skies of Incursion is a great game, being used as little more than an excuse for DLC just ends up as an exercise in frustration. If you’re willing to pay (and pay and pay) for what looks like a truly addictive flight game, then it should be right up your alley. Otherwise, there are enough distractions on the App Store to spend that $4.99 on that can last you a little more than a full hour of playing.

Microsoft’s decision engine (I know, we find that a pretty useless label too), Bing, has made its way as an app on the iPhone. Say what you will about the Richmond company and its overhauled search engine, but this is a proper tool that makes for a competent alternative to the Google Mobile App for iPhone.

As a search app, it makes for a complete experience. Laden with a stylish layout (it comes with the signature “image of the day”), it throws in all the features you’d expect to find – maps, voice recognition, search suggestions, location-based capabilities and more.

Navigation is painless, consisting of a grid of buttons taking you to the various sections, where you can look up images, movie listings, maps, directions, businesses and news. All the needed options are easily accessible too, from a button that hides the grid to one that clears search history, among others. One thing I’d like to see is a bigger Home key – the one they use is way too small. Heck, why not make that big, fat Bing logo clickable?

All the different search features do the job rather well. In fact, I found it (gasp) better to use than Google Mobile App in some instances. The maps is especially good for finding businesses, with a seemingly robust database behind it. Do note that this is the first release and, as such, lacks a few capabilities found on Bing apps in other smartphone platforms. Expect them to come in future updates, though.

How good is Bing for iPhone compared to the Google Mobile App? It actually does a great job, as long as you don’t expect it to match the latter point-by-point. If you prefer Bing’s “decision engine” to Google’s though, this is a solid replacement that you can get accustomed to.

Need better Exchange support for your Android phone? Most of us probably don’t. Those who do, however, will find plenty to love in Nitrodesk’s Exchange by TouchDown.

Android’s integrated mail and calendar apps are already pretty nifty. Hardcore suits used to working on their Windows Mobile devices, though, will probably find them lacking in some ways. This app fills the gap, providing a fuller range of Exchange services for users that require it.

TouchDown capably plugs in some of the obvious vacancies left open by Android, such as task syncing and downloading of email attachments, among others. Installation is quick using the Wizard, provided you have access to your Exchange server (a lot of organizations I know still reserve access strictly to WinMo phones, so take note). Once done, it performs all the syncing for emails, calendars, contacts and tasks. You just sit back and relax.

It comes with a good range of support, allowing you to sync via Exchange 2003, Exchange 2007, ActiveSync and USB to Outlook. There are four widgets on board too, namely Universal, email, calendar and tasks. Would probably prefer a few more, especially since it’s a paid app (that’s not too cheap, I might add).

Like we said, Exchange By Touchdown will probably be overkill for most users. I’m willing to bet there’s a good market for it, though, as the features it offers does make Android’s Exchange support very well-rounded. You can try it free for five days, but you’ll need to fork up $19.99 to unlock the full version.

There may not be Flash on the iPhone, but all the best Flash games are finding their way to the platform anyway. That’s exactly the case with Crush The Castle, a seriously addictive Flash title that’s been ported to the handheld.

Gameplay is as uncomplicated as you can make it: you load up a Medieval trebuchet with projectiles and lay castles to waste using it. The level of destruction depends on your weapons (rocks, firebombs and all sorts of projectiles are available), how much leverage it got before being released (you control the actual firing) and the actual castle’s durability.

Controls are simple and easy to figure out. You tap once to load a weapon, tap again to launch and tap once more to release it any point in the arc (allowing you to target specific points of the castle). The castles are made of beams and react like it (nice physics work), making their actual collapse more fun to watch than you’d expect. You get props not just for bringing castles down, but killing off their inhabitants too, so there’s some amount of violence (not gory enough to make kids squirm, though) as well (along with a trickle of blood).

As you go further in the game, you get access to new weapons, new lands to demolish and new challenges (such as fires being introduced into the equation). Some of the castles are painfully difficult to bring down (to the point that I’ve found it impossible to get a Gold Medal even after cheating with a reset), so there’s enough here to keep you glued for a good while.

Crush The Castle is a great game to own for $1.99, with a free demo version also available if you’d like to try it out first.

Pumped up from the Winter Games? You can snowboard like a heavily-padded athlete on your iPhone too with X2 Snowboarding, the first really good snowboarding title to ever grace the platform.

First, a disclaimer. I’m not a big fan of snowboarding games. In fact, I’d never been able to tolerate them until a friend turned me onto SSX some years back. While it hasn’t grown on my stable of favorites, I do enjoy a pick-up game every once in a while.

The graphical presentation of X2 is really noteworthy. While cartoony, the overall look is exceptional, especially when compared to competing titles on the App Store. The instant replay, which allows you to watch scenes from various angles over and over, are a constant source of amusement.

You get a choice of six characters, each one with a varied skill set that gives you different advantages and disadvantages during play. There are six possible venues (USA, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Canada and Chile) and three types of competitions (Freestyle, Race, and Trick-Race). The slopes are very long, with plenty of variations, making for a challenging romp every time down.

Controls are a combination of tilt and touch, but are geared quite loosely, which works really well for both the platform and the fast-paced action. The basic buttons control jumping and turbo, while a third one helps you tie tricks together. When you’re up in the air, buttons appear to perform various grabs. You can also tilt the phone to rotate the character during the trick.

With an excellent soundtrack to top everything off, X2 Snowboarding is one of the most immersive and exciting solo sports games on the iPhone. Very surprising. The price feels a bit steep, though, at $6.99.

Capcom’s amazingly popular fighting game, Street Fighter IV, has made its long-awaited iPhone debut. To every button masher’s joy, the game didn’t disappoint, turning out an exciting beat-em-up that’s bound to subject your poor handset’s touchscreen to relentless abuse.

Graphically, the game has more in common with older versions of the franchise, rather than the 3D Street Fighter IV you will find on current-gen home consoles. They’re not bad, far from it. In fact, this is one of the most attractive-looking fighting games I’ve seen on a mobile platform to date, even on an iPhone 3G (where I played it).

How about the buttons? Surprisingly enough, they work well. There will likely be some getting used to, especially if you’re a hardcore player, but it’s not as bad as I originally imagined. In fact, I was pulling off mildly difficult combos in well under 30 minutes – a feat considering everyone I know kicks my ass on SF4. You get an onscreen joystick for movements, plus four buttons – punch, kick, special move and charge. Yes, Capcom decided to leave out the low and medium strikes, which sucks a little. Regardless, there’s still plenty here to waste entire days on (not hours, but days).

The special move button, by the way, is kind of a cheat, but you can turn it off in the preferences, as well as rearrange the button placements if you so wish. You also get “revenge” and “super” meters that charge as you get beat up or pile on the hurt, respectively. Once either is full, you can simply touch them to perform a special attack. The ease by which you can do that is a bit of a turn-off, but it’s a minor annoyance on what’s an otherwise excellent implementation.

You can play as one of eight familiar characters in seven different environments. Game modes include Tournament (where you fight multiple matches), Dojo (a training mode for your character), Free-Sparring (for testing out an opponent), Training Room (where you can practice your combos) and Versus (against a human opponent over Bluetooth).

If I had any real complaints, it would be the common iPhone problem of my fingers getting in the way of the action. It can get irritating, especially for a fast-paced horizontal game such as Street Fighter 4. While I do think the price is a bit steep at $9.99, it is one of the greatest action games of all time on your iPhone, so that should count for something.

MLB’s At Bat made its debut on the iPhone last year. This year, Android users get their turn at the service, which is an absolute must-have for any baseball fan.

While the app itself seems lightweight (0.9MB Android Market download), the features aren’t. In fact, it’s quite surprising to see how much functions they crammed into it, all in a clean and straightforward interface.

On first launch, you see all MLB games scheduled for the day, with options to navigate both forward and backward into the timeline. It’s an easy way to see game schedules, as well as to check out past scores. Click on a game and you’ll get detailed information about it, from box scores to pitch-by-pitch descriptions to video highlights. Unfortunately, no streaming video on At Bat 2010 for Android.

The main selling point here is the Gameday Audio, which lets you tune in to any game broadcast during the year, from spring training to the World Series. With a live data connection (3G or WiFi), you won’t have to miss a single game anywhere you are. Do note that some pre-season games won’t have audio available, but all games after that will have feeds for broadcasts from both home and away teams. Streaming isn’t perfect (yes, audio is sometimes dropped), but the quality is good.

Priced at $14.99, MLB At Bat 2010 for Android may seem a bit too expensive at first crack. Consider that it gets you audio for all games during the year, along with a slew of scores and stats, however, and it actually sounds like a fair deal. Sucks that streaming video isn’t available, though.

You know creativity is at a high when a studio can make a game about paint and have it deliver an action-packed experience. That’s exactly what Atakama Labs did with Freaking Inkies, a wacky monster-shooting game for the iPhone that sees you destroy enemies by nailing them with paint bullets of matching colors.

Three half buttons (really – half buttons) go on either side of the screen, each of them coming in one primary color (red, yellow and blue). You’ll have to put your thumbs on both half buttons of the right color if you want to fire, with aiming managed by tilting the handset from side to side. The right color, by the way, is determined by the monster. Blue monsters need to be shot with blue paint and so on. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it gets complicated (and more fun).

Not only do you get monsters (which are actually the Freaking Inkies, by the way) in primary colors, you get them in secondary too (green, orange, purple and so on). To hit them with the right ammunition, you’ll have to press the proper mix of button colors, such as one thumb on red and one thumb on blue for purple. As you can imagine, this makes playing just a tad more complicated. The actual gameplay is fast and frantic, making the color-combining mechanics a real challenge.

That original monster-shooting gameplay alone is worth the price of admission, but Freaking Inkies gets even better. In the main 100-level challenge mode, it incorporates a whole lot of other things that add depth to the action, such as a paint monster slot machine and shooting monsters in the dark. Graphics are very pretty, with attractive sepia backgrounds, contrast with colorful monsters and paint splatters. Controls feel accurate too, especially the tilting response.

Overall, Freaking Inkies is just a very unique, extremely fun game that’s bound to perk up even the most jaded mobile gamers. Well worth the $2.99 price.

There’s no doubt Frash is getting a lot of people excited. Will a third-party tool finally enable Flash (which, for all intents and purposes, is banned from the platform) for jailbroken iPhones? After a bit of testing, a couple things are apparent: Frash is still early in its development cycle (creator Comex says “early alpha”) and it has serious potential.

What things will you have to look forward to?

1. It will crash…a lot. The rate of failure is still uncertain, so it’s hit or miss. Install at your own discretion.
2. It won’t play majority of web videos. Forget Hulu and YouTube. Occasionally, you might come across a short clip that it will work with. Most of the time, though, you’re left to your usual options – a dedicated app or back to the computer.
3. It won’t play Flash games. Granted, there might be some it will work with. Every single one we tried didn’t work, though.
4. It will fail with, pretty much, everything that pushes the boundaries of Flash, such as complex web apps and similar stuff.
5. It will play majority of small flash animations, especially those on the menus, headers and sidebars of many websites. This leaves you with a pretty good feeling, since it really helps recreate the desktop experience.
6. It will play many Flash-based pages. We tried plenty of sites and it worked through an impressive number of them, including product pages with interactive views.

Should you install the Frash add-on? For now, it’s strictly a novelty. The main reasons for wanting Flash on an iPhone – games, web apps and video – won’t really work on it. We’re not sure if it has a future either, but it sure is something to keep a close eye on.