November 25th, 2009 by Bonnie Eisenman
Our rating: :: SIMPLE FUN
Jive Turkey Shoot is by no means a great game or a groundbreaking one, but it's fun, silly, and free. This "thank you" gift from Pangea is surprisingly entertaining and at this price, everyone should be shooting some turkeys this Thanksgiving! Read More »
November 25th, 2009 by Kevin Stout
Our rating: :: ABOUT TIME
"...in essence, if you like to play Farmville and are looking for some more farming action on your iPhone - iFarm is your game. Plus you can't go wrong, it's free." Read More »
November 25th, 2009 by Bonnie Eisenman
Our rating: :: ALMOST AWESOME - STILL GOOD!
Awesome Note is a great notes app with some nifty features, like importing from Google Docs. While the implementation isn't perfect and there are some improvements I'd like to see, it's still a gorgeous, elegant replacement for the native Notes app. Read More »
November 24th, 2009 by Robert Corra
Our rating: :: NO PAIN NO GAIN
The latest title from Secret Exit confirms that one of life's simple pleasures is pushing a virtual dummy down a flight of stairs and letting the ragdoll physics fly. Read More »
November 24th, 2009 by Bonnie Eisenman
Our rating: :: PRETTY GOOD
This classic version of MONOPOLY finally brings the real version to the iPhone. While it's got a few rough edges, it's still a good port of a fantastic board game. Read More »
There aren’t many people who don’t love Tweetie for iPhone. In mid-October of this year we saw Loren introduce to us his completely re-vamped version. Hyped to high heaven, Tweetie 2 saw a more simplistic UI, a new (coined revolutionary) way to refresh your timeline, better account management, a new tweet composing experience, custom URL endpoints, the ability to save tweets as drafts for later publishing and more. It was seen as a great step up to the original Tweetie.
But with recent changes to Twitter’s API, new service introductions, and with Tweetie 2 not having any support for these out of the box, it was clear it was in for an update, very soon. Cue, 2.1. If you happen to follow me on Twitter, you’ll probably (almost definitely) know that I’ve been closely involved in the beta-testing of Tweetie 2.1, and I have to say it’s an update well worth attention. Most notably, this version brings support for Twitter’s new ‘Lists’ feature.
If you’re not already aware, Twitter Lists are the new universal way to categorize your followers, and for them to categorize you. It’s as simple as selecting which ‘list’ you want that person to appear on. Other people following you then have the option to follow that specific list, meaning if you make a list called ‘Favorites,’ and add all your favorite Tweeters, anyone who follows that list will essentially see the best content from your followers. The Twitter list feature has become so popular in the short space of time it has been live, that people are now starting to judge ‘influence level’ on how well you are listed, and in what categories.
In Tweetie 2.1, lists are pretty much the same as they are on Twitter.com, but it’s how they’ve been implemented which makes the experience a whole lot more user-friendly. Tapping the ‘More’ tab in 2.1, you’ll now see all the ‘Lists’ you belong to, or have been added to, including the one’s you’re not even following. Choosing a list will throw you into a specialized, scrollable time line which only consist of the members of that list. Want to see the stats of a list? In the bottom left you’ll see an ‘i’ info button. Tap it, and the current list being viewed will flip over to reveal the owner of that particular list (and tapping on him or her will take you to their profile page), alongside the list’s following and follower counts. Continue reading First Look: Tweetie 2.1. Brings Twitter List Support, Among Other Trippy Stuff. »
Updated :: 11/27, 1:09pm Pacific – Final (?) update. 284 total sale items, 34 of them free! Updated :: 11/27, 11:59am Pacific – Added 12 more. Updated :: 11/27, 10:51am Pacific – Added Gameloft NFL 2010, few more. Updated :: 11/27, 10:25am Pacific – Added another 10+ games. Updated :: 11/27, 9:42am Pacific – Added GPS apps, dozens more. Time to get buying. Updated :: 11/26, 10:08pm Pacific – Added Com2uS games, and 30 others. Too much pie. Must sleep. Updated :: 11/26, 10:55am Pacific – Added 20+ from the night before. Happy Thanksgiving! Updated :: 11/25, 11:38pm Pacific – added a bunch of games from Namco and more.
Every year on Black Friday, retailers put things on huge discount. It’s become a tradition to have “Door-Buster” sales to get people out and shop on this day that retailers traditionally first turn a profit for the year. Well, the app store is no different. App developers big and small are putting their apps on sale for the holiday weekend.
We’ll try to update this a few times over the holiday weekend, it’s a good way to escape the in-laws.
Don’t forget to come back on Friday as that’s when a bunch of the following go on sale.
A whole bunch of ifs, ands, or buts.
These apps are the sale items that we have been notified about or have found. Some of these items may not be on sale yet, but we’ve been told they are going to be on sale. The prices do change at any time and do change quickly – developers are tricky that way. Some are on sale for the weekend, others for only Black Friday. If the app you want isn’t showing up as on sale, I’d check back Friday.
Because prices change so quickly, we can’t always update things to show the correct prices below. We like to take a break and eat pumpkin pie too you know. Click through to the App Store to see the current up-to-the-second prices. And if you see something you like, at a price you like, grab it immediately as it may not stay on sale as long as you would hope.
It’s quite possible that we missed a few sale apps – I blame the tryptophan. So, head on over to our iPhone App Price Drops for the constantly updating full list of app price drops. Also, if you are just interested in apps that have gone free, check out our Twitter stream for @148Apps_nowfree – you don’t have to sign up to Twitter to see the newly free apps.
GPS Apps
All of the best GPS apps are on sale. CoPilot started it out by dropping to $20, Navigon followed by dropping to $70, then TomTom matched the price from Navigon. Magellan is now the highest priced at $80. What will they do? It’s a good time to be in the market for an iPhone GPS solution.
Gameloft, unlike EA, are putting some of their underperforming games on sale. But the good news is that they are nearly giving them away at only $0.99. Some really good bargains in there. I highly recommend Blades of Fury if you are at all into the Street Fighter genre. These go back to normal price on 11/29.
IUGO has put a bunch of their games on sale for Thanksgiving and to celebrate the release of their new Wario world like mini-game collection, A.D.D. Highly recommended titles below include Zombie Attack, Zombie Attack Second Wave, and Star Hogs.
In a recent press statement (which I had trouble tracking down), Virgin announced that they will be offering the iPhone in the “coming months” to Canadians (all indications are that it will be in February 2010). Recently here in Canada (Ryan, the author, is from Canada – ed.) we saw the addition of two more iPhone carriers in Bell and Telus but both offered very little in terms of competitive plans against the previous carrier, Rogers. As a consumer I was really hoping this increased competition would see an improvement in the available plans, but it appears that they all have a pact to not even make an effort. All of them offer almost the exact same plans, rates, and contracts with extremely little variation.
In most countries iPhone purchasers have the ability to pick up the devices for $199 on 2 year contracts, but not here in Canada. All 3 carriers offer 3 year contracts only. It also rumoured that Virgin will be offering the same forced 3 year contracts on us consumers. Now, Virgin has been establishing itself as a budget carrier with free phones, cheap plans, and generally the place to go if you are a very light phone user. So how they come at the release of the iPhone on their network should be very interesting. I believe that they have a real chance to steal a significant market share if they offer up something unique and flexible with this famous device. I’d love to see Virgin take a risk in it’s pricing structure and allow a la cart pricing plans, pay as you go data, and 2 year contracts. I’d even be willing to fork over an extra $100 at purchase to get one less year on my contract.
With this addition, we are one of the leading countries in terms of carrier choice for the iPhone, but sadly still behind on pricing and contract options. If Virgin misses this opportunity to steal a decent size of the market, I’ll be sad, because I really want to get one, but no one has provided what I’m looking for.
Dashboard. Introduced into Apple’s OSX operating system in late April 2005, allows you to manage various little programs dubbed ‘Widgets’ visually on the screen, arranging them anywhere and in any way you like. Each widget then has its own certain configurable preferences. It wasn’t anything new, but as always, it was the way Apple went about it that made it so popular. With iPhone OS running on Leopard, many people have looked into the possibly of bringing well adorned aspects of OSX, to the touch platform. With the recent release of ‘Orbit,’ (for jailbroken devices), from Ireland-based developer Steve Troughton-Smith, we saw ‘Spaces’ unofficially make its debut on the iPhone, for the first time. But .. What about Dashboard?
Developed by Mobile Pond, and designed by their lead Omer Shoor – also the designer behind Photogene, iGizmoz brings the fully-fledged ‘Dashboard’ experience, to iPhone – Only due to SDK restrictions, it’s an app and it’s not directly built into iPhone OS .. (I wish it was!). Here’s how it works. Opening the app will reveal your dashboard. Tapping on the bottom left-hand corner will slide two further section out from the sides of the screen. The first is your ‘Widgets Dock’. Just like Dashboard OSX, iGizmoz dims the background (your now in ‘Edit Mode’) and displays all the available addable widgets on a visual dock. This time though, the dock is Leopard-styled. Reflections and all!
In total, the app offers 11 widgets, with no obvious way to add more, yet. The widgets included are: Clock, Search, Calendar, Contact, Countdown/Stopwatch, Stickies, Picture Frame, A Swinging Cat Thingy, Os and Xs (naughts and crosses) and a Light Bulb. To add a widget to iGizmoz, simply tap and drag it from the bottom dock, onto any point on the dashboard. You know that shrink and grow animation you get when dragging a widget onto Dashboard? You guessed it. That’s there, too! Once you’ve added a widget to the Dashboard, activate ‘Edit Mode’ by tapping and holding any widget of your choice. From here, as well as being able to edit the current position the widgets, you’ll find two more options. Delete, and Settings.
Tapping the settings button will bring up the specific configurable options for that particular widget. For example, in the ‘Clock’ widget settings, you have 6 different clock styles to choose from, as well as options to configure your timezone and the seconds display. Once your happy just tap on an idea of the dashboard which is not taken up by widgets, and you’ll exit edit mode. Need to delete a widget? Simply enter edit mode by tapping a holding again, and hit the ‘X’ button (top left) associated with that particular widget. Now granted, the icons for each of these built-in widgets do need a little work, but graphically, the widgets themselves are (in my opinion) – stunning!
The second sliding draw in edit mode offers a few other configurables. Tapping the global settings button (top right) throws you into the main settings of the app which basically consists of letting you choose a different backdrop for your dashboard. iGizmoz offers 19 pre-set backgrounds, and the option to add your own custom image from your iPhone’s on-board photo library. Need to reset iGizmoz, under the ‘Maintainence’ section, just tap ‘Reset Gizmoz,’ and factory settings for your dashboard will be restored. Tapping the next button on the sliding draw will snap all your current widgets to grid. Exit edit mode? just tap that last ‘X’ button to return to your dashboard.
I know what your thinking .. “320 x 480 is way too small for this kind of thing. I mean, I’ll be able to fit like, What? .. 3 widgets on-screen?”. Normally you’d be right, but iGizmoz has a hidden secret. Swiping to your left (while not in edit mode) will reveal your true dashboard space, spanning roughly 3 homescreens wide!
So, there you have it. Dashboard on the iPhone. Personally, I’m hoping they’ll add widgets via in-app purchases. That would totally rock. Right? iGizmoz officially launches on the App Store tomorrow, Wednesday 25th for just $0.99
Update: iGizmoz is Now Available on the App Store. Get it here.
We all know Apple’s App Store approval process is less than perfect, and that sometimes their rejection policies seem down right crazy. We’ve seen app’s rejected for multiple reasons, but nothing quite like what happened to IUGO earlier this year. If you cast your mind back to June 29, you might remember Vancouver based development studio IUGO releasing their hilarious, quirky title A.D.D Lite. The idea behind the app was simple; to give the user short bursts of fast-paced, addictive and challenging (slightly risque), crazy, raunchy, fun. For example, tasks you may encounter include the waxing of a man, threading a pencil into a bum-crack, and un-doing a chick’s bra as fast as you can .. Just an regular ordinary day for me, then.
As with any developer, they too thought they’d be in for a smooth ride on the approval train, and unfortunately as we all now know, that wasn’t to be the case. IUGO submitted a ‘Lite’ version of thier A.D.D app, with the intention of submitting a more feature-packed paid version, at a later date. Monitoring the success of A.D.D Lite, shortly after releasing it they submitted the full version of A.D.D to Apple for approval. Now, although the game is raunchy (in parts), and it was meant to be .. they didn’t think that anything in it would break Apple’s App Store policies, because let’s be honest- it didn’t.
With all this in mind, (as you can imagine), IUGO was more than I little stunned when their approval wait time surpassed 2 weeks, then 4 weeks, and then 6 weeks. It was clear that Apple wasn’t going to let this through. With word from Apple simply stating “the game is taking an unusually long time to review and that they apologize.”, they drew their own conclusions and in August of this year IUGOME took the decision to pull ‘A.D.D Lite’ from the App Store in all countries. Their reason being was that the lite version existed only to sell copies of the full version of A.D.D. What’s even more baffling is that IUGO was actually prepared to re-think and change elements of the game at Apple’s request, but never once got word to do so. At this point, they just wanted the game approved and would do anything they could to help it.
After 6 months of the full version of A.D.D being stuck in Apple’s approval process, I can’t blame the guys and girls over at IUGO if they’d completely forgotten about the title. Yesterday though, out of the blue, their painfully long waiting came to an end, announcing via their Twitter stream that the game had indeed now been approved by Apple, and that we should wait for it to appear on the store!
“OMG OMG OMG!! A.D.D. has been approved! No I’m not kidding! Still waiting for it to show up on the App Store! Holy Crap! Six months later!”
A few hours after that, it did. In all it’s glory. Packed with roughly 80 mini-games, and updates coming with more on the way, A.D.D is now available for purchse in the App Store, for $2.99. There’s no lite version however, as mentioned that was pulled earlier this year. Will it return? I hope it does .. But, God help IUGO if they have to wait another 6 months for Apple to re-approve that ..
I’ve always been a fan of Google Earth. Ever since it was first introduced I’ve always thought the concept behind it, was incredible. Having the ability to virtually surf the globe, and search in any country, state, region, city, town or street and visually fly to it, get walking or diving directions to it, or simply see and read about the surrounding area via various Wikis, was (and still is) almighty powerful stuff – But really, Who am I kidding? You already knew that!
Up until October 28th 2008, Google’s ‘Earth’ service, a spherical flurry of thousands of satellite images which depicted the planet in 2D (and shortly after, 3D), was available on PC, Mac and a selection of chosen mobile handsets. When Google announced Google Earth for iPhone though, I was, like most of you, quietly excited. Not just because this was a mobile version of Google Earth, but that this was a gesture-based version of Google Earth, on the iPhone – and with its built in GPS unit, we now had location-aware mapping, tied into the largest search engine on Earth. That, was exciting.
When the app finally debuted on the App Store, many people including me thought Google had gotten it as right as they could. Spot on, in fact. A stable, feature-packed release which (without exaggeration) literally put the globe in your pocket. Okay it ran a little clunkier on the 3G than the 3GS, but that was to be expected.
If there’s one thing I like about the App Store though, it’s the update process. It forgets the old, and ushers in the new. Most of the time, updates to said app(s) happen fairly frequently. Google being Google though, their 2.0.0 update (a major milestone release) has been nearly 10 months in the making, and last Monday saw it’s debut on the store Has it been worth the wait? .. Well, somewhat. While this release doesn’t bring too many ground-breaking features, it does have some nice additions. For example, if you’ve been waiting to view maps you’ve saved on Google Earth Desktop on your iPhone, your sure going to like this release. A new feature in the software aptly named ‘My Maps‘ now allows you to view any and all previously saved ‘Maps’ on the software’s desktop counterpart(s), on your iPhone. Not only that, but these ’saved’ maps can include layers upon layers of information. For example; itinerary, route lines, traffic, and other data. This essentially means you can no create truly ‘personalised’ maps – and it works well!
Another nice addition I liked was the use of greatly enhanced visual feedback when tapping objects. Before, it was kinda a guessing game of which ‘Wiki’ or place marker you were selecting, (especially if you happen to be selecting from a group of similar wikis or places). Now in 2.0.0, tapping on a wiki or object results in a light glow of that object, meaning you can differentiate, more easily. It’s still not perfect, but it’s a helping hand. Alongside this ‘icon glow’, you’ll also notice that the presentation of place information is much more streamlined, and easier to read.
And that’s it! Apart from those two main new features, the app is said to have had its overall performance enhanced – although I have to be honest and say it wasn’t really all that noticeable (to me anyway!), and of course Google took this opportunity to add support for a variety of new languages, brings the total supported up to 31 (from the previous 18)!
My only gripe now is I wish they’d update some of the satellite images in their database. Some of them are what? 2003? .. Ugh. You can read more about this update in detail over on The Official Google Blog.
My least favorite thing in the world is hearing people try to bash Apple products. My friends come to me all the time trying to tell me how they are going to get the next great $800 Sony computer or how they are so pumped to get the Droid. I used to bark back, but now I’m taking higher ground, just using my product like I would on a day to day basis… problem free with absolutely no regrets. At this point, I could really care less if you choose to buy Windows 7. I think it’s a dumb decision, but that’s your deal and you have to live with it. The iPhone though is another story to me.
I’ll be the first to tell you about the iPhone’s shortcomings. It is stuck to the AT&T network, and… that’s it. Sure, maybe the battery is an issue, but every other smart phone with comparable specs has similar issues. Being an employee of a company that is directly tied to the iPhone, I get people all the time that question me about why I like the phone so much. I hear the “Oh, you just like it because it’s your job” comments all the time from people trying to convince themselves, through me, that they should get the “we have a touch screen too” Samsung Instinct, the “oh, it’s a business phone too” Blackberry Storm, the “we’ve got an App Store too” Palm Pre, or the latest challenger, the Motorola Droid, whose App Store is currently being abandoned by some of the worlds largest devs (most notably, Gameloft). Regardless of AT&T’s shortcomings, I, and millions of others, know that the iPhone is the best phone (and possibly piece of electronics) that money can buy.
Sometimes, when arguing my point about iPhone dominance, I wish that I could just put together a little presentation, on my phone, about why it’s better than the rest… but without looking like a bozo. Fortunately for me, the company that makes the iPhone has, in my opinion, the best marketing team in the world, and they have answered my prayers with a new line of commercials. I can’t wait to see Verizon’s, and my iPhone hating friends response to these. Enjoy!
These ads, according to CNN Money, are scheduled to start tonight and air during “House, Dancing With the Stars, How I Met Your Mother, One Tree Hill, Big Bang Theory, CSI: Miami, The Daily Show, and the late-night talk shows (Conan, Kimmel, Fallon, Craig Ferguson).”
Remember the good old days, when holiday promotions didn’t start until after Thanksgiving? If you’re like me, your inbox is already flooded with promotional emails. Enough, already!
Blacksmith Games, thankfully, isn’t starting this promotion until December 1st—that sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?—but what they’re offering is sure to delight any and all App Store junkies. Their new program is an “Appvent Calender,” and if all goes as planned, customers will be able to get a different free game every day, from December 1st to the 24th.
Jo from Blacksmith Games writes:
While finishing Plushed I got the idea to make an advent calendar with free games. It is called appvent calendar Developers can apply for providing their game for free for one day. Then 24 games will be chosen.
It looks like they need more developers to join the program before it takes off, though, so any developers interested in participating should apply here. Jo is quick to point out that this benefits developers and much as customers; switching an app to free for one day, combined with the Appvent Calender, should generate a nice promotional boost.
Meanwhile, customers should check appventcalender.com once December hits. Let’s cross our fingers and hope that the free games are good ones…Talk about a sweet treat!
If you’re a gamer like I am, it’s pretty much a given that you’ll be familiar with or have heard of, Electronic Arts. From their multi-million dollar Need for Speed franchise, to Tiger Woods, Scrabble, Command and Conquer, FIFA, Monopoly, Tetris, MADDEN and more, it’s clear EA really does play a major part in the day-to-day gaming experiences most of us buy into.
Today, Visceral Games a studio which is a part of EA, are announcing a new ‘experience’ across multiple platforms, which boasts both a fun social aspect that involves the iPhone. The app is called Dante’s Inferno™ and centers around the aspect of sending people and or brands to ‘Hell’. Based on the original poem(Dante’s Inferno), the app calls upon you to ‘damn’ others to one of 9 preset ‘circles of Hell’. These 9 circles include: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud or Treachery. Once you’ve decided who you’d like to damn, and why, you can then ‘punish’ your victim and await a reaction (if any) from onlookers who are also using the social experience. The free application will also come with a ‘Hell Browser’. This extension will allow you to see a snapshot of all the activity in Hell, on a daily basis, as well as allowing you to see what essentially will be “The Demon of the Week”. Basically, at that point you’ll be looking at the number 1 most hated person, TV personality or brand, for that week. Sound interesting? It gets better ..
“Angry at your mom for grounding you? Send her to ‘Treachery’. Mad at your ex- for cheating? Send them to ‘Lust’.”
Today we have confirmation from EA that one of the new features to the service will allow you to send someone directly to ‘Hell’ from your iPhone. Using the iPhone’s camera you’ll just be able to snap of photo your victim, choose which circle of hell you wish to throw them in, and then punish them. Now although we know the basics of how the experience works, we don’t actually know the true mechanics of how this will play out on the iPhone yet, and admittedly the information given to us has been a little sketchy on that side of things. One thing we are certain of though is that Dante’s Inferno will be in the App Store shortly, as a FREE app! Continue reading Visceral Games, An EA Partner Studio Announces Their Multi-Platform Social Media Experience: Dante’s Inferno. Works With iPhone! »
Picture shamelessly stolen from JustJared.com.. they made the list too!
Ariel Foxman = Awesome
If you haven’t heard yet, Ariel Foxman, the Editor in Chief of InStyle Magazine, put out a list of his 6 favorite websites in the November issue of the magazine. Shockingly, 148apps was on the list, making Ariel Foxman my new favorite person in the fashion world. I was quite partial to the Victoria’s Secret models before, but none of them have ever done anything for me. Thanks Ariel! (Ariel, if you are reading this, I’d love to do a short little interview about your favorite apps… a celebrity app advice article would be amazing!)
Thanksgiving
Whether you are stuck with your in-laws or are in for an entire day with that crazy uncle, turkey day is upon us. My family started fairly early this year and, in true Texan style, fried up a turkey with Creole butter marinade last night. It was oh so good, but I have a strange blackout headache from it now…. quite unfortunate.
While I love the traditional Thanksgiving day food (for those of you that aren’t in the US, we spend the whole day eating turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, some kind of green vegetable casserole, and about every pie conceivable), there is far too much extended family interaction for me. Besides the annual football games and the random hour after dinner running around trying not to pass out from a tryptophan overdose (Wikipedia tries to blame the ‘after food coma’ on carbohydrates and alcohol… fools), most of us are stuck. Fortunately, being an iPhone owner, I can escape into my little world of apps. The great American eating festival brings with it the greatest shopping day on Earth, black Friday, where everything goes on sale… and if last year was any indicator, even iPhone apps. Yay! We’ll have a running post on Friday for apps that are on sale/free, so be sure to check in throughout the day for some great deals.
iTunes Store Problem
Having a vested interest in the App Store (it is directly tied to my employment), I would really like it if Apple put a bit more into app promotion. I mean, they’ve done some great things to make the App Store as big as it is, but they need to go a bit bigger. What they need is to put some apps on the iTunes Store front page. Why can’t the recent launch of Call Of Duty: World At War: Zombies (come on Activision, let’s shoot for a shorter name next time) be next to the frightening picture of Rihanna trying to scare me into buying her newest album? What makes the newest single of the week, “Death To All But Metal” by Steel Panther (awesome!) better than the also free Eliminate Pro? It’s a pretty big deal to make the front page of the App Store, but it would be entirely different to make the front page of the iTunes Store.
Let’s get on this Apple.
Great Idea of the Week
On a whim, I downloaded Touch Tone Hero yesterday and the feeling of nostalgia sort of blew me away. It’s basically a rhythm based game, much like Rock Band and DDR, but it uses a touch tone dialer for the music. Instead of seeing buttons fly down the screen, you see numbers that you have to dial. The best thing about it though is that it makes no attempt at being polished or anything, it just makes the regular touch tone sound when you hit the numbers. The only problem that I have with the app is that it uses an image of a candy bar style phone as your dialer and screen. Since I am using a phone already, why not let me play with the iPhone phone interface? With a more polished app image and a more iPhone-like interface (making it look like a native app), this one would be a must have, if only for the gag value. Regardless, it is funny, so try it out if you’re looking for some quick entertainment.
Touch Tone Hero
Category: Games / Music Released: 2009-11-18 Price: $1.99
This Weeks Sign of the Apocolypse
Nothing in the world makes me throw up in my mouth quite like an unholy combination of an app, a washed up rapper (don’t tell him I said that!), and an athletic beverage. Well kids, it happened. Moderati Inc. (of Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em Romplr: Remix fame) put out the “50 Cent “Baby By Me” sound lab” that is littered with Vitamin Water advertisements. I know it’s free, but someone should really be paying me for being exposed to this crap. The best part is that it’s on the front page of the App Store in the New and Noteworthy section. Good job Apple.
50 cent "Baby By Me" sound lab
Category: Music Released: 2009-11-16 Price: FREE
Poor Will Raskin
Although the Cowboys won yesterday, it was a tough game to watch. You know it’s bad when I’m up for a beer run in the middle of the 3rd quarter. Maybe they’ll play better on Thanksgiving… maybe.
Remember the good old days when your dad would want to show off how cute you were. Whenever he could get the chance he’d whip out his wallet and that accordion style photo holder would flop out with a dozen embarrassing photos…well today’s kids have it even worse. Think about it, with an iPhone the parents of today can walk around with over a decade of snap shots in their pocket just waiting to embarrass their 25 year old son with…no, I’m not bitter!
To make matters worse, not only can they whip them out at a moments notice but now they can share a copy of them with anyone on the spot simply via MMS or e-mail. If you’re not familiar with this, it can be easily done from the Photos application. Clicking on the arrow in the lower left corner of the Album View will bring up 3 options. “Share,” “Copy,” and “Delete.” Next you’re able to select up to 5 photos and by tapping on the Share icon you’re can choose either “MMS” or “Email.” Quick, simple and to the point, right? But what if you have 12 or more photos you’d like to share, is your only answer going back and forth creating 3 separate e-mails? Nope, here’s your trick: Copy. By selecting the Copy option instead of the Share your iPhone will allow you to select as many as you like and paste them in a new blank e-mail all at once. This can be a handy little time saver but there are some restrictions. For starters it won’t work for MMS and also the number of photos you can send in a single e-mail is limited by how large of a message your provider will allow you to send. Oh and BTW, this trick does not work with videos either.
Now if you’re a parent, go forth and embarrass away with all of those priceless photos. If you’re the victim…I mean child in this disastrous scenario well then I’m sorry. But do take some comfort in the knowledge that someday you’ll probably be sharing your kid’s holograms via text.
We first saw Agharta’s Rogue Planet at WWDC, but then it vanished into thin air. What was once expected to be a July release soon became a question mark, but behind the scenes, Agharta and Gameloft were getting together to make Rogue Planet all that it could be. Well now that the possibly soon to be classic turn based strategy game is soon to be released, we talked to Aurelien Kerbeci, CEO of Agharta Studios, about the game and and all the buzz around it. Enjoy the interview! Continue reading 4Q Interview: Gameloft – Rogue Planet »
Boys vs. Girls
After learning yesterday that girls, in Steve’s world, should be doing math flash cards, I was welcomed to the ‘Apps For Boys’ iTunes essentials page today. With awesome (monster trucks!) on top of awesome (Transformers!) apps on the page, we, as a gender, are also supposed to be doing math. Ah, but there is a difference. I’m writing this with the assumption that the “Apps For Boys/Girls” pages are written for smaller kids and not high-schoolers. My sister calls them ‘tweens’… whatever that means.
Looking at the description of the math apps that are assigned to the genders, I see one very obvious difference. If you look at ‘Math Flash Cards’ the math app recommended for girls, it says that “Math Flash Cards is a fun to use math drill application that looks just like paper flash cards. This app is perfect for your kids to help keep their skills tuned over the summer.” Sure, that’s great… stay fresh over the summer. Perfect, Summer is only what, a year away? The boys on the other hand were given Mathemagics – Mental Math Tricks, which, in its description lets you, “Prepare for the math section on the SAT, PSAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, or any other standardized test. Don’t waste time with a calculator on the few tests that allow them. Use Mathemagics as a tutor to quicken up your test taking abilities.”
Wow, so good luck girls… with your silly flash cards. We’ll be studying for the GRE at age 11.
Unity and Storm 8 Yesterday, I posted an article about Ranvensword that mentioned Storm 8 in a negative light. I got an e-mail rather quickly explaining the situation. Here’s part of the post on their forum that explains the situation.
Here’s the background: You may recall that in August 2009, some users noted that Storm8 games contained software code that for some users collected mobile phone numbers upon opening the application for our massively multiplayer online role‐playing games (MMORPGs). However, Storm8 was not using those numbers for any purpose. Nor did we ever provide them to any other company.
We determined that these numbers were being collected as the result of legacy code (old, obsolete code) in the games. The legacy code had been included early in the software development process as a potential way for Storm8 to identify specific devices; however, we later determined it was more suitable to use the device’s Unique Device ID instead. Once Storm8 was alerted to this issue in August, we immediately took voluntary, proactive steps to satisfy our user community and we quickly made available updated versions of our games without that legacy code.
Storm8 greatly values its relationships with its millions of users and with Apple, and our goal is to continue making our exciting gaming experience available. We know that users are continuing to play Storm8 games, but need the ability to access the iTunes store to upgrade the applications in order for Storm8 to best serve our user community. We are actively working with Apple to help resolve these issues, and will keep you informed.
In short: Current game versions do not download, store or use iPhone® telephone numbers when a game is opened, and Storm8 has no plans to download, store or use iPhone® numbers in the future unless the user expressly authorized the download in advance. We are committed to continuously enhancing your gaming experience and customer satisfaction through planned new launches and ongoing upgrades.
So kids, buy your Storm8 games without worry. ‘Zombies Live” wants you!
Toxic
The Holy Grail for an average developer is to get on the front page of the App Store. Developers can plug away for countless hours on their masterpiece, only to have Apple put their rival app on the front page, making it the clear cut champ. So with thousands of developers just praying for the day that they will reach the front page, how do you think they feel today. What happened today you ask? Today was the day that I went to the page, and in the huge scrolling screen at the top, saw ‘It’s Britney!’. I don’t even want to go into the details of the app… I just want to shake my head in shame. Sorry struggling devs, your hard work is just no match for Britney Spears.
Potter fans, rejoice: the first official Harry Potter app has been released to the App Store. iDevice-owning Muggles can grab the app and be Sorted by the Sorting Hat, receive a wand at Olivander’s, and then be instructed in the basics of dueling whilst earning points for their House. If this sounds familiar…then, yes, it’s because it is similar to previous online offerings from Warner Bros. What makes this app so intriguing, however, is its focus on dueling…specifically, multiplayer duels over both Bluetooth and WiFi.
Yes, that’s right; dueling. While the app will allow you to challenge an AI opponent, whipping your friend in a digital duel is undoubtedly better, and I can’t wait to test this one out. Fledgling wizards can currently learn up to 14 spells, and the examples given are old favorites: Stupefy!, Expecto Patronum!, Expelliarmus!, and so on. Spells are unleashed with hand gestures and sent between devices. I can’t think of a better platform for a handheld duel, especially given the iPhone’s accelerometer.
Rounding out the offering are a slew of appreciated extras: Facebook Connect, player stats pages, House rankings, and Hogwarts-wide leaderboards. Warner Bros. is obviously attempting to foster some competitive spirit between friends.
It’s worth noting that Harry Potter: Spells isn’t targeted at the 99-cent crowd; the app is selling for $4.99. We’ll have a review up in a few days with our recommendation, but for now, more information can be found at http://harrypotterspellsapp.com/.
Touch Pets Dogs is ngmoco:)’s newest causual app, has been causing quite a stir in the app world. Being one of the first “pay to play more” apps, the iTunes reviews have been quite mixes, with half being extremely positive siting the great gameplay and half hating it because of the game imposed limited playtime. Being the big app at the moment, we sent some questions to Andrew Stern of Stumptown Game Machine, who worked with ngmoco:) to create Touch Pets Dogs. Being the previous creator of Vitual Dogz, Catz, Babyz, and now Touch Pets Dogs, Andrew may be the top virtual animal mind in the world. Continue reading 4Q Interview: ngmoco:) – Touch Pets Dogs »
:: SIMPLE FUN
:: EPIC
In a recent press statement (which I had trouble tracking down), Virgin 
Remember the good old days, when holiday promotions didn’t start until after Thanksgiving? If you’re like me, your inbox is already flooded with promotional emails. Enough, already!
Developers can apply for providing their game for free for one day. Then 24 games will be chosen.
iTunes Store Problem
Remember the good old days when your dad would want to show off how cute you were. Whenever he could get the chance he’d whip out his wallet and that accordion style photo holder would flop out with a dozen embarrassing photos…well today’s kids have it even worse. Think about it, with an iPhone the parents of today can walk around with over a decade of snap shots in their pocket just waiting to embarrass their 25 year old son with…no, I’m not bitter!
By selecting the Copy option instead of the Share your iPhone will allow you to select as many as you like and paste them in a new blank e-mail all at once. This can be a handy little time saver but there are some restrictions. For starters it won’t work for MMS and also the number of photos you can send in a single e-mail is limited by how large of a message your provider will allow you to send. Oh and BTW, this trick does not work with videos either.
We first saw Agharta’s Rogue Planet at WWDC, but then it vanished into thin air. What was once expected to be a July release soon became a question mark, but behind the scenes, Agharta and Gameloft were getting together to make Rogue Planet all that it could be. Well now that the possibly soon to be classic turn based strategy game is soon to be released, we talked to Aurelien Kerbeci, CEO of Agharta Studios, about the game and and all the buzz around it. Enjoy the interview! 
Boys vs. Girls
Yesterday, I posted an article about Ranvensword that mentioned Storm 8 in a negative light. I got an e-mail rather quickly explaining the situation. Here’s part of the 
Potter fans, rejoice: the first official Harry Potter app has been released to the App Store. iDevice-owning Muggles can grab the app and be Sorted by the Sorting Hat, receive a wand at Olivander’s, and then be instructed in the basics of dueling whilst earning points for their House. If this sounds familiar…then, yes, it’s because it is similar to previous online offerings from Warner Bros. What makes this app so intriguing, however, is its focus on dueling…specifically, multiplayer duels over both Bluetooth and WiFi.
Touch Pets Dogs is ngmoco:)’s newest causual app, has been causing quite a stir in the app world. Being one of the first “pay to play more” apps, the iTunes reviews have been quite mixes, with half being extremely positive siting the great gameplay and half hating it because of the game imposed limited playtime. Being the big app at the moment, we sent some questions to Andrew Stern of Stumptown Game Machine, who worked with ngmoco:) to create Touch Pets Dogs. Being the previous creator of Vitual Dogz, Catz, Babyz, and now Touch Pets Dogs, Andrew may be the top virtual animal mind in the world. 
