A thousand leagues of evil under the sea…

On This Episode:

Who We Are:

Music:

“Beatnes7 (Theme to The Portable Podcast)” by The Eternal – Download on iTunes here:

How to Listen:

Apps Mentioned on This Episode:

FREE!

The Battle Of The Wordsmiths

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2012-02-13 :: Category: Games

$0.99

League of Evil 2

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: DELIGHTFULLY WICKED
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2012-02-15 :: Category: Games

While other services for using iPhones and iPod touches like Joypad begin to focus on controlling other iOS games, what solutions are still in the works for computer gamers interested in using their iOS devices as controllers? Flypad is one solution that’s entering into view. Flypad boasts controls optimized for racing games, using the tilt sensor on the iPhone and iPod touch for steering, and offering touch-based controls for activating nitro, and shifting gears, along with manual gas/brake controls. Right now, the supply of games to play with Flypad is limited, including DiRT 3 and Need for Speed: The Run. As well, it is currently only Windows-only, although plans are in place to expand to Mac, supporting titles like Real Racing. Their other remote control solution Wanderplayer supported the Mac, so this is likely just a matter of time and finding titles to support. Their Twitter account @flypad can be used to request additional titles and for feedback directly with the creators. Flypad is available now from the App Store for free, and the PC client can be downloaded from Flypad’s website.

FREE!

Flypad - Steering Wheel.

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2012-02-07 :: Category: Games

When CloudOn launched, it was so popular that the service was up and down for several days.. This apparently was just based on usage from United States users, as CloudOn has now announced that their app is available in the UK.

This means that more users will get to use Microsoft Office applications like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel using CloudOn’s cloud computing technologies. As this is a cloud-based solution, there appears to be mild input lag when operating with the apps. Files still can be saved and loaded from Dropbox, although these require to be saved in Office formats; opening up plaintext or markdown formats in Word isn’t possible at the moment. This is all still available for the low, low cost of free as the service begins to roll out. For users looking for a new way to use their familiar Microsoft Office tools directly on their iPad, this is a very viable option.

FREE!

CloudOn

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2012-01-03 :: Category: Productivity

With the Hunger Games movie coming this March, plenty of opportunities for licensing are sure to come up – and one has. Lionsgate has commissioned a Hunger Games iOS game to release alongside the movie this March. However, this is not just any licensed title: Adam Saltsman of Semi Secret, creator of Canabalt, has announced that he is working on The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire. The game is not just Canabalt with Katniss running across Capitol rooftops, it’s an original title that will be optimized for touchscreens, focus on “marksmanship and strategy,” while still having a running character.

Adam Saltsman has assembled an indie dream team of sorts to help make it. Doomlaser, primarily known for their Flash games, are currently helping to design and program the game from scratch. The art is being designed by Paul Veer, who did the graphics and animations for Super Crate Box, and this game appears to be using a pixel art style as well. The music is being done by indie composing superstar Danny Baranowsky, known for the soundtracks to Canabalt, Gravity Hook HD, Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, and more. A trailer will be released soon, so more about this intriguing title will be sure to come out soon.

Hearts alive!

On This Episode:

Host Carter Dotson and Josh Presseisen of Crescent Moon Games discuss the publisher’s role in the games they release, as well as some of their recent titles. As well, they discuss the free-to-play trends in iOS games, along with the ways that Crescent Moon titles implement in-app purchases.

Who We Are:

Music:

“Beatnes7 (Theme to The Portable Podcast)” by The Eternal – Download on iTunes here:

How to Listen:

Apps Mentioned on This Episode:

$0.99

Raid Leader

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: STRATEGIC RAID
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2012-02-09 :: Category: Games

$0.99

Paper Monsters

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: TRADITIONAL STATIONERY
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2012-01-26 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Ravensword: The Fallen King

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: NOT YET
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2009-11-17 :: Category: Games

$0.99

Deadlock: Online

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-07-21 :: Category: Games

To get it out of the way: The Proposal is not an app for proposing marriage, though it would be convenient with Valentine’s Day here. No, The Proposal is an app for a different kind of proposals – business proposals. This lets sales professionals access their proposal information directly on their iPad, in order easily make their business proposals. GPS data can be used to automatically add the user’s current address. Image locos can be added directly from the iPad or the web. Tax info can be added, along with detailed written proposals, with preset options available. This also means that proposals can be easily and quickly modified when being pitched to other clients. Proposals can be saved and exported with iTunes, saved as PDFs, printed directly form the app, or emailed directly to clients. The app also supports importing price lists as Excel spreadsheets either by being loaded into iTunes, or by being imported in from Dropbox. This versatile app for sales professionals is available now.

$12.99

The Proposal

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2012-01-24 :: Category: Business

We all show our love in different ways. Sega’s way is to put games on sale, and there are 5 titles on sale from February 11th to the 14th (that’s Valentine’s Day) in order to show their love for iOS gamers everywhere.

First up is Sonic CD, a meticulously-crafted remake of the Sega CD original, and what could be called a love letter to Sonic fans. It is on sale for $2.99 from its regular price of $4.99.

$4.99

Sonic CD

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: SONIC BOOM
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2011-12-15 :: Category: Games

Next up is Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, a game that recalls the undying passion that fans of the original franchise have for the game. It is on sale for iPhone/iPod touch for $1.99 (was $3.99) and iPad for $2.99 (was $4.99).

$3.99

Sonic The Hedgehog 4™ Episode I

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: A BIT UNSOUND
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-10-07 :: Category: Games

$4.99

Sonic The Hedgehog 4™ Episode I HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-12-21 :: Category: Games

Then there’s Super Monkey Ball 2 and the Sakura Edition, which iPad owners will be head over heels for because it’s a universal app, and it’s on sale for $0.99!

$2.99

Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-04-01 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Super Monkey Ball 2

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: GOOD .. BUT
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2009-12-01 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Super Monkey Ball

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2008-07-11 :: Category: Games

Finally, those who can’t get enough of classic Genesis games will be heartwarmed by these titles on sale for $0.99.

$2.99

Altered Beast

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-12-16 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Golden Axe 2

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: NOSTALGIC
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2011-04-21 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Golden Axe 3

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: POLISH NEEDED
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2011-05-12 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Gunstar Heroes

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: NOW EVEN MORE DIFFICULT!
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-11-22 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Streets of Rage 2

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-04-14 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Streets of Rage 3

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: WELCOME TO THE ANGRYDOME
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2011-04-28 :: Category: Games

$1.99

Virtua Fighter 2

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-01-20 :: Category: Games

The GRAMMY awards are on Sunday, February 12th, and for those excited about the awards being given out and acts scheduled to perform, there’s a new GRAMMY Live app available for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. It offers news and photos surrounding the event, and video updates about the awards and nominees.. There’s a list of this year’s nominees and recent award winners, along with award prediction and trivia games. Tweets from official accounts, nominated artists, and analysts can be easily accessed through the app, with the ability to eaisly follow, RT, or reply to tweets seen in the app.

The app also offers a variety of live streaming video around the event, from red carpet events, to un-televised award ceremonies, and a multi-screen experience during the live event, airing at 8pm Eastern Sunday night on CBS. There’s also a streaming radio station of GRAMMY nominated artists and songs. The universal app is available now for free.

FREE!

GRAMMY Live

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-01-18 :: Category: Entertainment

Designed for those telecommuting workers, Work+ is an app for finding new places out and about to work. Those who work at home or have jobs they access through a computer may find their home or apartment distracting, or come down with a case of cabin fever. Work+ is designed to help find places to work around the city, and to keep track of the best places to work while out and about. It looks up the locations of hotspots and Foursquare checkins to find good places to work based on various criteria. Want a quiet coffee shop, or a restaurant with no noise preference? The app can find these. As well, it uses background geolocation in iOS 5 to track when a user leaves a location, noting the time and allowing the user to rate it or save it in their favorite locations. This does mean that the app requires an iPhone or 3G iPad as they have the GPS signal necessary to make the app work. Work+ is available for free from the App Store.

FREE!

Work+

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2012-02-02 :: Category: Productivity

For those who like Atari’s modernized iOS remakes, such as Asteroids: Gunner, but would rather just buy an app once and have all the content unlocked, they are now in luck. Asteroids: Gunner+ is now available from the App Store. This is the same gameplay as Asteroids: Gunner, which is the classic Asteroids gameplay reimagined as a dual-stick shooter, but now with all content unlocked upon purchase of the app, instead of having to unlock through in-app purchases. This includes 8 ships, 3 galaxies, and a total of 150 waves of enemies. The game is still universal, and still has consumable IAP for buying crystals for ship upgrades. Note that this may not be a pass for future content as well; the similar Breakout: Boost+ recently received an IAP level pack, but as this game has launched at $4.99, and Breakout: Boost+ at $0.99, the strategy for future content may be different between each. For fans of Asteroids: Gunner who are also wary of purchasing content through IAP, this may be a viable option for them.

$4.99

Asteroids®: Gunner +

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-02-09 :: Category: Games

U-verse has released an app for subscribers to their TV and high-speed internet service that brings both control of their receiver, along with access to on demand video. By downloading AT&T U-verse for iPad and logging in to the user’s AT&T U-verse account, the app’s functions become available.

The app’s first function is to serve as a remote for a U-verse receiver. By setting up the U-verse receiver by turning to channel 9301 and enabling remote device access, it can then be discovered by the app. The app offers virtual remote buttons for changing the channel, rewind/fast-forward controls for recordings and live TV, pause/record buttons, and all the other basic commands available on the U-verse remote. As well, the app has an easy-access guide with the ability to quickly jump to the channel, and to record future programs easily. Receivers can be independently named and controlled, so it’s possible for multiple iPads to control different TVs in a house.

For those who have a secondary router on their network to extend their network or because of device incompatibility (AirPlay to an Apple TV has issues with the U-verse router in particular) will need to connect to the U-verse router directly, as even having both devices on the same secondary router will not work.

The app also offers on-demand video from U-verse’s on-demand selection that can actually be watched on the iPad itself. These videos can be watched anywhere, not just on the U-verse network. It ironically also supports AirPlay to a TV, which may explain just why the AirPlay protocol has issues with U-verse routers. The app does have the notable lack of any kind of live TV – especially considering that Comcast launched their own iPad app with live TV just a month ago.

Still, this app should make it much easier for U-verse users to control their TV and watch the content they want, thanks to the touch interface provided by the app. AT&T U-verse for iPad is available now.

FREE!

AT&T U-verse

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-12-18 :: Category: Entertainment

Chillingo keeps digging through the App Store, with new games frequently bubbling up, and this week, their games are about both digging and bubbles!

First up is Diggin’ Dogs, a game where three precocious puppies dig their way through levels, collecting coins and bones on their way to getting the golden treasure at the end of each level. Players use their finger to cut through the dirt, creating paths for the dogs to travel, swipe upward on the dogs to make them jump, and tilt left and right to move the dogs, as well as maneuver treasure. There are over 60 levels in this game for iPhone and iPod touch, available now.

$0.99

Diggin' Dogs

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2012-02-09 :: Category: Games

Next up is Bubble in Paradise, a word game where players try form words by popping bubbles that contain letters. The bubbles come in various sizes and point values, and they must be popped before the screen becomes overcrowded with bubbles and it’s game over. The game comes with four modes: Normal, Blitz, Endless, and Battle, which is playable against an online opponent. The universal app is available for $0.99.

$0.99

Bubble in Paradise™

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: ANAGRAM ADDICTION
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2011-12-09 :: Category: Games

One of the concerns with 60beat’s GamePad has been whether the device would see enough support from developers to make it worthwhile. As promised by 60beat back when it was announced, February has rolled around and some titles are beginning to support the 60beat.

Both Alien Space and Alien Space Retro from Owens Rodriguez have been updated to support the 60beat. Given the number of dual-stick shooters on iOS and the lack of analog joysticks on the external controller frontrunner, the iCade, dual stick games could spearhead 60beat support thanks to its unique-to-this-platform functionality.

$0.99

Alien Space

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-10-09 :: Category: Games

$0.99

Alien Space Retro

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: NEW RETRO
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2011-07-15 :: Category: Games

Katana Jack, a game that claims to have had its graphics hand-painted on the iPad, has also been updated with support for the 60beat. It also supports the Gametel controller, the iCade, and iControlPad, so this free app is a must-download for anyone with an external iOS game controller, if only because it supports them all.

$0.99

Katana Jack!

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-11-17 :: Category: Games

There’s also No Gravity, a game which started life way back in the days of PSP homebrew development, before seeing legitimate releases on PSN, and now on iOS. Both the Lite and full versions of the game support the controller.

$4.99

No Gravity

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-03-24 :: Category: Games

FREE!

No Gravity Lite

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-06-16 :: Category: Games

There are likely to be more titles that support the controller, and its particular advantages may prove to be a boon to developers looking to support external controls in their games. The total list of games that support the GamePad is available here.

Nitro Games have announced an iOS spinoff of their pirate-themed PC game Pirates of Black Cove, Sink ‘Em All – and they have an entertaining trailer to go along with it. This will take the ship combat gameplay of the PC version and make it the featured element, essentially a naval isometric shooter with cannons to fire, and booty to plunder. Well, at least this is an arcade-styled interpretation of the whole process – that ship is clearly traveling faster through water faster than any real ship would. Also, while pirates may be heavily mythologized by our society, I’m pretty sure none of them used “Fart Bombs” in order to fell their foes. I’m no historian, though, so maybe they did. Their trailer, embedded below, shows just how this game’s combat system would apparently work in an office environment, or at least one where conflict resolution comes through the launching of cannonballs at one another. Pirates of Black Cove: Sink ‘Em All is coming soon, and will be free to play.

American Express has launched an app for members and subscribers to their magazine, Departures, to help them find the best shopping, eating, drinking, and hotels in a variety of cities around the world with Departures Ultimate City Guides.

While there are plenty of apps for finding just those things in cities around the globe, this app clearly caters to more of a “high roller” crowd than those other apps. The magazine Departures is only available for Platinum and Centurion card members of American Express. Loosely translated, that means that this magazine and this app is for those that make a lot of money only. Getting a Platinum card apparently requires a six-figure income minimum. The Centurion card is available by invitation only, requires $150,000 of annual spending with American Express, and has a $2500/year membership fee, but it does come with a personal concierge service. Oh, and the card is made of titanium. The magazine also has content focused on issues of the 99% such as: plastic surgery addiction, custom clothing for men, and all kinds of articles on world travel.

This is an app for those who are looking for a higher class of digital travel guide, one that will not point out all the hotels around them, but the five-star hotels. This is for finding restaurants where the gratuity would likely feed a middle-class family of five for a week. This is for finding lounges where the cost of a bottle of wine would let a college student party for a full four years.

Note that while the app is free to download, to enter it, it requires an authentication code from an issue of the Departures magazine, which again, is only for those high-earning Platinum and Centurion cardholders with American Express. The app is universal, as having to download two separate versions of an app is just so upper-middle-class.

FREE!

DEPARTURES Ultimate City Guides

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-08-24 :: Category: Lifestyle

A photography app for switching around two faces in a photograph automatically, without any necessary configuration or input from the user? Sounds unlikely, right? Well, there are many, many apps out there for transforming our faces. Ones to make our faces fatter, ones to make our faces skinnier, Photo Booth is on the iPad for all kinds of crazy effects, and we can even turn ourselves into Star Wars characters now. But switching faces with someone else? Surely, that’s impossible! Face Fun says “No it’s not!” and “Don’t call me Shirley.”

Face Fun works by taking pictures of two people, and then automatically processing the image and switching their faces around. This does require an internet connection to work, as it utilizes Face.com’s face recognition API. This creates an immediate swap of the two faces, which can look rather freaky at first, as people have different face sizes, or the subjects might not be facing entirely forward. Thankfully, the app does let users manually adjust the faces to get them perfect. Swapped faces can be moved about, pinched and expanded to scale them, double-tapped to flip them around, and rotated around with a two-finger-twisting gesture. Photos can be imported from the Camera Roll, but the app recommends taking photos directly from within the app itself.

Face Fun comes with social features – photos can be saved to the Camera Roll, shared via email, Twitter, or Facebook. Facebook friends can also be tagged in photos with the app. Face Fun is thankfully and surprisingly universal – the iPad’s benefit for storing and viewing photographs is a selling point of the device, yet many photography apps tend to avoid iPad support, likely due to the iPad 2’s poor cameras and the iPad 1’s nonexistent cameras. So, while this might not be optimal for taking new photos on the iPad, importing and editing photos work very well on the larger screen. Face Fun is available now.

$0.99

$1.99

Face Fun

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-01-17 :: Category: Entertainment

Dark Elves aren’t evil, they’re just misunderstood.

On This Episode:

Who We Are:

Music:

“Beatnes7 (Theme to The Portable Podcast)” by The Eternal – Download on iTunes here:

How to Listen:

Apps Mentioned on This Episode:

FREE!

Tiny Tower

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: TOWERING
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2011-06-23 :: Category: Games

FREE!

Triple Town

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: UN-BEAR-ABLY ADDICTIVE
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2012-01-19 :: Category: Games

FREE!

Hero Academy

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: NEVER STOP PLAYING
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2012-01-10 :: Category: Games

$4.99

Reckless Racing 2

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: RUBBIN' AND RACIN'
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2012-02-02 :: Category: Games

FREE!

GHOST TRICK: Phantom Detective

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: TRICKY
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2012-02-02 :: Category: Games

So, for those ready to file their taxes – they have all their paperwork ready at hand, their dependents counted, deductions itemized and ready to go, this means that it’s time to start filling out confusing paperwork, or hop on the computer, or just go down to a local tax professional, right? Nope. TurboTax doesn’t just have a way to estimate tax returns, there’s now a full-fledged iPad app for filing and submitting taxes. TurboTax guides users through the tax filing process with handy, user-friendly steps and language that is designed to hopefully make the process less confusing, and to help find deductions. As well, info from past TurboTax returns can be imported into the app to speed along the process.

TurboTax is free to download and use, with the only fees coming when it is time to e-file, then the app charges an in-app purchase for filing. The app supports both filing federal and state income taxes, though there is a separate fee for each filing. Still, for those looking to do their taxes the easy and technologically-savvy way on their iPad, this is a definite option. The app is available now.

FREE!

TurboTax 2011 Tax Preparation – Complete and Efile Your Income Tax Return

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2012-01-16 :: Category: Finance

It’s the most wonderful time of year – tax season. Thankfully, TaxCaster from TurboTax is here to help users figure out whether to expect to be cutting a check to the IRS, or if Uncle Sam will be sending some money their way. TaxCaster is a universal iOS app that lets users plug in their vital financial information and get an estimated refund amount. Income, tax withholding, donations, deductions, dependents; these can all be plugged into the app and the app will give an estimate of how much the user can expect as far as payments or refunds in taxes will go. The app is very easy to use, with various sliders for adjusting income, and it just requires the user to have the information to put in. This is not an application for actually filing and submitting one’s taxes, it is just for estimation, but it makes it very easy for users to help get a clue on what they can expect from the process.

FREE!

TaxCaster by TurboTax – Free tax refund calculator to estimate your taxes

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2009-12-17 :: Category: Finance