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All Posts By Carter Dotson
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Carter Dotson
Senior Writer with the 148Apps Network since June 5, 2010
I'm Carter Dotson, freelance writer based out of Chicago. I've been a fan of portable gaming since the days of the black-and-white Game Boy, but now mobile gaming consumes my life. Along with writing about mobile gaming. Which is why you see all these posts below. Also, check out The Portable Podcast, every Tuesday here on 148Apps.
Connect with Carter via:  Game Center: wondroushippo  OpenFeint: wondroushippo  Twitter: @wondroushippo Google+ Profile Skype: wondroushippoEmail :: carter.dotson@148apps.comPersonal site :: http://about.me/wondroushippo
Bulkypix has plenty of new games coming up, one of which being a casual title called Candymeleon. Players tilt to move a chameleon, and tap on the screen to launch its tongue upward in order to eat the candy above, but there’s certain candy that’s bad. Currency can be earned in-game to unlock powerups and new chameleons. Expect this in the next month or so.
For the impatient, Runaway: A Twist of Fate releases on Thursday. This is the first episode of an extended point-and-click adventure series, similar in controls to The Walking Dead, with more episodes arriving in the coming months.
Rocketcat Games’ Wayward, informally known throughout development as Mage Dungeon, is finally nearing completion. This will be an endless free-to-play hack ‘n slash game, where players control various customer classes through procedurally-generated dungeons. The combat will be familiar to fans of Mage Gauntlet, but it features new attack and defensive abilities, with new charge attacks for the various character classes. The game will hopefully be finished in a couple of months, but until then, this footage will have to do.
Crescent Moon Games is a prolific developer and publisher, and 2013 promises to have even more titles to play from them. We got to see quite a few of them at GDC 2013.
There’s a big new futuristic sci-fi RPG early in development called Exiles: Far Colony. Blowfish Studios is working on Siegecraft TD, a tower defense game set in the Siegecraft universe with a deep online miltiplayer mode. Forest Moon has a chaotic single-device multiplayer game called Monkey Boxing that is exactly what it says on the tin. Even a very early version of Paper Monsters 2 was shown. Check out videos of the two below, and expect plenty of new titles from the studio this year.
Matt Fix (Trainyard) and Owen Goss (Finger Tied) have come together to form Milkbag Games. Their first title, Snow Siege, combines tower defense, Tetris-esque block-laying, and collectible card game mechanics in one package.
Everplay Interactive is hard at work on several new titles in the coming months. Their biggest title is Ace of Blades, a spinoff of Spellsword. As well, they have multiple new titles in their “Retro Revival” series including trial platformer Lumber Jacked, and endless action game Bill Killem. Check out Ace of Blades below.
Fishlabs’ next big game is a new take on the Galaxy on Fire series. This one is not a space battler, but a real-time strategy title with MMO elements. Players will try to conquer planets and gather resources for their alliance, which Kai Hitzer of Fishlabs claims that people are already forming through their forums. The free-to-play title is expected to release on iOS first in Q3 2013.
Firaxis is known for its hardcore strategy titles, including Sid Meier’s games, but Haunted Hollow will be friendly for kids and casual audiences. Two players take turns (on the same device or via Game Center) trying to take over a neighborhood by summoning scary monsters to scare the townsfolk. They eventually form angry mobs and will try to burn the conquered houses and monsters. Expect this one in the coming months.
High Voltage Software is making a big mobile gaming push, and has several titles in the works. Endless runner Le Vamp recently released, a mobile version of FPS The Conduit HD is coming to iOS soon, and they have a Plants-vs.-Zombies-inspired strategy coming out in a month or two. Check out videos below.
Want to listen to listen to the wealth of podcasts that are available on iTunes from anywhere you have an iOS device and an internet connection? Then download the Podcasts app from the App Store. Now, the app can be a bit convoluted to use, so this how to guide should make getting into the app much easier.
If this is your first time using it, the app will show a blank screen with a white square you can tap to go to the Podcasts Store. Otherwise, you can tap Store in the upper-left corner to go browse for podcasts on iTunes.
Use the tabs to find audio and video podcasts, find the most popular podcasts, or search for your favorite podcasts, like The Portable Podcast! You can download individual episodes or subscribe to the podcast, which will show the latest episodes in the app.
To return to the main screen, tap Library in the upper-right corner. From the main screen, tap on the podcast’s icon to open up the available episodes; it’s also possible to add old episodes to be displayed.
Tapping on an episode will start streaming it. It’s also possible to download episodes for offline listening by tapping the downward arrow next to it. As well, tapping the blue arrow will allow you to see an episode’s description, mark an episode as played or unplayed, or add it to an On-The-Go playlist.
When you play a podcast, there’s the standard music controls, along with 15 second skip buttons to easily re-listen to something or skip ahead. The 1x button adjusts playback speed to playback episodes faster or slower, if you wish. The center clock icon allows for a sleep timer to be set. The share arrow allows you to share the podcast via different built-in services.
When you call up the music control buttons from the multitasking bar, the forward and reverse buttons are replaced with the 15 second skip buttons.
The podcast’s settings page allows you to update the podcast with new content, adjust which episodes should be kept, and even enable automatic downloads.
Now, there’s a new “My Stations” feature which is built for the podcast-obsessed. This makes it possible to easily organize your podcasts by topic, or some other methodology. It also houses the On-The-Go playlist for making a quick playlist of podcasts to play back. To make your own custom station, tap the New Station button and name it. Then choose which podcasts you want to appear on the station. The station will show any episodes that have been added to your library, so to get podcast episodes to appear on your station, you need to add them from the individual podcast’s page.
You can choose the order for new episodes from each station to be played in by tapping Edit. Tapping Settings will call up a variety of settings for Play Order, which episodes to include, and the podcasts included in the station.
These tips should help you master Apple’s official Podcasts app for listening to your favorite podcasts from iTunes.
FREE!  + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-06-26 :: Category: Entertainment
Spring is (technically) here again, with the herald of college basketball’s annual tournament, the aptly-titled March Madness (though the final game is in April). There’s plenty of ways to enjoy the basketball mania from your iOS device. Here’s our favorite four apps for March Madness 2013.
 NCAA March Madness Live: There’s an obvious choice for inclusion in this article, and that’s the app that lets you experience the madness live from anywhere. All the tournament’s games are available from this app. So watch a scrappy underdog from a tiny college try to beat a team with first-round draft picks working as towel boys. Or watch an additional game to the one on TV. Or get three iOS devices and watch all the games at once, even if it drives you…mad!
FREE! + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-03-09 :: Category: Sports  ESPN Bracket Bound: The other half of the fun during March Madness is filling out and following your picks for the 64 teams in the bracket. If you use ESPN, their app lets you track your bracket and see how well you’re doing. You can also compare your bracket with a variety of other sports analysts, celebrities, and even President Obama. You can also track scores, watch video from ESPN analysts about the games, and track the latest news from the tournament.
FREE! + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-03-14 :: Category: Sports  SideBets: Of course, anyone can make a bracket full of their wildest picks with no repercussions if they fail, sure. But what about if there was a little something extra behind it? Not real-world gambling because that’s illegal, right FBI? But you can legally bet something intangible: your pride. That’s what SideBets does, it lets you wager virtual currency with your friends on game results to see who wins. The app features actual gambling lines, so you can get the thrill of gambling on sports without the massive crushing financial losses and broken kneecaps from bookies you owe money to.
FREE! iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-08-10 :: Category: Sports StarDunk: All the roundball action might get you thinking that you’re gonna want to go out and pound the rock a bit, show those youngsters how it’s done. This will probably not go well. Afterward, how about you instead play a game of virtual basketball? And since we’re playing virtual basketball, let’s go nuts and play a game of basketball…in space. Godzi Lab’s classic basketball game features plenty of fast-paced basketball shooting, basketballs with special properties, and online competition to try and take down. Regain some pride if your team gets knocked out or if your bracket gets busted.
FREE! + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-07-12 :: Category: Games
 Heavily edited for your enjoyment.
On This Episode:
- Carter talks to NoodleCake Games and musician Whitaker Trebella about their work on Super Stickman Golf 2, including the musician asking the programmers about elements of the game, and the programmers learning something about how the music for their game was created.
- Carter and John Dunbar talk about his new game Plasma Sky, along with discussing how this side effort fits in with his day job at Runic Games, known for Torchlight.
Episode Cast:
Music:
How to Listen:
Click Here to Subscribe in iTunes:
Apps From This Episode:
$0.99 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2013-03-14 :: Category: Games $1.99 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2013-03-18 :: Category: Games
Thanks to the last two major iOS releases, iOS 5 and 6, sharing on social media has gotten a lot easier. It’s now easy to tweet and post to Facebook from anywhere in iOS. Want to do this for yourself? Here’s our how to guide on taking advantage of social media features on iOS.
First off, you need to log in to your social media accounts, which for most users will be the Twitter and Facebook support. Start by going to Settings. Scroll down to the Twitter and Facebook options. Now you will see a screen that will let you install that service’s official app from the App Store, log in with an existing account, learn more about the service, or Create a New Account. If you don’t have one, this is the quickest and easiest way to make one. Once you have an account, log in with it and let the fun begin!
For Twitter, you can log in to multiple accounts from this screen. Tapping on an account info will let you re-enter your password if you change it, to change the account’s description in iOS, and to disable the “Find Me by Email” setting. Scrolling down to the bottom will allow you to Update Contacts with information from Twitter contacts, and to modify which apps can access data from your Twitter account.
For Facebook, it has many of the same options, but you can only log in to one account. However, you can configure the app’s settings for alerts and HD video recording from here.
Now, time to take advantage of this. Bring down Notification Center by swiping from the top of the screen. You should now have Tap to Tweet and Tap to Post buttons. Each one will send a tweet or a post to Facebook. You can add your location, and the Twitter post box will replace the enter button with the @ and # symbols. You can enter a line break by hitting the 123 button and finding Enter there.
If you want to share a photo, you can do so by going to Photos, and tapping the Share arrow, and you will see options to post the photo to Twitter or Facebook. Twitter will automatically add the photo and subtract the characters for the link in your tweet without showing the actual link in it. Anything like this will be shown with a paper clip and a thumbnail of what is being sent.
Apps can tweet and post to Facebook, too. Try sending a link from Safari using the Share arrow. Some games will let you share your high scores, like Punch Quest does.
Apps like can request access to your Twitter or Facebook contacts to find new people to connect to, such as Vine supporting Twitter contacts, or Game Center letting you discover friends through Facebook.
Some apps can let you instantly log in to them with your registered Twitter or Facebook account, even third-party Twitter apps like Tweetbot. Finally, you can Like apps on the App Store by tapping the Reviews tab and then the Like button.
These tips cover the basics of how you can use the built-in social media connections to share from your iOS device. Note that not all apps use the built-in iOS connections, so you may still need to log in separately in some apps.
St. Patrick’s Day is quite the “holiday.” Like Valentine’s Day, another day named after a saint, the original meaning has strayed far from the original intent of the day, but unlike Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day is fun for the single and taken alike. Here are four apps to help make the day better.
 St. Patrick’s Day Live: Can’t make it out to a good St. Patrick’s Day parade? Well, you can watch the New York City parade live with this app from EarthCam, or just watch Dubliners celebrate live. Then, use the Photo Booth feature to share festive photos with added leprechaun hats or “Kiss Me I’m Irish” buttons because why not? It’s a day to celebrate and be Irish!
$1.99 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2009-03-03 :: Category: Entertainment  Untappd: Drinking cheap beer that’s dyed green is a tradition of this ‘holiday’, definitely. But look, once you’ve drank one cheap plastic cup of it, there’s no reason why you can’t drink good beer after that. And you can use Untappd to share the beers you’ve been having. Why not find some nice, classy Irish beers to celebrate the day? Just search for “Irish” in this social drinking app and it’ll list a bunch of Irish beers to try out. If you drink one, share it with your friends. Drinking is more fun with friends, after all.
FREE! iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-09-30 :: Category: Social Networking  BreathalEyes: So, you’ve had a lot to drink, but just how much have you had? Well, this app can estimate how much you’ve had based on your eyes. It measure horizontal gaze nystagmus to detect how much a person has been drinking. Version 2.0 of the app, recently released, promises more accurate results with the addition of video capture, not just photo capture. It can detect blood alcohol content from .02% to .20% with a margin of error of .02%. The app is for entertainment purposes only, but if someone’s BAC is too high, it might be time to send them home in a cab.
$1.99 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-11-21 :: Category: Entertainment  Uber: …and yes, there is an app for that. Summon a cab directly to where you are with this app. Or if you’re feeling extra-classy, call for an Uber Black ride, which sends a black town car to pick you up. The app handles payment and tip automatically, which will especially come in handy if you have enjoyed a little too much of the fruits of Ireland’s labors. Uber’s more well-known, but also consider Hailo, a service that’s run into far fewer legal hurdles than Uber has, but is available in fewer cities. However you get a ride home, be sure to do it safely. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because getting arrested is an expensive pain, and would totally ruin this glorious day.
FREE! iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-05-20 :: Category: Travel
Sonic Bust!
On This Episode:
Megan Fox of Glass Bottom Games discusses Jones on Fire, why she decided to switch the game from a free-to-play title with IAP to a game that will be paid without any IAP whatever, and why she feels this way. As well, she discusses why she doesn’t consider it to be necessarily a ‘higher standard’ to be paid with IAP, why she doesn’t see premium games on Android to be a lost cause, and the surprise about Jones on Fire‘s protagonist.
Brett Nolan politely listens to Carter rant about Sonic Dash and why he feels Sega is mis-managing the Sonic series.
Episode Cast:
Host: Carter Dotson
Guest: Brett Nolan, AppAddict.net
Guest: Megan Fox, Glass Bottom Games
Music:
How to Listen:
Click Here to Subscribe in iTunes:
Apps From This Episode:
$0.99 $1.99
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2013-03-07 :: Category: Games FREE! + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2013-03-07 :: Category: Games $1.99 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-10-08 :: Category: Games $0.99 iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2013-02-21 :: Category: Games
With text messages and iMessages being such an important form of communication between people, it doesn’t make much sense that there’s no easy way to store them and back them up. They’re backed up when making backups through iTunes or iCloud, but if you have to wipe your device clean, then they’re lost forever. And because of the personal and private nature of these messages, important ones can be lost, unlike email which exists on cloud servers. Now, there is a way to backup your SMS and iMessages manually. Note that this guide will require you to be at a computer with iTunes, and to poke around some hidden directories. If you’re comfortable with this, let’s begin.
Start by making a full manual backup in iTunes of your device. Re-read our previous guide on backing up your device on how to do this.
Now then, the fun part. We need to go into where the backup is stored. On Windows PCs, this location has to be accessed by opening a local Explorer window, and typing in %APPDATA% (a shortcut to your Windows primary hard drive’s Users/[your username]/Application Data folder). On Mac, open up a Finder window. Hold down the Option key, click Go in the top bar, and select the Library folder that now appears. It only appears when you hold down the Option key. The necessary folder will not be visible if you just go to the Library folder from your Mac on the left sidebar in Finder. Open Application Support.
Now, on either OS, open up MobileSync -> Backup. Open up the most recent folder, as that should be your latest backup.
Look for a file called 3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28. It may or may not have a file extension on it. Copy this file to a safe place.
Now, if you just open it up in a text editor, the file will be full of gibberish but you can search for text strings and they will pop up. It’s largely unreadable, but it’s something.
Now, if you want them available in a readable format, this can be done. Go to http://iphone-sms.com. Upload that file you just saved, and choose an export format. Note that you are uploading your message data to a remote website, so if you’re concerned about the privacy of your data, you might want to be careful, though there’s no known risk factors with the site. Also, the file doesn’t include picture data, so you might want to save those to your Camera Roll manually.
So, that’s how you get your SMS and iMessages backed up. It’s not easy, but it’s a way to preserve your treasured messages. Or not-so-treasured ones. Such is the beauty of text messaging.
Pandas are not bears. Please stop emailing Taco Graveyard about it, they know.
On This Episode:
Carter and Rob Rich discuss the big release of the past week, Real Racing 3, which they each reviewed on Android Rundown and 148Apps respectively.
Taco Graveyard’s Salvatore Gionfriddo talks about the work that went into Penumbear, and how the game’s many levels were created.
Episode Cast:
Host: Carter Dotson
Guest: Rob Rich, 148Apps
Guest: Salvatore Gionfriddo, Taco Graveyard
Music:
How to Listen:
Click Here to Subscribe in iTunes:
Apps From This Episode:
FREE! + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2013-02-28 :: Category: Games $1.99 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2013-02-28 :: Category: Games
So, your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is acting really weird. It’s constantly rebooting. It isn’t being recognized by iTunes. Or just any sort of weird issue that seems outside the realm of normal troubleshooting. It just feels like this is the end, time to go to the Genius Bar if your phone is still under warranty or just panic otherwise? Not necessarily. There’s still one way to rescue it. It’s called DFU mode, and it can be used to restore your device.
Now, the first thing to know about DFU mode is that it will wipe your device clean, so anything that is not backed up will be lost. If possible, make a backup either via iTunes or iCloud. As well, you need a computer with iTunes in order to use this. This is generally a last resort method of rescuing your device, though entering it is not going to ruin anything.
Plug your device into your computer with iTunes. Turn your device off. Turn it back on, and keep the power button held for 3 seconds. Now, without letting go of the power button, hold down on the menu button for 10 seconds. Now, let go of the power button and keep holding the menu button until iTunes says that it’s detected a device in recovery mode. From here you can easily restore the device.
Now, if you want to escape DFU mode, you can hold down on the power and home buttons for about 15 seconds and it will boot up as normal.
Now, if either of your hardware buttons are broken, it’s still possible to enter DFU mode. This method requires more experience with files and using a hex editor. This method is more complex and potentially more risky to the device, but it should cause DFU mode to be enabled. Read about it at The iPhone Wiki. We’d suggest at this point just going to the Apple Store if you are uncomfortable.
Hopefully this guide helps you rescue your device. Even better would be if you don’t ever need it, but in case you do, it’s here for you.
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