:: DEFINITELY HOLDS A TUNEThink you have what it takes? Give it a try with the new free app based on hit reality show, American Idol. The app is free with in-app purchases, and you can also purchase a weekly subscription to access all premium content.
The Appside says:
The iOS offering from karaoke specialist StarMaker allows users to sing along to songs allegedly made famous by the latest American Idol contestants, including Adele’s Rolling In the Deep and Led Zepellin’s Whole Lotta Love, with Pitch Correction technology included. Songs can be recorded and shared via Facebook, Twitter and email.
:: SOCIAL SINGINGWho Stole the Moon is a lovely, sleepy tale for iPad, perfect for bedtime about a boy who is worried that the moon has been stolen when he can’t see it out his bedroom’s skylight one evening before bed.
Concerned, he leaves his home to go ask the nocturnal animals if they had stolen the moon to no avail, but is led in the right direction to Owl, who has the correct answer and is able to calm this young boy.
This is a charming story, nicely written in a style reminiscent of traditional folktales that adults will enjoy as much as children will. I also really like how this app offers a little educational material along with this sweet, simple story, explaining about nocturnal animals and about how the moon can hide behind clouds. The illustrations are nicely crafted as well with a good use of color, especially the sapphire blue chosen to represent the sky that looks especially nice against the back-lit iPad.
This book also contains an impressive number of languages to choose from, each including its own language specific narration and text, also allowing for narration or included sounds to be turned off individually as well - always a nice touch.
I have enjoyed meeting each animal introduced within this story, including cute details children enjoy such as a fox playing with her cubs, badgers eating cat food, or a mole shopping for worms to make tea. Each animal also has its own theme song that can be accessed within the story section itself or in a separate dedicated section.
This app includes some fun interactive elements as well as four activities that are included, and although they are pretty typical of extras found among children’s apps, I admire their quality in terms of illustrations used and very nice music included within.
There is a memory game section involving the turning over of tiles in order to create pairs. Nice varieties of this type of game are included, each with its own distinct style of cards that need to be flipped, such as one shape per card, a specific number of shapes per tile creating a nice nod towards subsidizing as well as charming insect drawings, each game including 12 cards to flip over.
Sixteen smaller cards can also be included within a game, here involving animals or fun monster and space themes, allowing children to play memory in a way that is a little more challenging.
The final section includes 36 cards to look under to try to match three cards this time instead of two. This change increases the difficulty level nicely, including the insect motif as well as simple sketches all in the color red, really adding to the amount of detail one must look at in these tiles when flipped over to differentiate each other. Some simple solid color tiles are included as well that contain a lovely marbled water-color look, also seen throughout this app as are perfectly imperfect textures found within this well-done application.
An arcade-style is included where one lights up randomly flying fireflies with a tap. This game is nicely challenging yet avoids over stimulation with the included gentle lullaby-type music. It is a nice touch that the background changes with a selection of earthy green backdrops - great for replay value.
In another area of this app, sixteen puzzles are included, each broken into 25 or 64 pieces which perform like classic jigsaw puzzles, each including a lot of game play. I like the audible click heard when the pieces are fitted together, but I think these lengthy puzzles should make available the reference image seen when choosing a puzzle for children who need a little help because no other hints are offered.
A finger-painting section is available which includes 16 blank sketches than need to be filled in with color. A variety of brush strokes are offered, creating interesting designs with either a tap or a drag of a finger. There is a rainbow of colors to choose from, including four different shades of each color - all really nice choices that combined with the unique brushes, create an effect closer to a painting experience, possibly with an airbrush, than simply scribbling.
Although it is interesting that the paint brush point varies with every tap, it would be nice to select the point size as well as to create details more precise if one so wishes. It would also be nice to have an “undo” button, but the eraser can help fix small mistakes that children feel they may have made coloring in these pictures. I would also like to see a solid line be able to be drawn. As of now, only series of dots is allowed.
A section also exists of the animal songs found within the pages of this story. I like that a separate section exists as these songs, nicely done, are also a little lengthy and takes me out of the story a bit to play them while reading the book. Each song can be listened to or sung with the aid of lyrics that appear sentence-by-sentence in time to the music. This prompt may be enough for older children to sing along but new readers may need more help from an adult as this method is less than true karaoke-style in which each word is highlighted when it is time to be sung.
I do like, however, how each song contains the text that is sung as well as illustrated with simple drawings that correspond to each tune. Parents may need to explain the vintage phonograph used to play these songs, complete with horn, record spinning and the crackling that can be heard when switching between songs - other nice details of this section.
I have enjoyed Who Stole the Moon and recommend this app as a very nice bedtime story choice for toddlers and preschool age children. I look forward to the new apps that WindyPress will develop in the future.
:: NOT FOR PROFESSIONALSGuess Who! is a delightful interactive book that babies, toddlers and older children will enjoy.
This story is simple as the reader is asked what family member a baby resembles. Before each page is turned, a cutout can be seen on the right side of this storybook. Behind it is the face of an adult that children try to guess. It is super-cute how the baby in question is compared to what can be seen of the adult face to be fully revealed with the turn of a page, be it a character like mom, dad or grandpa.
Based on a printed book by illustrator Kyoung Kook Lee, this app for iPad does a great job of re-creating the feeling of reading a board book - one of the most realistic page turns I have seen in digital storybooks.
Hotspots have been included that kids will enjoy, nicely highlighted with a hand icon showing children where to touch. Another unique interaction is how readers can drag the cut-outs found among these pages to enlarge them slightly, seeing more details of the adult in question, giving kids the chance to peek at the family member - a nice touch that adds an element to this story not available in a traditionally bound story.
The illustrations are lovely works of an accomplished illustrator with a great sense of style that adults will appreciate as much as children will. The narration is nicely done as well, and although an accent is detectable, the audio track is easy to understand and follow along with - not always the case with applications developed outside the United States.
Some extras are included, such as a few short animated “sing along” videos of three songs, including “Guess Who,” which transforms this story into a song that children can sing along with, as the words are displayed on the screen, karaoke- style, as are the lyrics for the other two songs as well.
A matching game is also included where two characters are shown from this book, each including a missing detail that one must fill in from three objects to choose from. Do note that one can also change modes of this game, having to label these characters instead, such as “daddy” or “sister.” This section includes the same nice visual style and fun use of color, but it is a shame that this section only includes three questions, including two characters each. Maybe an area of this app could be added to in a future update.
This is an all-around lovely storybook that babies, toddlers and even older children will enjoy a great deal. My son, now four years old, had fun with this story book even though he is a little beyond this app's target age range.
Options here include listening to this book be read, reading this book to oneself, or making a recording of this book oneself to play back later. This app would also make a lovely first reader for children to read - possibly to younger family members. I would love to see more work from Kyoung Kook Lee in the future.
It would be nice to see this app be turned into a universal application in the future, making the current price point possibly more palatable for parents.
Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels is a universal interactive storybook app, also including a video and extras that will be of interest to fans of Thomas and Friends, from the developers at Callaway Digital Arts.
For those who do not know, Callaway Digital Arts has developed high quality apps based on some of children’s favorite series, specifically Miss Spider’s Tea Party, Angelina Ballerina and Thomas and Friends.
Here, Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesel is a story dealing with the interpersonal relationships between the trains living on the island of Sodor. Here, a new train has come into town who seems to be getting all of Thomas’s attention, much to the disappointment of another train, Percy, who is then manipulated by the foils of this story, the diesels, and is lured to dieselworks, home of these not-so-nice trains with the promise of friendship, but in reality this is part of the diesel trains' plan to take over Sodor’s Steamworks.
This story also includes some nice moments of adventure and fire-fighting as well. While in narrater mode, the words are also hightailed when read, always a nice touch for young readers.
Told both in storybook form with included mild but effective hotspots as well as CGI video, this nicely done app also includes a song which has the words being sung highlighted at the bottom of the screen, karaoke-style. Coloring book pages, a matching game and puzzles are also included.
To be honest, I prefer my anthropomorphic characters to be animals, not inanimate objects like cars or trains, a personal preference of mine and the reason that we have never really gotten into Thomas and Friends or the like at our house, although occasionally my son has gotten a few Thomas-themed toys as gifts and has seen the show a few times as well.
Because of this, I did find the plot of this story somewhat confusing, presumably because I am a true outsider when it comes to all things Thomas and I know nothing of the various characters found throughout.
Based on a full length DVD of the same name, a lot of plot points are incorporated into this storybook, making the narrative a little cumbersome for me, but I am sure this would be less of an issue for fans of this series who are familiar with these characters and the style of Thomas stories in general.
I did like the issues touched upon here, such as knowing who your true friends are, and the feelings of rejection when new, popular kids come to town, allowing for some nice open-ended conversations for adults to have with their children.
This app will make a great companion piece to any family who has watched this DVD or who are fans of the show. The quality of this app, the narration and the sound effects included with this storybook are very well done, and I enjoy being able to enlarge the text with a tap for an easier read, especially when the narration is turned off. I also appreciate the included menu of pages and the ease of use of the settings as well.
Some nice extras are also included here, and I do enjoy how the completion of the included puzzles brings player to a short clip from the video where this puzzle image presumably was pulled from.
It is also nice that the matching game allows one to choose an easier or more difficult level that contains more cards that one has to turn over and match together, each including a character from the book and have a sound bite of their very own. These moments include a few words found within this story, making this a more engaging experience than other games like it without specific sound effects.
The coloring book consists of six pages to color, but I would like to see more brush size choices, as here only a larger paintbrush and a smaller pen are offered, and I still think children will find it difficult to color within the lines of some of these more detailed areas of some of the included trains. It would be nice if one could enlarge these images to color in the fine details if one wanted to - just an idea for a future update.
I find it interesting that this CGI video, although recapping the same story as the storybook, possesses a very different look, more of a music video of sorts, than the included storybook, this app offering two unique experiences fans of Thomas will enjoy.
I do recommend this app for any family with a Thomas and Friends enthusiast, especially those who are a fan of the DVD. I know my son asks to watch DVDs before bed when there is little time, so it is nice that parents in this same predicament with their own children can read this storybook or watch the included video before bed instead.
This specific Thomas app I do feel is best suited for those already fond of and knowledgeable about Thomas and Friends. Children new to this franchise may find themselves subsequently feeling a little lost, as did I, but I can imagine fans of Thomas really enjoying this application, and for those families, I recommend this app.
Glee Karaoke - Smule
The hottest TV show teams up with the hottest social music gaming company to bring you Glee, the Karaoke edition. Sing along to your favorite Glee versions of hip and hot songs from the show. Smule brings pitch correction, over 130 songs to purchase, sing along to iTunes library songs, and connect with other singers across the "Globe," their system for sharing performances.
Sonic The Hedgehog 4™ Episode I HD - SEGA
Upgraded to HD for the iPad, Sonic replays his Episode 1 adventures on the big iOS screen. Luckily for us, it's also a great game, though we'd really like to know when Episode 2 is supposed to drop. Dash along with the famous blue hedgehog in this new mobile classic, but this time, on an iPad. The original iPhone version is here. The iPad version is here.
Dungeon Hunter 3 - Gameloft
Hack and slash your way through 16 different battle arenas in the third installment of this popular game series. Choose from four new classes to engage in battle, and even - gasp - choose the gender of your character.
MegaMan X - Capcom
This game was originally released for the SNES back in 1993, but has been updated to be played right on your iOS device. Platform and shoot your way through level after level of retro fun, helping X stop the maverick reploid, Sigma, from taking over the world.
Mirror Mysteries HD (Full) - Big Fish Games
A young mother's children are pulled into a mystical mirror, and it's up to her, and the payer that she represents, to find hidden objects and rescue them from a magical world behind the mirror.
iCarly: Baby Spencer - MTV Networks
Play with the baby with the huge head - Baby Spencer from the hit TV series, iCarly. Choose from over 40 phrases, 20 props and a ton of foods to feed Baby Spencer, watching his reactions and even all new Baby Spencer videos shot right on the set of iCarly! You can even make him dance. Dance, baby!
FC Barcelona WorldTap - Seven 4 Seven, SL
Here's the official Barcelona Futbol Club app. Tap the ball as fast and as long as you can - compete with players around the world and even win a signed Tshirt or other FC Barcelona official products.
12 Days of Christmas - Polk Street Press Singalong is a charming iPad application which truly brings the traditional song of the same name to life, as well as re-enforcing number sequencing along the way.
I do so very much love the look of this app, as each of the verses of this song is illustrated by wonderful illustrated scenes demonstrating each of these twelve days, such as Three French Hens or Five Golden Rings, complete with cute animated elements, lovely details and patterns adding to the richness and whimsy of lovingly crafted application.
I find the color palette used here quite pleasing, with warm muted colors alongside brighter color choices of many shades of green, turquoise and orange that I very fond of. The subtle shading and brush strokes used here add to this app's beauty and hand-painted quality that adults and children will enjoy, and I would feel privileged to be able to hang images from this app on the walls of my home.
The animals as well as the people incorporated within are simply adorable. I also greatly appreciate that the people found in such scenes such as the pipers piping, lords-a-leaping or drummers drumming include a variety of skin tones and hair textures which create a nice visual effect as well as a multi-cultural experience, something I would love to see more of in the U.S. iTunes store in general.
Two general sections are included, specifically Playalong and Singalong and I enjoy how this app opens up to 12 images, found in 6 squares - top and bottom - that represent each of the days included in this song - an important element in the Playalong section.
Here, children have an opportunity to learn about number sequencing as this app plays each verse and then pauses, allowing children to tap the number in descending sequence, starting with days 1 and 2, then asking the player to tap the number 1, as it is the start of the long trail of presents received on each day that build as the days go by, ultimately allowing young children to test their number recognition and sequencing skills counting back from day 12.
This app also allows children to record their own version of this song, including simply audio or video as well for iPad 2 users. Options include being accompanied by singing along words with the original recording or singing to an instrumental version by oneself.
The words in this section are not highlighted karaoke-style but are delivered line-by-line as one watches this song’s animation on the top half of the screen. I don’t think the lack of highlighting will make keeping in time with this song difficult since it is so well-known, and I like that one can sing along while being somewhat prompted by the singer to keep in time, or sing by oneself as the instrumental version is being played. Sharing one’s recordings via email or Facebook is made easy, and I also enjoy the fact that one can also watch this lovely illustrated song without making a recording.
12 Days of Christmas - Polk Street Press Singalong is a great app for iPad for any family who enjoys singing or listening to traditional festive Christmas songs. The illustrations used are perfectly realized for this application, and I hope to see more from artist Lesley Breen Withrow in the future.
:: SING IT LOUD
:: LESS THAN A-MUZIN-GFinn’s Paper Hat HD is a magical and charming interactive app about a creative young boy who makes a hat out of newspaper and the imagination that is sparked as it begins to rain. Available in versions for both iPad and iPhone, this app includes an impressive selection of both Dutch as well as many English dialects and voices to choose from.
The use of fantasy found throughout this story remind me a great deal of the 1955 classic, Harold and the Purple Crayon, where a boy uses his crayon to draw objects that come to life making it possible for him to interact with them. Here, Finn folds himself a paper hat out of newspaper. First this hat is a pirate's hat but soon it rains and Finn turns his pirate's hat into a boat, sailing away on a simple yet epic adventure and meeting lovable creatures along the way as well, as finding other great uses for his paper hat.
I adore this ebook as I did the first title, Fierce Grey Mouse, from writer and illustrator Chantal Bourgonje. I was greatly impressed with the use of color used throughout Fierce Grey Mouse and I am equally impressed here with the interesting choice found within the pages of Finn’s Paper Hat to use muted tones of beige found among unadorned newspaper as well as mixing together samples of newsprint, creating a lovely collage feel as well.
The illustrations drawn with the use of black and white pop nicely from these desaturated backdrops in a way that I enjoy a great deal. One of my favorite moments here is when Finn finds himself in an ocean with his paper hat afloat among waves of different colors such the darker paper reminiscent of brown butcher paper as well as other lighter shades of paper at different levels of being off-white and weathered. This style is continued through the tale and I love the use of the main color, appropriate for the animals that Finns meets along the way. The pop of yellow also used for a simple sun in the sky made me smile as does the daydreams, found with a tap of Finn and his new best friend in one scene of this book which are the only elements in full color - a lovely touch.
I worry somewhat that my description of these color choices used may seem uninspiring, as this is far from the case. I greatly enjoy looking at this palette as well as the slight shadowing and distressing found within these pages and the text boxes found at the top left of each screen, adding texture and depth to these illustrations.
Interactions are included with this app adding to the richness of the experience, especially the use of creating snow when tapping the screen during the middle of this story as well, as the tapping of Finn and the other characters introduced in this story book.
Music is also included, which I have really enjoyed. It is sometimes upbeat but can be sleepy, if not a bit melancholy and I appreciate the use of composer Charles Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette,” more commonly known as the theme from “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” in scene of this book and a favorite moment of mine as Finn uses his hat in another creative fashion that takes good care of his new buddy. The ending of the story also ends with a poetic, musical note that I may enjoy even more than my boy does. I love the use of this music within this storybook, adding music appreciation to the list of what makes this story very special.
Like with The Fierce Grey Mouse, Finn’s Paper Hat includes some nice extras. This app includes two coloring pages from the story, these pages to be filled in with the “paint bucket” method of coloring where one can fill in sections at a time with the tap of a finger - my preferred method of coloring books. Also included are clear and concise instructions to fold one’s very own paper hat as well as a Sing Along - Karaoke styled paper-hat-themed song complete with bouncing ball over the text of the song to keep the singer in time with the music. My only note here is that the sounds used over the music to also keep the singer in time is louder than it needs to be and drowns out the music, possibly the singer as well. It would be nice to be able control the volume of the music and this added sound, ideally independently from each other.
As with most ebooks, one can listen to narration or turn this function off to read this book by oneself. This app is no exception, but it is quite original to be offered many English dialects and voice choices such as Irish, UK, US, Australian and New Zealand, also including a child's voice and Dutch as a language choice as well.
I have enjoyed tapping each of these choices to hear the narrator speak their names, listening to the different ways of speaking, but I do wish their voice levels on the options page could be longer moments to hear them clearly against the joyful background of the music used as some of their names being spoken sound a bit cut off.
It is really nice to share different voices of this same story each time we read this book, slightly developing the ear of my boy to the sounds of different styles of English because where we live, most people sound the same and to my son “without” any discernible accent. A menu of pages is also added to this book - always a nice reference to offer.
My son really enjoys this story for all the adventure and fantasies it offers him, and we love to read it as a bedtime story. I am very impressed with both of Chantal Bourgonje's apps and have quickly become a fan of her work. I hope more original stories of hers are developed into apps, I can't wait to see them.
The Iclandic superstar's upcoming Biophilia is the first full album released as a universal app (though it won't be the last, we're sure). Originally envisaged by Björk as a house that would contain a song per room, the new iPad app boasts "interactive art and games, music notation which can be used to sing along karaoke-style, abstract animations, lyrics, and essays that explore Björk’s inspirations for the track."
The app is organized around a two dimensional map reminiscent of a star chart. Each node int he map takes users to the music and interactive art associated with it. The intro is narrated by none other than David Attenborough, the voice we've all heard on countless hours of nature shows over the past couple of decades. Here it is, below, right from the official Björk YouTube channel:
The album will eventually have 10 album tracks, each with their own interactive game or art piece. There is currently only one song available with the free download (not including the theme song for the album, Cosmogeny), with future tracks to be priced at $1.99 apiece. The album will also be released as a more traditional audio-only album, with a music video for the first single, Crystalline, directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), will debut this coming week, as well.
We applaud Björk and other artists to come, in their attempt to reinvigorate an industry that bemoans its own relevance in the world of instant downloads and file sharing technologies. Creating a work of art around a new album is not only the beginning of a new era, but will help justify the retail cost of such an album, perhaps putting to rest some of the industry's own fears and, perhaps, arrogance.
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As the year winds down and we look ahead to the next decade it's time for all those wonderful end-of-year lists we all get so excited about. Today we have some exciting news, as Apple has detailed all the top paid and free apps for the iPhone and iPad, as well as the top grossing apps on each platform. Here's the full rundown, for your edification.
1. Angry Birds
2. Doodle Jump
3. Skee-Ball
4. Bejeweled 2 + Blitz
5. Fruit Ninja
6. Cut the Rope
7. ALL-IN-1 GAMEBOX
8. The Moron Test
9. Plants vs. Zombies
10. Pocket God
Top 10 Free iPhone Apps
1. Facebook
2. Angry Birds Lite
3. Words With Friends Free
4. Skype
5. Tap Tap Revenge 3
6. The Weather Channel®
7. Paper Toss
8. Bing
9. ROCK BAND FREE
10. Talking Tom Cat
Top 10 Grossing iPhone Apps
1. MLB.com At Bat 2010
2. Angry Birds
3. Call of Duty: Zombies
4. Bejeweled 2 + Blitz
5. FriendCaller 3 Pro
6. Zombie Farm
7. TomTom U.S.A.
8. TETRIS®
9. Plants vs. Zombies
10. Doodle Jump
REad even MORE lists after the jump.
