Tag: Giggleapps »

We're heading towards the holidays, and this week at 148Apps.com we premiered a new Gameloft contest for the ultimate holiday gift - a brand spankin' new iPhone 4S. To enter, just become a 148Apps and Gameloft Facebook fan – www.facebook.com/gameloft and www.facebook.com/148apps.

Or you can follow both of us on Twitter as well at www.twitter.com/148apps and www.twitter.com/gameloft. Then, write the following public tweet: “Upgrade to a 4S yet? Follow @Gameloft & @148Apps & RT for a chance to win an iPhone 4S! Gameloft gaming on the 4S: http://glft.co/uIR3Y1″

For a link to the official rules, plus more information, read the full article on 148Apps.

Our GiggleApps sister site featured a new review of Transport Jigsaw Puzzles 123 for iPad from writer Amy Solomon. She writes, "Transport Jigsaw Puzzles 123 for iPad is the terrific sequel to the original app, Farm Jigsaw Puzzles 123 for iPad. Seven scenes are included here that wonderfully introduce many vehicles and means of transportation, both traditional and unique, as well as a very fun, puzzle experience with the choice of using 2 to 16 puzzle pieces per scene and include hints if needed. There is also an iPhone version of this app available with 5 puzzle scenes included."

Read the full review on GiggleApps.

Finally, on 148Apps.biz, site founder Jeff Scott recapped his recent visit to the Sprint Open Solutions Conference, saying, "During the keynote from CEO Dan Hesse, he mentioned many times how great it was to have the iPhone on Sprint now (and to no longer have to answer the question of when they would get the iPhone). The addition of the iPhone 4 and 4S should allow Sprint to have their best year ever this year. Needing to have just one million adds to reach that record level. The iPhone should easily help them retain users and gain new ones."

Read the full recap on 148Apps.biz.

We're done for this week! As always, check our Twitter and Facebook feeds for the latest news, reviews, contests and giveaways. See you next week.

This week at 148Apps, once we were all finished with our Halloween and post-Halloween merriment, writer Lisa Caplan explored the vast landscape of camera replacement apps for the iPhone. Caplan writes, "Apple has done a lot to improve the native camera app with iOS 5 and lucky iPhone 4S owners are already taking the highest quality iPhone images ever. But, even with the tune up, many of the most requested features from manual adjustments to photo bursts, darkroom effects to more sharing options (Facebook anyone?) are still lacking. But, the app store is filled with alternatives so this week we look at our favorite four camera replacement apps."

Unlock your iPhone's photo potential by reading the full article on 148Apps.com.

Over at our kid's apps headquarters, GiggleApps, Amy Solomon took a closer look at an innovative 3D comic book called The Gwaii. Solomon states, "This app does have some 3D effects as well that are best seen as one moves the device, looking at the additional angles that this provides. The 3D here is effective but somewhat overly sensitive to touch and there have been moments that I wish I would have turned this element off, trying to keep my hand steady to minimize the screen movements. I think this effect may be a distraction for some children, while others may really enjoy this effect."

Read more about this new interactive storybook on GiggleApps.com.

Finally, AndroidRundown featured an article by Carter Dotson that attempted to address the iOS versus Android ongoing argument head-on. Dotson says, "The thing to remember, though, is that Android and iOS are different in their very natures. iOS is a piece of Apple software, following Apple principles; it is designed to run on specific hardware. That is a big part of why the experience is often smoother. Android is designed to run on many, many forms of hardware, not just what Google has intended for it to run on. Yes, Google has their stock devices that run a pure Android, but Android is meant to be something bigger, and not as something tailored to one set of hardware. That Android is on the caliber of Android is impressive."

Add your voice to the argument after reading the full article on AndroidRundown.com.

That is the week that was. What started with Halloween ended with the first onslaught of holiday commercials on television, so keep your eye on 148Apps.com and our Facebook and Twitter streams for the latest reviews and helpful hints to get you through the holiday season. See you next week, readers!

This week at 148Apps.com, writer Rob Rich previewed the upcoming freemium Charlie Brown game, Snoopy's Street Fair. Rich was pleasantly elated by the game's trailer, as he writes, "(The Peanuts characters have) been around a long time. Long enough, in fact, to have spawned more than a couple video game iterations. Now it’s time for the unnaturally bald man-child and his friends to try their luck on iOS with Snoopy’s Street Fair. I’ll admit I was somewhat surprised and confused by the odd choice of gameplay style at first, but after only a few seconds of that trailer down there I’ve completely changed my tune. I’m legitimately excited for this game."

Read the full article on 148Apps.com.

Kid-friendly site GiggleApps plumbed the depths of the mysterious with its review of Boquitas: The Hunt for the Chupacabras. Writer Amy Solomon comments, "There is so much I really appreciate about this app. It is wonderfully colorful, with a bright and lively palette that I greatly enjoy. The look of these illustrations is highly stylized, reminiscent to me of the great, iconic cartoons created by Genndy Tartakovsky, and include clever interactions that add richness, whit and whimsy to this pitch-perfect storybook application. The art direction here is perfectly realized as the reader’s attention is focused in all the right places to further this story along, creating nice moments of suspense and great humor."

Hunt for more chupacabras and read the full review on GiggleApps.com.

Finally, on 148Apps.biz, Rob LeFebvre got some initial impressions of iCloud from a developer's perspective when he spoke to Dave Howell of Avatron Software. LeFebvre writes, "Howell suggests that iCloud is now allowing developers like him to reduce costs, and use iCloud to store information for app usage, including Key Value Storage. This allows developers to leverage the free nature of the basic iCloud service instead of incurring server costs, or using higher priced options like Dropbox and Box.net."

Read the full interview on 148Apps.biz.

With Halloween coming up, don't forget to check 148Apps often for great weekend and holiday sales on the apps and games you love and want. Or, just Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news, contests and more delivered right to you.

See you next week after your early week candy binge!

This week at 148Apps, site editor Rob LeFebvre interviewed Jeremiah Slaczka, creative director behind the mind-blowingly original (and long-awaited) Scribblenauts Remix on iOS. Slaczka says, “...I really like the iOS setup. It is concise and accessible to anyone who wants to develop for it, which has really changed handheld development. We will definitely be working more on this platform.”

Read the full interview at 148Apps.

Meanwhile, over at GiggleApps, reviewer Amy Solomon took a closer look at another open-ended and creative game, but this time for children. Toca Store, "Transforms one’s device into a department store where kids can take turns playing both shopkeeper as well as patron. This app opens up to a store before the doors open, giving kids the chance to peruse a catalogue of product choices that they can sell in their store, that range from food stuff – both fresh produce as well as packaged foods, home goods like a hair dryer or fabric softener, and a nice selection of toys."

Encourage the budding economist in your child and read the full review at GiggleApps.

Last, but certainly not least, Android Rundown celebrated the arrival (at last) of universal native screen capture. Carter Dotson writes, "According to Android Police, Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) will support this function universally by tapping volume down and lock simultaneously. This will be a dramatic help to anyone taking screen captures, as I’ve even heard from newcomers to Android development used to iOS development where screen capture is a breeze that there’s just no easy way to take screenshots. No longer!"

Celebrate with other Android users on Android Rundown.

The time has come to bid farewell to yet another week, but fortunately there's more good stuff heading your way next week. Check in with our Facebook or Twitter feeds to get the latest news, reviews and contests. Till next week...adios amigos.

This week at 148Apps, we celebrated the release of iOS 5 in style, providing guidance on setting up the now-iCloud-friendly device in a home with multiple computers, multiple iPhones and multiple iTunes accounts. 148Apps founder Jeff Scott writes, "If you have multiple iTunes accounts, you can sign in and out of the different accounts without issue from the Store settings. That is unless you turn on automatic downloads. New to iOS 5 are automatic downloads for the iTunes Store for Apps, Books, and Music. If this device only uses the one account, it’s safe to turn on any of these that you wish. But, turning this on will lock this device to this iTunes account for 90 days. So if multiple accounts are used, do not turn on automatic downloads."

Read all of this need-to-know info on 148Apps.com.

Meanwhile, on sister site GiggleApps, Amy Solomon reviewed an app sure to help your child become more adept with the alphabet, while also cultivating them into kiddie foodies. Solomon says that ABC Food is, "the latest and possibly greatest app from Peapod Labs’s series of ABC apps focused on both letter recognition as well as teaching about a specific topic, be it animals, music, modes of transportation or sports and includes the use of beautifully detailed photographs, videos from Youtube and sometimes fun facts as well. ABC Food includes a new feature to this series as this app contains fun interactions for each food highlighted within this application."

Read the full review with a quick click over to GiggleApps.

Data was the name of the game on 148Apps.biz. Rob LeFebvre writes that, "App search company Xylogic has released 220 app download reports from 29 different countries in order to provide partners with a huge amount of data to be used in decision making process across app publishers, developers and the like. The data is sortable across countries and mobile app platforms, including iOS, Android, and Windows Phone."

Read what all of this data could mean for you on 148Apps.biz.

That's the long and short of it for this week. Keep watching our Twitter and Facebook feeds for lots of news, updates and contests. See you next week, crimefighters!

To say that there were tumultuous ups and downs in the world of all things Apple and iOS this week is a colossal understatement. Suffice it to say, then, that the interest, anticipation and enthusiasm generated for Apple's upcoming iPhone 4s was sadly muted by the untimely death of Steve Jobs. While the print and television media have eulogized Steve thoroughly, 148Apps.com founder Jeff Scott posted a succinct and elegant send-off for the icon: "Personally I’d like to thank Steve for all he did and all he inspired. It should be obvious, but without what he created this site that I love and labor over wouldn’t be here. He will leave a void that may never be filled."

While Steve Jobs has passed, his company and its products continue to live and thrive, and the iPhone 4s is just the latest iteration of that product legacy. Jeff Scott asked the question on the minds of all iPhone owners - should I upgrade now? "Hate to start the rumor mill early, but there will, most certainly be, a next iPhone. And it could come out anytime between 6 months and 18 months from now. It will also likely be a major upgrade and a new form factor. Probably true LTE 4G as well. There, I said it. Rumor mill restarted.

Should you wait? Depends on what kind of user you are. If you are a tech geek, we both know you aren’t going to wait. If you are happy with sticking with a phone for a couple of years maybe you will wait for the next one.

But the iPhone 4S is a great phone. If you have an iPhone 3G or non-iPhone, this is the best time to get one. The jump from an iPhone 3G to an 4S will be huge. You won’t believe what you are missing."

Read the full discussion on 148Apps.com.

Over at our sister site, GiggleApps, reviewer Amy Solomon took a closer look at a new app for kids from National Geographic, WeirdButTrue. Solomon writes, "Very easy to use, the app is a random fact generator filled with interesting tidbits that kids and adults will enjoy. Each page has its own weird but true information, with bright colors and many vivid photos of related images used to illustrate what is being explained, and I also appreciate the creative use of fonts and design in general to fit the text onto the page in most interesting ways possible. These facts can be about animals, the human body, toys and other topics as the app has a plethora of information and it is great fun how varied sound effects are used per each page that in some way relate to the fact being presented."

Read the full review on GiggleApps.

That's it for this week, true believer, but keep watching our Twitter and Facebook feeds for news, giveaways and more. Join us here next week for another recap - same app time - same app station.

Amy Solomon over at GiggleApps took a look at VivaKids' ABC last week:

Simple to use, this app opens up with a row of letters, A-Z, found on the top of the screen, which can be scrolled through with a finger, tapping a letter to choose. A window center screen is the focus here, where one will view these impeccably done letter videos. The background used can also be transformed with a tap to a number of vivid patterns, bold textures, or colors each unique to itself. An artist’s easel can also be touched to bring the player to a section of the app which allows children to trace the letter in question...

For the full review, head on over to GiggleApps.

This week at 148Apps.com, writer Blake Grundman offered part one of his developer interview with the folks behind Squishy's Revenge, Toy Studio. Grundman writes, "Despite only having been in existence since September of 2009 the team working behind the scenes at Toy Studio have been hard at work, churning out an impressive thirteen games in that short span. Having successfully released titles on both the Nook Color and Facebook, it seemed like the next logical step was to transition into the iOS space."

Read the rest of part one at 148Apps.com, and keep checking in for parts two and three soon.

Over at 148Apps.biz, founder Jeff Scott reported on Unity's big announcement at Unite11. Scott says, "Shown during the Unite11 keynote, Unity 3.5 includes lots of new, very impressive sounding features like Multi-threaded rendering, Improved occlusion culling, and Radiosity Normal Mapping lightmaps. All in all, about 40 major new features. I’m thinking this will make some developers very happy — and me, as a game player will reap the benefits! For a full list of new features in Unity 3.5, check out the press release."

Read more about the big announcement on 148Apps.biz.

GiggleApps writer Amy Solomon contributed a review of Snap and Share Kids Cam, stating, "I take a lot of photos of my son, who will also now ask me to take a snapshot many times of things he finds amusing, sometimes asking me to email them to family members. This app easily allows a child his age to take and send photos himself, as this app is very simple to use and contains nice spoken prompts explaining each event leading up to the emailing of photos. So easy to use in fact, that I plan to use it myself as this application is surely quicker than taking a picture, finding it on the camera roll, tapping to email, typing the recipient’s email address and tapping again to send the email on its way."

Read the rest of Solomon's review on GiggleApps.

And thus we come to another weekly round-up of 148Apps network goodness. There's so much more to see on the various sites, so check them out for yourself - and don't forget to follow our Twitter and Facebook feeds for daily news updates and contests galore. See you next time.

This week at 148Apps.com, founder Jeff Scott unleashed the mighty iPhone Service Survey onto an unsuspecting public. Editor Rob LeFebvre writes, "The iPhone 5 should be coming along fairly soon, and we wanted to take a moment to gauge where our readers were at with their current service and their plans for their future service. Because, of course you’re gonna get an iPhone 5, right? We hope to use this data to make some recommendations on what the best provider for the iPhone 5 will be for you, in your area."

Read more about how you can help spread the word, and maybe win a $100 iTunes gift card, on 148Apps.com.

Not to be outdone, 148Apps.biz also featured a story about a new survey, this one courtesy of iOS developer Owen Goss. Owen "is wanting to get some data about iOS game revenue. His perspective is that smaller, independent game developers and studios really need better market dat, without hiring super expensive consulting firms to do so. He’s created a short, eight question survey that gathers no personally identifying information to that end. Now, he just needs iOS game developers to take it."

Read the entire story on 148Apps.biz, and take the survey by clicking here.

On our apps-for-kids site, GiggleApps, writer Amy Solomon reviewed Food Heroes, "an application for iPad consisting of activities focused on teaching nutritious food choices with the nice use of colorful and fun illustrations. A simple matching game is included where the player turns over cards looking for pairs – here with a healthy food theme.A coloring page is also offered where children can fill in these drawings as well as food themes, with the tap of a color and the drag of a finger. An eraser is offered here, as if one has the ability to control the size of the line used when filling in these pages, and one can save his work as well – always nice options to have."

Read more about Food Heroes on GiggleApps.

There's always more heading your way across the 148Apps network, so tune in to our Facebook and Twitter channels for more news, and even a giveaway or two. See you next week!

Amy Solomon over at GiggleApps took a look at ABC for the Little Scientist for the iPad last week:

ABC for the Little Scientist for the iPad is a nice, interactive letters app with a science theme.

Like other apps such as this, ABC for the Little Scientist consists of letters a to z, each illustrated with its own interactive page where one can tap the letter or word in question to listen to narration, here of either a male or female voice as well as to look for interactive hotspots. I like the fact that this app uses unique words not typically found in apps like this but instead tackles more complex ideas such as “connection” as in internet connection, this page including a roaming satellite and the earth from a view in space. A version for iPhone is also available.

For the full review, head on over to GiggleApps.

This week at 148Apps.com, iOS helped all of us come just a little closer to cutting the omnipresent power of our cable companies, as TNT, TBS and NBC released full-length versions of many of their shows via iOS apps. Rob LeFebvre writes, "While (the TNT and TBS apps) may not be as earth shattering as the news from NBC, you can bet that we are witnessing a new paradigm in television viewing. Apparently, being able to create and control their own portal to their own television content has these companies, and no doubt others to soon follow suit, creating the cable-cord-free future we have all wanted from the outset. While the TNT and TBS offerings still require at least a financial link to cable television companies, the NBC announcement leaves no doubt that TV as we know it is changing forever."

Read more about the future of premium TV content on 148Apps.com.

Over at our sister site GiggleApps, reviewer Amy Solomon took a closer look at Arthur and Charles Present Create & Play, a collection of virtual toys for children. Solomon states, "Four sections are offered in this app, my personal favorite being Face Creator, where the player builds wonderfully whimsical cartoon faces from the 178 parts offered arranged into such categories that go beyond the obvious hair/eyes/nose/mouth choices including eyewear, headwear and extras. According to the developers, over 400 billion different characters can be created and after playing with the plethora of options offered, I believe it."

Read about the rest of the toys in this new collection at GiggleApps.

And finally, AndroidRundown stalwart writer Carter Dotson reported on what it takes to transition a top-grossing iOS game to the Android platform. Dotson says, "Tap Zoo has been one of the biggest successes on iOS that hasn’t really been talked about. In the past year since its release, the game has been on the top 10 of the iOS App Store’s Top Grossing charts for 48 of those 52 weeks. Now, the game is making the big jump to other platforms, and first on the list of non-iOS platforms? Android, of course! As one could probably infer, this means that Tap Zoo is now on Android!"

Read more about the transition at AndroidRundown.com.

And with that, we end our weekly wrap-up. But fear not; there's always all sorts of new content appearing across all of the 148Apps network of sites. Keep track of all the latest happenings (and participate in a giveaway and contest or two) by following us on Twitter and Facebook. See you next week!

This week at 148Apps.com, we took a first look at Garmin's new StreetPilot onDemand app. Rob LeFebvre writes, "The app itself offers 30 days of premium features for that dollar, including multimodal pedestrian routing, bus/train schedules, spoken turn-by-turn guidance with street names, 3D representations of buildings, traffic rerouting, photoReal Junction View and Google Local Search. Once the free month is up, users can pay $2.99 monthly or $29.99 annually, with a special introductory $19.99 annual price for this first year."

Read more about StreetPilot onDemand on 148Apps.com.

Meanwhile, at GiggleApps, we got the music playing with our review of Sylvester's Band. Reviewer Amy Solomon states, "The illustrations are simply gorgeous to look at and I really appreciate how each location Henry visits has a unique landscape all its own, while maintaining the style used throughout this book, such as squared-off trees or cloud formations. I enjoy a great deal how the look of this story changes, becoming dark as the gang makes their way high into the clouds looking for William the Wolf. The details about lassoing the moon in order to bring it to the party create wonderful images that stayed with me after reading this book, my favorite moment of this story. It is also great fun the way each time Henry collects another band member they can all be seen, one by one, running to a new location. These creatures look great as well..."

Read the rest of Amy's review on GiggleApps.com.

148Apps.biz featured an article about tablet owners and TV viewing habits. Kyle Flanigan writes, "According to the report, some 50% of tablet owners – iPad included – watch films and TV shows on their portable device for leisure. In the words of research director Keith Nissen, “tablets, in particular, have become a primary video device, both inside and outside the home.” There are few adjectives that come to mind to describe such a high percentage: unexpected, unanticipated and unprecedented began to scratch the surface."

Find out more by reading the full story at 148Apps.biz.

And finally, AndroidRundown writer Carter Dotson announced G5 Entertainment's first simultaneously-launched iOS and Android app, Stand o' Food 3. "While G5 Entertainment only recently got on to the Android train, they aren’t wasting their time making sure their library of sim games are well-represented on the platform. In the past few weeks, both Supermarket Mania 2 and Virtual City have been released for Android, after their initial mobile releases on iOS."

Read all about it on AndroidRundown.

That's it for this week, but don't forget to check out our ever-changing lists of apps, and make sure you keep up to date on all the latest news and happenings by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook. See you next week, true believer.

This week at 148Apps, writer Gianna LaPin continued the 500,000 Apps Interview Series by chatting with Colin Lynch of Freeverse. Lynch says, "There are plenty of skill-sets that are helpful in creating great apps and great games. An eye for design, an ability to analyze the market and spot opportunities, speed of thought and action to take advantage of those opportunities, great coding skills, flexibility to work around problems or change directions when events warrant."

Read the full interview on 148Apps.com.

Over at our kid-centric sister site GiggleApps, reviewer Amy Solomon took a thorough look at Practice Book, a new iPad app that uses a familiar connect-the-dot approach to helping children learn letters and words. Solomon writes, "Because my son is new to creating letters, this is an app we work on together. I may demonstrate the correct way to connect the dots in terms of the up or down motions commonly used to make letters or give him simple instructions that he can follow by himself. Sometimes I hold his hand and together we trace over template in the hope that his muscle memory for writing these letters will develop. We often use a stylus as well to get used to holding a pencil to write."

Read the full review at GiggleApps.

And at Android Rundown, Carter Dotson comments on the new that iOS superhit Instagram is coming to the Android platform...sort of...maybe...one day. He writes, "Instagram’s CEO Kevin Systrom has announced that an Android version of their photo sharing service is “on the horizon” for Android. The app is very close to being real, as they don’t even have a team assembled to develop the app for Android. That is also sarcastic."

Read more of Dotson's commentary on Android Rundown.

Finally, here in the states, it's the Labor Day weekend. That means scads of sales on tons of apps. Keep up to date with the latest and greatest changes by visiting our Huge Labor Day Weekend Price Drop Round-Up. There are great deals to be had, and some amazing games to play in between bites of char-broiled goodness.

That's it for this week. Want to know the latest and greatest news about everything happening in the iOS world, including giveaways and contests? Join us on our Twitter and Facebook streams. You'll be glad you did. See you next week!

Harold and the Purple Crayon is a wondrous and thoughtful adaptation of the classic 1955 children’s book of the same name that had been developed into an interactive storybook, now a universal application.

I remember Harold and the Purple Crayon from my childhood and have shared this story with my son as well. Few children’s books that I can think of beg to be

turned into an interactive storybook as much as this one does, and I have been eagerly waiting for this to be developed into a universal app, knowing that at some point this was bound to happen.

I am very eager to introduce this app to readers who may not know of its existence. It is the perfect experience that I expected with every element thoughtfully conceived, making this book a joy to share with my son.

Read the full review at GiggleApps.

This week, August 22-26, Starbucks introduced a new promotion that features free app downloads for its ka-jillion coffee drinking-customers, similar to the company's method of distributing free song downloads. 148Apps writer Carter Dotson notes, "What will be interesting to see the effect this has on apps offered in the promotion; Shazam Encore has jumped up to #6 in the App Store recently, which may be due to this feature. This could be due to each redeemed copy going toward the app’s sales, or it could be because the promotion is working exactly how it’s intended; by giving the app away for free, people are talking about it and recommending it, causing other people to pay for it."

Read Carter's full article on 148Apps.com.

Also, we celebrated the at-last launch of Peggle for the iPad. This PopCap gem has been a long-time coming, but writer Lisa Caplan assures it's worth the wait: "This is classic Peggle, and for fans wondering if it’s worth buying the title one more time, the short answer is yes. If, by some chance, this is a first encounter of a Peggle kind, stop reading and start downloading."

Read all of Lisa's review on 148Apps.com.

Meanwhile, the kid-friendly folks at GiggleApps reviewed Sticker Factory, an app that, as writer Amy Solomon says, "is a great choice for grade school and up, and I would not be at all surprised if kids this age do much better at this game than I, as is the case in many speed-based games that I come across."

Read more about Sticker Factory on GiggleApps.

Finally, make sure you stop by and peruse our ever-changing map of apps on our 148Apps Lists page. Whether you're interested in finding out the latest releases, or just keeping your finger on the most-popular charts, it's all accessible through one handy page.

That's it for this week! Until next time, make sure you check in with us on Facebook or via Twitter. There are always giveaways galore going out on both sites.