This week at 148Apps.com, we celebrated the release of Tweetbot, version 2.0. Blake Grundman and Jennifer Allen broke the news, then Carter Dotson wrote the full review. Dotson says, “There are very few apps that someone could say ‘this has been released!’ that I would buy immediately. Tweetbot for iPad was apparently on that list, because as soon as I saw on Twitter that the iPhone/iPod touch Twitter client was now available on iPad, I went out and bought it sight-unseen with an urgency unlike the way I approach many other things in my life.”
Released: 2012-02-08 :: Category: Social Networking
Meanwhile, on Giggleapps, reviewer Amy Solomon took a closer look at interactive storybook The Gnat and the Lion. She says, “My kids (ages 10 and 7) and I listened to the read-aloud story and watched the animated short film together before bedtime. We liked the animation, and watching African animals such as the lion and the rhino encouraged a discussion about African grasslands and the animals that live there. We liked the fact that the words are highlighted as the narrator reads them, which is very helpful for children who are learning to read. We also liked the narrator’s voice and accent and how it tied into the African-themed story.”
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-02-03 :: Category: Books
Finally, at 148Apps.biz, writer Brad Hilderbrand reported on the explosion of app usage during last week’s Super Bowl. Hildebrand states, “Sunday night’s Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots and New York Giants was a classic, but according to a new report from Flurry most viewers were just as likely to be staring at their smartphone screen as they were the game. The company used analytics software built into many popular apps to surmise that of the 111 million people watching the Super Bowl, an estimated 98 million spent at least some time futzing with an app.”
Another week down, but don’t forget to stay on top of all things related to the app-nation through us. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest news, reviews and contests right out of the gate. In the immortal words of Garrison Keillor, be well, do good work, and keep in touch. See you next week.
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.
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.
Zinc Roe Design has released a new app for iPad that can help out with education. Entitled Doodlecast Pro, this is an app that allows users to draw on the screen, with various colored backgrounds, pointer options, and the ability to import backgrounds from the Camera Roll. The catch is that all of this can be recorded by the app. Users can doodle to their heart’s content, and have the drawings recorded and saved, with the ability to record audio from the mic along with the video. The video can then be saved to the Camera Roll, emailed, or uploaded directly to YouTube.
This app could have amazing applications in the field of education. Teachers could use this to record math lessons, by drawing out problems, and providing detailed explanations of how they work, which the students can then rewatch at their convenience. Science teachers could use it to point out the features of atoms and molecules, or to point out specific features on diagrams, again with voice commentary included. Students could make use of the app, as well: they could use this to record their notes or homework, and go back to see not just the solutions to their work, but to see their thought process in doing it. Videos can be saved in their crisp high-resolution quality as drawn on the iPad, or in lower qualities to save space.
This is an advanced version of Zinc Roe’s earlier Doodlecast for Kids app, and with some more of these advanced features, and design intended for serious usage, their technology can be used to everyone’s benefit. This is the kind of app that shows how education can take advantage of the latest technology, and how the iPad in particular could be a major part of the way that education is improved across the world. This app has that kind of potential. Check it out in motion below.
There is an ongoing debate in the world of gaming over whether or not the medium can be considered art. Those who think it should be point to games like Braid, Flower, and even Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP as proof of gaming’s artistic merit. However, based on the look of Woolly Robot’s new experimental game Flight of the Fireflies, it might be time to add a new game to that list.
The game describes itself as “an interactive artwork” or “an interactive musical poem” so naturally its more about the experience than the gameplay. Players use touch to move a group of fireflies across the night sky and through various environments while each firefly produces its own unique tone. Throughout their journey, players can discover more fireflies and add them to the musical collective.
This symphony of the night is only available for iPad owners. Flight of the Fireflies is available now on the App Store.
Whether it’s in real life or in a video game, navigating a maze can be pretty challenging. However, the satisfaction of making it to the end can make the whole experience worth it. Elements+ Maze is the “world’s first multi-floor maze game” and it’s hoping that it’s extra challenge leads to extra satisfaction.
Each maze has a fire level and an ice level. To reach the end of the labyrinth, players will have to guide their character in between them both, adding depth and height to the typically flat maze genre. Friends can compete to see who can finish a maze faster and mazes are randomly generated meaning the content is theoretically limitless. Playing on harder difficulties earns more coins for one to spend on things like character customization. Players can also elect to just buy more coins with real money.
Fortunately, with there being so many in-app purchase options, the initial download is free. Elements+ Maze is available now on the App Store.
In keeping with January’s health & fitness theme I’m taking a stab at some self-disclosure. I have a spinal cord injury with a host of related 14-karat diagnoses. I don’t use apps for the disabled, though, like those to help remind me to take my meds, find handicapped parking, get medical information or find online support communities. I don’t think anything on my iPad – including pictures – would hint that I have “special needs.” Nonetheless, iOS devices and apps have improved my health, both physical and mental.
I used to work for a major(ish) search engine and loved it. I made a decent wage, too. When they went belly-up I was recruited by a dream company, as first tier as it gets. But Canada has socialized medicine – something someone in my situation avails herself of often – and my husband is disabled too. He’s legally blind. Very. We joke it’s the crippled leading the blind around here – I’m allowed, you’re not and don’t we hide it well? We have a young son, live in a mortgage-free cottage in a wonderful little village with lots of community support. In the end, a move cross-country and below our Southern border proved imprudent.
That reasonable decision, however, left me in a bind that quickly became a stupor. Finding legit online work isn’t easy, much less something that accommodates the daily, often hourly, vagaries of my health. Nor does it come close to replacing what I was earning. When my son was in pre-school he was home enough to occupy a lot of my time, but when he started kindergarden full-time I fell into a mental malaise. If my leg muscles were atrophying from lack of use, my cerebral muscles were doing likewise from lack of social and intellectual stimulation.
Enter the iPad. In December 2010 I got one on what I now call iHanukkah. I received an iPhone upgrade too, but as much as I love it, smartphones are for people on the move. I am shut-in five to eight months a year so I use it for Slacker Radio, SMS, the camera and GPS. For me, the iPad was the transformative device.
I am an art nut, a history obsessed bookworm, talentless musician, and I used to indulge my backpacking wanderlust frequently. Discovering apps like MonetHD, Art Authority, Six Strings, Paris: DK Eyewitness and one revelatory digital book, Virtual History ROMA made my synapses salivate and reignited my passions – albeit in sedentary form.
I discovered styluses, capacitive brushes, and amazing art apps like procreate and Zen Brush that let my creativity flow. I loaded iBooks, Kindle, Zinio and PressReader – all with scalable fonts – and my mental muscles started to flex. I awakened to find a new way to use my creative writing background. There were no reviews of $9.99 Roma when I spotted it upon its debut. That’s a lot of coin on a disability pension, but temptation won and at first tap my eyes popped. I wrote a review myself. And then another. One was picked up by a review site, a couple of gigs followed and ta-da! I’m a bonafide blogger.
I am not out hiking because of my iPads and apps, nor do I break fewer bones nor get fewer infections. I have great apps that could help, like iMuscle for physical therapy and My Medical for health tracking, but I am organizationally impaired and forget (read skip) PT. But the use of mobile technology has allowed me post reviews from every local hospital, at home lying prone in bed and, in the summer, poolside. I can’t say I make even 1/2 of what I did before, but the freelancing is starting to add up – enough that I started my own iOS review and giveaway site.
I feel better. My mental health is improved, which is important when fighting any illness and linked to successful pain management. I have self-esteem and above all I am a role model to the squishy red-head in the pics who is now eight. As he sees me testing and tapping from dawn often to new dawn, 6 days a week, he learns that there are no real dis-abilities, just different abilities. Cliche? Maybe, but if one year with this tech can change my life so much, the future holds wondrous possibilities for access and inclusion for every kind of special need. Now all I need is an app to cure appaholism!
__
If you have special needs and an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad with their apps help you in unexpected ways, we’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Thanks to the Team Stream app sports fans have been able to stream all of the coverage they could ask for on their smartphones. Tablet owners on the other hand have not had such a privilege, until now. Team Stream HD is available now for iPad.
Team Stream comes courtesy of Bleacher Report, “the Web’s fifth largest sports media destination with more than 22 million monthly unique users.” With the app, users can receive their own personal sports news reports. Similar to Flipboard, Team Stream searches the web and services like Twitter to collect and deliver information on whatever teams and sports the user wants. So whether one wants the latest scoops on college football, professional golf or local MMA tournaments they can find them with Team Stream.
The extra screen size of the iPad makes navigation easier while showing more of an article at once. The “HTML5 Experience” means no photo or video content is lost. Team Stream HD is a free download on the App Store.
This week at 148Apps.com, the news was all about education and how Apple plans to transform it through a variety of iOS and Mac apps. While the new version of iBooks, and the Mac iBooks Author got most of the press, writer Jennifer Allen focused her attention on the newly-released iTunes U for iPad and iPhone. “More than 500,000 free lectures, videos, books and other resources are accessible from within this app with the ability to browse collections from institutions such as Stanford, Yale, Oxford and the New York Public Library. Notes and highlighting functionality makes everything easy to review through this informative app.”
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-01-19 :: Category: Education
Meanwhile, Amy Solomon investigated Operation: Math over at GiggleApps. She writes, “The style of this app is simply wonderful, but I am embarrassed to admit that I was not able to get past the last addition level and have had problem passing other levels in the subtraction, multiplication and division levels that include double digit mathematics – not from a lack of mathematical ability – but from a lack of time.”
iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-12-13 :: Category: Education
Finally, site editor Rob LeFebvre took a closer look at Game Dojos, a not-so-run-of-the-mill business incubator. He writes, “Game Dojos wants to connect the best of the business with the newest to the business, helping find some micro funding and even office space for program participants. “We’d love the game companies to come here,” Burkett said, referring to San Francisco, where Game Dojos is based, “but we’re also looking into the virtual thing. We’d prefer teams to relocate to SF if they can for the three months, however we are not going to refuse to take a strong talented team based elsewhere, and will talk to them individually for consideration.” They’re not just looking to fund the studios, then, but actually nurture them to help create “longer term companies,” she said.”
And that is the week that was. If you want the latest news, reviews and contests, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook. We’re always there for you! See you next time.
The developer of Geom-E-Tree is back with a new app that combines artwork with the dark art of mathematics. PolygonFlux works using geometric principles to create what are called fluxagons, designs that are formed by vectors bouncing off the insides of a polygon. Users determine the starting point, determine the angle that it will fire off at, and watch as fluxagons are formed. Equilateral polygons can be formed in a number of sides from three to fourteen. The number of bounces can be controlled by pinching in and out, and double-tapping to return to 300 bounces, as higher numbers of bounces can cause even the latest iOS hardware to lag under the weight of the calculations. Precise angle measurements can be made as well; by tapping or swiping on different parts of the screen, the angles can be adjusted in degrees, minutes, and seconds.
There are a variety of themes to use with PolygonFlux to add style to the fluxagons, including “Fat Binary,” which uses alternating white and black lines to look like the design from Eddie Van Halen’s guitar. Fluxagons can be emailed to other people, saved to the Camera Roll, or saved to an internal album to be called back up specifically. PolygonFlux is available now for the iPad.
Did you get that long-coveted new iPhone 4s or iPad 2 for Christmas? Not sure what your new miraculous devices can do to improve your life? Or, maybe you’ve had an iOS device for quite a while and want a fresh perspective on its capabilities and the latest apps available for it. In either case, 148Apps and iPhone Life Magazine want to give you a chance to start 2012 off right by winning one of five magazine subscriptions to iPhone Life.
What do you have to do to enter? It’s simple! Just visit the following site: http://www.iphonelife.com/contest As a bonus, you’ll receive a free browser issue of iPhone Life.
Between the Amazon Kindle App and Apple’s own iBooks store, the iPad has firmly established its place as a major player in the e-Reader market. Amazon, also being a very major player, is continuing to secure their own position by making it as easy as possible to get their content anywhere. The latest example of this is their new, touch-friendly, iPad-optimized Kindle Store.
To access the store iPad users must simply enter www.amazon.com/iPadKindleStore into their Safari browsers. From there they can shop for books in the new, touch-screen compatible layout with genres, editor’s picks and top 100 paid and free books easy to search. Amazon encourages adding the site to the home screen for even easier access.
The site also supports the Kindle Cloud Reader function. Any books purchased are stored on the cloud, ready to the accessed on any Kindle device, including this new website. Readers can keep going even if the internet connection is lost. As more mobile versions of sites crop up, it’s good to see that tablets are getting their own sites too.
Just as the death of arcades hasn’t stopped Ion Audio from putting out cool, new iCade accessories, they aren’t letting the decline of games like Guitar Hero keep them from getting into the plastic instrument race. However, like their previous Piano Apprentice iPhone accessory, the upcoming Guitar Apprentice isn’t a game. Instead, it’s a musical teaching tool.
The device is a full-sized guitar shell that the iPad docks into. The onscreen frets light up to show players where they need to place their fingers and whether or not they are strumming the right chords. From there, players can learn and record songs with compatible apps like GarageBand and Ion Audio’s own upcoming Guitar Apprentice app.
The Guitar Apprentice accessory will soon hit retail for $99 in America before arriving in the rest of the world. If this works, imagine what other instruments Ion Audio could plug an iPad into. The second image shows that a drum accessory is in the works. What else could be coming? Saxophone Apprentice anyone?
SugarSync has been allowing users to sync all sorts of media across computers and mobile devices for over a year now. With so many people getting their first taste of cloud computing and storage thanks to this past year’s holiday gifts, SugarSync has decided to give them proper welcome. A new update has hit the service adding a host of new features.
Together, these new features streamline and speed up the media management process. Users can now upload multiple files at once instead of one at a time. Files will also now sync in the background allowing users to enjoy their devices while they update.
When syncing photos, users can choose to load low quality versions at a faster rate, higher quality versions at a slower rate or a compromise between the two. The photo tab has also been redesigned making it much easier and quicker to view and share albums.
SugarSync is available for free on pretty much any Mac, PC and mobile device out there.
Recently, a startup named CloudOn launched their eponymous app that offers users the ability to edit Microsoft Office files on their iPad. The app supported Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and Excel spreadsheets, all available through CloudOn’s WorkSpace technology. As well, it supported Dropbox synchronization for uploading and editing files from the cloud-based storage service, and the ability to open attachments from the email client in the app directly. The app also launched for free, which compared to most apps with similar functionality was a steep discount.
Astute readers will notice the usage of past tense throughout the article so far. That’s because a free app with the ability to use Microsoft Office on the iPad was apparently quite popular. The app launched on January 3rd, and was so initially popular that CloudOn had to pull the app from the App Store in order to meet demand. They’re currently accepting invitations to get back in to the service when the app relaunches, though no date has been offered for when it will be back up for download. Until then, we’ll have to suffer the tyranny of editing our Office documents on our computer, or with pricey paid apps!
Posted December 30th, 2011 by Keri Honea Our Rating: :: KING OF CHECK-IN APPS
CheckIn+ HD allows you to check-in with Foursquare and Facebook Places at the same time, all while showing you where your friends from both networks have checked in recently as well as local mayorships.
Happy Holidays! If you’re like many folks, you’ll have gotten a new iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch this holiday season. And if you’re looking for a place to learn all about this new magical device in your life, you’ve come to the right place. 148Apps has tons of resources on using your new device and filling it with the best thing about it: apps.
Learning The Basics
The operating system of these devices is one of the most intuitive around. However, there’s always more waiting under the hood to make things just that much easier or better on us. While your new iPhone or iPad may not come with a manual, you can download one fairly simply from the iBooks Store. First, grab iBooks (FREE!, + Universal App), then grab the manual for your new iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.
Speaking of the operating system, we’ve written a few articles about the latest and greatest from Cupertino right here on 148Apps. Check out our Full Feature Roundup on iOS 5.
We even published some downloadable magazine-style User Guides last year, on each of the devices. Feel free to grab them and read through them – many of the tips and tricks included there are just as relevant today as they were then. iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
To the iCloud!!!
You may have seen some of the information about iCloud in the Apple TV commercials. It’s a great system that gives you unprecedented storage and sharing options. Here’s a short intro to iCloud from Apple.
We’ve got you covered with iCloud as well. Here’s information on both moving your data to the iCloud to help keep things synced and backed up. You may also need more information on how you set up iCloud in a multiple user family. This details all the ins and outs of multiple user groups who may otherwise share iTunes accounts.
There Really is an App for That
Once you’ve got a good handle on using that sleek new iOS device, you’ll of course want to dive in and start downloading apps. Whether you’re an avid gamer, a music lover, a book reader or even (gasp) all three, you’ll find everything you need in the iTunes Store.
When it comes to Apps, iOS has no peer. There are over 500,000 apps in the App Store, so you’ll doubtlessly find something you like. The trick, however, is filtering through all of those apps to find the specific things you want. That can be tricky, but luckily there are many ways to help.
First off are our very own reviews. We review a ton of apps weekly to give you the best recommendations about the best apps we find. Be sure to look through our Reviews lists, which can be filtered by type of app as well as sorted by date, app name, or app rating. If you just want to read reviews of our highest rated iPad games, for example, it’s an easy click. And for on the go browsing of 148Apps reviews, grab the 148Apps App (FREE!, iPhone App).
In addition, we have our famous Price Drops lists, which can be sorted to just show the latest drops in prices, or even just the latest FREE apps. Very handy, if we say so ourselves. If you’re looking for the very latest additions to the App Store, we have a list for that, as well as one for the Top Apps across all the App Store categories for each device. Then of course there’s always the very best of the best in free apps available in the free games and free apps lists.
If you want even more app discovering goodness, you might want to check out a few apps made to help you wade through the App Store. Some of our favorites are AppShopper (FREE!, + Universal App), Chomp (FREE!, iPhone App), and AppZapp (FREE!, iPhone App). There are even specific apps to help you find the latest free apps. Some of the best include Free App A Day (FREE!, iPhone App), Apps Gone Free (FREE!, iPhone App), and Free App Alliance (FREE!, iPhone App). These will all help you sort and find and browse apps and games to your heart’s content; we use them all the time to find new great apps to use and write about on the site.
Where Else To Find 148Apps?
We’re everywhere, really. However, the best places to find us are on Twitter, Facebook, and now even Google+. Be sure to come visit and chat with us there. We’re ever so responsive.
Free Apps You Shouldn’t Do Without
Now, we wouldn’t be the premier Apps review site without some sort of parting gift, now would we? How about some apps you really should try out? To make the deal even sweeter, let’s make them free apps.
iBooks, Nook, & Kindle – Reading ebooks is all the rage these days, especially on these fancy new iOS devices. We love reading on our iPad, and have even been known to crack a virtual spine or two on our iPhone while waiting at the doctor’s office. For those of you with shorter attention spans, there’s always Newsstand, iOS’s magazine subscription service. Some of the best ereader apps include iBooks (FREE!, + Universal App), Nook for iPhone (FREE!, + Universal App), Nook for iPad (FREE!, iPad App), and Kindle (FREE!, + Universal App). Happy reading!
Facebook, Twitter, & Instant Messaging – Keep in touch with family, friends, and us – your favorite Apps website – with these free social networking apps. Tell ‘em 148Apps sent you!
There’s Facebook (FREE!, + Universal App), Twitter (FREE!, + Universal App) though Tweetbot ($2.99, iPhone App) is much better, though not free like the official Twitter app.
For instant messaging, check out imo (FREE!, iPhone App) and imo for iPad (FREE!, iPad App). And don’t forget Skype (FREE!, iPhone App) and Skype for iPad (FREE!, iPad App). We’ve become big fans of GroupMe (FREE!, iPhone App) lately too for group communication.
Gaming on the Cheap – Now, we put out a sweet weekly article that tells you about the latest FREE gaming apps, but here are a few we think you won’t want to miss. We could go on for hours about it, really, but these should get you off to a good start.
For a great free endless runner, check out Temple Run (FREE!, + Universal App). A wonderful game. For some great physics puzzle fun, the new king is Where's My Water? Free (FREE!, + Universal App) and you can never go wrong with the classic Angry Birds Free (FREE!, iPhone App). A couple other free games we really like include The Sims Freeplay (FREE!, + Universal App) and TinyTower (FREE!, + Universal App).
You should also check out our massive iOS game and app sale post. There are tons of great deals and quite a few temporarily free apps there. Be sure to grab the great Jetpack Joyride (FREE!, + Universal App) while it’s free. It’s one of our favorite games of the year.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about your new magical iOS devices. The iPad, iPhone and iPod touch are some of the best new gadgets to give or receive. Be sure to come back often to see what we have for you; we’re always looking to find the news or apps you want to know about first. From all of us here to all of you out there, Happy Holidays!!!
(Abridged – With serious apologies to Clement Moore)
Twas the week before Christmas, and at 148Apps
All our writers were writing, and no one took naps.
The reviews were written and posted with care,
In hopes that our readers would soon find them there.
The staff were nestled and ready for sleep,
with visions of iPads, and not jumping sheep.
My iMac in sleep mode, my iPhone now mute,
I settled my brain and sighed a large, “w00t.”
When out of my office there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to my iPad I flew like a flash,
And searched for an app I could boot in a dash.
The light of my iPhone on the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a ping from the app store; new apps are now here.
When a little old email arrived on the spot,
I knew in a moment it must be Jeff Scott.
More rapid than IMs his websites they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!
“Now GiggleApps! now, 148Apps! both .com and .biz!
On, Android Rundown! On, BestAppEver! That’s all there is!
From the greatest new games, to the best apps of all!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”
He spoke not to me, but to my device,
And Jeff quickly asked Siri if I had been nice.
Her answer was good, so he connected Wi-Fi,
And filled my gadgets with even more apps to try!
His work here now done, he gestured with a wave,
And called for his assistant, the jolly Rob LeFebvre.
But I heard them exclaim, as they logged off for the night,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”
The unique look and feel of stop-motion animation is what gives movies like A Nightmare Before Christmas and the Wallace and Gromit series their charm. Mac users have been bringing ordinary objects to life with this technique for years now thanks to iStopMotion from Boinx Software. Now iPad users can also have the power to create and share their own stop-motion animations with the release of the iStopMotion for iPad app.
Like any form of animation, stop-motion works by playing a series of frames so fast that they appear to be moving. What sets stop-motion apart is that its frames are pictures of real things that have been carefully re-positioned numerous times instead of drawings. iStopMotion for iPad allows users to capture these frames, edit them into movies and share them online all through an iPad. It’s a cheap way to make movies and learn about the animation process while doing it.
Also available is the iStopMotion Remote Camera app which allows users to capture frames with their iPhones and sync them with their iPads via W-Fi. That way movies can look the best they can thanks to the superior cameras of the latest iPhones.
iStopMotion for iPad is $4.99, iStopMotion Remote Camera is free and both are available now. Why not celebrate the holidays by making some homemade Rankin/Bass specials?
Those oh-so popular Angry Birds would have players believe that they are crusaders for justice, trying to reclaim their precious eggs from those nasty, hungry pigs. However, we now have proof that the whole story is more complicated than that. Every tale has two sides and with the release of Misunderstood Pigs for iPhones and iPads the porcine perspective on this avian affair has been uncovered for all to see.
A group of harmless pigs and their families are suffering from constant projectile bird attacks. The player’s job is to build structures around the pigs to protect them. Players must set up boxes, planks, pieces of glass and whatever else it takes to repel the invaders and get bigger scores. The game also includes a level editor so players can construct pig saving scenarios of their own.
Given how important it is for everyone to realize the truth, Misunderstood Pigs should be able to be played by as many people as possible. Luckily, it is a universal app and is available now for free.
:: WELL-BUILT MACHINE
Finally, at 148Apps.biz, writer Brad Hilderbrand reported on the explosion of app usage during last week’s Super Bowl. Hildebrand states, “Sunday night’s Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots and New York Giants was a classic, but according to a new report from Flurry most viewers were just as likely to be staring at their smartphone screen as they were the game. The company used analytics software built into many popular apps to surmise that of the 111 million people watching the Super Bowl, an estimated 98 million spent at least some time futzing with an app.”
:: COLD HARD SCIENCE
Whether it’s in real life or in a video game, navigating a maze can be pretty challenging. However, the satisfaction of making it to the end can make the whole experience worth it. Elements+ Maze is the “world’s first multi-floor maze game” and it’s hoping that it’s extra challenge leads to extra satisfaction.
In keeping with January’s 
Enter the iPad. In December 2010 I got one on what I now call iHanukkah. I received an iPhone upgrade too, but as much as I love it, smartphones are for people on the move. I am shut-in five to eight months a year so I use it for 
I am not out hiking because of my iPads and apps, nor do I break fewer bones nor get fewer infections. I have great apps that could help, like 
Finally, site editor 
The developer of 
Did you get that long-coveted new iPhone 4s or iPad 2 for Christmas? Not sure what your new miraculous devices can do to improve your life? Or, maybe you’ve had an iOS device for quite a while and want a fresh perspective on its capabilities and the latest apps available for it. In either case, 
Recently, a startup named CloudOn launched their eponymous app that offers users the ability to edit Microsoft Office files on their iPad. The app supported Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and Excel spreadsheets, all available through CloudOn’s WorkSpace technology. As well, it supported Dropbox synchronization for uploading and editing files from the cloud-based storage service, and the ability to open attachments from the email client in the app directly. The app also launched for free, which compared to most apps with similar functionality was a steep discount.
Twas the week before Christmas, and at 
The light of my iPhone on the new-fallen snow
“Now 
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