Dream League Soccer 2016 is the latest instalment in the Dream League Soccer series and, as you would expect from a football sim, it will have you playing the role of both player and manager as you establish your very own club.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with football sims, here are some tips to help get you started.
Dawn of Gods is a base-building strategy game which thrusts you in control of a bustling city as well as the wrath of a fearsome army.
We at 148Appsunderstand how daunting these responsibilities can be, and have prepared some tips to assist you during the start of your reign.
Tennis Champs Returns is a complete revitalisation of the Amiga classic that brings the magic of the original to mobile devices.
Though it may look simple on the surface, becoming number one is no easy feat. Never fear though, for148Apps is here to coach you.
Color Switch is a simple yet innovative puzzle game which challenges you to guide a ball to the end of a level. Sounds easy? Well, you're only able to pass through obstacles that match the colour of your own.
It's tricky, and there are a ton of different game modes to get used to so we figured we should provide a few brief pointers to help you adjust to these new gameplay styles.
Futurama: Game of Drones is a match four puzzler in which you'll take on a selection of tasks ranging from pizza delivery to clearing obstacles.
We've gathered together a few tips to help you make the most out of your adorable drones regardless of the task at hand.
My first iOS device was a 2nd generation iPod Touch, which is long ago enough for it to not have had a camera or microphone. My second iOS device was a 4th generation iPod Touch, with my current device being a 5th generation device. Putting it bluntly, I'm a fan of the iPod Touch.
To me, the iPod Touch was Apple's accidental handheld console. Sure you can purely use it as an iPod with a camera if you so wish, but to someone like me, it was (and still is) my gateway into iOS gaming at a much cheaper cost than an iPhone - one that also just happened to fit into my pocket. The fact that I could access the wide variety of iOS games through a relatively cheap device (compared to other iOS devices, anyway) is the reason I'm here today, on a site devoted to iOS apps.
If you sit down and think about it though, in this day and age the iPod Touch is an unusual thing. It's the size of the phone and does almost everything you'd expect from a modern phone besides be a phone: it has a touch screen, two cameras, a microphone, and the ability to run apps. To be fair, that's also everything the average person would likely expect from a modern tablet as well. And therein lies the rub.
I can understand why Apple seems to be no longer supporting it. In the past year, the hardware giant released four iOS devices - the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, and the 2nd generation iPad Mini. Four devices, all varying in price and size, and each with their own niche to cater to. Within those devices, there's something there for pretty much everyone. You want a phone-sized device to play your iOS games on? Fine, go get an expensive contract and get an iPhone. You want a device devoted to running apps? Fine, go get an iPad or iPad Mini with their bigger screens and better resolutions. You want both? Before, the answer to that question was the iPod Touch. Now, I think Apple would much rather you gave them more money and bought an iPhone and an iPad.
So, farewell iPod Touch. The iPhone minus the phone. The iPad Mini but even smaller. The accidental handheld console. You will be missed.
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:: NEARLY THERE
:: BREVITY IS THE SOUL OF WIT
Last week we took you through a three part series about the history of the App Store icon, Real Racing. Rob Rich covered the history and design of the first two games in the series. He also covered time-shifted multiplayer and other new features expected in Real Racing 3. An excellent series and well worth a read. One thing we didn’t cover is how the game will be monetized as it has yet to be announced. That monetization method is likely to have huge implications on how the game is received by the fans of the series."
Want more? Read more at 148Apps.
GiggleApps.com writer Amy Solomon contributed a review of Whack A Bone: "Whack A Bone is a wonderful app for iPad that is truly an educational delight, teaching about the anatomy of bones found in the human body.
Nicely sectioned into groups, users will learn about the bones that make up one’s core, such as cranium, sternum or vertebrae which is grouped here into three different categories – cervical, thoracic and lumbar, as well as the arm and leg bones, each consisting of its own section as well.
To play this pirate-themed anatomy game, place the bones from the different sections back to their rightful places inside a skeleton with the direction of a talking parrot whose attitude kids will find witty and fun."
Read all about Whack A Bone at GiggleApps.
Follow up on this Kickstarter Spotlight on AndroidRundown.
Another week down, but another one right around the corner! Keep track of the latest happenings by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. You'll be glad you did! See you next week.
- Beautiful new interface with side drawers
- Chats are front and center
- Bigger images and avatars
- Easier, cleaner location sharing
- Fast switching between groups
- Now on iPad!
- Tons of performance improvements — it's fast
- Starting a group is faster and easier than ever
- Share any group with a simple URL
- Rejoin groups that you previously left
- New app icon
Apple held a special event in San Francisco today to announce the iPhone 5 and a few other things. While just about everything about the new device had already been leaked, in typical Apple style, the event still held a few surprises.
Here's a quick rundown of what you need to know about the event today.
As Apple does at just about every event they started out with a recap of some recent numbers showing how well they have done recently. And this time around it was no less impressive. Here's a quick rundown of the amazing numbers all in one place for quick reference:
iPads
The iPad continues to impress and dominate the tablet market. In the words of Tim Cook, Apple CEO: "The iPad has 91% of the tablet web traffic. I don't know what these other tablets are doing? Perhaps they are sitting in a drawer."
17 million iPads sold last quarter (April-June 2012), that's more iPads than any PC manufacturer sold of their entire PC line
84 million total iPads sold through June 2012
iPad Market Share, June 2011 - 62% market share
iPad Market Share, June 2012 - 68% market share
iPads represent 91% of web traffic from tablet devices
94% of the Fortune 500 companies are testing / deploying iPads
App Store
700,000 iOS Apps in the App Store
250,000 iPad Apps in the App Store (iPad and Universal)
90% of apps in the App Store are downloaded each month
The average iOS customer uses over 100 apps
Devices
400 million iOS devices sold through June 2012
150 million Game Center users
600 million sets of those standard iPod headphones produced
iTunes
26 million songs
20 billion total downloads
iTunes store available in 63 countries
435 million iTunes accounts with 1-click purchase
66% of downloads come from iOS devices
That's a lot of really impressive stats.
The iPhone 5 takes the iPhone 4S and makes just about everything better. When it took center stage we finally got to see the new specs of this oh so lust-worthy new iPhone.
The iPhone 5 will be available for pre-order this Friday, the 14th. With delivery and store availability a week later on the 21st. The prices end up being the same as the 4S, $199/299/399 for 16GB/32GB/64GB with two year contract.
In the US it will be available on the carriers that currently offer the 4S, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.
The major new features include a larger screen, about 15% taller than the current iPhone screen. That doesn't seem like much, but it lets you get an extra row in just about every list app. And it will give you that much more screen in games -- or that much more screen that your thumbs won't cover.
For apps that are not yet optimized for the iPhone 5, you will see those apps just as you do now. No stretching, you'll just have small black bars on the top and bottom of the screen.
The other big change in the phone is a new dock connector, called Lightning. This is an all digital connector that adapts the pins to what your connected device needs to do -- audio, video, charging, etc. It's build much more robust than the current dock connector and can be inserted either way.
The downside to the new connector is that you are going to need to buy $30 Lightning converters for all of the devices that you need to use that have the old style dock connector. This could get expensive. Not to mention the 20+ dock connector cables I have in a drawer.
A much faster processor, a better camera (though still 8MP), a much better screen that supports a larger color gamut, a FaceTime HD (720p) front camera, all in a a thinner and lighter phone.
Oh yeah, and it has LTE as well. Major speed bump there.
It's a great upgrade and worth it if you use your iPhone a lot. It's not a drop everything and upgrade new device as there's no feature that is just going to make you really crave it. If anything, the new dock connector will make this an expensive update for many. But it is a good feature bump and if you are due for an upgrade, it's the one to go for.
We got a quick recap of iOS 6 and the features we had already seen. They have gone through testing and iOS 6 is ready to release next week on September 19th.
The one new iOS 6 feature discussed was the ability to create Panorama images. It's done quickly and easily by selecting Panorama from the camera options menu and sweeping the camera from left to right. It was shown working on the iPhone 5 and the new iPod touch. It's not know at this point if this will work on other devices.
The iPod touch has been a bit ignored in recent years. The upgrade announced today gives it a huge update and brings it in line with the iPhone 4S / 5 hybrid specs. It's a great upgrade to what is, but is not marketed as, the biggest selling portable gaming device.
The 5th generation iPod touch will sport the same screen as the iPhone 5, and will have the same processor as the 4S and a similar camera to the iPhone 4. It's a great update.
The updated iPod touch will be available in five colors in October for $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB versions.
Great bass response, amazing for earbuds. They don't seal in your ear, so no outside noise reduction. But the flip side is that they are much more comfortable.
So that's it, the rundown of what you need to know. A great event and some great new products.
We can expect more news from Apple before the end of the year. I wonder what it will be...
The Bane of Yoto is more than just a comic book to read, though. This app integrates 3D animation and 2D artwork created by Nick Runge of IDW Comics and Tyler Kirkham of DC. The comic is also narrated.
This is currently available in the App Store for free, and is compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S as well as the iPad and iPad 2.
Yoku-Gami is a game that represents, to me as a parent, everything that is right in the app store, in relation to games for kids. It's a puzzle game that looks and plays like a standard match-3 game but is, in reality, anything but.
It is designed by the great mind of Reiner Knizia, a German board game designer heralded for his simple designs that lead for complex gameplay. Being a fan of his, I jumped on Yoku Gami and it's been a game my daughters and I have enjoyed immensely, and I feel happy in knowing that they're not just playing a mindless game, but instead are really working their brains as they play.
The entire goal of the game is similar to match games, clear the tiles. But how Yoku-Gami works is this: "If the greatest number in the group equals the total of all the other numbers in the group, you have a successful turn". So if you select a 3, 2 and a 5, your 3 and 2 equal 5 and you remove those tiles and get a score. That score is based on how many numbers are in the group and if you create groups of 5 or more numbers, you then get a bonus.
There are 3 different modes. Endless is just that, it continues until you can go no further. In Arcade, your goal is to clear a whole role or column of numbers, the game also ends when you can go no further. In Level Mode you try to clear as many numbers in each grid. You start with 24 levels, and at the end of each level when there are no more turns, you lose as many lives as there are numbers left. You gain lives when you create groups of 4 or more. As long as you have lives, you continue progressing in the game.
I was incredibly surprised with how far my 6 year olds got in the game, but for some reason, they were able to go quite far for their age and math skills. I know they are a bit young for it, and it isn't a game they can play for hours, as the difficulty does continue to ramp up, but they have enjoyed what we do play together quite a bit. As well, a nice touch to make it kid-friendly, is that good old "Yoki" is always there to tap on and get a hint from when needed.
If you have a child that might be struggling with math, or one that loves math and just wants a fun way to put his/her skill to the test, I honestly believe Yoku-Gami is a stellar choice. I'd never want to leave a child in front of any gaming system for hours, but this really is an honest-to-goodness learn-while-playing gaming that does exactly what it sets out to do, and I do not doubt that it will certainly be a help to those kids who struggle with math.
I'd also like to make it clear that it is equally great for parents. As silly as it might sound, I've seen an honest increase in my math skills through playing it, and honestly that's worth the price of entry right there. All-in-all, Yoku-Gami is a hidden gem that I wish more people knew about, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.
Yes, the name of the app I'm reviewing today is the entire alphabet. From this point on, I'll refer to it as abcdefg for the sake of my fingers.
I stumbled across this app thanks to the title, it initially seemed like a unique way to learn the alphabet and practice word sounds, but I soon found it was that plus a lot more and it turned into a favorite of mine and my daughters very quickly.
Upon opening abcdefg and hitting play, you're presented with a simple and easy to access play field. The alphabet is split into 2 halves, one on each side, running lengthwise on your device. At the top 4 different words: "Gravity", "Crickets", "Vehicles" and "Birds". At the bottom are 5 buttons, "Recycle", "Arrow", "Bomb", "Camera" and "Info". Honestly, this is all that you need to know to get started.
Simply take a letter from either side and drag it into the middle of the screen. When you let go, the letter will go off on its merry way. When my daughters first grabbed it, they dragged a few letters and nothing happened. Once the letters hit the edge of the screen, everything changed.
With gravity (the option selected by default), the letters simply move with your device. Each time the letters hit an edge, the "sound" of the letter is played.
Vehicles zip around the screen, making sounds as they move. Crickets skitter and make sounds when they group up together. Birds is the most diverse, with varied sound, tempo and pitch depending on where/how it's placed.
As each letter moves, it leaves a unique trail behind it, making a visual representation of the soundscape you, I mean your kids, are creating and it's easy to stop a single letter, group of letters, erase the whole picture or take a snapshot of the insanity using the buttons below.
People might dismiss abcdefg, but if you look closer at what the app actually provides, I think you'll find that it's an invaluable tool for kids. In the app, you're a conductor of sound, and you learn concepts like pitch and tempo. You also get a quick into to physics, seeing how the different letters move and interact with each other, things you don't often see in "kid" apps these days.
While abcdefg is no replacement for music lessons, it allows children to draw outside the lines of music and just perform these strange experimental mini-concerts with letters. Some of the things I've heard my daughters create simply blow my mind. They have to experiment in combining sounds together, finding ones that match in tone, pitch, whatever to create an appealing and melodic sound. They also end up with these crazy pictures of letters strewn everywhere. They get to interact with art in a way that I've never really seen, at least not in this medium.
I can honestly say that I think any kid would benefit from putting their hands on abcdefg, even if it's just to increase familiarity with the alphabet and word sounds. Beyond that, it's an introduction to physics and a way for kids to create experimental soundscapes, by simply placing letters on a screen, turning that into honest to goodness music.
For the price and for the features offered, abcdefg is much more than a simple novelty. It's an app that I recommend for kids and adults of any age. It's never too early (or too late!) to make crazy music and pictures. I look back in regret, wishing that I'd have had something even close to this as a kid, it might have gotten me that much more interested in creating and experimenting with music and sound.
