Tag: Educational »

Fans of PBS Kids TV show Cyberchase will be delighted to see the arrival of Cyberchase: Ruckus Reader, an iPad app aimed at continuing the educational fun that the TV show is so famous for.

Aimed at 5-8 year olds, Cyberchase: Ruckus Reader offers a new story for fans to delve into, following an exciting problem that Hacker has left the Cybersquad with. Three hours of puzzles are promised as players set out to save Solaria from being transformed into a garbage dump.

Puzzles range from word hunts, spot what's wrong with the picture, mazes, and create your own story sections. Topics that are taught include things such as alphabetical knowledge, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, as well as reading comprehension.

Together, it should prove an educational yet highly entertaining experience for kids.

Cyberchase: Ruckus Reader is available now for free, with an in-app purchase of $3.99 to unlock one story, or $5.99 to unlock both.

It's fantastic that DSLR cameras are much more affordable nowadays, ensuring that amateur photography fans are able to pick such a camera up. The problem is that there is still a ton to learn about using them effectively. It's a huge leap up from a compact camera and can get intimidating.

Fortunately, there's a new app out that aims to make things easier and aid users in learning how to use a DSLR correctly. That app is PhotoLawn.

PhotoLawn teaches things a little differently from other educational tools. Focusing on the visual aspect of photography, the app presents photos from Flickr, while displaying the shutter speed, exposure, ISO and more, all in an easy to understand manner.

Everything is laid out as part of an animated grid of thumbnail photos from the popular photo sharing site, making it simple to see what's going on and adapt accordingly. Even better, it doubles up as a great way to browse Flickr and be inspired.

PhotoLawn is free to download with further features such as favorites, mapping and social options, unlockable with a $1.99 in-app purchase.

I think there was a moment in my late childhood when my dad really wanted me to understand how cars work. I didn't pay much attention, honestly, as I was generally lost in my own little world throughout my days of kid-dom. Today, though, there are times when I really wish I had paid more careful attention to the lessons of my youth. And that's where How Cars Work comes in. Simply put, it's an instructional app that teaches...yep...how cars work. From steering and suspension to powertrain and braking, pretty much all of the basics are covered in this tidy little app.

Now, in version 1.3.0, developer Aymen Alshawi has added a basic maintenance section to help those who may not know how to perform basic maintenance like changing a tire on their vehicle. It's a handy and quick way to find information if it's needed in an emergency, and while all makes and models are different, this app covers the basics that apply to pretty much every vehicle. And more is on the way in future update, including a guide to vehicle modifications.

Make up for those lost lessons of youth and learn a little more about your car with How Cars Work.

Storytelling is a great way of teaching kids things about other cultures, while still making them feel as if they're having fun rather than just learning stuff. The Magnificent Travelling Palace is one such app that both educates and entertains.

The app follows a magical adventure story through the eyes of four children. Throughout the tale, the book embraces the splendour of Indian culture while remaining fun for kids. It comes with a recipe for an Indian dessert as well as interactive elements allowing kids to join in with the storytelling experience.

Visually, children can enjoy the 26 3D computer illustrations and animations, while their ears will enjoy the delightful musical score.

Created by a mother who knows what it's like, The Magnificent Travelling Palace should prove a fun yet educational app for every keen young reader.

The Magnificent Travelling Palace is out now for the iPad and priced at $1.99.

Get the app here.

This week at 148Apps.com, two great new apps for kids were featured: AutisMate and Ruckus Reader. Writer Jennifer Allen had this to say about AutisMate: "AutisMate was designed by Jonathan Izak, someone whose younger brother and first cousin who have autism. It allows users to add their own pictures, videos and voice recordings to the app in order to create scenes that help promote positive interactions."

Kevin Stout contributed the following about Ruckus Reader: "When a child is in possession of a device as versatile as an iPad, it could be just as distracting as it is productive. A new series of apps by Ruckus, Ruckus Reader, has been released that help parents keep track of their children’s progress through Ruckus Reader books."

Read more about AutisMate here and about Ruckus Reader here.

Meanwhile, at GiggleApps.com, Amy Solomon was investigating the hidden joys of Smash Your Food HD, "Smash Your Food HD is a highly entertaining app for iPad dedicated to the better understanding of the amounts of sugar, salt and oil found within foods that are commonly eaten. With five levels included, players are asked to determine the amounts of these substances by reviewing the nutritional facts of each food in question and then watching as these foods get pulverized – much to the delight of children."

Read more about Smash Your Food HD at GiggleApps.

And last, but certainly not least, 148Apps.biz writer Kevin Stout reported on Apple's recent change in policy regarding iAd revenues: "Before April 1st, developers earned 60% of the iAd revenue they generated within iAd-supported apps. Now developers will receive 70% of iAd revenues, according to Apple’s Developer Center. Developers will now receive this higher percentage for both app download and iAd revenues. This is likely to be a rather large boost in income for developers that use iAd as their primary source of revenue for their free apps."

Read more about this change at 148Apps.biz..

And, to paraphrase Cronkite, that's the way it was. Keep track of all the latest happenings across the iOS and mobile universe by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook. You'll be glad you did. Until next time, watch out for the hoary hosts of Hoggoth!

Learning and discovering new passions makes life more exciting and fulfilling. I think we can all agree on that. But what's a cool new way of learning? Why not try Snapguide? It's a new app that allows users to share their passions, as well as discover new ones.

It's all based around the concept of step-by-step guides. Users can create their own step-by-step guides as easily as they can check out other people's creations. There are already hundreds to choose from, covering a wide range of subjects such as cookery, gardening, repair work, arts and crafts, fashion tips and entertaining.

Those who feel they can add their own knowledge can create their own guides by taking photos and videos of their project through their iPhone then adding captions either by typing or using the app's voice-to-text functionality.

Sharing these guides is as simple as possible with options to post guides to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or send via email.

Snapguide is available now and it's entirely free.

I think we all know by now that technology is pretty awesome, as well as a great educational aid. Thanks to the beauty of touch based controls, very young children can easily reap the benefits from certain apps. One potentially ideal app for children aged 3 and up is CookieCoo Dancing Star.

CookieCoo Dancing Star is all about teaching kids to sing and play along with a number of different educational songs from the Hokey Pokey to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes to other classics like Mary Had a Little Lamb and I Can Sing a Rainbow, available through an in-app purchase.

The songs teach kids some valuable tips and they also get to improve their motor skills as they have to match the rhythm on screen. Best of all, they'll have fun doing it!

CookieCoo Dancing Star is priced at $0.99 for either the iPhone or iPad version. In-app purchases are then available to purchase extra song packs covering colors, animals, toys and numbers, each priced at $0.99.

Word games are fun. Any sane person can appreciate that, right? So, how about checking out Mega Multilingual Word Find? It is indeed quite a long name for a game but it's a fun concept.

From the makers of Word Lubbers, Mega Multilingual Word Find is a wordsearch game that's not only fun, it's potentially educational!

Mega Multilingual Word Find offers numerous different categories, catering for all interests. Categories include athletics, body parts, clothing, colors, crime, feelings, food, mammals, science, travel, weather and numerous others. There's also the option to unlock additional languages comprising of Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish.

To further add to the educational benefits, players can choose different puzzle and word list languages so that the player can learn as they search.

Mega Multilingual Word Find is out now and it's a free download. To unlock all the languages, there's an in-app purchase priced at $4.99 or users can unlock one language at a time for $0.99.

The passage of time is rather hard for one to notice while it’s happening. Seasons change gradually, climate change creeps at such a slow pace many actively deny its reality – even changes to a person we are close to are hard to perceive when we see them daily. Red Hill Studios, best known for educational and health games and behind the documentary “Exploring Time", have launched an iPad app. Painting With Time, the gives users 14 remarkable environments to explore the concept and its impact.

In the gallery are pastoral scenes, urban landscapes, even people, and we are invited by the simple GUI, to select a scene and then use a finger to paint it. The tubes in this app, however, don’t contain paint - they contain time. In minutes, days, seasons, or years users blend the effects of time right onto the image and then slice it in myriad ways to explore the juxtapositions. It's time-lapse photography with an interactive twist.

The results can be beautiful like seasons changing in a forest, amusing like playing with facial hair growth, and some are eye-opening like the glacier retreat in the arctic. Painting With Time is an aesthetic, creative, and mind-expanding app, ideally suited to starting a new year, and it’s free.

The Oregon Trail has long been both a favorite video game – recently ported by Gameloft to iOS – and an educational tool. The game takes players on a problem-solving adventure across the 2,000-mile historic and dangerous east-west wagon route that spanned the Missouri River.

Now the giant game publishers have released a freemium sequel: The Oregon Trail: American Settler that picks up where the classic leaves off. The journey is over and it’s time to build and manitain a homestead on this new frontier.

Much like Zynga's FrontierVille, gamers create and customize their own villages, collect resources, keep the villagers safe from everything from weather to predators and for the educational spin, meet up with historical figures. The title has mini-games that stick with the theme challenging gamers with fishing and hunting. As always the goal is survival in a place where the buffalo don’t just roam, they stampede.

This week at 148Apps.com, site founder Jeff Scott welcomed the Kindle Fire into the tablet fold with an overview of his impressions of the device. Scott says, "...while the Kindle Fire is around 40 percent the cost of a base level iPad, it’s capabilities are even less. It just so happens that those capabilities match up well with what a typical consumer uses a tablet device for. Because of that, the Kindle Fire will be a strong competitive device to the iPad. When it comes down to it, it’s the cost that matters to a very large portion of the buying public, not the capabilities."

Read the full review on 148Apps.com.

Meanwhile, our sister site, GiggleApps, took a closer look at a new educational app for children, iLuv Drawing Animals. Reviewer Amy Solomon writes, "iLuv Drawing Animals is a nice choice for kids who are interested in learning the very basics of drawing cartoony animals that are cute and relatively easy to draw. I like how these illustrations are broken down into smaller shapes that kids will easily understand and have had experience with, and the narration is pleasant and easy to follow."

Read the full review on GiggleApps.

Finally, on AndroidRundown, Carter Dotson announced the public availability of Google Music, an interesting development for all music lovers, no matter the device. Dotson writes, "Most importantly, this means that Google is now in the business of one of the big pillars of media, and it addresses a gaping hole in the Android Market. With videos and books already addressed, now the store is complete with music to go along with apps. Google is directly putting themselves in competition with iTunes, and they are making their operating system much closer in terms of features to iOS devices. This was a necessary move for Google."

Read more of Dotson's commentary on AndroidRundown.

As we head into the week of Thanksgiving here in the US, remember that you can still enter to win an iPhone 4S, courtesy of 148Apps and Gameloft. 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″

See you next week, true believers! Start thawing that turkey!

Most people are content to go through with their day-to-day activities without really considering how their bodies do what they do. It's a complicated set of systems that keep us moving, and one that lends itself well to Edutainment. Which is probably why Helen Sell and frukti Games made Good Blood!

Players will embark on a first-person journey through the blood stream, learning about the circulatory system along the way. Of course, it's not just about learning the ins-and-outs of blood cells and bacteria. There's also gaming to be had, with viruses that need exterminating and wounds that need plugging. With white and red blood cells, naturally.

Curious about blood and they way it does what it does? Looking for a corridor styled "shooter" with a lot of blood (*rimshot*)? Then take a look at Good Blood!. Or at least check out the trailer below. This amalgamation of learning and video gaming is available in the App Store right now for $1.

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.

As certain as the fact it'll rain the moment I go on holiday, Chillingo will release new games on a Thursday and they'll be entertaining titles.

First up this week is that of Race Illegal: High Speed 3D, a racer that promises to offer an unparalleled amount of race modes and vehicle customization options. The career mode offers story driven action with everything from drifting, dodging, ramming and of course racing on offer. Players get the opportunity to gain cash for victories and then use that money to buy new upgrades to improve their ride immensely.

A whole range of different supercars are available to use within the five different race modes as well as the quick race option. In its effort to be a true arcade racing experience, special effects like motion blur, nitro boost and slow motion play an important role with attractive destruction visuals and authentic engine sound effects on offer too.

Best of all Race Illegal: High Speed 3D is only $0.99 at the moment for an Universal build app, particularly convenient for owners of both iPhones and iPads. Be quick though, it's on sale for a limited time eventually increasing in price to $2.99. Check out the gameplay trailer below.

Second up on the new release schedule is Gum Drop!, offering part memory test, part match three style puzzle fun. Players must quickly match corresponding words and images as the timer runs out. It's simple stuff but compelling too with increasingly larger combos possible to gain and thus high scores to compete against. Over 100 unique objects and words are on offer with 9 different languages available, potentially helping players learn new words in a fun way.

Gum Drop! is available now in separate iPhone and iPad varieties, priced at $0.99 and $1.99 respectively. The gameplay trailer is available below.