Tag: MotionX »

MotionX 24/7: Sleep Cycle Alarm, Snore, Apnea, Heart Rate Monitor, Weight Loss, Activity Tracker updates with new features that include a brand-new home screen view. The app also receives a new home page bar that displays users' sleep progress and steps towards their daily goal, along with the ability to manually enter their sleep, steps, heart rate, and activity. The update even improved on its weight tracker and allows for users to set up weight loss goals and targeted weight loss for each week.

MotionX 24/7, or to call it by its full App Store name, MotionX 24/7: Fitness, Weight Loss and Activity Tracker, Pedometer, Activity Alerts, Sleep Apnea and Heart Rate Monitor, Snore and Sleep Recorder, Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock, has been updated with pretty much everything you just read in its full official app store title. So, this means a new 24/7 activity tracker, snore recorder, weight tracker, heart rate monitor, sleep recorder, and M7 integration has been added to the app.

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY: Want your own copy of MotionX Sleep? The developers have given us a link that will send you a unique code to redeem for a FREE copy of the app. Simply click right here to enter. Offer available to US iTunes account holders only.

When I first took a look at MotionX Sleep, I was fairly impressed with all the sleep-monitoring app’s handy functionality. However, that was then. Now MotionX has added a laundry list of new features and tweaks, making it even more formidable in the world of iOS lifestyle software.

Along with a bunch of minor optimizations, a number of features have been directly improved thanks to customer feedback. MotionX Sleep now offers an “audible placement test” to make finding the best spot for the special pillow alarm much easier. The alarm itself has also had an interface tweak, making it easier to set. Sleep history and other statistics can be viewed in one, seven, or thirty-day summaries to give users better detail on their sleep habits. This info can also be shared on Facebook and Twitter as an effective way of convincing our mothers that we are, indeed, getting enough rest.

The Smart Sleep Cycle Alarm has also been improved by way of allowing users to adjust their wake-up window, including new sounds, and adding an optional vibration. Finally, the interface has been adjusted to make certain features easier to customize. The 24/7 Daily Step Counter can be turned on or off from the main menu, and undesired sleep recordings can be deleted straight out of the sleep log.

It’s the little improvements like these that go a long way. While MotionX Sleep was a worthwhile investment for health-conscious iOS users before, it’s even more useful now.

Way back in September of 2009 MotionX GPS Drive landed on the iOS and took the navigation software world by storm.  In the subsequent year and a half since then, the product has grown from a fledgling app into one of the strongest GPS titles in the App Store.  In another show of how far the tool has came, it managed to earn a four and a half star rating earlier this year in its official 148Apps review.  This doesn't mean that the updates are over though, in fact, that was only the beginning.

We received word from the development team over at MotionX that a new update just hit, adding in the heavily requested street level traffic monitoring.  They shined a bit more light on the upgrade, stating:

MotionX-GPS Drive delivers an unparalleled door-to-door navigation solution for those who want to avoid traffic congestion and reduce driving times. The live traffic overlays cover expressways and major arterials serving all the major markets in the U.S. The traffic options are included as part of the core application, so there are no additional fees for traffic data.

Just in case you missed that last line, this new and extremely useful feature will come at no cost to the consumer.  In a market where GPS customers have to pay fees for everything new that comes along, it is nice to see that someone is willing to actually give something away.  Hopefully other iOS GPS providers are taking notes, because with MotionX's eight million customers, they could very well end up out of business.  Plus, with the app on sale as part of the Verizon iPhone 4 launch, you would be crazy not to pick it up.  Trust us, you won't regret it.

My wife and I decided to eschew family Christmas traditions and make our own this year by visiting Disney's Magic Kingdom in Orlando. The experience itself was wonderful, in spite of surprisingly large crowds when we visited on Christmas Eve (no fault to Disney there, but even THEY seemed overwhelmed by the numbers that visited the park). But what amazed me the most about our trip is how essential our iPhones have become to every aspect of our travel. From navigation to photography to even Disney park preparation, our iPhone 4(s) had us covered every step of the way.

Our single-purpose GPS is way out of date (I'm the cheapskate and can just never bring myself to pay for map upgrades) so we decided to try out MotionX GPS Drive on this trip and the results could not have been better. MotionX GPS Drive has recently received a much-requested upgrade adding full-voice support for street names, so this new feature was added just in time for our trip. Mind you, neither the app nor the full-voice is perfect. "Exit 83-A" was commonly referred to as "Exit 83uh" and other street names were mangled from time to time, but as a whole the new voice functions worked well. And then there was the time when we needed to travel to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at African restaurant Boma. When I selected "Boma's at Animal Kingdom Lodge" from the app, it began navigating us, but our destination ended up at the main gate of some Orlando resident's palatial estate. A little fine-tuning was needed, but the app finally got us where we needed to go. MotionX GPS Drive is also a steal from a financial perspective - $0.99 for the app with guided navigation for $2.99 for 30 days. MotionX wisely does not auto-renew, so you only need to pay the navigation fee when you really need it, which is a very nice touch.

Once in the park, we had two go-to apps - Undercover Tourist and Hipstamatic. If you're unfamiliar with Undercover Tourist, it's an app designed to give you information about anticipated crowds at the various Disney parks and queue wait times at rides within the parks. Unfortunately, Undercover Tourist pushed an update right before our trip and it broke the app on my iPhone 4. I was hopeful when I saw a new update released, but mine still crashes. My wife, ever reluctant to update apps, still had an older version on her phone, so we were able to use it. The crowd forecast for December 24th (color coded: red for heavy, yellow for moderate and green for light) showed green so we thought we had it made. Like I said earlier, the crowds seemed to surprise even Disney, so I can't really blame Undercover Tourist for a mistake in its data. The good news is that the queue estimates were generally accurate and helped us, particularly early on, decide where to go and what to do. And since the app is free (there is a paid ad-free version) there isn't much I can complain about.

Finally, what would a trip to the Magic Kingdom be without lots and lots of pictures? Sure, the iPhone 4 has a much-improved camera, but I'm a sucker for the retro surprises generated by Apple's iPhone App of the Year Hipstamatic. I suppose it's because my first trip to the Magic Kingdom happened only a year or so after the park opened, but I love the washed-out, 1970s style prints that Hipstamatic generates on the fly. Changing virtual lenses and films was a great way to while away the time spent in long, long lines (the Haunted Mansion line was longer than I have ever experienced), and the photos the app took are some of my favorites from this trip. There's a reason Apple selected Hipstamatic, and it's primarily because of its easy of use, versatility and overall fun-factor.

So, we're back home now, but there's no mistaking that the iPhone 4 changed our Disney experience for the better. For one thing, it was the first time we didn't have to lug around a heavy, cumbersome camera throughout the park; but beyond that, it made the day more pleasant, more organized and a lot more fun to remember.

If you really want to start using your iPhone as a money saving gizmo, getting a solid GPS app is the way to go. Sure, they tend to cost more (a lot more) than your average app, but think about the alternative. There are plenty of people out there driving around like loons, taking directions from Sean Connery voice coming from a $150 box sitting on the dash. Come on people, use your iPhone's.

But don't get stuck using the Maps app that's included in your phone. It doesn't have any cool view options, seems to only find Circle K's and 7-Eleven's when you search for "gas station, and won't talk to you when you need a friend the most (when you're lost). Only the love of a good GPS app will stick with you through thick and thin. Well, unless your battery runs out... make sure you get a car charger.

MotionX GPS Drive

The original mother of all cheap GPS apps, MotionX GPS Drive only costs 99 cents. Less than one dollar! Included in the app has live GPS Navigation, all sorts of options to change your route preferences, and best of all, an amazingly well organized search function. Instead of leaving your fate to a Google search on your area, MotionX finds anything you want around you, from airports, to restaurants, to grocery stores, to hospitals.

Voice settings are optional on the app, and unfortunately it does cost money. You can either purchase voice for $2.99 a month or $24.99 a year, depending on what you want. I know what you're thinking, "hey, that's not so cheap!", but it's still cheaper than most of the rest. The cheaper price may be due to the fact that there is no option to have Sean Connery guide you around town, but such is life.

Mapquest 4 Mobile

So when I said that Motion X was the original mother of all cheap GPS apps, Mapquest 4 Mobile took the crown by being free. Free voice, free navigation, free everything. It's definitely the cheapest of the bunch. It's a bit slow, though, and the search features really aren't that great. If you are looking for a big chain of something or another, like Sonic or McDonalds, you are in luck, but anything that is local is in the dark. I did a search for Liberty Market in Gilbert, AZ, a popular restaurant spot, and the app came up with nothing.

It's hard to beat free though. If you know where you are going, and you have an address if the place isn't a chain, this is the app to get.

NAVIGON Mobile Navigator

I always hear NAVIGON in people's lists of favorite GPS apps, and it's no wonder why. It's clean, it works without a data connection, and it offers more features than your average bear. It offers text-to-speech street names, Reality View, which shows you what lane you should be in to get off at the correct exit, real time traffic ($19.99 lifetime fee), live weather updates, and "Clever Parking" which shows you all of your parking options by your destination. At no point in using this app will you long for your standalone GPS box, and that my friends is a huge plus.

The app does take up quite a bit of real estate on your phone (1.52GB for the N. America version), but having the ability to use the app in the middle of the desert is well worth the plot. If you want to lower the land grab (and lessen the cost a bit, too), you can buy regional versions for only $29, making NAVIGON one of the less expensive options on the market.

CoPilot Live
My favorite GPS app of them all however is CoPilot Live. It's fairly affordable at only $19.99 ($4.99 if you only want the USA), and gives you the same premium feel that NAVIGON gives you. It has text to speech street names, Live Traffic (for an extra $9.99) that automatically re-routes you around traffic messes, and a live services package ($20/yr.) that gives you live updates on various gas station prices, among other things. It also has really big buttons, which come in handy when you're fumbling around with your phone while driving (which you're not supposed to do). Best of all is that CoPilot is fast. Faster than all the rest, and speed makes me happy.

In case you were wondering, CoPilot, like NAVIGON, downloads the entire app to your phone allowing for offline navigation. Also like NAVIGON, the file is huge. 1.33 GB huge to be exact.

Today, ngmoco announced their next two games, Topple Too, an update to the popular and currently free Topple, and WordFu, the worlds first kung-fu word / dice game.

Topple Too, is believed to be a revision of ngmoco's second game, Topple. We looked at Topple a while ago and found it a great game, we gave it 5 stars. We are trying to get more info from ngmoco on what they have in store for this second edition. Topple is currently free and I highly suggest you grab it if you haven't already. Best free game out there.

The second game announced today, WordFu, is a dice/word game was first shown at MacWorld last week. WordFu looks to be a very fun, and comical multiplayer word game using dice with letters instead of pips. Think MotionX Poker Quest for words with a lot of Bruce Lee thrown in. Though ngmoco says that it does not contain MotionX technology, it's a good example of the dice rolling technology.

The goal is to discover as many words as possible, in the time limit, from the dice rolled on the screen. The multiplayer pits you against another player on the wifi network who is looking at the same dice. The real fun part of this game though are the strange and wonderful kung-fu sounds that the game generates when you find words.

These two games are expected to arrive in the App Store within a month.