3D Fireworks 2
July 2nd, 2009 by Michael (Admin)
Way back in November of last year I reviewed KDR Software’s original version of 3D Fireworks and it was pretty good! They’re back with this new version that incorporates a city skyline and a whole mess of settings to play with, one of the coolest being the ability to set the “auto-launch rate” which controls how often stuff explodes in the sky. You also get to choose what types of fireworks are shown and you can even throw in a UFO if multicolored explosions just aren’t enough for you.
3D Fireworks 2 is waaaayyy better than the first release but unfortunately it still doesn’t defer to iPod music so if you were hoping to sync the fireworks show to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture I guess you’re out of luck. Speaking of which, I think that would be a pretty cool feature for a future update! I don’t know how it would be executed since the fireworks need to be launched into the sky before they go boom, but a fireworks show set to music is always better than one that isn’t.
This app will probably lose some its luster after America’s July 4th holiday passes, but for $.99 it’s a deal (and apparently the price goes up after July 3rd) so you may as well get it while there’s plenty of luster to go around. For a quick tryout, you can play with the lite version online.
Tags: iPhone, iphone apps
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Eric’s 6 Random Freebies
July 2nd, 2009 by Michael (Admin)
Another round of untested free stuff hunted down by Eric! This one is a little heavier on corporate names than in the past but hey, you gotta eat and it usually helps to have a job.
RunKeeper Free by FitnessKeeper: Eric recently ran a marathon so I’m not surprised to see this app included! This app uses GPS to track your distance, path, etc. and is ad supported. Hate ads? Pay $9.99 for the non-free version.
Jobs by Careerbuilder.com: Get a job, iPhones ain’t free!
Whole Foods Market Recipes by Whole Foods Market: I prefer frozen burritos but if I ever decide to make something natural & organic I’ll be all over this one
Wild West Pinball by OOO Gameprom: To quote from this app’s App Store page: JUST PINBALL EVER
Stoneloops! of Jurassica Lite by PlayCreek: Swain loves this game!
AP Mobile by The Associated Press: Stay current with what’s happening in the world or be forever mocked by your friends, assuming you have some
Tags: iPhone, iphone apps
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July 4th - Independence Day
July 1st, 2009 by Chrisa
This coming Sunday, we will celebrate the third anniversary of my 39th birthday - please, no gifts, unless they come in small blue boxes tied with white ribbon. But more importantly to most, on Saturday we will celebrate the 233rd anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
In honor of this occasion, the gang at Core Coders Ltd. have created July 4th - Independence Day, a patriotic little application that entertains and informs us on this most American of holidays.
It’s a decent little app about the flag and the history of Independence Day. There is a waving American flag, that you can wave back and forth by swiping your finger across it. There’s a fireworks show above a digital Washington Monument. There’s even the lyrics to and a recording of the Star Spangled Banner - handy if you’ve had too many beers before the ball game to remember the words. Finally there is a quiz about the Declaration of Independence and the American flag that is fun, but limited.
The graphics are pretty elementary, but they get the job done. This application will probably appeal to young kids to tweeners as well as my friend Mike the greatest American history buff I know. Beyond that, it’s a seasonal hit at best.
Tags: iPhone, iphone apps
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Lyrics+
July 1st, 2009 by Michael (Admin)
I was planning to review a song lyrics app a while ago but it suddenly disappeared from the iTunes App Store and the developer never told me why! Oh well, no loss… Lyrics+ is far from perfect but it’s still pretty handy and has a lot of potential to become an “every day” app.
That other lyrics app was pretty run of the mill in that it would allow for searching by artist or song title. The thing that makes Lyrics+ so much more promising is that it will find, or at least try to find, the “now playing” song! There have been numerous times when I’ve been listening intently to Eminem rag on his mother but still couldn’t understand exactly how or why he wants to kill her, and I truly wished I could launch an app that would just show me the lyrics while the song is playing. That’s what this app does, and it takes just a couple of taps which is super cool.
In addition to the “now playing” trick, SchroederDev also gave this app search fields to find music lyrics that aren’t currently being played, and “plus” (see that, it’s the app’s name) it will let you browse your music library to fire up both the song and the lyrics at the same time.
This is an awesome set of features and, for the most part, it all works pretty well. The Lyrics+ interface is very plain jane, but when it comes to this kind of app it’s functionality that matters and this one delivers… mostly.
There are two key areas where this lyric finder needs work. The first one, search, is the biggest problem because you MUST use an artist name (and get it exactly right) in order to find anything.
Ouch! Come on dude, I know the song is called We’re Not Gonna Take It but I can’t remember which crappy hair band sang it. When you do have an artist name it’s usually pretty good about fetching info, but you’ll still run into times when the app will give you a search result that you can’t tap on! Double ouch. It did this to me with Mötley Crüe (both with and without the umlauts) and then again with AC/DC. Luckily it worked with Whitesnake or I would have just burst into tears.
The search results also include album names which is kind of nice… I guess… but they don’t lead to a list of songs from that album. It just shows a poorly formatted track list. Oh yeah, and the search results aren’t alphabetical. I have no idea what order they’re in which is both weird and annoying.
The other area where Lyrics+ needs help is in how the “now playing” function finds lyrics. I can understand if it won’t find a song called Track 14 or something, but if your song’s filename is even just a little different from what the app is looking for, it won’t be found. It would be so much easier if this app could just *listen* to your music to find the lyrics (!), but we all know that’s the dominion of a certain other app whose name starts with Sha and ends with Zam.
If the search issues could be resolved and the “now playing” thing improved, I’d be willing to call Lyrics+ a “must have”. If it could successfuly search lyrics by using the lyrics themselves without artist or song title, that would be grounds for adding a buck or three to the price.
As it is, Lyrics+ is still a pretty good app even despite all the search problems. My music library is all pretty mainstream and if yours is, too, this app should come in handy more often than not. If you’re all over the weird indie scene, or if your MP3 collection is one misspelling after another, you may want to approach with caution.
Tags: iPhone, iphone apps
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iPhone 3GS oleophobic = fantastic
June 29th, 2009 by Swain Valasek
What seemed a total gimmic when first announced has proven itself to be the real deal. After putting the 3GS through its paces for about a week now and the 3G still fresh in my mind, there’s no doubt Apple’s new ‘oil-fearing’ coating on the 3GS is a marvel. I had to always carry around a quality microfiber cloth to truly get my 3G screen clean (which I had a screen protector on) as anything else really didn’t do much but move the smudges around to other parts of the screen. In contrast, the 3GS (with no screen protector) not only just stays cleaner longer in general but a wipe on the shirt or pants actually does clean it up nicely…impressive!
Tags: iPhone, iphone apps
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Archon
June 27th, 2009 by Swain Valasek
Archon from React Games is a faithful remake of the absolutely iconic 1983 8-bit classic from that bygone era when Atari and Commodore computers were bonafide ’high end’ gaming machines. I played Archon and Archon II obsessively on my beloved Commodore 64 and the reward today is vivid memories of solidly trouncing my friends that’s simply priceless…truly the Golden Age of game design back in the old 80’s. Archon’s foundation is the ancient game of Chess but really it takes the concept into some wild space far beyond. In fact, Archon is so cool, another of it’s influences was the scene from Star Wars where R2-D2 and Chewie are playing a holographic chess-like battle game on the Falcon and what kid didn’t just love that scene back in ‘77???
Anyway, the game is a classic light vs dark matchup on a 9×9 square gameboard where each side’s pieces are approximate dopplegangers of each other (with a couple notable exceptions). For example, the light ‘pawn’ is the Knight while the dark pawn is the Goblin, each having unique graphics and animation but otherwise identical characteristics. On the other hand, the Djinni and its counterpart the Shapeshifter have completely different attacks that totally change how they’re used. Don’t even think about screaming ‘Battle Chess’ either as #1 this game came out first and #2 once 2 pieces occupy the same square it’s not just ‘higher rank takes the square’, it’s freakin’ GO TIME. In other words, at that point gameplay immediately shifts to a combat arena where you engage in a realtime battle to the death (using D-pad or accelerometer and touching the screen to attack) for victory and control of the square. It was this simple mechanic that catapulted Archon into the gaming stratosphere as now the lowly pawn was no longer just a chump; one could potentially defeat even the most powerful opponent with adept joysticking and let me tell you, the mental effect of that when playing a friend and having just slain their <insert powerful piece here> with your Knight/Goblin was soul-crushingly frustrating and often could turn the tide of a game completely (more on this in a moment as at present there is no multiplayer in this release version).
On the main gameboard, there are static light and dark squares as expected but also a series of squares that cycle in several shades of grey from light to dark and vice versa throughout the game. This is critically important as a hit point and damage advantage in the combat arena is granted to the piece that corresponds to the square’s current light/dark cycle. Furthermore, there are 5 power points equally set around the board which represent a victory condition if you can control each one; the other being simply destroying all the enemy’s pieces in combat. As far as the pieces themselves, special mention here goes to the the Wizard/Sorceress which can cast some very important spells such as Revive (a dead piece), Teleport, Heal and so on. For a rundown of all the pieces, their abilities, movement, spells and other neat tidbits, it’s easier to just check out this Wikipedia page. The goal then is to reach a victory condition as fast as you can to earn the highest possible rank, mighty Archon being the ultimate achievement.
So I’ve established already how much I adore Archon and what it represents historically, now it’s time for gripes and suggestions specific to the iPhone.
- Controls; in a word only ’satisfactory’. I wish I could rank it higher than that but the reality here is a virtual D-pad on a touchscreen can only get you so close to an actual analog joystick, especially in the area of attacks on the diagonal. Honestly I could rank the controls higher but for the one specific yet extremely important example above regarding the potential for a Knight/Goblin to best any other unit in the game. In the original Archon, this was a ‘holy grail’ achievement and a testament to mad joystick skills but on the iPhone eh…not so much and I found the pawns were well, kinda just pawns now which really blows (but is not the fault of the developer at all). Also forget about the accelerometer control option unless you dig frustration in dumptruck-size doses.
- Multiplayer…um there isn’t any. The soul of Archon is the multiplayer; playing the AI for me back in the day was never anything more than practice for meatspace opponents. On top of that, like any AI, the one present here is just as flawed. For example I had a few battles where the AI got caught up on obstacles so that all I had to do was stand in 1 spot with the Phoenix and keep firing as it recharged; something you’d never see with a human. All is not lost however! According to the developer site multiplayer is being worked on as I write this so we can expect it in an update soon, OOORAH!
- Gameboard and pieces; way too small. So small that it’s hard to even appreciate all the detail in the art and animation plus it can get very frustrating trying to move pieces if you have large fingers, resulting in accidental moves that can cost you the game (there’s no oops-type undo feature). This really needs to be tweaked; in fact I’d like to see the entire UI done away with somehow (or at least the option to hide it) so the full iPhone display can be used for the gameboard and subsequent increase in zoom. Speaking of zoom, the dev website does mention plans to implement that specifically so if I can’t have my fullscreen option I guess I’ll have to be satisifed with that in an update.
version reviewed - 1.0
reviewed on - iPhone 3GS 16GB 3.0
screen flip support - no
iTunes music support - no
Tags: iPhone, iphone apps
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AT&T Navigator
June 27th, 2009 by Eric
AT&T Navigator is one of the first apps to fill a HUGE gap in the iPhone’s app catalog: Turn by Turn GPS navigation. This app, which is “powered by Telenav“, is one of the first apps that I know of that does not bill directly through the iTunes App Store. Instead, the monthly charge of $9.99 will appear on your AT&T bill.
Voice guided turn by turn directions are finally here! No more hitting the “next” arrow on the Maps app while you rear-end the car in front of you. So what is the deal with this app? Does it deliver? What is the experience like? Are the directions solid? What about the business listing database? Real-time traffic? How can you use this as a GPS device without multitasking (background running apps)? Read on for the full review.
AT&T Navigator is currently available on most of the current handsets in the AT&T lineup. Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless also have similar navigation services available for about the same price ($9.99 / mo) as well on selected handsets; Some of them also use Telenav as the backbone.
Entering in the destination:
First, you need to tell the app where you are going. There are a number of ways to do this. The most common way will be to either manually type in or use the “call in” feature to load the address. This app does not currently work with the contacts that are stored in the iPhone, which is a HUGE miss on my opinion. It should give the option of scrolling through the contacts and select a destination address that way. AT&T Navigator for BlackBerry for instance, will interface directly with the address book on the device. The good news here is that the iPhone 3.0 software update allows for cut, copy, and paste, so you could paste the address into the field on the app. You can also speak the address using a call in feature. This comes in handy when it is not safe to type on the phone. The voice recognition worked extremely well for me, it saves the address spoken into the “Recent Places”. Since it exists the app to make a call for the voice recognition, I thought I would need to re-launch the app manually, but to my surprise the app re-launched on it’s own and loaded the address that I just spoke as the destination. “My Favorites” allows you to save frequently used addresses (like home or work) so you can access them quickly and easily. “Recent Places” keeps an ongoing list of the last destinations for easy access, and you can also enter an address from a web browser at www.navpreplan.com and it will show up directly in the app. You can also do a business listing search from the app and start your route that way, which is very convenient. Also, the business listings are updated and current since the app accesses the internet to pull the listings in real time. Point of intrest (POI) and business listings can be a huge issue with standalone GPS devices apps that don’t have an internet connection, since these databases can become outdated quickly. Since frequent travellers often are going to and from airports, “Airport” is also an option from the first level of the “drive to” screen and works well. While all the destinatination options are nice, I still can’t ignore the glaring omission of not being able to access an address from your iPhone contacts.
Voice Guidance and Routing:
Like G-Map (UPDATE: G-Map’s Western USA voice guided update launched July 2nd, 2009 at $34.99 - one time fee), AT&T Navigator supports true voice guided turn by turn Navigation. Once the route loads (which happens surprisingly quick compared to other versions of AT&T Navigator) The route starts guiding right away. The maps look great on the iPhone’s large display, and it is easy to see the street names. The voice guidance worked and gave plenty of notice before the next turn. I noticed that the volume of the voice can become a little distorted at the higher settings, but in general it was fine once I dialed it in. I really liked using this app with my Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) hands free kit, as the voice guidance sounded much better through my car kit. You can also play iPod tracks and have the app running at the same time. It will pause the music or podcast briefly when the app “speaks” to you. One annoyance is that the volume of the app’s voice was not matched up with the volume of my iPod music, so I had to keep the volume a little lower so the voice guidance wouldn’t be too loud when listening to the iPod at the same time. The directions were accurate and well done. The main routing screen gives all the essential information. Next turn is displayed in the upper left, while total distance and ETA is displayed in the upper right. I found the ETA to be pretty accurate, unless some unexpected traffic slowed me down. Speaking of traffic, AT&T Navigator supports real-time traffic alerts and offers to avoid if possible. This is a very nice touch and can come in very handy. Every few minutes the voice will say “checking route for traffic” and it re-scans the route for possible delays. If you miss a turn, the re-routing happens quickly.
Maps:
After seeing the Tom Tom demo at Apple’s recent developer conference, I really liked the way maps and navigation looked in landscape on the iPhone. AT&T Nav only supports portrait view, so that is a bummer. As far as the maps themselves, they are downloaded through the cellular data network in real time and not stored on the device, which has some specific advantages and disadvantages. For starters, you don’t need to worry about updating the maps like a standalone GPS unit or an app with locally stored maps. For those who are approaching the memory limits of your iPhone, locally stored maps can also take up HUGE chunks of memory. G-Map, for instance will take up over 2GB of memory on the device for the entire USA (both East and West apps). One drawback of loading the maps in real-time is when you are out of AT&T’s coverage area. With no data connection, a route can’t be loaded. Once the map is loaded, it can still provide turn by turn directions using GPS if you happen to drive out of coverage AFTER the route is loaded, but the map will disappear and large arrows indicating next turn will pop up instead. Once a data connection is restored, the map will re-appear. I drove into a known AT&T dead-zone in the area (a 4 mile stretch of road with little or zero coverage), but the map didn’t disappear in this instance. It seems as if this app has a pretty large buffer to store the next few miles of mapping data in case of lost coverage. On the BlackBerry Bold using the same app, the map would disappear right away when leaving coverage, but not on the iPhone. Another nice touch is the way the map will show business listings. They will appear on the map in a similar way that they show up on the default iPhone “Maps” app.
Point of Interest and Business Listings
This is one area where the app really shines. Food by category is extremely helpful when in an unfamiliar location. It can find Gas by price, WiFi Hotspots, Bars, Post Offices, all sorted by distance from current location. You can type in a business name directly like the default “Maps” app, but the detailed categories allow the user to discover new places in an easier way. There is a user ratings system for restaurants, but I didn’t find that particularly helpful since there weren’t a lot of reviews in the database.
Multi-tasking
So the BIG elephant in the room for me is this: What happens when you need to make a call? What if you want to respond to a text message? What if you need to send a quick “tweet” or update your Facebook status while you are in the middle of a route? This is a fundamental Apple iPhone OS issue, but it needs to be in the conversation when looking at an app like this. When an INCOMING call comes in during a route on AT&T Nav, the app and route will automatically resume when the call is ended. If the user hits the home button to go to another app during the route, they will need to relaunch the app manually if they need to resume their route. When re-launching the app, it will first offer to resume any route that wasn’t completed before the app was existed last. If you need to make a call, one should definitely take into account mileage until next turn so nothing is missed. It is easy to resume the route by simply launching the app, but frequent users of this app will want to put it on the 1st home screen for easy access to resume the route. For someone who need to be on frequent calls or accessing data from other apps while on a route, a standalone GPS solution would be much better for them.
Performance
The app launches relatively quickly and locks onto a GPS signal surprisingly fast when compared to other mobile phone navigation apps. A window mount and car charger are essential accessories when using the iPhone as a turn by turn GPS solution, and they definitely will make the experience better. Battery life takes a HUGE hit as expected.
Price
For someone who travels frequently in unfamiliar areas, the $9.99 monthly price is a no brain er. The always updated maps, the real-time traffic, and up to date business listngs are all part of the value of this app. The car rental companies charge almost that much on a DAILY basis to use their standalone unit. $120 per year is a tough pill to swallow for someone who using this app only a few times per month. It is important to note that deleting this app will not cancel the $9.99 feature with AT&T. You must call AT&T or use online customer service to cancel the billing. The fact that is a monthly feature is nice for someone who is travelling for a couple months. They could add the feature and remove it at any time, which you can’t do with the standalone GPS units with the large one time hardware costs. It will be interesting to see how Tom Tom prices their upcoming iPhone app. Will they offer unlimited map updates (if they are locally on the device)? Will they offer real-time traffic alerts and re-routing? Tom Tom is known for an ultra slick user interface, and from the developer preview at WWDC it looks like the UI will surpass AT&T Navigator. The ultimate question: Will users pay the premium?
AT&T Navigator does a very good job with the core functionality of voice guided turn by turn navigation. I would love to see the iPhone’s contact’s addresses be selectable from within the app, independent volume control of the voice guidance, and landscape view. AT&T should also offer an accessory kit with a window mount and car charger in their retail stores. This is by far the best turn by turn navigation experience available on the iPhone today, but we all know Tom Tom is coming soon. iPhone users are used to apps costing FREE to $.99 to $4.99 on average, so this pricing model may be a lot for them to swallow. The month by month nature of the pricing, however, makes this app easy to try at any time. I would give this app a 7.5 out of 10. Check out the gallery for some screens
Reviewed with:
iPhone 3G 8GB / OS 3.0
Tags: iPhone, iphone apps
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Q&F: DoGood
June 27th, 2009 by Chrisa
Ah, to be young and full of hope. I remember being like that, before I got cynical and exhausted.
But three young college grads in Michigan are still hopeful, and they’ve created DoGood, their first iPhone app under their collective moniker of Mobil33t LLC. Now, normally on a free app, I’d give you a few sentences about it and go on with my weekend. But DoGood has inspired me to put in a bit more effort in the hopes that a few more of you will try out the app and be motivated to pay it forward, so to speak.
The app is pretty simple. Every day there is a suggested “do good” task, like thanking a teacher, or use less water. If you need some inspiration to do the “do good,” read short posts from others around the world who have done it. If you do it, great! Share how it made you feel or what you did, and get a running tally of all the “do goods” you do. You can even post them to your twitter account, automatically.
It’s a simple idea, but it does reinforce the notion of one small gesture a day making a difference in the world. And, with it right there in the palm of my hand, staring me in the face, I have to admit, I felt a little guilty if I didn’t at least try to do the daily “do good.”
If I had to make one suggestion to the Wolverines, I’d have some way to screen the feedback. Some of it was downright raunchy (see the comments on the ‘do something you love’ DoGood), from losers who think it’s a joke. I’d definitely rethink your “appropriate for 4+” rating until you have this filter in place.
Other than that, bravo, my fine young chaps. I hope you change the world, one iPhone user at a time.
Tags: iPhone, iphone apps
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Q&F: Free Stuff App
June 27th, 2009 by Chrisa
You know those annoying pop-up ads that you had to get a pop-up blocker to eliminate, and those stupid quizzes that make you say “no” to a zillion free offers for magazines and tanning cream before you can get to the quiz?
Well some bozo put them all into an iPhone application called Free Stuff App.
If you like being bombarded with this kind of crap, great - this is the app for you. If you’re like the other 99.999% of us, stay away; stay FAR away.
I can’t believe I’ve wasted this much time reviewing this.
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Bionic Surfer
June 26th, 2009 by Swain Valasek
The backstory is that for the last 6 months aliens from the parallel dimension known as ‘kaon space’ have been invading Earth and several other ‘offworld’ human colonies, apparently locking onto the free energy signatures of kaon crystals we’ve been using (for what purpose you don’t yet know). You take the role of Bionic Surfer, who wakes up with a bad case of who/what/where and a mysterious figure known only as ‘The General’ inhabiting his subconscious and directing him to save humanity.
BS has 9 weapons to find and five worlds to explore with 4 levels each, though notably the 4th isn’t so much a level as a boss fight. You can upgrade BS in 3 ways as you collect Kaon crystals: health, attack and speed. The graphics and music in this game are outstanding. Never mind that this is an indie title, you’ll be hard-pressed to find better production values from any of the ‘big names’ out there. The graphics in particular feature ragdoll phsyics on all objects, transparency, particle effects; heck the foliage even sways as BS runs past. The one thing that’s a little weak visually but in a way actually adds to the ‘indie charm’ of the game is that the animation of BS himself is quite stilted, as if he’s running around with a 2×4 sticking out of his board shorts.
BS opens up the ancient and revered chest of surefire platformer conventions, takes a little bit of everything and even adds to it. You’ve got your jumping puzzles, hidden switches to activate doors/platforms/pathways, superjump pads, reflective surfaces to ricochet weapon fire, almost sonicthehedgehog-like ’surf platforms’, low gravity areas, conveyor-type pathways, teleporters…there really is a lot of neat gameplay packed in here, perhaps the sardine can of 2D platformers! One of the coolest elements is the grav gun which lets you move solid objects around to gain access to areas, kill baddies etc. Another neat feature is the ability to zoom out and ‘freeshoot’ which gives the game an almost FPS-like quality. In fact the only downfall to this massive quantity of fun stuff is that there’s not enough of each in the game and some may get the feeling that so and so feature should have been more fleshed out (namely the grav gun).
Threre’s otherwise nothing wrong with this solid game so the gripes and suggestions list is small.
- There’s a checkpoint save system and a quicksave if you exit with the home button. Couldn’t recreate this at will but a few times I just mysteriously lost my checkpoint save altogether. Fortunately this was very infrequent.
- Odd how much the ragdoll feature is touted in the adcopy but ingame it has no notable effect on gameplay and is actually quite subtle overall.
- It’s fairly awkward to have a whole extra button at the bottom of the screen to ‘activate’ stuff. Seems this could just as easily have been accomplished with simple proximity (the ‘i’ dialogues) or the jump button (teleporters and springboards). Point being removing the ‘A’ button would free up some real estate and unclog the controls a bit, namely allowing the ‘freeshoot’ button to be moved down so all controls are in 1 neat row along the bottom.
So what you have here is a fresh take on the 2D platformer genre with a well-written, actually interesting story to follow along with as you play. Great graphics/sound/music are the icing on the cake. Highly recommended!
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