Reviews

RulerPhone

Rating:
MMM

I was asked to look at an app called RulerPhone. I must say, this is an interesting concept and allow me to explain.

The premise is that you set a card-sized object next to anything that you would like to measure and the application allows you to find semi-precise measurements by comparing sizes.

To begin, you use an image saved on your iPhone or just take a picture. Simply place a credit-card sized object up against the object and take a photograph. You then adjust the the scales for the card first, then the measured object.

The application will then show you the estimation. The estimation can be shown in feet, or just inches, Metric or English measuring system, and more options as well.

I think this app is - how do I say it- fun to use. I don’t think this app is something that will be used on a daily basis, but something that would be used to show off the iPhone itself. Many of us have tape measure or rulers to help us out with measuring things but I’ll be honest, its a cool app.

Price:
$4.99

Pros:
… more...

BurnBall

Rating:
MMM1/2

“The Evil Dr. Gray has kidnapped your friends and taken over the planet! His dastardly plan of turning the entire planet Gray is almost complete. Stop him!” Not many games tell a story, but BurnBall does and the first screen you come to will actually allow you to watch and/or read the whole story. I must say, very interesting.

BurnBall from Tim Haines on Vimeo.

As the player, you are playing a character named Ron on a mission to rescue your friends Gibee and Ive to stop Dr. Gray and return color to the planet. The game play is pretty good. The idea is to tilt the iPhone or iPod touch to move a red ball around the screen while trying to avoid the black robots. Once you have covered a great portion of the board, you move to the next level.

Like most games, each level increases in difficulty, and this is by either adding more robots or by adding a white robot; the dangerous… more...

I must say, I am a big fan of MotionX. The makers of MotionX Dice, MotionX Poker, MotionX GPS, and recently released MotionX Poker Quest. This iPhone and iPod touch game is a fantastic game similar to MotionX Poker, however, more interactive. Priced at $2.99, the game is an Egyptian-themed poker dice game. You challenge ancient Egypt’s pantheon of gods as you navigate the Nile River, collecting dice and treasures as you achieve game goals.

Thanks to their physics system that simulates the rolling of dice with a high degree of realism, you are now able to experience the same level of realism if not more in this game of poker. In this new ancient Egyptian-themed version of the game, your task is to travel the ancient lands and challenge the gods to games of poker dice. Each new land that you travel to has a buy-in amount that you’ll need to earn before you can go there to your next challenge.

If you have ever played MotionX Poker, then you know the basics. Everything from MotionX Poker applies to Poker Quest. Bonuses for specific hands, trophies, and cool new… more...

Txtpedia

Rating:
MMMM

The controversial “new language” is really annoying at times, and although I am not that old, I still find it hard to distinguish some texting abbreviations that occasionally make it to my eyes. Well, someone was thinking about people like me. Txtpedia is a simple reference guide for all things shorthand.

Its focus is on the teenage language of text messaging, although it applies generally to most of the abbreviations on the Internet as well. The app includes over 1500 abbreviations and is perfect for both those who are fluent and those who are not.

Txtpedia’s interface is super simple. When you start the app you’re presented with abbreviations A-Z. To jump to an abbreviation, you can tap a letter along the side to jump to all of the abbreviations that start with that letter. Once you find the abbreviation you’re looking for, simply tap it to reveal its meaning. You can also search using the bar at the top.

Unfortunately, you can’t search for full phrases, however, you can reverse the application to show full phrases instead which is handy. I think this whole app is just… more...

Vlingo

Rating:
MMMMM - Matters!

Vlingo launched a really fantastic new iPhone application that lets you talk into their phones to search the Web, dial contacts, and update their status on Twitter and Facebook. Much like Google’s iPhone app which was released early last month, you are able to do all this without touching your keyboard.

The big difference between Google’s app and Vlingo’s is the addition of Yahoo search. You’re also able to auto-dial contacts by speaking their name. I’ve been using the app over the past week and found it to be far more useful than Google’s app. It may be missing the really great option to raise the handset to your head to begin a search, but it makes up for it with quite a bit more utility.

One feature I really enjoyed is the ability to turn your spoken words into a Twitter post or Facebook status post. This is a really cool feature and works like a charm. When searching for something you have the option to open up search results within the app itself. However, when clicking on your find, you are quickly sent over to Safari to continue from there.

Aqua Forest

Rating:
MMM

The iPhone touch control and accelerometer enable the iPhone to support many innovative game designs. One app that I didn’t quite understand at first, but uses the iPhone great features is an app called Aqua Forest.

Aqua Forest is part puzzle game and a part free-form creative tool. Using, what they call, a unique physics engine, Aqua Forest actually mimics how water, solids, and gases behave and simulates the actions of objects with different physical characteristics.

This app reminds me of something that I stumbled upon using StumbleUpon, but involved fire. Very interesting and somewhat addicting. Aqua Forest has a built in set of painting tools that lets you create a number of interesting effects.

This app is on my “boredom section” page on my iPhone and it is really neat once you know what you are doing. If you are into showing your friends just what the iPhone an do, this is one app you should show them.

Price:
$7.99

Pros:
Very fascinating
Tests most of the iPhone cool built-in features
Physics engine is realistic

Cons:
Expensive for what it… more...

There are a few really respected names in the tech world. Names with enough clout to get special seating at MacWorld or an audience with the mighty Jobs himself. One of those names is David Pogue which isn’t a surprise, when you’re writing for The New York times you’ve got a king sized voice. David Pogue has officially weighed in on the Storm and he is not a fan. To wit:

When you hold it horizontally, you get the full, familiar QWERTY keyboard layout. But when you turn it upright, you get the less accurate SureType keyboard, where two letters appear on each “key,” and the software tries to figure out which word you’re typing.

Sure, that’s just a minor quibble (though it is indicative of a less than stellar bit of engineering) but Pogue has more to say:

But wait, there’s less. Both of my review Storms had more bugs than a summer picnic. Freezes, abrupt reboots, nonresponsive controls, cosmetic glitches.

My favorite: when I try to enter my Gmail address, the Storm’s camera starts up unexpectedly, turning the screen into a viewfinder — even though the keyboard still fills half the screen. (RIM executives steadfastly refused to acknowledge… more...

1Password

Rating:
MMMM - Matters

1Password is an application which stores all of your usernames and passwords so you don’t have to keep track of them. There is also a deskptop application for your Mac. Additionally, 1Password can automatically fill in web login forms with one tap.

When you open the application, you’re presented with a list of login items from which you can choose. These can be sorted by name or domain for quick access. To log in, simply tap the corresponding login item and then the url. 1Password will bring up the page in its mini-browser and fill in all of your information.

What I like about this app is that when I go to a website, 1Password will automatically fill in any login form without you having to type a single character. That is fantastic as it is annoying to type login information into sites all the time. If you forget a password, you can also use 1Password to retrieve any password that you’ve stored.

If you are worried about storying all those personal passwords on your iPhone, no need to worry. All of your passwords are AES… more...

Twitterrific Premium
Rating:
MMMM - Matters

I was amazed as how many applications utilize this social messaging service we all call Twitter. One that stood out for me is an app called Twitterrific. Twitteriffic is a popular Mac client for the Twitter social messaging service.

It displays new messages - called tweets - from you your contacts and lets you send tweets as well. This application includes integration with TwitPic, so you can take a photo, and the program will automatically upload it and embeds its URL in your tweet.

Twitterrific’s embedded web browser lets you tap on user names or hyperlinks and view the contents without having to switch to Safari which is very nice and useful. The interface is excellent, combining not only simplicity, but functionality as well.

I really like Twitterrific and unlike many of you, I am rather late to the whole Twitter thing and although I have had a Twitter account for quite some time now (since I sign up for every social network it seems) I have finally revived it. If you are like me and just now starting to tweet, I recommend… more...

Numberkey

Rating:
MMMMM - Matters!

Last month, I purchased myself the new MacBook and one thing that I am use to using quite recently is the numeric keypad. If you own a MacBook (or any laptop without one) or have seen reviews, then you know there isn’t a numeric keypad. However, if you have an iPhone, then there is hope.

While a dedicated pad with real keys is the best, a little application can turn the iPhone or iPod Touch into a temporary one as well. The Numberkey is only $1.99 and utilizes WiFi for the 18-keypad connectivity. Four skins come with the app so you can match up your new keypad with your notebook’s keyboard.

This awesome app is available now in the App Store.

Price:
$1.99