Soccer Scores Pro – FotMob review

If you’re looking for an app to stay on top of all soccer scores from around the wrold, FotMob for iPhone from Score Service Ltd is a must have. The Soccer Scores Pro app delivers live updating scores for matching from virtually every single professional game being played anywhere in the world in any league you can imagine. There are tons of sports apps like ESPN, BBC, and Fox Soccer just to name a few, but FotMob is probably the only app you’ll find that is dedicated to providing professional soccer scores via an iPhone app.

From the main four tabs you can choose to view Live scores, League details, Favorites and Settings for the app. Live is where you can track games being played right now, which includes matches for Today, plus a history of games played Yesterday plus an overview of games coming up Tomorrow. This section can be quickly filtered for leagues by thawing the F/C icon and checking off the ones you want included. Popular leagues including the Premier League, Serie A, LIGA BBVA, Bundesliga, Champions League, Europa League, Euro, World Cup, MLS, and more international leagues are shown above other individual countries in the section called Staff Picks. Speaking of countries, the app covers what seems to be pretty much every single country who has a pro league, plus international series.

Match Facts is the detail screen where FotMob includes 4 additional sub-sections for keeping up with live and previously played matches. These 4 areas are Facts, Lineup, Stats, and Table. Facts lists goals scored, cards handed out, substitutions and more. Lineup has a nice field/jersey style graphic with player names and subs. Stats is a quick comparison of different statistics about the game such as shots on target, fouls, possession percentage and many more. Table is a standing for the league the game is a part of that shows games played, wins, draws, losses and points.
Push notifications can be added to the free app as a premium feature for $1.99 and ads in the app can be removed for $1.99 via in-app purchases. Just be careful, if you’re recording a game and don’t want spoiler alerts, you may not want to enable push alerts.
Overall, if you’re at all a fan of soccer (aka football, aka futball) and want to keep up-to-date on matches being played and your favorite teams, FotMob soccer scores is a gem of an app you should not overlook.

Download Soccer Scores Pro – FotMob at iTunes App Store

Price: Free

Developer: Score Service

Version: 3.7

Size: 13.62 MB

DragonVale review

Backflip Studios is a prolific developer of free-to-play games for iOS. All of the studio’s apps are now free and ad supported with a premium upgrade option. Their newest such application is DragonVale which is available for the iPad (iOS 4.1+), iPod touch (2nd gen+) or iPhone (3GS+). For this review, I played DragonVale on both an iPad 2 and an iPhone 4S.
Backflip intends DragonVale to compete in that “freemium” market of simulators that have us managing zoos, harvesting crops and leading a mafia family. In this game, the player controls a floating island — eventually a series of islands — where dragons live. Dragons range from ice to fire breathers, and it’s the player’s responsibility to breed them, hatch them, nurture them and so forth.

With simulation-style games being so popular of late, many of them have gotten quite complex, and most new entries try to top the field with some dazzling innovation. DragonVale, surprisingly, is not that application. Instead, it’s a mixture of good elements from a bunch of different games. On one hand, the app is stable and a lot of fun. On the other, it often gives you that been-there-done-that feeling.
Keep in mind that if you’re as big a fan of such simulations as we are, then that familiarity is not a problem. In fact, due to our experience with these games, we were playing this one like a pro almost immediately. The learning curve was small, and DragonVale got addicting fast. As the dragons age, the platform has a Pokémon quality that kids will love and adults will like far more than they care to admit.

One of the game’s best draws, also like Pokémon, is the collector aspect: You want to have one of each type of dragon. The difficulty there is that you can never be sure what type of dragon will hatch until it actually does. When that egg starts to shake and the crack forms, there’s tangible excitement as you wait to find out if you finally got that coveted breed. It’s the little things like that that make DragonVale work so well.
Since DragonVale is mostly a hands-off sandbox experience, there isn’t much to the controls, other than moving around the screen to monitor a particular area. The menu system is dense, but well laid out and very responsive. The music and sound effects are of high quality, but there’s not enough diversity for our tastes. You can disable the music, but you need the sound effects as notifications to hatchings and the like.
DragonVale is fantastic as an iPod touch and iPhone app. Eventually, you’ll have many dragons, and the 9.7-inch screen does come in handy at times, but DragonVale is well suited to the smaller screen. There’s not a lot of action off-screen, and when something of interest does happen elsewhere, DragonVale produces handy go-to buttons that zip you right over to it. User-assignable go-to buttons are on our wish list, however.
The low challenge may frustrate hardcore gamers, and as simulation apps go, this iPhone app has low long-term value because there’s nothing left once you created all the breeds and collected all the islands. Nevertheless, we had a great experience during this review, and as an ad-supported free app, we’d recommend to anyone with a little time to kill.

Download DragonVale at iTunes App Store

Price: Free

Developer: Backflip Studios

Version: 1.4.0

Size: 18.02 MB

Mad Tracks review

Mad Tracks is an iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone app made by Namco and it is a fun little racing game that harkens back to many other power-up based racing games where you can pick up items and use them against your opponents. Let’s get into the review of Mad Tracks.
Concept
The concept here is very simple: win the race. You get to pick from several different cars in this application, and each one has slightly different stats. There is also a meter at the top that makes it easy for you to see your position, so you know exactly how far you are trailing or leading in the race.

Power-Ups
Just like many other racing games, you get power-ups here. There are not that many power-ups, but they are certain fun to use. You get rockets, shields and boosting items to help you decimate your opponents. One interesting thing about this app is that you get to hold several different power-ups at once, while most racing apps only allow you to hold one or two items.
Graphics
The graphics certainly don’t look hyper realistic, but they aren’t supposed to. This app is stylized to look more colorful, and it does a good job at this. Everything is easy to see, and most of the graphics are very crisp. But, if you are obsessed with realistic looking cars, you won’t find it here.
Audio
While you’re going through the track, you have some fun and upbeat music to listen to that will keep you from getting bored. While the music isn’t exactly studio quality, it works with this game.

Controls
The controls are pretty straightforward. On the left you have two arrows to turn left or right, and on the right you have a backwards and forwards arrow for braking and accelerating respectively. You also get a great button in the center of the screen that you can use if your car gets turned around by a rocket. By pressing this button, you go back to the last checkpoint, which is a lot easier than slowly turning around.
The only bad thing about the controls is that your items are above your gas button. This means, to use an item, you have to stop accelerating for a second. These buttons probably would have been better over on the left side, because there are a lot of instances where you are going straight and not turning.
Multiplayer
You get to play against your friends and other players online in tournaments and single matches, which is really fun and it’s great to see.
While there is the one small problem with the controls, this app is very fun and works very well. If you are interested in racing and blowing up other cars, you will certainly get some fun out of this.

Download Mad Tracks at iTunes App Store

Price: Free

Developer: Namco Networks America Inc.

Version: 1.0.0

Size: 80.20 MB

NBA 2K12 for iPhone review

For as long as I’ve played video games, my favorite genre has been the sports game. I remember renting Jordan vs Bird Super One on One as a young boy and thinking it was the epitome of what a basketball game could be. Of course, as I’ve played more sports games I’ve been more and more impressed, but it wasn’t until last year when 2K Sports released NBA 2K11 that I was blown away at how a sports video game should make me feel. Even so, I tempered my expectations at their first efforts on the iPhone with this year’s iteration, NBA 2K12. Thankfully, I underestimated how great their first iOS NBA game would be.

If you’ve played the NBA 2K series on a console, you’ll know that one of the big selling points of the franchise is the presentation, and 2K Sports has brought their fantastic presentation to iOS with NBA 2K12. Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg team up as the play-by-play and color men and do as terrific a job on the iPhone as they do on the Playstation 3. Where most sports franchises have stiff commentary that sounds delayed to the action on the court, NBA 2K12 sounds like the announcers are courtside watching the game and talking about it in realtime, as a real conversation. It’s simply fantastic hearing the banter between the two and realizing that you’re losing very little in commentary from the console to the iOS version. But the presentation doesn’t stop at just the commentary. The camera angles and cutaways are fantastic, and really evoke the feeling of true television presentation. Graphically NBA 2K12 isn’t as evolved as some of the games on the App Store, but it’s as great as any other sports title available.

NBA 2K12 offers two different control schemes, a traditional three “button” scheme, and a swipe control scheme that offers one-touch control of the players on the court. Personally, I found the swipe control to be difficult, mainly because the players moved automatically, and as a long-time player of sports games, my point guard moving by himself was a little unnerving. However, for casual fans, this control scheme may be ideal. For the rest of us, the three button control system works perfectly, and it includes a fourth button away from where the thumb rests for alley-oops.
NBA 2K12 is an ideal mobile game for basketball enthusiasts. With authentic rosters, a full season mode, and a Jordan mode which lets you recreate 10 of the legend’s most iconic performances, NBA 2K12 will fill your basketball fix for a long time to come, even if the entire season is lost due to the lockout. NBA 2K12 is available now in the App Store for $4.99 on iPhone and $9.99 on the iPad.

Download NBA 2K12 for iPhone at iTunes App Store

Price: $4.99

Developer: 2K Sports

Version: 1.0.2

Size: 445.11 MB

Monster Island review

Monster Island is an iPhone game developed by released by Miniclip. Players of Angry Birds will find this iPhone app similar enough to be familiar yet unique enough to stand on its own. With 200 levels taking place on three different islands, the application promises to provide hours of entertainment.
The concept is one we’ve seen before. The player controls the main character, or monster, who remains stationery, shooting various rocks, boulders and exploding orbs at the enemy (what appear to be other monsters). People who enjoy this type of somewhat simple game play will no doubt enjoy Monster Island. What may set the app apart from its competitors is control of the shot.

With your thumb, you aim an arrow in the direction you’d like to shoot your rock. Drawing your thumb to the right of the screen increases your power meter and the strength with which your shot is thrown. Once you’ve aimed your arrow and decided on the power level, you tap your ‘mini’ in the bottom left corner to release your throw. The controls take a minute or two to get used to but by level four you’ll have it down pat.
The audio soundtrack on the app may be its drawback. The audio is on a loop and quickly gets mundane. The developers may want to consider adding better background music and additional sound effects to the app. For now, I’ll play Monster Island with the soundtrack muted and the sound effects on. Graphically, things are simple but interesting. Rich hues of blue, green and yellow highlight the app with more subtle variations of browns and purples.

For $0.99, the Monster Island app is a good value. The player is taken through tutorials each time a new feature is introduced in a level so that you are never left scratching your head. As you beat an enemy, you win coins which can be used to buy new monsters to control. Players can also purchase coins for real money if they don’t want to wait. Annoying background music and a lack of sound effects shouldn’t deter anyone from purchasing this app for their iPod Touch, iPad or iPhone. If you’re looking for a simple way to pass your lunch hour or entertain yourself while waiting for the doctor, Monster Island certainly delivers.
Perfect for children and adults of all ages, Monster Island is a great iOS game at a great price.

Download Monster Island at iTunes App Store

Price: $0.99

Developer: Miniclip.com

Version: 1.0.1

Size: 18.72 MB

Clear review

Every now and then an iPhone app comes along that opens a door of possibilities for future applications. Realmac Software’s app, Clear, could do just that. Clear fully utilizes the gesture capabilities of the iPhone by providing an interface that revolves around swiping rather than tapping. With a very simple and clean layout Clear provides the most straightforward layout for a to do app to date. In order to switch from your lists to all you need to do is swipe up. To mark something as complete simply drag it to the left or drag to the right to delete it. If you would like to add another task just pinch your fingers outward. Clear’s design, shaping their interface around gestures rather than buttons, could be the first of a wave of apps changing the way we work.

While it does take a little getting used to, it is not hard to pick up on the gestures to use Clear properly. After playing around with it for five to ten minutes it is easy to pick up on and you find yourself wishing other apps implemented use of gestures as well. You will want to finish all of your tasks for the satisfaction of sliding it off the screen after completion. Clear allows you to move the items on your to do list around, so that you can put them in order form most important to least. The items at the top of the list are in red and the colors of the items gradually turn yellow as the priority decreases.
For someone looking for a to do list app that includes calendars and reminders, Clear is not a fit. It is a straightforward application that only allows you to add a item to your to do list or remove one. If you are looking for a productivity application that does use reminders, Wunderlist could be a good option to try.
Clear currently sells for $0.99 in the App Store and a great way to simplify and organize your tasks. I give it four stars for providing a clever to do list application as well as possibly pioneering a new generation of apps.

Download Clear at iTunes App Store

Price: $0.99

Developer: Realmac Software Limited

Version: 1.0.1

Size: 7.09 MB

9mm review

Since the inception of video games, one of the most popular styles of gameplay has been the classic first person or third person shooter. Unfortunately, this is a genre that is difficult to play on iOS devices such as the iPad or iPod touch , and many shooters have failed to live up to expectations. One third person shooter on the iPhone that has risen to the challenge, however, is 9mm from Gameloft. It is important to note this game (9mm) contains a ton of profanity, sexual content, drug and alcohol references and intense violence, which means you need to be at least 17 to download this app.

The plot behind 9mm revolves around the character John “Loose” Kannon, the leader of a special unit of cops whose purpose is to eliminate the most wanted criminals through any means necessary. The story begins when John’s team kills the brother of a drug lord and confiscates millions of dollars in illegal drug money. Infuriated by the death of his brother and the loss of millions, the drug lord arranges to have every member of John’s team murdered, and only John can save his team by killing the drug lord first. The plot is extremely captivating and acts as an incredibly favorable aspect of the application.

In many ways, the iPhone app is very similar to the Grand Theft Auto series, and those who enjoyed Grand Theft Auto will assuredly love 9mm. For one thing, the plots are similar, as John Kannon is equally as violent and needlessly homicidal as the characters from Grand Theft Auto. Additionally, the game mechanics are essentially the same. The one noteworthy difference between Grand Theft Auto and 9mm, however, is that Grand Theft Auto is a sandbox game in which the missions can be completed in any sequence, whereas 9mm is very linear and the missions can only be performed in a predetermined order.

One major drawback that may make 9mm unappealing to some people is the violence and profanity. Like the Grand Theft Auto games, 9mm involves brutally murdering numerous people, an excessive use of vulgar language, drug references, and many adult scenes such as a level that takes place in a strip club. In general, most players are mature and have grown acclimated to the presence of violence and profanity in video games, and thus will not be bothered by this aspect of the app. For those gamers who are very sensitive and become offended easily, however, the content of this app could potentially be perceived as repulsive and should be avoided.
Despite the mature content, 9mm is a phenomenal app that surpasses nearly all other games in the genre. For those who are seeking a high-quality third person shooter, look no further than 9mm.

Download 9mm at iTunes App Store

Price: $6.99

Developer: Gameloft

Version: 1.0.0

Size: 719.99 MB

Real Steel Review

Here is a video demo of the Real Steel app on the iPhone

Today, there are thousands upon thousands of iPhone apps and game available and with so many choices out there, it is tough to make a decision on what to spend your money on. A new iPhone and iPad game that has many fans talking is the new game , “Real Steel” available in the App Store from Jump Games.
Real Steel is based off of the soon to be released motion picture, “Real Steel”. In theaters October 7th, the film stars Hugh Jackman and is set in the near future, where robot boxing is a top sport. Robots battle to see who is the better built machine. If you want to live in the world of Real Steel, then prepare for intense robot battles in the new title available for the iPod touch and iPad.

While loading up Real Steel, I went into it thinking that it was just another app of trying to cash in on a movie, without putting in any real effort. And I must admit, I was wrong in every way.
Concept: While watching the trailers for the film, I felt that it was going to be a movie where a lot of people would think, “That movie was great, but I’d love to be able to do that in real life.” This title gives them the chance to do that. Not to the extent seen in the movie, of course, but enough to help satisfy your robot bashing appetite.

Controls: The player is given two sets of buttons, each respectively located at the bottom left and right of the screen. The left side controls the movement of the robot, while the right side controls the punches, kicks, etc. My only real gripe with the controls is that from time to time you may wonder why your robot isn’t responding to your commands, when in reality it is because your finger slipped off the button without you noticing, (due to not being able to actually feel the buttons.)

Audio: The audio is crisp, clear, and not annoying unlike many of the other apps in the App Store.
Graphics: The graphics for this title blew me away. I was expecting graphics that would appear to have little effort put into them, but instead what I got were graphics that appeared to be from the era of a late PS2 title. The graphics looks great on the iPhone’s display.
Value: While “Real Steel” is currently selling for $2.99 in the App Store, I feel this may be a little too high. There isn’t too much to do in the title. If the game were to sell for $1.99, or even .99, I feel it would be a much better deal.

Download Real Steel at iTunes App Store

Price: $2.99

Developer: Jump Games Pvt.Ltd.

Version: 1.0.1

Size: 87.59 MB

theCHIVE Lite review

KCCO! For those Apple product users who are avid followers of the always entertaining website thechive.com, theCHIVE Lite app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad is just what chivers need to entertain themselves at work, while waiting in line, or on the subway. The free iOS app is the perfect way to enjoy all the entertainment of thechive.com, without running the risk of getting busted at work looking at the website’s NSFW pictures.
The app is a simplified version of the Chive website. The concept is a collection of the best random photos, drawings and videos that were submitted to the website and then compiled into collections. What you can expect are hilarious, sexy, random and downright bizarre photos and videos from across the internet and from users’ personal collections. Users can search by category, top rated collections or the latest photo collections posted on the site. Hitting ‘Shuffle’ at the bottom of the screen will bring up a randomly picked photo collection for users who don’t know where to begin or have already perused the most recent posts.

Photos and drawings are arranged in galleries by subjects like ‘Daily Afternoon Randomness,’ Cat Saturday,’ ‘FLBP’ (Future Lower Back Problems- something for the guys), and ‘Sports fanatics take it to a whole new level,’ among many other randomly labeled galleries. Occasionally the photos are grainy and hard to see what is happening in them, so there are some that should have been left off of the app. But, overall the photos and drawings are clear enough to understand what’s going on. The bottom icon bars on each photo categories page and under each photo allow the user to leave comments, ‘like and ‘dislike’ by signing in with a Facebook account. The photos can also be saved to the user’s Apple device or shared on social media networks or by email.

There is no music or any fancy graphics for this app, but the background and icons still look nice and clean. Hourly updates ensure a constant stream of new entertainment. Videos are streamed so that the user never has to deal with the video stopping halfway through to finish downloading. The sound quality for videos is also clear and loud enough for the user and their friends to hear the video that is being watched.
The Chive website dubbed itself ‘Probably the best site in the world’ and this is true for the app, at least if what a user is looking for is mindless entertainment and a break from work. The theCHIVE Lite app from Resignation Media, LLC, like the website, is an ode to all things random and funny. It’s a reminder to never take things too seriously and to always ‘Keep Calm and Chive On.’

Download theCHIVE Lite at iTunes App Store

Price: Free

Developer: Resignation Media, LLC

Version: 1.3

Size: 9.87 MB

Reckless Racing 2 review

Reckless Racing 2 is here for the iPad and iPhone from Polarbit and sells for $4.99 in the App Store. If you like top down miniature 3D drag racing games, RR2 is a worthy app purchase. The original game (Reckless Racing) had tremendous success and a sequel is a welcomed addition.
The game starts out asking you to choose an avatar from one of 17 hand drawn characters and entering your name. Reckless Racing 2 introduces dynamic difficulty where the game engine will automatically adjust the difficulty level to match how good (or bad) you are playing.

Reckless Racing 2 has 4 gameplay modes: Career, Arcade, Single Event, and online multiplayer.
Career mode: Play and unlock 12 cups. Winning one unlocks the next cup. The initial rookie cup is called Roadrunners and you can work your way all the way up to Outer Peak. Every cup comes with anywhere from 3-5 races for you to complete. Each event has a unique set of challenges to complete (Race, Hot Lap, or Elimination) and you earn difficulty points as well based on your effort level.
Arcade Mode: Finish races in 3rd place or higher to move to the next challenge. There are a total of 40 challenges in this mode.
Single Event Mode: Here you are free to jump in and race in any track, cup, & event with any car you’ve unlocked. Play in either a race, hot lap or an elimination race.
Online Multiplayer: Either host a race or join an already hosted online game room and race against other users.

Garage: View your cars on a platform and rotate the car using touch gestures by dragging it up/down/left/right. Your garage starts out with one car, the Sansiban XL. Winning races earns you prize money that can be used to buy additional cars, upgrade performance such as Speed, Acceleration, and Handling, or change the look of your cars such as rims and paint jobs.
Controls: Choose from 5 steering and gas control options. The standard setup gives you 4 buttons (2 for steering and 2 for steering) which gives you the best amount of control overall. Adjusting the steering sensitivity can help fine tune getting around corners further to you liking. Other control presets are Tilt, Halfwheel, Fullwheel, and Tank. You can also customize the placement and size of onscreen control buttons. The game engine provides for realistic physics when you collide with objects alongside the road like gravel, sand, cones, railings. The action packed powerslides, drift racing action that made the first episode famous are all back with a vengeance. You can even fall off cliffs and bridges if you’re not careful.
Options: Show or hide the Race Line, Pace Note, Chase Camera, and the Mini Map, plus the ability to disable Dynamic Difficulty.
In-app Purchases: If you don’t feel like earning your money, Reckless Racing 2 let’s you buy credits via real money. Coin packs cost anywhere from 1-$10 for 50,000 to 2,000,000 credits.
Graphics: RR2 has noticeably higher quality graphics and better HD quality artwork. Characters, race maps and the 18 new cars all look extremely polished. Playback on the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S are smooth and fluid.
Complaints: Tilt controls are nearly unusable in the game. Not many people in the online game rooms yet, though this will most likely improve as more iOS users buy this game. In game music is quite repetitive and borderline mind numbing in RR2 and desperately needs some variety. What’s missing is the fun banjo music that gave the original character. Leadrerboards require registering for a new an account with Pixelbite.
Reckless Racing 2 adds value with its fully customizable race cars and HD graphics with a ton of new races and tracks to complete, enough to keep you busy for quite some time.

Download Reckless Racing 2 at iTunes App Store

Price: $4.99

Developer: Polarbit AB

Version: 1.0.0

Size: 111.11 MB

Moment Catcher review

Moment Catcher is a universal app download for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch that allows you to capture reactions to your photos, videos, and favorite YouTube clips on your iPhone and iPad. If you are looking to be the next YouTube superstar or win America’s Funniest Home video, then this is a $0.99 download from the iTunes store not to be missed.
Moment Catcher requires activation of location services on your iPhone and iPad app to function. To get started, you view your photos, your videos, and your YouTube videos with a touch on the appropriate choice in the app. When the video starts or the photo slideshow begins, the Moment Catcher app starts filming through the iPhone and iPad’s camera. As soon as you stop watching the video or photo stream, then the filming automatically ceases. The Moment Catcher app’s video is then saved in your iPhone or iPad’s camera roll. You can view your video reactions within the Moment Catcher app or by scrolling through your camera roll to find it.

The moments caught by Moment Catcher have sound and video of your child’s reaction to your videos, YouTube videos, and photos. The interface of the app is quick, simple, and easy. Graphically, it is modern, fresh, and tasteful.
Moment Catcher’s developers, Grolux 2 Productions, want particularly for parents to be able to film the reactions of their children to videos and photos. To preserve the spontaneity of your kids and family, the app was designed to film without obtrusive flashing lights or other effects that would turn a natural, unscripted reaction into a show–or in the case of one of my sons, a hand over the screen as he marches out of the room. For younger kids, you will be successful. You’ll be the responsible adult making all of the touches on the screen and preparations. Once you have an older tech-savvy child, they may catch on to what you’re doing.

As with any iPhone and iPad apps that use location services, you’ll want to be mindful of data usage and battery drain. In my experience with Moment Catcher, I simply turned it on and off in the Settings menu. I was able to take advantage of the great, useful functionality, but preserve my battery.
Moment Catcher is a well-designed app for iPhone and iPad in that it has a specific, sought-after purpose tied together in an aesthetically-pleasing and highly-functional box on your devices’ screens. Look for Moment Catcher produced clips to fill your Facebook news feed.

Download Moment Catcher at iTunes App Store

Price: $0.99

Developer: Patrick Groulx

Version: 1.2

Size: 22.32 MB

Frederic – Resurrection of Music Complete review

There has been a worrying trend in the gaming industry lately. It seems that two particular genres of games are becoming a little overused. I’m talking of course about both the Zombie based and rhythm based/music genres. It is with a slightly raised eyebrow that I review the latest application for both iPhone and iPod Touch from developers Forever Entertainment S.A. called Frederic – Resurrection of Music Complete. This iPhone app stars the zombified remains of 19th century French composer, Frederic Chopin as he wanders the world, searching for the reason why he has been resurrected, and getting into some fun musical duels along the way. For this review, I will played this app on an iPhone 4s.

If you have ever played any rhythm based iOS titles such as Tap Tap Revenge, Rock Band, or Guitar Hero before, you will be instantly comfortable with the control scheme set up in Frederic: Resurrection of Music. Your iPod screen will display a set of piano keys, and you simply have to tap them along with the music to score points. The music is really quite impressive in this title. The developers have included a number of Chopin’s works, and have even added their own respectful twist to some of them. This all comes together to provide an audio package that is hardly rivaled in many other iPhone apps.
However, whislt the music is respectful, the application’s portrayal of its characters isn’t quite on the same level. The developers have been pretty stereotypical with depictions of various world nations. For example, The Irish character is some kind of leprechaun and Jamaica’s mascot is an over exaggerated Rastafarian with a special penchant for a certain special herb. At times these stereotypes can cross the line of decency. Im sure this isn’t what the developers wanted, but it’s the vibe I got. The story thankfully is nice and light-hearted with a goofy host of voice actors that do a decent enough job of hamming it up to ensure that the cut scenes in-between stages are still entertaining to a degree.

Though the meat of the game is spent flicking through virtual comic strips, Frederic: Resurrection of Music is still a fun entry into the rhythm based genre for iPhone gamers, and there is sure to be enough content to make it worth the price of $3.99. The gameplay is satisfying on your first play through, and soon becomes even more addicting on higher difficulties. You will have a lot of fun trying to get a pace on the global leaderboards. So, whilst Frederic: Resurrection of Music may not wholly be original, this iPhone app is an undead treat.

Download Frederic – Resurrection of Music Complete at iTunes App Store

Price: $0.99

Developer: Forever Entertainment S.A.

Version: 1.1

Size: 628.80 MB

Animoog review

Animoog is the newest iPad app from Moog Music. Despite being a four letter word, when it comes to synthesis, names don’t get much bigger than Moog. A legend in analogue synthesis, Moog’s contributions to the growing iOS musical apps scene are always fascinating.
Animoog is the latest of such efforts. Proving that disses aren’t the sole preserve of the hip-hop community, Moog have billed their newest app as the first “professional” analogue synthesis app for the iPad. Ouch.

So what separates Animoog from the slew of other music apps out there? And does it justify its hefty $30 price tag?
Well the engine behind Animoog is Moog’s new Anisotropic Synthesis Engine, a name alone that sounds expensive. Fortunately this isn’t just clever branding as Animoog captures the vast sonic vocabulary of Moog synthesizers, bottling years of experience into a formidable looking interface.

Moog’s “mission statement” as far as Animoog is concerned, is to take their real world analogue synthesis prowess and apply it to the modern touch surface paradigm, which means user can quickly sculpt incredibly fluid and dynamic sounds that live, breathe, and evolve as you play them.
So does this dream align with reality? And is it any fun? Well yes and yes. The first thing you’re likely to notice when you fire up Animoog is the giant X/Y pad that dominates the screen real estate. This “allows you to dynamically move through an X/Y space of unique timbres to create a constantly evolving and expressive soundscape”. Is less high-falutin’ language it enables you to visualise the way your sounds evolve and interact with the development of notes as you play them. The app-dev team obviously had a lot of fun with this as the present sounds come in a colourful variety of shapes like triangles, stars and question marks.

Rather than ignore the realities of touch screen life or religiously try to recreate existing synths, Animoog fully embraces the iPad’s surface. With Polyphonic Modulation you can simply slide your fingers to control multiple modulation parameters in Animoog right from the keys, which makes doing so whilst performing feel natural and intuitive. In addition Moog threw in some Polyphonic Pitch Shifting, so you can easily manipulate the exact pitch of each note in a chord by rotating or sliding your fingers.
An app synth is only as good as what you put in and Animoog’s diverse library of timbres is derived from analog waveforms captured from classic Moog oscillators, both vintage and modern, and run through a boutique’s worth of high-end outboard and analog signal processors, including modular synth panels, Moogerfooger pedals and more.
So whilst “the first professional synth for the iPad” might seem like a bold claim, it’s definitely the first to justify such a hefty price tag.

Here is a video demo of the Animoog app on the iPhone

Download Animoog at iTunes App Store

Price: $29.99

Developer: Moog Music Inc.

Version: 1.0.1

Size: 5.38 MB

Everyme review

Facebook and Twitter can feel too open and impersonal for most people. If you want more control over what information you share and with whom you share it, then you’ll want to check out the new Everyme social networking app for iPhone. It helps you narrow and define groups to share a private conversation. It’s the perfect way to keep up with your girls night out group, your work lunch crew, and your family without requiring everyone to participate in the same social networking application. It’s also a great way of staying in touch with your friend who responds to texts, but doesn’t answer an email. All of your conversations are private, so you never have to worry about your posts, pictures, and observations ending up where you don’t want them to be.

By accessing your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and contacts list, you can let the Everyme app do the hard preliminary work of creating your “circles.” It takes a bit of time to sign in and authorize four different applications, but I used my iPad and wireless keyboard to speed the process. The Everyme iPhone app automatically generated four lists for me: my high school friends, my college friends, my sweetheart, and my family. Everyme assures you it will neither post on your behalf, nor will it save your contacts to its servers. Or, you can create your own groups with simple interface. You simply click the plus icon. name the group, and add members via your contacts list, a phone number, or an email address.

Each group has its own private thread of conversation that can be customized with a photo. The default photos for the Everyme iOS app are attractive, but certainly the ability to enhance and personalize the visual content is a welcome feature. When you begin a conversation, you can take a photo, share copy, and add location. An Everyme user will receive the shared item on his/her iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. If you have someone’s phone number, then they’ll receive the piece of conversation via text. If you have an email, then your content will be delivered via email. One neat feature is the ability to simply reply to the email to add your comment to the conversation. You’ll receive email updates to see who is receiving what and when responses are received. So, you’ll receive lots of the same information in different places. It would be great to decrease the frequency of email notifications, if you religiously check the Everyme iPhone app via a settings menu adjustment.
Everyme’s iOS app lets you clearly define your groups of friends and share with them across multiple platforms. If you need to rant about work, then you can do so privately and without the fear of HR wrath. If you want to organize cocktail hour, then you can do so without a post showing up in a news feed. The ability to control your privacy is an extremely relevant and timely topic. Fortunately, there is a beauty, elegance, and simplicity in private social networking as envisioned by Everyme.
What do you think? Will you sign up for a new social network like this one, that feels more intimate and private than Facebook?

Here is a video demo of the Everyme app on the iPhone

Download Everyme at iTunes App Store

Price: Free

Developer: Everyme, Inc.

Version: 1.5.1

Size: 5.18 MB

Spaceward Ho! review

Spaceward Ho is the first app released by developer Ariton, although the game itself is just a port to the iPad of an original Mac classic. Initially developed by Delta Tao Software, Spaceward Ho! for iPad has a rich and storied history in its own right. We played Spaceward Ho! on an iPad 2 for this review.
Before getting to the review, I have to say that I’m somewhat biased. The original Spaceward Ho! filled delightful years of my childhood, and playing this tablet port definitely brought me back to those early days of gaming. Sigh…how the years pass. Okay. On to the review.

Concept & Story
Spaceward Ho! was one of the first “4X” games, standing for eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate, ever to be released. The concept behind it is that you are the leader of a spacefaring human civilization, and your goal is to civilize planets and build an empire. As an open-ended application, you make the story as you go, encountering AI-controlled aliens or even other human players as your turns progress. If you’ve ever played games like Civilization, Alpha Centauri or Master of Orion, you will feel right at home with Spaceward Ho!.

Controls & Gameplay
Thankfully, the Spaceward Ho! port was pretty complete, with little in terms of the gameplay changed from the original. The touchscreen controls feel fluid and even add a dimension to what I had previously considered to be a perfect play. You feel like a real commanding officer of the future, touching your pad to bring up planetary or combat displays. The touch-based zoom features help you keep an eye on your growing empire, and intuitive menu placements help you keep track of taxation and multi-planet terraforming procedures in late-game play.
As far as the gameplay is concerned, Spaceward Ho! is a return to simplicity in the 4X genre. Rather than relying on dozens of separate resources, there are just two: a renewable resource in money, and a nonrenewable resource in metal. Ideally, you expand outward to increase your metal production, which improves your overall economy and helps you expand even more. Keep on doing this until you encounter hostile forces, then use your superior might and military economy to squash them, or become friends and explore the galaxy together.

I guess if you’re used to 4X games, Spaceward Ho! will just be more of the same. But it is one of the originals and still one of the best. If you’ve only played the most recent strategy simulation games, give this one a shot! For only $5, you won’t regret it. The multiplayer option with human support is coming up in a future release.
Graphics & Audio
The graphics and audio of Spaceward Ho! were never anything special. Icons and galactic maps are the extent of the interface, making this definitely more an iPad app for the mind than for the senses. Nevertheless, this makes good use of the iPad’s high-end graphics processor, with smooth zooms and transitions between displays. The audio is decent and provides a nostalgic feel, hearkening back to the old game.
Overall
Spaceward Ho! is a little bit of gamer childhood brought back to life for Apple enthusiasts. If you enjoy strategy games, $5 is not too much to shell out for this port of a classic treasure. While the storyline is nonexistent and the graphics are merely serviceable, it is still a great iPad app that will provide months of enjoyment. As I said before, possible bias. But if you are also biased toward old-school 4X strategy games, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Download Spaceward Ho! at iTunes App Store

Price: $4.99

Developer: Christopher Cotton

Version: 1.0.1

Size: 12.98 MB

Craigslist Mobile Ultimate for iPhone review

Craigslist Ultimate is the officially licensed Craigslist app by Escargot Studio for the iPhone and iPod Touch. In the history of bargain shopping there have been several major milestones. First there were bargain and second hand stores. With the internet age ebay allowed for consumers to find the best deals from the comfort of their own home, with a small fee charged by ebay itself. The coming of Craigslist further revolutionized the bargain shopping game by cutting out a profit making middleman. Now the mobile app offers exclusive features that aren’t available on the normal Craigslist.org site.

The app’s search screen is simple and easy to use. You select what category you want to search, ranging from jobs to housing to items for sale. You select your location, with the option to choose multiple cities to search simultaneously. Lastly, you have the option of choosing from a short list of filters to help further refine your search. Your search results come in a scrolling screen with thumbnail photos. There is also a GPS map to show you the locations of items being sold. The world is a big place and there will likely be a quite a few search results awaiting your perusal, and any experienced shopper knows to compare prices. The app helps out by offering a favorites feature for you to bookmark enticing postings you may want to come back to. Once you see a listing you want to respond to you can e-mail the poster quickly from your device.

Posting to Craigslist is just as easy as searching. You sign in with your e-mail account, select a category, write some info about it, and upload photos straight from your device. All your posts will be listed in a ‘My Postings’ category where you can easily access and edit all your listings.
For a small fee, users can upgrade to the Ultimate edition and enjoy a number of exclusive features. Craiglist Unlimited stays true to its name by offering unlimited saved searches and unlimited favorites. You can designate background searches for notifications, meaning whenever a matching listing to your background search gets uploaded you can be the first to know by receiving an instant notification. Up to fifteen background searches in up to ten areas are available to send you alerts of listings as soon as they appear.
The Craigslist app is free, with the Ultimate version costing only $1.99. If you utilize the notifications system, the Ultimate version should make its money back through the money you save in no time. With minimal setup you can have the Craigslist Ultimate App doing all the bargain shopping for you so you can go out hitting the thrift stores the old fashioned way.

Download Craigslist Mobile Ultimate for iPhone_iPod at iTunes App Store

Price: $1.99

Developer: Escargot Studios, LLC

Version: 1.2.3

Size: 7.77 MB

Bullistic Unleashed review

Bullistic Unleashed is an iPhone & iPod Touch game app from Millipede giving you the chance to be a bull in a china shop. Using responsive gesture controls, you catapult your bull through the mall leaving a path of destruction.
Visually, the graphics are less impressive than the gesture controls and functionality. The home screen is uninteresting, but most mall maps are pretty boring. The graphics in the mall, as your bull smashes about, are sophomoric and dated. The cynical energy of the Bullistic Unleashed iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad app is a great opportunity to bring wit and sarcasm to the graphics. Unfortunately, the splattering guts, broken wine bottles, squatty people, and Mary Poppins-esque awnings don’t complement the vibe of the Bullistic Unleashed iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad app.

The gesture controls and navigation give strength to the the Bullistic Unleashed game app. You catapult your bull with a fling of your finger. Your bull smashes through stores, falls into elevators, bounces off walls and obstacles. It’s essentially pinball in a mall with bulls. When you move through the Bullistic Unleashed iOS game, new functionality is introduced to cause more destruction by adding additional gestures. Before you start each level, there is an excellent overview of the gestures required for you to find success in destruction. You earn points by flinging your bull into a path where it gathers coins and by destroying items. As you unlock levels and earn more points, you can buy enhanced abilities. Or, these special bull powers are available for in-app purchase.

With full integration to Game Center, you can monitor your progress creating destruction in the Bullistic Unleashed iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad app. One of the interesting sharing features is sending an F card via email. An F card is a picture of a bull’s behind.
The Bullistic Unleashed iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad app makes destruction and disaster a bit more fun and interesting.

Download Bullistic Unleashed at iTunes App Store

Price: $0.99

Developer: Millipede Creative Development

Version: 1.0

Size: 44.56 MB