Nguyen goes into a lot of detail, and it’s a must-read for anyone thinking about commissioning an iOS (or really any mobile OS) application. Here’s one passage in particular that I know will resonate with a lot of freelance devs:

Converting an iPhone app to iPhone/iPad universal app: This is the worst ‘additional feature’ found in iPhone development contracts. Because an iPad app is not a frikin’ additional feature. The iPad app is always more complex than iPhone app, and most of the time requires entirely different interface and interaction mechanism. It’s like making an electric bicycle and then convert[ing] it to a fuel-powered motorcycle! They are very similar at what they do, but under the hood, the difference is immense. [Emphasis in the original]

A lot of companies may be interested in what an app can do for their business, but without a good sense of what kind of resources need to be invested in order to create the app in the first place, there is bound to be ample frustration on all sides. Nguyen’s no-nonsense primer is a good way to help avoid some of that frustration.

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In Notification Center, tapping on notifications launches the app they’re associated with. Your first instinct might be to clear out all notifications associated with each app to keep your Center clear. Don’t. Just leave one for each app, and then you can use the Notification Center as a quick launcher for those programs.

To save time, go to Notifications in Settings and optimize your Notification Center. You can do this by choosing the order in which notifications appear, how many recent notifications to display from each, and whether or not they appear in Notification Center at all. Experiment and find the combination that works best for you.

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On Tuesday, Kayak plans to launch a new app for iOS. It’s throwing out its old Kayak HD iPad app and making a universal Kayak app for iPad and iPhone.

We got a preview of the new app and the overall theme of the changes can most easily be summed up with the word “consistency.” For instance, now the navigation is all left-aligned, with the same icons that will be familiar to users of previous versions of the app. All the filters for searches (flight, cars, hotels) are on the left and the results on the right.

The designers in Kayak’s mobile development lab in Concord, Mass. spent a lot of time “nitpicking” and making the design language universal for the brand, said Bill O’Donnell, Kayak’s GM of mobile and chief architect.

“With this new release, we wanted to bring it up to modern iPad app standards and our own modern visual look we have in our iOS applications,” he said in an interview Tuesday. And making the way the app is navigated and making all the functions consistent (the UIs for flight and hotel search were different in the previous app) was a huge priority.

“It’s more consistent than before,” O’Donnell said. “Before, three different pieces of the app were developed by different people at different times.”

They also added in some features that have been on the Kayak website and in the iPhone app to this new universal iOS version, like rental car search and the Kayak Explorer (a favorite of those of us with wanderlust), an expanded trips management feature that allows you to send any reservation confirmation emails to the app, including concerts and restaurant reservations, and an auto form filler optimized for tons of travel sites Kayak works with.

Another major lesson learned is the implementation of direct booking of hotels. There’s a big impediment to being a an aggregator of travel deals when you’re working with mobile users: When you direct those customers to outside airline or hotel websites, you never know what exactly you’re sending them into.

“In mobile, you can get wildly varied experiences across airlines and hotel sites,” said O’Donnell. Some are Flash-based, some are just terrible quality. “And that’s a problem for us; we make money through referral fees. If you find something in our app and you can’t book it…we lose.”

Kayak introduced direct bookings for some hotels and flights a few months ago, but this is the first time it’s coming to the iPad app.

So what has the iPad team been doing these past two years? Since the 2010 iPad launch, Kayak has had a lot to figure out about the space — as in what users want, and what other developers are doing that’s cool and innovative — and learning to evolve with the maker of the iPad and arbiter of iOS app taste and style, Apple itself. “We had to learn all that. There’s no way around that except time and experience,” O’Donnell said.

It was also a challenge to figure out the difference between designing for a tiny iPhone screen, a much larger computer browser and an iPad screen. It takes far more time to design well for the iPad, according to O’Donnell.

“When you’re dealing with an app on an iPhone or an iPad, your application is the only thing on the screen. The big thing you control is edge to edge and top to bottotm; there’s nothing else to distract the user. To some extent, you can get away with a plain or sparse or austere website, because it’s framed in a Safari window or a nice Mac desktop or Windows desktop,” he said. But, “when you’re the only thing on the screen, that can look really bad. You have to pay attention to use of white space, lines, separation of colors and spend more design time on it.”

There’s also something in here for users of Kayak’s iOS apps to learn: The new app, as mentioned before, is universal. So if you have the old iPad HD app, that one’s dead now and won’t be updated again. The new iOS app, which is still free, will have to be downloaded anew. It will detect if you’re downloading it on an iPhone or an iPad. It should be in the App Store later today.

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Engagement is also up significantly thanks to the iPhone version. In terms of usage, Flipboard went from around 650 million “flips” (page turns in the Flipboard app) per month to a pace of about 2 billion per month post-iPhone launch. The iPhone version requires users to flip more often to view the same amount of content, but that’s still a remarkable improvement.

Obviously, this is great news for Flipboard’s reach, but it has implications for the larger iPad app market, too. Specifically, branching out may be a good idea even for apps which traditionally depend on the larger screen of the iPad to deliver their content.

Flipboard isn’t the only app out there branching out from iPad roots to iPhone implementations. News app and competitor Zite also released an iPhone-formatted incarnation last week, and streaming video apps like those for networks CityTV and Global in Canada recently introduced updates to their apps that make them universal, or usable across any iOS devices.

It’s a move that makes sense for companies who want to increase the adoption rate of their software product. Apple has previously stated that there were as many as 100 million iPhone and iPod touch users worldwide; that’s more than double Apple’s total iPad sales to date, let alone the device’s active users. It makes sense that iPhone apps reach a broader potential audience as a result.

Flipboard’s success is not just the result of repackaging an iPad app for a smaller screen. Instead, the app’s designers re-imagined it in a way that totally makes sense for the iPhone. That’s no small feat for an app like Flipboard, that takes its cues from magazines and definitely benefits from more available screen real estate. If publishers like those offering apps through Apple’s Newsstand want to reap the benefits of also offering iPhone products, they have to likewise bring a tailored experience, instead of just a shoehorned app that leaves you missing the iPad. Sadly that’s exactly how I’d describe many current iPhone Newsstand titles.

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In its official press release announcing the news on Monday, Apple used quotes from developer partners to highlight its platform advantage. Autodesk SVP Amar Hanspal said his company is “using the Mac App Store to deliver new products and reach a growing base of new Mac customers,” and Pixelmator’s Saulius Dailide said that offering their version 2.0 software “exclusively on the Mac App Store allows us to streamline updates to our image editing software and stay ahead of the competition.”

Apple also took time to talk about the success of the iOS App Store, which it says has over 500,000 apps presently, and which has seen more than 18 billion app downloads in total, at a rate of more than 1 billion apps per month. The iOS App Store caught on much faster than the Mac App Store, however, at least in terms of downloads: Only nine months after its launch, it had already reached 1 billion downloads.

The Mac App Store also doesn’t offer nearly as large a library; according to the latest count by AppShopper.com, there are 8,459 apps available on Apple’s OS X software store. But there are some caveats that go a long way toward explaining why the Mac App Store’s growth rate is slow compared to its mobile cousin. First, the Mac App Store is available only on Macs running OS X Snow Leopard or later, so it isn’t on every active Mac computer out there. Second, the Mac App Store isn’t the exclusive software distribution channel for Mac apps, the way the iOS store is for Apple mobile devices (unless you jailbreak).

For a PC software market, the Mac App Store is still a huge success, and will likely continue to grow as it ships on future Macs and increasingly becomes a go-to resource for customers looking to get new apps on their machines. Apple’s ability to attract top-tier developers away from direct web distribution models will also be a key factor in helping it expand its library.

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Setup

Setting up both devices requires no modifications to your router, and the should simply hop onto an existing network. VueZone uses a base station connected to your wired network and a series of battery-powered camera satellites that autoconfigure themselves. Add the base station, turn on the cameras and visit a website to check the video feed. The whole thing takes about five minutes.

iZon is a bit more complex. Setup is 100-percent iOS-based. The iZon camera is USB-powered and must be near a power outlet. On first install, it creates an ad-hoc wireless network you must connect to with your iOS device. You need to install the free iOS app to configure and view video. Once connected via its own ad-hoc network, you tell the iZon how to hop on your main wireless network, and you should be good to go.

Unfortunately, I ran into numerous glitches. The product support says the device works best with a WPA2 network, and indeed, it was unreliable on WPA. The app also was a bit unstable, and when it wouldn’t accept my password, there was no way to reset it. The setup process took about 30 minutes start to finish, though that includes resetting the network once I changed the password. The second time around, it only took me about 15 minutes.

Viewing and recording

The VueZone allows for remote viewing via their website, while the iZon allows viewing only via the iOS app and only for five minutes at a time. Both devices allow for recording upon the detection of motion, but with VueZone saving those recordings requires a $49.95 per year Premium account. iZon will directly upload private videos to YouTube. Personally, I liked the ability to view video via a website, but the additional yearly cost and initial and ongoing financial outlay for the VueZone may not be worth it depending on your needs.

Comparing the video between the two, the iZon displayed much higher quality in normal conditions. The VueZone didn’t have an infrared function, but it did have a low-light mode that worked well at night. iZon’s light settings weren’t modifiable. One key difference between the iZon and VueZone is the iZon can capture audio as well as video, while VueZone cannot. Both support activation upon motion, as mentioned, but since the iZon supports audio, it can also start recording if it hears loud noises. The motion detection in the VueZone was all or nothing: Either it detected motion in the area, or it didn’t. The iZon allowed for distinct zones and levels of audio and visual sensitivity (thought it didn’t always register movement or noise in testing even when there was some present).

Configuring the iZon via the iPhone app was really a pain. The settings didn’t always take, and the app constantly crashed. Changes to the device must be made while you are on the same wireless network as the iZon while the VueZone allows configuration from anywhere. Support for the iZon was excellent, however, and as an iOS based product, updates to increase reliability are likely.

Verdict

Which is better? If you’d like to view an area where you don’t have an electrical outlet, then VueZone is clearly the way to go. Neither camera is suited for outdoor usage, though the VueZone will go in more places since it doesn’t have to be tethered to power, although this does mean you have to take batteries into account. If that isn’t a problem, the iZon’s lower entry price and lack of ongoing cost might be the way to go, despite its more difficult configuration. The fact it doesn’t require a yearly subscription to auto-record motion is a big plus. I also liked iZone’s ability to customize the sensitivity of the audio and video recording zones.

A bonus (and for some killer) feature of the iZon app is that it will give you push notifications if there is an audio or video event the camera notices. I knew precisely and almost instantly if someone triggered the camera. The VueZone would simply record a motion event but wouldn’t notify you. When used for security and piece of mind while away, the iZon was definitely superior. I was a little disappointed in the reliability of the iZon, but support indicated patches were on the way that should fix some of the problems I faced.

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Well, Google Currents is a slightly different product than Flipboard or its ilk, since it doesn’t draw links directly from social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Instead, it grabs content from discrete sources. Currents offers many sources to choose from (including GigaOM) in a variety of categories, and it even allows you to follow individual content curators, like Robert Scoble and Guy Kawasaki, or any Google+ public stream. It ties into Google+ quite closely, in fact, letting users share articles or content they discover within Current with the Google social network.

Content is a little more organized than in Flipboard or other apps, and publishers have more control over how it appears, thanks to a self-service platform also launched on Thursday that allows them to brand and customize their content, even without developer know-how. It’s a nice way to both encourage small producers to get on board with Currents and also help expand Google’s available content library for readers. Publishers also get the opportunity to easily tie their content to Google Analytics to better track reader interaction and engagement.

Currents plays nice with Google Reader, too, so if you already managed most of your reading through Google’s RSS service, you can bring it with you and get the advantages of Currents’ news discovery tools. A lot of the content from its partners is also available in full, so articles are rendered beautifully in their entirety for reading in either landscape or portrait mode directly in-app.

It’s a good-looking reader, featuring clean lines and smooth animations, and it allows for very granular control over what kind of content you do and don’t see. It reminds me of a better-executed version of Yahoo Livestand, with more content and improved social hooks. Also, on the iPhone, I actually find it better organized than Flipboard and more easy to parse. In short, it delivers on the promise of the Yahoo product, which means Flipboard and others in the same business should definitely take note.

One major limitation of Currents so far, however, is that it’s U.S.-only for the time being. That could limit its appeal, but Google will likely try to expand its availability to other countries once it can work out licensing details, if the U.S. launch goes well.

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Kid-friendly and kid-loved

The iPad and the iPhone have a knack with kids, as any parent and iOS user will tell you. The brightly lit, touch-screen technology that appeals at an emotional level to adults is no less effective on children, who are more liable to indiscriminately touch things to see how they react to begin with. Kids are also voicing their demand for iOS devices as soon as they’re able to; recent surveys found that iPhones, iPod touches and iPads topped the wish lists of children ranging from the very young to the nearly adult. In fact, 52 percent of children between the ages of zero and eight already have access to a mobile device of some kind, many of which are probably running iOS.

Cross-branding opportunities

Accessories and apps seem to be either fueling or cashing in on this trend, too, at a growing pace. Consider the partnership announced Tuesday between Disney and iHome, maker of audio accessories for iOS devices. Characters from Disney’s stable of brands will be adorning iHome iPhone docks, headphones, and speaker systems starting this holiday season, at major outlets like Toys ‘R’ Us and Bed Bath & Beyond. Think about it: A Kermit the frog docking alarm clock assumes a lot of kids either are already or will be sleeping next to iPhones next year.

Disney and iHome aren’t the only ones cashing in on the youthful appeal of Apple’s mobile gadgets. Perennial Apple accessory maker Griffin is partnering up with Crayola to create the iMarker, essentially a branded stylus kids can use in conjunction with a coloring book app. Both Disney and Crayola are playing it smart, taking parent-trusted brands and combining them with the expertise of industry-leading third-party gadget manufacturers who already know the ins and outs of making devices for Apple products.

A new vector for content-makers

It isn’t just accessories getting the kid-friendly treatment. Content producers have kids in mind with their iPhone and iPad offerings, too. PBS announced Tuesday (.DOC link) that its PBS KIDS video app for the iPad is now available on the iPhone and iPod touch, too. The iPad app, which launched in May, has delivered on average two million video streams per day to its more than 450,000 users, growing steadily since its introduction. Reaching out to iPhone and iPod touch users broadens the potential audience, so that kids can check out full episodes of programs like Sesame Street and Super Why on smaller-screened devices if they don’t happen to have a tablet handy.

This is just the beginning of a coming flood. Whereas once the kid appeal of iPhones and iPads was an unexpected bonus to a parent’s purchase, now parents are seeking out Apple devices with full knowledge that they also make good distractions and educational tools for their young ones. And since people are often even more willing to spend money on their children than on themselves, the market for kid-focused apps and accessories has likely only begun to heat up.

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In the old version, users had to purchase their offers via other means, then could redeem and track them via the Google Shopper app. Now you can buy the offers directly, and also subscribe to offers for specific locations right from an iPhone. The purchases you make bypass Apple’s in-app purchase system entirely, and instead use Google Checkout to complete the transaction via an in-app browser interface.

But the Shopper update is just one of three major recent Google software changes that bring features previously only available on Android devices to the iPhone and iPad. Just Monday, for instance, Google+ got an update that brought improved notifications, full resolution photo uploading, and search function. And late last month, the Google Search iPad app got a considerable overhaul, which introduced slick built-in quick-access interfaces for Google Apps, making it almost like a limited version of Chrome OS within an app.

Google’s doing a good job right now of making sure its experiences reach as broad an audience as possible, but which experiences, specifically? Google+, its fledgling social network, is a major play to win back some of the ground it has already given up to Facebook in terms of being a destination on the web. In order to succeed at its goal of amassing as many users as possible, Google is aware that it has to reach mobile users on the platform where they live, even if that’s not its own.

Google Shopper, especially now with its local offers, is likewise a product that benefits Google most by being in front of as many eyes as possible. It’s purely about advertising reach and selling to groups, so it makes sense that Google would want to count iOS users among potential customers.

With the Google Search app for iPad update, the goal is once again to make sure as many people as possible are using its search products and apps like Docs, all of which help drive traffic to its primary properties and therefore, encourage ad revenue, too.

In short, Google’s improvements to its iOS business are strictly self-interested, which means users hoping to gain some of the more useful elements of Google services on Android devices will likely ultimately be disappointed. Don’t expect turn-by-turn navigation in Maps, for instance, or an official Google Music native player; these are things that remain valuable as competitive advantages for Android devices, rather than as standalone efforts to be promoted in and of themselves.

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Hedging bets in case of an Apple television

That’s something Revolution Studios co-founder Tony Warriner suggested could be a good idea for game devs in an interview on Wednesday with PocketGamer.biz. Warriner said that AirPlay is “worth doing now, because as we all know, a big TV play from Apple is just around the corner,” even though for now it’s “like the big forgotten iOS feature” in many game developers’ minds.

Warriner’s suggestion for game developers to bake in AirPlay features now is mostly about future-proofing products. But even if an Apple TV set takes a long time to come to market, there is plenty of cause to use AirPlay now, for game developers and makers of any and all iOS apps, regardless of their niche or focus.

Apple TV’s shifting role

The current Apple TV is basically a great Netflix box for most users, which now also has the added advantage of being a full-featured audio and video streaming device for your mobile phone or tablet for just $99 (or $89 now, at Best Buy and Amazon). But in the near future, the Apple TV could see a role switch, with the expanded content of the entire App Store displacing the Netflix appeal as a No. 1 reason for owning and using the Apple set-top device.

The increased flexibility allowed by AirPlay Mirroring on Apple’s latest iPhone and iPad means that developers should start thinking about AirPlay not as an afterthought or preventative measure against future obsolescence but as a value-add competitive advantage that can help their product stand out from the growing crowd that is the App Store.

Go beyond the bare minimum

AirPlay compatibility isn’t just about allowing your content to be displayed on a TV when thrown from one device to another. It’s about making sure there’s a unique experience that only AirPlay users can access. Note that this also doesn’t mean taking anything away from the app itself as a standalone mobile product, just that users who can take advantage of the benefits of owning the Apple TV do have something more to make use of.

For some developers, providing a value-add AirPlay experience could be as simple as deciding to include a video or slide show alongside an article that can be thrown to the screen instead of providing text-based content alone or making sure it works in landscape orientation so it looks better on a TV. But more-ambitious (and therefore more-standout) examples could provide supplemental information or additional screens with hands-on demonstrations displayed back on the originating device while AirPlay video or slide shows appear on the TV screen. It’s definitely possible, as Real Racing 2 HD’s dual-screen gameplay mechanism demonstrates.

One more reason to buy

The bottom line is that if I’m looking at a video-focused app right now, I’ll try to find out how well it handles AirPlay. If it doesn’t, or if the experience is less than ideal, I’ll pass and try to find another. Soon, if any two apps are relatively close in terms of features and function but one offers a tailored AirPlay experience while the other doesn’t, it could become a crucial factor in a buying decision. The Apple TV isn’t yet a barn burner in terms of sales, but lower prices should help. It is still ranked No. 1 in Amazon’s Digital Media Devices sales charts and No. 2 in Television and Video.

Plus, AirPlay will only come to more devices as Apple goes about its regular update cycle, and it could even come to the Mac. In an ecosystem where discoverability can be a problem and marketing advantages are few and far between, real AirPlay innovation and dual-screen interfaces are the next frontier, and I can’t wait to see some pioneering developers stake their claim.

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As an old school D&D player, and a fan of Monty Python’s Holy Grail, I can’t help but be drawn to games that feature dragons, swords and sorcery.  For the last two weeks, the game that has captured my attention the most is Prativo Group’s Dragons Rage.  For just $0.99, you can submerge yourself into a world where dragons are feared and fought by peasants branding pitchforks.  Not only is the app universal, so it works on both iPhone and iPad, but there’s also a Mac version in the Mac App Store for the same price of $0.99.

Gameplay is pretty straightforward.  You’re the dragon and you defend yourself by breathing fire on your attackers. You pivot the dragon’s head from a central point to fight off attackers from all sides.  Red arrows appear on screen to tell you where attackers will be appearing next.  The tricky part is that you can run out of fire, so you have to be careful how long you keep the flame going.  To keep things interesting, you can pick up bonus items along the way to help boost your score, and you can compete online with your Game Center friends.

Difficulty comes in the form of the number of attackers, the number of attacks from opposite sides, and the amount of fire it takes to defeat each class of attacker.  You also learn early on that archers are your real enemy, as they can start doing damage from a distance.  While the game is not going to keep you engaged for weeks on end, it is a very easy to pick up, and definitely the sort of thing that’s perfect for sharing with family and friends at various holiday get-togethers.

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The iPhone version is pretty much the same as its iPad cousin, with the same multitouch and smart instruments, eight tracks of editing layers and audio export capabilities. But Apple has taken the opportunity to refine the product with some new tools and features, too.

Smart instruments gain custom chord support, so that you can make your own to strum. This allows seasoned musical pros to get off the beaten path and produce some pleasant and more unique sounds, and amateurs like me to do terrible things that no one should be forced to listen to. You can also change time signatures to 3/4 and 6/8, change the key of your currently active song and export to iTunes as AAC or AIFF format. There’s also an Arpeggiator (tones in a chord played in rapid succession, not all at once) option for the Smart Keyboard.

All the new tools seem designed to provide more fun for the experienced set, while maintaining the low barrier for entry that makes GarageBand such a generally appealing app to begin with.

My initial unskilled hands-on reveals a product that doesn’t lose much appeal compared to the iPad version, though the smaller screen might feel a little more cramped to some. Apple does a good job of simplifying control interfaces, however, to avoid making the on-screen space feel claustrophobic.

If you’ve been left out of the iOS GarageBand party before now because you didn’t own an iPad, now’s the time to add your voice to the chorus, even if you can’t carry a tune or even keep time to save your life. Note that you’ll need a device at least capable of running iOS 5 to use the app, even though the software requirements actually only need iOS 4.3 or higher.

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Seriously social

Smartr doesn’t just rely on social media sources to help personalize your content; it provides you with social outlets, too. You can chat in real-time with other readers, for instance, which gives you an entirely new way to butt heads over who’s more well-read.

You can also directly blog from within the app, which posts stories to your Smartr feed. You can add a description of your blog, and share your postings to it with other Smartr users or with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or Posterous. It also automatically creates a web-accessible, Tumblr-type, simple blog, with links back to each story you save, and a “Subscribe” option.

Friends as curators

Smartr also makes it possible for you to use your friends for their particular strengths to help populate your personalized news feed. So, for instance, you can use your existing Twitter list for tech journalists to create a special tech feed of exactly the people you want to hear from — likewise for any Twitter list you have.

Also, you can follow people directly in Smartr. The posts they share will show up in your Smartr feed, and if they’re online, they’ll show up as available to chat in real time about the stories you’re both reading.

Room to grow

Smartr is a good option for those looking for better ways to clear out some of the clutter of Facebook and Twitter and just drill down to stories being shared on those networks, and it has some smart social media features that set it apart from the competition. However, those features need a little more refinement.

For instance, the in-app blogging is a nice touch, but I’m not very likely to use it over something like Tumblr because it acts only as a bare-bones solution. It doesn’t look particularly good, and there’s not much you can do in the way of customization. If the blog itself could stand on its own as a great product, that would really go a long way toward making it feel like a valuable addition to the product. Or, if Smartr just tied in directly to Tumblr in a way that lets you view how your post would look on that service ahead of time, that could be a simpler way to improve the blog function.

That said, Smartr is off to a great start and I’m glad to finally see it on the iPad. Here’s hoping it keeps innovating toward the more social end of the news aggregation spectrum.

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The envelope

Apple prints the address of sender and recipient on the envelope for your card. You can either enter this info manually, or select it from your address book. It uses a font resembling handwriting, which helps enhance the effect that you didn’t just get a corporation to print this card and send it for you. By default, it staggers the recipient address line-by-line, which at first confused me, until I realized it was only another part of the overall personalized look.

The printed envelope is definitely eye-catching, and uses a heavier, dimpled stock that impresses more than your average plain white envelope. The writing even looks a little like it was done in ballpoint and bled into the paper a bit, and it uses a real stamp instead of one of those prepaid automatic postmark things.

The card

As promised, the cards from Apple’s Cards app are printed on premium, heavy cotton paper, and they feel really well made. The letterpress printing process results in a textured image or pattern for Apple’s preset template design elements — you can run your finger over these and feel the letterpress relief, as well as see it up close.

Apple puts only your customized text and the design of your choosing on the card, as well as any photo you might add or take yourself from within the app. There’s no logo anywhere, and no indication of where it came from, even on the back where you’d normally find such identifiers.

Unfortunately, the customized text isn’t itself letterpress printed, so it doesn’t look quite as slick as the rest of the card. But the parts that are letterpress look very good up close.

The photos

For paper stock that’s definitely not your average photo printing paper, pictures printed on the Cards cards turn out looking pretty good. I used a photo taken on my iPhone 4, and you can see the original and the printed result below.

It’s definitely better than what you could achieve just printing out your own photo on a card using your average inkjet at home.

The final verdict

These cards won’t disappoint any friend or relative lucky enough to receive one from you. And for letting me send personalized greetings without having to resort to activities I haven’t indulged in for years, like finding a stamp, licking said stamp, and finding a mailbox, I give them very high marks.

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Anticipation of a new iPhone is probably the best way to account for the negative effect rumors had on iPhone hardware sales at the end of this past summer. As reports streamed in of an imminent refresh, and starting gaining more vocal support after the time frame for Apple’s usual iPhone refresh announcement in June passed, some consumers hit the pause button on their purchase instincts. After all, why buy an aging device when a new (and likely better) one is just around the corner?

A new report from Fiksu, a tool to help developers grow their user base, says that app downloads as measured across the top 200 free apps in the U.S. were similarly depressed during September and August, which caused marketing dollars to not go quite as far in terms of leading to loyal user acquisitions. Fiksu CEO Micah Adler told AdWeek that the drop in downloads was due to customers waiting for a new iPhone, just like the drop in hardware sales.

It’s an interesting theory, but one which also rings a bit false — unlike the iPhone itself, apps are easily transferable between devices. That has always been the case, but with iOS 5, they’re even easier to move around thanks to the past purchases feature. The promise of a new device might slow the app download pace of a small percentage of users who aren’t aware that you can take your software with you when you upgrade, but could it really be enough to account for download decline two or more months in a row?

Instead, I suggest that declining app downloads may be more attributable to two other possible culprits: a slowdown of fresh, innovative content and/or marquee titles; and a user base growing more resistant to what has been a brand new form of product. In the first case, based on daily browsing of the top charts, it just seems  like familiar faces rule the roost; electric, unexpected titles are fewer and farther between (the last big one I can remember being really excited about was Superbrothers’ Sword & Sworcery EP) In the second, the mobile app is now a much more well-known quantity for a much wider group of buyers. More than three years since the iOS App Store opened, it’s possible that customers aren’t nearly as likely to be buying apps without much discretion just because they can.

Of course, I still think it’s likely that new devices lead customers to new software purchases, even if my two counterpoints are true, so like Fiksu, I expect App Store downloads to see a rebound in the coming months. But as to whether iPhone rumors are the culprit behind download slowdown to begin with, I’m not so sure.

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I’m a simple man, and at times I like simple games. At its core, Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting ($0.99 until Oct. 24) is a simple game. The object is to defeat various monsters in an arena setting. This isn’t a game where you run through corridors seeking treasure and fame.

Every duel has a timer you need to beat. Each monster has different attacks and defenses; a gorilla may be vulnerable to head attacks but his stomach is heavily armored. So, you need to plan your attacks instead of just standing there hitting the thing with your sword. Although, take it from experience, sometimes that works in a pinch. At the end of each match you get a letter grade based on how long it took you to win your fight, your ending health, etc. It’s a good way of getting you to want to improve your performance, as well as a somewhat humbling experience. What do you mean I got a D? I won the fight, didn’t I? Apparently this is a game where style points matter.

The graphics are good. Not great, but good. While they don’t fall into the category of something like Infinity Blade, they don’t make my eyes bleed, either. Getting used to the controls took a little bit of time, too. I’ve got large fingers and an old brain and I had a hard time remembering whether dodging was a swipe or two-finger tap. Also, since this an iPhone-only game (it will run in 2x mode on an iPad, but it’s not optimized for it) I found my fingers blocking some of the action on the screen.

Monster Hunter is on sale this weekend for $0.99 to celebrate their new update that adds four new monsters and some gameplay improvements.

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