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Weekly App Store Picks: July 18, 2009

Olly Farshi — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:00:24 +0000

Once again, it’s that special time of the week when we all join hands, take a deep breath and exhale as we take a spiritual journey through the latest app picks for iPhone.

Before we reach app Zen, however, it’s time for a refreshing run through of the week’s iPhone news and Apple happenings.

Credit cards at the ready, the week opened with the resurgence of the Apple tablet rumor. Fueled by word from component suppliers in China, the rumor is that we could see an Apple tablet retailing by October this year.

One year on from the App Store’s launch and Apple is feeling particularly pleased with its paradigm shifting achievement. So pleased, in fact, that it dropped a big number in celebration: 1.5 billion App Store downloads in the first year. Impressive indeed. I wonder if Nokia, Palm or RIM will ever catch up?

Our own Clayton Lai returned this week with “Jailbreak,” an ongoing series that’s all about getting the most out of your jailbroken iPhone. His latest offering explains how to spruce up your iPhone’s lock screen with calendars, Twitter feeds and more.

Still on the subject of jailbreaking, over on the iPhone 3GS there’s a new unlock in town: purplesn0w. It improves on the Dev Team’s ultrasn0w, providing a much more stable unlock, while improving battery life and Wi-Fi connectivity.

It seems that most users won’t notice any difference with the latest iTunes update, however Palm Pre owners are in for a surprise sandwich filled with the meat of disappointment: Apple has blocked Palm Pre syncing in iTunes. Pre owners, I adore your device, but it was bound to happen, it has happened, get over it.

And finally, Google has brought local web search to the iPhone. The service makes use of the iPhone’s 3.0 software update, which now includes HTML 5 Geolocation API support in Safari. This basically means that web sites can determine your location and provide you with relevant and useful data. By which I mean adverts, lots of adverts.

Moving on to the picks, this week I’ve been looking at Worms, Spell Number, Zombies & Me and Tap Star.

Worms ($4.99)
This brings me back to the old days — all the cool kids got their console fix with the SNES or Genesis, but I had an Amiga 500. For a time, I had very little interest in chubby Italian plumbers or a blue hedgehog with an attitude problem. It was all about British dev studios churning out classic games: Sensible Software’s Cannon Fodder, Ocean’s Robocop and, of course, Team 17 with Worms. Featuring a brigade of cheeky, well-armed worms, the game is a turn-based strategy, incorporating a bevy of weird weaponry, perfect for extended multiplayer gaming sessions. For the retro fanboys with a penchant for the Amiga, this is a definite download, but it’s also worth checking out for newbies looking for an explosive (and amusing) strategy fix.

Spell Number (Free)
So you’ve updated your iPhone to OS 3.0, or you’ve taken it one step further and bagged yourself an iPhone 3GS. Either way, there are a few tweaks and improvements that may make your Apple device even more wonderful. One such tweak, provided by Spell Number, activates Emoji — colorful and scrumptious emoticons, available exclusively to iPhone users over in Japan. Simply download Spell Number, enter the number 91929394.59, then press the Home button, go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Japan and activate Emoji. Unlike various other Emoji-activating apps for iPhone, this one is absolutely free and, notably, works for OS 3 and the 3GS. This is a definite download, especially for folks who would like to spice up their SMS and email messages with some Emoji goodness.

Zombies & Me (99 cents)
The slow-moving dinosaur of the game industry, EA, recently founded its own micro-game production studio to start churning out potential iPhone hits at a fast rate — one a month — while experimenting with new gameplay styles. Zombies & Me is the first release as part of this initiative and, surprisingly, it looks gorgeous, sounds scrummy and plays well, too. The premise is simple, Granny’s house is about to be raided by hungry zombies and it’s your job to dash around the garden, leading the undead in to various bombs, while trying not to have your brains sucked out. Serious kudos to EA for stepping away from the big brand franchise factory methodology and investing in something a little more experimental.

Tap Star ($4.99)
Finally a viable competitor to Tap Tap Revenge hits the App Store. Created by Epic Tilt and with serious support from Sony Entertainment Music — clearly wanting to get in on the App Store game to leverage some of its content — comes Tap Star, a new rhythm action game. While Tap Star lacks the character and flair of Tap Tap Revenge, it makes up for this failing by bundling tons of tunes from Sony’s catalogue, including tracks from Elvis, Cyndi Lauper, Pink and Britney. I’ll be sticking with Tap Tap Revenge, it’s just so much richer, but fans of Sony’s catalogue in particular may want to check out Tap Star.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with more news from the week and picks from the App Store.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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Weekly App Store Picks: Feb. 21, 2009

Olly Farshi — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:15:46 +0000

The weekend seems to have rolled up super-fast, so welcome one and all to the Weekly App Store Picks.

Before we jump in to this week’s apps, let’s take a gander at recent happenings in the world of Apple.

First up, as a frequent tweeter, I was pleased to learn about desktop tweeting without a client app earlier this week. Check out the article for a helpful how-to guide.

Mid-week it all kicked off iPhone-style! Countering Apple’s recent anti-jailbreak actions, the Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted a 15-page exemption request to the U.S. Copyright Office. Hit up our post for the low down.

With timing that implied that their next-action was some kind of nonsensical retort, Apple clenched their fists, stomped their feet and promptly rejected the latest South Park game from the App Store.

Moving on to the apps, this week I’ve been looking at FrostyPlace, geoDefense, GooSync, Bowman, technoBox and Shooter.

FrostyPlace (free)
By installing this app, Apple’s ultra-cool Japanese emoticon set — Emoji — are activated on your iPhone. Simply download the app, open it once, close it and then go to Settings, General, International, Keyboards, Japanese and switch Emoji on. Now try sending an SMS, click the globe icon, you’ll have access to a cavalcade of Emoji. Absolutely awesome, essential, legal and free!

geoDefense (99 cents)
There is an overwhelming array of tower defense games available at the App Store. Some are downright awful and a minority are good fun. This app, geoDefense, is a clever twist on a confusingly saturated genre. The game plays out like a puzzle: as the vectorised baddies follow a set path through each stage, you have to work out the optimal tower configuration to defeat each enemy wave. It’s cheaper than many of the other apps, wonderfully stylised and a serious challenge too.

GooSync+ ($14.99)
GooSync+ syncs your Google Calendars, contacts and ToDo lists and is a seriously pricey app, especially for what it is, given the other options available. The problem is that Google’s iPhone and touch web-app support is pretty good — Gmail works perfectly (and is apparently going to feature offline mail in a future update), tasks is now available for iPhone too and users wishing to sync their actual iPhone Calendar with their Google Calendar can do so for free already.

Bowman (99 cents)
My current online game of the moment is Globulos — my user-name is Olly for any readers looking to challenge me — unfortunately, it’s not on iPhone as yet. However Bowman, an online time-waster that I have consistently returned to over the years, has just hit iPhone and touch. Seriously low on graphical flair (you’re a stick man with a bow and arrow), where it really shines is the gameplay — drag the arrows back before launching them at unwitting silhouetted ducks. So simple and so very satisfying as your arrows thunks in to a bird which then plummets to the ground in a shower of blood.

technoBox ($9.99)
I adore electronic music and, as such, there’s a special place in my heart for Roland’s TR-808 and 909 drum machines. If you’re not too familiar with what I’m talking about, go watch this video of the TR-808 in action, bask in its glorious rhythmic awesomeness. Developed by AudioRealism, creators of various pro-level audio plugins, technoBox recreates the 808, 909 and also 303 bass machine. The even has a sequencer and a raft of variables for creating awesome blippy techno tracks whilst on the go.

Shooter (99 cents)
Finally! It’s the official Shooter game, a perfect companion to the movie. You know the movie, right? The one that came out two years ago, featuring nobody we’ve actually heard of except that moderately-talented actor from the Funky Bunch? Yeah, that’s the one. Frankly, I have no clue why this game is tied in with the movie, its not like there’s a marketing bandwagon it could jump on to. It doesn’t even seem to feature Marky Mark’s likeness. The game itself is quite good fun though — it’s like sniper mode from Counter Strike — and, for the price, it’s definitely worth downloading.

That’s all for this week, I’ll be back next Saturday, in the meantime, drop by the comments and let me know what you’ve been downloading (and enable those Emojis!).

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EmotiFun! Emoji Enable Approved, Pulled by Apple

Darrell Etherington — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:56:10 +0000

Any of you who happen to follow me on Twitter will know that when the original method for unlocking iPhone emoji on non-Japanese phones had me fairly excited. Bubbly, even. I lived in Japan for a brief time, and I came to love, and even depend on emoji for communication. Imagine my chagrin when Apple chose to enable it only for Japanese phones, since I’d already moved back to Canada.

So I paid the 99 cents for FrostySpace, an app that provided the privilege of thwarting Apple’s senseless censure, and I don’t regret it, even though the only people who can view the emoji are other iPhone users, and, presumably, those with Japanese cell phones. But then earlier this week, a new free app called EmotiFun! provided the same advantage as FrostySpace (also no longer available) without the $1 price tag. Which meant that I could finally convince my cheap brother to join in the fun.

Sadly, it was not to be. Apple mysteriously pulled EmotiFun! from the app store after it was only available for a day. A move like this recalls the App Store of old, before the arrival of fart apps, landscape email, 3rd party browsers, and the reimagined version of Podcaster. Why the change in stance? Did someone fall asleep at the switch and allow EmotiFun! through when then shouldn’t have?

I think this is probably a move like they pulled with Podcaster, and the original iPhone tethering app, in that they are probably intending to offer the same service themselves in the near future. Meaning, I hope, that emoji will be enabled in an upcoming firmware update for users outside of Japan. At least that’d better be the reason, because otherwise, I can see no benefit for Apple in blocking the app. Maybe you don’t care about emoji, but you should care about Apple arbitrarily dictating what you can and can’t do with your iPhone.

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