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Friday, June 3, 2011

Five for Friday: Week of June 3, 2011

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Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting:
Got a bit of Monster Hunter on your brain? The immensely popular open world RPG/action game has finally made its way to the iTunes App Store, focusing on two things gamers love most: combat, and loot from combat. Take on gigantic beasts from the Monster Hunter universe in one-on-one battles, swiping and touching your way to victory. Grab the goods when the fight is over and use it to craft new items and armor, strengthening yourself for the battles to come. It’s definitely one of those “just one more battle” sort of games, even if you haven’t been bitten by the Monster Hunter bug yet!


Free-Time:
Why focus on meetings, appointments, and other time-eating activities when you can focus on what matters most: your free time? This slick-looking app is sort of the inverse of a calendar program, where instead of tracking actual events, it tracks and displays the time between them, pulling data from your local scheduling app to bring it all together. Enter your usual work day, factoring in meals, sleep, and average waking and going to bed times, then share your free times with friends. Surprisingly great for productivity, especially for those who consider free time more important than non-free time!


This V That:
Visually explore two seemingly unrelated things in a smart, stylish app that’s all about comparing data for different parts of the world. For example: is there a relationship between coffee consumption and homicide rates? How about Olympic medalists versus number of Facebook users in different countries? There’s an app for that, and it’s This V That. Great for trivia enthusiasts and anyone who enjoys apps that raise as many questions as they ask.


How2Play:
Ever wanted to learn to play the guitar? Piano? How2Play is a universal app that contains a number of lessons, courses, background tracks and sheet music available to help you accomplish your musical goals. The download features a number of starter lessons, complete with instructional videos, and allows you to easily grab lessons from How2Play’s website (around $6 per lesson) so you can hone your skills and learn to play specific songs.


OmmWriter:
The enemy of writing is the distraction, and with devices like portable gaming consoles and iPads floating around, an awesome game is never more than a few taps away. OmmWriter aims to help free your mind of the clutter by streamlining your writing experience with a simple layout and a keyboard designed for improved usability. Soothing sounds are available, or you can opt for silence, but the user-centric keyboard design is where the real strength lays.



OmmWriter for iPad


iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Buy Now: $4.99
Released: 2011-05-30 :: Category: Productivity

Apps mentioned in this post: Free-Time, How2Play, MONSTER HUNTER Dynamic Hunting, OmmWriter for iPad, This V That


About: Five for Friday: Week of June 3, 2011 is a post from 148Apps

John Bardinelli 04 Jun, 2011


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Source: http://www.148apps.com/news/friday-week-june-3-2011/
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Drumcircle RH Review

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Drumcircle RH Review

By Jason Wadsworth on June 3rd, 2011
Our Rating: ★★★☆☆ :: REQUIRES PATIENCE
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

The graphics and sound might be 8-bit, but the options and variables available in this loop generator make it more than just a simple drum machine.

 

Developer: Andrew Mcclure

Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 3GS

iPhone Integration Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Re-use Value Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.17 out of 5 stars

Forget everything you know about reproduction and imagine for a moment that your grandfather’s record player, your Atari 2600, and a drum machine all had a kid. Other than having a hard time in grade school and some really awkward Thanksgivings, that kid would almost certainly have some sweet samples up it’s sleeve and a great retro interface. Drumcircle RH would be that funky child’s name.

Drumcircle RH is a pixelated little music app that allows users to create their own musical loops via 27 samples and simulated instruments and an unconventional, rotating scrub bar. This scrub bar rotates at a constant rate, much like a radar screen. Users choose from the app’s samples and instruments and places corresponding dots on the drumcircle, and when the rotating scrub bar hits each dot that particular sample is played.

The circular track of Drumcircle RH is an interesting departure from the usually linear set up seen in most loop generation apps. While this unique approach to placing samples and creating loops is fun, it does end up being more difficult to fine-tune your loops. Using the circular track, it can be difficult to fit every sample needed for that perfect loop and it is tricky trying to work around the smaller inner tracks.

The musical key of the samples can be changed via the options menu and the pitch of each sample placed on the circular track can be adjusted by placing two fingers on either side of the dot and twisting. The twisting works great, and it’s great to hear the pitches change on the fly, but fitting fingers in between all of the sample dots can be near impossible when the tracks get crowded.

Certain menus in Drumcircle RH can get a little clunky and instead of being able to navigate back and forth through options the user can only navigate forward and has to flip through all of that menu’s options to get back to the first option. The control bar located on the rotating scrub bar which controls the loop’s tempo is another particularly difficult option to use. To change the tempo, the user must touch and slide the control bar back and forth on the scrub bar, but with the scrub bar constantly rotating it can be very hard to catch without inadvertently changing the position of one of the sample dots beneath it.

Drumcircle RH is a fun music app and it’s options will allow users to be creative and have a great time creating their loops. Serious musicians looking for a serious musical app will need to look elsewhere though. Especially since there is currently no way to export saved loops out of the app. Drumcircle is great at what it does though and the retro interface looks great even if it is a bit hard to use.


Drumcircle RH


Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Buy Now: $0.99
Our Rating: ★★★☆☆ :: REQUIRES PATIENCE
Read Our Full Review >>
Released: 2011-05-17 :: Category: Music

Apps mentioned in this post: Drumcircle RH


About: Drumcircle RH Review is a post from 148Apps

Jason Wadsworth 04 Jun, 2011


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Source: http://www.148apps.com/reviews/drumcircle-rh-review/
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Max Damage Review

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Max Damage Review

By Bobby Gooding on June 3rd, 2011
Our Rating: ★★★★☆ :: MAXIMUM FUN
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Impose Max Damage on the world: Max has a cannon and he’s going to put it to good use in this top quality iPhone release.

 

Developer: Digital Goldfish
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.1
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 3GS

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.06 out of 5 stars

Meet Max, a young boy who’s just found himself the proud owner of a cannon. Just why this young child has a real-life cannon is a mystery, and it’s not my place to judge the parental skills of others — but rest assured that a mixture of kid and cannon can only result in one thing. Destruction.

That’s just what the player will be aiming for in Max Damage. Adapted from an online flash game, the object is to fire a variety of balls from the cannon in order to achieve a set value of damage and proceed to the next level. The adaption from a non-touch based input method shows a little at times, there were certainly moments when a lack of precision in the control system stopped me destroying that final television. However, this is soon overcome by the ingenious progression of game mechanics.

Each of the levels spread through five chapters presents a new challenge, with a new approach required to do enough damage. Some times that’ll require a real precise shot, other times it means setting off a chain reaction of TNT or making shots in a particular order. But it’ll always feel fresh — even upon reaching the final chapter and feeling as though the game’s variations have been mastered, the removal of gravity flips a player’s previous conquests on their heads. This is a game that tackles a developers task of limiting repetitiveness in one of the best ways I’ve seen. Meaning Max Damage remains both fun and challenging to to the very final level.

Sometimes I found myself screaming at my iPhone because I couldn’t pull off a particularly demanding shot. Sometimes I was raising a clenched fist in air of success. And, sometimes I was wandering my home, humming the game’s super-catchy background music for hours on end. All of those times, however, I was thoroughly enjoying myself. On top of all that, there’s enough content of a sufficient difficulty to ensure everyone gets their money’s worth. Max Damage is a game that’s worth 19.4 MB of any iPhone’s memory, and certainly worth $0.99 from any iPhone user’s wallet, even if it can be played online for free.




Apps mentioned in this post: Max Damage


About: Max Damage Review is a post from 148Apps

Chris Nitz 03 Jun, 2011


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Source: http://www.148apps.com/reviews/max-damage-review/
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Writers Get Motivated With Novel In 30

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Any app that has a description beginning with ‘Admit it – you’ve always wanted to write a novel.’ shouts at me. Because yes I do and I reckon somewhere deep inside me there is a great novel in there. Or at least one that more than five people would be willing to read. Lacking motivation however, I’m doomed to never achieve that dream.

I suspect I need to get downloading Novel in 30, an app that sets out to help users achieve their goal of completing a novel.

Besides offering a distraction-free writing environment, Novel in 30 encourages you to carry on. There’s a project dashboard ensuring that users can keep track of their progress and check how they’re doing so far quickly. Writing pace is also tracked so that the user can have a rough idea of what they need to do to maintain their target. Plus there’s the ever satisfying option of sharing progress via Facebook to show off how far the user has got.

Users don’t even have to worry about losing their witing so far as it syncs via iTunes ensuring easy access, and all writing can always be backed up to Dropbox.

Novel in 30 is available now for the iPad and is priced at $4.99.

Good luck with the novel writing!


Novel in 30


iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Buy Now: $4.99
Released: 2011-06-01 :: Category: Productivity

Apps mentioned in this post: Novel in 30


About: Writers Get Motivated With Novel In 30 is a post from 148Apps

Chris Nitz 04 Jun, 2011


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FrEEday Vol 47

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City of Wonder:
Gamers looking to get some SimCity style gaming on without breaking the bank have a great free option. City of Wonder starts players off with a tiny village and gives them the tools to grow it into a sprawling metropolis. There are hundreds of buildings to build, destroy, or just sit back and admire. No city would be complete without resource management and factories to increase wealth. Time to put on that mayor hat and produce the best city around.


Cosmic Code:
Cosmic Code is a new spin on the classic matching style game. Start off with a game in which players will fight enemies based off local points of interest in their own town. Next, throw in hidden bosses and 100+ items to collect, and this game becomes highly addictive. After all, nobody wants aliens invading their local Starbucks!


Strike Knight:
Gamers looking to mix up their shuffleboard experience have a bit of hope thanks to Strike Knight. This game takes the familiarity of shuffleboard, throws on some bowling mechanics and ships it off to iOS devices everywhere. All the player has to do is slide a puck down the board and topple as many bowling pins as possible, without getting frustrated at the heckling knight and crowd. Who needs a smoky bar now?





Slug Bugs:
Slug Bugs is a cut little game in which players mug “slug” VW Bugs as they go whizzing across the screen. The only hitch to all this madness is cop cars will try and break up the fun. The game promises some of the best audio around with Ghost 3D providing a thrilling 360-degree audio package. No more sore shoulders from playing this game during long car trips to grannies house!


FishLord:
FishLord allows gamers to hit the lake without the arduous tasks of applying sunblock, dealing with boat launches, or falling off a rocky boat. This game comes with four islands and 17 stages to fish and explore. Explore the deep blue sea and discover all the hidden treasures buried deep in its depths. No sunburn equals a happy fisher.





Apps mentioned in this post: City of Wonder, Cosmic Code, Slug Bugs, Strike Knight, Strike Knight HD, 捕鱼达人之深海狩猎, 捕鱼达人之深海狩猎HD


About: FrEEday Vol 47 is a post from 148Apps

Chris Nitz 04 Jun, 2011


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Man in Space Review

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Man in Space Review

By Kevin Stout on June 3rd, 2011
Our Rating: ★★★½☆ :: INFORMATIVE
iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad

Man in Space is an app showcasing a historical event (like On the Way to Woodstock) that focuses on space exploration from the last 50 years.

 

Developer: Bristol Magazines Limited
Price: $4.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0.1
Device Reviewed On: iPad

iPad Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Since the Civil War Today and On the Way to Woodstock app, apps showcasing historic events with a multimedia experience have been showing up on the App Store. Man in Space is another historic experience app. This one is about the history of space exploration and it gets something right that bugged me about the Woodstock app.

Man in Space is based on a special issue of Sky at Night Magazine with special articles and pictures about the history of space exploration. The way I understand it is that the articles in the app are the same as the pieces featured in the magazine but the app includes added pictures, videos, and interactive diagrams of spacecrafts. The articles go from 1961 to the International Space Station to current space exploration.

Creative navigation of the app is important for these types of apps. On the Way to Woodstock setup the navigation as a timeline that could be easily navigated with bars at the bottom. Man in Space has three navigation techniques that the user can pick from. All three are simple, but work sufficiently. There’s a drop-down table of contents with thumbnails, a gallery-like view (cover flow-ish?), and a scroll bar at the bottom.

I’m referring to something that Man in Space got right that On the Way to Woodstock didn’t. Being an owner of a WiFi iPad, I frequently use my iPad offline. The On the Way to Woodstock app’s videos and music needed to be streamed and therefore required an internet connection to get any real use of the app. Man in Space’s videos are all embedded in the app. But, as a result, the app fills up over half a gigabyte of space. Hard drive space has never been a particular worry for my iPad considering I don’t fill it up with music or videos (I stream both in various ways). My hard drive space is reserved almost 100% for apps. But I can see how such a large app might deter a less space savvy person, though.

The only real problem I notice with the app is with the interactive diagrams. I frequently ended up, somehow, in an interactive diagram situation that I didn’t mean to click on. While there’s a distinct “tap here” button to access it, it seems that tapping on other parts of the page can also direct the user to the diagram. It was a little bit of an annoyance, but not something that takes away from the awesome information and multimedia the app is filled with.

I believe the price point, $4.99, is just about where it should be for one of these historic apps. I felt that $9.99 was a little too much for On the Way to Woodstock. $7.99 is fair for the Civil War Today app because of it’s promise to continue updating with content for so long. But around $5 is perfect for one of these apps. It’s the high-end of an impulse buy. So go impulse buy it.


Man In Space


iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Buy Now: $4.99
Our Rating: ★★★½☆ :: INFORMATIVE
Read Our Full Review >>
Released: 2011-04-25 :: Category: Books

Apps mentioned in this post: Man In Space


About: Man in Space Review is a post from 148Apps

Kevin Stout 04 Jun, 2011


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