Well that didn’t take long. It’s only been three days since Rovio teased us with the possibility of an Angry Birds Star Wars game, and today, it’s official. Rovio has announced that they will be launching Angry Birds Star Wars worldwide on Novemeber 8th and a barrage of merchandise starting October 28th (in time to get your kids into Angry Birds Star Wars costumes).
The rocket scientist (yup, he kinda really is) behind last year’s dual-iPad Halloween trick is back at it again. Only this time, having the best Halloween costume in the neighborhood won’t require two iPads — just an iPhone (or Android phone), a special t-shirt and some duct tape. And the results are really, really cool.
You know those old-style video demos which presented images as an endless wall, and your point of view was that of a tiny creature as the wall sped past you? Gridditor is that, only its also an iPad photo editing app.
So, the wacky little app-thingy that we all wondered about in iOS 6, Passbook, seems like it’s starting to grow up a bit. Now, when you tap the App Store button in the Passbook App, the new “Apps for Passbook” section of the iTunes App Store, only available via your iPhone running iOS, has quite a few new apps available.
After 30 years (and a mountain of quarters), SEGA has unleashed the next chapter of the hit classic Zaxxon. Now that you’ve defeated the evil Zaxxon, it’s time to shoot and tilt your way past Zaxxon’s evil army as you try to escape the collapsing asteroid base. This modern sequel to an everlasting classic features:
Camera Awesome, the iPhone camera app that actually is pretty awesome, has been update to support the iPad. Better, it’s now a Universal app, which means that if you already own the iPhone version, this one now works on your iPad, too, for no extra charge. Actually, even for new customers the app is free.
Photo app Camera+ has been updated to take advantage of the iPhone 5’s new low light boost mode. This feature is new to the iPhone 5, comes enabled automatically in Apple’s camera app, and is available to third party developers as an option.
Camera+ is the first non-Apple app to incorporate it.
Missing Street View on your iPad? Good news: Google has enabled it in Mobile Safari, letting you check out street-level detail from your iOS device, right there in the browser.
Hoops fans rejoice, 2K’s NBA 2K13 has dribbled down from its prime-time launch to embrace our mobile devices. One of the most successful NBA video game franchises creates another slam dunk with its impressive game simulation, amazing graphics, and intuitive One-Finger controls. Head fake your way to a winning season while breaking ankles with your wicked crossovers. If there’s any hoops game to pick up for your mobile device, it’s this one.
My sense of proportion has been hopelessly corrupted by a lifetime of telling girls that six centimeters is actually six inches, so I’m very excited by the prospect of an app that can tell me the size of something just by taking a photo of it.
That app is called CamRuler, and it works by comparing the size of an unknown object to that of a known object. If you ever put a coin or a small model dinosaur into a photo to help show scale, then you already know how it works.
Adding up goes this way, and taking away goes that way
Sums is a gesture-based calculator for iOS, and whether you like it will, I suspect, largely depend on how much you’re already accustomed to using traditional calculators.
It’s pretty much an open secret that I can’t stand Twitter, and about the only thing I really like about Facebook is photo sharing, so I really love Instagram. In many ways, it’s against my better instincts, since I’ve always hated the romanticizing of Polaroid and other low-grade cameras of the 1970s by millennial hipsters… a romanticizing Instagram is pretty much built around.
But Instagram’s a lot more than that, and I think this video by Casey Neistat nicely illustrates why: regardless of what filters you use, Instagram is about sharing your life openly, honestly and without being disingenuous. While Twitter is all bluster and sanctimony, and Facebook is all mindless affirmation, Instagram at its best is about sharing the essence of your life.
There are also some great tips in Casey’s video on how to not be an annoying jackass on Instagram, so that helps too. If you love Instagram, check it out.
If you’re going to add retro-style filter effects to your photos, then you might as well use Instant, a new app for the iPad (and Mac) which goes the whole way: not only does it Instagrammatificate your images, but it forces you to watch the results pop out of a Polaroid camera, and then you have to wait for the pictures to “develop.”
Which is not to say that I don’t like the app. In fact, it turns out to be rather excellent.
FastTrack Navigator is just about the simplest navigation app you could ever want: It’s a big arrow on the screen telling you the direction of your destination, along with a number telling you how far away it is. But that’s not to say that it isn’t beautifully designed.
I’m not talking about Tim Cook’s apology for iOS 6 Maps. While it’s rare, Apple has apologized before, especially recently: see John Browett’s admission that the company had “messed up” when cutting shifts among Retail Employees, and Apple’s public about-face when pulling out of the EPEAT rating system. One of the things that makes Apple great is they’re not afraid to be as harsh on themselves as they are on the competition when they’ve fucked up.
No, what Apple did today is far more uncharacteristic than an apology. They suggested that you use a third-party app instead of their own.
Would you buy an iPhone photography app that only let you take one photo? Not one per day, or one per week, but one photo ever. No? Neither would I. But I would download a free app just to see what was going on.
DJing on the iPad just got real. Or something. I'm not really sure if that's how disc jockeys speak. What I do know is that Algoriddim's Djay 1.6 adds some major new features thanks to iOS 6. What kind of features? Oh, you know… Just things like full dual stereo outputs for monitoring and playing different songs at the same time.
Missing Google Street View? Can't wait for it to be incorporated into a Flash-free, Mobile Safari-friendly version of the Google Maps web app? Then go download Live Street View, a Street View app which has just been updated to make it — frankly — awesome on the iPad.
I’ve never actually played Taboo (which is apparently massively popular; shows you just how much I get out); so when Clucks‘ PR guy referred to this new game as “video Taboo for iPhone,” my reaction was: Huh? So I looked up the game on Wikipedia (and finally realized that I had, indeed, heard of Taboo before), and it turns out that’s a perfect description for Clucks. But he might have called it “the next big social media craze on the iPhone,” because that might turn out to be an even better description.
It’s been nine months since Madfinger Games teased a multiplayer version of its hit title ShadowGun. An early build of the game was demoed at CES back in January along with a YouTube video showing off some in-game footage. A few lucky CES attendees received some hands-on with the game and MadFinger Games claimed a Q1 launch. Well, Q1 has long since passed with no sign or word on the future of ShadowGun Deadzone. That was until today.
Gameloft is doing what it does best: teasing its upcoming titles. Next on their list is Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour and they’ve released quite the reveal trailer for us to drool over. Being released for Android and iOS this fall, the next installation in the Modern Combat series looks just as intense as the 3rd and chock full of guns, ammo and bloodshed.
iOS 6's Passbook app isn't just for big-business companies to use. Yes, you'll be able to use it to check in to your flights, and to get discounts at your favorite international coffee chain, but now mom and pop stores, your local food cart or even a stall at the local flea market will be able to offer you coupons and membership, using a new free app called People's Card.
Ever since Google gobbled up the developers of Sparrow to put them to work on a Gmail app, the future of my favorite iOS email client has been in question, but the lack of iPhone 5 support was a particularly hard pill for me to swallow as I reviewed Apple’s latest handset.
Luckily, it appears that while Sparrow may not see many updates going forward, it will get iPhone 5 support, taking full advantage of the 1136 x 640 display.
Swampy the Alligator from the hit game Where’s My Water? is turning one tomorrow. To celebrate this milestone, Disney takes a look at Swampy’s first year and the over 2 billion showers he has taken. Bathe in Swampy’s achievements and then head into the game for an exclusive birthday-themed level (tap the birthday present).
Have a happy birthday tomorrow Swampy and thanks for the hours of fun!
Did you ever find yourself walking down a neighborhood street and coming across a heretofore unknown (to you at least) restaurant? Did you promise yourself that you’d check it out next time you were in the mood for pizza/Indian/sushi/brunch?
And did you totally forget where it was when the time came? Then Snag My Spot is for you.