Eli Milchman - page 9

It’s a bit of a challenge to describe Spreecast in a nutshell — hence the clumsy headline.

Watching the service is sort of like eavesdropping on a videochat between a small group of people; only you can also interact with other viewers, and the videochatters (I hereby coin this word) themselves, through live (text) comments. Spreecast has been used by a bunch of big organizations and famous people — a few standout examples include Reese Witherspoon, The Wall Street Journal, VH1 — to broadcast conversations and interviews. Of course, peons like me (or you) can also use Spreecast to broadcast our own chatter.

Spreecast is old news, since it’s been around since late 2011; but now it’s available as an iPhone app.

If you haven’t played Ticket to Ride yet, all you need to know is that the iPad version is the most addictive board game I’ve played on the device. On the iPhone? Nothing even comes close (O.K., except maybe chess and Words with Friends).

This weekend the newest version of the game to hit the iPhone, Ticket to Ride Europe Pocket, goes from $2 to free. Don’t miss out on this one — and make sure you tell a buddy so you can play ’em.

Sony is saying that their new Cybershot HX50V camera is the lightest, smallest 30x optical zoom-equipped camera in the world.

Seems like optical zoom is the new megapixels, at least as far as high-end point-n-shoots are concerned; it’s amazing to see the increasing zoom range camera makers are scrambling to pack into their pocketable shooters these days. For now, looks like Sony might just be the race leader.

Let’s take a closer look at the HX50V.

That statement up there in the headline, that Flowboard will be “the most important free app you download this month” — that’s kind of a bold thing to say.

But it’s not hyperbole; Flowboard’s publishing tools are super-easy to use, letting you easily create electronic portfolios and presentations — heck, even magazines and eBooks — and the finished products, published on Flowboard’s site, are just as easy to share and view.

And if you rarely download anything, well, this may be the most important free app you download all year.

Last week saw popular photo-editing iPhone app FX Photo Studio go free for a day. MacPhun, the app’s developer, then extended that free day indefinitely — a result, they say, of the app’s overwhelming popularity as it’s blown through a million new downloads since going free.

Now the developer’s doing the same thing with the even-more-fantastic iPad version of the app, FX Photo Studio HD. Only this time, they say the app will be free until it hits 10 million new downloads. Since this is such a stellar app, ten million is not nearly as steep as it seems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O70X7JY4re0&feature=youtu.be

It won’t let your kid paint with light in the traditional, photographic sense — using a light source to burn magical images into a photograph.

Instead, Griffin’s new Crayola Light Marker turns an iPad into a canvas that’s transformed with light — a form of light painting, and just as magical.

There’re few photo apps better than MacPhun’s FX Photo Studio for the casual photographer. It’s got a pretty interface, it’s super-simple to use and it’s stuffed with way more filters than any other iPhone app at the App Store (pretty sure this is true; if you think you know of one with more filters, let me know). Normally the app is $2, but today it’s free.

Moxtra is a great, free app that allows groups of users to collaborate using files — video clips, images, PDFs — that they’ve stored in virtual notebooks; some collaboration can even be conducted in realtime.

Back in January, when Moxtra launched, I described the app as a sort of Evernote-Pinterest blend. Now there’s even more blending with the former, because Evernote has added Moxtra integration.

Even before I ever dreamed of writing and taking pictures for a living — I’ll just pause here to let my fellow journalists and bloggers finish laughing hysterically at the idea that earnings from journalism could be considered “a living” — I rocked one of those photographer’s jackets. You know the one — zippers and pockets everywhere. I was a Geek King in the jacket, but I didn’t care; it let me carry all my gizmos and, yes, sometimes even photography gear.

Only the most wizened, old-school photographers use those vests anymore. And there are far better ways to shlep a quiver of gadgets — like the magnetic-sleeved, 22-pocket, Personal Area Network-equipped Tropiformer by Scottevest. Oh yeah.

For the first time since Steve Jobs died, his widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, will speak on TV — in this case, in an interview on Rock Center with Brian Williams this evening, in just a few hours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4ja6Sy2JwEc

Imagine dining at a sumptuous, football-field-sized smorgasbord where all your friends and acquaintances have made and brought tantalizing morsels for you. And it’s all yours to sample, as you glide past table after stacked table. On ice skates.

Now replace the food with photos, and you’ll understand the draw of Cooliris (assuming you like looking at photos; and since the toaster is probably the last remaining electric gadget not equipped with either a camera or a way to display images, it’s a safe assumption).

And the iOS app is even cooler now that it’s just been seamlessly integrated with Dropbox.

Hardcore Vault Hunters may have noticed that the opportunity to venture forth with their PC-based comrades — a huge boon that arrived in an update almost two months ago — was no longer an option as of early this month, when the latest Borderlands 2 patch hit PCs, throwing the two operating systems out of sync again.

But the two platforms are now synced again, thanks to Aspyr’s lightning-fast release of a Mac-side patch. They’ve also brought us the $5, Steam-only Ultimate Vault Hunter’s Pack DLC, which raises the level cap and adds a “super-rare line of weapons.” Yeehaw.

I’ve never had much luck with Google Goggles; it’s a fancy feature tacked on to the Google Search iOS app that’s supposed to return search results related to any item or text photographed from within the app. But it’s sent me shopping for dresses after I’ve snapped a picture of speakers, and  tried to conduct searches using text it thinks it’s found — when their wasn’t any.

Brand-spanking-new CamFind attempts more-or-less the same trick — only it’s better at it.

Autodesk has a stunning — and I’m not using the word lightly here — catalog of free design-focused iOS apps that do everything from applying filters to photos, to drawing on your iPad — or even turning the subject of an iPhone photo into a 3D model. Now, they’re taking their deep knowledge of modeling, physics and mechanics and using it to make iPad apps that’ll teach your kids cool stuff. For free.

The fact that we’re mentioning this game really hinges on one fact: It’s being released by Firaxis and 2K Games, two names behind some of the greatest games ever made: Sid Meier’s Pirates, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and of course, the Civilization series (and for a little bit here, let’s just forget that 2K is also responsible for the somewhat poorly received Borderlands Legends).

We’ve seen a lot of iPad-enhancing accessories over the last couple of years. Speaker cases like the Belkin Thunderstorm, bring-your-own-keyboard cases like the Incase Origami, and even iPad battery cases. But here’s a new one: DOCKr, an accessory that brings all these advantages together in one Skittle-colored package.

If it isn’t already obvious: I’m a huge bike nut. I’ve sold bikes, fixed them, raced on them and even slept on one once (hey, cycling is tiring). So I get pretty excited when fellow bike nuts make something ingenious that’ll let my bike haul my Apple gear. Case in point: Timbuk2’s new Basket Case duffel and their Cog Pannier.

Call Bliss is an app with its own, industrial-strength take on the iPhone’s newish Do Not Disturb feature. It takes Apple’s basic concept — blocking calls with the flick of a switch, or only letting through calls from selected contacts — and infuses it with management features and more powerful options. And now the app adds two more tricks.

We’ve been fascinated the stuff emerging from motorcycle-wizards-turned-iDevice-accessory-crafter Rokform ever since we took their machined alloy Rokbed iPhone case for a spin a few years back. Today the company revealed the Rokshield v3, basically a smaller, iPad Mini version of their Roklock case and mounting system.

Or rather, “have someone drive you home.”

After being vilified so much for contributing to dangerous roads (along with all other smartphones, of course), the iPhone will soon turn Samaritan, and maybe help to make the roads a little safer. That’s thanks to the new Breathometer, “the world’s first smartphone breathalyzer.”

Yes, it’s a frisbee that doubles as an iPhone speaker. When you’ve finished flinging the Fli Tunes around, pop the center out and stick your iPhone in it. Be sure to pick up your iPhone before flinging it around again.

One type of bag was conspicuously missing from the lineup when Pelican released its ProGear line a few months back. There was a smorgasbord-like selection of tablet- and laptop-toting bags — but nothing for camera gear. Now Pelican has filled that space, integrating their vault-like case technology in the new S130 ProGear laptop/camera backpack.

If you’ve been catching our Daily Freebie posts, you’ve no doubt snagged some of the fantastic free apps out there — or been alert enough to snag an amazing deal when this or that killer app goes free for a short time. But there are other tools that help make sure you don’t miss out on all those great free apps. Hubbl is one of those tools and we’ve mentioned it in the past — but now it’s got a cool new trick that we’ve never seen before.

Our Killian Bell tossed around words like “terrific” and “impressive” when he reviewed the Nuu MiniKey for the iPhone 4/S two years ago. Now, the little backlit Bluetooth keyboard-case has almost arrived (it drops March 15) for the iPhone 5, with a whole slew of improvements.

Infinite Dreams has come a long way since we first discovered their virtual-pottery app, Let’s Create Pottery HD, at the App Store in 2010. They’ve since created a smash-hit tower defense game, and unveiled the first touchscreen coin-slot arcade console based off an iOS game.

Now, with the help of 3D printing, they’re turning virtual pottery into the real thing.