Reviews - page 139

I have a friend I once queried about the contents of his PC gaming library. He looked at me a little quizzically, then replied that he had the only game one ever need play: Civilization. In that instance, it happened to be Civilization 4, Civ 5’s immediate PC predecessor, arguably considered the finest version of the series since Sid Meier’s original 1991 masterpiece.

He’s not alone. Press any gamer for a name that defines the category of turn-based strategy, and the answer will almost invariably be “Civilization.” Intelligent, beautifully crafted, incredibly detailed with finely honed gaming mechanics, the  games are as much a beauty to behold as they are immensely satisfying to play.

The latest installment, Civ 5 ($40), released for the Mac late last year and recently added to the Mac App Store, is the biggest departure from the series since the original.

There’s nothing quite like the bliss of simply plugging a gadget into a slot and being rewarded with superb performance; and if the gadget happens to exude raw sex appeal, even better. Sounds familiar, right? Because that pretty much describes Apple’s entire lineup. It’s also a perfect description for the dynamic Samson Meteor Mic ($99).

Review by Jordan Trimas

The iFunner iTur is a hard-shell iPhone 4 case that incorporates a wallet compartment, in which you can store a few credit cards and your ID, accessed through a hinged door.  But is it really funner than other cases? Nope.

I’m sure you’re already aware by now that Spotify is finally available in the U.S., with over 13 million songs ready to stream on demand. But did you know that to accompany it there’s an awesome iOS app for listening to those millions of songs on the go? Spotify for iPhone is the first app in this week’s must-have roundup.

Coverjam Pro is another great app for music lovers that provides you with awesome slideshows of your favorite bands and artists while your listen to their music. It searches Instagram and Flickr for photos with the appropriate tags and aims to “enhance your listening pleasure.”

Google+ (yes, it finally hit the App Store!) is the official iPhone app to accompany Google’s latest social network, and “makes sharing the right things with the right people a lot simpler,” with access to your Circles, Stream and Huddle.

Apple’s new 11-inch MacBook Air is simply incredible. Of course you probably already knew this puppy was light, and gorgeous, but the power that this tiny machine packs is truly breathtaking. Optimized for speed and portability, the new MacBook Air improves on its predecessor to prove that it’s the best notebook computer Apple’s ever made.

Editor’s Note: This post has been stickied to top of the front page. If you scroll down there is probably new content below it.

Intro

OS X Lion is the eighth major release of Mac OS X, and it brings to the table several ideas from iOS, like Launchpad (a matrix display of installed applications, similar to the iOS Home Screen — and the Mac App Store) which is being used to deliver the new OS.

Despite the iOS inspiration, Lion’s not a huge shift from previous versions, and it won’t turn your Mac into a faux iOS device. Rather, it borrows some of iOS’s best ideas and uses them to polish the core Mac experience, making Lion the most attractive, cohesive, user-friendly and idiot-proof OS X yet.

It’s a big accomplishment overall. Lion not only looks cleaner and nicer, it fixes a surprising number of long-time niggles. But it also adds some nice new features, and while there are some changes that will cause consternation, like reverse scrolling, almost everything added is for the better.

The question isn’t whether you should spend $29 on Lion, because that’s just a no-brainer. No, the real question is: now that we’re in the post-PC age, how will Lion change the way you use your Mac, and how does it set the stage for the Mac of the future?

The Slim Case ($40) from modulR is a super sleek hardshell case for the iPad 2 that offers a ton of functionality. It’s designed for the home, for the car, for the office, and for everything in-between, with a number of attachments that make it the most comprehensive iPad case available.

The Grey Leather Sleeve for iPad ($33) from newcomer Case Factori is likely the most precisely average case we’ve ever reviewed. It does the job politely, and without fanfare. Or much personality.

The App Store has seen some awesome game releases in the last 7 days, and our favorites include two huge new titles from Gameloft, a thrilling new racer from the creators of Reckless Racing, and Captain America’s iOS debut. We’ve also got an awesome new dual-stick dungeon-crawling RPG from Crescent Moon Games that’s guaranteed to get you drooling.

If Angry Birds opened your eyes to the joys of knocking things down, but you’ve since got bored with all that clucking and those pigs snorting at you, perhaps it’s time you looked for an alternative. In which case, allow me to recommend Siege Hero.

This week’s roundup of must-have apps kicks off with a brand new iPhone app from AOL Music that has been described as “Instagram for music.” AOL PLAY is completely free and focuses on music sharing and discovery, allowing you to listen to and share music with your friends on Twitter and Facebook, stream selected albums, and access over 47,000 SHOUTcast radio stations.

We also have an awesome new app called Trimit which will turn entire articles into a few short sentences, and Readdle’s latest iPad app that will turn any document into a professional PDF.

Cadence.FM (free) is an excellent iPhone app that compliments your workouts by providing you with a constant streamof music that consistently matches a chosen tempo — it’s your “on-demand personal DJ.”

Its best feature is that all of the music it plays is streamed from the SoundCloud music community and includes the best popular remixes, trance, house, dub-step and club music — so you don’t even need to store tracks locally on your device to use it. Just choose a channel and specify the BPM to which you’d like to work out and Cadence.FM will select the music for you — and it does a great job of it!

On Spotify’s homepage, one of the quotes they prominently use as an advertising blurb was written by my friend and old-Wired colleague, Eliot Van Buskirk, who once famously wrote that Spotify is “like a magical version of iTunes in which you’ve already bought every song in the world.”

They’re right to use it. It’s a great description. Spotify doesn’t have every song in the world — just 15 million, in fact — but boy does it feel like it. That’s not just because of Spotify’s huge library of licensed songs, though. It’s because Spotify seamlessly integrates into iTunes to supplement itself. It’s a true iTunes in the Cloud.

Songify is storming up the App Store charts. Why? Because it’s a dead-simple instant songifier, that’s why.

All you do is speak into your iPhone, and Songify turns your words into a song in about four seconds flat. You can email your song, share it on Facebook and Twitter, and generally have a laugh. The app is free, and comes with three simple backing tracks – if you want more tracks, you pay for them in bundles for a dollar a time.

Optimal Layout is a new window manager for OS X. It’s fully Lion compatible and available now on the Mac App Store.

The TRTL STAND iPhone 4 case ($30) is an eco-friendly case from TRTL BOT that, similar to its cousin the Minimalist 4, is made in the U.S. entirely from recycled plastic bottles. Not only does it aim to protect your device from scratches, scuffs, and scrapes, but it also boasts a built-in stand with a choice of three viewing angles.

Plantronics is without a doubt one of the biggest names associated with Bluetooth headsets, and quite possibly has one of the — if not the — largest catalog of headsets of any manufacturer. The Plantronics Savor M1100 ($80) is positioned at the high-end of their consumer line, with an emphasis on high-tech features, including a voice-controlled commands, and a nod toward aesthetics. Considering Plantronics stellar reputation for consistently producing solid performers, expectations for the Savor M1100 were high as the plastic came off the box…

Structurer is a clever free tool for rapidly creating file and folder trees without any messing about in Finder.

I’ve had one particular conversation with Windows blockheads far too often; you know, the one where the blockhead says something like “Macs are overpriced marketing gimmicks created to sell nothing but empty fashion to upscale fops!” (only it’s usually expressed as an eloquent “Macs are stupid!”) Which, of course, is nonsense — and so you confidently and patiently ladle responses over the blockhead’s statement like thick gravy, watching his ego deflate further and further…until the blockhead’s eyes light up as his addled brain finally digs up the winning phrase: “But gaming sucks on the Mac!” And all you can do is begin to protest by muttering something about Civilization or Borderlands, and then slowly hang your head in shame.

Unless you know about OnLive — in which case he’s toast. Oh, and you might want to mention the iPad app as well.

This week’s must-have games roundup features Gameloft’s latest Block Breaker release — the ultimate ball breaker for iOS — which boasts deeper, more intricate levels that take you far beyond a single screen full of blocks.

The revival of Bungie’s Marathon on the iPad — the first ever Mac FPS — is also on our list, in addition to an impressive 3D combat game from Glu, and more!

This week saw the launch of a brand new MTV app for the iPhone called MTV PUSH — our first must-have app of the week — which aims to introduce music lovers to the hottest new and up-and-coming artists; featuring videos, photos, news, and plenty of additional content that will help you discover the best new music.

We’ve also chosen a great new photography app that will help you discover Instagram photos from the people around you; the quickest and easiest way of recording video on your iPhone; and a highly-polished finance app for monitoring your budget.

It’s difficult to find stuff made on U.S. soil these days. Heck, sometimes it seems like nothing is made here. But that’s not true of the elite, exo-skeletal Rockform Rokbed iPhone 4 case ($80), intricately machined from a solid block of aluminum: It’s designed and manufactured in the good ol’ U.S.A. (and it’s not shy about saying so), in Orange County, California by one of the most unlikely outfits to make an iPhone case — the motorcycle fanatics at Two Brothers Racing.

Oooh, this is nice. Capture is a one-trick video recording app for iPhones that reduces the whole concept of snapping a video down to its very basics.

Magic Hour is a photo app for people who love the filter effects you get from apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic.

Our roundup of must-have iOS games this week includes 1-bit Ninja — a unique new platformer that boasts retro gameplay in a stylised 2D side-scrolling world, which you can drag into 3D at any time to reveal hidden paths — like no other platform game you’ve ever played.

Also on our list is Pocket Academy, the latest release from Kairosoft, the developers behind Game Dev Story; and the official Transformers game from Electronic Arts.