I hate Bluehost!!!!
Michael (Admin) | May 11, 2009 Website Stuff
User rating: 
(3 votes, average: 2.33 out of 5)
(3 votes, average: 2.33 out of 5)
Loading ...Bluehost was great for about six months but lately they’ve been a massive pain in the ass which has resulted in a few hours of downtime for the site. The latest issue that compelled them to switch iPhone App Reviews off was related to having “illegal” backup folders… apparently I’m not allowed to have individual backup folders for different WordPress installations (wtf??)… so they just suspended my account without a word about why, and then they refused to turn it back on until the offending folders were deleted.
Obviously I’m going to be switching hosts as soon as I can, but in the meantime here’s a word of caution: if you’re planning to launch any kind of serious venture online, take a good long look at the host you’re about to sign on with. Once you get onboard it’s hard to get off because moving, just like moving out of an apartment, is a gigantic pain in the ass.
Rockchinko
Mike Lightman | May 11, 2009 Games
User rating: (1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...
There are some games that don’t just get under your skin they create an itch that just has to be scratched. You find yourself hearing the music in your head. I bet you can still hear the Tetris theme just like the first time you picked up a green & yellow Gameboy. Anyone ever play a little game called Bejeweled? Oh yeah, the one that spawned an entire army of clones?
Today, you could arguably pin that title on Peggle. PopCap’s embarrasingly addictive game has a perfect combination of minimum skill & maximum distraction. The graphics are great & it’s got a lot of personality. It’s obvious Plaid & Pin the developers of Rockchinko have played Peggle because they’ve tried to beat PopCap at their own game. Too bad they don’t even come close. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: $1.99
Darkroom Premium
Swain Valasek | May 9, 2009 Photo & Video
User rating: (1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...
I like Darkroom from Stepcase Ltd; been a long-time user of the free version. If memory serves, it was the first app to offer image stabilization using the accelerometer and for that I’ll always be grateful (even though the feature can now be found on other apps). Up for review today however is the Premium version so let’s dig right in. First and foremost, Darkroom strives to be a replacement for the Apple Camera app, an endeavor in which I feel it has succeeded save 1 minor caveat which I’ll get to in a moment. What does Darkroom Premium give you over the default camera app for your dollar?
Tags: $0.99, camera, free, Swain Valasek
Q&F: Naturespace
Swain Valasek | May 9, 2009 Healthcare & Fitness, Quick & Free
User rating: (29 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
(29 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5) Loading ...
Take 2 doses of Naturespace from Holographic Audio Theater and don’t call me in the morning; you won’t need to. Actually Naturespace is its own company under the umbrella of HAT but I digress. There’s a wide selection of audio-based relaxation apps out there but Naturespace stands out and not just because it’s free so read on! What they’ve done is play around with audio imaging to create a surround-sound, 3D experience, even with the crappy Apple earbuds. In fact, they’ve put special effort into supporting low-fi buds with a unique ‘earbud optimization’ option. Certainly a high-end set of cans is best for ‘full spectrum’ mode but it’s great that they addressed the fact that like it or not, most people probably do use the plain old Apple earbuds. They also have you covered with great suggestions if you want to upgrade your stock buds.
Tags: ambient, free, relaxation, soundscape, Swain Valasek
Tallies
Chris J. | May 7, 2009 Utilities
User rating: (3 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
(3 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...
Tallies is a surprisingly complex app considering that it really does just one thing: count. We all learned that in preschool and most of us don’t even need our fingers anymore, but sometimes its nice to have some help keeping count. Depending on what you do, you may or may not have need of an app such as this.
The main feature of Tallies that makes it handy to have is that it not only keeps track of “how often”, but also “when”. You need only check the history tab to see when you added (or subtracted) each increment in your tally. There are a lot of potential applications for this feature, depending on what you do with it. In my case, the history tab is helpful in seeing how often my baby girl is being fed.
Read the rest of this entry »
ooTunes
Mike Lightman | May 7, 2009 Music
User rating: (45 votes, average: 3.04 out of 5)
(45 votes, average: 3.04 out of 5) Loading ...
I like a few days to sit with the app before I get it all down on paper. I’ve taken a few extra days with ooTunes because frankly, the app terrified me. Yes, let me repeat – I was scared by a stack of code & some graphics. You think I’m pathetic, admit it. Well, if you witnessed the power this thing has, you wouldn’t be making fun.
On it’s own, ooTunes is arguably the most comprehensive & extensive radio app in the App Store. If you want to listen to Bulgarian Hip Hop, there’s a station for that. If you want local news from Saskatchewan, there’s a station for that. But, it’s really a misnomer to call it just a radio app. With the built-in web browser, it becomes your total streaming device. Factor in the addition of the ooTunes server for your home computer & you’ve got the a complete listening package.
Coupon Sherpa Mobile Coupons
Michael (Admin) | May 7, 2009 Lifestyle
User rating: (7 votes, average: 2.43 out of 5)
(7 votes, average: 2.43 out of 5) Loading ...
Coupon Sherpa is free right now, but it normally sells for $1.99
One of the very first apps I wrote about on iPhone App Reviews was Cellfire Mobile Coupons which I dubbed “a waste of time” because it only offered coupons from 4 or 5 national retail chains. I recently revisited Cellfire to see if anything has changed… and it still blows!
Coupon Sherpa, on the other hand, is a completely different story. It has coupons from a TON of retailers and it also lets you mark businesses as Favorites for easy access. I normally save this line for the end of the review, but I’ll just say it now to get it over with: get this app right now! It’s easily worth the $1.99 that it normally costs, but since it’s free for the time being you’ve got absolutely nothing to lose.
Puzzle Quiz
Michael (Admin) | May 7, 2009 Games
User rating: (4 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
(4 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...
Puzzle Quiz is on sale for $.99. Regular price is $1.99.
Just like the match 3 games that Swain is so crazy for, there’s a whole mess of photo puzzle apps in the App Store. Puzzle Quiz is one of the latest entries in the scambled photo genre and it challenges you to not only reassemble some really cool photos but it also tests you with trivia about each location pictured, hence the “quiz” part of the app name.
DigitalFun built 15 default puzzles into Puzzle Quiz and each one is a photo from a different part of the world. After you unscramble each pic you’re given a chance to earn a time bonus by answering a really freakin’ hard trivia question about the location pictured, and if you complete all 15 puzzles fast enough you get to put your name on the global scoreboard which is pretty unusual for this type of game.
Myst
Chris J. | May 6, 2009 Games
User rating: (7 votes, average: 4.43 out of 5)
(7 votes, average: 4.43 out of 5) Loading ...
For many people out there Myst should need no introduction. With over 6 million sales Myst held the throne as the top-selling PC game of all time for close to a decade (toppled by The Sims in 2002). If you have never heard of Myst, then feel free to read up on the Wikipedia page here.
In my opinion, reviewing the game itself would be presumptuous. Many people both better educated and better paid than myself have spent a lot of time examining Myst from all angles. The questions I want to answer are: Is Myst for iPhone/iPod Touch a good port of the game and does it stand the test of time?
The Terminator: Death Valley
Michael (Admin) | May 5, 2009 Books
User rating: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
I just got done writing about an app called Ballerina, so now I need to overcompensate with something far more manly: Dark Horse Comics’ Terminator comic book!
The Terminator: Death Valley was just released in the App Store yesterday and if waiting for Terminator: Salvation to hit movie theaters is killing you, this is your chance to get a little robot fix to tide you over for the next couple of weeks. As an iPhone app it does just about everything right… you can jump to any of the 87 pages in this first installment, you can change the page transitions as you swipe from screen to screen, and you can auto-play the story if you’re not in the mood to swipe. The one thing you can’t do is zoom in on the artwork… not a big deal for me, but I was kind of thinking that would be built in. Hmm.
Tags: $.99, comic books
Ballerina
Michael (Admin) | May 5, 2009 Entertainment
User rating: (4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5) Loading ...
Ok, before you start making fun of me for reviewing an app called BALLERINA lemme just say that I got curious about the “holographic effect” this app promises. That’s it! I swear! Growing up to be a ballerina was not on my list of boyhood dreams… not that there’s anything wrong with that.
So has Raptured Line successfully created an iPhone hologram? There’s a video at the end of this review, so you be the judge! Or you can grab one of the many promo codes that Raptured has generously contributed to this review, and if you miss out then you can just buy the app.
Getting back to the question of whether this app is a worthy hologram simulation, my verdict is: kind of.
Tags: $.99, 3D, good for kids
App Sale: Separate Checks, Disco Ball, Booty Gong
Michael (Admin) | May 4, 2009 App Sale Alert
User rating: (No Ratings Yet)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Aaron Berk, the guy behind the App Store favorite Wooo Button, just launched a new website for his app development company Tight Apps and has temporarily dropped the price of all his stuff to zero! In addition to Wooo, here’s what you can get for free until new versions are released:
Separate Checks, a pretty good restaurant bill separator and tip calculator
Disco Ball, a sparkly blue disco dealie
Booty Gong, a way to let your buddies know via SMS that you’ve completed a successful booty call
