Pen Pals
Jacob Jones | May 10, 2010 Entertainment, Social Networking
User rating: 
(24 votes, average: 3.08 out of 5)
(24 votes, average: 3.08 out of 5)
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Dos Hombres introduces a relatively unique concept to the iPhone with the release of their app named Pen Pals. Like the name suggests, Pen Pals hooks you up with a complete stranger from another part of the world (more than likely you’ll be paired up with someone from the USA) so you can converse awkwardly about life in your part of the world. I say awkwardly because the majority of the messages I recieved were from guys looking to score and underage girls who were incapable of holding an intelligent conversation. A few messages I got read: “a/s/l” and “hi…!!!!!!11!!”. A massive turn off if you’re the kind of person who wants to meet an interesting person and hold a decent conversation with said interesting person. I don’t blame the app though; just the people who use this app for stupid reasons.
Tags: $1.99, Entertainment, Jacob Jones
App Sale: Tubulous 2
Michael (Admin) | Apr 5, 2010 App Sale Alert, Entertainment
User rating: (2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...
FYI, 'feed television' usually means podcasts
Tubulous 2 is on sale for free – normally $1.99
Yay, another way to waste valuable time at work and school! Tubulous 2 bills itself as “the world’s largest feed television network”… read that carefully… “feed television”, which means a lot of video podcasts, plus there are some audio podcasts mixed in, plus some content providers do provide real TV shows that you can watch. I was just watching NBC Nightly News via Tubulous, for instance, and it was their actual broadcast from the other day.
Tubulous 2 categorizes video content and search is also available, and even though it crashed on me a couple times after installing it seemed to stabilize and was very watchable during the short test I just conducted on it here on my couch. Will it work on 3G? I dunno, but I wouldn’t count on it since most video content apps seem pretty spotty on anything but wifi.
If you’re looking for some “feed television”, give Tubulous 2 a try while it’s free.
Tags: streaming video
Q&F: Hologram 3D Ultimate
Michael (Admin) | Apr 1, 2010 Entertainment, Quick & Free
User rating: (26 votes, average: 3.15 out of 5)
(26 votes, average: 3.15 out of 5) Loading ...
Legions of Star Wars nerds have been waiting for this technology since 1977 when a sassy little droid first played a holographic recording of a soon-to-be-homeless princess! You know exactly what I’m talking about… something that creates a real, live holographic projection. I honestly never thought it was possible but in this case seeing IS definitely believing.
Hologram 3D Ultimate is pretty minimalistic in its design… basically all you have to do is select an image from your camera roll and press the “BEGIN TRANSMISSION” button and, voila, there’s your pic hovering over your damn iPhone!! Yes, I said it.
HOVERING. OVER. YOUR. iPHONE.
This isn’t some crappy holographic joke app, it’s the real deal. First I tried it with a photo of Darth Vader just for kicks, and when I saw it work I tried it again with a pic of my dog because Sith Lords are just so cliché.
The original source image for my holographic adventure
"You must go to the Dagobah System and get me some beef jerky"
My Celebtwin
Brad H | Mar 12, 2010 Entertainment
User rating: 
(3 votes, average: 2.33 out of 5)
(3 votes, average: 2.33 out of 5) Loading ...
A while back I started noticing people changing their Facebook profile picture to a celebrity that they looked like. Some pictures were close and others were way off. This got me wondering what celebrities I looked like. No one came to mind so I gave up and went on with my day. Little did I know that yes “there’s an app for that”. Ivango brings us My Celebtwin the app that uses facial recognition algorithms to match your face with a celebrities.
The app itself is fairly simple. You can either use an existing picture in your camera roll or take one in the app. Obviously you want to get a clear picture with your head taking up most of the space. Once you have your picture you choose your gender then send the picture to the servers, wait a bit and voila you have three matches. Here is where I had some issues. I couldn’t get any matches with the camera option, everything would come back blank. When I used a picture in my camera roll it would come back good about 90% of the time. This really hurts the app in my eyes because it’s all about going to a party or get together and seeing who your friends look like, and the last thing you want to do is take a bunch of pictures THEN opening the app and hope your picture as clear and aligned properly for the software to work.
I used the app on myself, my wife and my two sons. I wouldn’t say any of us look like any celebrities so I was very curious to see how it worked. My two boys and I did match one of the three celebrities so I am convinced that if anything the algorithms are consistent. So you might be wondering to yourself, Who does Brad look like? According to My celebtwin I look like (drumroll) Liam Neeson, Danny Materson, and Ryan Reynolds. I don’t think I look like any of them but maybe if you merged Ryan and Danny into one person then uglied him up a tad maybe that guy would look like me. Another fun thing to do is see what celebrity of the opposite sex you look like, definitely worth a laugh.
This app goes for $3.99 which in my opinion is way to much. Even if the app worked 100% of the time I don’t think 3.99 would be worth it. They do offer a lite version with only male recognition so go ahead and try that out for free.
Reviewed on iPhone OS 3.1.3
Tags: $3.99, Entertainment
Q&F: Flo Battle Rap
Sara | Feb 19, 2010 Entertainment
User rating: (7 votes, average: 2.86 out of 5)
(7 votes, average: 2.86 out of 5) Loading ...
Any aspiring rapper who loves rap battles should have this app. Flo Battle Rap, by VingTalk, is a game where you can record your rap and post it to battle against others. This app utilizes a sign in feature that lets you have an account to save your raps, see current battles, and be ranked by others.
The game has a really easy to navigate layout. There is a tab for recording, battles, your account, and a lobby. To start a battle, you just go to the Start a Battle tab. After recording you can listen to it and choose to battle your friends or battle a random user. If you choose a random user, they will record a rap. You keep going back and forth until the public declares a winner. If you want to show off your rapping skills and need a way to hone your skills, download this free app today.
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- Main page where you can start a battle, view your current battles, or see your ranking
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- Where you record your rap
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- public battles
iTunes Link – Flo Battle Rap
Version 0.91
Reviewed on iPhone 3GS OS 3.1.2
GQ | Feb 2010
Brad H | Jan 30, 2010 Entertainment
User rating: (8 votes, average: 2.25 out of 5)
(8 votes, average: 2.25 out of 5) Loading ...
With the announcement of the iPad comes all the speculation on how we will consume media like newspapers, magazines, and books. As far as books go the format is pretty much fleshed out with digital versions of books available on many devices. Magazines on the other hand are few and far between. Condé Nast Digital has brought GQ magazine to the iPhone and iPod touch. I personally love a good magazine but no longer subscribe to any because I find it to be a lot of hassle in the digital world we live in today. My biggest question has been ” The magazine is made on a computer then printed onto paper so why cant I just get a digital copy page for page on my computer or mobile device.”
The GQ app doesn’t go so far as to deliver a magazine that I can flip through page by page but its a great start. All the content from the magazine is present; Cover page, articles, and pictures it’s all there. The main app menu is split up into sections of relevant articles. The articles are easy to read and have a font re-sizer to adjust the text to be bigger or smaller. If the article has pictures that go along with it, and pretty much all of them do, there is a button you can push to view the media as a slide show.Some of the articles are on the web site but with the app purchase you are given full access to all the articles as well as app only pictures that aren’t on the site. Here’s to you Miranda Kerr, nice photo set.
As far as who is this app for, I would say the casual reader of GQ. If your buying your magazine off the rack your going to save $1.50 by getting the app. If your a subscriber of GQ your going to spend three times as much for the app after a year. If you are a first time reader the app does give you a link to subscribe to the print magazine for a year at a dollar a piece.
With all that said, here are some things I would hope for the future not only with Condé Nast but all publications. I want the actual magazine on my device just as it is in print. I also would like to see a digital subscription, and don’t get me wrong I’m sure things on Apples side need to change for this to happen. All in all I am excited for the future of magazines in digital form and for the GQ app blazing the trail in this open frontier.
EDIT: It has come to my attention that when you go into landscape mode you get the page for page magazine to flip through, ads and all, just what I wanted.
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- Gentlemen's Quarterly
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- The Cover
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- Loads of Rich Media
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- Main Menu
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- I'll Take One of Each
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- Big Text
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- Small Text
Version 1.0
Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS 3.1.2
Tags: $2.99, Entertainment
Q&F: IMDb
Brad H | Jan 26, 2010 Entertainment, Quick & Free
User rating: (7 votes, average: 4.14 out of 5)
(7 votes, average: 4.14 out of 5) Loading ...
“Remember that one movie with that one guy?” This actually came out of my mouth once. I like movies as much as the next guy but I just can’t remember important things like names and titles. Then there is the whole “He looks familiar what movie do I recognize him from?” No longer will these questions haunt me now that there is an IMDb app. Not only can you search IMDb you can check local show times, find out what movies are coming out soon, box office results, top 250 movies, a TV guide, recaps of TV shows spoilers included, what stars were born that day, and more. So if your like me and your not a movie encyclopedia, do yourself a favor and get the IMDb app.
Version 1.0
Reiviewd on iPhone 3G OS3.1.2
Tags: Entertainment, free
Q&F: Kideos
Brad H | Jan 7, 2010 Entertainment, Quick & Free
User rating: (3 votes, average: 1.00 out of 5)
(3 votes, average: 1.00 out of 5) Loading ...
If you have little ones like I do then Kideos might be for you. Earlier Media brings the aggregation of kid videos to your device.
I don’t have the time to comb through YouTube for kid videos so I was hopeful for this app. The app does do just that, it just does it in a very poor way. The videos are supposed to be organized by age groups but every video seemed to have the tag for 0-2 and not every video was geared for a kid of that age. The categories tab has a large yet redundant list to choose from , and the Wiggles section has zero videos. So why have that as an option? To top it off I can’t ever seem to get through more than 3 videos without the app crashing.
Great concept, bad execution. I’ll keep the app until the next update in hope of some major bug fixes.
Version 1.0
Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS 3.1.2
Tags: free, good for kids
WTF: Pocket Performance Review
Michael (Admin) | Jan 6, 2010 Entertainment, WTF?!
User rating: (3 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
(3 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...
'Bad news, gotta send you to the unemployment line, yo'
Pocket Performance Review is on sale for free – normally $.99
Don’t be shocked if you see Michael Scott using this app in a future episode of The Office! Pocket Performance Review is a collection of executive decisions that are vocalized by 12 different personalities that run the gamut from a typical office chump (Mr. Littleman) to a gangsta (Master B) to a granny (Nellie). You can change the names of the personalities if you want, and by either shaking or selecting the various recordings you’ll be able to tell people that they’re fired, laid off, outsourced, taking an unpaid leave, and numerous other types of bad news. It’s not all bad, though, as Back Pocket Software also threw in a few positive messages to tell your minions that they’ve been given a raise or been promoted.
Shaking your iPhone or hitting the “Perform Evaluation” button will select a random message, and you can rig it to land on the evaluation of your choice.
Pocket Performance Review is a joke (literally) and I think it has high potential for being the source of your next office prank if you feel like getting creative. It’s nice and polished, and for the time being it’s free!
iTunes Link – Pocket Performance Review
Version 1.1
Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS3.1.2
Tags: funny, practical joke
Kevin Smith
Brad H | Jan 3, 2010 Entertainment
User rating: (4 votes, average: 3.25 out of 5)
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*Warning* Youngsters and Faint of Heart go ahead and skip this one.
The app is rated 17+ for infrequent mild alcohol, tobacco, drug use or references. Frequent/Intense profanity or crude humor. Frequent/intense mature/suggestive themes. If that alone didn’t cause you to rush over and purchase the app, read on.
Kevin Smith: Director, Actor, Comedian, Podcaster, Author and if that wasn’t enough you can now add app to that list. Developers Denvog created the all access pass for everything Kevin Smith. If Kevin Smith was involved with something you can be sure it’s available here. This feature rich application is a must have for all the Smith fans out there, and if you’re not that familiar with Smith this is a great way to get acquainted with his work.
Tags: $.99, Entertainment, mature
Wind OS
Sara | Jan 3, 2010 Entertainment
User rating: (3 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
(3 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5) Loading ...
Wind OS is the first Windows emulator for the iPhone. “What is an emulator?” you may ask. Well, it is a program that tries to mimic the real thing, and this app does just that. Although this Bamboo Group app is a great emulator of Windows, it does lack some programs that you would expect from Windows.
Since it is only $.99, I thought it would probably just look like Windows and do little to nothing. I was wrong. It had an internet browser, a notes feature, and of course, Minesweeper. Although 2 of the 3 programs listed here already come standard on the iPhone, I found it cool that it put them there. Also, when you turn on the sound, you hear a cooler.
When I “booted up” the emulator app, I got a good laugh as while it loaded, it provided screens that looked like a computer booting up. It even had a page that said, “Wind OS loading” with a progress bar that looked like it had come out of Windows XP.
Tags: Entertainment, fun, interesting
WTF: Boob Party
Michael (Admin) | Dec 23, 2009 Entertainment, WTF?!
User rating: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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With so many app requests languishing in my inbox I’m a little reluctant to spend time on an app like Boob Party, but I just think it’s funny that (a) there’s an app called Boob Party, and (b) searching iTunes for “boobs” now yields over 100 sure-to-be-disappointing results that want to be “titillating” but are just kind of… eh.
Because Apple has never, and will never, allow nudity or porn in the App Store, apps like Boob Party pretty much always amount to the same thing which is mostly-tame photos and/or videos of scantily clad girls. I like scantily clad girls as much as the next guy but the reality is that there’s nothing these apps can show me that I haven’t already seen a billion times in the dark reaches of the interwebs. Guys who aren’t huge pervs like me might get more of a “rise” out of Boob Party than I did but, again, this kind of content is limited to the point where if you’ve seen one boob app you truly have seen them all.
