I was up fairly late last night watching an old episode of Law and Order SVU when one of those Apple spoof commercials from T-Mobile came on. In it, the too-cool-for-himself guy with the excessively yellow-orange hair, the Apple guy, was talking to his family via Facetime when he walked out of his Wi-Fi bubble. As you’d expect, he garbles and gadooks into what is assumed is a “lost connection” image while the half pretty, half odd looking Anne Hathaway knockoff explains that the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G can do video chats from anywhere with its mythical 4G network speed.
Skype then (covertly) launched their 3.0 update which allows for video chats over 3G. I was saying “a-ha!” when Mariska Hargitay was busting some young punk for kidnapping a girl after a party. I’m pretty sure she died, Ice T will sort out the mess I’m sure.
So yes, the iPhone now has the almighty capability of making video chats over its regular network, but the feature sucks up a whopping 3.4 MB/sec. It allows you to talk to your other Skype wielding buddies on any sort of device, and even works in portrait and landscape. Best of all, it runs fairly smooth even if both users are stuck on a 3G network, although nothing, not even Santa Clause, can make 3G work smoothly in certain areas.
With a feature as amazing as this, it comes as a shock that Skype didn’t publicize the launch more. The 3.0 launch could’ve been a big deal, like Super Bowl ad big, had they put some thought into marketing the update. Instead, the update released in the middle of the night, to no fanfare, while I was sitting up in bed watching Law and Order. Silly Skype. Maybe they were too upset about China’s ruling to make the service illegal in their closed off country to remember about this massive update.
Happy video chatting! Be sure to watch that data usage though, the gigabytes will fly by if you don’t watch out.
Note: The youtube video below is about as strange as it gets. Something tells me that Skype wants their service to be the next Chatroulette… if you get my drift.
Developer: Barracuda Partners
Price: $3.99
Version Reviewed: 1.13
Device Reviewed On: iPod Touch
iPhone Integration Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use Value Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
With the new year upon us comes the classic resolution of getting in shape and eating healthier. Every year millions of people promise to take better care of their bodies, only to give up after a few weeks due to sore muscles, bland diets or sheer frustration. While Intelli-Diet can’t do much about the first problem, it goes a long way towards solving the latter two issues. The end result is a helpful weight-loss app which isn’t perfect, but it provides a good starting point.
Unlike many diet apps Intelli-Diet starts off by getting to know you, asking lots of questions about height, current weight, goal weight, age, activity level and so on. The app uses all this info to get a general picture of your health before you even start the plan, demonstrating that this isn’t just another cookie-cutter approach to weight loss. But all this is just a precursor to the app’s most impressive feature, the food list.
At any time during setup or afterward Intelli-Diet lets you run through a myriad of foods in various categories and remove any you don’t like. Hate fish? simply slide the bar to off and you’ll never have to worry about the app telling you to eat salmon. Can’t stand veggies? You can turn off everything in the veggie list and feel no ill effects, the app merely adjusts daily dietary suggestions and updates your meal plan. Finally, a thorough, non-judgmental piece of software that tailors to your own preferences.
From here the app creates a weekly meal plan, providing you with specific foods to eat at breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as a couple snacks a day. Even better, portions are reasonable yet filling, so you won’t go to bed every night starving. Best of all, you can easily email a weekly shopping list to yourself (or whoever in your family does the grocery shopping) so you know exactly what foods you need for the coming week.
While the app is pretty amazing, there are still some faults that may annoy users. First off, there are no recipes included, so while you may be told to eat lean meat at dinner, there are no suggestions for how to prepare it. Even worse, the app is all but useless to finicky eaters, as it may tell you to eat yogurt or lettuce three or four times a day simply to meet nutritional requirements. Sure, having a picky palate may be more of a shortcoming of the individual than the app, but it can still be disappointing to see the same few meals pop up over and over again.
The most attractive aspect of Intelli-Diet is that it does all the heavy lifting for you, crunching the numbers and simply telling you what foods you should be eating. Those who stick to the plan are likely to be pleased with the results, and it’s not going to get much easier than this. While the app may not be the most comprehensive possible, it would be hard to make dieting much simpler than this.
Developer: Sega
Price: $2.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPod touch 4G
Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 3.88 out of 5 stars
Sega’s out to release their entire Genesis back catalog for iOS, it seems. And why shouldn’t they; their Genesis emulator is impressive, only limited by the lack of physical controls (which Gunstar Heroes especially suffered from). Next up in Sega’s slate of Genesis re-releases is Sonic Spinball, the hybrid of traditional Sonic gameplay and pinball developed in the US by Sega Technical Institute. Your goal is to try to collect the Chaos Emeralds in each level, which are set up as pinball tables; unlike standard pinball games, as you are controlling a character instead of a metal ball, you have some control over where Sonic goes while in mid-air, and there are occasional on-foot sections in the game. Otherwise, the elements are fairly standard pinball – plenty of tunnels and ramps to hit, and switches to activate.
Sonic Spinball holds up so well because of the fact that there isn’t really any other game like it; even other mascot-based pinball games have never felt quote in tune with their source character as this game does. The level design is something that’s never really been replicated in other pinball games, particularly as it is based on exploring the board and mastering its mechanics to progress. The on-screen buttons work well, as you have the d-pad for moving Sonic, and buttons for left, right, and both flipper controls. As well, fans of the old Saturday morning Sonic cartoon will love seeing some of the characters make a rare video game appearance in the bonus stages. And of course, Sega’s Genesis emulator is still first class, running without a hitch on newer A4-powered devices.
Of course, the big issue with Sonic Spinball is that it is clear it wasn’t developed by the original Sonic developers, as the game looks and feels different physics-wise from the other Sonic games. This is especially noticable in the occasional on-foot sections. Some kind of Game Center support for a game like this would be a much appreciated feature as well. Also, can Sega please update their iOS emulator to support the iPad natively?
While Sonic Spinball may have the most value to those who remember it fondly from the Genesis days, it still does enough unique things for the pinball genre that it’s still worth checking out for both pinball game fans and for casual Sonic fans who may not have played the game back on the Genesis. Keep these classics coming, Sega.
Spherenoid: Time to take destruction to a microscopic level. You control a tiny nano robot. Your mission is to destroy nasty viruses that are infecting healthy cells. Take your nanobot across four worlds in hopes of stopping the spread of horrid viruses in this 3D Arkanoid style game. Achievements will ensure those speedy completionists come back to better their times again and again.
iPhone App – Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-12-22 :: Category: Games / Arcade
Dark Maze: Wandering through brightly lit mazes is far too simple. Dark Maze will pit your navigational skills to the test. You will use flares to briefly light up your surroundings in hopes of finding your way out. No two mazes are ever the same thanks to randomly generated mazes. Mix things up by entering in words and numbers to complicate mazes even further. No amount of Google Maps will help you get to your destination here!
iPhone App – Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-12-20 :: Category: Games / Adventure
Terra: Terra is quite possibly one of the more ambitious role-playing games to hit the App Store in recent days. This game goes well beyond character customization and great story lines. Start with a staggering 250 levels of play, 15 skills, and 300 different kinds of equipment to really add to your character. Then dive through 17 dungeons to battle 50 different enemies and bosses. By the time you finish the game, you may question if this is really a phone you are playing on.
iPhone App – Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-12-25 :: Category: Games / Role Playing
Scene Study: Time to leave bulky paper scripts at home. Scene Study was designed by actors for actors. You can enter in a single scene, or an entire production. Record in your cue lines, actively participate in a scene, and easily repeat a troublesome scene with ease. Audio playback will even help you listen to yourself to help you produce the best possible delivery of your lines. An easy to navigate interface help keep you studying lines and not fighting cumbersome input methods. You may never look at paper scripts the same way again.
iPhone App – Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-12-23 :: Category: Productivity
Blogging Ideas: Blogs have grown from simple journals of one-person ramblings to massive corporate productions. Even with the massive growth of blogs, there are some people who have yet to dip their toes into the blogosphere. If you are one such person, Blogging Ideas is here to help get you started. This app will help you with techniques, sales, ideas, and even answer the question of why to blog. Experienced bloggers may even find a little something to help give them the edge in a sea of ramblings.
The Creative Zen Touch 2 device has passed through the FCC. The Zen Touch 2 has Android 2.1 as the operating system and a 3.2-inch screen. The PMP has 802.11/b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1. There was a…
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I was up fairly late last night watching an old episode of Law and Order SVU when one of those Apple spoof commercials from T-Mobile came on. In it, the too-cool-for-himself guy with the excessively yellow-orange hair, the Apple guy, was talking to his family via Facetime when he walked out of his Wi-Fi bubble. As you’d expect, he garbles and gadooks into what is assumed is a “lost connection” image while the half pretty, half odd looking Anne Hathaway knockoff explains that the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G can do video chats from anywhere with its mythical 4G network speed.
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