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ProCamera + GeoTagging Review

Duy Phong — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 22:49:29 +0000

Developer: Jens Damgen
Price: $2.99
Version Reviewed: 2.95
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4

iPhone Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use Value Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.67 out of 5 stars

There are a lot of photography apps on the App Store but I’m pretty confident that ProCamera is my new favourite. It offers an awful lot of features in order to enhance the iPhone’s camera to the next level.

At first it looks a little scary, which is understandable when you consider the wealth of options. A click click of the user manual, though, and all makes perfect sense. It’s then apparent just how much you can do with the app. At its simplest, you can set ProCamera to anti-shake, instantly aiding anyone with a shaky hand or who happens to be in a less than ideal location for sudden jolts. Besides this though there are options to set the zoom to full-res zoom, thus enabling the app to offset the camera’s hardware. ensuring that using the full zoom produces a better photo than the regular camera app normally does. It’s not a magic solution. Using the maximum zoom still isn’t as perfect as a ‘real’ camera but using the zoom to halfway works quite well, certainly more so than using the Camera app.

Expert mode offers the ability to set exposure times and focus which you can lock in separately – a particularly vital feature for wannabe photographers. You can also adjust the white balance and colour temperature thus getting your photo just how you want it. Brightness, contrast and black and white settings can also be set just how you want.

Besides the still photographic tools at your disposal, you can also record video through the app which saves the effort of switching back to the built in camera app just for this one feature.

ProCamera also likes to educate, offering a tips and tricks section which teaches you such useful concepts as the rules of thirds and other bits and pieces that you wouldn’t think of normally. Also, as the name suggests, ProCamera includes Geotagging facilities which is certainly handy if you want to keep track of where and when you took your photos.

ProCamera offers a lot for the price. It offers both an excellent app for taking photos and videos, and a good app for editing these images directly. The photography market is competitive on the App Store but this is certainly worth a look.

[ ProCamera + GeoTagging Review is a post from 148Apps ]

Civilization Wars Review

zulu — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:07:43 +0000

Developer: Chillingo
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4

Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.44 out of 5 stars

Civilization Wars isn’t a perfect Real Time Strategy (RTS) game but at such a low price point, it’s still worth a look.

Following the typical theme of any civilization based RTS title, domination is the name of the game here. Build up your empire, acquire more people, then attack opposing forces all in order to claim new ground. We’ve all seen it before but it’s a fun activity to partake in. Civilization Wars offers three different races to play as each with their own artwork.

Besides just fighting physically, crystals can also be captured which provides you with energy that can then be used to cast spells. There’s also a basic levelling up system whereby experience points can be gained by defeating foes, then used to improve your abilities, firepower and resources.

It’s all quite typical RTS action and for the most part, it’s fine. Selecting things is not always as accurate as you’d like and the ability to zoom in would have been handy, but it’s still all pretty functional. The problem is I never found it overly absorbing. It’s just not as compelling as the likes of Civilization Revolutions for example. It all feels a little too characterless and not as detailed as it likes to think it is.

It’s unfortunate that this is the case as there’s a fair amount of potential here. You can unlock modes for example to change the game a bit such as introducing a no magic mode or doubling the difficulty level. There are even boss battles to contend with against lumbering monsters. There’s also the slightly curious addition of walkthroughs available through the app for every section of the game. No bad thing at all considering you’re not forced to use them if you don’t want to.

For the price, Civilization Wars does offer a lot and the action is fast paced and appropriate. It’s just a pity that it never gave me that compelling urge to keep on playing. Still, for 99c you could do a lot worse indeed.

[ Civilization Wars Review is a post from 148Apps ]

iMockups for iPad Review

tanloc2t — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:45:46 +0000

Developer: Endloop Systems Inc.
Price: $9.99
Version Reviewed: 1.1.0

iPad Integration Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Re-use Value Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.33 out of 5 stars

I’m not one to mix work with pleasure. Rarely do I turn to my iPad for anything other than checking my mail, playing a game, or consuming some form of media. You know, the fun stuff. But, having spent much of my professional life designing or participating in the creation of various web sites and apps, it was only a matter of time before I had to try iMockups for myself. Endloop Studios’ iMockups brings rapid user interface design to the iPad, and it does so with a rather slick and efficient package.

The focus of iMockups is on giving the user tools to quickly wireframe a web site, web application, or iPhone/iPad app. These are the type of low fidelity mock-ups that are a big part of a rapid development shop, where ideas can be quickly put to the page, and then changed or discarded just as fast. Like other tools in this vein, iMockups offers a number of pre-built controls, and categorizes them as Web, iPhone/iPad, and Markup. At a little less than 50 in total, there’s a decent amount of tools at your disposal.

Each of the controls in iMockups can be re-sized, grouped, nudged, arranged from front to back, etc., as would be expected. Things such as multi-select are handled via straightforward multi-touch gestures, and the controls you lay-out can be made to snap to grid with relation to each other. You can save several projects in iMockups, each with multiple pages. iMockups also has some very handy export features, such as saving to png or Balsamiq bmml files. Projects can be emailed as well, and then launched from within the resulting email.

Although everything is fairly intuitive in iMockups, there is a bit of a learning curve involved with getting up to speed. The help screen and tutorials included are a good resource for getting over this initial hump, and everything becomes second nature after a couple of trips through the app’s own user interface.

The controls provided offer a good variety of building blocks, and they work well as implemented, but more can definitely be added. One thing that I missed having was some sort of grid control to display bigger sets of tabular data. This is something that can be frequently needed in certain industries. I’d also like to see some more font and color options. Although it’s debatable how much of that type of embellishment is necessary for rapid mock-ups, it does come in handy to periodically shade a control or use colored text in order to highlight a certain element of your design. As it so happens, Endloop Studios has already previewed these upcoming additions and more on their blog, and has offered several such incremental updates since the release of iMockups. This bodes well for the continued expansion and support of the app, which is already a robust and useful tool.

iMockups offers an attractive solution to your user interface design needs. It just feels good on the iPad, and it does so by utilizing the touch screen in an instinctive manner. The app is impressive and versatile, and has the potential to grow and become even more comprehensive. If you need a quick, mobile solution to your design needs, iMockups on the iPad offers a great slate for capturing and sharing your inspiration, wherever and whenever it may strike you.

[ iMockups for iPad Review is a post from 148Apps ]

Poet’s Pad for iPhone Provides Mobile Muse.

pietro842 — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 19:39:42 +0000

For all the would be Shakespeares out there, great news. A developer by the name of Dante Varnado Moore has got a mind to help you write all the sonnets your heart could desire with the release of Poet’s Pad for the iPhone.

Poet’s Pad for the iPhone is the baby brother to the iPad version released at the start of September. It includes a digital audio recorder for writers who express their art via Spoken Word or Def Poetry. It also offers idea generating tools that are designed to inspire creative expression and eliminate writers block on the go; sort of like your own digital muse in your pocket.

The App boasts of features such as a Rhyming Dictionary with more than 70,000 words, including thesaurus and dictionary functionality for finding just the right word. The major feature that they offer, however, is the ‘emotion based’ word and phrase generator. Using a base emotion such as Love, Hate, or Anger, for example, you can then search for and find phrases and words that fit the bill for whatever you’re trying to express. You can use these phrases and words immediately for writing your poetry, or save them for later inspiration. Therefore, you can use this tool both for inspiration and organization.

Maybe you prefer dictating your poems? Poet’s Pad also states that it offers a built in voice-recorder so you can make verbal notes, or practice your poetry performance.

Poet’s Pad is a professional poetry writing app that allows poets to create, arrange and store all of their writings and poems in one app. Visit the Developers website for more information, or check it out on the App Store. You can also see the video below for an explanation of most of what this App offers.

For a limited time Poet’s Pad for iPhone 1.0.1 is being offered at an introductory price of $1.99. That’s over 65% off the regular price of $5.99 USD. The iPad version is currently on sale for $6.99, 30% off the regular price of $9.99 USD. They are available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Lifestyle category.

$2.99

Poet’s Pad™ for iPhone

iPhone App – Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-09-22 :: Category: Lifestyle

[ Poet’s Pad for iPhone Provides Mobile Muse. is a post from 148Apps ]

PhotoArtista – Oil Review

pietro842 — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 19:09:05 +0000

Developer: JixiPix

Price: $4.99
Version: 1.0
App Reviewed on: iPad

iPad Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use Value Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

So, you went out this weekend and captured a bunch of photos. A few of these turned out well, others maybe not so much. You want to use these not so grand photos, but how do you add a bit of a personal touch to them? How about turning a few of those ok photos into oil painted works of art? Bust out the iPad, time to make use of a fun little app called PhotoArtista – Oil.

PhotoArtista takes any photo on your iPad and turns it into a swanky piece of artwork. There are several options on the style front. Paint styles range from those primarily focused on portraits to abstract paintings. There is a little something here for everyone and every photo type.

Once the photo is loaded up, the options open up even more. Choose from nine different artistic edging effects. Adjust canvas texture and color to add to the overall aesthetics of the photo.

The real magic takes place in the Fine-Tune option. Here adjustments take place to brush styles and sizes, stroke variations, bristle depth, and even color/tone shifting. A lot of time can be spent in this panel, tweaking that photo into something that the finest artist might envy.

All this brush stroking, canvas-painting love does have a small down side. I found that photos with lots of varying colors, or higher contrast, produced the best results. I ran a few cloudy sky photos through the app only to have images come out to close to the original photo.

Another small complaint is the constant rendering of photos. It would be awesome sauce to make several changes at once and then tap a render button to see the final result. I know the options I want to default to after playing with this app for a few hours. Allowing users to make all the changes at once and then rendering would save a lot of time.

PhotoArtista –Oil is a fun little tool to give your photos a bit of a personal touch. The app is available for both the iPhone and the iPad. Those looking for something a little different should certainly try this app. It has found a permanent place on my iPad.

iPhotograhper Tip:
I played around with PhotoArtista for a bit to get an image I was happy with on the final results. It took a bit of playing with brush strokes and variations to get something that was fun and different. I took this new work of art and saved it for one more bit of processing. Filterstorm was where the final touches were to take place. I over saturated the photo and then added a blur filter. I did all this from the comforts of my bed! Who needs a laptop when you have all these fun tools right on an iPad? Here is the result of 20 minutes of goofing around:

[ PhotoArtista – Oil Review is a post from 148Apps ]