Infamous jailbreak application Installous just had a major update and now looks better than it ever did. For those of you who don’t know, Installous is an application that lets you download cracked apps on your iPhone. In short, it’s like the App Store for cracked apps.
I have to admit that the app has been beautifully designed. It looks great and seems to work as advertised. This being said, we at iDB strongly disapprove of anything related to pirating apps…
I’m not into downloading cracked applications. I can afford to spend $.99 on Angry Birds or any other app, so that’s not really an issue. I have to admit though that I’ve used Installous before while traveling internationally. That’s something that is often disregarded, but depending on where you are in the world, you might not be able to download certain applications from the App Store.
When we were in Thailand last year for example, my lovely fiancee’s iPod Touch would not connect to the US iTunes Store, no matter what. The only way for her to download applications was to get them via Installous. Back in the US, I got her the new iPhone 4 and she legally downloaded copies of the apps she wasn’t able to get installed during our trip.
Something tells me there are a lot of you out there who use Installous. If so, would you leave a comment and explain why you use it?
My wife and I decided to eschew family Christmas traditions and make our own this year by visiting Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando. The experience itself was wonderful, in spite of surprisingly large crowds when we visited on Christmas Eve (no fault to Disney there, but even THEY seemed overwhelmed by the numbers that visited the park). But what amazed me the most about our trip is how essential our iPhones have become to every aspect of our travel. From navigation to photography to even Disney park preparation, our iPhone 4(s) had us covered every step of the way.
Our single-purpose GPS is way out of date (I’m the cheapskate and can just never bring myself to pay for map upgrades) so we decided to try out MotionX GPS Drive on this trip and the results could not have been better. MotionX GPS Drive has recently received a much-requested upgrade adding full-voice support for street names, so this new feature was added just in time for our trip. Mind you, neither the app nor the full-voice is perfect. “Exit 83-A” was commonly referred to as “Exit 83uh” and other street names were mangled from time to time, but as a whole the new voice functions worked well. And then there was the time when we needed to travel to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at African restaurant Boma. When I selected “Boma’s at Animal Kingdom Lodge” from the app, it began navigating us, but our destination ended up at the main gate of some Orlando resident’s palatial estate. A little fine-tuning was needed, but the app finally got us where we needed to go. MotionX GPS Drive is also a steal from a financial perspective – $0.99 for the app with guided navigation for $2.99 for 30 days. MotionX wisely does not auto-renew, so you only need to pay the navigation fee when you really need it, which is a very nice touch.
Once in the park, we had two go-to apps – Undercover Tourist and Hipstamatic. If you’re unfamiliar with Undercover Tourist, it’s an app designed to give you information about anticipated crowds at the various Disney parks and queue wait times at rides within the parks. Unfortunately, Undercover Tourist pushed an update right before our trip and it broke the app on my iPhone 4. I was hopeful when I saw a new update released, but mine still crashes. My wife, ever reluctant to update apps, still had an older version on her phone, so we were able to use it. The crowd forecast for December 24th (color coded: red for heavy, yellow for moderate and green for light) showed green so we thought we had it made. Like I said earlier, the crowds seemed to surprise even Disney, so I can’t really blame Undercover Tourist for a mistake in its data. The good news is that the queue estimates were generally accurate and helped us, particularly early on, decide where to go and what to do. And since the app is free (there is a paid ad-free version) there isn’t much I can complain about.
iPhone App – Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-08-08 :: Category: Travel
Finally, what would a trip to the Magic Kingdom be without lots and lots of pictures? Sure, the iPhone 4 has a much-improved camera, but I’m a sucker for the retro surprises generated by Apple’s iPhone App of the Year Hipstamatic. I suppose it’s because my first trip to the Magic Kingdom happened only a year or so after the park opened, but I love the washed-out, 1970s style prints that Hipstamatic generates on the fly. Changing virtual lenses and films was a great way to while away the time spent in long, long lines (the Haunted Mansion line was longer than I have ever experienced), and the photos the app took are some of my favorites from this trip. There’s a reason Apple selected Hipstamatic, and it’s primarily because of its easy of use, versatility and overall fun-factor.
So, we’re back home now, but there’s no mistaking that the iPhone 4 changed our Disney experience for the better. For one thing, it was the first time we didn’t have to lug around a heavy, cumbersome camera throughout the park; but beyond that, it made the day more pleasant, more organized and a lot more fun to remember.
This ClickSafe Laptop Lock solves a problem that I know I worry about: what to do with the laptop when I need to go to the bathroom at a coffee shop. This many not be a problem for you, but if you blog around like I do, you worry about your stuff being taken.
However, if you had the laptop lock onto your laptop, and then use the cord to strap to something that no thief would steal, like a chair, then your trip to the bathroom can last as long as you want.
This lock for your laptop can be purchased on the Kensington website for about $69.99.
In the event some beloved friend or family member gives you the gift of an iTunes gift card Namco has some good ideas on how to spend it as the company is offering three brand-new, high-profile games just in time for the holidays. And even if you don’t have free money coming your way then go ahead and buy them anyway, because they all look pretty great.
First up is the newly-released Puzzle Quest 2, which takes the same addictive gameplay as the original and gets rid of most of the balancing issues and the annoying AI cheating. Yeah, the developers deny to this day that the game cheated, but considering how much more fair matches in Puzzle Quest 2 are when compared to the original, we’re pretty sure they did something. The game’s been available on other outlets such as Xbox Live and Nintendo DS for a little while now, but we’re very happy to see it finally come to iOS.
Also currently available is Letter Labyrinth, which takes the traditional jumbled-letter word game and throws in a healthy dose of Pac-Man. The game also features a Calculation mode where you can work with numbers and equations rather than letters, and if Pac-Man eating math equations doesn’t start raising test scores then nothing will.
Last but not least is the all-new Bit.Trip Beat Blitz, which brings the addicting and supremely challenging Bit.Trip gameplay with some fun new wrinkles. The game features some brand new power-ups, and is free to download. Of course, you’ll have to upgrade to get access to all the levels and content, but by that time you’ll be so hooked it won’t even matter.
So we give thanks to Namco for dropping some serious holiday joy on all of us with a bunch of awesome new games. I will personally be enjoying all these titles while waiting for flights and sitting on planes as I head to and from my annual pilgrimage home. I just hope I don’t get so frustrated with Bit.Trip that I end up hurling my iPod out of a plane at 30,000 feet.
Developer: Namco Mobile
Price: $3.99 ($1.99 Level Pack In-App Purchase Available)
Version Reviewed: 1.0.1
Device Reviewed On: iPad
Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
There will be a segment of the population that will find BIT.TRIP BEAT to be absolutely brilliant and sublime. They will love the design aesthetic and the way the game blends old school gameplay with music seamlessly. Then there are those that will find the game’s attempts at art to be mere distractions to the gameplay, which is fraught with cheap dot patterns coupled with a lack of checkpoints, along with control issues. This review comes from a member of the latter crowd.
BIT.TRIP BEAT is at its core similar to brick breaker/pong games, where you control a paddle trying to hit back the dots coming at you. The difference is that each dot represents a musical note that flies in from the right side of the screen (and your right speaker) that plays on the left speaker when you hit it, forming the notes of the chiptune song that is playing, each level comprising a song. If you let too many dots fly past you, the screen goes black and white, and you have to hit enough dots back to make the top bar of the screen empty before your life bar on the bottom empties, or else it is game over.
The sound design of the game is absolutely fantastic. The game recommends that you play with headphones, and I suggest that you do just that, as it is an aural delight. When you really get going and get into the game, the experience is sublime, blending the basic gameplay with the music in a way that is absolutely incredible. For pure sensual experiences, this is top-notch. The game supports local multiplayer via Bluetooth as well, even allowing play across iPhone and iPad versions of the game.
But BIT.TRIP BEAT starts to suffer when put under the microscope. The first issue I have is that the game doesn’t seem to know what a checkpoint is. If you die at a section, you have to start the whole level over, and there are so many unpredictable dot patterns that are only beatable by rote memorization, so restarts are frequent. The tilt controls are practically worthless and need user-adjustable sensitivity options to make them feel more precise. The touch controls on iPad also are 1:1 movement only, which leads to some uncomfortable thumb stretching as you move up and down. Some kind of offset touch controls would make the game control far better. And then there’s just the whole fact that this is a game that is explicitly designed to challenge you by way of visual distraction as much as it is by gameplay design.
BIT.TRIP BEAT feels like a divisive game – creative, right brain types will likely appreciate the game for its art and can look past the flaws. Logical, left brain types will struggle with the game’s flaws to enjoy the core product. I find myself in the latter crowd, struggling to enjoy a game that is alternately brilliant and frustrating.
My wife and I decided to eschew family Christmas traditions and make our own this year by visiting Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando. The experience itself was wonderful, in spite of surprisingly large crowds when we visited on Christmas Eve (no fault to Disney there, but even THEY seemed overwhelmed by the numbers that visited the park). But what amazed me the most about our trip is how essential our iPhones have become to every aspect of our travel. From navigation to photography to even Disney park preparation, our iPhone 4(s) had us covered every step of the way.
:: NICE NAVIGATION
Once in the park, we had two go-to apps – 
Finally, what would a trip to the Magic Kingdom be without lots and lots of pictures? Sure, the iPhone 4 has a much-improved camera, but I’m a sucker for the retro surprises generated by Apple’s iPhone App of the Year 
:: SHOOTING FROM THE HIP
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