Pocket Devil

For fans of Pocket God, Pocket Devil will look very familiar.  Unfortunately, Pocket Devil is nowhere near as fun as Pocket God.  While it does run very similarly to Pocket God, Pocket Devil just doesn't work.  I can barely get anything done before the whole thing crashes.  If I can manage to keep it running, it's extremely laggy.  Not to mention, not all that fun at all.  It's kind of an R-rated Pocket God.  You can still torture the little devils, except there is alot more blood.  Plus, none of the torturings are very fun at all.  One of the worst the worst $.99 ever spent in the AppStore.  Just don't even bother with it.

iGobo

This is an app for you theater tech nerds out there who follow our blog (because I am sure there are so many of you).  iGobo is an app made by Rosco that allows you to look at their entire of stock of gobos right there in the app.  If you don't know what a gobo is already, odds are you won't care, but gobos are the small metal plates that images can be cut out of and then placed into theater lights in order to project a pattern.  This app has actually already saved the day several times at work, and luckily, it's free!  So techies unite, and go get iGobo!

Aardvark

Here we have another one of my guilty pleasures/addictions.  This app is very similar to Yahoo Answers. Aardvark allows you to ask a question, and the app sends the question out to anyone at random to see if it can retrieve an answer.  Answers are usually very quick and productive.  Even more fun is being able to also answer other people's questions.  Maybe it has something to do with my God-complex, but I just can't resist the chance to attempt to answer other people's questions!  A fun story involving this app is that I once answered a question for a girl, who as it turned out, was in my philosophy class.  Out of all the people in the world for the app to send the question to, it sent it to me.  Even more crazy was that when her and I got to talking, we discovered that we were both born in the same city, within the same month, in the same hospital! If that isn't a strange twist of fate, I am not sure what is.  So go try this app, it's free, and who knows, you might meet someone interesting!

Fling

Here is a game that isn't like much else available in the AppStore.  The object of Fling is to fling these little furry creatures into each other in order to get them to knock each other off of the playing field. The difficult part is that you have to strategize in order to ensure that only one of these little fuzzy characters is left on the playing field at the end.  Two versions, a free trial version and a $.99 version.  Easily one of my new favorites.

Link4

Wow, it sure has been a long time, but Vince and I have just been so busy with school and whatnot.  Luckily, I had 5 minutes to breath, and decided to do a new post.  I have been playing Link4 for the past week, and literally cannot stop.  The object of the game is exactly the same as the popular board game, ConnectFour.  The really fun part of this game is that you are playing against other players, and with every game you gain experience points and move up levels, also, with every win, you gain regular points.  There are currently two versions in the app store. A free one chalk full of ads and a $1.99 version that is ad-free and places a star next to your username to let everyone else know you payed extra just to avoid ads (oh, and to get a star).  I highly recommend this game because it has provided me with hours of entertainment.

Budget Gadgets

Ok everyone, I have another website tell help you save money while keeping your iPhone looking stylish and spiffy.  BudgetGadgets.com is a unique company that offers many different gadgets at ridiculously low prices. But most importantly are their iPhone cases.  These cases can run as low as $5.  This guy in this video offers a pretty good explanation as to why they can offer their cases for such a low price.  But basically, because this site does not bother with fancy packaging and ad agencies, they do not charge the consumer (that's us!) for the extra charges.  Check it out.  You may just find a really cool case at a really low price.

Another Bargain Case

Found another recession friendly case.  If you are not willing to pay $35 for the highly recommended Incase Slider, then another company has got your back.  CaseCrown is offering their Polycarbonate Glider for $9.21.  This case looks very similar to the original Incase Slider, but I cannot vouch that it is better in any respects.  Might be worth a try.

100th Post!!!

Vince and I would like to celebrate our 100th post here on Zack and Vince's iPhone Reviews. WooHoo! Thanks to all our oh-so faithful viewers.  Haha! :)

Vaja Style, Cheaper Price

I thought this was a pretty notable find. Vaja Cases are notorious for being the most fashionable, and pricey, iPhone case available.  They are all handcrafted out of various colors of leathers that you can customize on their website.  You can enter their site, and easily spend over $100 just for a case.  But the Cretouch Illuzion is offering cases that are similar in Vaja style, but not in price.  It is definitely worth checking out. Plus, who doesn't like to save money???

Words With Friends

By the same makers of Chess With Friends, comes another game to be played with your friends when you are not with them.  Words With Friends is a Scrabble type game where you must use the letters allotted to you to make words.  You gain points based on the point value of the letters you place on the board.  These games do not have push notifications, but they make up for it by offering a text message every time it is your turn to play.  Overall, we really enjoy these games. $.99 or a free version, the difference between the two is a unclear.

Tech21 iBand

Check out this material that this company, Tech21, is using to develop stronger and safer cases for all sorts of electronics, including the iPhone.  It's a unique material that when touched slowly has the consistency of silly-putty, but when hit with high impact, it hardens up and absorbs the shock perfectly.  The guys in the video even wrap it around their fingers, then bang it with a mallet.  I want one!!!

ZumoDrive

File sharing between your computer and your mac is a genius idea, if it worked.  ZumoDrive seems like a really good idea: use your wifi connection to view files and pictures from your computer on your iPhone.  Now this is not a new concept. There are dozens of apps that offer this ability, but not many of them are free.  So naturally I was inclined to try ZumoDrive.  Not worth it.  Juts steer clear of this one.

Aqua Globs

Aqua Globs is another game in the very same likeness of FlightControl and HarborMaster.  But instead of airplanes landing safely on the runway or docking ships to unload their shipment, you have to combine similarly colored amoebas together to make them disappear and avoid colliding two different colored amoebas.  Nothing really special.  I much more prefer either FlightControl or HarborMaster because in Aqua Globs it becomes very difficult to manage all of the blobs when more than four come onto the screen.  $.99 in the AppStore.

Simplify Music (Original)

      How often have you been listening to the music on your iPhone when you think, "Hey! I really want to listen to *insert title of song you haven't listened to in forever*!", but to your disappointment, when you go to look for that song, you realize you don't have it synced to your phone currently and will have to wait until you can get back to your computer? For me, at least, it happens all the time.  Well, Simplify Music seeks to solve this dilemma that has been tearing away at techies since the dawn of the mp3 player.  And I've got to say, Simplify Music does a really impressive job.
      What the app does is uploads all of your music to a "cloud" (very similar to Apple's Me account), and from there, your iPhone can connect to this cloud to access all of your music, from ANYWHERE! That's right, it does not just do it over wifi, but also through the cellular network of your phone.  That is a really powerful ability.
      The only extra step you need to take other than just download the app on your phone is to download the free software available on their website.  The only real problems I foresee is that for your phone to connect with the cloud, the computer the music is coming from needs to be on and have the software running.  This would be no problem for a desktop computer, but for a laptop, that is almost impossible.  It's $3.99 in the AppStore, which is a little steep, but might be worth it to some users.

Current Temperature

Here is a pretty cool app for you guys who like always knowing the temperature of you location. This app is called Current Temperature and is available in the App Store! Basically you start up the app, plug in your current location either by zip code or city and a list of stats will pop up on the screen. You can also search your exact location through the satellite. Once you have done that, close the app and a little badge will display the temperature on this app icon. The app pushes and updates your badge every hour. My only complaint is that: I wish this app had a choice to push more often than every hour. Other than that, its a great app and I really recommend it if you love knowing the temperature all the time. Check it out in the App Store today for $0.99!

Sportacular Update: (now includes push)

Hey All! As promised, here is the review of Sportacular with the new update. This new update has a couple new features but the one I really want to highlight is the push notifications for sports scores! Prior to thisupdate, I had been using SportsTap, which is a great app for push notification but I didnt like the user interface all that much. Now Sportacular has come out with an update that includes push! In this update you are able to choose from all the sports that my previous review mentioned. You can have pushes sent to you: whenever the game starts, at the end of each inning, at a score change, lead change, and the final score! Right after I downloaded the update, this became my full time sports scores/news/schedule app. I got rid of SportsTap. Check out this app today! There is both a FREE version and a PRO version for $1.99.

Juice

Here is another battery app! This one does the exact same thing as the other battery app that I reviewed. This one is called Juice. This battery has the same features regarding how the battery is read where that it decreases in 5% increments becasue that is the only way developers are allowed to access the battery via a 3rd party app. Apple doesnt allow developers the exact statistics of the battery. A really cool thing about this app is that there are tons of choices as to what you want the battery to look like: whether it be different neon batteries, or a glass of soda or beer. Check it out in the App Store today. It's $0.99. It may seem a little steep, but if you want some choices in the style of the battery, then this app is right for you!

PhotoFunia

Here is another one of our favorite kinds of apps. PhotoFunia a photo editing app that allows you to place most photos into over 100 templates and effects. This app is really impressive because it takes a photo of your selection, and adjusts it as need to place it into a template. You don't need to do anything. No adjusting, cropping, selecting, etc. to be done by you. The app does all of that on its own. What makes the app even better is that it is ABSOLUTELY FREE! I cannot believe a free app has this much to offer. I'd run to the AppStore and download this app now before the developers realize that they have a gold mine on their hands and could easily start charging $1.99 for this app. Get it today!

iPhone Stylus

These things came out shortly after the release of the original iPhone, and I have been dying to try once ever since. Silly silly me. These styluses boast that they function due to what they call "electron transfer". That's really it for their descriptions. Basically, it's magic. I wish I could offer more insight to how this works, and I am throwing around the word "works" very loosely, but alas, I cannot. The only reason I purchased one of these is because I found one cheap enough on Amazon that if it didn't function, it wouldn't hurt my feelings.

From the moment I tried to use this, I realized that this is far from being a real stylus. I tried sliding the unlock button using about as much pressure as I would with a regular stylus, but nothing. Several swipes later, I realized that I basically had to jab the stylus at the screen to

get it to work. Vince's first words when trying it were, "This crap doesn't work!". I couldn't agree more.

Using the agility of a master clock maker, I managed to unlock the phone using the stylus. Next came the issue of selecting an app. A simple tap was not sufficient enough, far from it. Then came the aimless stabbing at the phone, but still nothing. Finally, I realized that I had to "roll" the rubber end of the stylus over and app to get it to select it. Not very effective, but it "worked".

Using the keyboard was just as unnerving. More strange rolling to select a letter, and even then, it was not always accurate. The typing speed decreases by so much it physically hurt my body and mind.

Alas, here comes it's final flaw. The rubber tip leaves some kind of strange residue all over the screen. It's nothing that a little wipe across the shirt won't fix, but who really wants to use a product that leaves gunk on another device?

I will give the stylus this, it does look good. It actually looks like it might actually be manufactured with a legitimate design. It also functions pretty easily on my MacBook Pro's trackpad, albeit, it still leaves a gray residue.

To sum it up, just stay away from these products. If the iPhone was intended to be used with a stylus, and not our fingers, Apple would have made the phone that way. But it's not. The iPhone's screen is very intuitive and intelligent, even for those with big fingers. Just stick to the original. Believe me, you'd regret purchasing this with actual American dollars.

Flight of the Hamsters

A pretty cool game that reminds me alot of Kitty Cannon. This version has to do with hamsters! This game is called Flight of the Hamsters. Your hamster will be set up on a spring board. There will be a little meter in the top left that has a slider. It will move up and down pretty quickly. Your goal is to tap the meter when it gets right in the middle or a little above. While your hamster is in the air tap or tilt your iPhone to make your hamster float in the air. I think this feature is a little weak and its not executed perfectly. While in the air try and catch the items. They help you progress through the level. It is a really fun game for the iPhone, but dont take my word for it. Check it out in the App Store today for $0.99! :D

iGlowStick

Here is a pretty cool app I found! It is called iGlowStick. Basically you break the little clear tube by sliding your finger to the side and watching the stick bend in the middle. (Just like a real glow stick). From here the stick will begin to glow in the middle. Now begin the shaking! Shake your iPhone to get the whole glow stick to light up. Once it is lit up you can use the glow stick as a flashlight. This is a really cool feature and works very well if you use the orange or yellow glow stick. Check it out in the App Store today! It is FREE. :D

SpinArt (Updated)

As promised, I am doing a review on SpinArt's new update. They basically took care of all my complaints from my original review. You can now upload your own photos to add a little effect to them. There is also the option to make the canvas all one color rather than having to color the whole thing yourself. I like to believe they made these changes simply because I listed them in my review...I can dream can't I? Go check out this app. Really entertaining to play with. $.99 in the AppStore.

CubicMan

This is another clone of popular online game of a different name. CubicMan is a puzzle game and could very well be one of my top five favorite iPhone games of all time. The object is to move the rectangular prism around using swipes across the screen to get it to stand up straight on top of the goal square. The prism rolls around, so you have to be careful to not let it roll off the maze. It takes alot of patience sometimes to find just the right moves that need to be done in order to get through the maze. This game is perfect for either short plays when waiting to do something or longer play when you need something to do. Versatile games are my favorite. This most definitely not one of those games that you feel buyer's remorse for purchasing. It's worth it. There are two versions: The Deluxe Version for $2.99 and has 100 levels and a Lite Version which only has the first 10 levels to try it out. I highly recommend this game. It will always be in my top five hall of fame.

Speck featured our blog again!

Speck, the heaven-sent case company, has featured one of our reviews on their website again! This time for our review on the Speck AftPack. This is seriously a really fun and down-to-earth company. Please go check them out at their website!

20Q Mind Reader

Many of us played 20 questions as kids, and then there was the electronic version that could guess almost anything you were thinking (so long as it was appropriate...believe me, I've tried). 20Q Mind Reader is a clone of the popular electronic toy. The new user interface is a little interesting, but nonetheless, intuitive. It's a really basic and fun game. There are two versions, a free one and a $2.99 version. The "premium" version includes four other mind games to play, whole the lite version is just the original 20Q most people are looking for. Go check it out.

Facebook PixSter

The current Facebook app is fine and all, except that it can't upload photos, and it is pretty janky (in my opinion). Facebook PixSter seeks to solve the janky problems of uploading photos and updating your Facebook status. The user interface is really simple and easy to use (as ALL ui should be). When you open the app, you are greeted with a screen that works very much like starting a PowerPoint. "Tap here to add a picture" "Tap here to add a caption". Very easy to use. And when selecting a photo, you have the option to preview the photo first rather than just tapping the thumbnail you think might be your picture. This app also allows you to update your status seamlessly while at the same time posting a link to your current location using your iPhone's GPS. Really snazzy. It is currently $.99 in the AppStore. If you are an avid user of Facebook, then this app is a must for you!

reQall

There are plenty of To-Do apps in the AppStore, but not too many of them are this organized and well thought out. ReQall allows you to organize all of your tasks in very easy to find ways. Simply by placing certain words in the task description, reQall will place the task in it's appropriate category. Another great feature is the voice-to-text ability. When you add a new task, you are given the option of either typing out the task, or speaking it and letting reQuall's voice-recognition software decipher your words and write it out for you. I have played with it a little bit, and it seems to work pretty well so long as you speak fairly loud and clearly. The really exciting part of this app is the ability to use push notifications! But don't get your hopes up. Just like a couple of other apps in the AppStore, in order to use the push notifications, the company is requesting that you open a payed reQallaccount for $25 a year. That seems just a tad bit ridiculous for me. In the meantime, I'm desperately waiting for any To-Do app that has FREE push notification. Nonetheless, reQall is free in the AppStore. Check it out!

Let's Golf!

And here is post number 2 or 2 for my trip to Pismo Beach with @mhelvey. Day number 2 of our trip will be spent on the golf course. I thought it would be cool to review a golf game app that I have always wanted but never really had a reason to get. (I still don't really have a reason to get it), nevertheless, I am getting the game and about to review it. This game, created by Gameloft is called Let's Golf!. Let's Golf is just like Hot Shots Golf, the game for your gaming system: the PS3 or Xbox 360. This game has 63 holes of golf among the 4 courses featured in the game. The courses include: the Fiji Beach, the American Mountains, the English Countryside, and finally the Scottish Lochs. In addition to 4 courses, there are 4 different characters you can choose to play as, with each one having different strengths and weaknesses. You are also able to customize stats and their clothing. You are able to play this game through Wi-Fi with a friend who has an iPhone and the same game. Another really cool feature is that you can spin the ball while its in the air to try and influence where it lands. This was a feature first included in Tiger Woods PGA Tour for the home systems.The game play/user experience for this app is incredible. It is super easy to play with some taps of the finger. It has pretty good graphics and the game play is smooth. If you really like golf and golf games, check it out in the App Store today! :D

Xtreme Quad Racing

In honor of me and @mhelvey taking a final trip to Pismo Beach before I head off to CU Boulder, I have decided to write a trip-themed post. At Pismo Beach we are going to do some golfing and ATVing. First I am going to review an ATV game app for the iPhone. This game is called Xtreme Quad Racing. Just like the name suggests, this is a racing game performed on quads or ATV (all-terrain vehicles). This game has 5 courses and each course must be raced faster than the CPU for you to win the game. There are 4 different ATVs you can ride. Each one having different vitals and different strengths and weaknesses. Another good part of this game is that there is a 1st person view as well as a 3rd person view. Good stuff. Now on to the user experience/game play. Its bad. Just flat out bad. You play the game in landscape mode, but it definitely doesnt seem like it. I had to turn my iPhone until it was almost vertical. By then I could not even see where I was going. The accelerometer seems very delayed/not working for this app. Its $2.99 in the App Store, and totally NOT worth it. But if you want to find out for yourself check it out in the app store today! :D

Lightsaber Unleashed

I know, I know. I too have stood in front of the mirror with my plastic light saber that flashes lights, makes noises, and is telescoping. (ok, maybe I didnt really do this, but I really wanted to. I never got one of the cool lightsabers that did all those cool things. : /) Then came along the iPhone, and then this cool app, called Lightsaber Unleashed! Right when I got my iPhone on Christmas, this was one of the first apps I got, for a couple of reasons: I thought Star Wars was awesomely cool and whats better than a lightsaber that makes noises?! There are a few choices you can make regarding your lightsaber. You can be Darth Vader, Rahm Kota, Maris Brood, The Apprentice, Shaak Ti, or you can create your own character. Once you have chosen your character from the selection screen, tap your saber and it will make the whole screen that colored lightsaber. From here, have fun! Swing your saber around(it makes noises). Pretend you are fighting off bad guys and for even more fun, battle a friend. Check it out for FREE in the App Store today! :D

Harbor Master Ep 4 -- Pocket God Attacks

Hey all! New Harbor Master update!! Check out my previous Harbor Master review here. This one incorporates Pocket God, the game where you choose how to control your pygmies in the tropical oasis. Check out my Pocket God review here. So basically, open up your Harbor Master app. Hold your finger on the "Harbor Master" logo/words at the top of the screen for three seconds. After that, a little pygmy will fall from the sky. Continue to a level and begin playing. You will soon notice that some of the boats are shaped and look like the pygmies from Pocket God. They carry cargo just like the normal boats, which you will still see throughout the level. This is basically the extent of the update. Its cool to have these two companies integrate parts of each others apps into each others updates. Check it out for yourself. It is $0.99 in the App Store, and just remember, all updates are FREE! :D

Speck AftPack

This is not really iPhone related, but it's still really awesome. Well, college is starting soon, and I needed a new backpack to replace my North Face backpack (it reminded me too much of high school). And being such a huge fan of Speck, I couldn't think of a better backpack than the Speck AftPack. Seriously, I have never been disappointed by Speck, and this bag is no exception.

My favorite feature has to be the multiple array of pockets. There is a total of 14 pockets with multiple ways to get into a few of them. The case is made of nylon and plush insides to protect your computer. There are two styles: Coffee House Brown (shown) and a Black Pinstripe. There is no doubt that I will be able to hold everything I need in my bag. Instead

of just throwing things into my bag and hoping I

will find them later, there is a pocket for everything I need. Keys, iPod/iPhone, laptop, books,

folders, water-bottle, etc.

There are two main pockets in this bag. First being the front pocket that has room for folders, keys, pens, and other little nick-nacks. This part of the bag is sealed with both velcro and a plastic clip for extra security. Next, there is the main pouch that is meant

to hold books and a laptop of up to 17 inches. At the top of this section, there is also a pouch

that looks like it is meant to hold an MP3 player since it has an opening that leads out of the bag for headphones. In the very back of this main section, you will find a plush covered wall that has a velcro strap at the top that reveals a pocket for holding one's laptop. This casing is very thick and cushioned. No doubt that this would protect my brand new MacBook Pro with no problem. Now, having a pocket in the back of a backpack meant for a laptop is nothing new, but what is new is Speck's unique feature for easier removal of the laptop. Often times what can happen is that you have placed your laptop in the special pouch, then shove a bunch of books in the front of the compartment, then making it almost impossible to remove the laptop without removing all the books. Speck has found a solution almost too simple to believe. Flip the bag around, and there on the back of the bag there is a zipper that when un-zipped reveals a "secret" way to gain access to your computer. A very handy and useful feature it is!

The straps to the bag are very sturdy and have plenty of cushion on them for both your shoulders and your back. The bottom of the bag has four rubber feet that keep the bottom of

the bag from touching the ground.

This bag is sharp! It runs for $99.95 from Speck's website, but is very worth it. This bag has it all and looks great while it does it. And if that's not enough to convince you, well, this bag perfectly matches your Speck Fitted Case. So go out today and buy this bag from Speck. They are an awesome company with incredible customer service!!! Long live Speck Products!!!