Saturday, July 25, 2009

NatsuLion (twitter)

Hey guys! @slicks brought it to my attention that there is a twitter app for the iphone that i have never heard of, and he uses it! I knew I had to jump on this opportunity to download it and let you all know what I think of it. It is called NatsuLion, created by Takuma Mori.
First off, I like that the developer set some goals that his users are supposed to experience by using his twitter app. They include..

1. be simple, be fast
2. feature icons
3. accommodate twitter light users
4. and be handy for mobile usage

I really like what the app looks like at first use. The icon is a lion, which is pretty cool. The app itself has two themes, a light one, and a darker one. And along the bottom of the app, we have Friends, Mentions, DM, Favorites, and More(Sents, Unreads, and Settings). The app also has a large reload button at the top of each timeline which is great for users with big thumbs.

There are a couple downsides to this app that I noticed right off the bat. You are not able to see a list of your friends/followers, something that other free twitter apps do have. And there was one more feature I thought was greatly lacking from this app, and it was kind of the deal breaker for me. It does not have to ability to tweet a picture, or tweet your location. This app also doesnt have a contacts list like other free apps.

I do like this twitter app for being free, but I think Twitterfon is a better free twitter app that offers all the features NatsuLion is lacking.

iEmoji


The Japanese have brought us many wonderful inventions throughout history: Sushi, the Noodle Eater's Hair Guard, and emojis. Emojis are very popular in Japan. It is the use of small pictures to add expression and emotion to an electronic message. :) And finally, a company has managed to bring this form of self-expression to the iPhone. iEmoji allows you to go into the international keyboard settings, turn on the "Emoji" ability under the Japanese keyboard, then voila! You now have an extra button on your keyboard that gives you access to tons of emojis that can be used across all apps. One of the best parts is that when you send something (a text, email, tweet, etc) to someone with an iPhone, even if they don't have the app, they will still be able to see the emoji you put in the message. I really don't have any complaints about this app other than that it's biggest downfall is that the emojis can only be seen by other iPhone users. It will not show up on other types of phones and it will not show up on the internet (twiter). It's just fun and awesome and it works. Totally worth the $.99 price tag found in the app store.

Baseball Slugger: Home Run Race 3D

Baseball Slugger is a great home run competition app for the iPhone made by Com2uS! It is a great app for the casual baseball fan or even the intense fan who never leaves his or her seat during a game. The whole point of the game is to hit homeruns, and hit them far!
On the menu screen there are a few options: Play, Settings, Help, About, and More Games. All of these selections lead to more screens where you can mess around with the options to get the game playing how you would like.
I am going to focus on the Play menu. Inside the Play option there are four categories: Matchup, Arcade, Classic, and Training as well as some choices to change your ball player and what he is wearing as well as playing online with another person!
The Matchup is the online feature that pairs you with a person somewhere else in the world who chose the same settings as you. Then the goal of the game is to hit as more homeruns than the other guy. Each homerun gives you more points, and more points allows you to personalize your character even more.
Arcade mode and Classic mode are almost identical. The only difference between the two is how the score is kept. In Aracde mode, you hit homeruns and get points for them, whereas in Classic mode, it is strickly how many you can hit in before reaching 10 outs.
The last mode is Training. This mode allows the player to choose the pitcher style, if he is left handed/right handed, and how fast he throws the ball. I really reccomend you check out this great app called Baseball Slugger! It is $0.99 in the App Store! :D

I Dig It


How many of you were fans of the popular 1980's video game Dig Dug? Well, I Dig It attempts to replicate that awesome 80's memorabilia in your pocket. Key word: attempts. While this game is really fun on old giant plastic game consoles from a decade wrought with tacky pants and giant hair, it is not nearly as enjoyable when played on a smaller screen with controls that are far too sensitive. The major issue I have is using the controls. As I said, they are far too sensitive. To move the little drilling machine you have to use a joystick-like icon at the bottom of the screen. It seems like a good idea, until you have to move the drill. You soon realize that to make small movements, you need the precision of a master watch-maker. Move the joystick slightly to the left and the drill goes flying across the screen. It gets old, fast. Another problem is that the further you get down in the ground, the smaller your viewing area gets. It's kind of like have a lack of light as you get further down. While this may be part of the game's effects, it is just too difficult to find anything. I was excited about being able to play a Dig Dug wherever I happen to be, but this game most definitely did not satiate this desire. It's $.99 for the full version or free for the lite version, and even that's charging too much...

Epic Twitter App Wars

Are you ready to RUMBLE?! Up next in the line of postings is the Twitter App Wars! So here's how it is going to work. I am going to review 7 different Twitter Apps for the iPhone. I have had experience with all of these apps I am reviewing and have used each one at one time or another. I now keep them on my iPhone so that if anyone has a question about how a Twitter app works, I can try and help them. I have a whole page dedicated to these apps.

DISCLAIMER: all these twitter reviews were made by me and I have used all of these apps below

And in no particular order...

1. Birdfeed -- To start off, this app is characterized by the brown, wood looking icon that has a little hole for the bird in the shape of a chat bubble. Upon opening the app you will find that you have all your normal twitter app features. A Timeline, Mentions, Direct Messages, Favorites, My Profile, My Tweets, a Search feature, and a View User feature.

Pros:
-Beautiful user interface
-Loads all your tweets quickly
-Simple to use
-Multiple twitter account compatible
-Your timeline is shown as a conversation with all tweets from the people you follow on the left side, and all of your own personal tweets coming from the right side.
-Your tweets and the tweets from others are different colors so that you notice right away which are yours.
-The back button to get from the timeline to the menu page has your twitter name and then a number. This number represents the mentions and DM's you may have.

Cons:
-The only negative thing about this app is that you can not view a list of your followers, or the people you are following. If your followers are a big part of your twitter expirence, this may be hard for you to get used to.
-Also, Birdfeed has not yet allowed Boxcar to work with this twitter app, meaning you can not yet receive push-notifications about your mentions and DM's.
-There is not a contact list
-Uploading pictures seems slow for me.

Overall, this is a great app that I have really enjoyed using. The only downside for me is that push-notifications are not yet usable and picture uploading seems a tad bit slow for my liking. Check out Birdfeed in the App Store for $4.99

2. Tweetie -- Tweetie's icon is two shades of light/sky blue. It has the conversation bubbles, one facing left and the other facing right. This was my first paid twitter app and I could not have been any happier with it! It has a dock type display at the bottom of the app that has selections for Tweets, Mentions, Messages, Favorites, and then More(my profile, go to user, nearby, trends, and search)

Pros:
-Beautiful user interface
-Multiple twitter account compatible
-Very simple to use
-The fastest Twitter app that I have used
-Flawless with uploading pictures
-Some cool color scheme themes
-There are followers and following lists that you can browse and access profiles from
-Realitvely cheap for what it can do at $2.99


Cons:
-No contact list

I LOVE this twitter app. This is definetely one of my favorite ones. It is very clean, nice to look at and very powerful. It does everything you could want your twitter app to do, and it does it effortlessly. Very fast app! Check out Tweetie in the App Store for $2.99

3. SimplyTweet -- This is another very powerful twitter app that I have fallen in love with. The cool thing about this app is that there is a Lite Version as well as a paid version. The only difference between the two is that the paid verison has push notifications inside the app, which is a great feature to have. This is the first app with push notifications that has in app push, meaning you do not need a 3rd party app(Boxcar) to receive push-notifications.

Pros:
-There is both a paid version and a Lite version
-Push notifications!
-There is a badge on the app so that you know you have a mention or a DM, and it remains until you check it. This feature can be toggled on and off in the settings menu.
-This twitter app has some really awesome themes so that you can personalize your twitter
-Followers and people you are following lists
-You can search all of your twitter followers for a specific picture. (ex: baseball) and all baseball pictures will show up on the screen
-You can save searches and tweets you like to RT later
-Something I really like about this app is that you can edit your twitter profile from within the app, it cuts out the middle man of having to go to twitter.com

Cons:
-It seems slower than Birdfeed or Tweetie
-There is a bug that you can not load your followers, mentions, and dm's at the same time or else the app gets slow and potentially crash
-So many features you could get lost in it all, and lose the whole purpose of tweeting

I really like this app and was using it as my default, all the time twitter app until Boxcar came out with an update allowing Twittelator as well as many other twitter apps to incorporate push-notifications. Check out SimplyTweet in the App Store for $4.99

4. iTwitter -- This twitter app is not my favorite. I luckily purchased it for free before the developer made it $2.99 in the App Store.



Pros:
-Very simple to use, very straightforward
-You can view anything in this app in Landscape mode
-Contacts list
-Multiple twitter accounts

Cons:
-Push notifications only works between users both using iTwitter. Kinda defeats the purpose if you ask me. It should not matter which app someone is using.
-Not up to par with the other twitter apps, which are more powerful than this.
-Too expensive at $2.99

Overall, this is a decent twitter app. I do not think it is worth it at $2.99 though. I think this could be a decent app if it was free or maybe $0.99. If you would like, check out iTwitter in the App Store!

5. Tweetdeck -- I had high expectations for this app. At first I used it on my pc and later my macbook pro when I got that. I love the pc/mac versions, but somehow the developers could not make it happen for the iPhone.

Pros:
-FREE
-Syncs with Tweetdeck on your pc/mac
-Cool icon
-It looks very similar to the pc/mac version for easy use between computer and iPhone
-There are three columns (All Friends, Mentions, DM) which are switched by sliding your finger left or right
-You can add colums as well, for instance if you want a column of your favorites or one specific follower you want to make sure you always see his/her tweets
-Very nice dock along the bottom featuring Updates, Refresh, Columns, Mark Seen, More

Cons:
-Can be verrryy slow at times, but for the most part this was fixed through updates.
-The user interface is kind of messy with stuff all over. Seems like an organized mess. :D
-It appears that you can not save a tweet as a draft


I really like Tweetdeck for my mac/pc, but don't really suggest it for the iPhone. Try it out, let me know what you think! It can't hurt! It's FREE and a great app for tweeting if you like syncing it with your computer. Check out Tweetdeck in the App Store!

6. Twitterfon -- This is a great twitter app! The best part about it is that it had both a FREE version and a paid version. This app is well known for supplying 80% of your twitter needs while the paid version for $4.99 will cover all your needs for twitter.



Pros:
-FREE version and a paid version for $4.99
-Brand new update has made the app 2x faster on launch and 1.5x faster in searches and scrolling speed.
-has badges at the bottom of the app displaying numbers representing how many tweets of all, mentions, and dm's you have.
-Contact list

Cons:
-Twitterfon Lite only has 80% of features needed to use twitter]
-You can not choose a profile picture and make it fit the whole screen. No larger profile pics


I actually, suprisingly really like this app and what it can do! If I were you, get Twitterfon for FREE, and then if you like it, splurge and get Twitterfon Pro for $4.99. Also, I have some friends who actually use this app and would be happy to tell you more about it if you ask. @camhe12, @jenjengiles, @jessrene, and @kelbell5616

7. Twittelator -- To start off, this app's icon has a big egg on it. It kind of looks like those malt balls you eat during Easter, yumm! To me, this is the best twitter app of them all! I have been using this for a few weeks now and it is my default twitter app and it looks like it is here to stay. Also, the fact that Boxcar came out with an update that does push-notifications for this app made it all that much better.

Pros:
-This is the most powerful twitter app in the App Store with over 150 features!
-Super fast app
-It has a great feature where you can save drafts and easily access them at a later time, so that you dont feel like you are spamming your followers, if you are having alot of great thoughts or are seeing some great tweets that you would like to RT.
-3 great theme colors to choose from
-Settings are within the app, not in the settings on the iPhone
-There are lots of choices in the settings as to what the interval is for how often the app refreshes.
-The tweets you send are a different color than the ones you receive, all being placed in the feed.
-These are just to name a few..

Cons:
-The only problem I have encountered with this app is that sometime the picture uploader doesnt work right the first time. I get an error, and then it asks for me to choose a new service to upload the picture with. I choose the same service again and then it works. I am sure this has been mentioned to the devs, and is being worked on to be fixed.

This is my favorite twitter app. I love all the features, and I always reccomend it to everyone new to twitter. Check out Twittelator Pro in the App Store for $4.99. It may seem a little steep for some. But if you take into account what this app offers, some could say this app should go for even more!
Thanks for reading this post! I hope you enjoyed it. And please do realize I could not mention evert feature in every app out there. But if you would like to see another review of a twitter app i didnt mention, please let me know on this post or at my twitter account, @timbe2

Boxcar -- Twitter Push Notifications

Finally the update for Boxcar has come out and iPhone users who have been longing for push-notifications for their twitter apps have finally taken a sip of water from the fountain of twitter euphoria.

This push-notification app supports the following twitter apps for the iPhone:
Tweetie, Twitterific, Twittelator, Twitterfon Lite(Twitterfon in the App Store), Twitterfon Pro, and Twinkle. It is believed that it will support Birdfeed once Birdfeed updates their app.

In the setting portion of Boxcar, you see there are many different choices in order to personal the app. Toggle on and off direct messages and mentions. I chose to have both push notifications to me. You can also see that Twittelator is my twitter app of choice. :D And finally, the devs of Boxcar incorporated a way to thank them and make a shout out on your twiter account to them through this icon. Try it out!

This is everything I have asked for, for a developer to create a third party app that allows twitter apps to push notifications to your iPhone. And this app does it verry veryyy well. I have posted some screenshots as well so that you too can see inside of the app before you spend $1.99 for this awesome app. WARNING: this app is not meant to replace any twitter app you already use, it is merely there to enchance your twitter expierence with push-notifications to your iPhone. :D

Friday, July 24, 2009

Incase Slider


The Incase Slider was the first case I ever bought for my iPhone 3G. I spent several weeks doing all the research in the world on every iPhone case I could find and all signs pointed to the Incase Slider. And now for some reason, I feel so apathetic towards this case that I could barely start this review. I can no longer decide if I really like this case or if I really dislike this case. There are no real problems with the case, but there just isn't enough to it to make it interesting or to leave a lasting impression. What initially drew me to the case was it's simplistic and minimalist design. The matte black finish was exactly what I wished the actual iPhone plastic looked like. But as time went on, I just got bored. There was nothing really special about it. Some good things about the case are the really clean design, the matte black looks really nice, it adds hardly any bulk, and it feels really good in your hand. Some things about this case that erked me are that after some use, the matte finish started to scratch and even peel. It just doesn't seem to adhere to the plastic very well. Another problem is that the claimed ability to absorb shock and drops is so pathetic it hurts. In the pictures you can see that on the inside of the case there are two strips that are slightly darker than the rest of the case. Those two thin strips of rubber are supposed to absorb the shock of dropping your phone! That's it! Just two very thin strips. Lameskies... But putting that aside, this case is actually pretty exceptional when compared to some of the crap offered to protect your phone. If you're just looking for a case that is very simple and stylish, then this is the case for you. It runs for $34.95 on the Incase website, but you could probably find it much cheaper elsewhere because it probably isn't worth that much to begin with.

Camera Zoom

Camera Zoom is a cool little app for you camera enthusiasts. It really only does one thing though, Zooms in and Zooms out. There is a settings page where you can change the resolution, toggle "tap anywhere to take a picture", toggle "ask to save", toggle the "full screen slider", and also choose where you want the slider to be located: left, bottom, top, or right. You can also tell a friend about this app through an automated email or email the devs to give feedback.
I personally do not like this app all that much and even more that I bought it for $0.99 in the App Store. It's great that there is an app for zooming in and out, but this app seems to distort the image and make it super grainy.
I have posted two pictures along with this app review that show how the pictures turn out when zoomed all the way out and then zoomed all the way in. I chose this object because there are words on it and I was trying to show you how the picture turned out when zoomed in.
If you can, stay away from this app. I don't think it is worth the $0.99 paid for it. I do love the app for what it can do though if it were free, I just dont think it is worth what i paid for it. I will try and find another zoom in and out app to review. :D

iSkin Revo2

Ok guys, so I just got my new case for my iPhone. The iSkin Revo2. The whole case is made of premium silicone. It is like a big rubber glove that protects my phone really well. This paired with the InvisibleShield that @zjh90 already reviewed is what I have on my phone now. And that stuff people say about silicone being hard to get out of your pocket...what?! (Are you wearing silicone pants, or skinny jeans?) haha.

The Pros:
-Fits like a glove
-Protects all areas of the iPhone, including the silver bezel
-Washable
-I can easily put it in and take it out of my pocket
Sleek, I dont really notice it(im used to having a case on my phone, the Speck Candyshell)
-Covers all ports, with a little silicone flaps
-Grippy, won't fall out of your hand.

The Cons:
-Silicone (i prefer hard cases)
-Attracts a little bit of lint after being in my pocket, but it was nothing I couldnt handle easily
-May be harder for people with big thumbs to tap the space button in SMS.
-The hard removable screen protector seems pointless for any iPhone user who needs to access their phone quickly or is constantly on it.

Overall, this case is amazing for the iPhone, I truly do love it! (i think even more than my Speck Candyshells) The only downsides that I have encounterd is the little bit of pocket lint that sticks to the case and builds up around the screen. I really think you should check out this case though at www.iskin.com for $39.99 or any Apple Store. The only problem with the Apple Store is that none of the 4 stores were in stock and they didnt expect to be getting anymore soon...WEIRD.
And as a last resort, try eBay! Thats where I got mine. $24.99! :D

Sneezies

Ok guys, Zack seems to be going wild with this blogging thing, but here I am posting about a game I just discovered with the help of friend, @mhelvey.
This app is developed by Retro Dreamer and published by Chillingo Ltd.
"Sneezies is an overload of cuteness!" And this could not be more right. In this colorful app for iPhone users of all ages, the goal is to make the little guys pop by sneezing and spreading sneezes until all the little bubble characters are popped. You simply just tap the screen to sneeze and the little guys start a chain reaction. Try and see how many you can pop in one tap! In the paid version there are 45 levels and in the lite version there are only 6 levels.
I first started off with the lite version thinking that this was going to be one of those games where you have a big nose and you have to blow it with tissues or something, but boy was I wrong. This is a very exciting game and I could not get enough of it. I was so happy with the game that I quickly purchased the full verison for $0.99. I haven't put the game down since. It is a really great game, that I really reccomend you check out. And also, for the parents out there, I think this is a PERFECT game for your little guys. :D

Moonlights


Moonlights is a puzzle game that uses both the accelerometer and your ability to build up structures. The object is to to build up a small structure piece by piece until it reaches the moon and can remain in contact with the moon for 3 seconds. It is very similartomany flash-based physics games one can find all over the internet. Again, this is another fun little game to play when you have 5 or 10 minutes to spare, but probably not any longer than that. The music is nice and relaxing though, so it makes for a good stress-relieving game. $.99 in the App Store. Worth taking a look at, but I suggest looking up some physic-based games and play something similar just to see if you like it at all.

Pano




Pano is another really useful camera app. Pano si short for panorama which is when you take several pictures from a certain point while rotating and then later align all of the photos to create one massive photo. Usually this effect is reserved for actual cameras or special software on a computer, but Pano cuts out the middle man, and does the alignment right inside the app. While this app is very intuitive and easy to use, it also is a very slow app. In between every picture you take, you have to accept or deny the photo to either move on to the next one or take another. This process sometimes takes several seconds, so there is a lot of just sitting there and waiting to be able to take the next photo. Other than that, though, this app is really fun and can create some really cool effects. The $2.99 price tag seems a little steep in my opinion, but nonetheless, a nice app.

Little Runner


Where to start with Little Runner? I know! Why on earth did I spend $.99 for this monstrosity of an iPhone game??? This is not just one of those iPhone games that I just don't like because it's too hard or because I don't like the interface. This is so much more. This is a game that I don't think anyone can play. The precision required to play seems almost impossible to do with just your finger. What happens is that the "Little Runner" begins moving across the screen, and it's your job to raise the little platforms higher and lower so that he can make it across without bumping into anything. And even if you can manage to get anywhere, the game gets entirely too boring to even hold the attention of the most intense platform game lover. Alongside it's clunky gameplay and lagged menus, this app is just plain awful. Don't even waste your time.

ColorSplash


Oh ColorSplash, by far one of our all time favorite apps. What this app does is take a picture that you either load into the app or take with the app's native camera feature, turn it black and white, and using your finger and various pinching and moving gestures, allows you to select which parts of the picture you want to remain in color. This app not only works, but works well. Its easy, fun and fast. Vince and I have taken so many regular pictures and made them into absolute works of art! Once you get the hang of the controls, navigating around becomes uber easy. At the bottom of the screen there are three icons. The first lets you navigate through the picture, whether its panning the picture or zooming in down to the smallest pixels to get the exact colors you want. The second icon is the color icon. This is used for selecting which parts of the picture you want colored. And the last being the grey icon. This grays any part of the picture you touch. At the top there is a switch that shows you exactly what is colored by making everything that is colored red. Another really useful feature is the ability to save sessions that you are working on, close the app, then be able to come back later and start right where you left off. Everything about this app is simplistic and easy to use. It's just made to work, which is such a rarity in most iPhone apps these days (jeez, I'm an old-timer). $1.99 in the App Store and so worth it.
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