Tag: "App Store"

Learn to Read Musical Notes Using What Note Is This? – iPad App Review

By Jillian | August 24, 2011 | 1 comment

Sometimes it is the simplest of apps that can become one of your most useful resources. This is the case with What Note Is This? Designed to help you learn basic note reading, this app uses an on-screen piano keyboard and a very simple user interface to make it as easy as possible.

Flashcards containing notes are displayed and you must choose the corresponding key on the piano keyboard to succeed. The tone sounds and a shadow of the note is displayed on the flashcard as you tickle these virtual ivories, so if you choose incorrectly you get the added feedback of seeing which one you actually chose.

By Jillian | August 15, 2011 | 1 comment

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It wouldn’t be entirely wrong to say that Words with Friends is one of the biggest reasons I decided to take the plunge and buy an iPhone. Sure there were plenty of other compelling reasons, but from the moment I first played this game on my sister’s device, I could really see myself enjoying having one of my own.

I like all sorts of games, but give me one that also allows me to be social and to compete against other real human beings instead of a computer and you’re guaranteed to have my attention.

By Jillian | August 6, 2011 | 4 comments

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Developers have limitless options when choosing where to spend their talents and time. So when the world is your oyster, how do you choose? Coding for mobile devices is the obvious frontrunner for those looking to be truly innovative and relevant these days, but which platform?

For many of us, the decision to focus on iOS was easy.

By Jillian | August 6, 2011 | No comment yet

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The deep and profound love of bubbles begins when we are children, and if we are being truthful with ourselves, never goes away. This is what I believe. Drifts HD brings you back to this happy place, delivering a delightfully simple game with enough complexity that you can’t stand to put it down.

The instructions for the game are very simple. You take control of an orange bubble on the screen, sliding it around, tapping it against as many green bubbles as you can find, attracting them to you like magnets.

By Lory | August 5, 2011 | 2 comments

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This morning, Barrons reported that Needham & Co.’s Charlie Wolf has valuated Apple’s stock (APPL) to rise to $540, up from his earlier prediction of $450, over the next 12 months. He attributes the increase to the iPad’s overwhelming hold over the tablet market.

Wolf’s February prediction did not take into account the iPad’s value and now says Apple’s tablet is set to capture a significantly larger share of the market than previously predicted.

By Jillian | August 4, 2011 | 3 comments

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I think every parent has struggled with trying to get their children to eat healthy foods at some point. I can’t recall where I read it, but one parent cleverly said that the surest way to keep your child from eating junk food is to spend 45 minutes preparing it! While this book may not actually persuade your little one to eat what you cook, it’s cute and we can all relate.

The story focuses on a young boy that refuses to eat his mother’s cooking. In an act of desperation, Feed-’Em Fred is hired to prepare an alternative menu filled with bugs and lizards and everything gross… which quite successfully persuades the boy to change his mind and try his mother’s healthy meals.

By Jillian | August 2, 2011 | No comment yet

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HypnoBlocks is my favorite kind of game. It is fast paced and simple to get the hang of, but challenging enough to be truly addictive.

Playing on a 3D field, you need to tap as many of the same colored blocks within your puzzle as you can in order to eliminate them before the timer runs out. This would be a lot easier, if as you eliminated blocks, others didn’t fly in from the periphery to block and change your plans. This means you really need to think and strategize on the fly.

By Jillian | July 29, 2011 | No comment yet

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Roxie's Doors Developed by OCG Studios and based on the award-winning storybook Doors, by Roxie Munro, this app pushes the innovation envelope with a creative ‘lift the flap’ user interface.

Each page has a number of activities on it in addition to lifting the virtual flaps to reveal the scenes beneath. The text of the book guides you through locating hidden or camouflaged items which you can identify by tapping them on the screen, producing a circle of white light so you know you’ve found the correct item.

By Jillian | July 28, 2011 | No comment yet

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Distimo Report In the latest edition of their monthly report, Distimo analyzes the popularity, pricing and monetization of gaming apps available in the mobile app stores.

Among a library of data detailing the rise in the adoption of mobile gaming, including games becoming the single most popular category of application download, an interesting trend has emerged. While the average selling price in this category has declined, moving from an average of $2.01 in June 2010 to $1.44 as of June 2011, considerable revenue is being generated via in-app purchases from within otherwise free games.

By Jillian | July 27, 2011 | 1 comment

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For those of you who are customers of Kobo, the popular eReading app, you will have likely already read the email outlining the changes they have made due to the new policies put in place by Apple. You can no longer shop from within the app itself, instead having to shop from their website directly, lessening the convenience and ease –but it isn’t their fault. Apple altered the playing recently, disallowing apps that filtered purchasing through sources other than the App Store itself.

In order to keep their iOS app compliant and available they have made the requisite changes, but it was easy to tell by the tone of their notice and their suggestion that you let Apple know how you feel, that they are less than thrilled. And with over 2.5 million books, magazines and newspapers in their inventory and servicing over 4 million readers world-wide using Kobo, their happiness isn’t insignificant.

Cue their announcement today that they are developing an HTML5 eReading web app.

By Juli | July 25, 2011 | 3 comments

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While June 30th was the deadline for app makers to comply with Apple’s new rules on in-app payments and subscription links, Amazon waited until Monday to finally make a decision.

Today Amazon updated the Kindle app for iPhone and iPad, removing the “shop” button that allowed consumers to go directly to Amazon’s website to purchase e-books.

By Jillian | July 21, 2011 | No comment yet

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Sid Meier's Pirates! 2K Games announced this morning that Sid Meier’s Pirates! is available for the iPad. Aimed to satisfy your inner buccaneer, this swashbuckling adventure has been retooled and redesigned for the iPad.

Described as a mix of simulation and strategy, Sid Meier’s Pirates! is overflowing with intense pirate action. As captain you will be asked to undertake various missions and rescues while assembling a stellar crew all in an effort to save your family from the evil Marquis de la Montalban.

By Jillian | July 18, 2011 | No comment yet

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Monkey Up HD Before we get started I should make something clear: I love monkeys. I love anything to do with monkeys. So adding monkeys to an iOS app is bait I can’t resist. The game begins with an airplane full of monkeys crash landing, deserting them so they can’t get home. Through masterminding and primate ingenuity they determine that if they create huge stacks of animals, they can climb to the top and signal passing planes.

This game is harder than it looks. Monkeys glide by on top of the screen ready to drop animal blocks onto your stack. Your job is to tap the screen at just the right moment so the block drops and properly balances on the one beneath it. If you do, a small monkey will climb up onto the block you just dropped. Getting the timing right is really hard! If you miss the stack or you don’t balance well, the blocks will tumble.

By Jillian | July 15, 2011 | No comment yet

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The premise of the game is very simple. Queenie requires your assistance to gather magic stars that are scattered around her kingdom, a task that has to be done with a great deal of planning and precision because one wrong move can leave you trapped.

Each level is comprised of a grid of tiles, many of which contain stars. The trick is to collect as many stars as you can, as quickly as you are able –but you may only step on each square once! It sounds easier than it really is, especially because each level gets systematically more complex and difficult.

By Jillian | July 15, 2011 | No comment yet

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Any game with a level to be played called ‘Blow Up the Zombie Snails’ has to be a good one, right? Ant Raid is a very different sort of game, in which you command an army of ants fending off various predators.

Before I even played this game, and I was just watching the intro, I couldn’t help but remark to myself that the graphics and soundtrack were so good that I would be satisfied if that was all there was. The game itself is charmingly upbeat (even despite being all about insect carnage) and you’ll find yourself bopping along to the background score as you play.