iPhone Article Zone

iDid: Optimize my time

If you are looking for an application that will help you monitor your daily activities, then iDid is the perfect app for you. Its simplistic interface and superior design allow plenty of customization for the active lifestyle.

I decided to use iDid over a 5 day period to really identify all that it could do for me. I kept the categories and headings the same, and just operated within the guidelines available without any additions or adjustments. What I found was that the ability to customize is extremely useful. Take Thursday for instance. I came home, fired up Final Fantasy XIII, used the step machine while playing FF13, cooked dinner for my wife and me, and then headed to a buddies house for my weekly geek-gasm of Dungeons and Dragons. iDid could have categorized each of these items, and without that customization you cannot hope to effectively utilize the full potential of this app.

iDid allows you to input the different amounts of time spent on any individual category, and feeds that information into a line chart. Switching to view the line chart shows you a week long summary of activities by category, neatly differentiated by different colors. If you’re looking to take a more in-depth look at your current habits, there are criteria that you can input that change the length of time analyzed, which categories are displayed, and what time period you want the program to review.

I immensely appreciate this apps effectiveness at monitoring activities on a day to day basis. It’s extremely effective for those individuals looking to commit to a vigorous workout routine, and want to monitor progress over a large period of time. Additionally, those busy individuals trying to budget time for their families can see how they’ve been doing lately using this app.

While I do enjoy this app, I find myself having difficulties with the upkeep that something like this takes. Additionally, I have offered a couple suggestions on ways to possibly use it, but I am also having trouble figuring out a reason to spend the extra time keeping up with this app. Maybe if you are a student trying to ensure equal amounts of study time, or a multiple sport athlete trying to condition for all of your sports equally, but again, I feel like I am stretching to offer a real reason to use this app.

iDid really is a well designed app, and I encourage those of you that are big into time management apps to share some uses with myself and the readers here at 148apps.com. My narrow focus tells me that the little time I do have would be better used NOT monitoring how I spend all my non-free time, but then again I might be unique case. If you’ve been looking for a way to monitor patterns in your daily activities, iDid is a sure fire way to do so. If you’re like me however, you may find that it doesn’t last long on your iDevice before it’s deleted for good.

So You Think You Can Type Fast

The most common complaint about the iPhone that I hear is that it doesn’t have physical buttons, and the typing is difficult and inaccurate. Next time you hear someone say this, point him/her to this video.

By the way, the app used in the video is iTextSpeed. It is used by most to increase texting speed and accuracy, but this guy obviously doesn’t need any help.

iTextSpeed

Category: Games / Educational
Released: 2009-07-18
Price: $0.99

Take A Nap With The Nap App

Zombie Recycling Inc Is Out. Have Zombie Games Been Taken Too Far?

Zombie Recycling Inc. will be, if nothing else, an entertaining app. I know this because A. It looks to be very Japanese B. the press release starts with “We are pleased to offer more places to recycle zombies”.

Zombie Recycling Inc.: Rotten Red is the sequel of sorts to the under the radar Namco title Zombie Recycling Inc.: Moldy Green. Rotten red features 48 stages of zombie recycling action that promises to be harder than the first title, Moldy Green (which is on sale right now for 99 cents).

From the looks of the promo video, I have no idea what I’m getting myself into, but the game is downloading right now on my iPhone. I’m a bit scared.

Zombie Recycling Inc. : Rotten Red

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2010-03-10
Price: $1.99

X Invasion 2

Personally, I’ve never been a fan of flight simulators … But X Invasion 2 is a little more than your bog-standard flight simulator. As part of the arcade-style flight combat genre and serving as the sequel to X Invasion, the game centers around the city of San Francisco. As you join the game you’re informed that hostile aliens and UFOs have invaded the entire the city. You are the city’s only hope.

As with most flight simulators, the game initially plays out in two modes. Campaign and Arcade, with a third, Tour thrown in for giggles. In arcade mode, you’re thrown up into the skies with one sole mission objective; destroy as many UFOs as humanly possible. The aim of this mode is to gain the highest score in the shortest amount of time possible. Campaign mode on the other hand is quite a bit different. In this mode you take the role of the planes pilot as you fly through 16 unique missions aimed at getting you from rookie to professional. These missions will include performing a number of air-borne flight tasks, including: bombing runs, helping support cargo drops, follow the leader and ariel roller-coaster. The real test comes when you and left to face the alien mothership .. and once you do, your training is complete. Tour mode however steps out of the ‘gaming’ box to take you on a virtual tour of the San Fransisco bay area. Find something of interest, simply take a photo and share it with friends.

To my surprise, the tilt controlled flying was fairly easy. Usually, with accelerometer based controls, I tend to hit some sort of snag … but in my experience and short time playing the game, X Invasion 2 controls are fairly accurate. In the top left hand corner is your radar navigation system. This depicts your current virtual location on the game map, as well as your enemies. In the bottom right of the screen you’ll see your altitude meter. This measures the height at which you are flying, and increases as you tilt your device further up or down. Getting close enough to one of your enemies will cause your arms system to lock onto that target. This is signified by a yellow diamond encapsulating your target. Once you’re happy you’ve got your target in your sights just tap the missile button located on the left of the screen.

Graphically, X Invasion 2 looks pretty much the same as we’ve seen from other flight simulators. While the game does claim to use photo-realistic environments, obviously moving closer to the landscape will reveal that these are ‘bitty’ and ‘pixelated’ 2D environments, with only the points of interest like, for example, airports being rendered in further, clearer detail. While this didn’t seem to detract from the gameplay itself, considering the game is focused around this underlying landscape, I do think a little more time could have been well spent on making this landscape feel more realistic.

That said, moving back to positives, the graphical explosions seen both when destroying enemies and crashing are extremely realistic. The sounds are a little off in my honest opinion, but nothing an update couldn’t sort I’m sure.

Overall, X Invasion 2 is a fun flight simulator with a quick and entertaining sideline gameplay. While its probably not as graphically exciting as perhaps some other flight simulators like F.A.S.T, its still a respectable punt at providing the simulated flying experience you might be looking for.

Pocket Labeler

Photo editing on the iPhone is big business. The App Store, for reasons unknown to me, is lined with photo editing apps trying to make something out of your severely underpowered iPhone camera. There are about five million flashes, zooms, color adjustments, and such, but in my opinion, these apps are really missing the point of the camera. Aspiring photographers really aren’t using the iPhone as their camera in droves, particularly the 3G which doesn’t even have image stabilization. People are using the iPhone camera to take quick memories when they are out and don’t have time to pull out a real camera. They are also using the cameras for fun to send around goofy pictures to friends and family. These are the niches that the guys at More Blu Sky try to fill.

Pocket Labeler, the latest photo editing app from the guys at More Blu Sky, is a bit like their last app, Ransom Letters, but with a bit more polish and a better UI. The app basically consists of not a photo editor in the color correction sense, but a way to make photos more fun by adding words. Like the title implies, Pocket Labeler adds labels to pictures, much like you would do with a pocket labeler.

The UI is fairly straightforward and does just about everything that you would expect the app to do. Once you type in your labels, you can pinch and twist your way into making each label as large as you want and at any angle that you deem necessary. While you’re at it, you can choose between any of the eight label color options to give your picture just a bit more flair. Nobody likes plain black or white labels anyway. Once you are done with each photo, you can send it off by e-mail, to Facebook, or straight to a Flickr stream. You can also save it to your camera roll, but sharing is caring guys. Don’t hoard your pictures.

The overall build quality of Pocket Labeler is very nice, instantly putting it in the upper echelon of funny photo apps. It’s obvious from the get-go that the app isn’t just a garbage app that the developers pumped out for a quick buck, it is a well thought out app that does what it claims to do very well. Obviously the app isn’t for everybody, but if you happen to enjoy sending random labeled pictures to your writers on a daily basis (like me), this one is definitely for you.

How To Train Your Dragon: Flight of the Night Fury

I personally believe that dragons are an underused creature in video games these days. Sure, everyone loves zombies, and ninjas, and pirates, and maybe a few other things, but who doesn’t love dragons? They make a great foe, and an even better buddy. Who’s gonna mess with you when you’ve got a dragon to back you up? Well that’s exactly the situation you find yourself in when playing How To Train Your Dragon (HTTYD), the new free flight game from Glu. Based on the forth-coming animated film from Dreamworks, HTTYD is brought to us by the makers of Glyder and Glyder 2 and shares many similarities to those games.

Playing as the main character of the film Hiccup, you spend your time flying your dragon around the varied game world, completing tasks, discovering locations and collecting items. Movement is governed through tilt controls, allowing you to guide your dragon by tilting forward to dive, backwards to climb etc. Rather than in Glyder where you had to find upward drafts to raise your flying machine, in HTTYD you are able to climb courtesy of your dragons flying abilities, allowing quicker and easier access to many of the games locations. The controls work very well, and it is clear that with each successive flight game, Glu are really nailing down their tilt controls.

There are 3 different locations to fly between, each with varying landscapes. Following the story mode will allow you to explore each of these, but there is nothing stopping you from flying off towards a distant landmass from the start. Dotted around each world are various collectibles which offer a distraction to the story mode (although collecting items is often what you find yourself doing while following the story). There are also a number of achievements for completing tasks whether it be exploration, item collection, or a combination of different things.

Unfortunately, there is nothing new here. The game is essentially a watered-down Glyder 2, maybe even Glyder 1, with a movie tie-in. The landscapes in How To Train Your Dragon are quite plain in comparison to the varied, colourful settings in either of the Glyder games, and there are fewer of them. In general there just seems to be less to do. It’s nice to fly as a dragon for a change, but that’s pretty much all this game has over the Glyder series. It’s a fun little game for a while, but I’d find it hard to recommend to anyone but real fans of the genre. The real target market is young fans of the film, who will probably get plenty of enjoyment out of the game.

However, this game is yet to be given a price (at time of review) and it’s possible that it may be free as there are pop-up adverts in-game. In that case it may compare well to Glyder 2 which will set you back $3. I’d say though, that if you find yourself an hour into How To Train Your Dragon and still enjoying it, then spend the money on Glyder 2 to enjoy Glu’s market leader in this genre.

Street Fighter IV

If Street Fighter IV’s loading time is any indication of how good it is, playing it should summon unicorns, pixies and rainbows to my living room and my wife should exhibit an uncontrollable urge to hand-feed me cocktail sausages while I “labor” through the game’s levels. It took 55 minutes to download the game. Will it live up to the hype?

CAPCOM boasts that Street Fighter 4 is the iPhone/iTouch’s first true fighting game, featuring the same beautiful graphics and visceral game play the series is infamous for. Long-time fans (at the time I downloaded it [a $9.99 game mind you], it already had 73 User Ratings Reviews) can jump right into the action, while casual players can focus on training, using 1 of several settings and tutorials to hone their fighting skills.

Among it’s feature-set, Street Fighter 4 advertises multi-player/head-to-head play via Bluetooth (not WiFi), eight Street Fighter characters in seven different environments, new move sets including Unique Attacks, Special Moves, Focus Attacks, Super Combos and Ultra Combos, a robust “Dojo” boot camp which transforms neophytes into Street Fighter masters in five in-depth lessons, customizable controls for your style of play (players can move the virtual buttons/joystick anywhere they want on the screen and set their level of transparency), the ability to unleash “super moves” with a tap of the “SP” button, or toggle it off from the “Options” menu if you want to enter the button combo manually and four levels of difficulty: Beginner, Normal, Hard and Grueling.

Street Fighter IV’s animations, graphics and art-style are simply beautiful. To ensure the game’s performance integrity, CAPCOM reduced the original game’s impressive 3D models to sprites, a transition which is practically impossible to differentiate on the iPhone’s screen. While a tad clunky at times, the animations are visually fluid and the game features the same art style, visual style and character move sets seen in the console and arcade versions. When starting the game, its cinematic intro is extraordinary, inter-weaving gorgeous hues of color and animation against a gorgeous, animated, black-and-white backdrop.

Street Fighter IV’s Title Screen offers Solo Play (Tournament, Free-Sparring, Dojo and Training Room), Versus (Head-to-Head Bluetooth play), Stats (Stats), Invite A Friend (via email), Get More (opens Capcom iPhone webpage in Safari) and Special (Special Movie Footage). There are also Settings and Help icons:

For those of you who have the memory of a gerbil, like me, you can access the (moves) Command List for instructions on how to do moves by pressing “pause” from anywhere within the game.

Game play is fluid, but the “virtual touch” control scheme can take some getting used to, proving tricky to pull off moves/strikes requiring complicated thumb-stick/button-combo motions (CAPCOM claims ten months alone went into the unique virtual control system). After practicing in “Dojo” mode, I was able to navigate the game’s virtual controls problem-free.

As stated earlier, the controls are customizable. Players can move the buttons anywhere they want on the screen and set/adjust their level of transparency, enabling them to adjust the controls in a manner which works best for him/her:

This was a very smart move/feature on CAPCOM’S part, because everyone responds to/uses touch controls differently, especially while engaged in a fast-paced duel to the death, so proper placement and comfort are key issues. While the touch controls may take some getting used to, I was able to navigate, i.e. pwn other fighters in no time, although I was playing on Beginner in the Dojo. Advanced controls will take some practice, especially during high/advanced levels of competition requiring precision. That said, my only concern regarding Street Fighter IV for the iPhone is a major one: its capability of offering the same game play depth as its console counterparts. Players able to master the game’s virtual controls will reap the fruits of their labor, while those unable to will be exposed to restricted game play. There is hope, however, in the form of the Dojo mode, which allows players to practice/train until they gain the skills needed for advanced game play.

Multiplayer support is currently restricted to “Head-to-Head” battle, via Bluetooth. Hopefully, multiplayer via WiFi is on CAPCOM’S future update agenda.

Speaking of “restrictions,” Street Fighter IV’s current line-up consists of only eight fighters: Abel, Blanka, Chun-Li, Ryu, M. Bison, Dhalsim, Guile and Ken, all of whom possess different fighting styles, “special” moves and abilities. Hopefully, future updates will introduce additional fighters, whether as “unlockables,” or in-app purchases (preferably the former).

All aside, I love this game. CAPCOM spent a lot of time developing it and it shows. Street Fighter IV for the iPhone/iTouch is a complete, quality port of its console counterpart that will appeal to both hardcore veterans and newcomers. It features a slew of extra/additional content and although the game currently features only eight fighters, as opposed to its console brethren, these fighters (with the exception of newcomer, Abel) are classic CAPCOM characters who have retained their classic moves/abilities.

Street Fighter IV’s $9.99 price tag is indicative of its superlative quality and, considering you’ll have Street Fighter IV at your disposal to play anytime, anywhere, it is money well spent. I highly recommend this game to any/all lovers of the Street Fighter franchise or anyone who enjoys a quality 2-D fighter.

The Sticky Strap ~ A Stand that Loves to Suck

Sometimes the most creative and useful inventions can just be so simple, the Sticky Strap is one of them. If the late Billy Mays were here to sell it he’d probably start his pitch with something like “it wraps, it hangs, it sticks, and it sits! It’s the iPhone stand that works in almost every situation but still manages to fit in your pocket!”

Honestly the first time I saw the Sticky Strap I don’t know what the heck I was looking at. The bizarrely unique stand, designed by aprodukt, is made of 2 double sided suction cups, a nylon strap, and a red plastic hook on the end. Trying to explain how to use it would be a nightmare, it’s just easier to watch this video.

What the video doesn’t show is how durable the Sticky Strap really is. It’s 100% water proof, can be folded in half, mashed up into a ball, short of taking a hammer to the red plastic hook I can’t ever imagine breaking the thing, making it tougher than others like the iBend. Being able to fit in your pocket makes it more portable than something like the Gorillamobile while still retaining some of its versatility. The video does show some of its uses but don’t think that the Sticky Strap limited to those alone. One of the additional uses I found is its ability to hang around poles or wires the red hook couldn’t fit around by sticking one end through the other. If you’re creative with it I have no doubt you could find dozens of other uses for it also.

It’s not to say that the Sticky Strap is limitless, quite the opposite, and aprodukt’s list of “Do’s and DON’TS” is liable to scare anyone a little bit but the basic message is use common sense. If you don’t think sticking your iPhone to a cold surface over a fish tank is a good idea, then don’t do it. The biggest drawback of this design is that it can’t stick to just any surface, it has to be a very smooth and clean surface. While that sounds obvious it’s important to note that includes your iPhone or more specifically the case you may be using on your phone. I tested it with 5 different cases, all three of the hard cases worked just fine but the two silicone soft cases couldn’t be used at all. Taking the case off for use may not be the end of the world but it could certainly become annoying after a few uses. However, for less than $10 the Sticky Strap worth buying for quick on the go use. For only $3 more, aprodukt also offers a kit which includes a 3 pack of protective stickers and a polishing cloth which usually run about $15 through other competitors.

NewsAlert

If you want news custom-tailored to your liking, you should look at NewsAlert. This news app delivers news based solely on your specified keywords, presumably saving you the trouble of wading through RSS feeds. For the most part, it’s a solid experience, and the app pulls from a wide array of sources to make it worth your while.

The first thing you’ll want to do is pick some keywords. The app suggests keeping tabs on your favorite bands or your hometown as well as traditional keywords (i.e., “education”). These keywords then appear as list items in the main view. Whenever NewsAlert finds a new article relating to one of your keywords, you receive a push notification. The app tracks all of the articles that come in, and then you can view them based on the tag. You get 10 keywords to use, with more available via in-app purchase.

The viewer itself is nothing special—like most in-app web browsers, it’s slower than Safari and some of the screen space is wasted by the app itself. Pinch-to-zoom is also a bit jerky. I wish that opening articles in Safari could be selected as the default action (it’s still there, but it takes a few button taps.)

For the most part, getting news articles based on keywords is a good experience. It’s not perfect, however; too often, I get duplicate articles when major events happen. I don’t need to read the results from the latest Maryland basketball game ten times…in fact, I wish I could filter sports results out of my “Maryland” keyword altogether, but that’s not an option. Still, the app does turn up some interesting articles. I wouldn’t rely on it as my sole source of news, but as an addition to my daily routine, it works. It also works particularly well if you’re tracking an artist rather than a general keyword, because then you’re more likely to get interesting interviews or news about albums or tours.

It’s ultimately your call whether or not a simple dollar is worth getting keyword-specific news. The app is well-built, so no complaints there. For me, this is more of a novelty app than a real news source—I’ll stick with my old-fashioned RSS, because I like reading from specific sites. But if you’re the type who needs news on a specific topic from a variety of sources, NewsAlert won’t disappoint. It all depends on your individual needs.