iPhone Article Zone

PositionApp™

A few months back now the guys over at ustwo™ kindly sent me a pre-release copy of PositionApp™ to check out. Being an app review and blogger, I have to say that the moment I got a sniff that this app was in development, I was excited. At first I thought Apple would never let something like this through, after all .. it kinda dawned on me that maybe an app like this couldn’t physically be created within or conform to the current SDK regulations. Now, after months of playing around with the app, I can finally let you all in of what I think of it!

The concept of PositionApp™ is to let you track the daily, weekly and monthly rankings of every application on the App Store, right from your phone, a feature that Apple probably should’ve put out themselves. Because the app centers around app ranking, PositionApp™ will more than likely appeal to both sides of the coin; App Store customers and App Store developers, but then there’s this other side. App reviewers. With PositionApp™ ability to show an applications ranking over a day, week and month, PositionApp™ really does become a must have for app reviewers like myself.

So, now we get down to the actual app. Opening PositionApp™ you’ll greeted with a list of the ‘Top 8 Movers’ from the top 100 applications across all store genres. This gives you a quick glance of the apps that are the hottest at that very moment. Need more scope? Swiping across will widen your field of search bringing back the ‘Top 8 Movers’ this time for the top 300 applications across all store genres. Swiping across again will reveal your saved favourites which we’ll get into a bit later.

The app has four tabs along the bottom ‘Dashboard’ (as just explained above), Favorites, Search and Browse. Tapping any apps icon within the app will throw you to a more detailed pane, with each position number in it’s own bubble. Here, you can see the app’s current store position, the change in it’s store position and sort position results by country. Tapping the ‘Day’ button in the bottom right will give you even more options to see this data for both that week or across a number of months. Tapping any of one the results will also flip all of the position bubbles around to reveal the app’s change in position for that week or month. You also have the option to switch between that app’s category, or see its position in the whole of it’s store. To do this simply tap ‘All’ (bottom left). PositionApp™’s absolute unique selling point though is this is the first app every to offer 6 months of retrospective app positioning data.

Okay, so .. Maybe you’d like to follow a set number of apps you want to keep an eye on more than others? This is where ‘Favorites’ comes in. Throughout the app you’ll find little stars. Tapping them will instantly add that app to your Favorites tab. Once in your Favorites tab you’ll be able to see the developer, name, its current price and date of release or last update for each app you’ve favourited. Tapping on the price of any app within PositionApp™ will take you to the App Store to purchase or download that app.

Need to find an app yourself? Head to the search tab. Here, just like the App Store, you can search for any app which takes your fancy. Maybe you’re a developer looking to keep a track on the position of your own app, or a high-profile app reviewer looking to see if your last review(s) made a positive effect. The search tab gives you the ability to search the whole store by the app’s name, developer, or if you want to search the whole store for the keyword, just tap ‘All’. The Browse tab on the other hand will let you search by country, in each category, for the app you are looking for – it’s pretty nifty.

My only little caveat is that the ‘Share’ option throughout the app, which allows for mailing app positions straight from within the app, doesn’t seem to be active in this shipping version, stating a: “This device cannot send e-mail.” error, on trying to use the feature.

Overall, I like PositionApp™ and I think that it is one app certain to make an impression on the App Store crowd. From everyday customers, to app developers and app reviewers, this app applies to everyone looking to keep an eye on what’s happening in the App Store at any given time. The best bit? – thanks to world’s largest ad network AdMob, PositionApp™ is absolutely free. Although there is word that the app will be put up for sale in a few months, so my advice to all of you is – get in quick!

Mobile Showdown – Game Trailers

Game trailers are serious business. The decisions that you come to on a daily basis sometime come down to whether or not a quality game trailer has been made. Even if you don’t particularly care for trailers, I watch them religiously and often highlight apps that put in that extra bit of effort.

Last week I went ahead and put in my best trailer ever vote for Chillingo’s newest title, The Hero. Perhaps my vote was premature. This week I’m not even going to leave it up to me. Let the readers be the judge! This weeks showdown is between two game trailer powerhouses. On one side, we have Chillingo’s trailer of the hero, which is still all sorts of amazing to me. On the other side, we have ustwo’s trailer for ..™. They pride themselves on their trailers for the entire .™ coolectable series, but I personally like the ..™ trailer the best. Watch both trailers after the break and let us know who wins… I have to know!

…™

A simple game, and part of the studios 48hr series, …™ is the third unique installment from UK-based design studio ustwo™. If you’re not familiar with the 48hr series of apps, basically these are applications the studio has made within the space of 48 hours. No more, no less. All in all there are 6 apps within this special app series, and more information on each can be found at the official 48hr app site.

Onto …™ as a game though, and just as with the previous two installments, …™ is a tilt-based game which uses the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer, only this time, we see the series return to a its roots – a 2D layout. Monotone in its approach, the game is based around a simple concept of guiding the dot through a mirage of differently placed slots within moving panels. These panels are constantly moving upwards towards death… or the spiky ceiling thingamajig. As the dot successfully drops through the hole each patterned platform, the previous platform above then disappears. Just as with the previous titles in the series, the aim of the …™ is simple, using your sense of skilled timing, you have to survive for as long as you possibly can… and surviving means avoiding that terrible spiky fate that lies above.

Graphically, this addition is just as “fresh” as .™ and ..™ – if not, fresher. I can definitely see that there’s been a difference in approach with …™. It’s sort as if they said, we’ll completely change the whole basic mechanic. You won’t find the light blue dot with the dark red enemies, …™ has been drained of all colour, leaving I have to say an immersive frenzied and challenging game which screams “retro-modern”. The real challenge in the game comes with the realization that because these holes within each panel are obviously scattered in their location, you have to physically work out which way to tilt your iPhone, in order to make a clear path for the dot to fall through – and I have to admit, it caught me out on a number of occasions! While it’s obviously not as 3D intensive as maybe ..™ was, …™ brings something that I’m finding hard to put into words. I think what I’m trying to say in so many words is, the fact they reverted to 2D doesn’t seem to take anything away from the game. In fact, this new design is definitely something I’m diggin’.

Managed to beat your previous score? As with .™ and ..™, …™ allows for sharing of scores through Twitter, and with the studio having a sense of humor, the tweet you send out is, well, hilarious.

“My balls stopped dropping at 43 #dotdotdot http://link.ustwo.co.uk/dotdotdot“

As for gameplay, …™ runs extremely smooth (as least that was my experience running the game on my 3GS). As with ..™ though, I really can’t see where the studio will take the series next. Could we see a tilt-based side-scroller ‘Rolando-esque’ take for ….™? Overall a simple game, one which I personally found hard to pick fault with .. and put down for that matter. …™’s gel of sheer challenge and a super well designed playing field had me hooked from the start. I’ll be back when I drop my balls some more! See what I did there?

Exclusive First Look: Inkstrumental™ and Inkstrumental™ CRAZO™ ~ Preparation for Mentalism™

Following on from .™, the world’s first App Store app to be built from concept to final within a 48 hour period, iPhone development studio ustwo™ are about to release the next in the series. Due to the full version of Inkstrumental™ not being quite ready, they quickly created a super lite special. It’s called Inkstrumental™ CRAZO™ and it’s a taster/lite version for the studio’s next major non-48hr release. Inkstrumental™

So, before they hold their Inkstrumental™ pre-launch press event in London tonight, and before the apparazzi™ comes out in force, the studio have allowed me to give you an exclusive look at Inkstrumental™ CRAZO™, which I’m told is so exclusive, Ustwo™ themselves are still undecided over whether they’re even going to release this publicly yet.

If that wasn’t enough, I’ll also be showing you Inkstrumental™ (the full version) in action! It’s important to note that what you are about to see are pre-release products from ustwo™, and features and or UI layout may be subject to change.

Inkstrumental™ CRAZO™ (LITE)

Dubbed Inkstrumental™ CRAZO™ the app is the a super lite special edition of Inkstrumental™ set to hit soon. The app consists of a trippily-designed soundboard, which uses the cartoon-like characters you’re about to be introduced to, in the full version of Inkstrumental™.

Checkout the moisture below:

In this ‘lite’ version, the characters seem to be movable although due to it being a lite version, there won’t be any record or playback functionality. This is simply going to be an app to have a right good ol’ mess around with.

Inkstrumental™ (FULL)

A collaboration between both ustwo and Jon Burgerman, described as sound graffiti and costing the studio in the region of £30.000 to develop, ustwo™ are stressing Inkstrumental™ – is the BIG one.

Having gone back and forth throughout the production stages, changing ideas and even a few week ago starting over completely, ustwo™ are confident Inkstrumental™ is going to be an instant hit with the App Store crowd.

Sneak Peak

A fun app, Inkstrumental™ is set in a crazily cool designed environment. The app sees you playing with wonderfully strange and sometimes plain weird creatures. Each time you tap, the creatures will make different sounds, allowing you to create and record an awesome and colorful musical score. Your creation of musical genius is shown up top on the timeline, and if you feel you want to start over, just shake and the score is reset.

In their words:

“Inkstrumental™ lets you create music by touching the characters, who each play a sound from a selection of weird and wonderful samples and noises. You can make different tunes by putting the characters in various sequences and touching them like a synthesizer keyboard. You will also be able share your Inkstrumental™ creations with other users, and hear what inkstrumentalists™ around the globe have come up with.”

I have to say I’m quite impressed at the level of design work that are coming out in these apps. Look out for both Inkstrumental™ and Inkstrumental™ CRAZO™ hitting the App Store, soon. Can’t wait to see more? We’ll have more from ustwo™ later tonight, where we’ll hopefully be bringing you some shots from their LIVE pre-launch UK press event. Stay Tuned!

Viral Video Confuses Some… Not Me

Viral marketing, the variety that was made famous by JJ Abrams (Lost, Cloverfield), is by far my favorite form of marketing. On a typical day, my e-mail inbox is a semi disaster, with a billion e-mails about a billion things. I love them all… I really do, but the first thing I do in the morning is skim them for things that catch my eye. This one definitely caught my eye. I’ll save you the filler text, but the e-mail basically consists of a youtube link and the phrase “have you seen the .?”

Why no sir, I have not, so I watched the video above.

Ok, so we have a dot being surrounded by some kind of red matter. It’s menacing in a way, but it also reminds me of how I get dressed in the morning. Things just hover for a while and then slowly bond with me (I can’t back that up). While pondering this thought, it hit me. In a freak moment of clarity, I figured out what the video was for. It all made sense. This was a video for the third installment of the Spot series… the long awaited sequel to Spot Goes to Hollywood! Needing a 21st century makeover, the story must go that Spot’s red shell has always been something similar to a Power Suit (the one in the Metroid series), which would finally explain how he was able to shoot off so many soda bubbles. Brilliant marketing move by 7UP, I must say.

Editor’s Note (Wait, I am the editor): After a few more moments of being awake, I decided to do a small investigation. I still don’t know much (I kind of like the suspense… I’ll just have to download the app), but I do know that this title has nothing to do with 7UP or Cool Spot. “.” was created by ustwo studios, otherwise known as ‘ The Studio Of Dreams’, during a seemingly insane 48 hour period somewhere in either London or Malmö. Apparently the red stuff isn’t a Power Suit either. I should have known by the menacing sound it made, but the red is evil… pure evil.

Being the current apple of my eye, I’ll definitely be looking to have a review of “.” up sometime early next week. Enjoy the viral video!

.™

Category: Games / Kids
Released: 2009-09-11
Price: $0.99