148Apps Main |
- Introducing Yahoo! MarketDash – Stocks for iPad
- Zap Birds and Free the Power Lines with Namco’s Upcoming Game, Bird Zapper
- 8-Bit Jump Review
- The Portable Podcast, Episode 76
- Planet Work Review
- iOS 4.3 Changes In-App Purchases to Require Password
- Rotate & Roll Review
- Hero 108 Mini-Games App Available for Free Until March 25
- Halftone Review
- iFixit Teardown of the iPad 2
- Head Spinner Review
- Cover Orange Gets Free Update, Adding 20 New Levels
| Introducing Yahoo! MarketDash – Stocks for iPad Posted: 15 Mar 2011 12:30 PM PDT
Aesthetics aside, MarketDash is Stocks (not least because Stocks acquired its data from Yahoo! Finance) with a few subtle differences, such as external related news and additional ratios like earnings per share (EPS). Charts now enjoy a 5Y and max timeframe, as well as the usual 1D / 5D / 1M / 3M / 6M / 1Y / 2Y. Most notably, MarketDash provides real-time tracking of stocks during the trading day for selected markets – there's no 15 or 20 minute delay to be found. Mathematical algorithms automatically calculate adjusted market cap, price and % change every minute. The home screen includes a personalized "watch list" along with an option to import your personalized finance portfolios from Yahoo! Finance. Quotes can be retrieved from a long list of exchanges, the full extent of which can be found here When you blow up the charts to full screen, a beautiful and financially relevant feature is to be found: comparisons. The correlating graph of another stock or exchange can be added to the graph you are currently looking at, illustrating the full extent of the success of the stock or exchange in relation to another section of the market. What's more, you can add more than one comparison. This is something I've yet to see in any other finance application. Like Stocks for iPhone, MarketDash for iPad is free to download. There are no in-app purchases, no unlockable features: it’s a truly free application and available now. [ Introducing Yahoo! MarketDash – Stocks for iPad is a post from 148Apps ] Apps mentioned in this post: MarketDash |
| Zap Birds and Free the Power Lines with Namco’s Upcoming Game, Bird Zapper Posted: 15 Mar 2011 11:30 AM PDT
Swiping like-colored birds will send them toppling from the power lines, and some birds will provide special bonuses or attacks. The more birds you dethrone, the higher your score. The power lines, and their birds, are set up in a grid-like arrangement. (Be sure to look at the screenshots; the graphics are bright and detailed, despite just featuring cartoon birds.) Because of the way the power lines are laid out, Bird Zapper! actually resembles a match-3 game like Bejeweled more than anything else, which is somewhat unfortunate. How many Bejeweled clones do we need? However, Namco hopes that it will still stand out. Bird Zapper! will ship with three different play modes. In Survival, you swipe as fast as you can until your “power meter” is depleted. In Blitz, the goal is to reach the highest score in sixty seconds. Finally, Zen mode has no restrictions or time limits. While Bird Zapper! has not yet been released, the website lists it with a “March 2011″ release date, so we expect to see this new title take flight soon. Namco plans to release Bird Zapper! as a universal app with both iPhone and iPad versions for $0.99, while an Android version will ship later for the same price. [ Zap Birds and Free the Power Lines with Namco’s Upcoming Game, Bird Zapper is a post from 148Apps ]  |
| Posted: 15 Mar 2011 11:04 AM PDT  8-Bit Jump ReviewBy Phillip Levin on March 15th, 2011Our Rating:    :: MARIO RIP OFFiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Mario, is that you?
Developer: Jeremy Brasch Price: $0.99 Version Reviewed: 1.02.1 Device Reviewed On: iPhone Graphics / Sound Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
8-Bit Jump plays basically just like Mario – but with a few of its own surprises, of course. You control a construction worker who must collect coins to pay his rent. That’s what it says on the iTunes App Store, anyway. The game itself actually has no story. When you boot up the app, you’re greeted with a start screen. You can play around in the options, check out leaderboards or start the game. When you start the game, you’re thrown immediately into controlling the construction worker – no story or introduction to speak of. This is a platformer, plain and simple. You control the construction worker by tilting your iPhone left and right. Tapping the screen causes him to jump. The controls take a little time to get used to, but they work well enough and actually give the game a unique feel that sets it apart from Nintendo’s iconic series. The goal of the game is to get as far as possible, while collecting as many coins and points along the way as you can. Similarly to the original Super Mario Bros. on NES, when you die, it’s Game Over and you start over from the beginning. However, there are no “lives” in 8-Bit Jump, so when your character falls to his death, it’s seriously all over. The game does keep track of how many coins you collect, and there is a Game Center scoreboard, so you can compete with others. So, it’s a Mario Is 8-Bit Jump an original title? Not even a little bit. But it’s fun and challenging. For a buck? Not bad. But you can download an ad-supported version on the App Store as well, which is probably the route I’d go. The 99 cent version needs more incentive than just a lack of ads, though, to get a full hearted recommendation from me. [ 8-Bit Jump Review is a post from 148Apps ]  8-Bit JumpiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: $0.99 Our Rating: Released: 2010-12-16 :: Category: Games / Action :: MARIO RIP OFFRead Our Full Review >> Apps mentioned in this post: 8-Bit Jump |
| The Portable Podcast, Episode 76 Posted: 15 Mar 2011 10:30 AM PDT
On This Episode: Who We Are: Contact The Show: Email | Twitter Music:  How to Listen: Apps Mentioned in this Episode:   Scoreloop CommunityiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: FREE Released: 2009-07-18 :: Category: Games / Action [ The Portable Podcast, Episode 76 is a post from 148Apps ] Apps mentioned in this post: Pinch, Scoreloop Community This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 15 Mar 2011 10:04 AM PDT  Planet Work ReviewBy Jennifer Allen on March 15th, 2011Our Rating: :: UNIQUE FUNiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Planet Work is a cutesy and simple vacuum ‘em up game. You heard me right! A vmup on your iOS device!
Developer: Capcom Price: Free ($0.99 in-app purchase) Version Reviewed: 1.00.01 Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4 Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Planet Work doesn’t sound overly thrilling does it? Who wants to be on a planet full of work? Planet Work the game however is quite fun in a slightly mindless sort of way, even if it does involve my least favourite household chore.
It’s simple to move the little character around and vacuuming is a simple matter of holding your finger down, or two fingers if you want to activate the boost attack. It’s so simple that it reinforces the idea that Planet Work would be ideal to play with kids as I suspect young children in particular would enjoy getting to grips with it. They’d also definitely like the cutesy visuals. For free you get the first five stages which won’t take long to complete. Then it’s a simple in app purchase of 99c to acquire the rest of the game. Planet Work is a basic game but it’s oddly compelling, probably because it’s that simple. You might not find yourself playing it for more than one completion but you will almost certainly enjoy that time. Game Center leaderboards are useful here although some achievements wouldn’t have gone amiss. There’s not much point sticking with the free version as it’s so brief though. It really will take you mere minutes to complete.
[ Planet Work Review is a post from 148Apps ]  PLANET WORKiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: FREE Our Rating: Released: 2011-03-09 :: Category: Games / Action :: UNIQUE FUNRead Our Full Review >> Apps mentioned in this post: PLANET WORK |
| iOS 4.3 Changes In-App Purchases to Require Password Posted: 15 Mar 2011 09:30 AM PDT
In response to such complaints, Apple has changed its handling of in-app purchases in iOS version 4.3. Now, a password will also be required to make an in-app purchase, though for fifteen minutes after entering your password that time you’ll be able to make multiple purchases. So, it’s a small hassle but if you’re making lots of purchases at once it shouldn’t be too bad. Of course, you can also just switch of in-app purchases in the “Restrictions” section of the Settings app if you’re really concerned about your kid spending too much money of Smurfberries. At the price of a small inconvenience, this new setting should prevent some parents from getting too irate, but I do wish that Apple had made it an optional (albeit default) setting that we could tweak personally. If you’re anxiously awaiting a means of preventing accidental in-app purchases, updating to iOS 4.3 should solve your problems. [ iOS 4.3 Changes In-App Purchases to Require Password is a post from 148Apps ]  |
| Posted: 15 Mar 2011 09:04 AM PDT  Rotate & Roll ReviewBy Jennifer Allen on March 15th, 2011Our Rating: :: CHALLENGINGiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Rotate & Roll is a challenging gravity based puzzle game.
Developer: Gamextar Price: $0.99 Version Reviewed: 1.0 Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4 Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.38 out of 5 stars Controlling gravity seems pretty cool to me. I might never get to control it in reality but in gaming, there always seems to be a steady supply of options, certainly when it comes to puzzlers. Rotate & Roll is all about navigating the little blob to the portal while collecting up all the stars in the level, and avoiding various enemies. It’s a typical kind of game really but it’s quite enjoyable.
I’m not sure if tilt controls would make things easier and they might even make Rotate & Roll harder. The choice would be nice, however – as it stands, I like the formidable challenge of Rotate & Roll. It makes a change from the norm and it’s satisfying to take a step back and plan your next course of action. In particular, working out how to get around various enemies is a real challenge. It’s a tricky business trying to fly into the air without flying too far and falling off the screen! Rotate & Roll is a very simple concept but it does so well. It might not strictly stand out from the pack, lacking GameCenter support and any way of comparing progress with friends, but it is enjoyable. The 54 levels are respectable enough to provide good value and hopefully the developer will continue to support the game for a while to come. It’s perhaps not a game to buy before anything else but certainly one to give a shot at some point. [ Rotate & Roll Review is a post from 148Apps ]  Rotate & RolliPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: $0.99 Our Rating: Released: 2011-03-01 :: Category: Games / Board :: CHALLENGINGRead Our Full Review >> Apps mentioned in this post: Rotate & Roll |
| Hero 108 Mini-Games App Available for Free Until March 25 Posted: 15 Mar 2011 08:30 AM PDT
Hero: 108 brings six mini-games to iOS, allowing fans to take on the High Roller and Zebra Brothers. In the app, you get to play as several characters from the show, including Lin Chung, Mighty Ray, Mystique Sonia, Jumpy Ghostface and Mr. No Hands. In one mini-game, you have to protect Jumpy from arrows by tapping them to knock them down before they hit him. Another mini-game has you beating up the Rhino King by furiously tapping him as he approaches your character. If you don’t tap fast enough, it’s game over. One of my favorite mini-games takes on the form of air hockey – it’s Lin Chung versus Mighty Ray in a game of, well, air hockey. Hero 108 is now available on the iTunes App Store for download. Until March 25, the app is available for free as a special promotion. Its publisher has yet to announce the price of the app for when the promotion ends, however. [ Hero 108 Mini-Games App Available for Free Until March 25 is a post from 148Apps ]  |
| Posted: 15 Mar 2011 08:04 AM PDT  Halftone ReviewBy Chantelle Joy Duxbury on March 15th, 2011Our Rating: :: RETRO COMIC STYLESiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad A fun and funky photo effects app that turns your own pictures into vintage comics or postcards.
Developer: Juicy Bits Price: $0.99 iPhone Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars I have used a lot of photography editing apps on the iPhone in the last few years. I’m kind of addicted to retro-style photos, and the ease with which they are duplicated with iPhone Apps. Nothing makes me more upset than when I hear about a really awesome or unique feature from an app, only to download and be horribly disappointed when the app doesn’t manage to quite pull off the effect it’s going for. With that said, I am delighted to say that Halftone manages to create old newspaper/comic print effects from photos beautifully and with ease. There are a few photo editing apps out there that claim they offer this effect, but really end up giving you sort of polka-dot mess that usually entirely devoid of features from your original picture. Halftone uses your original pic, processes it with filters to offer a retro look and then blends it with digital pointillation to make a really, really great vintage style photo. Comparable to what you might remember from the Sunday Morning Comics, or 50′s era postcards. I’ll show you an example of before and after (full size images can be seen at the bottom of this post):   As you can see, the results are pretty great. Plus, there’s so many customization options it’s delightful. Each variation I tried turned out splendidly. You can adjust the size of the dots, the inclusion of the original (with effects or not), then there’s the paper/background options, the caption options, and the text options. All rolled together it makes for a fun app that does exactly what’s on the tin. The layout and user interface is easy and simple, and in case you forget, the instructions pop up every time you open the app. There’s only one tiny quibble I have with this app, and this could be selfish, but I know from experience that this is something that most photo editing apps should always include: Twitterablity. Sure, it’s great that I can save, email and Facebook from within Halftone. Just be aware that you’ll have to save, then use your Twitter client of choice if you want to tweet your creations. However, that being said, I cannot overstate how much I enjoy well-developed 99 cent apps – it’s developers like these that constantly keep the bar high enough in this price category that make me really pleased as an app consumer and reviewer. [ Halftone Review is a post from 148Apps ]  HalftoneiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: $0.99 Our Rating: Released: 2011-02-23 :: Category: Photography :: RETRO COMIC STYLESRead Our Full Review >> Apps mentioned in this post: Halftone |
| Posted: 15 Mar 2011 07:30 AM PDT
"Prior to starting the teardown, we guessed that the glass front panel was no longer held in place by tabs. We were correct. The new tapered edge on the iPad 2 prevents any kind of tabs from being used; instead, Apple engineers used generous helpings of adhesive to keep the front glass in place" writes Miroslav Djuric, Director of Technical Communication at iFixit. "Consequently," he warns, "the front panel is very difficult to remove – it's nearly impossible to open the iPad 2 without shattering the glass." In terms of screen replacement, the iPad 1's tab-equipped assembly made it a whole lot easier for a self-repair job. It looks like the same job on an iPad 2 is now a near impossibility. Once the team were able to remove the glass, it was noted that both the LCD and glass thickness were smaller in comparison to iPad 1. Whilst this does provide a number of advantages, notably the reduced thickness and weight of the device, it may reduce its overall durability. "We'll see in due time if the percentage of folks with broken iPad 2 front glass is dramatically different than that of the original iPad" writes Miroslav. What wasn't mentioned in the keynote address – or in the current technical specifications page of iPad 2 – is that the device contains 512MB of RAM, double the amount of iPad 1. This should do wonders when it comes to more powerful applications like iMovie and Garageband, the latter of which frequently leaves you waiting as it "optimizes performance" on iPad 1. Overall, iPad 2 is as different underneath as it is on the surface: subtle differences, significant changes. Here's a teardown video, along with select screenshots, for your enjoyment: 130g lightness refers to iPad 1 3G (80g if referring to iPad 1 Wi-Fi). Dimensions and weight courtesy of Wikipedia. [ iFixit Teardown of the iPad 2 is a post from 148Apps ]  |
| Posted: 15 Mar 2011 07:04 AM PDT  Head Spinner ReviewBy Chantelle Joy Duxbury on March 15th, 2011Our Rating: :: SILLY BUT FUNiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Snap, Crop, Mix & Combine portraits to create and share a hilarious mash-up photo.
Developer: My Name is Kuma Price: Free (With Ads) iPhone Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Now for something a bit silly, but a bit fun. Head Spinner is a photography/entertainment app which lets you take pics of yourself, your friends, your pets or celebrities, and mix and match the photos to create hilarious mashed up portraits.
I was thinking it would be horribly irritating to try and make sure that every photo lines up perfectly with every single other photo that you take. I mean, as much as the guidelines help, there’s only so much difference in head shapes you can account for. However, luckily each and every panel is editable by zoom and you can move it around freely within the rectangle. This feature is what makes this app work at all, and work quite well. Honestly, I didn’t think there would be much to it. But, there’s something extra hilarious seeing your own friends and family distorted this way. It’s personalized humor, I guess you could say. Head Spinner also lets you share your creations with all the friends and family you’ve basically Frankensteined, via email, Twitter or Facebook. Also, you can save the images directly to your device. Word of warning, though, the developer does watermark the pics with the url for the app. I know that you can remove the text ads with an in-app purchase of $0.99 but I am unaware if this removes the watermark too. Though,to be honest, it’s not that invasive (see example photos below – apologies to my friends). I say try this one out. It’s actually a hoot – and even if you only use it once it a while, it’s worth having. [ Head Spinner Review is a post from 148Apps ]  Head SpinneriPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Buy Now: FREE Our Rating: Released: 2011-01-29 :: Category: Entertainment :: SILLY BUT FUNRead Our Full Review >> Apps mentioned in this post: Head Spinner |
| Cover Orange Gets Free Update, Adding 20 New Levels Posted: 15 Mar 2011 06:04 AM PDT FDG Entertainment has released a free update for Cover Orange. The update features 20 brand new levels for the app, bringing the total number of levels in the game to 160 – double the amount included in the title when it first launched in December. In Cover Orange, your job is to protect oranges from acid rain. This is done by selecting from a variety of different objects to use, dragging them and placing them on screen in strategic positions that block the oranges from being destroyed by acid rain. While the 20-level update comes free, Cover Orange itself sells for $1 for the regular version or $1.99 for the HD version. In our own review of Cover Orange, we gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars, calling it “a cute and fun puzzle game.” Check out a video of the title below. Be sure to tell us what you think of the latest update in the comments below. [ Cover Orange Gets Free Update, Adding 20 New Levels is a post from 148Apps ]  |
Namco Bandai’s newest game sounds…well, a bit wacky. Entitled “Bird Zapper!”, the game enlists players to help Skippy the Squirrel, who is enraged by the birds who short-circuited his music player. A bit of a complicated premise, yes, but the end result is easy to understand: the birds are squatting on the power lines, and with a swipe of your finger, you can knock them off!
The planet’s in a bit of a mess you see so it’s down to you to vacuum all the mess up. This is done spectacularly easily by holding your finger down on the screen and moving it around in order to move your character across the screen. Once the designated area is clear, it turns green and you can rush onto the next section of the level. It’s all done in accordance to a fairly generous time limit that will keep you on the move but rarely let you down. At the end of each stage there’s a boss that needs vacuuming more so than other areas to break up the standard state of play. Also once you vacuum up a lot of junk, your power can be increased for a time as a form of boost attack which is particularly useful against these bosses.
One complaint that has been consistently leveled against in-app purchases is that it’s easy to accidentally make a purchase in real-world money by accident. In-app purchases, which can include anything from extra level packs to extra play time or ad removal, can often generate more revenue than the initial app purchase. With previous iOS versions, in the first fifteen minute period after downloading an app, in-app purchases can be made without having to re-enter you password. The Washington Post 
You control gravity by using your finger to rotate the world around thus rolling the blob in the relevant direction. It’s an interesting move and it’s a little strange that there aren’t any tilt controls. Although not normally a fan of tilt controls, I think Rotate & Roll would hugely benefit from them and it’d make for a much more immersive experience. Fortunately, according to the App Store notes, tilt controls are on the way. That’s not to say that using your finger to rotate is bad, it works quite well. Rotate & Roll is clearly quite a tough game admittedly. It takes very precise finger drags to succeed in collecting up stars. Even after the first couple of levels, you’re thrown into a challenge and a half with the urge to cuss growing by the moment. 
The app defaults with George Washington and the Mona Lisa, which just happen to look quite splendid when split together. However, you can quickly and easily add a photo of yourself, or a friend. Luckily, when you select your camera (front or back) there’s an overlay which gives you a basic set of guidelines for where you want each part of the face to be.
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