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- Discovr’s Music Map is a Must – iPad App Review
- Grim Joggers – iPad Game Review
- iOS 5 with Voice Recognition Soon?
- iSense – Braille for the iPad?
- Doodle Fit – iPad App Review
| Discovr’s Music Map is a Must – iPad App Review Posted: 07 May 2011 01:38 PM PDT
To begin, simply type in the name of a band or artist. Discovr then suggests about six more bands that share that artist’s musical qualities. Discovr’s interactive map is definitely its most unusual aspect, but each map bubble also contains a wealth of information about its subject. Double tapping on an artist’s bubble brings up a string of YouTube clips that march across the top of the screen, while underneath the fan-to-be can read biographical information, listen to song snippets, access blog entries and reviews, as well as links iTunes, Amazon, Last.fm, and MySpace. Finally, the listener can share her discoveries through Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, or add the band to the favorites section of the app, which appears at the bottom of the screen. I made a Discovr map using Radiohead to test the app’s ability to bridge the gap between commercially successful and critically acclaimed music. Discovr gave me these bands: Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Manic Street Preachers, Muse, the Smashing Pumpkins, Thom Yorke. An entire treatise could be written on just what the Smashing Pumpkins are doing in that grouping, but that’s just one of Discovr’s quirks. I guarantee you will not agree with the app’s suggestions completely. The most egregious example I found was the app’s linking of the Velvet Underground to Bob Dylan. Discovr also favors sound similarity over biographical information, except when it doesn’t. It perplexed me that New Order did not connect directly to Joy Division, Avey Tare didn’t connect to Animal Collective, Damion Albarn didn’t connect to Blur, and Stephen Malkmus didn’t connect to Pavement, yet E.L.O. connected to the Traveling Wilburys. The pictures below show how my map looked after during three different stages of use. I did eventually stop playing with the map and open up the artist bubbles to see what information lay inside. Generally, I liked what I found. All of the YouTube videos ran seamlessly. Song streaming, however, is not Discovr’s strength. The songs stream as samples, so if you want to hear a full-length version it is necessary to rely on the YouTube Links overhead. More obscure artists may not have songs at all. All of the information on the band page should provide a curious listener with more than enough data to decide if she likes a band or not. I will admit that Discovr didn’t introduce me to any new bands, at least not yet. I also couldn’t find a band that Discovr didn’t have. But I do believe that a more casual user might find the app very useful. Have any readers found great new music using the app? Was anyone put off by its quirks? Discovr is available in the App Store for $0.99. What I liked: Discovr entertained me. Discovr’s interface is so addictive. It is a Trouser Press Record Guide for the twenty-first century. It is hard to describe the joyful feeling I got seeing a bubble pop up for a band I liked, but had forgotten about. What I didn't like: Discovr was not free from small technical glitches. Occasionally songs failed to load for streaming or an artist bubble would come up more than once. To buy or not to buy: As a music lover it is hard not to quibble with some of Discovr’s details, but all of those complaints are minor compared to the fun I had using the app. Thanks to its broad database, Discovr has something for everybody.
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| Grim Joggers – iPad Game Review Posted: 07 May 2011 11:03 AM PDT
The endless running genre is nothing new (think Tiny Wings and Canabalt), and indeed, a somewhat overdone genre, but Grim Joggers adds a fresh element that makes it just different enough to feel like an entirely new game rather than something you’ve played hundreds of times before. Instead of controlling just one character, you’re controlling 15 at once. Gameplay is challenging and can be frustrating, but it’s never dull as joggers splat one-by-one into and onto various spikes, bombs, and bodies of water. At the beginning, you start with the Jungle Workout. Your joggers run continuously, and you control them through jumps. A single tap produces a single jump, while double tapping lets you jump twice as high. The lead jogger is the only one you actually control, and the rest just mimic him, resulting in a wave type of jump where the last jogger is still jumping after the first one has landed. That’s the extent of the gameplay – jumping – but it is tricky because you have to time everything to account for all 15 of your joggers. Jumping too soon will sometimes leave the last jogger impaled on a spike, but jumping too late may mean your entire team falls off of a cliff. As your joggers progress, there are checkpoints which increase their running speed, and things become more and more frantic as you furiously tap to try and last for as long as possible. When a jogger slips into a spike pit or is eaten by a giant man eating plant, they turn in to ghosts. You can keep going as long as at least one jogger is alive, but when that last one dies and floats up in to the sky, your game is over and you must restart. The graphics are honestly nothing special, but the colorful pixel style is pleasant to look at, though everything is eventually just a blur of jumps, traps, and spraying blood. On that note, this probably isn’t a great game for children, but adults will definitely get a kick out of it. It’s gory and gruesome, but in a humorous, pixelated blood type of way. There are five different levels to jog through: Jungle Workout, Mine Muscle Training, Glacier Calorie Burner, Battlefield Bodybuilding, and Alien Aerobics. After each level, you’re taken to a screen that displays your score and some fun jogging facts, like how many boxes of popcorn or containers of french fries your joggers burned. Grim Joggers has an extensive scoring system, which is what makes it so re-playable. You get points as you jog along, and more points for having more joggers alive. There are several achievements for each level, and to get them, you’ll need to master controlling all 15 joggers at once, which requires concentration and smart choices. What I liked: The short gameplay means I can pick it up anytime, even when I only have a minute or two to play. What I didn’t like: It’s tough! Gameplay ramps up so quickly that eventually everything is just a blur of frantic tapping. To buy or not to buy: This is a solid game with smooth gameplay and no bugs. If you like endless running games or watching pixelated joggers get splatted, you’re going to love this. As it says on the App Store page, “This is probably the most brutal jogging game out there.”
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| iOS 5 with Voice Recognition Soon? Posted: 07 May 2011 10:57 AM PDT
Apple’s WWDC is just a month away, and the expectations for an iOS 5 preview grow by the day. We expect Apple to feature iOS 5 during the event one way or another. Perhaps, the latest rumor about Apple partnering with voice recognition company Nuance could be one of the big announcements in front of developers. This latest rumor has gained momentum because it can really become a major piece for the new iOS 5 experience. TechCrunch has reported about the rumors of Apple trying to acquire Nuance. It seems that Apple has been negotiating a deal with Nuance, but the prospects of an outright acquisition will probably not materialize. Nuance’s high valuation ($6 billion) along with key various licensing deals are probable roadblocks for Apple to acquire Nuance. However, both companies see the value in partnering and are certainly under discussions to see how can both shape the future of iOS 5. This whole thing started when Apple acquired Siri last year. Siri developed an iPhone app that brought a "virtual personal assistant" onto the App Store. An app that simply listens to your audible questions and responds with an answer. The goal was to create a new way to get things done. One thing worth noting is that Siri’s app relies on Nuance technology for its services. We can certainly assume this is why Apple sees the value of dealing with Nuance to bring new capabilities to iOS 5. As of now, everything seems to indicate that Apple could possibly partner with Nuance and license the voice recognition technology for a new embedded experience in iOS 5. TechCrunch’s MG Siegler said it best in his article:
It is clear that if voice recognition becomes a major cornerstone of iOS 5, both Apple and Nuance need each other to deliver a great experience. [via TechCrunch] » Related posts:
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| iSense – Braille for the iPad? Posted: 07 May 2011 09:31 AM PDT
The iSense is a concept that brings braille to the iPad, creating a solution that would allow the visually impaired to take part in the technology sensation the rest of us are enamored with. The iSense concept was created by Kikki Tham Sterner and Johan Ollas, as an entry for the Future Lions Competition of 2011. It is a bubbled, light sensitive film that goes over the screen of the iPad. On top of the film is a grid of bubbles that react to different levels of light by raising into different patterns of bumps, dynamically creating the Braille characters and other touchable shapes. Check out the following video that Ollas and Sterner made to demonstrate how the iSense would work, to get a better understanding of the idea. For now, this is only a concept, and nothing like it exists. However, it’s possible that options like these could be incorporated into new devices and hopefully it is something that we will see more of in the future. » Related posts:
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| Posted: 07 May 2011 09:01 AM PDT
Doodle Fit is a really fun puzzle game that operates on a very simple premise: fill the empty shapes with the set of shape blocks you are given. It sounds easy enough, and it does start off that way. The further your progress, the more complicated the solutions are. Lots of apps claim to be addictive, but frankly, it’s remarkable that I’ve stopped playing it long enough to write this review. The key to this game is that it gets progressively harder. Each puzzle you solve unlocks the next and you move forward in difficulty. I can’t believe the number of times I said to myself that I would finish ‘just one more puzzle’ and a few later hadn’t stopped. The other thing that anchors you to the game is that the more puzzles you solve, the more puzzles that are unlocked. As you solve puzzles, you will earn hints that can be used whenever you are struggling. While you can accumulate hints continually, you can only use a maximum of 2 per level, which means you will still have to use your brain to solve the really hard ones! Integration with Game Center and Facebook means being able to compete with your friends and other players, which I always find more motivating. What I liked: Aside from being the kind of game that puts your brain to work, which I find enjoyable, the graphics are engaging. You can choose from a few different themes which adjust the look and feel and there is just enough animation and color to make it feel less flat. What I didn't like: This game is very focused and there is no variety in game-play. If you don’t like straight puzzle solving, it likely won’t entertain you. To buy or not to buy: I can’t believe that this app is free. You should download it immediately before the developers realize how addictive and awesome it is and start charging for it!
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App Name: 
In Grim Joggers, a new game by 10tons Ltd., your goal is to guide a group of 15 joggers through a non-stop chain of deadly obstacles. In this arcade style survival game, a high score is the ultimate achievement. To wrack up those points you must keep as many joggers alive as you can, for as long as possible, before they inevitably meet a gruesome and bloody end.
When we think of the iPad, we think of touching its capabilities, but it’s not truly a tactile, touchable screen. Indeed, it is largely off limits to those who rely primarily on touch instead of sight. A recent design concept, called the iSense, could potentially turn the iPad in to a true touchscreen, making it accessible to everyone.
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