App Review: SoundGrid
It’s a dream of many of us to be able to play a musical instrument. Unfortunately, most lack the level of commitment needed to actually get beyond the basics. In the past, the best we could hope for is to pick out a hesitant ‘chopsticks’ on the piano or strum a few ropey chords with a guitar.
Now, though, technology has transformed the music business turning some unlikely individuals into top selling recording artists. But what can it do for the likes of you and me who fancy ourselves the writers of smash hits? If only we could lose the pesky need for musical ability. Might SoundGrid be the answer?
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App Review: TaxiDrive
Anyone who’s played Flight Control will get a strong sense of déjà vu when they see TaxiDrive in action. In fact, I assumed it must be the sequel to the hit air traffic control game. When I realised it wasn’t, the next thing that crossed my mind was ‘Rip off!’
However, after installing and playing it for a while, it’s clear that although the developers were undoubtedly ‘inspired’ by Flight Control and it contains a hefty dollop of its DNA, TaxiDrive’s different enough to warrant a place in the App Store. So, how does it ‘fare’?
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App Review: Impress
I’m firmly of the belief that anyone has the ability to draw and paint. Far from being some mysterious, magical process that most seem to believe (and many Artists do nothing to refute), it’s a largely mechanical skill that anyone with a hand and an eye can learn. Actually, I’m pretty sure you don’t even need the hand.
Then again, it does require a little knowledge and practice – not a process everyone wants to go through. I’m the same with music. I’d love to be able to play a piano or guitar but I’m not interested enough to go through all that tedious ‘learning’ business. Impress aims to allow anyone to turn a photo into a painterly image with no artistic skill required.
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App Review: Pocket God
Having a set of minions to dominate and control has been a staple in gameplay since kids first got pets, dolls and younger siblings to knock around. Indeed, the Sims has become probably the most lucrative video game in the world by expanding on this simple premise until it burst.
The iPhone is an excellent platform for this type of game. It provides the user with a touch screen to manipulate their subjects in a pocketable device that allows users to indulge in a spot of torture whenever they have a few minutes to spare.
Pocket God from Bolt Creative gives you a couple of tropical islands to paddle around in and half a dozen or so villagers to torment with your godly powers. It’s just a shame the developers forget to include a rather vital component.
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App Review: PhotoForge
Some apps seem ripe for the iPhone: games, Twitter clients, podcast players and many others. Who though, would think to create an application that contains several of the essential photo manipulation tools found in more grown up software like Photoshop? GhostBird would… and did.
With PhotoForge, you effectively get two apps in one. It’s an image manipulation utility and also a painting app. Although I suspect the developers see the image manipulation side as the main selling point, for me, it’s the painting aspect that’s of most interest. I’m not suggesting its bad at twiddling with your photos, it’s actually very good at it and includes an impressive range of tools. It’s just, for me, it suffers from an inherent problem regarding photo editing on the iPhone. But I’ll come to that later.
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App Review: Pocket Informant
As an old Psion Organiser user, I’ve been looking for a good mobile calendar application for many years. You’ll hear Psion user’s wistfully describe their old organiser with the same level of dedication and reverence an Apple fan boy has over the output of Cupertino. The Psion devices contained a level of functionality that was years ahead of its time. Even today, you’d be hard pressed to find devices that come close to their levels of quality. But, for me, it’s the Psion’s Agenda application that I miss most. Superficially, it was just the native calendaring app but it had a level of sophistication that puts today’s offerings to shame.
What was so great about Agenda? A thousand little things but, mostly, it was hugely customisable allowing each user to configure a version that suited them perfectly.
App Review: Flight Control
Flight Control from the Australian developer, Firemint is a game with a very simple concept – land aircraft while keeping them from crashing into each other.
A quick look at almost any screenshot will tell you pretty much all you need to know about the game mechanics. You’re presented with an aerial view of an airport and different aircraft appear from off screen (slow jets, fast jets, light aircraft and helicopters) which you direct by simply dragging your finger from the plane, around the screen to their respective landing spot. If any planes bumps into each other it’s game over. Easy eh? You’d be surprised.
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App Review: iEscape
Even the most hard nosed business type appreciates a good iPhone game to help while away a spare five minutes. Car journeys, plane trips and even tedious meetings can all be made more bearable with the right type of entertainment. iEscape is a puzzler from developer Yves Bresson that, while impressive in most ways, has a couple of small niggles that takes the edge off the fun.
App Review: myMovies
On the face of it, an application to keep a record of your DVD collection in your pocket seems a bit pointless but I know from experience that it can save time and money. For anyone with more than a handful of DVDs, there’ll come a time when they’re about to buy a DVD only to hesitate, trying to remember whether they already own it. If they’re unlucky, that moment will only come after they’ve paid. Been there, done that. Surprisingly then, it turns out to be very useful to carry a record of your DVD collection around with you. myMovies from Netwalk aims to let you do just that.
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The Quest for the Perfect ToDo App
Ever since the App Store threw open its doors and waved in the general public to have a snoop around, I’ve been on something of a quest. This isn’t a quest for gold, the fountain of youth or a crystal skull. It isn’t even something I would expect to take long enough to be described as a quest. I simply want to find a ToDo app that works the way I want it to.
The usual method I (and, presumably, most others) use to choose apps is to wander around the App Store seeing what takes my fancy. “Oh look”, I might say, “an app to calculate the weight of all my socks. Just what I need.” Or, maybe “Ah, an app to synthetically replicate the expulsion of gastric exhaust – my life is complete.” But this is different. This time there is a very clear idea in my mind what the app should do and how it should do it.
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