Say Where

December 4, 2008
Posted by Udiggity

Say Where iPhone Navigation App
This app uses voice recognition software to help you find directions, addresses, business reviews or local traffic. You simply choose whether you’d like to search with Google, the yellow pages, Yelp or Traffic.com. Once you do that, a large blue button will appear on the screen. Then you hold up the phone and speak into the mic.

Sometimes the phone will recognize what you have to say, and sometimes it is way off. It helps if you speak very loudly and slowly. Then you get another blue button to choose either the address or business you’re looking for. You are then redirected to the respective website, except in the case of Google Maps, where you’re directed to the Google Maps app for the iPhone.
Say Where iPhone App

With Google Maps, you’re taken to a screen that gives you a picture of a map with two virtual pushpins in it, one to represent your current location, which the phone finds with its GPS, and one to represent the address you searched for. You can then get directions, see traffic and add additional pins to further cement where you’re going. It also tells you the travel time by car, by bus or on foot.

I think this app is pretty helpful for those who are averse to typing on the iPhone and it has an interesting concept. However, there is no way to correct the app if it misunderstands your voice, which it does about 50 percent of the time. Instead, you have to exit out and start completely over. Unless you really cannot stand putting your fingers to iPhone’s tiny keyboard, it’s probably better to just go to each individual website.

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Fuzzle

December 2, 2008
Posted by Udiggity

Fuzzle iPhone Game App
As the name sort of implies, Fuzzle is a puzzle game. The object is to clear the screen of a series of circles of various colors, or more precisely, to not allow the screen to completely fill up with them. To do this, you need to make rows of five of the same color. You start off with the screen filled with only a few circles, which you can drag and drop to start forming your rows. Each turn, more circles show up, either after you make your move or when the timer runs out, whichever comes first, unless you complete a line. Your lines can be horizontal, diagonal or vertical.

There are two special circles that can help you out. Rainbow circles are wild and can be any color, and bomb circles (noted by an asterisk) are even better. They are not only wild, but they get rid of all the circles on the board that are the same color as your row when you complete it.
Fuzzle iPhone App

The game offers three levels: easy medium and hard, as well as a quick level for when you are short or time. The harder it gets, the more colors there are and the less likely you are to get bomb and rainbow circles. When you reach the end of your game, you can enter your score on the high score board, along with your name, and decide whether or not you want to submit it to the international board. Mine weren’t so high that I wanted to brag about them, but I would definitely give this app another shot. It’s definitely addictive fun. The only problem I had with it is that I couldn’t find any directions on how to play. I had to look them up on YouTube.

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Ace Tennis Online

November 29, 2008
Posted by Udiggity

Ace Tennis Online iPhone App
I would have to say that I was definitely not the ace at the Ace Tennis app. In fact, I found it to be excruciatingly difficult. The object of the game is to move your player across the screen with your finger and then tilt your phone to angle and add force to your tennis shots. The problem is it is very hard to multitask your moves and keep an eye on the opposing player at the same time. Plus, your thumbs do a pretty good job of blocking the screen.

If you get frustrated by playing the computer, as I quickly did, you can also play against a random online opponent, whom you can match up with by score. This is better than matching by skill level, since I couldn’t find a tangible difference between easy, medium and hard. You can also choose to play with friends, people in your same country or with girls – which I found a little strange. (I guess Ace Tennis doubles as a dating site?) Also, since there is a chat feature, you can choose to filter out offensive language.
Ace Tennis Online iPhone Game App

When you’re getting ready to play online it will tell you the connection speed of the people you can play. Whatever you do, don’t pick someone with a speed labeled “slow.” You could be there all day. Even on games where the connection was listed as fast, there was still significant lag, making it difficult to play in real time.

The graphics are nothing to write home about, but the sound effects are pretty realistic. Another good point is the tutorial option, which you can use to learn the basic moves before you start playing matches. I wish all apps had such a feature. Now if only the game was easier to play.

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Typing Genius

November 26, 2008
Posted by Udiggity

Typing Genius iPhone App
Even if you’re a master at the keyboard on your computer, your iPhone typing can be different story. In order to make the transition from fingers to thumbs easier, you can tutor yourself with Typing Genius.

Basic exercises train you to use the left and right side of the keyboard separately as well as together and even incorporate capital letters. Intermediate exercises introduce numbers and punctuation, while advanced exercises also incorporate symbols, like slashes and currency signs. Once you’ve mastered all three of these levels, you’re ready for Pro, which uses every character that the iPhone’s keyboard can handle.
Typing Genius iPhone Productivity App

Although the exercise section is a helpful tool, I think most people would best spend their time in the practical section. This includes training in the 100 of the most popular words, word phrases, complete sentences and even text message slang. For every tutorial you complete, the app tracks your statistics so that you can view your improvement and see where you tend to make mistakes. It even has a way to track friends’ stats so you can compete for bragging rights.

All exercises allow you to use either landscape or portrait mode, with separate statistics on each. That way you can get practice for whichever way you hold your phone. There’s also a helpful tips section that gives you advice on how to use basic features of the keyboard, such as one touch access to numbers, as well as more advanced actions, like how to turn on the hidden feature of caps lock.

Still an iPhone typing neophyte, I found this app to be extraordinarily helpful. Here’s hoping it can help me keep up a bit better with my emails and text messages.

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iHunt

November 25, 2008
Posted by Udiggity

iHunt iPhone App
I’m not much of a hunter, but I did find this app to be pretty fun. You can choose a rifle or a shotgun and then shoot either skeet, pheasants or deer. The skeet discs look fairly realistic but the animals look more like the cardboard cutouts you would see in an arcade shooting gallery. The deer also make weird mooing sounds when you hit them, which is a little strange.

Once you’ve decided what you want to shoot, you pick a difficulty level. They range from “easy” to “impossible.” Pretty much the differences are in the target speed and the number of targets you’re expected to hit in a certain amount of time. I tried the deer on impossible and they sure where hightailing it across the prairie. It was even funnier because their legs were hardly moving.
iHunt iPhone Game App

To shoot, you first choose the look option, which on the easier levels, gives you a very close up shot. Once you go harder, it’s still a bit of a distance away. Then you simply touch the fire button to take your shot, tilting the phone to move your sight up, down and to the side. If you miss on your first one, don’t worry. It appears you have an unlimited supply of bullets. Just make sure you don’t run out of time.

It tells you when you get a new record, but there’s no way to add your name to the high score list. This kind of kills your option to gain bragging rights. There’s also no kind of versus option, not even against the computer.

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Google Mobile App

November 25, 2008
Posted by Udiggity

Google Mobile iPhone App
The Google Mobile App is just like having the well-known search engine in the palm of your hand. Actually, it tries to go one point better. If you don’t have hands available to type in your search terms, and instead have your phone resting on your shoulder, you can hit the voice search button and say it into the microphone.

However, it is touch and go whether the app will understand what you’re saying. For example I tried twice to search for “shoes” and ended up with “news” and “hughes.” I tried speaking faster to see if that worked better and ended up with “kids,” so apparently that is not the secret. However, it recognized “vegetarian” on the first try.

Once you’ve gotten some search terms in, whether they were correct or not, you can easily find them again in the app’s history list simply by touching the image of the magnifying glass at the bottom of the screen. If you want to get rid of it, there’s also an option to clear.

Touch the apps icon and you gain access to all the other facets of Google, such as Gmail and Google Maps. These aren’t exactly part of the app, since it simply connects you to their domains through the Google website, but it’s a very convenient way to get a direct link. This app is pretty intuitive and it loads a lot quicker than it the actual Google.com site, so it’s good for when you need to find an answer in a hurry.

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Backgrounds

November 24, 2008
Posted by Udiggity

Backgrounds iPhone App
This app is sweet, simple and to the point. It is a large selection of backgrounds that you can upload to your phone. All you have to do to get it to work is launch the app and click on “popular,” “recent” or “category.” Popular and recent are pretty self explanatory, giving you lists of the most uploaded or newest images. Category brings you to of backgrounds sorted into groups such as funny, patterns and nature.

What I like about this app is that when you sort through the different backgrounds, you are looking at the actual pictures, not some obscure names like “purity” or “blue boxes” that could describe any number of things. I also like how there are some really clever backgrounds that are specific to the iPhone, such as one that implores “don’t leave fingerprints.”
Backgrounds Entertainment iPhone App

Some people may use this app and then get frustrated because their backgrounds don’t change. That’s because once you pick your background, by touching the image and then pushing save in the top right corner, you still have to go to your settings icon and choose to switch to the image. This is actually a good thing if you decide you like more than one option, since all will be there when you want to switch things up.

All in all this is a fun app. Some of the wallpaper choices are a little strange, such as a picture of a bed or floating Albert Einstein heads, but what better way is there to express your individuality? My boyfriend likes the pictures of a furry brown monster riding a bike.

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Urban Spoon

November 21, 2008
Posted by Udiggity

Urban Spoon iPhone App
Part dining site and part slot machine, Urban Spoon is a great app for those times when you just can’t decide where to go for dinner. All you have to do is start the program and it will immediately search for your location using the iPhone’s GPS. Once that’s done you get a screen where you can choose a nearby city, the type of food you’d like, the price range or all three by touching the lock icon underneath the option. Or, if you truly want to fly by the seat of your pants, leave everything unlocked.

Then, simply shake your phone, or if you don’t want to shake your phone, push the button that says “shake.” The dials will spin and you’ll end up with a restaurant name. Click on the name to get the address, phone number and an option to read reviews. Don’t like what you see? Select “shake” on the top left to go back and try again.
Urban Spoon Travel iPhone App

If you don’t want to be quite so random, you can instead choose browse, search or near me from the bottom of the screen. Browse allows you to see a comprehensive listing of restaurants in your area, search lets you find a restaurant by key word and near me will bring up a list ordered by distance from your current location.

My favorite feature of the app was, of course, the slot machine aspect. I’m one of those people that never knows where to go, and it can help to have the iPhone do the deciding for me. However, one thing I didn’t like was that it didn’t pick up any restaurants in my local city. In fact, I was sitting in a restaurant when I tried the app and it wasn’t even listed as an option. Hopefully this will improve as Urban Spoon expands the application.

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Sonic Boom

November 19, 2008
Posted by Udiggity

Sonic Boom iPhone App
Sonic Boom is the perfect stress reliever. Any time you feel the need to blow something up simply launch this app and have at it.

This app is incredibly easy to learn, especially since when you open it up it will present you with a tutorial on how to use it. After the tutorial, you are presented with an image of a firecracker which you can make bigger by using the native pinch/pull gestures. To light your firecracker swipe your finger on the brown match strip at the bottom of the screen. Once you see flames you can tap the fuse. (If you don’t, nothing will happen.) After the fuse burns down you’ll be privy to a nice explosion complete with the firecracker being blown to bits.
Sonic Boom Productivity iPhone App

If you really enjoy explosions, you can even slow down the action using the on-screen speed adjuster so you can relish in your kablooey a little longer, and when you are done you can put your finger on the screen and spin the remains 360 degrees.

Feeling a little vindictive? Try touching the options menu. Then you can touch the picture of a camera to add photos to the side of your fireworks. This is a good nonviolent and legal way to punish that certain somebody who might be deserving. Another interesting feature is the compatibility with the Sonic Lighter app. If you have another phone with that app running, you can use the lighter on your fuse by putting the phones near each other.

This is another one of those non-practical apps that is still darn fun to use.

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Sonic Lighter

November 18, 2008
Posted by Udiggity

Sonic Lighter iPhone App
Gone are the days of holding up your lighter at rock concerts, not to mention the fire hazards. Now you only need your iPhone and this nifty little app. It presents a graphical rendition of a the flint of a lighter on the screen. Just flick it by moving your finger downward and a flame appears. (Move your finger upward and you see sparks but nothing else ever happens.)

Once you have your flame, you can move the iPhone around and have the lighter “interact” with the sides of your iPhone by sizzling and setting off “smoke.” It’s a good way to pretend to damage your phone when it is getting on your nerves.
Sonic Lighter Lifestyle iPhone App

Another thing you can do is hold down the valve of the lighter causing a flame thrower like effect. Or use wind effects (which are on by default but can be turned off) to effect the state of the flame by blowing into the mic. Just don’t blow too hard or, naturally, you’ll extinguish it.

Like with many other iPhone apps, you can use the pinch/pull gestures to affect the size of the flame or just put your finger in it and play around – splitting and breaking it without the risk of burning yourself.

There is also an option to set it to show a normal flame, a blue Obama flame or a red McCain flame. Then you can view a worldwide map of other users around the world and what flame they have chosen. The manufacturer added a note saying you can still use the colors now after the election. This is great since I think the blue flame just looks really cool.

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Author Archives: Udiggity

Say Where

Fuzzle

Ace Tennis Online

Typing Genius

iHunt

Google Mobile App

Backgrounds

Urban Spoon

Sonic Boom

Sonic Lighter