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Author Archive for Olly Farshi

Being based over in Europe — London and Helsinki — I have the distinct pleasure of bringing you lots of Apple-related news from various awkward time-zones. As a regular globe-trotter, I've compressed my collection of gadgets in to a selection of the bare essentials: Macbook Pro, iPhone 3G, Airport Extreme (plus Mighty Mouse and Apple keyboard, both wireless, of course). Make sure to come follow me on Twitter and say howdy!

Site: http://www.twitter.com/ollyf

App Review: Fist of Fury — As Much Fun As a Punch in the Face

Written on April 24, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 1 person has commented

Don’t let life get you down, put your punchin’ gloves on and show the world you’re a champion in this retro boxing game.
In these economically egregious times, we all need a little release from the fiscal pressures dumped upon on our already strained shoulders. Even I need some respite from the current monetary melee, having [...]

Tweetie: Now in Tasty Mac Desktop Flavor

Written on April 20, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 21 people have commented

Get your tweet on and shake your verbs, Tweetie — the much-celebrated iPhone Twitter client — has hit the Mac OS X desktop.
As regular readers will know, I adore my iPhone and I’m an avid tweeter. A few months back, I weighed the options and, despite there being an array of free alternatives, the iPhone [...]

Weekly App Store Picks: April 18, 2009

Written on April 18, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 9 people have commented

Put your iPhone in the air and shake it like you just don’t care, because it’s time for my pick from the week’s freshest apps.
Before you start waving your iPhone with a blatant disregard for those around you due to the sheer excitement you feel from reading about the latest apps, I’ve got a brief [...]

App Review: Leaf Trombone: World Stage — Like American Idol But With Leaves

Written on April 17, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 6 people have commented

Learn to play the leaf trombone, perform your repertoire before a global audience, and prepare to be judged.
Since the App Store’s launch last year, Smule has been steadily building an impressive portfolio of sound-based social apps for the iPhone. With Dr. Ge Wang — an assistant professor in Music and Acoustics — at the helm, [...]

App Review: Hysteria Project — iPhone Owner Stalked By Maniac

Written on April 16, 2009 by Olly Farshi and No one has commented

Chased through a trap-laden forest by an axe-wielding murderer, Hysteria Project is a step in a much darker direction for the iPhone.
Reviewing Asteroids-esque shooter The Void last week, I mentioned that some iPhone games are ditching the cute and getting darker. With their first release, the BulkyPix team have taken the anti-cute movement further: chopping [...]

Weekly App Store Picks: April 11, 2009

Written on April 11, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 5 people have commented

It’s time for the very apex of everyone’s Easter weekend, the all important revealing of this week’s picks from the App Store.
But it’s not all about the latest fresh pickings from the App Store, before we get in to all that, I’ve collated the week’s news in handy bite-size form — think of it as [...]

App Review: Amplitude — Your iPhone as a Covert Surveillance Tool

Written on April 10, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 10 people have commented

Amplitude pushes the iPhone in a new direction, transforming the device in to a hand-held James Bond-style surveillance tool. An intriguing concept indeed, but would Q approve?
Setting aside the more recent Bourne-esque gritty romps of the latest Bond movies — which are, for the record, utterly brilliant — I’ll be forever enchanted with the classic [...]

App Review: The Void — Where No iPhone Has Gone Before

Written on April 07, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 4 people have commented

An epic RPG has arrived on the iPhone, featuring battles, leveling up, upgradeable weapons and online features. Forget goblins and warlocks though, The Void takes the adventure to the final frontier.
The gaming section of the App Store has been subject to a serious cute overdose as of late, with Rolando, Topple and even Zombieville USA [...]

Weekly App Store Picks: April 4, 2009

Written on April 04, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 2 people have commented

It’s the weekend and this is TheAppleBlog…so that means only one thing: the latest picks fresh from the App Store.
This week, Apple news seems to have been predominantly iPhone-centric so, before jumping in to the latest apps, it’s time for a quick refresher of Apple news from the past seven days.
Sony started the week by [...]

App Review: RelationTips — A Relationship Counsellor In Your Pocket

Written on April 02, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 4 people have commented

Music, Internet, Google Maps, telephone calls, taking photos, and now fixing your broken relationship… is there anything the iPhone can’t do?
For most of us, the iPhone makes life better — it’s like a gorgeous bio-mechanical addition to our bodies: augmenting almost everything. And, in an odd sort of way, I suppose it seems natural that [...]

App Review: AudioBoo — Twitter for People Who Want Their Voice Heard

Written on April 01, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 5 people have commented

Do you tweet? Then maybe you should Boo! It’s like a multimedia Twitter, designed especially for iPhone users.
Over in the UK back in 2008, Channel 4 (Britain’s edgy TV channel) launched a unique funding program entitled 4IP. Cut to 2009 and, having just announced a dedicated iPhone 3.0 fund, the suits over at 4IP seem [...]

Weekly App Store Picks: March 28, 2009

Written on March 28, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 4 people have commented

Welcome one and all to the weekend, a time for rest, relaxation and fresh pickings from the App Store.
Before checking out this week’s apps, we’ve got seven days worth of Apple happenings to run through.
First up, the week kicked off with a scathing review of the Daniel X graphic novel — an utterly dull comic-book [...]

App Review: Tumblr — Collect Every Moment Wherever You Go

Written on March 27, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 3 people have commented

Developed by Mobelux, and formerly known as Tumblrette, the official Tumblr iPhone app has now arrived.
Tumblr is essentially the short ‘n sweet side of blogging: Posts are ultra-snappy, comprised of mixed-media uploads such as images, quotes, audio and video. The service is free, via Tumblr.com, and, since the site is so intuitively designed, it’s incredibly [...]

App Review: Daniel X — Clichéd Alien Hunters Don’t Come Cheap

Written on March 23, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 7 people have commented

Increasingly, geeky pasttimes are seeping into the mainstream. Like creatures in a Neil Gaiman story, the boundary between the dimension of the fantastical and the land of the normal is blurring. And with that blur, faithful adaptations of heroes and villains have made the leap to the world of movies.
That means that in addition [...]

Weekly App Store Picks: March 21, 2009

Written on March 21, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 23 people have commented

It’s the weekend, traditionally a time for quiet contemplation of the freshest iPhone releases, welcome to the App Store Pick.
Hang on there one moment though because before we run headlong in to a stack of apps, we’ve got but a few moments to look at the latest happenings on TheAppleBlog this week.
First up, Neil Gaiman’s [...]

App Review: Streaks — Rewarding You for Repetitive Behavior

Written on March 20, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 10 people have commented

A calendar specifically designed for tracking your goals, Streaks aims to join the pantheon of excellent iPhone productivity apps.
Both the touch and the iPhone, the latter in particular, are ideal platforms for productivity tools. The connected nature of the pocketable Apple devices means we can be grabbing all sorts of data about our daily lives [...]

Weekly App Store Picks: March 14, 2009

Written on March 14, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 4 people have commented

Place your iPhone on the floor and prepare to dance a merry jig, it’s the weekend and that means I’ve prepared a selection of fresh picks from the App Store.
As ever, before we get stuck in to a hand-picked selection of the latest releases from the App Store, I’ve delved in to the week’s Apple [...]

App Review: Convert — Apparently Form Does Not Equal Function

Written on March 12, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 8 people have commented

Convert, an app for converting an array of different units, looks great and, in theory, should be quite useful. Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good on this one.
The iPhone isn’t just about gaming and entertainment. Admittedly, I’ve got two screens worth of music and gaming apps, another screen for news, books and recipes, and then [...]

App Review — Watchmen: Justice is Coming (As Long as You Don’t Mind Waiting)

Written on March 10, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 7 people have commented

App Quick Stats

Watchmen: Justice is Coming

$0.99

iTunes Link

With Watchmen arriving at movie houses around the globe, the iPhone game attempts to brings the grim world of the costumed hero to you.
There’s a whole heap of Marvel in my comic collection but, I’m afraid, not so much DC. I preferred my heroes to [...]

Weekly App Store Picks: March 7, 2009

Written on March 07, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 7 people have commented

It’s the first Saturday of March, which means one thing: grab your iPhone, prime your mind, and focus your eyeballs, because I’ve got another selection of fresh App Store picks for you.
Before we get to this week’s apps, there’s a stack of Apple happenings to run through. In App Store-related news, game development outfit Last [...]