Along with the release of their new iPod shuffle, Apple has updated iTunes to version 8.1. New features include improved speed with large libraries, Autofill, a switch to 256-Kbps AAC as the new import default, and more notably iTunes DJ and Genius sidebar for Movies and TV Shows.

For a lot of users, the first two will be more than welcome additions — seriously, who can argue with speed improvements, especially if they apply to networked libraries as well. Also, as I’m sure a lot of other non-shuffle owners will agree, the Autofill feature is one that has been much lamented over. The shift to a higher encoding rate, however, is an interesting move and may cause confusion with some users when they suddenly can’t fit as many songs on their iPods and/or iPhones as they were used to, notable because Apple’s capacity calculations are still based on the 128-Kbps bitrate.

Party Shuffle has been transformed into iTunes DJ which, beyond a more suiting name change, adds an extra layer of interactivity for touch device owners with the Remote app (iTunes link), that was updated last night to version 1.2 to add iTunes 8.1 compatibility. When enabled, you can “allow guests to request songs with Remote for iPhone or iPod touch” as well as “vote to control when songs play.” Access to the DJ playlist is password protectable to limit access, and if you’re so inclined, you can also greet participants with a welcome message.

The update is available now via Software Update and the Apple-released notes for this update are below for your perusing.

• Supports syncing with iPod shuffle (3rd generation).

• Allows friends to request songs for iTunes DJ.
• Adds Genius sidebar for your Movies and TV Shows.

• Improves performance when downloading iTunes Plus songs.

• Provides AutoFill for manually managed iPods.
• Allows CDs to be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus.
• Includes many accessibility improvements.

• Allows iTunes U and the iTunes Store to be disabled separately using Parental Controls.

Movie/game tie-ins are as old as the original NES and, as a booming gaming platform, the iPhone/iPod touch are no less susceptible to this continuing trend. To that end, here’s a listing of games for your touch device that are based on a movie (Note: All links go to the App Store).

The Dark Knight: Batmobile Game (99 cents)
“How fast can you get Batman through Gotham City?” Tilt your touch device to avoid obstacles and gain speed for jumps.

Disney Fairies Fly! ($4.99)
Based on the Tinker Bell movie, Disney’s Fairies Fly lets you play as one of six fairy characters through five levels of gameplay. Using the accelerometer, you dodge obstacles and collect power-ups to progress to the next stage.

Fast and Furious: Pink Slip ($2.99)
Use the motion sensor to steer your car in one of four different types of races. Then, challenge others online to win their rides. Thirty-two cars to win in 32 challenging races.

Iron Man: Aerial Assault (99 cents)
Guide Iron Man through the skies as you use his high-tech arsenal to battle enemies.

Lightsaber Unleashed (Free)
Swing your touch device around to emulate lightsaber sound effects. Choose a Force Unleashed character of your choosing (or create your own) and play along to some dueling music.

Saturday Night Fever: Dance / Lite (99 cents/Free)
Tap and slide to perform hundreds of dance moves to disco classics such as “YMCA” and “Car Wash.” Choose from two playable characters and a multi-player mode on a single device.

School of Rock (99 cents)
Learn rock ‘n’ roll music theory, test your knowledge in the trivia section, then rock along to classic tracks by bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Scorpions, or to songs in your music library.

Shooter – The Official Movie Game ($1.99)
Choose from a large arsenal of weapons and equipment in over 30 levels of gameplay taking out enemies as Sgt. Bob Lee Swagger in this first person shooter.

Spongebob’s Atlantis Treasure ($3.99)
Play through five themed levels in this match three or more puzzle game based on your favorite pants-wearing sponge.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed / Lite ($5.99/Free)
Use the force as you tap, touch, and swipe your way through the foes of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice.

Star Wars Sound Board (99 cents)
Choose from sixteen unmistakable Star Wars sound effects, from Darth Vader’s breathing to Obi-Wan’s “May the force be with you.”

Underworld Game (Free)
Play as either a Vampire or Lycan in this head-to-head fighting game. Choose between three levels (the Woods, Castles, or Catacombs) in three modes of difficulty.

Watchmen: Justice is Coming (99 cents)
Team up and fight other players in this turn-based RPG based off the recently released Watchmen movie.

As the recession becomes more and more prevalent, networking will become a more necessary tool in making sure that you can stay afloat — whether it is making new clients for business or a contact to help you get a job, should you find yourself needing one. Beyond that, while business cards have an air of class to them, in this digital world of smart phones and online address books, they feel rather outdated. Unsurprisingly, there are a plethora of options available to the iPhone/iPod touch and here we run down eleven (well, technically ten) of them.

beamME (Free) To even use this app, you’re required to have an account from rmbrME. Once you log-in (or sign-up as the case may be), you can choose the phone number or address of the person you want to “beam” your card to. If you enter a phone number, the recipient will get an SMS message with a URL they can click (or visit later, if they don’t have internet access via their phone) that presents them with a web page of your contact info. From there, they can have that information emailed to them with a vCard attachment. If you go the email route, you can skip that extra set and have all your information sent in an email along with your vCard attached.

Contacts2Go (99 cents) This app has a bevy of interesting features. Once you set the email address you want the vCards to come from, you can send as many vCards from your contacts list to as many people as you want. You have the option to turn off what information from vCards get sent, which is good if you keep notes about people in their contact details, and you can even “Introduce” people — both vCard contacts get each other’s information, a virtual “Hi, Jim. This is Bob. Bob, Jim” sort of situation.

EmailContact (99 cents) EmailContact is undoubtedly the most bare bones of the lot. You are presented your contact list where you’re told to choose the information you want to send. From there, the information is pulled and attached as the body of an email. You can then email it to whomever you choose. A vCard, however, is not attached to that email, so the the recipient(s) will have to manually create a contact for themselves. This could prove to be a hassle for iPhone users with the lack of copy and paste.

FriendBook (99 cents) This is much more than an app solely for sending contact information, it’s more of a Dialer/Contact replacement. With FriendBook you have access to all your contacts to either call, text, or email them. You can also merge multiple contacts, delete contacts and move them around groups. There’s a “Face Dialer” which is a more visual favorites that gives you one touch access to a contacts number. The send vCard option is interesting as it uses your location and the accelerometer to send a card. You put two touch devices together and shake them in a handshake motion (QuickTime link) and the cards are beamed to each other. While definitely cool, the app is hindered by the fact that you can only trade information with other owners of FriendBook — there’s no option to just send a vCard.

Handshake (Free) Like FriendBook, Handshake is dependent on the person receiving your contact information having the application, thankfully, there is an option to send an App Store link so they can download it right away. Once you set your own vCard, Handshake uses location services to find other Handshake owners and your potential recipient. From there you can either choose to send your card or someone else’s in your contact list, pick the person you want to send it to and almost instantly a notification is presented asking the recipient if they’d like to “Preview and Exchange,” “Preview,” or “Discard.” Once you accept the vCard, it’s automatically added to your contacts list. You can also choose to send a picture from your camera roll, which makes sharing photos virtually effortless.

Handshake Premium ($2.99) The premium version is exactly like the free version, except for the lack of advertisements and the good feeling you get for supporting indie developers.

iBeam (99 cents) iBeam is another app that works best when the person you’re trading contact information with also has it. Thankfully, it isn’t totally dependent on this fact and still lets you send information via email. When sending the contact details, you can choose to either attach a vCard or send as a plain text copy in the body, but not both, which would have been a nicer touch. For situations where there is no network connectivity, iBeam also allows you to trade information via an auto-generated QR code. The receiver uses iBeam to take a picture of the barcode and the app will convert the information to a vCard.

Nameo (99 cents) Akin to FriendBook, Nameo requires that both sender and receiver have the application. From there, you just hit connect and your name, number and email are transferred. Unlike all the other apps, you have to input this information manually, that is to say, you cannot choose yourself from the contacts list, and that is all the information that will be exchanged.

Send Contact (99 cents) Send Contact picks up where Email Contact left off. You choose who’s contact information you want to send and then the information is put into the body of an email with a link to a service that will generate a vCard to download. While not as simple as just attaching the vCard to the email, it is still nice that you are given both options to choose from. The email also includes a link to the app for touch device owners to buy and import the contact details with. A huge plus is that before you send each vCard you can choose what extra fields to turn on and off, so you don’t find yourself sending personal information.

Sharecard ($1.99) Sharecard is designed for sending only your vCard. Once it’s assigned, with as few as two taps, it’s attached to an email and in the recipient’s inbox. Like some of the other apps, you can specify how much extra information you want to share when you’re sending it, in the settings, but beyond that, Sharecard is a pretty simplistic app wrapped in a snazzy interface.

vCards (99 cents) vCards is another bare bones app, which it makes apparent from it’s single screen illustrating the three steps to sharing a vCard: Choose the card to send, choose the contact to send it to, and then hit send, where vCard will be attached to an email and sent off. While it’s nice that you can choose whomever’s contact information you want to send, the app is hindered by the fact that the recipient must already be in your contacts list, there is no option to just enter an email address on the fly.

While everyone’s needs and wants are different, I feel that I can say safely that Contacts2Go is the clear winner. While Handshake would have been my top choice, the dependency on both users having the application, free or not, severly hinders the trading information process, which should be as effortless as possible. Contacts2Go, while not as polished as a lot of the other apps, makes that happen. If you have a personal preference or another app you think is better, sound off in the comments.

vCard App Table (click to enlarge)

Apple announced today that it’s bringing some major changes to the iTunes Music Store. Most notable among the announcements is their shift to making its entire 10M-plus song library completely DRM-free.

Prior to today, Apple’s iTunes Plus selection was fairly slim. Now, all songs from the four major labels, as well as the plethora of independent labels, will be available by default as DRM-free iTunes Plus downloads. Previously purchased songs can be upgraded via iTunes’ “Upgrade My Library” option in the Music Store at 30 cents each, music videos for 60 cents, and entire albums for 30 percent of the original price (roughly $3 if it was purchased at $9.99). According to Apple, 8M songs are available in the iTunes Plus format now, with the remaining 2M-plus tracks to be converted by the year’s end.

With this upgade, also comes an eventual update to the pricing scheme to offer the the major labels “more flexibility.” Starting in April, songs will be available for either 69 cents, 99 cents, or $1.29. There was no clear indication on what would affect the prices, but during the keynote, Phil Schiller said that “most” songs would be available at the lowest tier. Apple stated that, despite the change in per-track pricing, most albums would remain at $9.99.

Lastly, Apple announced that the iTunes Music Store for the iPhone would be freed from its Wi-Fi chains. Previoulsy, accessing the store via a cellular data connection limited you to the Podcast section, however, as of today, the entire music store will be in your hands. As before, the prices on the iPhone will be the same as they are on your computer and all tracks purchased via the iPhone will be syncable back to your main iTunes library. Looks like there may have been some justification for the apparent cellular data outages AT&T experienced this morning on the East coast.

Only two months after going into beta, AOL has released AIM for Mac 1.0. Unfortunately, not a whole lot has been changed since our review of the beta. There is still no option for video or audio chats, and beyond the addition of AIM Expressions (a library of Buddy sounds, wallpaper and animated Buddy Icons), it’s really no different than iChat. With the more advanced option of Adium for those who find iChat lacking and iChat being built right into OS X, it’s hard to see where AOL is positioning this app.

Not to be left out, AOL also updated the native client for their portal, AOL Desktop for Mac, to version 1.5. This update adds a new Parental Controls Assistant that “works with Mac OS X to turn off Internet browsers and other applications and deliver age-appropriate content via the AOL Desktop for Mac browser.” This, however, is a bit more redundancy on AOL’s part as OS X has its own — and much more robust, I might add – parental controls built-in.

While it’s good to have options, I can’t help but feel that AOL’s Mac offerings are way too little way too late and I think the appeal only lies within those who have a bit of nostalgia for their dial-up days. If you, however, do decide to venture the “official” route and pick up AIM for Mac, note that to disable its annoying habit of opening the “AIM Dashboard” in your browser every time you sign-on, un-check the “Show AIM start page when I sign in” option under the “General” tabs in settings.

Unable to ignore the ubiquitousness of Apple’s touch devices, Microsoft has released its first app, a tech-demo of Seadragon.

For those unfamiliar with the project, Seadragon is one of a few applications being developed under Microsoft’s Live Lab division. This one in particular provides “seamless browsing of vast quantities of visual information [...] regardless of the amount of data.” With the app you are able to quickly breeze through thousands of giga-pixel images and zoom in multiple times to view them in their full resolution splendor.

Seadragon comes with access to a collection of images which among them include satellite images of Mars and the Spitzer’s Galaxy, documents from the Library of Congress, and a couple of different map views of the world. You can also add images from RSS feeds, any Deep Zoom content, and from Photosynth users (Photosynth being another Live Lab project that “[a]utomatically reconstructs a three-dimensional space from a collection of photos of a place or an object”). You can set it up to use your photos as well, but they have to be uploaded to Photosynth which is only in testing for the Mac and requires Microsoft’s Flash-variant Silverlight, which means non-Intel based Mac users are left out.

Taken for what it is, a technical demo, Seadragon is a rather impressive technology. Pinching and stretching your way around images only to see how detailed they really are has a definite wow factor and just one more thing to use when showing off why the iPhone stands apart from everything else in the market. However, it is admittedly a bit odd that the developers didn’t allow you to browse the pictures on your camera roll directly, as well as shipped an app that wasn’t complete — the “Browse Photosynth” is broken — but I guess, such is the nature of a demo.

The developers claim that there is more “cool stuff” to come, though not specifically for the iPhone/iPod touch. Regardless, based on this app alone, that claim doesn’t, at all, seem far fetched and I’d gladly welcome more Apple friendly offerings from Microsoft’s Live Labs.

It was only two months ago that Flickr unveiled a beta version of their mobile site optimized for iPhone and iPod touch users, but now it’s official.

Compared to their previous mobile endeavor, this update of the site is nothing short of leaps and bounds ahead. Beyond a svelte new interface that makes browsing, not only, your and your contacts’ activity a breeze, it also puts Flickr’s much touted “interestingness” photos within easy reach.

However, undoubtedly the biggest boon to come with this update is the ability to play back videos — or “long photos” as Flickr so poignantly likes to refer to them as. (It should be noted, though, this only applies to videos uploaded since December 3. Videos on the site previous to that date will be updated for mobile playback in the coming months.) Without delving into the technical details, Flickr is able to do this by utilizing their parent company’s, Yahoo!, Video Platform. Via said platform, Flickr can serve video to the dizzying array of available handsets on the market that support it, and accommodate for their varying screen sizes and codec dependencies, including the iPhone/iPod touch.

After putting the site through its paces, short of an upload dialog box, the new mobile site feels right at home. The design and layout, as well as the video playback, were obviously very well thought out and the execution is nearly flawless, though some will have their minor quibbles. While touch devices still have the option to browse the site in full, Flickr took great care in providing convenient access the most common features you would want while on the go. For example, just as easily as you can “favorite” a photograph or video you like, you can set/update the privacy or safety level setting of your own. Which is great for those moments when you have a lapse in judgement and realize the upload you just made via your mobile wasn’t meant for the world at-large.

Needless to say, It’s good to see that, while most ventures have moved away from iPhone/iPod touch optimized versions of their web apps/sites for official apps — and in unfortunate cases, nothing more than Webkit wrappers — Flickr is still focused on its core competency of helping people “make their content available to the people who matter to them,” by continuing to provide an enjoyable experience to its growing number of mobile web users. Though, that’s not to say an official Flickr app wouldn’t be welcomed, right?

Since the Zunes inception, for all its faults, one thing that it did that seemed worth emulating was its Originals line, which are devices etched with original artwork from an array of designers. There’s no doubt that, even before comparing it to the Zune, or even the iPod nanos for that matter, the iPhone doesn’t offer a lot in the way of expressing ones individuality.

Thankfully, Infectious (see disclosure at bottom) is happy to fill that lack of identity with its line of iPhone Art adhesive decorations. Featuring artwork from well known illustrators and graphic designers like David Lanham, Jeremy Prasatik (aka JP33), Emil Kozak, and MAD, among many more, Infectious currently offers 38 designs to adorn your iPhone with. Each comes with a full and mini sticker that covers the full back of phone (with a cut-out for the camera lens) and the bottom portion of the front, respectively; as well as an Infectious logo sticker for good measure.

The stickers are made of a 3M durable vinyl material — Infectious estimates a three year life span — that makes applying and removing it a cinch. While in use, there is a protective laminate to reduce any scratching to your device, and when you are ready for a new design taking it off is an afterthought as there is no sticky, filmy residue to deal with.

iPhone Art is available now for $9.99, with a few prints carrying a $14.99 price tag. And, for the discerning buyer, all of the designs are offered as laptop prints as well, so your MacBook [Pro/Air] doesn’t feel left out.

Disclosure: Infectious is backed by True Ventures, which is also an investor in Giga Omni Media, the parent company of this network. Giga Omni Media founder Om Malik is a venture partner with True Ventures.

Continuing with our round up of iPhone/iPod touch apps, here are 9 puzzle games (in no particular order) worth checking out. Each item on the list links to a full review with feature and pricing information.

Quordy
Find the most words, get the high score.

Smiles
Two games in one. Play the Drop mode for Bejeweled-like game play or the Zen mode for a Solitaire-esque game.

Spin
Rotate the object to match the silhouette.

Puzzloop Endless
Fend off a non-stop barrage of colored balls.

MetaSquares
Compete against the computer or another player in capturing the most squares.

Dizzy Bee
Use your touch device’s accelerometer to control Dizzy Bee and save its fruit friends.

Lumen
Use mirrors and colored filters to guide a laser beam through check points.

Imangi
It’s Scrabble meets the Rubick’s cube.

Amazing Sudoku
A flashy, stylized version of the cult game.

According to this MacRumors report, Apple has started to dispense promotional codes to App Store developers. With them, developers will now be able to grant free access to their app for up to 50 users. Previously, developers would have had to resort to the ad-hoc distribution method or iTunes gift cards to give promotional copies of their applications. While the 50 user limit might seem paltry compared to the ad-hoc’s 100, the promotional code limit is reset with version updates. Additionally, and probably most welcoming to both developers and recipients alike, is no longer having to deal with the hassles of the mobile provisioning that the ad hoc method is reliant on.

Via mobile provisioning, for promotional copies to be granted, developers would have to get the UDID of the touch device from each person receiving a copy and from there generate a .mobileprovision file to send with the actual application file that would bind that app to each specified device. Once both files were received, the end user would drag and drop them into iTunes to sync it. With the promo code method, all that is eschewed for a system that as easy as redeeming an iTunes gift card.

In the future, we can see this opening the door for more than just a developer/reviewer relationship, and extended to contests and giveaways. With complexity removed and the fact that the codes are linked to a specific app, developers would be able to invite people to win copies of their app without relying on gift cards, which is a hockey method since there value of the gift-card may not match the price of the app thus costing the developer additional money and there’s no guarantee that the recipient will actually use it to buy the app.

If you are familiar with Zuma, Magnetica, Luxor, or any of the other clones, then Puzzloop Endless is nothing new. If none of these names ring a bell, these games pit you against numerous balls of varying colors rolling down a coiled track with you in the center. Armed with a canon, it’s your job to fend off the chain of balls from reaching the fault line by shooting more balls to create color matches of three or more, effectively removing that set of balls from the chain.

Developed by Hudson Soft, of Bomberman fame, Puzzloop Endless is actually a licensed version of the original Puzz Loop game, rather than a reinterpretation. As the name suggests, Puzzloop Endless focuses on the endless mode of the game, meaning that there is a never ending amount of balls coming down the track that you must clear. The game only offers two modes of game play, easy and hard, in which there is one track and two tracks of balls, respectively. It’s nonstop fun with a ridiculously low learning curve. Just tap on the screen where you want the ball to go and keep the chain away from the fault line. As the levels progress, the number of colors of balls increases, as well as the speed at which they come down the track. You will have to time your shots better to get them in the precise position you want. You can also create combos for extra points by creating matches such that when those balls disappear the ones around it also match. Once you get a game over, that is, the chain reaches the fault line, your level and score are recorded and can be uploaded to an online scoreboard.

The graphics are on par with Nintendo DS graphics, which is to say that they are very good for a casual game. The only fault to be found with this game is that it doesn’t allow you to play your own music while playing game. What makes this especially frustrating is that the game’s own soundtrack is a single, horribly cut track that does not even loop properly. If you are not a fan of 8-bit tunes, you will find yourself turned off very, very quickly.

Hudson also offers a free version and the full version at $7.99, which offers both the Endless variant and the regular stages which have a limited number of balls that must be cleared before you can move on to the next level, but at $1.99, Puzzloop Endless feels just right price-wise for what it offers.

For those who consider themselves cruciverbalists, Imangi ($2.99) is a game after your own hearts. As a user in the App Store accurately commented, Imangi is a “cross between Scrabble and a Rubik’s cube.” Through four game modes: Standard, Speed, Daily Challenge, and Friend Challenge; you’re objective is to make as many words as possible vertically and horizontally. The twist though, is that you can slide an entire row or column of tiles around to assist you in maximizing your word count and, subsequently, your score.

The game is as difficult as you want it to be, because your only goal is attaining the highest score possible. If you feel the need for an additional level of complexity beyond the four difficulty settings, you can choose to play a speed round which gives you three minutes to achieve your maximum score. And, if you sign up for an account, you can also take advantage of the two challenge modes. Friend Challenge allows you to pit your word molding skills against another person’s. Unfortunately, there is no option for a local two-player, thus your competition needs to have their own touch device with a copy of Imangi (and an account). The Daily Challenge, on the other hand, has you compete with all Imangi owners for the high score on a specified game board.

The game play is simple and the graphics are in line with the kind of game it is. The interface is about as perfect as it could be and the controls are generally responsive, with the only trouble being when you decide to complete your round and you are to double-tap a green square. Sometimes it will not register and instead of ending the round, it will un-select that tile effectively changing your word. Imangi also has support for five additional languages: German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Russian. One major annoyance with the game is that when you have completed a puzzle, you are forced to watch a closing animation where each individual tile not used disappears one at a time, then each bonus red square, then each word your formed is tallied up (again, one tile at time). It would be very nice to see an option to turn this off as it gets annoying even during the first-time sequence.

While a fun game, and a challenging one in its own right, if I had to compare it to Quordy, I would definitely pick Quordy over it. As a faster paced and more addictive game, Quordy feels like the better buy between the two word apps. Of course, your mileage will vary.

There is something to be said for apps that are so focused, their entire function can be summed up in one word. Spin ($2.99) is just that, a game that revolves around spinning (pun intended). The premise is that you are given a silhouette and an object, you then have a limited amount of time to rotate the object such that its outline lines up with that of the silhouette’s in as few turns as possible. It sounds simple enough, right? Well, it’s always more difficult than it seems.

Through three game modes: Arcade, Frantic, and Minute Rush; you use the multi-touch screen to rotate objects 360-degrees until they line up with the outline behind it. Most times the solution is simple and it is just a matter of rotating the object quickly enough. However, once in a while, when you’re confidence is built up, you’ll be thrown for a complete loop, spinning and spinning the object to no end, trying to figure out the correct orientation.

The Arcade mode, which features three levels of difficulty, has you go through 100 stages matching a minimum number of objects before the timer runs out. Frantic, on the other hand, is an endless mode, where you keep going until the time runs out because you could not properly rotate an object quickly enough. Lastly, Minute Rush, gives you one minute to correctly solve as many puzzles as possible. As an added bonus, Spin also features trophies for reaching certain milestones, including the peculiar Dumbmonkey which, “You would have to be REALLY DUMB to get this trophy,” which creates a nice sense of accomplishment (except for the aforementioned one) and increases the replay value, giving you something to strive for beyond the high score.

The games graphics are nice, colorful, and very animated; with each level having its own theme and background. The controls are mostly responsive, but at times can be a bit finicky, causing a bit of frustration. The only real faults the game has are seemingly long load time and the lack of ability to let you listen to your own music while playing. The game’s own soundtrack is very reminiscent of early ’90s video game music, and while very fitting, can become repetitive and tiresome.

Overall, Spin is not a game to be overlooked. It’s highly entertaining and, given the chance, can become very addictive, despite its seemingly simple premise.

Like ever ubiquitous flashlight apps, Sudoku games in the App Store are a dime a dozen. However, while the game play between them is roughly the same, there is a staggering difference between the graphics and what they offer in terms of options. The current king would be Amazing Sudoku, available for $1.99 for the full version or the free version that limits you to only the easy difficulty.

There are two game modes to play, Classic and Magic, with three difficulty settings each. If you have played Sudoku before, then the classic mode will come as nothing new. It’s the typical fit the numbers 1-9 in all of the nine 3×3 grid while not duplicating the numbers along the rows and columns. Beyond some impressive, if not superfluous, graphics and a Asian-esque soundtrack, the only thing it brings to the table is an “autonote” feature that will automatically let you know what options a cell has based on all the other cells around it. This is a nifty feature as it makes game play easier without inherently making the game any easier. There is also a hint button that gives you up to three answers should you get stumped along the way.

The second mode, Magic, is a very interesting modification of the classic game type. In addition to being a regular Sudoku game, you also have to make sure that each diagonal column from the outer most corners also contains a 1-9 sequence. And if that weren’t enough, there are also colored squares for which the numbers inside them can only be equal to or less than the amount of colored squares in a 3×3 grid. So, if there are five colored squares, you can only have numbers 1-5 inside them, a 9 would make the grid incorrect. This mode definitely adds just enough variation from the Classic game play without deviating too far from the root of Sudoku, offering something to those that might get bored of the normal game type or need that extra bit of complexity.

The game play and controls are solid, and make the game easy to dive into, despite all its glitz and glamour. Amazing Sudoku boasts an unlimited number of levels, so there is no end to the fun that you can have with it. There is also an online scoreboard that, interestingly, makes use of the location services giving you the option to see the Top 25 scores near you, though it makes no claim of what the radius is. About the only thing missing is a daily puzzle in which everyone can compete for the high score on. Otherwise, it definitely brings a fair amount of extras to the table to differentiate itself from the pack and ends up being just as it claims, an amazing take on the cult game.

MetaSquares, developed for the iPhone/iPod touch by MetaTools, Inc., is one of those games with such a devilishly simple concept that you can only think to yourself, “how much fun could this possibly be?” Then minutes become hours and eventually the reality sets in — you’re hooked.

Originally designed for AOL back in the days of dial-up modems, the idea is that you alternate with the computer, placing one bead at a time, to form the four corners of a square. They can be formed at any angle and once successfully completed, you get points depending on its size. Whoever reaches 150 points with at least a 15 point lead first wins the round. Simple enough. However, with each round, the computer gets a little bit smarter and a little more competitive. Like any other strategy game, you’ll find that you have to think one or two, even three steps ahead of the computer if you want to keep winning. In the words of the game’s original designer, Scott Kim, “[MetaSquares] is easy to learn, challenging to master, and beautiful to watch.”

While the game is still available as a web app, it is more than worth the $2.99 price tag in the App Store. With a native touch device version comes, of course, better responsiveness, a bit more bling in the graphics with your choice of five themes, sound effects, and a Quick Play mode that turns off anything superfluous so you can get right into the game. There is also a two-player mode that lets you and a challenger take turns. All in all, MetaSquares stands out as one of better games available.

Say you took Labyrinth — you know, the old wooden game (or the iPhone/iPod touch version) where you roll a metal ball around a maze avoiding traps to get to the goal — and doused it with a couple gallons of cute, what would you get? Well, Dizzy Bee, of course.

Available for $2.99 — there is also a four-level free version to give you taste — the game has you, rather than moving a ball around, use your touch device’s accelerometer to navigate your buzzing buddy around a maze trying to collect flowers and breaking your fruit friends out of ice blocks to bring them to the level’s goal, while avoiding bad guys move along with your tilting. The levels have a varying degree of difficulty with different baddies that have their own different responses to the accelerometer, some move very quickly at the slightest tilt, while others barely move at all instead circling a specific parameter.

The game is ridiculously simple in that there are no options, other than adjusting the game’s volume, and picking a saved file or starting a new game. With this kind of simplicity, you can dive right in and out of the game with no worries, making it the epitome of casual gaming. The graphics are cutesy in that the level is made to look like it was drawn with crayons, and the game play, while fluid and very responsive, does tend to get repetitive at times. Since the concept is so unassuming, I don’t think this game was designed with long gaming sessions in mind, nothing beyond ten or twenty-minutes any how.

Overall the Dizzy Bee is a well packaged game that makes excellent use of the iPhone/iPod touch’s accelerometer and is fun for gamers of any skill level.

I have a love/hate relationship with the $2.99 Quordy. While probably one of the better, if not the best, word related puzzle game, and the most addictive game I’ve played thus far, it is a bit frustrating when for me to complete a round only to find that my score is much lower than what is possible due to a plethora of the most obscure of words, for example: koa, eme, and lez (really?). The wild thing is that these are all part of the TWL06 official Scrabble list, so if you are like me and not much of a word maven, you will find yourself scratching your head at a lot of these so-called words.

With that said, Quordy is the iPhone/iPod touch equivalent of Boggle. You have a 4×4 grid and, by default, three minutes to find as many 3+ letter words as possible. When you’ve decided on a word, just tap the first letter and then drag your finger to the subsequent letters in a connect the dots fashion to the adjacent tiles in any direction — even in a zig-zag motion.

The game offers a decent number of options, letting you alter the difficulty, including changing the minimum letter requirements for the words from three to four or five, changing the time duration from three minutes to either one, five, or none (i.e. unlimited time), and adjusting the word list from the full TWL06 to the safe version which excludes profanities or the lite version which purportedly only contains “common” words.

Quordy also features a two player mode which allows you to challenge another player to top your score on a given board. You have the option for either “Pass and Play,” which lets you and another player play on the same touch device, or via an online challenge that will email a link to the board to another Quordy player to compete at their leisure. In both versions, once player two has completed their turn, you will get a side-by-side comparison of the words found and the overall score dictating the victor.

Overall, the gameplay is solid and, again, highly addictive, and only made better by the fact that you can play the game solely with one hand. If I had to make any gripes about the game, I would say the interface could be a bit more refined, but since you spend the majority of time focusing on the letter tiles, chances are it wouldn’t even matter.

Do not be fooled by either its name or the cutesy screen shots, Smiles is as serious about casual gaming as it is colorful and adorning. Smiles is, at its core, a tile matching game. However, with two modes, Zen and Drop, it manages to differentiate itself from the others in its category and still maintain a sense of familiarity.

First, the more familiar of the two modes, is Drop. Akin to Bejeweled, the objective in Drop is to last as long as you can matching tiles. With each set of of three or more tiles, they disappear causing more to cascade from the top. When you are out of moves, the game is over. What makes Smiles stand out however is three-fold. One, rather than rotating tiles to make matches, you instead swap them out, one at a time, out of game play to a holding spot.When you find a place where it makes a match, you swap it with another tile, taking that new tile out of the game and creating your match.

The second aspect, and this is the clincher, is that through the use of the accelerometer, you tell the game which direction down is. So if it is in your better interest for the tiles to fall while your touch device is in a horizontal orientation versus a vertical orientation, you can do just that and the game will adjust accordingly. This creates a new level of play by allowing you to, in theory, prolong your life in the game. Lastly, Drop has the addition of ice blocks and rocks to the playing field. Ice blocks encase a tile in ice so that it may not be swapped out. It can be matched, thus removing it from play or if it falls a certain number of spaces, the ice will eventually break, allowing the tile to be swapped in and out. Rocks on the other hand, cannot be swapped or matched and can only be removed by falling a certain number of spaces. The addition of these two items pretty much force you to use the accelerometer to cause them to drop the required number of spaces it takes to remove them from the field.

Drop also has a dizzying array of options: you can choose from normal Drop or Drop Plus (which have three and four levels of difficulty, respectively) and Avalanche which also has three levels of difficulty. Each game mode escalates in difficulty, with Avalanche bringing an onslaught of ice blocks to ensure your demise.

Zen, on the other hand, is a the game board to light up by creating matches of three or more. Like Drop, you swap a tiles in and out of play to create matches. However, in this mode, no tiles disappear, thus, to get the entire board lit up, you will constantly have to break matches to make new, and possibly better, ones before you finally win. Also, like Drop, Zen offers varying levels of difficulties to appeal to all kinds of gamers.

The nice thing about Smiles is that there are no time limits, thus no pressure on your next move. You can move as quickly or as conservatively as you like. Additionally, the creators have added over 140 challenges to accomplish, similar to PlayStation’s Trophies or XBOX’s Achievements, you get rewarded for completing a certain task such as “Make 1,000 Matches”, “Lose on First Combo”, or “Get a x25 Multiplier.”

Smiles is available for $4.99, however, Smiles Zen is available as a stand-alone game for $2.99. Smiles Drop stand-alone is coming soon.

Lumen is a deceptively involving game. The premise makes it appear simple: use mirrors and colored filters to guide a laser beam through checkpoints with the appropriate color to win. However, you will quickly find yourself double and triple guessing your moves when you’ve realized that the path you have laid out for the lasers just isn’t doing it.

Available at $1.99 for the full version or free for the lite version, Lumen comes preloaded with a slew of “local puzzles.” If you purchased the full version, you also have the option of a growing library of user-submitted levels, currently topping off at around 2,100. Once you’ve successfully completed a puzzle you can rate it a thumbs up/down if you enjoyed the game play and the level is subsequently given a check mark letting you know it’s been completed. Lumen is meant to be a true casual game: there is no timer or score, just a sense of accomplishment when you have completed a level. And with the vast online library, you can relive that sense over and over again. You can also design your own level to share with others if you are feeling creative.

The graphics, albeit subtle, are very nice for the game. Each piece is rather highly detailed with artful animations (which you can disable to conserve battery life) to add to the experience. The UI is fairly simple and seemingly intuitive, however, the game controls can become a bit infuriating at times. You can either drag the item you want or highlight it for quick dropping (i.e., tap any number of empty spots to place the highlighted item) onto the game board, but if you don’t make note of what is selected or what you’re doing you’ll find yourself adding the wrong piece over and over again. The game also boasts a level of intelligence that knows how to angle the mirrors when placing them in front of a laser, however, that did not work for me once.

In this latest version (2.3) the developers added support for colorblind players, which I spent a great deal of time trying to enable. It was quite some time before I remembered that some apps have their preferences under the Settings app and sure enough, Lumen was right there, despite having a menu screen in the game, with the option to turn off animations and colorblind support. Unfortunately, colorblind support left a lot to be desired in that it only gave the first letter of the color of the check points. There was still nothing to indicate what the color of the laser or the filter was on the board. Truth be told, this was a great idea and nice of the developers to try and add, but was poor in execution. It would be great to see something a little more thought out for the next update.

Apple has released another update to Quicktime that should be a small bit of good news to unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro owners. Bringing its version number up to 7.5.7, the new Quicktime removes the HDCP playback restrictions from standard definition movies purchased and rented from iTunes. According to the release notes:

This update is recommended for owners of MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro with Mini DisplayPort. The update addresses an issue where some standard definition purchases from the iTunes Store do not play on some external displays.

It should be emphasized that this only resolves issues with standard definition versions of purchases. So, if you were having troubles before and are now hoping to watch that download in all its high definition glory, you are still out of luck.

The update is currently only available via Software Update for all Mini DisplayPort equipped systems.