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Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

App Review: Rolando 2 — Roll On the Second Coming

Written on July 09, 2009 by Olly Farshi and No one has commented

Rolando 2 is the sequel to Rolando, a game which proved that the iPhone can compete with Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS in the handheld console wars.
Just over a year after opening, the App Store is coming into its own. Indeed, there’s the dodgy dirge of novelty joke apps, but at the other end of [...]

The Ultimate MacBook Pro Protection Suite by Moshi

Written on July 07, 2009 by David Klein and 13 people have commented

I’m a huge fan of Moshi’s Apple-centric line of products and accessories. In fact, my entire collection of Apple products has now been complimented by Moshi. For example, I use the iLynx USB/Firewire hub and Celesta keyboard with my iMac; my iPhone is protected by the iGlaze 3G; and recently, my Macbook Pro experienced a [...]

Dock Gone: Say Goodbye to Your Dock

Written on July 07, 2009 by James Dempsey and 20 people have commented

When Apple introduced the Dock with OS X, people immediately either love it or hated it. Over time, we all got used to it. Among some of the usability complaints about the Dock is the fact that without hacking, you can’t simply get rid of it. Hiding the Dock will only get you so far – it still pops-up at inopportune times. If you’re frustrated by the inability to completely hide the Dock, there is a simple solution.

Weekly App Store Picks: July 4, 2009

Written on July 04, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 7 people have commented

It’s that time of the week — when we welcome you to the weekend with a selection of the freshest picks for the iPhone from the App Store.
Hold your horses, though, because before we dive headfirst into a glorious ocean of iPhone apps, I’ve got a roundup of notable Apple news from the past seven [...]

Rise of Lost Empires: Like Warcraft for iPhone, but Not Nearly as Good

Written on July 03, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 3 people have commented

I think I may have achieved a grasp of Gameloft’s concept design strategy for their iPhone catalog. It seems to have something to do with being “inspired” by titles and franchises that are already wildly successful. You can’t help but see the similarity between Hero of Sparta and God of War (even syntactically). Likewise, with [...]

Game Review: Plants vs. Zombies

Written on July 01, 2009 by Chris Ryan and 7 people have commented

For the past two weeks, I’ve been completely engrossed in following Plants vs. Zombies. For those who haven’t heard, this isn’t about the Supreme Court case, but about the latest game from PopCap, makers of the infamous Bejeweled and Zuma games.
Planets? And Zombies? Do those even mix?
You may have seen the cute viral video that [...]

App Review: oMaps — Offline Mapping for iPhone

Written on July 01, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 10 people have commented

Due to hefty 3G roaming rates, Apple’s Maps app just won’t cut it when you’re out of the country. The oMap app lets you download maps for offline viewing — dodging a shocking bill post-vacation.
The iPhone is an almost perfect companion for travels to distant lands. With a bit of foresight and time set aside [...]

Fairmount: Convert Your DVD Collection

Written on June 30, 2009 by Bryan Schuetz and 22 people have commented

Have you ever wanted to copy or convert your personal collection of DVDs for backup or easy viewing on your Apple TV, only to be thwarted by CSS encryption? I feel your pain, and so do the good folks at Metakine. Lucky for us, Fairmount is here to help, and it’s free!
CSS, or Content Scramble [...]

Zengobi Curio Does Everything

Written on June 29, 2009 by Nick Santilli and 3 people have commented

The fear of freedom that Zengobi’s Curio offers users has caused me to write and rewrite this post many times over the past few months. I just haven’t known how best to embody its essence. So before I confuse (and frighten) myself more, I’m kicking this post off with my conclusion of Curio: It’s the [...]

Logitech’s G13 Advanced Gameboard

Written on June 29, 2009 by Chris Ryan and 1 person has commented

While many don’t see the Mac as the ideal game platform, it still holds its own against Windows PCs and console systems. Many hardcore gamers love to trick out their systems with beefier graphics cards, extra controllers and special, high-performance input devices, and Mac users are no exception.
Today, we’re looking at Logitech’s G13 advanced gameboard. [...]

Weekly App Store Picks: June 27, 2009

Written on June 27, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 4 people have commented

It’s the weekend, people, so prime your downloading finger and get ready to make good use of it as I guide you through the latest picks from the App Store.
Thanks to the release of OS 3.0 and the iPhone 3GS, there’s been a constant stream of Apple happenings. Before we get to the apps, let’s [...]

App Review: circuit_strike.one — Asteroids On Steroids

Written on June 25, 2009 by Charles Jade and No one has commented

Mixing neon visuals and techno music with top-down shooting action and inertia-based movement, circuit_strike.one pushes the limits of Apple hardware, and possibly the patience of the casual gamer.
Setting
The player is pilot of a virtual ship that hacks network nodes, in a stylized metaphor for a computer network. A mission is completed by destroying a shield [...]

App Review: Presenter Pro — Learn to Sell It Like Steve Jobs

Written on June 24, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 3 people have commented

Presenter Pro is a learning resource for professionals and interns alike, coaching you in the ways of effective presenting.
There are three heroes of presenting for me: Merlin Mann, with his deliciously witty and yet precise style; Lawrence Lessig, who takes a high-speed, word-by-word approach; and of course, Steve Jobs, who is alternately expressive, passionate and [...]

Nambu Solves Twitter Clutter

Written on June 23, 2009 by Bryan Schuetz and 20 people have commented

The great thing about Twitter is that there are a million different ways to both access and contribute to the content being shared there. The bad thing about Twitter is that there are a million different ways to both access and contribute to the content being shared there.
Nambu is a native OS X application for [...]

First Look: Spanning Tools Public Beta

Written on June 22, 2009 by Andrew Bednarz and 2 people have commented

I’ve never been as organized as I currently am with the combination of my MacBook Pro, iPhone and Google Calendar. Sure, before I crossed the line to Apple, I had tried to use Thunderbird (with Lightning’s Calendar plugin) to keep organized, syncing to my Windows Mobile phone, but it was always clunky and slow and [...]

Waterfield Designs: Cases for Apple Purists

Written on June 19, 2009 by Chris Ryan and 14 people have commented

Like some of you, I’m quite the “Apple purist.” I’m not a fan of fancy cases that junk up my Macs. I don’t like skins for my iPods and those plastic snap cases for my laptop. We all know that Apple designs beautiful products, so we might as well show them off! Balancing protection and beauty, the stylish and functional cases from Waterfield Designs are some of the highest quality cases I have ever used.

iPhone Doc Editing: Documents to Go vs. QuickOffice Pro

Written on June 19, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 7 people have commented

A little while ago, QuickOffice ($19.99, iTunes link) brought Word document editing to the iPhone. This week, however, QuickOffice officially loses its corner on that market with the introduction of Documents to Go ($4.99, iTunes link) by Dataviz, a seasoned contender.
The iPhone may not be my device of choice when it comes to doing [...]

10 Father’s Day Apps for Your #1 Dad

Written on June 19, 2009 by Peter Venero and 10 people have commented

With Father’s Day just around the corner (Sunday, to be exact), we here at TheAppleBlog thought what better gift to get that special father in your life than a thoughtful yet handy iPhone or iPod touch application.
Feeling the cash crunch around this particular time? Not to worry, most of the applications mentioned here are free [...]

Beta Watch: Opera 10 Beta 1 Turbo

Written on June 18, 2009 by Charles Moore and 2 people have commented

Back in March, I reviewed the Opera Turbo Labs preview version of the Opera 10 alpha browser incorporating server-side optimization and compression technology that Opera claims can speed throughput over slow connections by reducing the amount of data needed to display Web pages by up to 80 percent — music to my ears, being stuck [...]

TweetDeck Hits the iPhone: Best Twitter Client Yet?

Written on June 18, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 16 people have commented

Part of me wishes people would stop making great Twitter clients for the iPhone so that I can just pick a horse and stick to it, but another, far larger part of me is thrilled to see TweetDeck (free, iTunes link) come to the App Store. While I stopped using the desktop client in favor [...]