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Startup Shortcuts: An App for Misbehaving Macs

Written on January 23, 2009 by Clayton Lai and 4 people have commented

You own an iPhone. You probably own a Mac as well. We all know that there are startup keyboard shortcuts for every troubleshooting procedure a user can follow when his or her Mac misbehaves. Some are easier to remember than others. Some are truly arcane. If you remember only some but not others, developer Eric [...]

ShiveringKittens: iPhone Game Presents Mild Risk of Frostbite

Written on January 22, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 1 person has commented

I like puzzle games on my iPhone, and I like Tetris. With that in mind, I approached ShiveringKittens ($2.99, App Store) fairly optimistically since, since it is a puzzle game which resembles Tetris. Certainly, other apps for the platform have used this recipe to great success, like ngmoco’s Topple. Maybe I was making unfair comparisons [...]

Tweetie Gets Major Update, Brings Much to the Table

Written on January 16, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 4 people have commented

A little while ago, our own Olly Farshi took a number of full-featured Twitter apps for the iPhone and iPod touch platform out for a spin, comparing each by features in a convenient table. His declared winner at the time? Relative newcomer Tweetie ($2.99, App Store), whose list of features blew competitors out of the [...]

Appigo Notebook: What Notes Should Have Been on the iPhone

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

As a writer, I find having a notebook on hand very useful. Long ago, that used to mean carrying around a bulky paper volume and a pen, which was somewhat awkward and not the most space conservative solution. I moved on to a Palm Pilot, which was marginally better, but that usually still meant dragging [...]

Best iPhone App Ever Winners for 2008

Written on January 09, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 1 person has commented

It may not be the most authoritative source (what is?), but the winners of the Best iPhone App Ever Awards have recently been announced. The awards are organized and run by 148apps.com, an iPhone and iPod touch App review site whose main feature is a top 148 list. Awards were decided based on community and [...]

When The Cracked and The Cracker Meet: An iPhone Tale

Written on January 07, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 35 people have commented

Imagine sitting down to talk with the guy who just broke into your apartment and stole your TV. You might ask him, “Why did you steal my TV?” and he might answer “Because I wanted it.” or “Because I wanted to sell it.” In the real world, a thief’s motivations are generally not very complicated. [...]

Books-As-Apps: Cutting Out the Clutter

Written on December 31, 2008 by Darrell Etherington and No one has commented

Over the holidays, I ended up reading an awful lot using my iPhone/iPod touch. I started with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, just to determine whether or not I wanted to cough up ten bucks to go see the Brad Pitt movie, and then, since I enjoyed it, I downloaded and read a [...]

My Top 5 iPhone Apps of 2008: A War of Attrition

Written on December 26, 2008 by Darrell Etherington and 9 people have commented

It was a long, drawn out, brutal affair. Finally, after many months, five apps have emerged victorious, and earned a long-term place on my iPhone’s home screen. There are a lot of apps that I’m initially impressed with, and which actually work really well, or have interesting features, but it takes something special for me [...]

One Juicer: Managing the App Store Beast

Written on December 26, 2008 by Darrell Etherington and 1 person has commented

There are many ways to keep on top of app releases. You could, for instance, just visit the app store on your iPhone and sort the lists by release date. You could also try AppSniper, an application designed solely with keeping tabs on iPhone releases and pricing. Or, you could go with a web or [...]

SimCity: Create a Bustling Metropolis on Your iPhone

Written on December 23, 2008 by Darrell Etherington and 7 people have commented

EA dropped SimCity ($9.99) for the iPhone recently, and I actually almost missed it. I was still buzzing over Hero of Sparta and I Love Katamari, both of which are also recent releases.
Of course, I had to put everything on hold and take a crack at SimCity, since the PC versions of the game had [...]

14 Ho Ho Holiday iPhone Apps

Written on December 17, 2008 by Darrell Etherington and 3 people have commented

I’m a holiday junkie. I watch all the Christmas specials (including a copy of PeeWee’ Christmas Special which I have on VHS. It’s the only reason I still have a VCR), I make hot chocolate, I bake, I go absolutely insane. My insanity now extends to my iPhone, which has recently experienced a rash of [...]

Hack and Slash With Hero of Sparta on the iPhone

Written on December 16, 2008 by Darrell Etherington and 7 people have commented

I’m a bit of an ancient culture geek, and a big fan of the God of War series of video games. For these reasons I was both excited and wary about the new Hero of Sparta ($9.99) game for the iPhone and iPod touch, the latest Gameloft release. Having recently reviewed Brothers in Arms and found [...]

Weekly App Store Roundup: Dec. 13th, 2008

Written on December 13, 2008 by Josh Pigford and No one has commented

The world slows down for another couple of days as we hit the weekend and take a few moments to catch our breath. It’s been another hectic week here at TAB, we considered the potential arrival of a Nintendo Wii-style iPhone, rejoiced at the release of a multi-touch Firefox Beta, extolled the virtues of Mac-augmented [...]

The Downward Trend of iPhone Pricing and What it Means for Developers

Written on December 12, 2008 by Foofy and 6 people have commented

If you wait long enough, that app you have your eye on will eventually cost $0.99, or even nothing, depending on how patient you are. A lot of iPhone and iPod touch applications go through a distorted bell curve pricing process, whereby they start off relatively cheap, owing to a “promotional, introductory offer”, then become [...]

React: Test Your Reflexes On the iPhone/iPod Touch

Written on December 11, 2008 by Josh Pigford and 2 people have commented

I entertain no illusions when it comes to my reaction time. I won’t be catching any katana blades between my hands, that’s for sure. It’s my secret shame, since it means I’m not terribly good at video games, despite my professed love of them. There may be hope for me yet, thanks to DoApp’s new [...]

6 Ways to Trick Out Your Mac This Holiday Season

Written on December 10, 2008 by Lisa Hoover and 2 people have commented

As you do your holiday decorating this year, don’t forget to trick out your Mac, too. Fortunately, it’s a lot easier than hauling out heavy decorations or hanging 40 miles of outdoor lights in sub-zero temperatures.
I am always amazed at the creative widgets people devise and create for the holidays, and this year is no [...]

App Store’s 300 Million Downloads is Remarkable No Matter How You Look at It

Written on December 09, 2008 by carolyn and 8 people have commented

This past Friday, Apple advertised iPhone apps in the New York Times and also mentioned that there have been 300 million app downloads. While most people realize this is pretty amazing, there are some comments quickly rushing to pour water on the app store’s fire…
How many of those 300 million were free apps?
Apparently this [...]

Earn Money With Your iPhone 3G

Written on December 08, 2008 by Josh Pigford and 2 people have commented

My iPhone bleeds money. I buy apps, the bulk of which I never look at again. My monthly bill, in order to guarantee enough data available, is pretty expensive, especially when compared to what I was paying for earlier phones. And, to top it all of, I buy tons of accessories for my iPhone, spoiling [...]

Brothers In Arms for iPhone/iPod Touch

Written on December 08, 2008 by Darrell Etherington and 9 people have commented

In the course of playing and reviewing a number of iPhone games, I realize I’ve come to expect, and even allow for, certain shortcomings. I expect lag in a graphics-intensive game. I expect buggy controls that feel less than intuitive. I expect omissions that are promised to be fulfilled in later updates. All of which [...]

Channel Your Inner Ancient Riverboat Gambler with MotionX Poker Quest

Written on December 05, 2008 by Darrell Etherington and 2 people have commented

My attention span when it comes to gaming, and especially mobile gaming, is not very long. Most titles on my iPhone never get a second play, in fact. Hence my surprise when I spent many hours over the past few days on MotionX’s newest title, Poker Quest.
MotionX is the developer behind MotionX Poker, one of [...]