Gazmaz from the UK here. I was lucky enough to receive a code to try out an iPhone/iPod touch game from Chillingo called The Jim and Frank Mysteries – The Blood River. The game has more than 20 hours of engaging gameplay spread across 4 chapters, with over 60 different kinds of puzzles varying from [...]
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While I’ve been waiting for my 3G iPad to arrive and test out all the great iPad gear I have, I took a look at some iPhone/iPod touch accessories from iSkin. iSkin makes tons of iPhone and iPod gear that just makes sense. The two products I looked at were the iSkin Solo FX with [...]
I get a lot of gadgets and gear that cross my desk, my side desk, my drawer cabinet, my office floor, well you get the idea. Anyway, a lot of the stuff is just that, stuff. Then there’s that one gadget that you keep picking up and looking at it and looking at it and [...]
This holiday season I purchased an iPod nano for my daughter. She had an earlier version of the nano, but lost it. If I was going to buy her a replacement iPod, I wanted to get an accessory that not only was functional, but practical. Enter the Danglet from Collins America. Danglet simply plugs into [...]
Continue reading about The Danglet: A Great Little iPod Stocking Stuffer
Living in Spain as a British Expat I am always keen to look at applications that make my limited use of the Spanish language better, so I was excited to take a look at Jibbigo which promised:
Your world just got smaller thanks to a speech-to-speech translation app for your iPhone.
Hmm what is the point of having a application launch on an iPhone with the message that this is the first time you have launched the application and suggesting you watch the introductory video which ……….. doesn’t work on the iPhone!
As first impressions go that was terrible. I mean really bad!!! Now I know that it is a major weakness of the iPhone the lack of flash BUT they know that so why make the first experience of the application such a negative one?
Loading it up for a second time I was faced with three language pairings to select from:
English (International) – Español
Español – English
English (US) – Español
Now not having been able to view the video I was unsure which to choose. As a fully fledged proper English speaker from the United Kingdom, I wanted English. Technically I only recognise that as the English option anyway!!! I have always felt that English (US) should be called American, and I have no idea whatsoever what English (International) means? To me it has always been and always will be English.
But that wasn’t my dilemma! The issue was the direction as I was going to be speaking in English and wanted a translation into Español I wanted the Español – English option, but wasn’t sure if that meant I would be expected to speak in Español and it would be translated to English.
I selected that option anyway and …….. I got a screen that had the Español flag at the top saying Hola, and a American flag at the bottom saying Hello, so:
- It was requiring me to speak in Español with that selection, but
- It was saying that English was actually English (US)
Hmm not good, and as it seemed to be assuming that the world evolved around the English (US) setting I thought I would adopt an American approach of three strikes and you are out.
So I thought I would change the settings, which it seems requires the application to be closed down and restarted.
After much internal debate and with fingers crossed I selected the English (International) – Español option, and wouldn’t you know it I got the Union Jack flag at the top of the screen, and the Español flag at the bottom.
I thought I would give it a quick test, so pressed the red record button and said “knife”. After a bit of whirling the top box came up with the phrase “The Bus” and the Español translation of “El autobús” which was fine, but I can’t cut my steak with an el autobús!!
So on the three strikes and you are out rule I gave up!
24 hours later, and having reflected that I had kindly been given the opportunity to review the application I thought I would try again. As I was hungry I said “dinner”, which somehow ended up as “where”, which was translated to “dónde”. Again accurate translation, but not of the word that I asked for.
I am genuinely sorry BUT this application, for me, was a total waste of time.
The website does carry this ‘warning’:
Version 1.0 contains a bug that affects the audio output on some iPhone/iPod models. Please update Jibbigo via the App store or via iTunes to version 1.01 (released on November 3rd, 2009). If you used the workaround, remember to set your date back to normal.
I thought it prudent to check which version I had – 1.0.1 so that wasn’t the issue.
I also saw on the Support page that:
Q. What if I’m having trouble getting Jibbigo to recognize my voice?
A. Jibbigo has an optional adaptation mode that adapts to your voice and noise environments. The switch is on the backpage.
But as I had tried with this setting both on and off it wasn’t that either.
For the record I did contact the developers about the issues above. As far as the video goes it is a issue with the 3G iPhone as I suspected but that doesn’t deflect from the initial impression it leaves.
As for the application not recognizing any of the words I was advised to try saying phrases not words, and bizarrely that worked! I know weird or what ….. say a phrase and it works, say one word and you get some random word replacing it.
Having got it working though it was fun, but slow! The translations were 100% accurate every time, but they took an eternity to come up. I doubt that anything can be done about that and the technology is pretty amazing, but as far as been able to use the application in a busy food market (where I tried it out) it was just too slow. I can see how it has value as a learning aid but as a day to day assistant I found it far to slow for practical use.
At $24.99 the application isn’t cheap, but it is very clever.
Continue reading about Jibbigo: Speech to Speech Translation
The good news is that you can put all your music and podcasts and audio books on one iPod and take it with you everywhere you go. The bad news is that if you wanted to share that music or those podcasts with anyone else, you’d have to carry an iPod speaker system with you [...]
By Steve Beyer:
I just have to come clean because I have been playing a bit of hooky this week.
My Son is home on leave from the Army before he ships off oversees in late September. He is also a Mac lover so we have been spending way too much time discussing and playing with Mac Software. He brought his new unibody 17” MacBook Pro with a Solid State Drive. It a thing of beauty to behold and it created quite a bit of lust on my side.
After dealing with the all those numbers from my last Review, “Accounted” by Oranged Software, I have to admit that some game playing was defiantly in order and thus my review for this week an iPhone game called GloBall.
Globall is developed by Robot Super Brain. They can be found at www.robotsuperbrain.com. No information was available about the developers but they seem to specialize in game development. In addition to GlowBall they currently have another iphone game called Sly-Q and god forbid a windows series called Tropix.
Robot Super Brain describes GloBall as simple and addictive. Tilt to roll the ball and break blocks! Avoid or squish your enemies, and conquer the globe! As your score increases, so does your sphere of influence on the GloBall globe. Can you become the best player in your neighborhood, your city, or even the world?
Globall seems to be a hybrid of brick breaker and a maze game. The paid version of the game currently has 70 different levels with each getting progressively harder and more challenging. The goal is to hit all of the colored blocks and bonus squares with your rolling globall all the while trying to avoid obstacles along the way. You gain bonus points by completing each of level before the allotted time runs out. At the beginning of each level, You are given three lives to complete the maze. If you run into one of the obstacles you can lose one of these lives. You can gain more lives by collecting magnetic gold coins along your journey.
Globall uses iPhones built in accelerometer to control the movements of your globall through the maze. I normally am not that great at using tilt movements but I took to this setup instantly. Tilt makes the game much easier to control than standard buttons. I found that I was able to get better control by working on a table. I place two thumbs and two fingers on the four corners of the iphone each lightly resting on the table. This allowed me to obtain much finer moments and control
What really Sets this game apart from the others that I have tried is the additional use of location in the gameplay. Globall uses the iphone’s GPS which allows it to blow away the traditional leader board found in most games. Not only can you see the current rankings but you also find out where in the world the current leader resides and the area that your score dominates Globall tells you the feet or miles to next highest score for game totals and for each level .
This really add to the excitement of the game. It is fun to watch your rank grow and globall area of influence increase.
Glowball is a gorgeous game to behold. Its has real splashy colors and animation. It starts with an short video of the Robot Super Brain logo and then quickly moves to a menu with three menu items.
Play
Levels
Options
Levels presents you with a thumb nail of either a map or lock for each of the 70 levels. You can move through each level using a cover-flow style interface. Each level displays your current rank and number of miles of dominance. Clicking on a thumbnail moves you to the start of its corresponding
Back at the main menu,
The options item provides the user with four more menu items.
Viewed Saved Score
Reset game,
Help, and
Calibrate Tilt.
There are also two check boxes for Sound and Post Scores to Globe.
The Play Menu item returns you back to your last point in the game and provides the normal one level after another progression.
Touching the screen pauses the game. You can quickly reenter the game where you left off. This allows you to pick it up when time permits. That is assuming you have more willpower than me.
The Globall ricochets off each of the blocks in much the same manner as most brick breaking games. If you hit a power up block you gain special powers for a limited time. These power-up options are Fire Ball, Ice Ball, Bomb Ball, Lightning Ball, and Nuclear Ball. Each provides a different awesome super power that help you make it through the game faster and removes the normal ricocheting.
Each level contains one or more obstacles that can cause death and require you to restart at the beginning of the level. If you lose all of your lives you have to replay the level. Some of the obstacles can be destroyed for bonus points. The obstacles include
spike balls that grow as you approach,
Worms that eat your ball and require you to shake to escape,
Dragons that bounce across your path,
Money Bugs that contain extra gold coins but can also quickly become a deadly circular saw,
Fire Walls that turn on and off to bar your progress and
Deadly Lava fields that kill instantly on contact or cause you glowball to smoke if you get too close.
This game has a lot of action. Secret Doors open when you roll by.
Gates open when you turn a wheel.
Teleport Tubes move you quickly from one room to another.
Something is always going on and the action really draws you into the game.
The Light version of the game is a fully operational trial version but it is limited to 7 levels.
The paid version currently has 70 levels with more levels included with each update. These levels are more challenging and provide more opportunity for higher scores and Globall world domination.
The paid version of the game is currently priced at $2.99 which is a bit higher than many games. I think it is worth the entrance fee. I love the game play and the location features.
This is currently my favorite game. I love the bright colors, the fast action, and the different challenges. I am still having a hard time negotiating the lava fields.
I have a long way to go in order dominate the world but I have been able to move above 400th place. The location based Scoreboard is a feature I would love to see in more games. I would highly recommend that you give the light version a try and then decide for yourself if it is worth the $2.99 price.
If you have a favorite game that you would like to share, I can be reached by email at threetwo@me.com or via twitter at threetwo. I plan on getting back to work on the Studiometry review. No More game time honest…. Well maybe just a little more Globall. I really want to get above 300th place.
http://playshakespeare.com/
We all probably had this happen to us, you’re at a meeting or a conference and suddenly you realize. “Oh no… I just ran out of business cards”.
This always tends to be the moment someone important comes around the corner and you really need to give that person your contact details. What now?
Here comes beamME Pro.beamME Pro makes business cards unnecessary. You enter all your data that should be shared into the application and you are ready to go. If you meet someone that you want to give your information to, just fire up beamME Pro and send it over. This can be done using the persons email address, the phone numer or Twitter account (yes Twitter).
With the first two methods, the other person gets an email or text message containing a link where they can download a vCard file. If you choose Twitter they’ll get an @reply with the hint to follow beamME on twitter. After they did so, they will receive a direct message with a link. Like this, rmbrme (which is the company that createdbeamME) can make sure that only this specific person gets your personal details.
With the new 3.0 version of beamME Pro you can even send contact information over Bluetooh to otherbeamME Pro users. Furthermore it allows for tracking the locations where you send your information to whom and it holds a list of all people you sent your contacts to. You could also pick another card from your adress book and send this to someone else.
There is also a free lite version that lets you send your card to other people but not over Twitter. It has some limited functionality compared to the Pro version and at $1.99, beamME Pro is everything but overpriced.
So I really encourage you to go check out beamME Pro. If you might be confused by the gold subscription model the developers write on the appstore, don’t worry, all the features they tell you about are included in beamME Pro. These guys just don’t seem to stop thinking about future developments.
And to be in todays trend, beamME Pro can also be considered as the green alternative to normal business cards.
beamME Pro can be found at http://www.rmbrme.com
Hi everyone Gazmaz from the UK here.
So I was struggling to think what I could do for a review this week, and it suddenly struck me that I hadn’t heard anyone on the show talk about Flight Control for the iPhone and iPod touch. I know that this is the MAC Reviewcast, but I have done a couple of iPhone/iPod touch games in the past and no one moaned at me and as the OS on the devices is seen by many as a variation of the beautifully crafted OS X I thought that it would be acceptable.
So lots of people were talking about Flight Control some while ago now, and I’d resisted the temptation but then I started being challenged by some friends and thought OK as the game is only 0.59p why not just try it out, and at the present time the game is still only 0.59p in the UK, $.99 cents in the US and .79 euro cents in Europe. That said, it is still on a limited time offer it will go up to $2.99 when out of the offer period.
So CoverSutra uses the power of spotlight for you when you search for music from within iTunes and it is just a quick keyboard combination away and is very fast.
The Case design which you can have floating on your desktop, has a choice of three types, a couple of CD type cases or why not go vinyl.
The controls that you can set up can be used to control iTunes from wherever you are on your machine, and you can set up almost any customisable keyboard combination. If you have one of the new flat keyboards you can still use the play options that Apple gives you.
My very first impressions of the game was this has no depth and I’ll soon get bored, but to be honest, after a couple of goes, and realizing that I needed to change my strategy, I enjoyed the game much more. It does have some difficulty and you can get a little flustered if you get behind and start getting lots of balls and are unable to clear, but when I started to use the bonus balls that came in the right way, I again found some depth to the game.
Continue reading about Flip Disc: iPhone/iPod Touch Game Review
The new Vibe II headset/headphone from V-MODA is a great choice for iPhone and iPod Touch owners that want a solid quality sound with a microphone, and convenient call/music control functions. The Vibe II is not exactly cheap at $129, but I think they’re actually worth every penny of the price.
Let’s look at the specs first, The Vibe II sets are made of stainless steel alloy and fabric cables with a noise-cancelling microphone. They come with detachable sport earhooks, eight pairs (XS,S,M,L) of silicone ear fittings in clear and black, designer carrying case, VIP Card at V-MODA’s website, and a one-year V-MODA premier warranty. The stainless steel alloy makes the earbuds the heaviest buds that I’ve ever had in my ears. That may be a good thing or bad thing, but with the earhooks they stay in place during exercise and feel quite comfortable.
From the V-MODA website:
Frequency Response: 12 Hz – 22 kHz
Speaker Driver: 8mm V-MASQUE dynamic technology, neodymium rare earth magnet
Cables:Kevlar® reinforced, 32” plug to y-connector, 13.5” even-length earphone cables.
Plug: 24k gold-plated, 3.5 mm (1/8”) stereo plug
V-MASQUE high-definition clarity and 3D soundstage
BLISS noise isolating (Bass Level Isolating Soft Silicone) technology reduces outside noise and enables deep bass
World renowned sound signature features vibrant bass, vivid mid-range, and vivacious highs
Tuned to ensure a truly a unique hi-fidelity experience that evokes the soundstage, bass, and sensations of the ultimate music experience
(As you can see from the plug size, you can use these in your Blackberry Curve, Storm and Bold.)
So how do they actually sound? My opinion would not mean much since I’m in my 50′s and have lost some of the range I had when I was younger. But in a simple comparison with the standard Apple headphones, I can hear a real difference with a much stronger Bass range and obvious increases in the high range of sounds. I had my son try them out and he agreed they were a big step up from the headphones he was using. I also can say that the phone conversations I had with them were clear and a big improvement over any Bluetooth headsets I ever tried.
The accessories that come with the Vibe II are well designed, functional and look great. The earhooks help those of you that are more active then most of us, and the case helps to keep your hooks, ear fittings and headphones all in one place. Plus the Kevlar reinforced woven fabric cable is more durable then any cables you’ve used and they give the Vibe II a special designer appearance
Because of all these reasons, I re-state that the V-MODA Vibe II are well worth the $129 price tag in my opinion. V-MODA makes several different headphones, the Vibe, the Vibe Duo, and the Sports series. I suggest you take a look at all of them on their website, www.v-moda.com.
I am not a big gamer at all. I enjoy the occasional play, but tend to quickly get bored, assuming I can figure them out in the first place, but I recently came across a game that, rather like a ‘perfect storm‘ brought together all three aspects:
- It is about rescuing kittens
- It is on the iPhone
- It is simple enough for even me to play
Hi Everyone Gazmaz from the UK here. I hope your holidays went well and I hope the New Year brings you health and happiness. First, I have to make a correction to the app I reviewed back on MacReviewCast #189, that is Iconic Notes, it was free at the time I reviewed it, but now [...]
