Articles by Travis Ehrlich

Yahoo! Fantasy Football ’09 for iPhone/Touch Review

Last week the Blue Plate Special was an app to get us through our fantasy drafts.  I used the app to help me make decisions as well as keep track of the entire draft.  It was much better than trying to find players on paper lists and scratching them off. Game on, wherever you are. Log in from your phone, and manage your team when you’re mobile. Add or drop players, check their stats and see the match-ups from any team in the league. Sign up for StatTracker® on your PC, and get up-to-the-minute stats on game day, on your phone….


ESPN Fantasy Football Draft Kit 2009

It is that time of the year again!!!  My football season is in full swing and we won our first game of the year 40-7.  The NFL is finally winding up the pre-season and NCAA begins this week.  The only thing else we need is fantasy football!!!  For those of you who have never played fantasy football, it can become a true addiction!  The Beaver Bowl III (my league) has its draft party tonight!  Each of us come with our own tools to ensure the best draft possible.  So, the iPhone guy on staff must have an app for that,…


Sungale Desk Lamp With Photo Frame Review

The Sungale CD358LD Desk Lamp is a super energy efficient LED Desk Lamp sporting an ultra thin 3.5 Inch LCD Screen that not only displays and stores hundreds of photos of friends and family back home but it also doubles as a video and audio player with built in speakers, calendar, analogue clock and alarm functions with user friendly navigation buttons and shortcut keys to access content. With internal memory storage of 512 MB with optional SD, MMC, and MS memory card support the Sungale CD358LD Desk Lamp can store up to 2 GB of JPEG, AVI and MP3 files…


ABContacts for iPhone Review

Mail and SMS are sent using the built-in apps. We are sorry but with the current iPhone software development kit it’s not possible to send sms to more than one contact. We all have the same situation.  Here is mine:  I coach three varsity sports.  Believe it or not, coaches are in constant contact.  Whether it be scheduling or getting a scouting reports, I need groups for the coaches I contact in each sport.  Also, with today’s technology, we always have numbers and emails for all of our athletes.  Changes in practice times or games are now as simple as…


Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor for iPhone/Touch Review

The iPhone has continually proven it’s worth as a game platform. Many games ported from other platforms have done well while the iPhone interface has given a rise to totally new ideas. Some of these ideas are so inventive, putting the game down becomes next to impossible! Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor is imaginative, beautiful and addictive!!


PhotoFunia for iPhone

I discovered PhotoFunia on my morning AppMiner hunt the day it was released.  Being a big fan of photo apps, it was easy to choose to download since it was free.  I usually shy away from web-based apps, but this one looked interesting enough to try out.  PhotoFunia is an iPhone port of an online photo editing application that can be found at photofunia.com. This app is simple and straight forward.  There is a list of photo templates to choose from.  Any new templates are at the top and labeled as new.  The number of styles and options is quite…


Color Claw For iPhone Review

From the Developer: Color Claw is an iPhone app that allows the user to adjust the color of a photo using another photo to provide the desired colors. Color Claw can be used to: Remove the effects of artificial lighting Add life and color to photos Give an exotic look to pictures There are 3 steps to using Color Claw. Step One: Select Your Photo Select the photo you want to process. Step Two: Select Coloring Photo The Coloring Photo provides the colors for your ColorClawed photo. Step Three: Color Claw It! Step 3 processes and displays the ColorClawed photo.


Sports Tap for iPhone/Touch App Review

For anyone who knows I am a coach, it is no surprise that I am a huge sports fan.  There are several good sports apps for the iPhone, each with its own positive and negative aspects.  I have finally settled on Sports Tap as my one stop score reference. Sports Tap provides stats and scores for the following sports:  MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, NASCAR, Formula One, Indy Car, AFL, CFL, PGA, LPGA, ATP, WTA, MLS, and major Futbol leagues worldwide. One of the first reasons I tried Sports Tap was due to including racing results.  Sportacular, which is also…


iNews for iPhone Review

Getting back to work has created a minor problem for me.  Since almost every waking hour is spent either in the coaches’ office or on the practice field for two more weeks, I have a really hard time keeping up with daily news.  Having all day computer access in the summers has spoiled me by allowing for a daily information overload of world and tech news.  There are several news apps that I like on my iPhone, but they are not customizable. I need news the way I want it.  Some world, some sports, and lots of tech.  These needs…


Protect Your Gear With BodyGuardz: iPhone 3GS Review

Unlike our Gear Diary friend Larry Greenberg, I only have one case for my iPhone 3GS, and am not sure how much I like carrying it with a case.  The case for me has been primarily for protection.  Yes, I found a case that I think looks cool, but I do not care for the added size of my phone.  There are many cheap clear films to protect your gadget, but few work very well.  I carry my iPhone in my front pocket and love to use it in the size and shape in which it was produced.  I recently…


Local Concerts for iPhone Review

As summer has come to a close and football has begun, I find myself without a day off until December.  For those of you who might have some time off and a spare evening, live music might be your choice of spending an evening.  Local Concerts provides a one stop resource to find who will be playing in your area.  The app is developed by a huge social music engine called iLike.It does not matter your taste or style, you can definitely find something worth going to see! Live Concerts uses your GPS to determine location, then downloads many weeks…


Match 3D Flick Puzzle iPhone Review

The iPhone has grown to become a great gaming platform.  While many of the new games are ports from console games, puzzle games have always been great for the phone.  One reason I have found puzzle games to be great is the casual nature of the games.  Sitting in a waiting room, riding a bus, bored with five minutes to kill… Many reasons casual games are well suited for iPhone users.  Match 3D Flick Puzzle takes this very full genre and adds a refreshing twist.


Nano Rally Review for iPhone/Touch

The idea of racing a tiny car around the kitchen table or other environments sounds like a really fun concept.  I have been a huge fan of racing games my entire gaming life, but have not found the iPhone to be a great platform for these games.  Nano Rally was released just over a week ago and adds a cheap and interesting twist on the driving genre. Nano Rally is a cute and attractive game.  The idea is fun and the tracks have a ton of obstacles.  This game has lots of potential, but there are issues (some of which…


G-Map for iPhone vs. Mio – Fight!

iPhone owners have anxiously awaited the ability to run turn by turn GPS applications. AT&T has introduced a subscription solution, Tom Tom has announced a version coming soon and Navigon released their North American version last week.  G-Map from X-Road (read Chris G full review from April here) is yet another option and is notably less expensive than the others. G-Map downloads maps directly to the phone so, unlike AT&T’s offering, a data connection is not required. Price points vary as there are several purchasing options. $34.99 buys either a U.S West or U.S. East version. Six regional versions are…


TuneWiki for iPhone Review

After first glance TuneWiki is just an app that subtitles iPod music synced while the song plays.  The app proves to be more than that.  Some good and some kind of meh.  There are actually four parts to the app so I will cover each part. Music: This tab is really the meat of TuneWiki.  Basically, the app acts as your iPod with a twist.  The music library is available by choosing artists, albums, songs, play lists or shuffle all songs.  Once the song plays, the album art is displayed as well as the lyrics.  Most mainstream music had lyrics…


AppMiner Review

AppMiner lets you browse more of the top apps, gives you a better search, finds price drops, lets you customize your categories and much more. Best of all, we are offering this app for FREE, so get it before we come to our senses! With the App Store’s birthday here, the amount of apps available is overwhelming!  We all need a way to sort through the apps.  How do we find what is on sale?  How do we find what is new?  AppMiner is a place to start.  Basically this app is a way to monitor the app store for…


Word Tower for iPhone/Touch Review

From the Developer: Word Tower: A challenging, fast-paced word play game for the iPhone/iTouch What do you get when you mix up Scrabble, Boggle and Tetris and add the flipping, shaking and sliding that only the iPhone/iTouch can do? WORD TOWER! In this one-of-a-kind word game, create words out of stacks of letters before they pile up and form a tower. But don’t look down too long; more letters are falling your way! Catch them on the way down to place them strategically. As you advance through levels, an array of special tiles will challenge your strategic skills and quick…


Planets Review for iPhone/Touch

Developer Description: Is that dot in the sky a star or a planet? Answer that question with this application. Discover when you can see your favorite planet, and where to look in the sky in relation to the stars. Provides lots of interesting information: location of the sun, moon, and planets in the sky maps of stars and constellations rise and set time of the sun, moon, and planets current and future moon phases 3D globe view of all planets and the moon facts sheet for each planet, including moon names The Low Down: Recently my family attended a star…


Wild West Pinball for iPhone Review

How many of you miss those days of pumping quarter after quarter into a pinball machine chasing the high score?  Granted, I did come from the era of crazy new style pinball games, but many of my quarters skipped the video games and found a home in the pinball machines.  Wild West Pinball just became free to celebrate a new pinball game from OOO Gameprom. Once the game is loaded a nice 3D video provides a tour of the scoring and special areas.  Before playing you might check this out so you know where to aim or shots.  The graphics…


Hero of Sparta iPhone Review

From the developer: You wake up alone on an unknown beach – your boat and entire fleet missing… It’s the beginning of an epic odyssey to find out just what game the gods are playing with you, King Argos. Your fate now lies in their hands. Battle like the fierce Spartan warrior you are to avoid a tragic death as you journey from the Oracle’s Island, Atlantis and finally to the depths of the Underworld. You will fight the most phenomenal monsters from mythology, defy Cerberus and the Cyclops, and challenge the gods themselves! It’s your chance to write your…


The Weather Channel Review

Description from the developer: Leave it to The Weather Channel, the most trusted brand in weather, to deliver the perfect  weather application for your active lifestyle! This highly customizable application has everything you need to stay warm, safe and dry whether you’re heading across the country, across town or across campus. Features: • Location-based conditions and forecasts • Fully customizable weather maps • Local, National and International video forecasts • Local and national severe weather alerts • Share Alerts and Forecasts via email • Store and nickname your favorite locations