Apple iPhone Apps

Frisbee Forever for iPhone / Touch / iPad

This week’s Blue Plate Special was spotted by my son. He was browsing the app store on my wife’s phone and came to ask if he could play frisbee. He said, “Dad! I have to get this frisbee game! It looks so cool and I promise it is free!” He had a point, it did look cool and was in fact free, so I let him download it. When he later told me how much he liked it, I added it to my phone then to my iPad since the application is universal. Let’s take a look. With summer coming…

Editorials

Apple Kills an eBookstore, Who’s Next?

Very ominous news from the iOS ebook world today. Teleread has reported that iFlowReader, a small ebook app, announced the 30% cut to Apple was too much for their tight margins and are closing their doors. Now, you might be thinking “I only use Kindle/NOOK/Kobo, why should I care?” Well, if you do any ebook reading at all on an iOS device, you should be extremely angry and concerned. iFlowReader has an open letter on their site explaining the situation, and here’s the most important part: Why Do We Have to Shutdown? The crux of the matter is that Apple…

Gear Bits

iBooks to Be Carried by Lovereading.co.uk

Looking for a good book to read? Of course, you are. How are you going to find one? Well, you could hit a site like Goodreads, or you could bounce around to Amazon, B&N, Kobo, your local library…or if you could hit up Lovereading.co.uk for edited, curated recommendations AND books in every ebook format for purchase! Lovereading.co.uk was offering books in Kindle and ePUB formats for some time, and they’ve now added integration with the iBookstore! This is a UK-only deal, but it’s (as far as I know) the first time anyplace has been able to offer iBooks titles outside…

News & Features, Reviews

Retro Camera Android App Review

I recently noticed an influx of funky old-timey photos on Facebook. After asking around, it appears that most people I know are using Retro Camera. According to Urbian (the developer), the app lets you take “delicious old-school pics your friends will drool over” and it delivers an “off-the-hip analog look.” Now, in general I consider myself to be pretty cool, but I am a far cry from a hipster. I own neither over-sized 1980s glasses nor a t-shirt depicting three wolves howling at the moon. Regardless, I felt compelled to give it a try. I installed it on my Droid…

News & Features

Apple & Nuance: A Tale Told on Gear Diary … in June 2010!

If you check the various tech blogs and news feeds today you are likely to find stuff about talks between Apple and Nuance to bring speech recognition to iOS for the iPhone 5. These are all based on a report from TechCrunch and “sources”. In other words, this article is the stuff of rumors… for now. The article recounts Steve Wozniak saying Apple had bought Nuance last November, which was seen as a great idea … but ultimately false and supposedly based on Siri, a company Apple actually DID buy. And yet it goes back even further – because early…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Doing Good One App at a Time: Make a Wish Makes an App Wish Come True

The Make a Wish Foundation does some pretty amazing things for some pretty sick kids. Here’s one that brings kindness and tech together. 9 year-old Owain Weinert has pre-B Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. After his diagnosis he reached out to the Make A Wish Foundation who, in turn, reach out to PopCap Games. One thing led to another and before you know it PopCap was working with Owain to create the iOS game Allied Star Police. The game should be available soon. Seriously, how neat is that??? Personally, I don’t care whether I ever play the game, I’m buying as soon…

News & Features

iPhone Game News: It’s a Dinosaur! It’s Godzilla! It’s… Destructopus!?

Behold… the first game that combines the three elements necessary to help make you feel awesome: heroism, indestructibility, and giant octopi (and fuzzy pandas)!!! The world is doomed. Pollution levels are rising, trees are endangered, and industrialization is past the limit of sustainability. You are the world’s only hope. You. Are. The. Destructopus. Yes you are the only one who can save our planet. Along the way you will upgrade your abilities and unlock new powers. How do you do it? Simple, you just save the trees, exterminate pollution, and protect our forest friends. Oh, and OF COURSE you’ll need…

Reviews

Einstein’s Pedometer Gets Tested by Gear Diary!

I majored in philosophy in college, and my high school physics class trip to Great Adventure could be summed up as “WHEEEEEEEEEE” rather than “So that’s how Newton’s 2nd Law of Gravity works on ‘Scream Machine.’” So while I understand that Einstein’s theory of relativity involves time and that if you launched into space at the speed of light and came back you’d be less old than if you stayed on Earth, I can’t tell you why. Or whether you get the same benefit going 80 instead of 65 on the highway. However, like all things in life, there’s an…

Game Diary, Reviews

Clowning-Around for iPhone/Touch

As a huge fan of Angry Birds, I have come to love puzzle/physics games. I really enjoy the thought process to release an item on the screen to begin a series of events that solves a goal. The games take planning, critical thinking and a bit of skill. As I searched the app store Clowning-Around caught my eye reminding me of the Atari 2600 game Circus. Upon further inspection, it actually reminded me of Cut The Rope and Angry Birds all rolled into a cool circus theme. Let’s take a look at Clowning-Around for the iPhone/Touch. Roll up, roll up,…

Editorials

Spring Cleaning: If an App Doesn’t Work with Evernote or Dropbox? Buh-Bye!

There are specific iPad applications that are key to my productivity day in and day out, and the “qualities” they need to have if I am to use them has evolved over time. Looking back over the ways in which they have changed in the last year or so, I realized that there is a specific pattern to those applications that have become more central to my work and daily life and those that were once useful but have fallen off the island. Strikingly, these changes have less to do with the applications themselves and more to do with secondary…

Reviews

Genius Scan for IOS

I recently needed to send a copy of some history key words to a friend for his class. I was not near a computer and did not have a copy on my phone or in drop box. I tried taking a picture of the document, which got the point across, but was not exactly a great way to send the copy. I use Evernote all of the time for similar purposes but it is still just a photo of the document. With this all in mind I began searching for an app that may improve the process. Genius Scan had…

Game Diary, Reviews

iAssociate 2 Review

When iAssociate came out on the IOS, I played through it and enjoyed the game. Some of my students recently asked if I was playing iAssociate2. I had not been playing and decided to download the free application. The next thing I know, I am trying to figure out word associations literally every spare moment I have. In fact, the game has become somewhat of an infatuation with the students. It is not rare to be sitting in class or walking down the hall and hearing “What is a 7 letter word that goes with crazy, insane and mad?” I…

Reviews

Review: Magellan Premium Car Kit and iOS App for iPhone and iPod touch

My iPhone makes a great portable GPS system. This is particularly important because my car does not have a built-in GPS system, and my daily work has me going to a variety of locations with which I am not always familiar. Using the iPhone as a GPS works rather well for the most part. It starts up in GPS mode rather quickly, locks in on satellites fairly efficiently and does quite a good job of holding the signal once it does. There are a few significant shortcomings however. Chief among them is the impact using the GPS on the iPhone…

Game Diary, Reviews

HellOut!-Volcano Adventures for iPhone/Touch

I started checking out this game searching for my Blue Plate Special app and was not sure if it could make the grade, but after a few minutes of playing I started getting hooked and found myself trying to beat more and more levels. HellOut!-Volcano Adventure reinforces my theory that simple, fun game play along with easy controls makes for an enjoyable IOS playing experience. Let’s take a look. The idea of this game is quite simple, but conquering it has proven to be another story. Your job is to guide a small dragon up to the top of the…

Reviews

Q-SIM Dual SIM Adaptor for iPhone4 Review

So how often have you wanted to use two SIMs with your iPhone 4? Perhaps you have a work line and a personal line? Perhaps you’re an international traveller and its much cheaper to use a local SIM where you are going. Then let’s add the idea that you don’t want to carry two phones and you really really like using your iPhone 4. Well now there is an answer… Mobile Fun has been distributing the Dual SIM adaptor for iPhone 4 for some time now and we at Gear Diary have an opportunity to show you what its like…..

Game Diary, Reviews

Mr AahH for iPhone/Touch

I remember a day when searching for a game I worried about 3D graphics and realistic gameplay. Of course those things are nice and cool in a game, but IOS has brought me back to the day where simplicity and fun were more important than realistic explosions. I recently tried to explain to some of my students how fun gaming was “back in the day” when graphics were terrible, but the games were just fun and could be replayed over and over. This idea has proven true for me again with IOS games where simplicity, enjoyable game play and the…

Gear Bits

‘Easy Calendar’ iPhone App Makes Adding Appointments Easy

I have a confession to make-I rarely make my own appointments. No, whenever I schedule something new for myself I usually mess things up and end up double-booking or, worse, not properly saving the date and then not showing up at all. My strategy to avoid this? My awesome, amazing assistant. I know it sounds lame but by working through her I rarely, if ever, mess up my schedule. There are, however, times when I do need to add my own appointment and, when that happens, I curse my iPhone. Seriously, why is it so hard to make new appointments…

Game Diary, Reviews

Angry Birds Rio for iPhone/Touch

I did a strange thing this morning. My alarm is set for 5am but I actually woke up 10 minutes early. I grabbed my phone from the charger next to my bed and searched the appstore for the new Angry Birds Rio game. Most would think I am nuts for doing such a thing, but if you are a fan of the Angry Birds games, you understand my excitement. Like a kid on Christmas morning, I hurried to my office to play through some of the levels before it was time to wake up the family and get ready for…

Editorials

Why the eBook World Makes Me Nuts

Image taken from the Wayback Machine In the beginning, there was Peanut Press . . . Seriously, though; as you’ve probably noticed from Carly’s great postings, the eBook industry is . . . well, the polite way to put it is, “In flux.” The less-polite way to put it is, “A big friggin’ mess.” The same book cannot be read on different eReaders; paperbacks are cheaper than eBooks; eBooks are being delayed to give hardcover books a chance to sell more; books can be summarily deleted from your library without notice; and on and on. It’s enough to drive you…

Reviews

iDisplay Review: Gives You Second Monitor Capability on Your iPad (and iPhone)

All images courtesy of Shape Services A couple of months ago, Shape Services–the makers of IM+ and IM+ Pro for the iPad and iPhone (which I will also be reviewing)–let me test out their iDisplay program. The idea behind iDisplay is simple: why not turn your iPad or iPhone into a second monitor? How did it work out in practice? Read on. I tested this app with my Lenovo T-61, which has an Intel Core Duo 2 Ghz/777 Mhz, with 2Gb of RAM, running Windows XP SP 3. Being a work laptop, it also has considerable security software running, which…

Music Diary, Reviews

CarTunes for iPhone/Touch Review

We all hear the dangers of texting while driving and how our devices create dangers during travel. These dangers are real and hopefully everyone is taking steps to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel and leave their devices alone. Using my Mogo Talk and voice recognition applications has helped me pay attention to the road, but one area always poses a problem. Using an iPhone or iPod Touch to listen to audio while driving can also take your attention. Changing tracks or play lists can be just as dangerous as sending a text message. With…

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