Best iPhone Apps of the Year!
It’s been a great few months since we launched the blog and in such a short time we have reviewed a lot of Apps good and bad. There have been a lot of really bad apps that we tried and did not even write a review about. There have been alot of really good ones that we are still testing and posting in the coming weeks.
With 2008 coming to a close we are excited about what’s ahead for the iPhone and iPod Touch. In just a few weeks we will be posting applications of the year. There of cource will be several catagories and then the final will be best overall application that we like the best, this app will be something we just cannot do without on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
So be sure to sign-up for our RSS feed and find out who is the best of the best.
Sphere: Related Content35 Sleeping Nights Until Christmas
Today there is only 35 sleeps till Christmas, and I know that because I have the Sleeps2Xmas app. It’s kind of funny just Santa standing there holding a sign telling you how many sleeps till Christmas. It’s entertaining for hte kids and if you flash it to your children every now and then they will get a kick out of it.
It’s one of those FREE funny stupid apps that you download and just want to keep it around. It will be interesting to see if it resets on December 27th.
I’m not going to rank it, because it’s just a novelty app. But download it and get into the Christmas Spirit.
Sphere: Related ContentThe iPod Touch has changed my life!
An electronic gadget changing life and it has nothing to do with medical equipment might sound weird and believe me I have been thinking of writing this for the longest time but felt stupid that people might even think I’m crazy. But it’s true, the iPod Touch has changed my life!
First a little of my iPod history. I purchased the iPod gen 1 the week it came out, I still remember where I was when I opened the box. It was this square box that opened in the middle and then there it was almost the thickness of a pack off cigarettes with the scroll wheel and the little monocrome display. This was killer, 5gb I thought I would never fill it up. I remember walking into the gym and people looking over my shoulder the reactions where “hey what’s that” or “is that that pod thingy”. It was great. Still works but I keep it aside for people to look at. After Gen 1 I went to a Gen 3 and then a gen 5 video ipod at 60GB that to me was the best one ever. How could Apple ever top the iPod Video?
Then the rumors of the iPhone started and along with the release of the iPhone was the iPod Touch. Handcuffed by Sprint I decided to buy the iPod Touch to hold me over until I make the iPhone purchase. The night I purchased the iPod touch I felt guilty all the way home from Best Buy. I felt like my iPod Video was perfect and the iPod Touch could not offer me any additional satisfaction. Then I opened the box.
WOW! this thing is thin, thinnest iPod I ever saw, and it was just awesome. Turning it on for the first time took my breath away. I connected it to my G5 and synced my iTunes library including season 1 - 3 of The Office. OMG! The video is stellar. This is to good to be true.
So how did it change my life? LOL well actually maybe changing my life is overkill but it has made the way I do things a lot different. My iPod no longer sits in the car, it comes with me everywhere.
For Business, it’s my PDA. With the MobileMe service It syncs my calendar to my desktop and my MobileMe online account. I can take notes with it, send emails, access the Internet. The endless amount of downloadable and webbased applications allow me to do just about anything like tracking the mileage for my car, finding the cheapest gas in town, checking the weather, viewing my address list, finding an address with MapQuest, checking stocks or reading the latest post on my favorite blog like ireviewapps4biz.com.
Funny this thing is an iPod but I rarley use it listen to my MP3 collection, because I can stream music using Pandora or Last FM, listen to news in Denver or Miami on AOL Radio, update my NetFlix list, play a game of bowling or racing, post to my blog, check the NFL scores, find out how many shopping days until Christmas, find homes for sale in my town, shoot a round of golf, access my Facebook or MySpace page, send an IM to a buddy, get the movie times, locate a good restaurant, send a Twit to Twitter, buy a book on Amazon, find my way in the dark, figure out how much to leave for a tip, watch my auctions on ebay, catch a movie or my favorite TV show, Listen to a Podcast or Audiobook, and at the end of the day sit on the couch and control my itunes music or switch on the Apple TV. And then the next morning read the local newspaper. The iPod Touch does it all and does it good. You buy and iPod and you get the world in the palm of your hand.
5 thumbs up is well deserved.
ESPN Cameraman, an addictive and very cool old school game
Remember back in the day you had two of the same pictures but each one had minor differences? You had to find the difference and circle them. Do they still do that?
I came across ESPN Cameraman several weeks ago, downloaded it and never really opened it until just a few days ago, and let me tell you this; it ROCKS. It’s one of those games you just can’t put down it’s so darn addictive. You get two full color side by side photos and what you have to do is touch the photo in the area where the photos are different. There are 5 differences on each photo. Now the challenge you have a timer to beat, 3 lives and three hints. Try to be clever like I did and touch the photo all over and try to cheat and the timers runs fast on you. If you get all 5 you advance to the next level.
You can sync your score online and see where you rank with the rest of the world and you have one touch link to a nice iPhone formatted ESPN website.
The App is well done, the graphics and intro are very cool, game play is fun and it’s free. It clearly earns 5 thumbs up.
Spore Origins for iPhone and iPod Touch is very addictive
If you came to me and said I’m creating a game where you are a microscopic organism and you glide through the water and feed on other organisms while avoiding bigger ones than you, I would say you’re crazy.
Spore Origins is just that. You build your organism and swim through the water in different world feeding on smaller organisms trying to get bigger and advance through the different levels. It’s pretty darn cool, the game play using the iPhone is cool you tilt the iPhone in the direction you want to move.
The graphics are very nice and the details of the creatures and stuff floating in the water is just amazing to see. I find the game to be very addictive because you are constantly looking for new and cool creatures. The sounds and music are awesome as well. 
Game play starts off easy and gets harder as you advance through the different levels so it really never gets boring.
All in all it’s a very enjoyable game. I was not really sure it was something I was going to like but the Spore team did something pretty cool, they allow you to download a free version with one level. You can build your character and get a good feel of the gameplay without spending a dime. I liked that and was the reason I went ahead and purchased the game.
We give it 5 thumbs. It’s just a very cool addictive game.
WeatherEye app for the iphone
So for all you weather buffs out there who just can’t get enough out of the weather app that comes with the iPhone and iPod touch; there is an alternative. Well actually there are a couple of alternatives but today we are just going to talk about WeatherEye by the The Weather Network.
This free app is pretty cool; it does have a small ad banner on the bottom of the screen so it is ad supported but it does not take away from the application at all.
What’s nice about this app is that it gives you Current conditions, Short term conditions (weather in the morning, afternoon and evening) and long term conditions (the entire week). It gives a lot of details like Sunrise, Sunset, Pressure, Humidity, Visibility, Wind, Rain and Snow in inches. Graphically it’s pretty nice kind of like all the other weather related sites and apps on the market.
It’s not a life changing app, but if you want a weather app that gives you more than the one that comes with the iPhone. Then this is a good choice.
We give 3 thumbs
Finally typing emails on your iPhone in wide mode
I really have a hard time typing emails in the vertical format of the iPhone or iPod touch, it’s just uncomfortable and on top of that my fat fingers always hit the the wrong key.
Problem Solved!
There is a web based application called Wide Mail Keyboard. Remember the web apps? These are the web based apps before the actual app store came out, and there are still a lot of great web apps out there.
That said Wide Mail Keyboard rocks, it allows you to type your emails on the wide keyboard; once you complete your message you click Send to Email and it automatically adds the text to your iPhones email app. You just add the email of the person you are sending to and press send.
Simply save the apps link to your desktop so you always have one click access to it and your done. I’m giving this app 5 thumbs because it’s totally useful and makes sending email on your iPhone or iPod touch comfortable.
Pac Man the 80’s blast so good for the iPhone
Growing up in the 80’s I remember walking 10 miles to Vals Pizzaria and spending the whole day eating pizza, drinking soda and playing Pac Man. Those where the days. Since that time I have seen so many versions of Pac Man some good some bad, but the version for the iPhone and iPod Touch is actually pretty cool. My main concern was the controls and let me start by saying it’s not as good as an actual joystick used on the arcade game itself.
There are three options for control:
- The virtual joystick
- Actually moving the iPhone/Touch in the direction you want to go
- Sweeping your finger in the direction you want to move
The virtual joysick is the best of the three and the one I believe most people will use. The graphics are excellent they are identical to the arcade. The one downside is the $9.99 price tag. It’s just not worth the price. Being one of the first games for the iPhone you would think they would drop the price like many of the other older apps have been doing. What they have done is created a free version with only one level and it does not work with the 1st generation iPod Touch which is kind of a bummer.
It’s a really good game if you are an old time Pac Man or Mrs Pac Man fan and I think if they dropped the price to $4.99 they would sell a lot more.
We give it 3 thumbs up.
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