TUAW's Daily App: The Ultimate Alphabet
Filed under: Education, iPad Today's app is going to blow your mind. Back in 1986, artist Mike Wilks published a book called The Ultimate Alphabet, which featured 26 different paintings, each filled with items that corresponded to the letters of the alphabet; the letter A painting contains airplanes, ants, an apple tree, and so on. There are more than 7,777 words represented in the book, with lots more little secrets hidden in the paintings; there are letters encoded in Morse code or semaphore, obscure symbolism, and visual gags. The book was part of a competition with a big cash prize, which was solved in 1988, when Wilks published The Annotated Ultimate Alphabet; it included descriptions and clues for each of the items hidden in the extremely detailed paintings. Now, a company named Toytek has begun to bring the book to the iPad, and it allows you to interactively explore some of Wilks' paintings and their extremely deep complexity. As you can see above, it's wild; you tap on an item, enter the actual name, and then the book will tell you whether it's right or provide clues for the word you're looking for. The app is free to try, though it's prohibitively expensive if you want to purchase everything. You can buy the letters in bundles, and the full purchase price eventually comes out to around US $45 in total. That's pricey, although it's the same cost as the printed book, and you get the interactivity for free. Still, it's a great idea, and there is a free trial if you want to check it out.TUAWTUAW's Daily App: The Ultimate Alphabet originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Education - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Ultimate Alphabet - Paint - Mike Wilks
TUAW's Daily App: Expenditure
Filed under: App Store Expenditure is another great-looking app found via the excellent Well-Placed Pixels blog. It's an expense tracker -- you can add transactions into the app with just a few taps (and even attach a photo, note, or category to each debit or credit), and then browse your collected budget. Obviously, you could use it to just see how much you're spending each month, but it can also be used for things like traveling (the app will automatically calculate currencies for you) or keeping track of business expenses. It's not a super full-featured business application, but it will do the basics smoothly and beautifully. You can find it on the App Store for US$1.99, and as an iTunes commenter points out, using it will probably save you the $2 you spend on it. There is a lite version that only allows eight transactions (enough to see the app in action, though not enough to actually put it to use), so if you're not sure about spending a couple of bucks, you can check it out that way as well. Excellent app -- the functionality is a little limited (by design -- the developers just wanted a simple expense tracker), but the great aesthetic and design elements make up for the simplicity. TUAWTUAW's Daily App: Expenditure originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments AppStore - Unofficial Apple Weblog - IPhone - Apple - Daily App
TUAW's Daily App: Super Badminton 2010
Filed under: iPhone, App Store I can say, without a doubt, that Super Badminton 2010 is the best badminton video game I've ever played. Then again, it's the only badminton video game I've ever played. Still, Indian developer Rolocule has done a pretty excellent job on the game. I don't know how much it actually relates to the real life game (I don't think I've ever played a whole real life game before), but the controls are responsive, the graphics are just about right for the iPhone, and the back and forth tennis-like gameplay is a lot of fun. There's an awful lot of game here, too, with multiple players and modes to choose from. It's pretty easy to master; just move your player where the shuttlecock is headed and time your hits. Added features (like a tilt function to aim shots and a really powerful smash that requires expert timing) give some nice depth to the gameplay, and multiple tournaments to play through will put your skills to the test. I only wish the app had a free version available; while I'm sure that the game is worth US $4.99 to those who are in the right mood for it, a trial version with a game or two to play would help potential customers figure that out quickly. If you're on the fence about this one, it's probably best to wait for a trial or a sale. However, if you've been craving a good game of badminton (for some unforeseeable reason), Super Badminton 2010 is a nicely done App Store title.TUAWTUAW's Daily App: Super Badminton 2010 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - AppStore - Badminton - Video game - Unofficial Apple Weblog
App demo: AudioBookShelf
Filed under: iPhone, iPad if(typeof AOLVP_cfg==='undefined')AOLVP_cfg=[];AOLVP_cfg.push({id:'AOLVP_us_115539670001','codever':0.1,'autoload':false,'autoplay':false,'playerid':'61371447001','videoid':'115539670001','publisherid':1612833736,'playertype':'pageload','width':480,'height':270,'videotitle':'TUAW','bgcolor':''}); iBooks gives you a great way to organize ebooks and PDF's, but what about audiobooks? Unfortunately, iTunes still blobs everything together like a big ol' playlist in iTunes. AudioBookShelf is an app designed to make your audio book shelf more enticing. Unfortunately it won't play the audio books in iTunes, giving you instead 12 hand-picked audio books from a library of classics. Favorites like Treasure Island and Gulliver's Travels (one of my favorite books) are read with clear voices, as the developers looked to only include those with quality recordings. See the video for the app in question, or visit the App Store to see the official description and full list of books included in the price of $1.99. The app is universal, so one price puts it on the iPad and iPhone.TUAWApp demo: AudioBookShelf originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - Apple - ibook - App Store - iTunes
TUAW's Daily App: Pilgrim's Punch Out
Filed under: iPhone, App Store Comic-Con starts in San Diego today, and I'm down here wandering the aisles, looking for geeky gear and cool games. Scott Pilgrim is already one of the stars of the show, with the excellent comic series having finished up, a new console game coming out soon, and of course the Michael Cera-enhanced movie in theaters in a few weeks. To celebrate, NBC Universal has released this free retro Punch-out game starring the characters from the movie. It's not quite as good as the upcoming console game, but it's an amusing little retro distraction that fans of the movie will get a kick out of. The app's also connected up for Comic-Con -- it's got news and updates straight from the convention floor, and there is a trailer and gallery from the movie to unlock. Yes, it's adware -- if you have no interest in the movie, there's not really a reason to download the app. But if you're already interested in Scott Pilgrim and want a little more fun from the franchise on your iPhone during Comic-Con, definitely check this one out.TUAWTUAW's Daily App: Pilgrim's Punch Out originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - AppStore - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Scott Pilgrim - Apple
TUAW's Daily App: Dungeon Hunter
Filed under: iPhone, App Store Gameloft's Dungeon Hunter is probably the best Diablo-esque action RPG on the App Store right now -- it looks great, and plays just about as well as any touchscreen controlled action game can. As a Warrior, Mage, or Rogue, you can hack and slash your way through a fantasy world, picking up armor, earning XP and exploring a serviceable (if not particularly gripping) story. The save system is a little annoying, and the inventory can be a bit overwhelming, but the presentation does justice to the genre on Apple's small screen. In accordance with an ongoing sale, Gameloft has the title priced at just 99 cents. For cheap action gaming thrills on the iPhone, things don't get much better than that. There's no word on exactly how long the game will be so cheap, but if the idea of a portable Diablo clone appeals to you, open this treasure chest right away.TUAWTUAW's Daily App: Dungeon Hunter originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Apple - AppStore - Gameloft
Postcard App has stamps licked
Wish you were here with me and my phone! Postcards that take longer to return from holiday than the sender are a pain for those of us who observe the age-old tradition of holiday hellos.…
AppWall screensaver brings the App Wall to your Mac
Filed under: Odds and ends Even though I haven't actually seen it in person, I've been a big fan of Apple's App Wall at WWDC every year; they've hooked up a bunch of servers and Mac pros in order to create an animated set of App Store icons that shows real-time purchases in a very visual way. Now, I can have a little piece of the App Wall on my Mac at home; a Polish developer named App has created an AppWall screensaver that's now available for a free download. We got in touch with App's Peter Tuszynski who confirmed that, while it doesn't work exactly like the official App Wall (it won't show you real-time purchases), the screensaver really does pull icons from top free or top paid apps by way of an option choice, and then it displays those icons on an ever-changing screensaver display. It's very cool. I downloaded it on my MacBook, and while the saver does take a little while to load up (it has to pull in all of those icons every time it starts up), it's a reasonable facsimile of Apple's official display. And you don't even have to buy tickets to San Francisco to see it! The screensaver is available for free right now. If the site's being hammered, just give it some time to recover from the traffic. There are also icons on the site that hint that Apple will bring this to the iPhone and iPad "soon," so we'll stay tuned and see what they've got planned.TUAWAppWall screensaver brings the App Wall to your Mac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments appstore - Apple - AppWall - iPhone - Unofficial Apple Weblog
TUAW's Daily App: Articles
Filed under: iPhone, App StoreWe've talked about Articles here on the site before. Out of all of the apps that won Apple Design Awards this year, I would say it's probably the most underrated and most useful. It's a Wikipedia reader, which doesn't sound like much since the mobile version of Wikipedia is pretty good already. Having a dedicated app for the open source encyclopedia makes a surprising difference, though, and it allows you to consume all of that content in a really focused way. There are integrated maps and photos and lots of different ways to browse information, including shaking the iPhone to see a random page. The new update doesn't hurt either; version 1.3 adds a language picker, a new Table of Contents sheet, and an orientation lock that even works on the iPhone (a previous update already made the app all ready for iOS 4.0 and the Retina Display). Articles is US$2.99, which might seem pricey to browse content that you can already read for free. However, if you've participated in a few marathon Wikipedia sessions just by following a few random reference links, it's well worth the purchase.TUAWTUAW's Daily App: Articles originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - AppStore - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Apple - Wikipedia
TUAW's Daily App: Sketch Nation Shooter
Filed under: App Store Sketch Nation Shooter actually came out a little while ago, and it's not so much a game as it is a game engine; it allows anyone with a pen and paper to create enemies and turn them into shoot 'em up video games. I was duly impressed with the title at release, but the latest update has really upped the ante; it allows anyone to download and browse the hottest in-app games without requiring a Facebook login. Additionally, the imaging system has been updated, which means the graphics should look better than ever, and a few other bugs got fixed and tweaked. Sketch Nation Shooter is just 99 cents on the App Store, and it's definitely worth seeing if you like this game genre. What Engineous Games has created here is really impressive. It's also good to see that there are updates coming out that answer to issues fans have had with the game. In-app purchasing allows you to buy packs of graphics to use in your own games, but you don't really need them. Just draw a picture, use the camera, and start shooting.TUAWTUAW's Daily App: Sketch Nation Shooter originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Unofficial Apple Weblog - AppStore - Video game - Facebook - Game