Looking for a new app this weekend? Here are ten great new apps for the iPhone and iPad that you may want to check out! This free app lets you join in with the Steam gaming community on your iPhone, though chats, news stores and the various groups. Free. An endless run game with shades of Cannon Fodder, as you command a squad of soldiers who must make it through dangerous war zones. The tap, tilt and swipe control method looks easy, plus you can recruit your friends from Facebook into the game too. $0.99/£0.69. A free music discovery radio app that requires a premium Spotify account. Personalize radio stations to your tastes, skip through songs and stream music over Wi-Fi, 3G and AirPlay. Free. A special Superbowl XLVI edition of the popular flick kicking game, complete with all 32 official NFL teams, intuitive controls, excellent graphics and Game Center support. $0.99./£0.69. An iPad-only TV app with access to 40 channels of content, from providers such as ESPN, CBS, National Geographic and Fox. Free. A conversion of the classic ZX Spectrum game based on the equally classic musical. It’s universal for the iPhone and iPad, has iCade and iControlPad support, plus a host of retro tweaks including the chance to use ‘pokes’, just like the old days! $1.99/£1.49. It’s that time of the year again, and the official Oscars app has been updated in preparation for the 84th Academy Awards. There’s news and gossip leading up to the big night, and then live Red Carpet video and backstage news at the event. Free, US-only. A side-scrolling platform game with stunning graphics and a great original soundtrack. It’s universal for the iPhone and iPad, plus it has Game Center and AirPlay Mirroring support too. $0.99/£0.69. A collection of classic Namco arcade titles Read More
Smash Cops is a brilliant idea. It’s based on those thousands of police pursuit-type TV shows that feature nothing but the cops chasing down a suspect, all shot from a police helicopter. They’re trash of the highest order, but compelling and exciting trash nonetheless. Making a game using that exact formula is inspired, and Smash Cops is the result. Viewed from above – complete with the continuous whirr of the helicopter’s rotors – you must pursue and apprehend a variety of criminals from street racers to escaping bank robbers, plus complete side missions including time-based challenges such as answering an emergency call on time. You start in a standard police patrol car, but as you earn more stars from completing levels, you can upgrade to one of four other vehicles. Each vehicle has its own set of stats, and some are more suited to particular missions than others. A big red arrow points the way to your suspect, and once you’re in range it’s time to smash them into submission. Rear-ending another car doesn’t cause any damage, and you need to get alongside or in front to cause a full-on ’smash’, which eventually results in an arrest once the vehicle’s energy bar has been depleted. Smash Cops looks gorgeous, thanks to specially enhanced graphics for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, and some highly detailed cars and environments. The addition of the TV feed-style timer and opening cut scenes really makes the game feel special too. It’s a fun world to drive around, with scenery that can be obliterated, civilian cars to be knocked out of the way and plenty of neat touches like skid marks on the roads and bouncy suspension on the cars. The developers have come up with an unusual control system for Smash Cops. Pressing a dot Read More
Looking for a new app this weekend? Here are ten great new apps for the iPhone and iPad that you may want to check out! The latest educational play app from Lego, this time aimed at kids between 4 and 7. The concept is simple, build a truck, carry some cargo and earn more bricks. Free. An app designed to customize the image used on the new Facebook Timeline feature. Pictures can be imported from your phone, Facebook, Instagram and other sources. The app is free, but has an in-app charge to unlock the Pro version. Free. An iOS conversion of the classic console beat-em-up, complete with 19 characters and every fighting move intact. It’s universal for the iPhone and iPad, has several game modes including an arcade and time attack, plus Game Center support. $11.99/£7.99 Another classic Llamasoft game for iOS. Caverns is a 8-bit arcade game and contains 21 rooms, 4 difficulty settings and Game Center support. It’s also universal for the iPhone and the iPad. $1.99/£1.49. Available in either a Silver or Gold edition, you can decide whether you want free future updates to this classic Konami RPG or not. The graphics have been redrawn for iOS, and the game is suitable for both the iPhone and the iPad. $4.99/£2.99. Remember Tamagotchis? Well, this is a similar thing for your iPhone. It’s a retro-styled virtual pet that need plenty of care and attention to make sure they grow up to be happy, um, Hatchis. $0.99/£0.69. A new rhythm game for the iPhone and iPad, featuring gorgeous hand-drawn graphics, 15 songs with 30 variations and 9 difficulty settings. The game also supports Game Center. $0.99/£0.69. A camera app that uses a burst of rapid fire image captures, and some clever editing, to help you create the perfect group picture. Read More
At a special event held at the Guggenheim museum earlier today, Apple released several new applications all related to education, school textbooks and bringing students and teachers together through a single device. Introduced by Phil Schiller and Eddy Cue, with demonstrations by the VP of iTunes Jeff Robbin and the VP of Productivity Software Roger Rosner, iBooks 2 was the first new app unveiled. Rather than an entirely new app, it’s actually an update to the existing iBooks application, but it adds a new series of textbooks specially designed to take advantage of the iPad’s abilities. So, instead of pages of text and flat images, students will get interactive features, photos and video, all controlled using multi-touch. Displaying more visual content when read in landscape, then becoming more text based when turned to portrait, readers can still take notes, highlight passages and create study cards for later use. Each textbook is aimed at high school students and are priced at $14.99 or less each, plus there’s a free sample to download too. Next up was iBooks Author, a Mac app used to create textbooks for use in iBooks 2. It’s a lot like an iWork application and can adapt text from both Pages and Word for use in iBooks, as well as deal with the interactive and visual content too. The new app is primarily aimed at the conversion of existing or the creation of new textbooks, but can in theory be used for any book. It’ll be interesting to see if it’s embraced by the self-publishing industry as a way to get into the iBookstore. iBooks Author is free to download from the Mac App Store, but only works with OS X Lion. Finally, Apple announced the iTunes U app. It can be used by students, teachers and those simply Read More
Looking for a new app this weekend? Here are ten great new apps for the iPhone and iPad that you may want to check out! A beautiful notebook app with different covers, fonts and ink colors. It’s universal for the iPhone and iPad, and syncs between the two devices using iCloud. $0.99/£0.69. Released earlier this week and amazingly, still available as a download, this is a working arcade emulator. It’s universal for the iPhone and iPad, and comes with a selection of classic games. Grab it while you can! Free. The latest, universal RPG-style action shooter, with impressive graphics optimized for the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2. The game also supports AirPlay and iCloud syncing between the two versions. $2.99/£1.99. A campaign-based action game available for both the iPhone and the iPad, but as separate versions. A Bluetooth and Wi-Fi multiplayer game mode is also included. $0.99/£0.69. The popular iPad magazine makes the transition to the smaller screen this month, with annual subscriptions available through Newsstand. Free. One for the hardcore Bob Dylan fans, this universal app features a daily Dylan diary, trivia, quizzes and even a ringtone. $2.99/£1.99. Capcom brings the classic Mega Man X to iOS, with Retina Display optimized graphics, Game Center support and three difficulty levels. $4.99/£2.99. A clever interactive map for discovering new movies, based on the choices you tap. It also provides access to reviews, trends and the latest cinema releases. $0.99.£0.69. The fourth installment of Gamevil’s RPG franchise, this time using the freemium model. The graphics have been optimized for the Retina Display and there’s Game Center support too. Free. More freemium gaming, this time from Gameloft and the third chapter in their Dungeon Hunter series. It’s universal for the iPhone and iPad, has 16 worlds and many degrees of character customization. Free. Read More
Looking for a new app this weekend? Here are ten great new apps for the iPhone and iPad that you may want to check out! Available as a free version, or as a full version through an in-app purchase, this Microsoft product allows users to take extensive notes, edit them and sync them with SkyDrive. The free version has a 500 note limit. Free. The mobile version of the Xbox virtual pet game. By playing on your iPhone, there’s the chance to unlock five additional pets on the console version. It’s also universal for the iPhone and iPad. $2.99/£1.99. Sega’s classic Sonic game has had a loving conversion over to iOS, complete with both US and Japanese soundtracks and the chance to unlock Tails as a playable character. It’s also universal for the iPhone and iPad. $1.99/£1.49. Create amazing stop motion films using your iPad, plus the free iStopMotion Remote Camera app for the iPhone. $4.99/£2.99. Access Microsoft’s cloud storage system known as SkyDrive from your iPhone and backup documents, videos and pictures. Links can be shared and files accessed from a variety of devices. Free. The classic Grand Theft Auto game that reinvigorated the franchise comes to iOS, with refreshed graphics, controls adapted for the touchscreen and universal iPhone/iPad support. $4.99/£2.99. The latest digital instrument from Smule is an electric guitar, where you can learn a wealth of classic rock songs. The app is free, but songs come as in-app purchases. Free. A complete music studio on your iPad, that can be used by up to four people at one time. It includes guitar and keyboard effects, a metronome, a looper, samples and a chord creator. On offer until the 21st December. $0.99/£0.69. A visual search engine for new and interesting apps. Free. A universal, enhanced version of the classic Read More
Cope-Com, the developers behind the arcade hit Battle Squadron ONE, has just released version 2.0 of the iOS game along with a brand-new edition for the iPad. Battle Squadron ONE was reviewed back in July and awarded 5/5. So what’s in the new version? A total of 36 Game Center achievements have been added, along with an even tougher difficultly level named Air Commodore, which if you’ve played the Squadron Leader level, you’ll understand just how much of a challenge it’s likely to be! Additionally, the controls have been given an overhaul and a second, even more sensitive touch system has been added. Like all games that require a deft touch, choosing the right control method is a matter of personal preference, and the original touch controls still feel just right. However, because it’s down to the player, the more options the better. Battle Squadron ONE is a universal app for the iPhone and iPad, and the final new feature for version 2.0 is a two-player split screen mode on the tablet. Battle Squadron on the Amiga was at its best when played with a friend, and this is an interesting adaptation. But how do you adapt a two-player system over from a game played on the TV, to one operated by touching a 9.7″ screen? Cope-Com’s answer is a clever one. The screen has been split down the center, with each player getting one half to view and control their ship; and because you face each other to play, the amount of screen real-estate has been maximized. You still see your friend’s ship whizzing around next to yours and although you can play together or against each other, but it’s always more successful when you team up against your common foe. In the brief time playing the two-player edition, it’s Read More
Looking for a new app this weekend? Here are ten great new apps for the iPhone and iPad that you may want to check out! The latest magazine-style news aggregator comes from Google and collates publisher’s material, Google trends and your own social feeds into one stream. Free, US-Only. Square Enix’s latest RPG game to hit iOS is Chrono Trigger, complete with two areas taken from the Nintendo DS version. $9.99/£6.99. Codemasters bring one of their early and most-loved characters to the iPad, Dizzy Egg, in this puzzle-packed platform game. $3.99/£1.49. An app to help you discover art galleries and exhibitions based on your location. The social sharing aspect makes it perfect for travelers. Free. Race remote control cars around colorful tracks. The game has a Wi-Fi multi-player mode, Game Center support, AirPlay and enhanced graphics for the iPhone 4S. $1.99/£1.49. A new photo app that provides fish-eye effect filters for your pictures. The current price is a 50% reduction over the standard cost, but only for the first two weeks of release. $0.99/£0.69. A Wild West sandbox game with 40 missions, lots of content to unlock and a wide variety of baddies to shoot; plus the usual Gameloft in-app purchases. Free. Another Chillingo puzzler with 84 levels of ball stretching, bouncing and catapulting fun. It’s universal for the iPhone and iPad and has Game Center support. $0.99/£0.69. A social tracker app from the Evernote team, especially for foodies to photo, record and share their best meals. Free. The second new app from Evernote helps catalog all the people you meet by adding photos, notes, locations to a virtual business card. Free. Read More
If you’re at all interested in the startup scene, programming or tech in general, chances are you’ve had a browse through Hacker News every now and then. For those who haven’t heard of it, Hacker News is run by startup fund Y Combinator and is something like Reddit, but without any scary r/ sub-reddit sections and no option to downvote posts or comments. There’s almost always something interesting to read and while the web interface is functional and does a great job of pushing the content and comments to the forefront, it can hardly be called attractive. Reading the site via Safari on the iPad is fine, but fairly uninspiring when put alongside content aggregator apps such as Flipboard. Step forward Hacker News Paper, a new app clearly influenced by Flipboard’s magazine style layout. The app works by pulling all the front page stories and placing them in a newspaper style format, with the intention of making the whole thing a little more iPad and finger-friendly, and a lot more attractive. The interface will be familiar to iPad users, with a swipe to advance through the pages and a tap to read a story. Each story is formatted in a similar way to Safari’s own ‘Reader’ option, and there’s the option to skip to the comments or read the original source. The bare-bones text layout does present some problems though, as it doesn’t show any images, thus forcing you to visit the site. Although Hacker News Paper doesn’t allow endless viewing of Hacker News – remember it only collates the front page, equating to five iPad pages – but this isn’t a big concern as not only does the content regularly change thanks to the upvote system, but also the majority of good content is found on the front page anyway. Read More
