It's not too often that I stumble on an app that's so well done that I can't help but say, "Wow, this is fantastic." Numberlys is one of those apps. It's a learning game for younger kids, but it's not what you would expect. Made by the Oscar-nominated Moonbot Studios, the game uses wonderful, Pixar-quality animation to tell the story of how letters are created. It has a 50's science fiction motif that's inspired by Metropolis and other similar movies. The storyline is engaging, the animation is top notch and the music score is superb. The app begins by telling you about the Numberlys and their drab existence. It uses a captivating storyline, mini-games and repetitive phrases to introduce and reinforce each letter in the alphabet. It takes about five minutes to complete each new letter and during that time you're exposed to the letter about 10 to 20 times. I Read More

As a video platform, Vimeo has always played second fiddle to YouTube. Yet, Vimeo does attract a more professional grade of videographer and often the contents of Vimeo are much more polished than the much uploaded to YouTube from millions of would-be Internet stars. Vimeo finally has a new app for iOS and Android and it is everything you would expect from the platform in terms of quality video and performance. Users can view videos, manage their accounts and upload all from one app. The Android version of Vimeo requires 2.3 Gingerbread or above. Producteev (Free - iOS, Android) Talk about cross-platform. Producteev is a task manager available for Macs and Windows PCs, iOS and Android, IM and email. It is basically everywhere. As a task manager, one of its best features is the ability to work offline so you can access your tasks and projects from everywhere. Imagine being an Read More

Is it as good as Morris Lessmore? No. Is it worth $6? Yes, if you have children under age 10. Like Morris, Numberlys is heavy on video — this time with a distinctly retro vibe. Numberlys is cut stylistically from the cloth of Metropolis and the original King Kong, all gray and black, with lots of art deco lines set against an urban backdrop. The animation is nothing short of arresting. As a piece of storytelling, though, the app is uneven. It focuses on five cute, whimsical characters, called Numberlys, who build the alphabet one letter at a time. Readers help the characters build roughly 20 letters, and at those moments the narrative incorporates simple games. On one page, for instance, you slide a cursor along the bottom of the screen (a la Pong) to deflect falling letters. The letters ricochet and chip away at a gear that eventually becomes the Read More

+ Universal App $5.99 Our Review By Lisa Caplan on January 18th, 2012 Rating: :: DELICIOUSLY DYSTOPIC Moonbots Studios' second digibook blurs the line between book, app and movie. Developer: Price: $5.99 Version: 1.0.3 App Reviewed on: iPad 2 iOS Integration Rating: User Interface Rating: Re-use / Replay Value Rating: Overall Rating: Set in a dystopic world, Numberlys blurs the line between book, app and movie in a way that will engage younger readers and enthrall everyone else. Developer Moonbot Studios is the publisher who made the book-app turned Oscar nominated short film, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Numberlys has a dark science-fiction tone with characters so adorably realized, I instantly thought Pixar. It turns out my instinct was not far off – the creative duo behind the studio includes former Pixar employee William Joyce. The tale is of a dark, colorless world whose inhabitant’s lives are extremely ordered Read More

Moonbot Studios has released The Numberlys, its second story app for iOS. It's an interactive tale with a massive visual scope appropriate for people of all sizes. Its stark, soaring black-and-white aesthetic draws on Fritz Lang's Metropolis to tell the story of five characters' quest to create the alphabet in a world run by numbers. The story plays out as a hybrid of a film, a book and an interactive game. Kids can just watch it unfold the first time, skip around with the page arrows, or crank a mighty gear to jump to their favorite parts. Moonbot co-founders Brandon Oldenburg and Lampton Enoch described the process by which they, along with co-founder William Joyce, create their stories, and its as charming a story as The Numberlys itself. Stirring the Pot of Stories Moonbot works off a slate of stories, choosing a medium to start with and then expanding the story Read More