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Daily iPhone App: SkySafari
SkySafari from Southern Stars is an app for the astronomy enthusiast with an iPhone. It's the perfect companion for a new telescope owner, who can use the app to help locate celestial bodies in the sky, or the casual observer who wants to know the name of that bright star cluster overhead. It's also useful for the seasoned astronomer who wants a pocket reference that's chock full of information. The basic app (US$2.99) displays over 120,000 stars and has images of all the major planets and their moons. It also includes information on well-known asteroids and comets. SkySafari lets you look up details on each heavenly object including its catalog number and its coordinates in the sky. The app also explains the history and mythology behind each celestial object, so you can learn about the object as well as find it in the sky. If you have an iOS device with a compass or gyroscope, you can point the app at the sky and use an augmented reality view to locate stars and planets. It even includes a night mode which preserves your dark-adjusted vision when you're out stargazing at night. One of the best features is "Tonight's Best," which lists the best celestial objects to observe that night. The app generates this list based on your location and the local date and time. The app also has SkyWeek, a list of notable astronomical events pulled from Sky and Telescope Magazine's popular weekly column. Both Tonight's Best and SkyWeek are fantastic places to start if you're new to astronomy and don't want to miss an important event. SkySafari is also available in a Plus ($14.99) and Pro ($59.99) version which includes information on millions of stars, deep sky objects and every comet or asteroid ever observed. If you have a motorized GoTo mount, the Plus and Pro versions also let you control your telescope using the iPhone app. SkySafari is similar to Star Walk, another iPad and iPhone-based astronomy app. Both apps give you an augmented reality view of the sky and have information on the objects that you see. SkySafari, though, has additional features like SkyWeek that'll appeal more to the serious hobbyist than the casual observer. The depth of the information available and the option to control your telescope make SkySafari one of the leading astronomical apps available for iOS.
Black Friday app sales: Dragon Fantasy, Gem Keeper, lots more
Hope you had a great holiday yesterday! As expected, the App Sales are continuing through the weekend, and in addition to what we've already spotlighted, here are a few more. Steam is continuing its daily sales on all kinds of titles, Mac and PC alike, but Flight Control HD is the standout for iOS fans today. Space Ship Ion has gone free. Rolocule's games are all on sale, including Flick Tennis: College Wars for just a buck. The 7th Guest is just $1.99. Retro arcade game StarDash is down to 99 cents today. Dark Nebula: Episode One is available for free. 8-bit RPG throwback Dragon Fantasy is only 99 cents -- that's the lowest I've seen it, which makes this a must-grab for old-school NES fans. The very popular astronomy app Star Walk is a dollar off right now, down to $1.99 on iPhone and $3.99 on iPad. iSequence HD is down to just $2.99 from $15. Algoriddim's djay app for iPad is $9.99, half off. In my opinion, Gem Keeper is the best tower defense game on the App Store, and it's only 99 cents. I would say this is another must-get today. Worms Crazy Golf is 99 cents on iPhone and $2.99 on iPad. Disney is having a 99 cent sale, with many of their apps on sale for just a buck, including the iPad version of Split/Second. MumboJumbo also has a 99 cent sale on, including Luxor and some other great puzzle games. GTA Chinatown Wars is down to $2.99. Whew! The App Sales will all continue through the weekend, so we'll likely have even more posts with dropped prices in them to come. Next week on Cyber Monday there will be yet another round of deals, but you can expect the sales waves to continue through the holidays until all those new iPhones and iPads get unwrapped. Stay tuned!
Final day of July 4 app sales
A lot of the App Store's biggest apps have been on sale this weekend, and a few holdouts dropped prices earlier today. If your head hasn't hit the pillow yet after your local fireworks extravaganza, make sure to grab some of these while the prices are low: The Real Racing series is on sale, with the first title only 99 cents on the iPhone. All of the other iPhone and iPad titles are also at discounted prices. Vito Technology (creators of the popular Star Walk, Solar Walk, and Geo Walk apps) has put a few of its apps on sale today only. Konami has joined the party, dropping titles like Castlevania Puzzle, Metal Gear Solid Touch, and X-men to just 99 cents each. Death Rally is on sale yet again, for just 99 cents. There's also a new update available for the app that adds a new car and a new gameplay type. Finally, to celebrate the patriotic holiday and the new movie coming out, Marvel Comics has dropped the price on Captain America comics in its official app. Enjoy those apps, and we hope you had a safe and happy holiday!
Distant Suns celebrates 50th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's epic ride with a free app
It was 50 years ago today that the son of a Russian farmer rocketed into space and became the first man to orbit the earth. Yuri Gagarin's 108 minute trip in his Vostok spacecraft ushered in the era of manned space flight, as the US followed up with the Mercury, Gemini, and later the Apollo missions to the moon. In 1975 the US and Russia stopped competing and began the Apollo-Soyuz missions. Joint missions continue today on the International Space Station. To celebrate the event, Distant Suns 2 for the iPhone and iPod touch is free today only. The app is a pretty complete star map, with 130,000 stars, 88 constellations and the Messier catalog of galaxies, nebula and star clusters. I've reviewed the app in the past and found it a worthwhile purchase. It's even better for free. Author Mike Smithwick produced one of the first computerized star map programs way back in 1985 for the Amiga 1000. Mike also produced Distant Suns 3 for the iPhone and iPad, which is even more sophisticated. It's on sale for US$4.99 today only. A couple other astronomy app notes of interest. Star Walk, the award winning astronomy guide has been updated to include augmented reality. It activates the camera and superimposes accurate star positions over the portion of sky you are pointing to. It's very cool to use during the day as well because it will show you where the planets and other objects are that are made invisible by the sun. The iPhone version of Star Walk is on sale for $0.99, and that sale ends today. The app also now supports TV out on the iPhone 4. %Gallery-121002%
Macworld Expo 2011: Vito Technology updates the Walk apps
Russian company Vito Technology was in one of the booths around the Mobile App Showcase at Macworld 2011 last week, and they kindly sat down to show off new versions of their apps, all coming up in the next month or so as free updates on the App Store. Popular astronomy app Star Walk was first. It's getting a visual enhancement in the next version, with a brand new sky and a new look to the stars that's more visually interesting than the current setup. The other feature that will be added is a "calendar of celestial events," where things like meteor showers or lunar eclipses will be tracked (per your location) so that you can see when something interesting is coming up. Later on, Vito wants to add other cultural displays to the app, including constellation charts and other star maps from Hawaiian, Arabic and Native American viewpoints. Star Walk is also going to be integrated into some of Macmillan's science textbooks, so students will be able to work directly with the app as they learn. We also got to see updates for the other Vito apps, including Solar Walk and a very different Geo Walk.
Star Walk 5.1.1 brings Santa, printing and more -- plus a chance to win an iPad
Before we get to the new features in Star Walk 5.1.1 (also known as the Christmas Edition), we've teamed up with the developers, Vito Technology, to give away five copies of the app and a sparkly new iPad. Just leave a comment telling us your favorite astronomical object (star, planet, comet, constellation, space debris, man-made, whatever) and you're entered to win. Five people will win a code for the iPhone application, and one will win the 32 GB Wi-Fi iPad. Star Walk 5 Stars Astronomy Guide - Christmas Edition adds a Christmas-specific toy in that you can "track" Santa on his way around the world on Christmas Eve. Star Walk has a "time machine" mode that allows you to position the stars in the sky on any given date. Now you can "track" Santa as he flies across the sky on Christmas Eve by dialing up December 24. Our own Mel Martin reviewed the app a while back, but this latest version adds printing support via AirPrint, info on some famous man-made satellites and new star catalogs. It's a great update to an already excellent app. Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment telling us your favorite astronomical object (star, planet, man-made, whatever). The comment must be left before Wednesday, DECEMBER 22, 2010, 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You may enter only once. Six winners will be selected in a random drawing. Five will win a promo code, one will win an iPad. Prize: One code for the iPhone version of Star Walk (Value: US$2.99 ) OR one 32 GB Wi-Fi iPad for the Grand Prize winner (value: US$599). Click Here for complete Official Rules.
Tonight is International Observe the Moon Night so grab your iPhone
Tonight is the first-ever International Observe the Moon Night. If you have an iOS device, you can get even more out of observing our nearest neighbor and learning about what its made of, how it came to be, and how to observe it. Free apps like Moon Globe will allow you to explore the lunar service in detail tonight, or any night. If you're a social, rather than a solitary backyard astronomer, then here's a map to help you find local public observing groups all over the world. Expect to find some telescopes to get you a live close-up view. Since you'll already be outside, don't forget some of the great astronomy apps that help orient you to the visible planets and constellations. I like Star Walk, Pocket Universe and Distant Suns. Happily, the author of Distant Suns has put version 2 of the app on sale for US$0.99 today only in honor of the lunar event. If you have an iPhone, or iPod touch, it's a good night to look up.
Take a planetary tour with Solar Walk
Solar Walk is a nifty astronomy romp from the folks who did the popular Star Walk iPhone and iPad app. Instead of exploring the night sky and deep space, you get to tour our solar system in luscious 3D graphics. While the app is universal for the iPhone and iPad, the iPad version is breathtaking with crisp graphics and beautiful color. Tapping on any planet will take you close to it, and you can use your finger to orbit the planet and see it from any angle or zoom. You can see the planets on any particular date and time, and speed up the animation to watch the planets in their elliptical orbits. Tapping the info button gets you some information on all the planets, like size, gravity, composition and more. One omission is that the program doesn't tell you which planets are up for viewing on a particular night. You'll need Star Walk for that. %Gallery-93500%
Macworld 2010: Solar Walk and Geo Walk from Vito Technology
Our own Mel Martin is a big fan of Vito Technology's Star Walk iPhone app, so when the company's rep stopped by our booth at Macworld this week to show us two apps that they're working on right now, we couldn't refuse. The first app we saw was called Solar Walk, and while Star Walk will help you find and explore information about the stars, Solar Walk is designed to do the same with planets. The app features a beautiful (and accurate) simulation of the solar system, complete with all of the planets orbiting trails, and an adjustable clock so that you can see where Mars will be in 2029, if you so choose.
Star Walk still out of this world (and you might get it for free!)
Star Walk [iTunes link] has been updated and improved with new features that let you leave the earth and look back at our home planet in beautifully rendered views.Star Walk uses GPS to get your location, and shows you the current sky above your head. Since we last looked at Star Walk the app has added augmented reality, so as you orient your phone to the sky (iPhone 3GS only) you see star maps that show just where you are pointing. You can zoom into any object and get a closeup view of the surface details of planets, or even close-ups of deep sky objects like star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. You can click on a button and get more info on the object, and if that isn't enough you can connect to Wikipedia for even more. Star Walk is one of the great demos of Apple technology. Standing out on any clear night, exploring the skies, and easily finding out what you are looking at is a real treat. I think the earth view is nifty, but frankly, it probably isn't a feature you will use a lot. On the other hand the augmented reality features, the detailed star maps, and close-up images of objects in our solar system are very compelling features.I still don't like that the app switches to Safari for the Wikipedia info. It would be nice to see the browser built in, but that's a small price to pay for the rest of the deep information provided.Star Walk works on any iPhone or iPod touch with version 3.0 or later software. The augmented reality feature, as I said, only works on the iPhone 3GS.At US$4.99 there is a lot to like in this program. Even better, we have ten free licenses to give away to our readers. Here are the rules: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment on this post. The comment must be left before Monday October 5 at 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. 10 winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: One copy Star Walk (Value: US$4.99) Click Here for complete Official Rules.Hare are some more screen shots of Star Walk to whet your appetite:%Gallery-74579%
