newapps
Latest
New and notable apps for iOS and OSX
It's always busy in the App Store with a never-ending flood of new apps landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of stand-out titles from the past few weeks! If that's not enough, you can also follow our ongoing coverage of new apps as they are released. New iOS Apps Astro Golf [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $1.99] What could be better than mini golf? Mini golf, with robots, in outer space. Golf with Orbit, the Robot and with his gal-pal, Tess. Hop [iOS Universal; Category: Social Networking; Free] Hop brings your email to life! It automagically turns your email messages into a natural chat conversation with the people you know. Wonders of Life [iOS Universal; Category: Reference; $5.99] Explore the majesty of nature in breath-taking 3D with Professor Brian Cox as your personal tour guide. Photofy [iOS Universal; Category: Photography & Video; Free] Photofy is a self-expression photo app that empowers people to be creative by adding their own unique touch to photos and sharing them with friends, family and social media. UpWord Notes [iPhone; Category: Productivity; $0.99] UpWord Notes makes your everyday notes more productive. We re-imagined powerful note-taking as an elegant experience. The Right Word [iPad; Category: Education; $1.99] Introducing The Right Word: The premier app for practicing English usage and learning how to properly use commonly confused words. World of Gibbets [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $0.99] 'World of Gibbets' invites you to a gruesome place where people are just moments away from..uhm..becoming angels. They hang on gibbets! Numerical: Calculator Without Equal [iPhone; Category: Utilities; $2.99] Numerical is a calculator without equal. Whether you're doing simple math, advanced brackets and exponentiation, or need a running history of your previous work, Numerical has the answer. Card Wars - Adventure Time [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $3.99] Floop the Pig! It's Adventure Time CARD WARS! Play the game inspired by the Adventure Time episode, "Card Wars"! Summon creatures and cast spells to battle your way to victory. CalCube - Quick, Slick & Easy Calendar [iOS Universal; Category: Utilities; $1.99] Calcube is the quickest calendar around. All you need to enter is the name and time of your event. Other details are already pre-set at the first startup of the app. That's what makes CalCube much faster than your default calendar. Monster Stacker [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] A fun new physics game for the Mac OSX. Test your balancing skills as you drop deliver crates of cute monsters onto your hiring bosses' dungeon floor. Bug Heroes 2 [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] Every day while you're gone, an epic battle of swords, guns, and armor rages on your counters, on your floors, and in your yard... Enter the world of the Bug Heroes! SECTOR [iPad; Category: Music; $6.99] Slice and sequence your loops with a matrix of markov-chain connections. Introduce order with the probability-based coin-flipping pattern sequencer. New OS X Apps VideoGif [OS X; Category: Utilities; $4.99] VideoGIF makes it easier than ever to create animated GIFs from videos/movies. To get started, you are free to add a video from video files or the Webcam. Monster Stacker [OS X; Category: Games; $2.99] A fun new physics game for the Mac OSX. Test your balancing skills as you drop deliver crates of cute monsters onto your hiring bosses' dungeon floor. Compare Folders [OS X; Category: Utilities; Free] Folder comparison for the rest of us: simple, fast and accurate. Compare at a glance two folders, even with thousands of files, taking into account file and subfolders content, creation & modification dates, permissions and more Keep Everything for Web [OS X; Category: Productivity; Free] Light & Fast Web Archiver for OS X, iOS. You can keep webpages and images by just "Drag & Drop" or "Select & Copy".
Protect your child's email experience with Tocomail for iOS
There's always a degree of tension present when it comes to technology and children; what's appropriate and safe for a savvy 10-year-old may be nothing but trouble for a less-responsible teenager, and only an involved and vigilant parent or caregiver can make decisions about what works for a particular kid and family dynamic. While most parent agita centers around social networking, bullying/abuse and photography (what I like to call the "unholy Snapchat trinity"), even the question of whether young kids or tweens should have their own email accounts may raise eyebrows. Providing safe and secure email experiences for kids is the business of lots of services, including some that have come and gone over time (this PC World article references our parent company AOL's former AOL Kids offering, which was sunsetted back in July of last year.) Tools like Zoobuh (US$1 a month per kid) deliver filters, monitoring and granular control for younger email users. While parents can and do set up regular email accounts for kids, most consumer services have a minimum age limit like Google/Gmail's 13-and-up rule. Trying to slide by on that may result in your child's account being suspended at the worst possible time (like when a key assignment is due or a big birthday party is coming up). And maybe it's not the best lesson regarding integrity and honesty when you have to warn your child to consistently lie about her birthdate lest the Google FBI (family birthday investigators) throw her into juvenile digital detention. Apple's parental controls for the Mac Mail.app client let you lock down approved senders, but don't deliver the flexibility of a web and mobile client. The demand for an easy, manageable service that's Mac- and iOS-friendly is so high that even an April Fool's parody story on "iCloud for Families" from TidBITS gets pride of place in a web search. The new Tocomail service and corresponding iOS app are meant to assuage some of those anxieties. With both a free tier and a $2.99/month premium option, Tocomail gives your kid(s) a choice of preschool-simple or grade-school "blackboard chic" interfaces. There's an iPad/iPhone drawing board for preliterate correspondents, a "picture timeline" view and more. Adding contacts is easy from the parent-centric web interface (which looks a lot like the kid-centric UI, just be warned). You can see a quick promo video here. Parental control is baked into Tocomail, and it allows parents to easily monitor and quarantine email to their offspring. The premium tier adds a contact "gray list" for subsequent approval, and lets kids create their own contacts; parents can also approve or decline new contact requests directly from an email notification, rather than having to go to the web Tocomail interface to approve them. Premium Tocomail also includes a preset bullying filter to prevent issues before they occur. Part of me wants to love Tocomail, and it is indeed a very simple and manageable way to give your kid an email account without worrying about setting up lots of positive filters and granular management. But given that a lot of schools are already using Google Apps for Education for students as young as fourth grade, the kid-simple interface strikes me as a disservice to digital-native kids. Why create an iPad app that looks like a coloring book, when today's coloring books already are iPad apps? Wouldn't it make more sense to give them something that treats kids (and parents) as the sophisticated software consumers they are? The other red flag for me is that giving your kid an email address at any age-specific service means that somewhere down the line they will have to change their address, and deal with all the accompanying contact-management and notification hassles. No 14-year-old is going to want to be getting and sending email from Tocomail, but that's what family and friends will know them by. I'd much rather use a domain I own and control and then handle forwarding/recipient screening as needed; however, that level of effort may not be appropriate for all dads/moms and all families. Tocomail is free on the web and in the App Store, with a $2.99/month or $29.99 annual premium service option.
Daily App: Rookie is a camera app and photo editor rolled into one
Rookie is a new photo app from JellyBus, the makers of PicsPlay and Moldiv. The developers have experience with creating photography apps and it shows in Rookie. Rookie launches as a camera app, allowing you to capture photos using the iPhone camera. Unlike the stock camera app, which is barebones, Rookie has a few handy settings that'll improve the overall quality of your photo. First and foremost is the ability to easily toggle on/off settings such as a grid, a level and a timer. You can also turn on an anti-shake feature that'll minimize blur when your subject or your hand is not so steady. Rookie also supports live filters, allowing you to apply a filter as you take a shot. The app ships with a handful of filters and you can use an in-app purchase to upgrade to a premium pack for US$1.99. Though you can't manually change the values, Rookie does show you the ISO and shutter speed of your shot. You can use these values as a guide to adjust your environment by adding or removing light to get the shot you want. Two other useful features in Rookie are the ability to set the flash and to lock the white balance. When you are done shooting, Rookie moves you automatically from the camera app to the photo editor, allowing you to prettify your picture in just a few simple steps. Though its controls are different from sister app PicsPlay Pro, the developers obviously know how to build a photo editor. Rookie is very easy to use with both editing and design tools available at your fingertips. Rookie has all the standard editing tools, like Contrast, Hue & Saturation, Vibrance, Color Temperature and Tint that you need to correct flaws in photos. You can also crop and rotate as needed. On the design side, Rookie allows you to overlay text and tweak the look of your letters with a variety of fonts, outline options and color choices. There's also a handful of stickers and shapes that you can add to a photo. If you want additional choices for decorating your photo, you can purchase a sticker pack ($2.99) or a shape pack ($0.99). Rookie is a wonderful photo editor that turns into a photographer's must-have utility with the addition of a capable camera app. It doesn't seem important on paper, but I really appreciated the combination of camera app and photo editor. I was able to go from capturing a photo to photo editing without fussing with opening multiple apps and importing photos. Rookie definitely improved my productivity as I could take a photo and immediately start editing it, instead of my usual workflow of taking a photo and then saying I will edit it when I get a chance to open Photogene. Of course, I never get around to opening Photogene and my photos sit in my camera roll untouched. If you enjoy taking photos with your iPhone, then you should check out Rookie. It's available for free in the iOS App Store, so you can give it a spin and see if you like it. Even though it is free, all the basic functionality you need to capture and edit a photo is included in the app. In-app purchases are included if you want to add to the number of filters, sticks and shapes at your disposal
Roundup of new and notable apps for iOS and OS X
It's always busy in the App Store with a never-ending flood of new apps landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of stand-out titles from the past few weeks! If that's not enough, you can also follow our ongoing coverage of new apps as they are released. New iOS Apps Toca Lab [iOS Universal; Category: Entertainment; $2.99] Welcome to Toca Lab! Explore the colorful and electrifying world of science and meet all 118 of the elements from the periodic table. Cable's Big Game Hunter [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] Cabela's® Big Game Hunter lets you hunt the biggest and most dangerous animals on the planet for free. Osfoora 2 for Twitter [iPhone; Category: Social Networking; $2.99] Osfoora is a feature-rich Twitter client that's fast, elegant, and fully designed for iOS7. Castro - High Fidelity Podcasts [iPhone; Category: News; $2.99] Castro is a revolutionary podcast client that's smart, graceful, and designed exclusively for iOS 7. The Room Two [iPad; Category: Games; $4.99] Welcome to The Room Two, a physical puzzler, wrapped in a mystery game, inside a beautifully tactile 3D world. Star Trek™ Trexels [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] The USS Valiant has been destroyed by an unknown attacker, and Starfleet has chosen YOU to continue its mission deep within a mysterious area of space known as the Trexelian Expanse. Stephen Hawking's Snapshots of the Universe [iPad; Category: Education; $4.99] Stephen Hawking's Snapshots of the Universe explains the principles that control our universe through simple and fun experiments. Castle Raid 2 [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] In this unique tug-of-war you once again fight to defend your castle against the enemy's hoard. Tomb Raider I [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $0.99] Here at last! The original genre defining adventure Tomb Raider now available for your iPad & iPhone. Walking Dead: The Game - Season 2[iOS Universal; Category: Games; $4.99] The sequel to 2012's Game of the Year continues the story of Clementine, a young girl orphaned by the undead apocalypse. Hero Siege [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] The kingdom of Tarethiel has been taken over by creatures of hell. Your mission is to cleanse the kingdom and free the citizen from the agonizing wrath of the demon child called Damien. Kennedy: Capture the Now [iPhone; Category: Lifestyle; $1.99] Capture the now with Kennedy – a new way to mark moments in time complete with surrounding context of the things happening around you. Wake Alarm Clock for iPad [iPad; Category: Utilities; $3.99] Wake, the most beautiful and intuitive alarm for iPhone is now on the iPad! Journeys of Invention [iPad; Category: Education; Free] Journeys of Invention brings to life over 80 extraordinary objects from the Science Museum in London in 14 interactive stories written by the curators. Fonta [iPhone; Category: Photography & Video; $0.99] Turns Your Words into Beautiful Photo Text Design Pieces. Toy Defense 3: Fantasy [iPhone; Category: Games; $1.99] Face the fire - dragons are coming! Toy Defense 3: Fantasy features a MAGICAL new world with dashing warriors, fearless archers, crafty goblins, and immersion in a magical atmosphere! Toy Defense 3: Fantasy HD [iPad; Category: Games; $4.99] Face the fire - dragons are coming! Toy Defense 3: Fantasy features a MAGICAL new world with dashing warriors, fearless archers, crafty goblins, and immersion in a magical atmosphere! New OS X Apps Rayman Origins [OS X; Category: Games; $19.99] Rayman returns in a magical adventure that brings back the spirited 2D platforming of his celebrated first outing. Duo [OS X; Category: Developer Tools; $4.99] Duo is a dual-paned web browser that lets you browse the web in two views: your standard 'desktop' view as well as a typical 'mobile' view. 1Keyboard [OS X; Category: Utilities; Free] Type on your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV using your Mac's keyboard. QuickTab for Gmail [OS X; Category: Productivity; Free] QuickTab for Gmail is the easiest and fastest way to access Gmail on your Mac. Photo show - Movie Maker [OS X; Category: Video; Free] With Ephnic Movie Maker, you can add your digital photos and family videos to make home movies with background music. When in Rome [OS X; Category: Games; Free] Realore introduces a brand new strategy game where players can put themselves in the shoes of Flavius, experienced Roman warrior who had to retire and needs to build a new life for himself. MarkDrop [OS X; Category: Productivity; $3.99] MarkDrop is a gorgeous, powerful Markdown editor built with sharing in mind. Every MarkDrop document has a secure URL that is viewable in any browser.
Coursera lets you learn on the go with new iPhone app
Coursera debuted its iPhone app on Tuesday, bringing more than 500 free courses to mobile devices for the first time. Coursera is an up-and-coming online learning platform known for its MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course). These courses are open to thousands of students at once and foster collaboration between students through peer-graded assignments and other interactive tools. Coursera offers courses for free in a variety of disciplines that cover everything from the arts to engineering. Each course features video tutorials from respected university professors and online quizzes to measure your progress. You can enroll in a course for free, but you have to pay if you want official credit for completing a course. Once a web-only platform, the new Coursera app brings most of the features of the website to your iPhone. You can browse and enroll in courses from your iPhone. You also can watch course video lectures either by streaming them over a cellular connection or downloading them to your device. It's perfect for anyone who wants to fill their spare time with educational activities. I know if I was commuting, I would be firing up Coursera to learn about Medical Neuroscience instead of just staring idly out the window. The Coursera app is available for free from the iOS App Store. You will need to sign up for a Coursera account if you want to access the material on your mobile device.
New and notable apps for iOS and OS X, December 9, 2013 edition
It's always busy in the App Store with a never-ending flood of new apps landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of stand-out titles from the past few weeks! If that's not enough, you can also follow our ongoing coverage of new apps as they are released. New iOS Apps Code Academy: Hour of Code [iPhone; Category: Education; Free] Learn how to build amazing things online by programming with Codecademy - all for free. Our app gets you started by introducing you to the basic concepts behind the apps on your phone and the websites you visit. You'll learn to understand the basic structure of code when you see it./p> Pinswift - the fast and powerful Pinboard client [iPhone; Category: News; $4.99] Bring the complete power of Pinboard.in to your pocket with Pinswift. Create bookmarks with ease and use powerful search options to quickly find what you are looking for. Heroes of Dragon Age [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] Build a party of famous warriors and epic monsters from Dragon Age lore. Endless Reader [iOS Universal; Category: Education; Free] As a follow-up to Endless Alphabet, set the stage for early reading success with Endless Reader! This app introduces "sight words", the most commonly used words in school, library, and children's books. The Wolf Among Us [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $4.99] As Bigby Wolf - THE big bad wolf - you will discover that a brutal, bloody murder is just a taste of things to come in a game series where your every decision can have enormous consequences. Blek [iPad; Category: Games; $2.99] Blek is a game about imagination and personality. Everything you draw keeps moving - and watching your creations move is like watching magic. Swoopster [iPad; Category: Music; $2.99] Swoopster is a wild, fuzzed out Flanger/Vibrato effect designed for Audiobus and Inter-app audio. Assassin's Creed Pirates [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $4.99] Become one of the most feared pirates of the Caribbean in this exclusive Assassin's Creed adventure on smartphones and tablets! New OS X Apps Galaxy Run [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $0.99] Suit up to join a crazy adventure to help get Rez home from the deep and dark mysteries of Space on his one way trip to adventure and fun. Anytune for Mac [OS X; Category: Music; $29.99] ANYTUNE™ is the ultimate music practice app for singers, dancers and musicians of all kinds. Artists worldwide use Anytune to learn to play, transcribe and practice songs by slowing down the tempo, adjusting the pitch, repeating loops, and sharing comments using their favorite tracks. TimeTracker [OS X; Category: Business; Free] Track the time spent on projects right from your menu bar. All data is stored on the open source time tracking web application Kimai. The Journalist (just a note-taking app) [OS X; Category: Productivity; Free] The Journalist is just a note-taking app featuring notes with unlimited images, markdown support and more. Download "The Journalist" and just start to write. **Where Are My Students "Where Are My Students" is a classroom utility designed by a 25 year veteran Elementary School Teacher. With the click of a mouse, "Where Are My Students" tracks students as they come and go from the classroom.
New and notable apps for iOS and OS X, November 18, 2013 edition
It's always busy in the App Store with a never-ending flood of new apps landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of stand-out titles from the past few weeks! If that's not enough, you can also follow our ongoing coverage of new apps as they are released. New iOS Apps Art Set - Pro Edition [iPad; Category: Entertainment; $7.99] This stunningly beautiful app is like having a virtual art set right inside your iPad. Paint and draw via the photo realistic interface with tools that look and feel incredibly like the real thing. Farming Simulator 14 [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] Start your agricultural career in Farming Simulator 14 on mobile and tablet! Take control of your farm and its fields to fulfil your harvesting dreams. Robotic Drums [iOS Universal; Category: Music; $4.99] Robotic Drums is an analog modeled drum synth coupled with a probability sequencer. This special combination, makes the app suitable for live sound manipulation, sequence experimentation and regular beats. Taasky - Beautiful, simple and easy to use task manager [iPhone; Category: Productivity; $0.99] Taasky is the most beautiful task manager app for iOS yet. It provides innovative features and unique and visually appealing design. Football Manager Handheld™ 2014 [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $9.99] Football Manager Handheld 2014 is the best-selling and most realistic football management game available for mobile and tablet devices. GT Racing 2: The Real Car Experience [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] GT Racing 2: The Real Car Experience is a true-to-life automotive journey featuring the most prestigious cars in the world. EPOCH.2 [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] EPOCH has trekked across a war-ravaged country to find the one person he was programmed to protect: the Princess, Amelia. Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] Return to a world of fast-paced, tilt-only arcade action! You'll flee a relentless onslaught of dastardly dots, desperately darting between single-use weapon orbs. MC Oscilloscope [iOS Universal; Category: Music; $4.99] MC Oscilloscope is a powerful digital multichannel oscilloscope for your iPad or iPhone. In combination with an external multichannel USB-audio-interface it is capable of displaying up to 8 channels (per source) simultaneously. It also includes a multichannel full scale level meter. ProCam XL [iPad; Category: Photography & Video; $0.99] ProCam XL has been redesigned from the ground up to perfectly compliment iOS 7 with a focus on function over form while still bringing a beautifully streamlined interface. BIAS - Amps! [iPad; Category: Music; $19.99] BIAS is an Amp Designer, Modeler and Processor for iPad. It's warm, accurate and more versatile than any other modeler, processor in hardware or software ever created. Voodo 2 - Easy Todo [iOS Universal; Category: Productivity; $2.99] Voodo is a simple yet powerful todo app. With Voodo, you just Get Things Done, never make things up. Filterstorm Neue [iOS Universal; Category: Photography & Video; $3.99] Filterstorm Neue provides you with all the photo editing tools you need; everything from powerful masking tools to simple pre-made filters. Monsters Rising [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $3.99] Be the Monster! In this 3D action-strategy game, collect, upgrade and control your monsters directly, as gesture-driven gameplay is taken to all-new heights. Sid Meiers Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $4.99] Take flight over the treacherous Pacific waters where ace pilots redefine historic World War II battles! Skillfully pilot the most iconic American and Japanese fighter planes of the Pacific War while representing the Army or Navy. Runtime - Simple Run Tracking [iPhone; Category: Health & Fitness; $2.99] Runtime is a simple run tracking app designed from the ground up for iOS 7 and optimized to take advantage of the iPhone 5s. Use Runtime to track your route, time, speed, pace, and altitude everywhere you go for a run/walk/hike/jog/jaunt etc. New OS X Apps Rail Maze 2 [OS X; Category: Games; Free] Escape PIRATES and GHOSTS on rails, control semaphores and avoid steam and lava. Have a lot of fun! SkyDrive [OS X; Category: Productivity; Free] SkyDrive for Mac is the easiest way to access your SkyDrive from your Mac. Unbound [OS X; Category: Photography & Video; $9.99] Unbound was designed with speed as a priority. Everything from the initial app launch to scrolling through your thumbs is incredibly responsive. Access photos whenever you want without having to wait. Instacast [OS X; Category: News; $9.99] Managing a large collection of podcasts is easy with Instacast. Browse the online directory, import your subscriptions, customize settings for individual podcasts, sort episodes into different playlists and find exactly what you're looking for in just a few clicks. Blueprint [OS X; Category: Business; $59.99] Blueprint provides complete integration of project management, contact management, tasks, documents, notes, events and archiving, and automatically syncs with Apple native apps.
Blizzard's 'Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft' coming to iOS in 2014
On Friday, Blizzard announced at its annual Blizzcon conference that the iOS version of its freemium battle card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will be released during the second half of 2014, reports TouchArcade. The strategy card game is based on the World of Warcraft universe and will allow players to battle it out in turn-based card play. Designed to be deceptively simple and epically engaging for players of all backgrounds, Hearthstone features quick and lively duels that evoke the spirit of a friendly match played beside a crackling tavern fire. Each player's card deck centers around a hero representing one of nine iconic Warcraft classes, customized with a set of minions, spells, and/or weapons based on individual strategy and available cards. Players will be able to hone their skills in practice matches against the computer, and when they're ready for the challenge, they can take on their Battle.net friends and other players in friendly duels. To further develop their decks, players will be able to acquire cards by crafting them and by winning or purchasing new card packs. With hundreds of unique cards to choose from, the potential card combinations and possible strategies are endless! Fans of the World of Warcraft universe will know the game was originally set to be released in 2013 for Mac, PC and iPad, so they may be a bit disappointed that the iOS version has been pushed back until the second half of 2014. However, Blizzard has announced that now the game will also be hitting the iPhone at the same time, which is sure to placate any angry ogres wielding magical spells.
Hatch and its Fugu eggs are coming November 20
Remember Hatch? It was a virtual pet app from Impending and Realmac Software that was heavily promoted late last year. iPhone owners eager for "the first iPhone app that loves you back" reserved their Fugu eggs and waited patiently for the app to launch. Fast-forward almost a year, and the developers behind Hatch are ready to show what they've been working on all these months. According to a recent Facebook post, the Hatch virtual pet app has made its way through the App Store approval process and is slated to debut on November 20. If you already haven't done so, you can reserve your Fugu egg on the HatchPet website. Until the app hits the App Store, you can enjoy this promotional video below and see what you just signed yourself up for.
Lego: Lord of the Rings calls iOS its precious, starting today
There are many Lego-branded games on the App Store, but today, one of the most popular movie crossovers, Lego: Lord of the Rings, gets the iOS treatment as well. Following in the footsteps of the iOS ports of other hand-held Lego titles, Lego: Lord of the Rings features more than 90 playable characters, a host of weaponry and, of course, the cheesy humor that has become a trademark of the series. However, if you're planning on picking this little gem up today for the asking price of US$4.99, be warned: The download is a whopping 3 GB. Once installed, the game takes up around half that space, but you'll need to clear the 3 GB ahead of time if you're planning on downloading it over WiFi to install.
Star Wars: Tiny Death Star invades the US App Store
Star Wars: Tiny Death Star has hit the US App Store. The game is a humorous take on the Star Wars universe courtesy of Disney Mobile, LucasArts and NimbleBit (the guys who make Tiny Tower). The game asks players to help the Emperor build the Death Star level by level including installations such as the trash compactor and even commercial businesses. Players will also be able to build secret levels for the Rebellion to help them fight against the Dark Side. Amidst a civil war in a galaxy far, far away, the Emperor is building a Death Star level by level, and he needs your help. Intergalactic war is expensive, and space stations are, too. Do you have any idea how much it costs to build one the size of a moon? Live life on the dark side, and join Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader on a mission to attract Galactic bitizens, run intergalactic businesses, and build an all-new Death Star! With that hard-earned money, fund the Empire's evil schemes to defeat the Rebels and conquer the galaxy once and for all! Star Wars: Tiny Death Star is a universal app and a free download.
Nike+ Move app now available in the iOS App Store
Last month, Nike announced its new Fuelband SE fitness tracker and an M7-enabled app for the iPhone 5s. You'll have to wait a few days to get your hands on the Fuelband SE as it is slated to start shipping on November 6, but you can download the Nike+ Move app now. The Nike+ Move app is designed for the iPhone 5s and its M7 motion coprocessor. The app uses your daily motion and translates it into NikeFuel. The app takes a few minutes to setup -- just download, authorize access to the motion data and setup a Nike+ account. Once those three steps are done you are ready to start tracking your steps. As noted in the app's description, features in the app include: Win the day by beating your NikeFuel average and watch your goal ring change from Red to Green. See when you are most active throughout the day and how you're doing compared to yesterday. Move more often and win as many hours as you can throughout the day. See how you moved through the day with a breakdown of running, walking, and other movement. See where you're moving and where you move the most each day. Check out how you compare against your Game Center friends or other Nike+ Move users near you. The Nike+ Move app is available for free from the iOS App Store.
New and notable apps for November 4, 2013
It's always busy in the App Store with a never-ending flood of new apps landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of stand-out titles from the past few weeks! If that's not enough, you can also follow our ongoing coverage of new apps as they are released. New iOS Apps LoryStripes [iPhone; Category: Photography & Video; $1.99] Enhance any photo from portraits to landscapes by adding beautifully crafted ribbons and lines, called "Stripes". Simply choose an image from your Camera Roll, select a Stripe, adjust it, and weave it throughout the different elements in your photo. Combat Monsters [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] Deploy, destroy, dethrone – introducing Combat Monsters, our biggest game ever! Oil Rush: 3D Naval Strategy [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $4.99] Oil Rush is a 3D naval strategy game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world; nuclear war has melted the ice caps, changing the face of the planet forever. ABC Actions [iOS Universal; Category: Education; $2.99] We challenged ourselves to use our award-winning ABC Series to teach children about verbs and action words through sight, sound & touch. Mystery Math Museum [iPad; Category: Education; $2.99] Use your math skills to rescue the dragonflies in Mystery Math Museum for ages 6-12 and up. Anomaly 2 [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $4.99] Lead the Yukon convoy across a post-apocalyptic wasteland to fight for mankind's survival against the alien machines in an epic single player campaign. ProCam 2 [iPhone; Category: Photography & Video; $0.99] ProCam has been redesigned from the ground up to perfectly compliment iOS 7 with a focus on function over form while still introducing a beautifully streamlined interface. Thor: The Dark World - The Official Game [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] Become Thor, the mighty God of Thunder, in this official action-adventure game. Axes & Allies [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] Axes & Allies is a line-drawing RPG with simple yet intuitive controls that puts you in command of your own band of Orcs, each with their own unique powers and abilities, to lead the fight against the army of the undead to save their Warchief. Mileage Log+ [iPhone; Category: Business; $9.99] Mileage Log+ is an essential app for anyone who needs to track mileage for tax deduction or reimbursement. Naught 2 [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $1.99] Naught 2 is an adventure and platform game that challenges your skills giving you full control of Naught and his environment. Movie Player 2 – Plays any Video [iOS Universal; Category: Entertainment; $1.99] With Movie Player 2 you can now watch all your favorite films on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Jam Synth [iOS Universal; Category: Music; $0.99] Jam Synth is a fully featured monophonic guitar synthesizer for iOS. Dragon Slayers [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $3.99] Dragonslayer is an intense, breathtaking action-RPG adventure. Be transported to a land of magic, mystery, and of course, danger. New OS X Apps Intensify [OS X; Category: Photography & Video; $29.99] Powered by unique in-house technologies, Intensify™ reveals the level of details never seen before in digital photography. Unibox [OS X; Category: Productivity; $9.99] Unibox is a people centric email client that organizes your messages by person. Duplicate Detector [OS X; Category: Utilities; Free] Duplicate Detector scans your disk drive – or the folders you choose – and allows you to delete duplicate files, freeing up valuable disk space. Flamingo [OS X; Category: Social Networking; $9.99] Flamingo is a beautiful, native instant messaging client for OS X that supports Hangouts/Gtalk, Facebook, and XMPP. DxO Perspective [OS X; Category: Photography & Video; oFree] With DxO Perspective, you can correct any perspective issues in your images in just a few clicks. Slow Fast Slow [iPhone; Category: Photography & Video; $1.99] Slow Fast Slow is a simple iPhone app that allows you to shoot short video clips at a high frame rate, and then manipulate their speed using an intuitive and fun interface.
Nike SB app is for skateboarding on a global scale
Nike has released a new app aimed at allowing skaters to compete against each other, no matter where they are in the world. Nike SB is a video-heavy app that teaches skaters new tricks by encouraging them to challenge each other through self-recorded videos, as well as check out video lessons and directions posted by Nike's SB team. The competition portion of the app lies in its S.K.A.T.E. game. To start, one skater will perform a move on his board and film it for 15 seconds. He'll then upload the clip where his competitor will be able to view it. The competitor must then perform and record the same trick. If one of the players fails to perform a trick, the player is given a letter. Once one player has accumulated all the letters spelling "skate" they have lost the game. Here's the full details from the app's description: Learn tricks, play games of S.K.A.T.E., take part in challenges with skaters around the planet, and chart your personal skate progress with the Nike SB App. Game of S.K.A.T.E.: Connect with skaters anywhere around the globe to play a game of S.K.A.T.E. through the app. Challenges: Step up to new challenges issued by Nike SB and our pro team to help you keep progressing. Share your footage and have the chance to get noticed by a worldwide audience. Trick Tree: Lose yourself in skateboarding's endless creative process with our extensive Trick Tree, further inspiring you to learn and expand your skills. Learn straight from the pros with never-been-done filming and playback techniques before helping expand the Trick Tree with your own footage. Badges: Earn special and limited badges for skating hard, meeting challenges, progressing and taking part in special events. My Progress: Use the Nike SB App to track your own evolution as you build your personal profile. Need help? Get support at nikesbapp.com/support Nike SB is a free download.
Amazon Cloud Player for Mac: An alternative to iTunes
Amazon today announced the availability of Amazon Cloud Player for Mac (free), providing an alternative way for Mac users to browse, buy, play and manage music on their computers. Amazon previously released the app for iOS devices, also as a free download. The app has a number of features that may be attractive to Mac users compared to iTunes (from the press release): One-place for all your music: Play your Amazon and iTunes music all from one place, even when offline. A music library that is always up-to-date: Cloud Player automatically detects and adds new music to your library even if you bought it from iTunes or ripped a CD. The app does all the work for you. An integrated MP3 Store: You can shop from the Amazon MP3 catalog of more than 25 million songs and discover new music with personalized recommendations, all without having to leave the app. AutoRip: Buy an AutoRip CD or vinyl record from Amazon and a free MP3 version of the album will be added to your Cloud Player for Mac library. Built for speed: Forget bloated players with extra features you don't need or use. Cloud Player for Mac is lean, mean and made for your music. It'll get you from launch to play in seconds. Music management made simple: Download your MP3 purchases automatically or with one click. Export your music to other music players. Create and manage playlists using simple drag-and-drop. Instant search & play: Find music easily and quickly. Type anywhere to search for an artist, album or song and play directly from the search results. Rich artist content: See artist photos, bios, tweets and gorgeous, large album art. Anywhere access: Music purchased using Amazon Cloud Player for Mac is securely backed up in the cloud for free and made instantly available on any Kindle Fire, Android phone or tablet, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Samsung TV, Roku, Sonos, PC or web browser.
Japanese iOS game lets you beat up perverts, because why not?
Japanese culture is sometimes a bit confusing for Westerners, and a new iOS game from the Land of the Rising Sun is a perfect example of that. It's called Punishment Punch Girl, and there's a good chance you've never seen anything like it on your own regional App Store -- unless you're reading this from Japan, in which case you obviously have. The game takes place in a future filled with creepy dudes with an even creepier hobby: Being assaulted by young women. Each stage features a new freaky fella who is begging for a beating and you, as the young "Momiji." It's your job to levy enough damage against each man before your timer runs out. As utterly absurd as this concept sounds, the gameplay shown in the brief trailer actually looks like a good bit of frantic fun. At the moment, there doesn't appear to be any plans to move the game west, but you could change your App Store country and download it, as we taught you with a certain Star Wars game recently... [via Siliconera]
New and Notable apps for iOS and OS X - October 21, 2013 edition
It's always busy in the App Store with a never-ending flood of new apps landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of stand-out titles from the past few weeks! If that's not enough, you can also follow our ongoing coverage of new apps as they are released. New iOS Apps Air Display 2 [iOS Universal; [iOS Universal; $4.99] Use Air Display to turn your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch into a wireless display for your computer. Increase your productivity with extra screen real estate or mirror your Mac or Windows computer display to your iOS device. Gravie [iPhone; Category: Photography & Video; $1.99] Make your own video in minutes using our themes, graphic templates, clip arts. Record your own video or select from the recorded clips and recreate using various effects and styles. FoxTube 3 HD - YouTube Player [iPad; Category: Music; $4.99] Play YouTube video continuously with playlists. FoxTube 3 - YouTube Player [iPhone; Category: Music; $2.99] Play YouTube video continuously with playlists. ARC Squadron: Redux [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] As an elite pilot serving in the ARC Squadron, you are tasked to take on the Guardians in head-to-head combat and bring down their empire. Batman: Arkham Origins [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] Prove your worth as Gotham's Dark Knight, facing off against a slew of deadly assassins and their thugs in the new mobile game, Batman Arkham Origins. Machinarium Pocket Edition [iPhone; Category: Games; $1.99] An award-winning adventure game by the makers of Samorost and Botanicula. Boxie - Prettify your Dropbox [iPhone; Category: Productivity; $1.99] Boxie is a brand new Dropbox client for iPhone, which enhances and prettifies your whole Dropbox experience. New OS X Apps Draft Control [OS X; Category: Productivity; Free] Draft Control works alongside your word processor and automatically tracks changes over time. Every change is searchable, archived, and easy to restore. SEGA Superstars Tennis [OS X; Category: Games; $14.99] Sonic and a superstar cast of fan-favourite characters serve up extreme arcade tennis on courts inspired by SEGA's psychedelic gameworlds. iZip Viewer [OS X; Category: Utilities; Free] iZip Viewer can help you view the content of your archive file by Mac's 'Quick Look' tool.
Motorola releases iOS-to-Google migration tool for Moto x
The worst part of getting a new phone is making sure all of your contacts and data come with you. But when you switch from an entirely different environment, say from iOS to Android, the process is even more obnoxious. Motorola is trying to ease that pain for users of its new Moto X phone with an iOS-to-Google migration tool. WIth the tool, users can order a new Moto X phone that will ship with their contact information already on the phone. Motorola's transfer tool copies your calendar and contact information directly from iCloud and deposits it on your new Moto X. Transferring 500 phone contacts and 500 calendar events takes around five minutes according to Motorola. Motorola has released an FAQ page explaining the transfer process and how to ensure your contacts make the trip to their new phone safely. You can give it a read right here.
Super Squares is a fun puzzle game for iPhone, iPad
Snowman, the developer behind Circles and Checkmark, has released a new, free puzzler for iPhone and iPad called Super Squares. It's one of those fun, pick-up-and-play games that are great for killing a few minutes or unwinding at the end of the day. Your task is to complete a path from one point to another, avoiding obstacles along the way. As you play, the game gets progressively more challenging. I've grabbed my copy and will be checking it out this weekend. Look for a full review next week.
Controls+ brings a little bit of iOS 7 Control Center to OS X
Since the first day that I laid eyes on iOS 7 in June, one of my favorite features has been Control Center. Let's face it -- it's much easier and quicker to just swipe up from the bottom of my iPad or iPhone screen to get access to frequently used controls than to either go into settings or launch an app. Now It's About Time Products is introducing Controls+ (US0.99 intro price through October 18, $4.99 after that point) to the world in hopes that they can provide the same convenience as Control Center to Mac OS X users. When installed and launched, the only indication that Controls+ is running is a small icon in the menu bar that looks like an iOS 7 settings toggle switch. Click on that icon, and you have access to all of the features of Controls+. At the current time, Controls+ includes the following features: Adjust your display Brightness Wallpaper -- drag and drop images to change the Mac wallpaper Start the screensaver Turn on the Flashlight (turns the entire screen white) -- great for video chatting in a dark room iTunes Controls Play/Pause Next/Previous iTunes volume View album Cover And more... Timer Stopwatch The app's developer told TUAW that he intends to continue developing new capabilities for the app, and that he would like to hear from early adopters about what features they'd like to see in future updates. Controls+ is available through October 18 for $0.99 and the price will go up to $4.99 after that. In my personal opinion, I think the app is reasonably priced for a buck and overpriced at the $5 level, considering the current limited functionality. However, I like the concept and the execution, and think that Controls+ could really grow into a useful time-saving utility.
