Apple App Reviews

Filed under: Gaming , Software , Developer Unity Technologies hosted the sponsored lunch panel during GDC 2010 today, and their “product evangelist” Tom Higgins gave a quick rundown of the software platform that enables developers to assemble and release games extremely quickly on multiple platforms . The company was actually founded in Denmark, but has since expanded around the world with just two products: Unity Pro and Unity iPhone Pro. The second product, as you might imagine, allows developers to put together an application that can then be exported out into an Xcode project and released on the App Store. Higgins said that they’ve had over 90,000 people download the software since it was released for free last fall, and that more than 500 games in the App Store were authored by Unity. He also ran a short demo of the software at the panel. While some of the coding got a little technical (the system allows you to create and change variables on in-game objects even while the game is running in the engine), the coolest feature was the way they simulated iPhone controls: by using a real iPhone as a remote. They’ve released a free app on the App Store that will connect via Wi-Fi with a copy of the development tool running on your Mac, and as you touch and turn the iPhone, the editor reacts, and sends the (slightly lower resolution) output to the iPhone’s screen. You can also make changes to your code as the game runs in that mode, so you can be playing and coding at the same time.

Indianapolis, Indiana – Sunstorm Interactive Inc. the founder of the hunting game genre and the developer of the mega-hit game Deer Hunter proudly announces the release of Real Trophy Hunting 1.0 for the iPhone and iPod touch platform. Building on the style and knowledge of over 50+ value games and hunting simulations, Real Trophy Hunting takes big game hunting to a new level of realism! Real Trophy Hunting requires skill, patience, and persistence as players find themselves in realistic locations, using all the tools of the trade to bring in and bag the most prized big game animals straight from the Rocky Mountains! Playing the game is an incredible experience that closely simulates real-life hunting where you’ll need the same techniques and feel the same thrills! Unmatched graphics and sounds, realistic animal behavior, rain, snow and wind effects will place you on location in the hunt of a lifetime. “Our app store game ‘Real Deer Hunting’ has been a huge success for us so we’re excited to release the next game in our ‘Real’ hunting series. Real Trophy Hunting builds on the series with more animals including some of the most prized trophies in the world. The graphics are stunning and the level of immersion is unprecedented!” – said Anthony Campiti, President and Founder of Sunstorm Interactive Inc. Device Requirements: * iPhone and iPod touch * Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later * 25.3 MB Pricing and Availability: Real Trophy Hunting 1.0 is $1.99 (USD) and available exclusively through the App Store in the Games category

Filed under: iPhone , App Review Google Voice on the iPhone has been something of a sore subject for me. If you need a full-recap of the whole sordid iPhone/Google Voice story see this story from December or more of our coverage . I even started a little site devoted to waiting for Google Voice on the iPhone called IsGoogleVoiceAvailableForTheiPhone.com . It has been 6 months and 19 days since Apple claimed it had not “rejected” Google Voice but was “studying” it . During the course of Apple’s “study” the company moved to purge all existing Google Voice apps from the App Store. There were three reactions to this from developers: Google revamped the Mobile Google Voice page so that it looks a lot nicer on the iPhone. GV Mobile released its app for free on Cydia for those who have jailbroken iPhones. The folks behind Voice Central went a different route. They decided to make a web app instead. I’ve been using it in beta for the past few months, but as of today it has been released to the public as Black Swan . The difference between the Mobile Google Voice site from Google and Black Swan is that Black Swan is stored locally on your iPhone, like Pie Guy from Neven Mrgan of Panic.com

Defenders and detractors of Apple’s upcoming tablet are both getting worked up, denying that the iPad is a computer.

Filed under: Deals Today’s deals are all generated from a friendly search-based robot courtesy DealNews. We didn’t pick ‘em this time, so no warranties expressed or implied. Aol uses a referral code for these deals. Apple Store : [iPods] Refurbished Apple iPod touch MP3 Players from $139 + free shipping iTunes Music Store : [iPhone / iPod Apps] App Store Price Drops: Pocket Heart, Diner Dash, Magellan RoadMate, more MacUpdate Promo : [Security/Anti-Virus Software] Lockngo 4 for Mac downloads for $10 Buy.com : [Networkable Hard Drive (NAS)] Linksys NMH300 Two-Bay Media Hub for $130 + free shipping eBay : [Supplies] Quartet Magnetic Dry-Erase Board for $8 + free shipping Buy.com : [802.11g Wireless] Zyxel 802.11g Wireless Powerline Router for $40 + free shipping Adorama : [Printers] Canon SELPHY ES30 Compact Dye Sublimation Printer for $50 + free shipping Dell Home : [40" - 42" LCD TVs] Sharp 42″ 1080p Widescreen LCD HDTV for $539 + free shipping Shop4Tech : [Cell Phone Accessories] Universal GPS Car Mount for $5 + free shipping ThingFling : [Surge Protectors] Philips 8-Outlet Home Theater System Surge Protector for $50 + $6 s&h Buy.com : [Mice/Trackballs] Logitech Trackman Trackball Mouse for $22 + free shipping 6ave : [42" And Smaller Plasma HDTVs] Panasonic VIERA 42″ 1080p Plasma HDTV, Blu-ray, more for $833 + free shipping TUAW Daily Deals for March 9, 2010 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read ?|? Permalink ?|? Email this ?|? Comments

The premise of Tweet Defense is simple: The more you tweet and the more Twitter followers you gain, the stronger your tower defenses will be. Clever, though hopefully RT bonuses will come in the future. $1. [ iTunes via Kotaku ]

Filed under: Productivity , Software Update Microsoft has just released updates to the 2004 and 2008 versions of Microsoft Office . According to the company, the updates, which weigh in at 9.7 MB and 221.5 MB respectively, provide “fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code” as well as improvements to stability and performance. The update for Microsoft Office 2004 can be downloaded here , while those with the 2008 version can find it at this link . As with most Mac OS X-related updates, whether from a third party app or a system update, you should consider backing up your data before proceeding. Keep in mind, as you install this update, that right around the corner is Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 . Notable updates for the next version of the suite for the Mac include the replacement of Entourage with Outlook, the return of VBA and, gasp (or hurrah!), a more ribbon-oriented user interface, ? la the Windows version of Office. TUAW Microsoft updates Office for Mac 2008 and 2004 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read ?|? Permalink ?|? Email this ?|? Comments

Filed under: Multimedia , Odds and ends , iPhone , iPod touch , App Review I’ve always liked Slate Magazine on the web. It’s sometimes sassy and irreverent, but always interesting — an eclectic mix of politics, culture and tech news. Now, Slate has come to the iPhone in a US$1.99 app that features all the articles from the site, as well as the blog posts, staff tweets and streaming video from the Slate podcasts. Once content is downloaded you can read it off-line, which is a worthwhile feature. Access to Slate on the web is free, and you can read Slate from any mobile browser by going to mobile.slate.com. So why the charge for the iPhone app? Slate says it cost something to develop it, and it gives you a much richer experience in a portable form. I can’t argue with that, but I can argue with the ads that appear absolutely everywhere. Even the splash screen popped up with an ad. I think that’s a bit much after I’ve paid for the app, but I’m beginning to see a lot of this in other apps as well. I do like the app a lot, and it is a better experience for me than reading Slate stories in Safari on the iPhone

Filed under: Multimedia , Odds and ends , iPhone , iPod touch , App Review I’ve always liked Slate Magazine on the web. It’s sometimes sassy and irreverent, but always interesting — an eclectic mix of politics, culture and tech news. Now, Slate has come to the iPhone in a US$1.99 app that features all the articles from the site, as well as the blog posts, staff tweets and streaming video from the Slate podcasts. Once content is downloaded you can read it off-line, which is a worthwhile feature. Access to Slate on the web is free, and you can read Slate from any mobile browser by going to mobile.slate.com. So why the charge for the iPhone app? Slate says it cost something to develop it, and it gives you a much richer experience in a portable form.

If the terrorists could vote, they’d vote for Candidate X— this argument is America’s greatest rhetorical treasure. So let’s apply it to smartphones, right now! I’ve got a picture of a high-level terrorist with an iPhone and everything! Updated The man pictured here is the recently captured Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef , who is world famous for precisely the kind of stuff that you don’t want to be famous for. Infamous, even! Update : Apparently the magazine misindentifies the man in the photo. That’s actually Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, a former Taliban official’s who’s been spotted with his iPhone before . ( Thanks, Ray! ) Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, next time you find yourself in an endless online flamewar about smartphones representing the side of Android or WebOS or Windows Mobile or BlackBerry, it is totally fine to call your opponent a terrorist. [ Jeune Afrique —Thanks, Benjamin! ]