Daily App Digest – November 22, 2011

Developed with Instagram users in mind, Dropico Mobile today is pleased to announce the release of RetroGram, which delivers the most realistic and professional vintage style photo filters available on the app store. With filters such as: Daze, Sile, Vint Age, Old Movie, Retro, Grunge, Wrinkled, Vintage, Ancient, Poof, Spot & Loom, iPhone Photographers are sure to find exactly what they need to give their pictures a timeless look.

"With RetroGram we wanted to deliver an app that brings back the classic Instagram vintage photo effects" shares Sagi Hirsh, Dropico Mobile’s co-founder. What sets RetroGram apart from many of the photo effects app is that it lets you combine 2 or more filters, to create your own unique pieces of art. RetroGram comes with 12 professional filters pre-installed, and dozens available to download via the app’s Retro Market.

A Little More About RetroGram:
* 12 free filters, designed especially for Instagram fans.
* A completely unique UI
* Share directly on Instagram
* Beautifully created and professional photo filters
* Super easy to use and delivers awesome results
* Snap a pic or choose from the camera roll
* Inspired by old-school Instagram users who love giving their work a vintage look

Free/Download

Small kids love trains. First Words Train combines amazing fun and learning. Kids will spend hours with this app learning their first words by themselves. The app is meant for toddlers, pre-schoolers and kids in grade 1,2. Every time the Teddy Bear driver gets the engine puffing in, the railroad car has a picture of a new word. Kids will be able to learn about lots of new fruits, vegetables, animals, birds, shapes, numbers, objects, etc.

Why will kids love this app?
* Moving Trains. Engine sounds. Changing background images
* Cute, attractive images will keep children engrossed
* Learning will no longer be a boring activity
* Over 200 words with pictures in 14 categories

Parents will love this app because their kids will:
* Play and learn happily with enthusiasm
* Learn to spell and speak their first words. Every word is spelled aloud letter by letter
* Start identifying pictures with their correct names. They may start recognizing objects in real life
* Start recognizing the words from their spellings
* Get introduced to a lot of new words

Free/Download

Ciaran Reilly is pleased to announce the release and immediate worldwide availability of the updated version of Ireland’s Greatest One Liners for iPhone and iPod touch. The app is a little piece of Ireland in your pocket that is designed to give users a chance to plunge into the very unique Irish sense of humor and wit.

Irish people are famous all over the world for their legendary humor and rich culture. The ‘Ireland’s Greatest One Liners’ app contains the most hilarious pearls of Irish wit that could only have been dreamt up in the mind of an Irishman. All the one-liners are delivered by Sean, a local Irish character from the west of Ireland who has all the best one-liners’ from down the years.

Ireland’s Greatest One Liners is a great app to share with friends in a bar, when making a toast at a party or a wedding, or even just to give oneself a quick laugh during the day.

‘Over the years I’ve collected lots of very funny Irish one-liners and sayings from nights out with friends and relations from all over Ireland. I think this app is a great way to share them with the world and to give people a taste of the Irish sense of humor. I am delighted with the response we have gotten about ‘Ireland’s Greatest One Liners’ and I hope that users get as much fun from this app as I had while putting it together’ says Ciaran Reilly, developer of Ireland’s Greatest One-liners.

$0.99/£0.69/Download

Steve Development today is pleased to announce their new Recurring Events app. This app lets you repeat an event any way you want. Need advanced recurring options for your calendar events? Like a project meeting on Monday and Thursday every 2 weeks, or a reminder to send out your tax invoices on the last Friday of the month? With Recurring Events you can create such complex repeating events with just a few taps! You can even preview occurrences before adding an event. All events are fully customizable and compatible with every iPhone calendar app.

Features:
* Create an event with just a few taps
* Supports daily, weekly, monthly and yearly repeat options
* Create appointments with very advanced repeat options
* Preview of all the occurrences of a calendar event you want to add
* Option to set the end date of a recurring event or the number of times an event occurs.
* Compatible with every iPhone calendar program (e.g., Easy Calendar and Week Calendar)
* Supports iOS5 and iCloud calendars

$1.99/£1.49/download

Today, Hacker News Paper is announcing its debut in the iOS App Store. Hacker News Paper is the best way to read Hacker News on an iPad. Because of its custom API and native code base, Hacker News Paper (HNP) gets you to the stories you are interested in quicker than any other iPad app.

Hacker News Paper allows you to find the content that interests you quicker than any other app. It shows each article in a small blurb with its newspaper-like interface. This allows you to quickly see Hacker New’s top stories with the ease and familiarity of a newspaper.

HNP’s custom api is its secret to becoming the most usable Hacker News iPad app. While many apps can show you the front page and link you to the articles, HNP’s custom API actually grabs the article’s text. This allows you to read the text in a native format designed specifically for the iPad. Because of its native text rendering, Hacker News Paper is the quickest way to read the articles on the front page of Hacker News.

$1.99/£1.49/download

The new Qwizful HD for iPad is now available on the App Store. The game-like educational app offers free practice test samples for young children (pre-kindergarten-2nd grade), thus helping boost their confidence as they are asked to take formal assessments toward admission to elementary school.

"Qwizful HD is not a typical basic educational app, of the kind one finds in the App Store, nor is it an IQ test for kids." said Eylon Javetz, founder of Qwizful. "Qwizful HD goes beyond simple alphabet and math exercises to bring a rich mix of content across a broad spectrum of key topics, presented in meticulously-designed templates. It is about boosting retention across a variety of challenges through playful learning. We expect the Holiday Wiz Quiz – The Qwizful Special Christmas Edition to become available on the App Store within a few days" Added Mr. Javetz.

The new App was built to help parents engage their children in effective yet fun learning toward taking cognitive ability tests (i.e. OLSAT, BSRA, SAT, ITBS, CogAT, TAKS, FCAT, STAR etc.) that are often required for admission to elementary school. Consequently, young children can now become familiar with the multiple choice test format through a user-friendly easy-to-follow interface.

In order to boost retention, Qwizful HD features fun stimulating exercises, memorable children’s themes and audio narration. The delightful characters and cheerful feedback make the quizzes more appealing to young minds, as they explore the amusing challenges.

The educational app encompasses key topics, from analogies and sequencing, through pictorial reasoning and vocabulary to math and time telling.

Free/Download

treebetty design today is pleased to announce the release of its first iOS app Peek-a-Zoo: It’s Peekaboo at the Zoo. Designed for toddlers and preschoolers, Peek-a-Zoo combines the perennial young child’s favorite game of Peekaboo with another perennial favorite, visiting the zoo. With a unique graphic style integrating digital illustrations and watercolor backdrops, Peek-a-Zoo engages children and parents alike with charming zoo inhabitants in lively settings. Roar along with the majestic lion, blow bubbles with a swimming polar bear, crow with a proud peacock – these and other magnificent Peek-a-Zoo animals will teach children animal names and sounds in an unforgettable way.

What separates Peek-a-Zoo from the pack of animal name and sound apps are the beautiful illustrations and the surprise element of animals hidden from immediate view, just as real animals often are in the zoo or in nature. With a simple tap of the screen, animals will emerge into view with an exciting ‘pop’. Children will roar like the lion that springs up from the savannah grass or caw like the toucans that fly into a rainforest scene.

Peek-a-Zoo also features:
* Kid-friendly interface – simply touch the screen to reveal the animals
* 15 unique animal scenes – each with its own surprise
* Stunning, modern graphics – appealing to children and parents
* A fully-designed experience – rich visuals (HD for Retina Display)
* Fresh soundtrack with authentic animal, narrative and whimsical sounds
* No in-app purchases, locked scenes or upgrade fees – simple, advertisement-free fun

$1.99/£1.49/download

Stone Age Publishing Inc. today is thrilled to announce the launch of CELEBRITY iSPY, the world’s first magazine created exclusively for the iPad. No more scrolling through PDFs of print magazines, CELEBRITY iSPY uses the latest technology to bring fans of entertainment and celebrity culture the latest photos, news, fashion insights, gossip, scandals, interviews, videos and more.

Because CELEBRITY iSPY is created specifically for the iPad, it’s revolutionising magazine publishing and embracing technology like no other. CELEBRITY iSPY is a sleek, easy to navigate and read, commercial publication that is bringing readers a whole new magazine experience. And because it’s created for the iPad, there are no limits on the amount of amazing content it can offer.

Why go to the computer to see the video you just read about? With CELEBRITY iSPY, readers can watch imbedded videos instantaneously with no hassle or hyperlinking. As well, no more squinting at a thumbnail photo in the corner of the page, now they can view every picture in the magazine as a full screen, hi-res image and immediately return to the article.

Simply by downloading the free CELEBRITY iSPY app through the iTunes App Store, anybody in the world can receive the magazine every Saturday morning without getting out of bed. With CELEBRITY iSPY, anyone can be up-to-date on the latest gossip, scandals and news from world of pop culture.

Best of all, it costs next to nothing. Unlike other celebrity news magazines, which have newsstand sales to protect, CELEBRITY iSPY can be purchased through the iTunes App Store for 99 cents an issue, or two dollars a month with a subscription (49 cents per issue).

Free/download

Tekton Technologies today is pleased to announce the enhanced release and immediate availability of System Monitor with Battery Max 1.6, their all-in-one comprehensive and artistic, health check meter for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. System Monitor with Battery Max is a comprehensive Free Memory and Battery app along with a System Monitor utility, that monitors CPU Load on your device. This app provides a complete health check for iPhone/iPod touch systems and provides valuable details to alert you when the system resources reach the limits.

Look no further! System Monitor with Battery Max features amazing visuals like Speedometer view, 3D Bar charts, battery split and charger, provides you a rich visual experienced like you have never before experienced on your iPhone/iPod touch.

Features:
* Just Open the app and Wait for 5 Secs to see the memory getting freed
* Double Click Home button to see and Close unwanted apps
* Now you will quickly see the memory getting Freed on the Speedometer
* Double Tap Memory speedometer view to rotate to a 3D bar chart view
* Double tap battery or open it to see the battery capacity for your favorite apps
* Double tap the CPU speedometer view, to view a 3D CPU utilization
* Shows the used and free space
* Shows the IP address acquired, and hardware address of your device

You can use this to accurately monitor and enhance your battery life, monitor running process, memory in use, and used and free space.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Independent developer James Hollender recently updated Step 4 Moral Inventory Jr. to version 1.0.6, his new addiction recovery based app for iPhone and iPod touch. It provides an easy-to-use, detailed process by which persons participating in Addiction Recovery Programs can be aided in completing Step 4 of the 12 Steps without the use of any spreadsheets. It makes the task less time consuming, while at the same time helping the user create a valuable asset in their recovery process.

Create your own personal Moral Inventory using an iPhone or iPod touch.

Although this app is designated "Jr." it still has the same capabilities as the parent app, "Step 4 Moral Inventory" for the iPad. The user interface has been completely redesigned to accommodate the considerably smaller iPhone and iPod touch screen size.

It was originally thought impossible to convert the iPad version so the same tasks could be accomplished on the iPhone and iPod touch, but it has been done and the Step 4 Moral Inventory Jr. app is the end result.

The update to version 1.0.6 takes advantage of Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) to prevent memory leaks. Animations have also been updated to make them smoother.

$9.99/£5.99/download

Independent developer James Hollender has released version 2.5 his iProteins app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The iProteins app allows users to easily find out the amount of protein in over 1,100 different food servings which is extremely helpful for Vegans, Vegetarians and also Body Builders. The new version has been tested on iOS 5 and provides some minor bug fixes in addition to some stunning new graphics. Also similarly updated are the other iNutrient apps: iCals, iCarbs, iCholesterol, iFiber, iSatFat, iSugars, and Vitamin K.

The iProteins app provides information about foods and how they are rated for protein content. This is given as a means to assist in deciding which foods to eat. In addition to being useful for Vegans and Vegetarians, who want to make sure they take in a sufficient amount of protein, iProteins will also help bodybuilders get the high intake of proteins they want.

$1.99/£1.49/download

Island Tribe 2, a second entry in a successful resource management game series by Realore Studios is now available for both iPad and iPhone owners. Island Tribe 2 continues the story of its predecessor and tells us a tale of peaceful islanders forced to leave their homes because of a huge volcano eruption. Many days they spend in the open sea until someone notices a raft with the lonely traveler on board. The traveler turns out to be a discoverer who is on a mission to find an ancient artifact. He asks the islanders to help him and in return shows them a map with three islands on it. Tribesmen agree because one of these mysterious islands can easily become their new home.

The gameplay of Island Tribe 2 is a combination of resource management strategy with the hidden object elements. The islanders have to advance through the level by lighting up the totems which open access to new territories. Some of these new areas have a hidden artifact or a peace of a bigger one hidden somewhere on a level map. To finish the level the players have to find as many of them as possible before the day runs out. The players have to hurry because they are not the only ones who are searching for the artifacts. Other not-so-friendly explorers, tomb raiders and pirates try to find the ancient treasure first.

The search of a new home will lead the islanders through the sunny sandy beaches, humid jungle swamps, ice-cold mountain peaks and pitch-dark caves. The paths through the islands are full of dangers such as wild predators, bees, pirates demanding a ransom and natural roadblocks. To get past the obstructions and find the treasure, the islanders will have to restore the infrastructure of an ancient civilization that inhabited these lost lands many centuries ago.

$3.99/£2.99/download

NuOxygen Game Publishing today is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of Magic Formula 1.01, their new puzzle gaming title designed specifically for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Characterized by its intuitive and funny gameplay, Magic Formula never ceases to surprise the player for the depth and the apparent simplicity of its levels.

Puzzles have snuck into just about every game genre. Whether you’re figuring out how to navigate a particularly nasty level in a "platformer" or trying to unlock a barred door in a role-playing game, brain teasers have become prevalent no matter which games you love to play. But some games are designed around the principles of problem solving. These are the games that make you take a deep breath, carefully analyze the situation, and then yell at the top of your lungs when you still can’t figure out how to move forward. But then it clicks, the door is unbarred, and you feel the satisfaction that only a well-crafted puzzle can provide, we are talking about Magic Formula.

Magic Formula is designed around the principles of problem solving. Like many other puzzle games Magic Formula has simple playing rules, but some may consider that part of its charm, however with the progression of levels the game evolves into new gameplay mechanics that make it more and more immersive. If puzzles are your thing, and if you like games with good computer graphics and gameplay, Magic Formula is for you and will help you keep your gray matter busy. With Magic Formula you should try to eliminate all the flasks by strategically exploding them in the right combination. Every drop of potion gradually increases the flask’s liquid that will be changing color.

When the flask is topped with red liquid, then with a further drop of magic formula, the flask will explode launching its contents in the four directions. If the contents of a flask hit another flask, this will explode if it’s completely filled or will increment its level of liquid. In the game there are also mirrors and blacks holes that can reflect or absorb the explosion. There are also bonuses that give you extra points.

$0.99/£0.69/download

The first app ever created for exploring 10 popular hiking trails in the Santa Monica Mountains is now available for download in the Apple iTunes store. Next best thing to a park ranger: Combing the vast and varied public land nestled between Los Angeles and the coastline with Michael Mueller’s hiking app.

What unique features are included in $5.99 price?
* A one-time download
* Back-up PDF of text and maps, for an easy print-out option
* No network or roaming costs
* In fact, no Internet connection is required at all

Hike safely in the wilderness, without a wireless connection?
Thanks to the pre-integrated connection between Google Maps and iPhone (R) internal navigation software, reaching your destination is a walk in the park.

Where am I exactly?
At key points in the terrain, the authors recorded waypoints on the interactive maps with a GPS device. With every hike: A cross-section chart of the landscape with altitude changes and duration between waypoints.

$4.99/£2.99/download

From the heart of Europe, the land of beer, Jaromr Jagr and beautiful woman, comes the most logical game ever for iPhones and iPads. If you like thinking, and pondering riddles and codes then this new game, Power of Logic, will fire up your grey matter from 22.11.2011.

When developing the new game, authors from the Flow Studio drew inspiration from a favorite board game "Logik" that kept players all over Europe amused in the 1970s and 1980. The Power of Logic game will test the level of your logical thinking in guessing a combination of colors of pins, which is also the original mechanism of the board game. The innovation for iPhones and iPads is based on a story and graphically elaborated environment of a power plant. This will take gamers back to the electrifying atmosphere at the turn of the last century, the era of Nicola Tesla and his revolutionary inventions.

The task of a gamer is to crack the combination of a secret code with as few moves as possible and in the shortest time possible. On the basis of indicia about correct colors and correct positions of the pins, a gamer deduces his or her subsequent combinations. By cracking the right color code, he or she will bring a power generator to operation, thus renewing operation of the power plant. The game has three levels of difficulty and a career mode. The difficulty is increasing in it and a gamer gradually switches on 25 bulbs by turning electricity in.

Power of Logic is again getting at the roots of logic games that have drawn inspiration from the action genre with increasing frequency today, placing stronger emphasis on controlling and fast reaction than thinking as such.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Stupid Penguins, the 2nd iOS game from indie developers Team NEETBytes, has just received a new update that sees the game being localized into 6 different languages. These include French, Spanish, Russian, German, Chinese and also Japanese.

Most game developers do not localize their games in the AppStore simply because they do not have the language expertise and also because it simply takes too much time. However, Team NEETBytes felt that Stupid Penguins have garnered enough attention to invest the time and effort needed in order to bring it to a whole new level.

Stupid Penguins is a fun and addictive game that can be easily picked up and play no matter where you are. The devious mummy OSiRiS has devised a plan to trick the penguins to fly to his pyramid home and you have to save them before they get kidnapped by OSiRiS or die of heat.

According to the developers, they are planning to add more stages and game modes. In fact, Team NEETBytes were excited to share that version 2.0 that will be featuring additional stages will be released before the end of the year.

$1.99/£1.49/download

Intermarum, an innovative new mobile game developer, has today announced the release of Wicked Stars for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This arcade experience features beautifully rendered cartoon themed levels, paced "dash & grab" gameplay, and enough bonuses and achievements to keep players entertained time and time again. Wicked Stars is currently available for download on the Apple App Store for $1.99 in the Games category.

Wicked Stars puts players in control of a furry orange fuzzball, challenging them to collect white stars while avoiding a simultaneous downpour of black ones, all keenly enough to keep the sleeping monster underneath them from waking up! As the story goes, the game’s heroic orange had lost his beloved hat to Mr. Naughty, and must go on an odyssey to get back his hat and stop Mr. Naughty in his tracks. Featuring three unique worlds, each level is set up vertically, with Mr. Orange on a plank above a sleeping beast, and stars raining down from above.

This is a fully featured mobile game, including enough diverse gameplay and features to ensure that customers will enjoy hours upon hours’ worth of entertainment. The app includes responsive user friendly controls, and players have the option of playing Wicked Stars via tilt controls or standard on-screen buttons. Furthermore, to keep gameplay fresh the app includes dozen of unlockable achievements, offline leaderboards, and special bonus items users can pick up to get an extra advantage while playing. Socially minded players can also compete for high scores with a global community via full integration with Apple’s Game Center.

$1.99/£1.49/download

Dako Romania is pleased to introduce iBall 38 v1.0, for iOS devices. Are you on a train or in a cab? Are you waiting for someone in front of a restaurant? Are you on a desert island? And the time doesn’t seem to go fast enough? You’ve come to right place. This game is exactly what you need. Just take out your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch and start playing.

iBall 38 (aka Equator Ball) is a spherical puzzle with a simple color scheme on its surface. It is composed of 8 fixed elements serving for guidance and 30 sliding elements. The aim of the game is that the original color scheme is to be restored by the rotation of the sliding elements.

The game develops the logical thinking, the ability of combination of the children as well as of the adults so it can serve as educational material as well as for fun activities. With iBall 38, a twisty and challenging puzzle for your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch, you can learn and have fun at the same time, putting the pieces together, so that in the end you have the complete image of the ball with its four colors.

iBall 38 comes with a simple color scheme:
* Four quarters of the puzzle have different colors (red, yellow, blue and white)
* The pieces at the poles have 4 colors
* The pieces on the vertical rings have 2 colors
* The remaining pieces have 1 color

Free/download

iStoryTime, the largest library of mobile children’s book apps, along with HarperCollins Children’s Books, today launched Biscuit Gives a Gift on Apple’s iPad, iPhone and iPod(R) touch. With over 16 million copies in print, this digital interactive storybook really brings Biscuit to life, featuring narration, animations and sounds on every page. The app is packed with additional activities such as a coloring book, digital sticker book and a new memory game.

Developed in-house by iStoryTime and featuring illustrations by Pat Schories, the interactive Biscuit Gives a Gift digital storybook for iOS brings Author Alyssa Satin Capucilli’s wonderful and popular book to life. The book is about the little yellow puppy Biscuit, who goes on an adventure to find the perfect gift for everyone he loves. More importantly, he finds out the true meaning of sharing.

Watch and listen to Biscuit as he follows his little girl around the neighborhood to give special gifts to their neighbors, friends and family. Pouncing through the snow, they give out mittens, gingerbread as well as share a story with their friends.

$2.99/£1.99/download

Tales2Go, the award-winning kids’ audiobook subscription service, is pleased to introduce ‘Tales2Go – Happy Holidays’ v1.0 on Apple iOS devices. The Tales2Go – Happy Holidays app is a collection of 20 seasonal favorites in one app, priced at 99 cents; no subscription required.

The collection includes unabridged audiobooks, short stories, and familiar holiday favorites, such as:

* A Christmas Carol from Recorded Books
* The Night Before Christmas from Scholastic
* The Great Sled Race told by Bill Harley
* The Story of Hanukkah told by Joel Ben Izzy
* The Gift of the Magi told by Jim Weiss
* The Brave Tin Soldier told by Kathy Kinney as Mrs. P

"We are pleased to offer this special holiday app which gives parents and teachers over 30 hours of seasonal favorites from leading publishers and storytellers to listen to in the car, in the classroom, or even around the fireplace this holiday season," said William Weil, Co-Founder and CEO of Tales2Go. "Kids love listening to stories, and by streaming them to mobile devices in the classroom and beyond, we’ve made accessing them easier and more economic than alternatives such purchasing or downloading CDs."

$0.99/£0.69/download

On a smartphone, Vanitas is presented as a small wooden box. Every time the lid of the box is opened, three objects appear. The selection is random. If by chance the three objects are identical, a golden star appears on the lid of the box. On tablets, the box is surrounded by a decorative frame that includes a ticking clock.

"We felt it was important that the objects in the box appear in actual size," say designers Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn. "Handheld devices are by nature very tactile. It makes more sense to us to think of them as objects than as screens. We wanted to retain that sense of tactility in the tablet version. So we kept the size and added a frame."

Vanitas is inspired by 17th century still life paintings of the same name. They were depictions of objects meant to remind the viewer of the fleetingness of life. Thanks to Tale of Tales’ app you can now contemplate mortality on one of your most precious devices.

Vanitas was originally commissioned for the Art History of Games symposium in Atlanta in February 2010. At that same symposium, Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn gave their infamous "Over Games" presentation that marks the start of the Notgames initiative. Notgames is a platform for developers interested in exploring the potential of interactive art and entertainment beyond the constraints imposed by a rigid game format. The initiative loosely groups developers such as Frictional Games (Amnesia), Thechineseroom (Dear Esther), Stout Games (Dinner Date), Erik Svedäng (Kometen), Opertoon (Strange Rain), Krystian Majewski (Trauma), and so on. During the last Game Developers Conference in Cologne, some their work was presented at the Notgames Fest organized by Cologne Game Lab.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Tap, zoom, flick, rotate, and drag photos around a virtual coffee table. Indie software developer, Paul Solt, is unveiling Photo Table, a multi-touch and interactive slideshow. Using the app, anyone can download images from Flickr and Facebook into local photo albums. It uses a natural interface with simulated physics to provide an immersive photo viewing experience.

"Too many apps use one or two fingers to interact with content. In Photo Table I wanted to use all ten fingers to move my photos around," said Solt. "We have all seen futuristic displays in movies, but no one is building the software to power that type of experience. I decided to take advantage of the multi-touch technology and discovered how fun it can be to flick photos around a simulated table using both of my hands."

The Photo Table app picks up where Solt’s previous multi-touch apps have left off. It creates a simple album management system for photos. Users can drag and flick images offscreen to advance through a collection of photos. The concept of on-screen and off-screen photos has not been explored with this level of interaction. As images are flicked off screen, other images will slide onto the screen to cycle through a photo album. Users can effortlessly create collages with unlimited photos and share them with family and friends via email or Facebook.

$4.99/£2.99/download

Chimera Software today is pleased to announce Starbase Orion 1.0.6 for iOS, an update to their highly reviewed 4X Game that draws inspiration from titles such as Master of Orion and Galactic Civilizations. Players lead their empire from the birth of its space age, on to colonize new worlds, explore new horizons, develop new technologies, and discover other players attempting to do the same. It is a race to the stars, where only one empire can declare victory over the galaxy. In single-player mode, the game features the company’s 2010 Google AI Engine Contest entry, which scored in the top 15% of all entrants. Alternatively, Starbase Orion offers a multiplayer mode that employs Game Center’s advanced, asynchronous, turn-based gaming. The recipient of universally glowing reviews, according to AppAdvice, "This one is geek heaven."

Noted for the complexity of their gameplay, 4X games allow the player to rule an empire where the goal of the game is to "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate." Because of their remarkable attention to detail, these games take some time to learn, and gameplay can extend over long periods. Starbase Orion is a serious, futuristic, turn-based, strategic game. "Starbase Orion is here, and it’s glorious," says TUAW.

Magisterial in its scope and execution, Starbase Orion allows players to choose their race at the start of each game. There are five unique races included: Human, Draske, Vass, Cyban, and Isather. Players can also create their own custom race by picking and choosing between different racial characteristics. Each of the five races includes a detailed biography of their strengths and weaknesses. In designing a custom race, players have 10 Attribute points to spend, and each has a positive or negative cost. Among the attribute categories are: Farming Proficiency, Industriousness, Mental Acuity, Economic Acumen, Procreative Tendencies, Tolerance of Low or High Gravity Environments, Large or Small Home World, Rich or Poor Home World, Piloting & Navigation Aptitude, Creativity, Scientific Abilities, Accustomed to Battle, Shared Intelligence, Engineering Skills, Likeability, and Ethical Values and Behavior.

$7.99/£5.99/download

VeprIT today is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of Photo Sense 1.6.0, a major update of its flagship product. Photo Sense is a powerful, but very easy to use photo enhancement software for Mac OS and iOS.

VeprIT Photo Sense is designed to make photographs more attractive quickly and easily, without spending a lot of time and money on learning, purchasing, and using professional photo manipulation software. Photo Sense enhances photos automatically, and allows users to customize results to their liking. It ensures that the users get great results very quickly by supporting batch processing and image settings synchronization. In addition, Photo Sense offers a number of creative effects.

In more detail, Photo Sense 1.6.0 provides:
* Professional image enhancement techniques automatically applied to multiple photographs
* Results customization at two levels: semi-automatic and manual
* Batch processing (working with multiple images at a time) in automatic and semi-automatic modes
* Image settings synchronization between photographs (including manual adjustments) to speed-up the workflow
* Crop and straighten tool (its settings can be synchronized between images of the same size, providing batch operation)
* Batch image rotation
* Batch image resizing (down-sampling)
* Batch image format conversion
* A number of creative effects (applied in a batch mode)
* Non-destructive operation
* Convenient ways to compare photos before and after processing, including a side-by-side comparison

Instead of adjusting every photograph manually, as required in traditional image editors, the user can let Photo Sense process multiple photos completely automatically. Then the user can choose to save the automatic results and finish, or to improve them. In semi-automatic mode, it is possible to choose what adjustments should be applied to particular photographs. Moreover, the user can fine-tune the results manually. Finally, the photos can be given an artistic finishing touch by applying creative effects.

$1.99/£1.49/download

Dingo Games announced today the release of Tasty Planet: Back for Seconds for iPhone and iPod touch. In Back for Seconds players control a ball of goo with the ability to eat anything smaller than itself. The more it eats, the bigger it gets. By the end of the game, players are able to eat the entire world (and more).

Tasty Planet: Back for Seconds is the sequel to Dingo Games’ popular iPhone game, Tasty Planet. The sequel has many improvements over the original. Levels can now span vastly different object sizes; players can grow from the size of an amoeba to the size a galaxy within a single level. There is also a huge variety of new entities that players get to eat.

The game’s story begins with the goo eating a time machine, causing him to be sent back in time. Players will eat their way through six different time periods: modern, Late Cretaceous (i.e. dinosaurs), Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Feudal Japan, and the distant future. Each time period features a unique set of objects for players to eat. Mice, cats, Tyrannosaurus Rex, mummies, gladiators, and flying saucers are just a few of the hundreds of objects available for consumption.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Mile 26 Studios today is pleased to announce the release of ABC Shore, an educational alphabet learning game for preschoolers. Developed exclusively for Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices, the app offers a fun and simple way to develop critical letter recognition skills. In the game, children help their crustacean guide, Crabby, find letters in the sand and arrange them into words on his beach towel. Completing words successfully is rewarded with words of encouraging praise and virtual sand dollars.

While testing the ABC Shore app, one parent observed, "Surf’s up! Head to the ABC Shore and enjoy learning the alphabet." Another parent commented, "Crabby’s hilarious! He makes my 3-year old laugh out loud."

Highlights:
* Dig for letters in the sand and discover new words
* A fun and engaging way to learn the alphabet
* Kid-friendly animation and voices
* Learn through sight, sound, and touch
* Perfect for children 3-6

$0.99/£0.69/download

MyNature, Inc. has announced the release of the MyNature Fish Weight Calculator, 1.3, their newest app for iPhone and Droid. By measuring the length and girth of your fish, entering those two measurements into their correct field and selecting calculate the app will give you a result that is within 10% of the fish’s actual weight. You’ll be able to calculate the weight of multiple species of fish by selecting several categories. For example:

* Trout, Salmon
* Bass
* Bluegill, Perch, Sunfish
* Catfish, Carp
* Muskies, Pike, Gar, Pickerel
* Walleye, Sauger
* Sturgeon and a general selection for calculating other species

Included in the app is a quick reference pop-up screen to give the user the numerical conversions for fraction of an inch measurements. Users will be able to quickly convert fractional measurements of as little as 1/16th of an inch.
In this compact app MyNature has also included one extra page of Catch and Release tips. Learning how to properly release a fish back into the water will greatly increase its chance of survival and the users ability to catch that same fish another day.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Wanakana Media today are pleased to announce their first game: Dedaloop for iPad and iPad2. Dedaloop is a digital boardgame for all the family. Find your way through six missions on an every-turn-changing maze. Play solo against the AI or with your friends (up to 4 players on the same device) in two different hand-drawn ambients: A pirates theme for kids or a more geekish steampunk theme. Dedaloop is a light-strategy game with some puzzle elements. The simple rules and the addictive game mechanics, make it perfect for the family play or a relaxing solo session. All graphics and soundtracks are originals and have been made from scratch by our artists.

Gameplay:
Every player have six missions, only one mission at time can be seen, when the player reach his current objective can look to the next one. The first player that complete the missions and come back to the his starting point, win. At every beginning of the turn, the player must insert a new tile that changes all the maze’s paths, the player can decide to make his way to his objective or block the advance of the other players!

Game Features
* Never play 2 times the same game
* Play solo against AI
* Local multiplayer
* Up to 4 players on the same device with Pass’n’Play
* Two hand-drawn themes (and many more to come…)
* No in app purchase for all the upcoming updates

$1.99/£1.49/download

It’s been a busy last few months for CB Labs, who published their first game The Adventures of Timmy: Run, Kitty, Run with developer studio Rain Interactive. From launching at the Adobe MAX Keynote back in October, to being featured in the Apple "New and Noteworthy" section, it was still a huge surprise when the game showed up in the finals of the Mashable Awards for the Best Mobile Game category.

"We’re going up against the likes of Angry Birds and Cut the Rope," Creative Director Adam Kahn said. "That’s huge in and of itself, especially for a game that’s only been out for about a month and a half."

The game itself tells the tale of a young school boy named Timmy who wears a cat suit to school one day. While all the other kids on the playground make fun of Timmy, one girl named Kitty tries to befriend him. Unfortunately, Mitch, the schools bully, has already taken a liking to Kitty and kidnaps her. Timmy must find a way to stop Mitch and his minions and get Kitty back safe and sound.

About Rain Interactive:
Rain is an internationally recognized and awarded digital creative software agency dedicated to providing clients with solutions that allow their customers to connect with them wherever they are through the web, desktop, or mobile. Clients include HP, Google, Ancestry, Sony Music, Universal Music, Hess, Corona, Adobe and Skullcandy.

$1.99/£1.49/download

The free iOS app "Good or Bad?" launched this weekend to brisk downloads. Users find the new app strangely addictive and the interface compelling. Most users find it addictive to vote using the app, and many find the submissions process itself for new topics addicting. The Good or Bad? servers have been under constant load since the release date.

Good or Bad? asks the simple question: is this thing good, or is it bad? This simple question, however, can be surprisingly thought provoking. For instance: are grill marks on hamburgers good or bad? What about receiving two sets of birthday gifts since your parents are divorced? The oddly attractive mechanics of the premise, combined with the exceedingly well-executed interface have resulted in strong opening-weekend downloads.

Features:
* Original content from the godfather of internet humor, Lore Sjoberg (Brunching Shuttlecocks)
* Constantly expanding pool of voting topics curated by machine, to keep only the best
* Create Your Own feature
* Live commenting system
* Astonishingly well-crafted interface

Free/download