Our Daily App Digest – January 11, 2012

Porpoiseful Apps today is pleased to announce that Tennis Score Tracker has reached a milestone in maturity. Feature requests and suggestions from many users are incorporated into this application over the past year. Bug fixes and various other improvements also exist in the app providing for a solid product.

Keeping score in tennis is very simple using this app. In just a few taps the match timer starts and scoring begins. If playing a tennis match users can set the score mode to game-by-game so that the score is updated during changeovers. If observing a tennis match users can set the score mode to point-by-point, scoring matches in the standard way. Scores can be sent via email or text message, or posted to facebook. Matches can be suspended for later play if needed. A player roster, with details such as notes and player ratings, integrates with your existing contacts as an option.

Locations of tennis matches can be displayed in a map view so that over time users can see where matches were played, and to view previous matches based on location. Locations are displayed during match play based on location name, coordinates as latitude and longitude, or coordinates as degrees, minutes, and seconds, selectable by the user.

$1.99/£1.49/download

Humble Daisy today is pleased to announce it has released a universal version of its SonicPics slideshow creation and recording app for iOS. This free update brings SonicPics to the iPad as a universal app that runs on all iOS devices. The update also includes several improvements and bug fixes. SonicPics is a tool for creating and narrating custom photo slide shows on the iPhone, iPod touch, and now iPad. It makes it easy to use images from the photo library or built in camera. Use the iOS device’s photo library or built in camera to make custom slide shows and then record a voiceover narrating the images as you swipe through them.

"We took a lot of time working through how best to optimize SonicPics for the iPad." explained Humble Daisy CEO Dave Chmura. "I think our users are going to be really pleased with what we came up with." The first review of the update came in German. Translated it reads; "The app runs flawlessly and easily. I use it frequently, I am thrilled and can absolutely recommend it."

$2.99/£1.99/download

Independent developer Carolyn D. Johnson today introduces Harlem Travel Guide 1.0 for iOS, her Travel app featuring more than 360 entries and 2,000 color photos. Released through Sutro World, the world’s largest publisher of independently authored travel guides, Harlem Travel Guide is currently ranked in the Top 3 of the company’s 325 different international guides. The Guide was originally published in hardcover in 2010, and this ebook version incorporates additional entries and photos. Harlem is the third most visited tourist destination in New York City, and the app provides helpful offline listings, articles, advice, and photos.

Unbeknownst to many visitors, Harlem is three distinct areas: Central Harlem, where African Americans first settled in the early 1890s; East Harlem or El Barrio, which is home to Latinos, with Puerto Ricans first migrating to the enclave after WWI; and West Harlem, which includes a diverse population of African Americans, West Indians, Latinos, and whites. Also included is Washington Heights, location of Morris-Jumel Mansion, which served as George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War.

The co-authors of Harlem Travel Guide for iOS are both homeowners and long-time residents of Harlem. Carolyn D. Johnson operates a tour company, a visitor’s center, and a website that carries information about Harlem. All three of these entities operate under the umbrella of Welcome to Harlem. Valerie Jo Bradley operates a PR and special events planning firm and is proprietor of a small guest house in Harlem. In addition to collaborating with other Harlem-based tour companies to develop unique tours of Harlem, she has trained Harlem residents to conduct tours in their neighborhoods. In developing the Harlem Travel Guide, they wanted to bring to light all the cultural diversity, creativity, beauty, and history of an area too long ignored. They knew they were creating a one-of-a-kind travel book about a one-of-a-kind community.

Harlem Travel Guide 1.0 is $2.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the Travel app Sutro World, as an in-app purchase. Sutro World 1.3 for iOS is available as a free download in the Travel category of the App Store and offers 325 different travel destination guides as in-app purchases.

Sutro World/Free/download

Metal Sole Studio, the newest independent game studio on the block, today is thrilled to announce the release and immediate availability of "Joe Monkey Escapes" for the iPad. A Platform-Puzzler, Joe Monkey Escapes uses a platform-based world to tell the story of Joe Monkey and his friends held captive by the evil Dr. Serious Lee. Dr. Lee has recently invented a new planet-melting device and needs Joe’s help to get the device working. (Okay, he actually bought it online).

Players use Joe and his friends to solve over 50 levels of puzzles. Nothing is out-of-bounds: monkeys stand on one another, fly around the level, fall and jump to their deaths, use parachutes, spring-shoes, Magna-Helmets, elevators, and most impressive of all: JoeBot Pants. Joe and his friends must cooperate to solve the ever-more-difficult puzzles on their way to the exit, and escape.

Breaking from the standard platform mold, Joe Monkey Escapes is also a full "talkie" – voice acted throughout. Follow the characters as they claw over one another to get out of the lab and, perhaps, save the planet.

$1.99/£1.49/download

NxtApp 4 Kids, popular math app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad that reached the top spot of Apple’s iPad App Store educational games category receives an update. NxtApp 4 Kids is a smart number-sequencing game that sharpens kids’ mental math skills in a fun-filled atmosphere. It is farm-themed with engaging barnyard animals holding banners with sequences. The Washington Post describes NxtApp as "the perfect app for mental math."

Nathalie van Ee of the renowned site Fun Educational Apps writes: "NxtApp 4 Kids is a top fun educational math app for kids for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Kids will be able to practice their math skills, addition and subtraction, in a fun, engaging and challenging way. A great fun math app that reinforces pattern recognition and number logic."

"We think NxtApp 4 Kids is a top math app." Nathalie adds, "It is original, challenging and engaging. We liked the design and the concept of the number pattern where kids need to think and observe, it keeps them engaged. It offers a great support for math practice and a high replay value. The first levels are easy, but it gets more difficult and more challenging."

The app also includes global leaderboard with Apple Game Center which adds competitive edge that kids enjoy.

$1.99/£1.49/download

ThroughView today is proud to announce the release of ‘Old Masters in 3D’ for both the iPhone and iPad. This interactive 3D book takes the reader back into our history. A collection of paintings by artists such as Rembrandt, Claude Monet, Hendrick Avercamp, John Lewis Krimmel and many more have been reconstructed in 3D. Each conversion can be viewed in 3D using three different methods (3d glasses, stereo viewer and without aids using a swipe gesture to go in and out of the painting. This is combined with background information and presented in a highly interactive digital coffee-table book.

Features:
* Twenty famous paintings have been manually reconstructed in 3D
* The 3D paintings can be viewed using three different modes: stereo photograph, 3d glasses (red / cyan) and sweep 3D
* When in sweep 3D mode, you can just swipe your finger left and right over the painting to look inside of the painting
* Detailed background about each artist in combination with a presentation of the original painting

$4.99/£2.99/download

Kalenday, an innovative new calendar app has just been released on the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch devices. In a first for the app store, Kalenday kicks life into the calendar by enabling users to add events with flexible times such as ‘after work’, ‘starts 9pm’ and any other text.

"Entering times for every event in digital calendars has always frustrated me," says Andrew Varvel, founder of Kalenday. "It was about time that someone built a digital calendar that reflected the flexibility inherent in peoples’ lives. As a result, it’s the fastest and simplest calendar for iPhone". Kalenday has invited potential customers to visit their website and test their current calendar app against Kalenday on an online video.

Kalenday is committed to its vision of the flexible calendar and updates are already planned with more exciting features that will ensure it remains the fastest and simplest calendar app on the App Store. "This is just step one. We’re really excited about the future of Kalenday and how we can help our customers kick life back into their calendar. It’s all about removing the frustration, the bore and the annoyances of calendars that our customers are so accustomed to, " says Mr. Varvel.

$1.99/£1.49/download

ProInsights is a powerful application that radically transforms the data from one‚s LinkedIn profile into beautiful infographics. These infographics are presented as stunning visuals which help one discover fascinating insights and gain a completely different perspective on themselves and their entire LinkedIn network.

ProInsights comes with a very interesting feature called the „Connection Explorer‰ which helps the users view their connections in four convenient and interactive modes- Card Deck, Mosaic, Bird Eye and Spring Graph. In the Card Deck mode, profiles of one‚s connections are displayed much like business cards while the Mosaic view displays one‚s connections in a photo-album view, alphabetically. The Bird Eye view plots one‚s connections on a map which makes it easy to locate them geographically. The Spring Graph mode is a highly interactive view, where one can view his network in nodes clustered by the number of connections that they have.

$9.99/£6.99/download

LinkDotz Inc. today is thrilled to announce that their first travel app, PlaceBox, is now available on the App Store worldwide for iPhone. It was launched first in Korea in Oct. 2011 and Apple has chosen it as the Best Travel App in "App Store Rewind 2011". PlaceBox is a location-based app that helps search places by about 100 categories anywhere in the world, and take photos, view albums and make notes with only one app.

Nearly 100 hot place types are optimally arranged in 2 pages on the small iPhone display. "Without keyword searches, you can find places you want to go by just touches!" said Robbie Kim, CEO of LinkDotz Inc. In PlaceBox, Users can sort the search results by check-in count, rating or distance, and check out details, reviews and directions about the places. Kim stated that users don’t need to be concerned about where to go for a date or travel for a long time.

It has a special feature to search distant areas in a more accurate way; Users are able to set the search center point through a simple address search. "Look at the history on the world map after Saving POIs in advance and checking in them." said Kim.

$0.99/£0.69/download

PunFlay’s latest app to hit the market, Cell & Cell Structure is now a finalist in the Best App Ever Awards for the Best Middle School Student App category.

Released in August 2011, Cell & Cell Structure has helped middle school students understand the intricate functions of the smallest form of life. Cell and Cell Structure provides an in-depth understanding of cell functioning and structure, supported by interactive activities to test recollection and emphasize cell parts and functions. Specifically designed for middle-school students, this app complements life-science curriculum.

$2.99/£1.99/download

I Learn with Transportation is a new kind of bilingual teaching tool. It is designed so that children learn, and develop their creativity the way they like best: Playing!

The book showcases twenty-one of the most popular means of transportation in order to interact and learn while they have fun. Children will enjoy a unique experience learning through play, and without the need for additional help. They willwander among clear and simple landscapes, colorful illustrations, catchy and festive music, fun sound effects, etc. Everything tailored to the little ones. All in all, this is a book that takes learning and entertaining books to a new level.

The book is supervised in equal terms by teachers and educators, parents, and children with the goal of offering quality entertainment.
The illustrations and animations are work conducted by Sergio Alfonso "Animatomic", a professional with an extensive career and wide recognition in the field of interactive animation.

$2.99/£1.99/download

Bald One Media, an innovative new mobile application developer, is excited today to announce the recent release of AppSketcher for the iPad and iPad 2. With no end in sight to the growing mobile app space, AppSketcher gives app users with the next great app ideas the opportunity to easily draw up and conceptualize their own titles. Eloquently designed, and simple enough for anyone to use, the app allows users to design their own freehand app mockups or wireframes with digital ink and share them with friends, family, or app developers right on their iPad. AppSketcher is currently available for download on the Apple App Store for $2.99 in the Productivity category.

Originally thought up by app developers hungry for a free form app sketching solution that would allow them to easily organize and share new ideas, AppSketcher was built from the ground up to be both practical and accessible. The app provides users with a digital "pen & paper" approach, where they can sketch how they envision their apps’ screens to look by hand without any formal restrictions. To help ensure that users stay on target, AppSketcher includes a number of pre-designed templates which emulate the screen formats and dimensions of today’s most popular mobile devices. Among them are templates for the iPhone, iPad, as well as, other platforms.

$2.99/£1.99/download

IdeaSolutions today has announced My Secret Folder 2012. My Secret Folder 2012 is the most advanced and secure APP on the Apple store to protect, hide and download your private photos and videos on iPhone. Thanks to the gesture based login and the GPS access log that tracks each unauthorized login attempt by keeping a photo and GPS coordinates of the intruder. My Secret Folder 2012 is actually the most feature rich and advanced App to securely store and download photos and videos on iPhone and iPod touch.

My Secret Folder 2012 Key features:
* Special Gesture based login: Connects the DOTS to access.
* Panic gesture: covering the iPhone screen with your hand, the App will return to the login.
* Camouflaged icon on iPhone and iPod Springboard that looks like a standard folder.
* Video download feature, to download videos from internet directly to private albums with the integrated browser that doesn’t save any History. Nearest all video hosting sites are supported
* Photo & video rearrange feature
* Photo cropping feature
* Create unlimited protected collections of photos and videos
* Import photos and videos from camera roll or libraries in a very fast way

$0.99/£0.69/download

Lexington Creative announces the release of Justin Bieber my boyfriend for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. In the app uses can go on any of a number of dates with Justin. If the user impresses Justin enough on the dates, he will ask for their hand in marriage.

The dates include going for coffee, cloud watching, dinner and making out. In the coffee date, the user has to engage in conversation in with Justin. In the dinner date, the user has to find matching food pairs. In the kissing date, the user has to time their kiss so as to kiss Justin perfectly. In the cloud watching date, the user has to find the clouds that Justin talks about.

The app was the idea of Alex Harrington, managing director of Lexington Creative. Alex realized that most Justin Bieber fans would cherish the opportunity to go on a date with Justin. He noted that there was no other app that allowed users to go on simulated dates with him.

The app is free and is available now on the App Store for all iOS devices (iPhone, iPod touch and iPad). The company is considering expansion to Android and Blackberry platforms.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Independent developer Gary Chiert has announced the release of Karats and Coins 1.0 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Karats and Coins is the most comprehensive gold and silver precious metals calculator in the iTunes app store because it covers both up to the minute spot prices and key industry calculators.

"It’s not enough to provide gold and silver spot prices and graphs in an app targeted at the gold, silver and coin buy and sell industries," says the app’s designer and author, Gary Chiert. "Karats and Coins has that up to date information but also has all of the key gold, silver and coin calculators needed by our customers. It has everything a customer needs in a single package."

Karats and Coins truly is comprehensive. It includes:
* Up to the minute spot prices in twenty currencies
* Instant conversion of spot prices by measure of weight and in twenty currencies
* Calculator to convert weights in both troy and avoirdupois measures
* Gold melt calculator featuring purity, currency and weight conversion and the ability to use market prices and exchange rates or user defined prices and exchange rates
* Coin calculator to determine face value of gold and silver coins to pay for a given amount in a particular currency at various exchange rates and spot prices
* Conversion of a given face value of silver coins into price at various currencies and spot prices
* and silver trend charts for up to ten years
$2.99/£1.99/download

Naveya are proud to announce the launch of Coin Attack : TOPGUN for mobile phones and tablets. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, iPod and Android powered phones and tablets, Coin Attack : TOPGUN provides a fast and frantic gaming experience that everyone can enjoy. Recreating the excitement of coin pushing arcade games, Coin Attack : TOPGUN layers special bonus features and combo multipliers to raise the excitement to a whole new level. Compete against others to become a Coin Attack TOPGUN!

Using realistic physics, and based on the Unity gaming engine, Coin Attack : TOPGUN offers a realistic experience, with cutting edge graphics and unprecedented gameplay. Online leader boards and social networking are fully integrated thanks to the inclusion of the full compliment of OpenFeint features.

$0.99/£0.69/download

iOS developer Andrew Winn today is pleased to announce that the new App, Trip Money, is now available for download from the iTunes App Store. Trip Money tracks how much has been spent, where it was spent and how much balance is remaining. Trip Money handles Currency Cards, Cash and Travellers Cheques from single or multiple currencies supporting 57 common currencies, plus many more features.

Andrew Winn told us "the idea for Trip Money first came whilst on a trip to Las Vegas. I had taken a currency card pre-loaded with dollars, with data roaming switched off the only way to check the current balance without a Wi-Fi hotspot was to find an ATM. I thought here’s a great idea for a great iPhone app, now Trip Money has evolved and does a lot more than just tell you how much balance you have left."

For a limited time, Trip Money 1.0 is offered at the introductory price of $1.99 USD (Reg $3.99) or equivalent amount in other currencies, and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Travel category.

$1.99/£1.49/download

Sprightly Software today released an update to Trip Journal for Business. This first of its kind iPad and iPhone app for tracking business vehicle use makes it easy to record almost every aspect of business vehicle use. The app keeps track of all the details of vehicle use for accounting, client billing, incoming tax purposes, and more.

Perfect for both small and medium sized businesses, Trip Journal for Business makes it easy to record vital business information. Never again will business professionals have to fumble with a paper journal, or miss an entry because it wasn’t convenient. Users can fill in most of the information before leaving on their trip, then fill in the final odometer reading at their destination.

$14.99/£9.99/download

Would you like to speed through traffic filled highway roads with the ability to control your speed? Now you can with MotoSikeO, a brand new app launched for the iPhone and iPad by the developer SpinIsland. Race to the end line while avoiding obstacles, cars and trucks!  See if you can best the time and score of other riders.

MotoSikeO is a new motorcycle racing game that challenges you more than any other motorcycle racing game available today. The game’s artificial intelligence makes the game more difficult the better you get, so you always stay on the edge of your seat. While you think you’re playing the game, it’s really playing you, throwing more obstacles in your way the further you progress.

The objective of the game is to race to the finish line, scoring points for passing other vehicles as fast as possible without crashing. Finish with a faster time and you’ll score more bonus points. MotoSikeO was developed with excellent 3D graphics and the most natural turning feel of any motorcycle game available today.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Penultimate, the original and still easiest-to-use handwriting app for iPad, is today introducing deep integration with popular third-party web services, Dropbox and Evernote. The latest version enables users to easily bring cloud sharing, backup, and handwriting search into their workflows.

Penultimate lets users send notebooks and pages to Dropbox – a  popular free service that facilitates the sharing, syncing, and backup of files across computers and devices – and import existing notebook files. Users can share PDFs or native notebook files with other Dropbox users to collaborate on projects, share ideas, or simply view notes on other devices later.

Penultimate now also includes an easy-to-use automatic Dropbox backup system: with a simple switch, users can always have a full set of up-to-date individual notebook and paper files saved in their Dropbox should disaster strike their computers or iPads.

Evernote, another popular free service, is known for its best-in-class handwriting recognition and search, making it a great fit for Penultimate users. Users can link to an Evernote account and then send notebooks or pages to the service. Penultimate optimizes the output for Evernote’s recognition engine, enabling users to find those notes again within Evernote.

Penultimate, known for its high-quality user interface, doesn’t skimp on the details with these integrations. Users can select Dropbox remote files and folders (and create new ones) with all the easy-to-use visual polish that users expect of professional, reliable software. Smart handling of document replacement is offered for both Dropbox and Evernote; users sending updated versions of the same notebook can choose to replace the existing version in the service rather than adding a new document.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Creative Garage Studios is proud to announce the launch of their newest product, called Hydroid. The water intake tracking and reminder application is the simplest and most interactive available to date in the App Store. Hydroid makes it fast and easy for users to ensure that they are getting enough water each day. Water is vitally important for proper body functioning, peak health of organs, good energy levels, and weight loss.

The application offers full flexibility of settings, giving users the choice of water container and the number of drinks they want to ingest on a daily basis. They are also able to select the time frame they want for accomplishing their intake goal, as well as program the frequency of reminders that Hydroid gives them to have another drink of water.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Announcing that TAGR Tech, the developers of MyQDOT Tracker, has released the latest update for iPhone and iPad users. The application is a 7-in-1 crowd sharing tool for avoiding traffic fines, saving money on fuel, discovering and finding nearby attractions and businesses, and more. The added features in the 2.1 update include the automatic notification to a user closing in on a desired location, altitude display, and automatic zooming. Users can also find and advertise garage sales, and post messages for others.

TAGR Tech is proud to announce the 2.1 version update of their 7-in-1 crowd sharing tool, MyQDOT Tracker. The application connects users in a platform that allows them to share parking inspector sightings, fuel prices, speed camera locations and much more.

The app helps people find their parked vehicle, using GPS location positioning. Users can view the map and directions for reference, or follow the built-in compass. To help avoid parking and speeding fines, users are able to set alert reminders to return to their meter before it expires, as well as check to see if others have posted any speed camera or parking inspector sightings in the area.

Traffic reporting is also available in this application. Users are able to read of any accidents or incidents posted by others, before leaving home, so they can select the best route for avoiding delays. Some areas receive live traffic updates, with more geographical locations being added in the near future.
$2.99/£1.99/download

No Tie’s AutoVerbal Pro Talking Soundboard has been selected as a winner in the Relationship/Family Caregiving category in the first annual Sterling Awards competition, as announced at the Silvers Summit Conference at CES today. Sponsored by AARP, the Sterling Awards identify the very best in technology innovation and product excellence for Americans age 50+.

No Tie’s AutoVerbal Pro Talking Soundboard was selected as winner in Relationship/Family Caregiving category. Other Sterling Award winners include:  
* Health & Wellness – Company: GrandCare Systems, Product: GC HomeBase
* Education/Continued Learning – Company: LiveMocha, Product: LiveMocha
* Entertainment – Company: My Gait LLC, Product: My Gait Senior Computer
* Cause-Worthy Product/Service – Company: Great Grabz, Product: Unique Touch Grab Bars

The bestselling app, for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices, allows people who are non-verbal, due to stroke, surgery or other conditions such as Cerebral Palsy or Autism, to communicate using hundreds of photo buttons representing common words or phrases. Users can also program a variety of buttons to speak custom messages. Finally, users can type anything and it will be spoken using Text-To-Speech.

$9.99/£6.99/download

ForzeField Studios released the latest update to their dual stick shooter Infinity Field HD, adding a new multiplayer mode powered by the Joypad SDK. You can now use the Joypad iPhone app to control the game on the iPad’s larger screen. If you have a friend with another iOS device, connect them both for co-op multiplayer. The update also includes a new game mode called Hammer, new enemy AI, and full hardware optimization for iPad 2 and iPhone4S.

With the addition of Airplay mirroring on iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, you can also play Infinity Field HD on a big screen TV controlling it all with Joypad.

"We were extremely excited to work with ForzeField on the latest Infinity Field update" says Todd Hamilton from Joypad Inc. "This is the first game to take advantage of Joypad’s multiplayer capability. There’s an enormous amount of potential for this type of gameplay on iOS and we’re excited to see how developers use our platform."

The Joypad SDK is a free tool that developers can use to add iPhone controller support to their games. It works over WiFi or Bluetooth and currently supports Cocoa/CocoaTouch and Unity games. Developers can add support with little effort and customize the layout to fit their game.

$1.99/£1.49/download

MegaCubic Entertainment, a mobile game development company, announced today the second update on its first iOS game title, Foodie the Bug. The new version of this action packed flying game includes five brand new Chinese-themed levels with more recipes for players to collect and unexpected obstacles to overcome along their journey. Aside from the original tilt control gameplay, the updated version is now equipped with a new tap control system to enhance user experience.

Foodie the Bug was released in early December and updated for the first time around Christmas with the Japanese-themed levels. The game allows players to assume the role of Foodie, an extraordinary cockroach, to fly to exotic destinations and collect various food ingredients along the way to create tasty ethnic cuisines. What players could expect from the latest update are the newly-added levels set in China. The Chinese game setting features several renowned sites such as the Great Wall, the Palace Museum, and Guilin’s mountain landscape. To further spice up players’ gaming experience, the company has also added the option to switch from the original tilt control to tap control.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Davka Corporation is pleased to announce the release of Davka Coloring Blast, a children’s coloring book app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch for children ages 3 and up.

Davka Coloring Blast features a vast collection of 105 Jewish-themed images, ranging from pictures of the Jewish holidays – Hanukkah, Passover, Rosh Hashana, and Purim, to name just a few – to a well-stocked assortment of Jewish objects, including a Torah scroll, Shabbat candles, a shofar, and much more. Davka Coloring Blast even includes a wild and wacky set of all of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as well as a blank template, that encourages children to create their own masterpieces on a blank ‘canvas’.

Children will quickly master the app’s handy coloring tools, which include a coloring brush that features four different thicknesses, 40 different colors and shades, an eraser, and a sharing tool, which allows kids to share their creations with friends and family via email, or save them to the camera roll.

Davka Coloring Blast will help familiarize children with the sights and scenes of the Jewish world, as well as the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It’s easy, fun and enjoyable.
$2.99/£1.99/download

Robot Entertainment today announces the release of their first mobile game Hero Academy, a head-to-head tactics game for iOS devices. Blending classic tactics gaming with the quick action of modern casual titles, Hero Academy delivers tense one-on-one battles with quick bursts of gameplay.

Free/download