Daily App Digest – February 17, 2012

From the creator of Counter-Strike and Tactical Intervention comes yet another first-person-shooter slam dunk, TI Mobile. Minh Le’s Counter-Strike redefined online FPS gameplay, and the upcoming Tactical Intervention Online is poised to do its own myth-making. In the meantime, FIX Korea Co., Ltd. has launched the mobile version of Tactical Intervention. TI Mobile is a fast-paced tactical counter-terrorism game that will make Minh Le’s game-creation genius available to gamers on the go. Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad (with iOS 4.3 and up), TI Mobile will be accessible to a vast number of FPS fans.

The game offers a gritty, realistic take on counter-terrorism ops in an urban environment, upping the adrenaline with real-world locations like malls, underground garages, and office buildings – complete with vulnerable civilians. Gameplay is further enhanced with the inclusion of K9 units, four-legged partners who play an integral role in taking out the terrorist threat. With weaponry, tactics, and environment drawn from the reality of counter-terrorism operations today, TI Mobile is a high-octane ride for FPS fans.

And not only is TI Mobile taking the App Store by storm with revolutionary features unique to mobile FPS play, it’ll do so without holding fans’ wallets hostage. TI Mobile is available right now in the App Store, and it’s free to download.

Free/download

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be one of Australia’s feared predators, Game Shifu has come up with Shark Cave – a fast paced, arcade style game that could be just what you’re looking for but with a twist because it is You who will be the shark, it is you who will need to avoid the attacks. Shark Cave is sure to capture the imagination of young children everywhere. It is a fun, fast paced game that has all the trappings of arcade action.

As the player, you’ll assume the role of a cheeky shark who is tempted to eat everything in its path. Quick reflexes are needed if the shark is to beat the clock in ten action packed levels. Bonuses are achieved by opening up treasure chests full of bronze, silver and gold coins. Just when you think you have cracked the joystick control, patience will become a virtue when you attempt to feast on everything in Shark Cave.

Action and difficulty escalates with each stage, progressively assaulting your shark character. Cave-ins, bomb alerts and angry octopi will keep you constantly on the move and your special shark sonar capabilities can be deployed to knock out the constant scuba diver threat. As The Shark, you will need to collect as many lives as possible by passing through each level. You will definitely need them for the end scene which can only be described as frantic.

$2.99/£1.99/download

Instead of recommending movies by matching cast or crew the latest release of Renniksoft’s Movie Genius iPhone app actually compares the plots and themes of films to make suggestions that match in subject matter and style. Movie Genius 2.3 is available to download free from the iTunes App Store and provides recommendations for comedy movies. Further film genres are enabled via in-app purchase.

For movies starring a particular actor Movie Genius doesn’t lazily recommend all the films they’ve ever starred in. Instead, the app makes suggestions based on what the movie is actually about. This gives more realistic recommendations than conventional methods and helps users to discover thousands of new movies they don’t even know exist.

Backed by a database containing tens of thousands of films and powered by unique movie matching software, Movie Genius has been described as "one of the hottest new apps on the iPhone" by Top iPhone App Reviews and as "a very cool app indeed" by The Daily App Show. "Movie Genius was created to provide the type of movie recommendations you’d normally only get from friends or family." said Clive Skinner, founder of Renniksoft. "We continue to be surprised at just how interesting and original the recommendations from the app prove to be." Users of the app obviously agree, with one describing it as "relevant, accurate and not always obvious".

Free/download

Skript today is pleased to announce Buy Me a Pie! – Grocery List 2.0.1 – Free for iOS, an update to their Productivity app that provides a feature-filled grocery list maker containing more than 150 items in 6 categories in its library. Users can easily check off items to purchase by scrolling through Category or Alphabetical listings, and additional items can be added manually. With easy edit, delete, and specify quantity, the app makes food shopping easy, because the final shopping list is color-coded and organized by aisles rather than names. Buy Me a Pie! is of practical use to most iDevice owners, and the app is upgradeable, with the paid version adding cloud sync, sharing, multiple lists, notifications, and more.

Feature Highlights:
* Very simple and beautiful design
* Quickly add items from a predefined list of more than 150 grocery items
* Entered items are automatically stored in the built-in library for future lists
* Automatically suggests a word upon entering a few letters – just tap a suggested word instead of typing all of the letters of the desired word
* Automatic list items grouping

There are many ways to make a grocery shopping list, for example: most important items first, all the ingredients for a dish listed together, items listed in the order they are stocked from aisle to aisle, grouping foods into categories, and typing in items one by one. Buy Me a Pie! accommodates every one of these methods, making it a truly universal list maker.

When compiling their shopping list, users can choose (or alternate) between a comprehensive scrolling list arranged Alphabetically or by Category. The Alphabetical listing includes a virtual thumb index from A to Z in small letters in the right margin. In this way, users can go directly to any letter, instead of scrolling to it. The six Category listings are alphabetical within each color-coded category, including: bread, butter, cat food, eggs, water (staples); snacks, cookies, hot dogs; fruits and vegetables; soaps and paper products; coffee, sauces, and condiments; and beef, chicken, and fish. Buy Me a Pie! features an auto-fill function so that typing in the first two or three letters will automatically fill in the entire name.

Free/download

Mobile game development studio, Tap4Fun released Island Empire 1.3.1 today, an important update to their incredibly popular Massively Multiplayer Online Game on the iPhone and iPad. The new Island Empire introduces a new building as well as increased capabilities to Leagues. Island Empire is a strategic MMO that allows players from all over the world to play and chat simultaneously.

Island Empire features a new early warning system and new building: Battle Command. The battle command allows you to retreat troops, set up an early warning system, as well as set your cities defenses. Included in this update is also enhanced functions for Leagues. League members can now contribute to leagues and leagues can set their diplomatic relations with other leagues. The UI as well as the display of the game has also been enhanced. Thousands of players can chat and play with each other online simultaneously and now with Korean support, the game will be more accessible to more players.

Free/download

The California makers of TheLandlordApp announced this week that version 1.5 of their Smartphone App is now available through the Android Market and iTunes. Version 1.5 builds upon the success of The Landlord App by providing an update containing various improvements, including fixes that:

* Address the ability to add / edit past collected rent
* View payment status at a glance on property summary screen
* Improve the handling of a properties water bill
* Added time stamp to tax and insurance payments
* Allow users to store App data on both phone memory and the SD card

Landlords across the country will no longer have to dig through endless piles of paperwork or struggle with dead beet management companies to control every aspect of their rental properties.

Created by two engineers who have a combined 9 years of property management experience, TheLandlordApp is a complete solution for any landlord who manages his or her own properties. The App will maintain flawless records for IRS, which are exportable to excel, store all relevant tenant information, calculate cash flow for all properties, and even advertise on Craigslist. This truly will be the only tool you will ever need. The innovative design and intuitive feel are easy enough for a novice but powerful enough for advanced users. To learn more about TheLandlordApp, and how it can simplify your life, visit The Landlord App website.

$9.99/£5.99/download

Lemon Minder is simple and functional organizer of issues with your car (or lemon, heh). Don’t occupy your mind with irrelevant things… until you come to the car service shop, that is.

Discovered a scratch on the door? The license plate bulb is out of order? Don’t fill your brain with all that – simply launch Lemon Minder, find an appropriate spot on the schematic car display and hold your finger on it for a few seconds.

This app was born because we often forget about various little things about our car right at the time when we come to a service shop. One of the Lemon Minder developers couldn’t replace the anti-fog light bulb for 4 months even though he was in a car service shop twice during that period. Does that sound familiar to you?

This is why it’s easier to mark an issue and forget about it until you come to the repair shop. You can also add a photo ("here’s that pesky scratch!") or record some sound ("Bob, listen to these engine sounds!").

For better visualization of the issues on your car you can choose from one of three types of vehicles – SUV, hatchback or sedan. Full list of issues can be viewed at once on a separate screen and you can also mail it out at any time. And of course, you can always mark off fixed issues so they don’t stick out any more.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Apple iOS device owners can now listen to their saved web articles, blogs, new stories, and RSS feeds using Read It Aloud created by VoiZapp, Inc. This is the first app to bring state of the art text-to-speech reading aloud technology to all Read It Later, InstaPaper, and Google Reader users.

Read It Aloud reads aloud any web article, blog, or news feed from your Google Reader, Read It Later, or InstaPaper account(s) anytime, anywhere. Using state of the art text-to-speech technology, you can listen hands-free to your Reader’s RSS feed and/or saved web articles in a soothing voice when you’re driving, walking, working out, or just plain relaxing. During the workday, just save anything you’d like to have read to you. Then, during your evening commute or workout, use Read It Aloud as a personalized "news radio" that broadcasts just the news and information that you want to hear. Why listen to gritty news stories that you don’t really want to know from around the world, when you can listen to timely content that you’ve specifically selected from your own Internet interests?

$2.99/£1.99/download

AppAnnex LLC, an emerging mobile applications developer, has today announced the release of Animals for Tots for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices running on iOS 4.0 or later. Animals for Tots 1.0 is a colorful and dynamically entertaining animal education app geared specifically for young users. The app give toddlers the reigns, letting them explore a beautifully rendered world filled with professionally drawn interactive animals. Once inside, kids simply touch any of the app’s popular farm and forest animals to instantly discover their names via print and audio narration, as well as playing the sounds they make. Newly updated to include more animals then ever, as well as Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish languages support, Animals for Tots is currently available for download on the Apple App Store for FREE in the Education category.

Built in collaboration with the Moms with Apps foundation to be straightforward and easily accessible for children as young as 1 to 3 years old, Animals for Tots 1.0 includes twenty interactive animals to discover. The app features a simple intuitive opening menu with two large clearly defined tabs – Farm & Forest – that give kids the choice to explore animals from either environment. Included animals range from farm raised horses, cows, and pigs, to forest dwelling bears, moose, and many more. To boot, parents can unlock an additional ten animal species for their children to discover instantly via in-app purchase, with even more new animal packs set to be released in the near future too.

Free/download

i2e Consulting LLC, is a software services company. Years of experience in developing Enterprise Applications combined with mobile apps expertise positions i2e as a niche player in building business and productivity apps. I2e Consulting is pleased to announce the exhibition of Gantt Lite and Gantt Pro App v1.8 for iOS, at the Microsoft Project Conference 2012 at Phoenix, AZ – March 19 – 22, 2012 (Booth# 106).

Gant Lite/Pro was originally released on 26-May-2011 and has been well received by the Project Management Community and was showcased at various venues including the PMI Global Congress 2011 at Dallas, Texas. F100 Project Managers and Planners are using the app on a daily basis.

The latest version Gantt Lite/Pro 1.8 was recently released with various performance enhancements. This app has been tested with sample plans from various industries and geographies to ensure the tool works with all kinds and versions of MS Project plans.

Project Managers using Microsoft Project can take a look at the easy to use Gantt Lite app for free. The app makes it possible to easily access Microsoft Project files on iPhone or iPad, anywhere, anytime. With Gantt Lite/Pro Project Planners can easily tweak plans or take task notes while on the move or at a meeting. Gantt Lite provides project managers with a number of different views, including Calendar View, Table View & Critical Path View. The innovative bird’s eye view provides a holistic view of the entire ‘Gantt Chart’ enabling easy navigation throughout the project plan.

iPhone $0.99/£0.69/download
iPad $5.99/£3.99/download

A unique and exciting edutainment app for kids hits the iPad and Mac. TouchTilt Games, a young company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada, releases an educational game called Tiny Diggers for kids who love construction trucks and getting their hands dirty.

"We believe Tiny Diggers has incredible potential in educational kids games on mobile devices as it sets a new standard for engaging them in activities they love while learning fundamentals of shapes, colours and numbers. The game promises to be a rewarding experience for any parent or child who wants to give it a try. My own 5-year-old son played a key role in testing and approving Tiny Diggers to his liking."

Tiny Diggers is a fun and engaging educational game for Preschoolers, aged 2-5, that puts your child in the seat of popular construction trucks. Drive an excavator while mastering numbers, a dumptruck while learning colours, and a bulldozer to discover basic shapes. Each truck’s dashboard has fun and interactive movable parts, including a horn, a CB Radio, and big buttons to control the truck. If your child wants a break they can always get their hands dirty in Free Play Mode.

Features Include:
* 3 different trucks to control
* 3 different games that teach kids about numbers, colours and shapes
* Free Play Mode – just dig, dump dirt and explore!
* Interactive environments
* Animated characters and dozens of sounds throughout the game
* No confusing menus or navigation
Professional soundtrack by Hessel Van Hoorn

$1.99/£1.49/download

TimeStream Software announces the release of Version 3.8 of its popular Walt Disney World Notescast app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Featuring over 300 pages of in-depth information and more than 750 original high-quality photos exclusive to the app, the new Version 3.8 is a powerful trip-planning and in-park resource showcasing park Attraction, Parades, Restaurants, Annual events, What’s New, What’s Coming, Hotels, Ticket Information, Author’s Tips and more. Over 20 main categories and countless sub-categories make this one of the most in-depth Walt Disney World resources available for a mobile device.

"With over 300 pages of in-depth information and over 750 photos, the Walt Disney World Notescast is recognized as one of the most complete sources of information about the parks available in a mobile app."  said Mike Westby of TimeStream Software. "Combined with all the original and exclusive photography, it literally puts the entire resort right in users’ hands."

The new Walt Disney World Notescast Version 3.8 covers nearly every aspect of the entire resort and all four theme parks, including the Magic Kingdom(R), Epcot(R), Disney’s Animal Kingdom(R), Disney’s Hollywood Studios(TM) and more.
$3.99/£2.49/download

TimeStream Software is pleased to announce the release of the new "Maui Vacation Guide – First Time Tips" mobile app for the iPhone and iPod touch. A powerful new mobile resource for first- and few-time visitors to Maui, the new Maui Vacation Guide – First Time Tips ensures vacationers to Maui experience only the best activities, beaches, snorkeling spots, shopping locations and more during their stay.

"First-time vacationers know that a vacation to Maui is expensive and their time is limited, so they don’t want to waste either by spending a day traveling to a destination only to discover they should’ve gone elsewhere." said Mike Westby of TimeStream Software. "Our new Maui Vacation Guide app provides vacationers with a comprehensive list of only the best island activities to ensure none of their time is wasted and they get the most from their vacation."

Compiled from years of visits and written from the first-timer’s perspective, the app, which contains no advertising, is targeted toward and written specifically for first- and few-time visitors to Maui. By selecting from the carefully chosen activities and destinations within the app, visitors completely eliminate any wasted time and money associated with "discovering" a new vacation destination and instead ensure their entire vacation is spent enjoying some of the best activities, beaches and destinations Maui has to offer.

$1.99/£1.49/download

Nah-Meen Studios is announcing that its game Meowch! will be available for .99 USD for a limited time. Meowch! can be found in app stores worldwide in the adventure/puzzle game category.

The object of Meowch! is to guide 3 runaway cats to freedom, navigating them through each level using satellite dishes, gutters, ledges and numerous other objects. Players need to collect missing cat posters while avoiding the cat lady and animal control as they pass through the suburbs on their way down town. Meowch! offers fun game play and simple objectives making it easily accessible and hard to put down.

Meowch! is Game Center and Open Feint supported, allowing players to collect numerous achievements and compete for the top spot on the leader board. Spanning across three stages; the 36 levels of Meowch! offer steady progression of difficulty as well as great replay value. Meowch! is a gaming experience everyone can enjoy.

Take control of three runaway cats and guide them to freedom. Can you maneuver down the roof of a brownstone while evading the clutches of the cat lady? Or from the the heights of a skyscraper without a gust of wind blowing you off course? And don’t forget, Animal Control will be waiting on the ground to snatch you up unless you find a place to hide… Meowch!
$0.99/£0.69/download

Sad Cat Software, a burgeoning mobile application and game developer, is excited to announce the launch of Train Titans for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. An exciting new puzzle adventure, Train Titans challenges you to create working railroad tracks that get multiple trains to and from various cities without crashing. But your job isn’t done once tracks are built! Players have to guide every train to make sure it follows the right path, makes the right turns, and avoids trouble! The further you progress, the more complex the logistics become, and the more challenging the terrain features get. Get ready, because you’ll be building whole train-ready cities complete with buildings and more! Offering addicting puzzle action that’s as engaging as it’s graphics, Train Titans is currently available for download in the Apple App Store for $0.99 in the Puzzle Games category.

Train Titans blends problem solving puzzle action with many of the real-time gameplay features of sim experiences! Players start each level with only beginning and end stations for the trains they need to move, and its up to them to use the various track segments, tools, and space at their disposal to make railway systems that connect everything together. The fun doesn’t stop once the building does though. Players need to man the track, switching turns on and off, and more to navigate every train safely – no collisions allowed or its game over! Train Titans includes 28 diverse and sequentially more challenging levels spread across six equally unique terrain themes ranging from winter forests, prairies, deserts and more! Best of all, as players continue to play their work will help them build up whole interactive cities which includes 34 different in-game buildings.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Tiger Club is passionate about helping men improve their dating skills and increase their romantic chances with attractive, hot women. The great news about Dating SIM is the fact that it is tremendous fun to play and as its users automatically improve their dating skills just by playing this realistic dating simulation game.

Valentine’s has just passed. You can take a deep breath. As a matter of fact you can do much more than that. If you were one of those guys, who didn’t have a date this Valentine’s, there is no need to worry. Dating SIM is getting better and stronger.

For over twenty years, there has been new, groundbreaking findings in the science of meeting women and dating. Dating SIM, an iPhone dating simulator, was the only one based on real science. Well, we have just made it even better.

Dating SIM has just been updated on the Apple App Store. This popular Dating Simulation Game has been featured by Apple in Lifestyle’s ‘WHAT’S HOT’ and ‘NEW’ categories. Now it offers even more cool features. First of all, we have decided to give a Post Valentine’s gift to all men, who would like to improve their skills of meeting women and find a hot date. One of Dating SIM’s most popular Paid features is now available Free of charge.

How does it work? Anytime you would like to have some fun, simply open up Dating SIM, choose the type of girl that you would like to meet, select where you would like to meet her and off you go. You will have five possible ways of starting a conversation with her. However, only one is correct. If you choose the correct one, you will go to the next level. If not, it’s game over, just like in real life. You have ten levels to accomplish, from meeting her all the way up to going on a date with her. And as a bonus, you can also try additional ‘Seduction levels’.
$4.99/£2.99/download

Independent children’s book and app publisher Nosy Crow is celebrating the birthday of its first app, The Three Little Pigs, with a weekend price drop on the iTunes app store.

For the weekend of February 17 – February 20 the app will cost $1.99/ 1.49 / Euro1.59, reduced from its full price of $5.99/ 3.99/ Euro4.99.

"The Three Little Pigs has had an amazing first year," said Tom Bonnick, Digital Project and Marketing Manager for Nosy Crow. "It marked a fantastic start to our apps program, and we’re incredibly proud of everything it’s achieved since. A birthday felt like the right occasion to celebrate all of the app’s successes by sharing it more widely."

Since its release in February 2011, The Three Little Pigs has received numerous accolades. It was Winner of the 2011 Editor’s Choice Award by Children’s Technology Review, was one of Kirkus’s Best Kids Book Apps of the Year, was named one of "The Best Children’s Books on the iPad" by The New York Times’ Gadgetwise blog, and was Highly Commended in the category of Best app at the March 2011 FutureBook awards. The Huffington Post called it "a masterpiece".

Nosy Crow was founded in 2010, published three apps in 2011, and will release eight in 2012. In September 2011, the critically-acclaimed follow-up to The Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, was released, and has been awarded the KAPi award for Best App or eBook, Publishing Innovation Award for Best Juvenile App and FutureBook Award for Best Children’s App.

$1.99/£1.49/download

Games distributor UIG is making an impressive debut on the mobile market. Treasure Blockers is the imaginative 3D implementation of a very popular board game: the setting is the jungle of the Aztecs and it is all about making the life of your enemy difficult. To prevent him from reaching the finish line first nasty blocking stones may be set right in front of him. The game originates from MAX Game Studios, the creators of the world-famous ANNO series.

Once a new round of Treasure Blockers starts, the iPad screen will display an amazing, detailed jungle landscape in 3D, featuring animated effects and small surprises. It may well be that a player has to find a secret switch hidden in the 3D course in order to assemble a path leading over a bridge.

The goal of the game is to get your characters to the finish line safe and sound and to avoid being kicked out by the enemy or getting trapped by moving blocking stones.Treasure Blockers lets the dice roll automatically. With a simple finger tapping the characters are easily moved around the course. The "potential" target fields are highlighted in green as soon as a player has decided on a character.

$2.99/£1.99/download