Daily App Digest – February 16, 2012

Les Trois Elles Interactive, publisher of the Award Winning Numberland HD, is proud to present its new educational apps called Montessori Letter Sounds and Montessori Letter Sounds in French. Montessori Letter Sounds HD is an English app teaching children letter sounds and not letter names, preparing them for reading. Montessori Letter Sounds HD in French offers children the possibility to learn letter sounds as well as some French vocabulary.

Teaching using the Montessori Method means never putting the child in a situation where failure is a given. Montessori teachers always look for situations where children will strive, increasing their self-confidence and their will to learn. Obviously, making mistakes is part of learning and the Montessori Material is designed to ensure a level of self-correction by children themselves. But making a mistake that you learn from and being in an overwhelming situation that makes you feel your are no good are very different. We have locked the more difficult levels of this game to make sure that only children who identify sounds in words and who know letter sounds can access them, avoiding any situation where children would loose confidence and stop playing.

$4.99/£2.99/download

Sound Touch Interactive today announced the release of a newly updated version of Music Color for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Music Color is a revolutionary color learning utility that divides the music of 12 legendary classical composers, integrating the sounds of each composer uniquely with a different color. The app has been updated to add compatibility with 20 different languages, ensuring that youthful users can get an introduction to classical music regardless of where they’re from.

This app isn’t a simple gimmick, introducing toddlers to identify diverse colors via 360 equally diverse HD images of real life objects such as plants, vehicles, animals, and more. Living up to its name, Music Color also engrosses young users into the vibrant world of classical music by dividing twelve iconic composers’ pieces by color. Once users tap on a color or colored illustration a different composer will play, at once encouraging their visual and musical development. Featured composers include everyone from Bach and Strauss, to Brahms, Mozart, and more!

Since Music Color was specifically designed by parents to be as accessible and straightforward as possible for toddler aged users to use. The app eschews complex swipe based navigation for simple taps. In fact, the app jumps into full gear the second users open it. There’s no start menu, and users start experiencing the breathtaking melodies of the great composers, discovering the joy of everyday colors, and having a blast instantly. With Music Color, there’s always enough changing music and unique color categories filled with diverse items to discover, guaranteeing that kids always have more to love and learn about!

$2.99/£1.99/download

Touch Village is excited to announce the release of Dragons Rage 2, a new and improved version of its predecessor, on February 8th, 2012. The game will be free and will be available for download in the Apple App Store.

Players can expect improved gameplay with more random and challenging enemies, 20 re-playable levels that are based on a star system so players can track their improvements, and most importantly, a Dragon Shop where users can use coins collected in the game to purchase weapons, dragon upgrades and much more. Dragons Rage 2 also supports in-app purchases giving players the option to purchase additional perks to improve their chances of success.

"Dragons Rage 2 is still going to be a fun, medieval adventure but this time we’re packing it full of exciting new features and new gameplay. Players of all ages are going to love the new look and feel," Says Michael Lapico, CEO of Touch Village Inc.

The basic controls and premise will remain the same, so players can rest assured that they will still be taking the place of an angry dragon and fighting off an onslaught of enemies in the fast-paced game they’ve come to adore.
Free/download

JAS Applications today is very excited the announce the release of Version 1.0 of their new iOS App Gas Logs. Gas Logs is the ultimate tool to keep up to date with how much money you’re spending on gas/fuel. Whether you’re a frequent travelling businessperson, or an occasional trip-maker, Gas Logs will help you keep to that important fuel budget!

The App features an easy to use, sleek table which displays the date, price/gallon, total price and amount filled up for each gas log. As well as this, the total price for all logs added together is displayed.

If you’re low on fuel, you need to find the nearest gas station and Gas Logs covers this too. All Gas Stations around your GPS Location are displayed on a stunning map so therefore you’ll never run out of gas.

$1.99/£1.49/download

Rob Laltrello today is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of TapPoll 1.0 for iOS devices. TapPoll is a multiple choice quiz and polling app that can be used by educators and students alike. The app has two modes of operation: polls and quizzes.

Polls are for live, instant feedback. The results of a poll are graphed instantly on TapPoll’s website as responses are being made on the devices. This is great for classroom feedback.

Quizzes are multiple choice and can be shared among peers to allow students to study for tests alone or in groups. Quizzes will be randomly presented in an endless fashion, in other words, the questions as well as the presentation order of the multiple choice answers are constantly shuffled.  

Additionally, there are also several public quizzes available for everyone to use with more being added all the time. Educators and students can also submit quizzes for public use and once approved the quizzes will be listed in the public quiz list. TapPoll allows you to upload an image during the poll / quiz creation process. This image can be referenced in your quiz or poll and can be displayed when the question is presented to the device. Quizzes and polls have the option of being protected with a shared group password for added control of your cohort.

$2.99/£1.99/download

Graphic Node, a graphic design company that specializes in creating themes, templates, and illustrations for Mac OS X, has again expanded its assortment of iWork templates with the update of the iOS version of Designs for Pages. The expanded pack for Apple’s Pages for iOS now consists of 783 high-quality, easily customizable templates. The upgraded version 1.6 has a New Interface, making it more user friendly and easy to navigate. The collection assists iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch users in creating powerful, versatile documents without using a computer.

"Mac is not always at hand when you remember that special occasion and you have even some time for doing, not just thinking," said Jolita Unguvaitiene, general manager of Graphic Node. "Whereas, iPhone is usually in you pocket or iPad is in your handbag. That’s my practice of course, but I’m a user too."

The Designs for Pages set provides a thorough selection of templates, from books and invitations to posters and brochures. All templates have been streamlined to make the best use of the Pages for iOS application. Each layout – from the definitive style of text-only pages to the vivid combination of pictures and slogans in the poster and brochure templates – features great design quality.

Almost all objects in Designs for Pages can be easily recolored, moved, or removed. Users can type or paste their own text, add and remove text boxes, change the font, or replace stock images with photos or pictures of their choice. Most of the 783 templates are available in both paper size A4, the standard size in most countries in the world, and U.S. Letter, the most common paper format in the United States and Canada.

$2.99/£1.99/download

CulinartMedia and Julian Whitaker MD and the Whitaker Wellness Institute of Newport Beach, California have created "Quick & Healthy: Easy Recipes for Diabetics," an iPad app to help reverse diabetes through healthy eating. The app features over 100 delicious recipes that allow users to customize their daily menus based on Dr. Whitaker’s suggested nutritional targets. The user sets their personal profile, and the app provides daily nutritional targets and values unique to that individual’s health and diet needs.

The "Quick & Healthy: Easy Recipes for Diabetics" app also provides other important features, including a tracking device that allows you to successfully review your daily meals and a history button that gives you instant feedback on how you did yesterday or last week, all at-a-glance.

Join Dr. Julian Whitaker, along with the thousands of diabetes patients he has helped over the past 32 years, and start improving your health with sugar-friendly recipes and helpful tips on how to be successful in achieving your health goals. The app also includes an introductory video from Dr. Whitaker who shares his strategies for helping patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Whitaker has been treating patients for over 30 years at the Whitaker Wellness Institute with a combination of therapeutic lifestyle changes and his own proprietary line of supplements. He is proud to be part of Healthy Directions, an organization dedicated to giving health conscious individuals access to products and health guidance from established thought leaders in integrative and alternative medicine.

$4.99/£2.99/download

Applaud today is proud to announce that their new puzzle game, Bugly, is now available for iPhone and iPod touch. Bugly is a colourful and fast-paced puzzle game in which bugs are moved around a seven column playing board with the aim of forming chains of bugs of the same colour. Bugly features Game Center leaderboard and achievements.

At the start of the game 8 bugs drop into each of the 7 columns and a 30 second timer starts ticking down. The aim of Bugly is to score points by playing for as long as possible. The player can only put additional seconds on the timer by forming and tapping chains of 3 or more bugs of the same colour. Each chain formed and tapped adds between 5 and 30 seconds to the timer depending on the length of the chain. And points are added to the score.

As the game progresses additional colours will start to appear and the maximum time allowed on the timer will reduce. Surviving when you only have a maximum 15 seconds take real skill in spotting potential chains and knowing which bugs to tap to move those around it into place!

Making a chain of 3 black bugs will flush the board, giving the player a completely fresh set of bugs which may help them find new chains, or not! Flushing should be used wisely since five seconds are deducted from the timer and it can’t be used when the timer is in the red where less than 10 seconds remain.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Independent developer Cristi Habliuc, who brought you the "How Drunk" BAC calculator app for the iPhone and the "Spin Frenzy" puzzle game, today is excited to announce the release of his latest iPhone/iPod touch application, "Daily Lama". It stands out with quality, hand-picked quotes, a beautiful interface and many other features.

We all need motivation in our lives. Get the boost you need to accomplish what you set yourself for in life by letting this free application help you discover great great knowledge shared to us by great people of all times. Daily Lama gives you access to hundreds of carefully selected words from around the world. Words that will push you forward your goals; words that will change the way you think and will definitely make the Sky the limit.

Daily Lama supports the iPhone 4/4s’ Retina Display and sports a beautiful user interface and customizable wallpapers. It allows you to save your favorite quotes or even to share them with friends, using Facebook or by email.

Free/download

GetJam is all about kicking back in down time to enjoy the best entertainment and juicy offers whilst collecting reward points (known as berries). Enjoy the latest viral videos, movie trailers and gaming from the very best brands to earn sweet rewards – all Free!

GetJam picks the best viral videos and movie trailers from top brands like Smirnoff, Coca-Cola and Universal. Enjoy watching videos to collect berries. Spend berries on 10 or 15 iTunes vouchers, Amazon, PAYG Top Ups or PayPal cash.

As well as sweet rewards, GetJam scouts offers from all the best brands every day – cherry-picking top freebies and cash saving deals, from free apps or SIM cards to a day pass at Fitness First.

GetJam is ad-funded meaning everything is available FREE. No credit cards, no mobile charges on your bill – no catches at all.
Free/download

Prajnu, Inc., today is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of Jobs & Career Visualizer 1.0 for iPad, now available on the Apple App Store. This career tool helps the user visualize their ideal career or job by entering their goals in seven different categories, staring with a mission statement. The other categories include values, interests, skills, work environment, salary & benefits, and culture & people.

The app was created by Spencer Leu & Rick Nanda, whose mission is simple, improve life. With many companies downsizing, employees are being asked to do more with less resources. Many are questioning if they are in the right jobs or careers, but are not sure where to start. It can also help those looking for their first job to get focused on the types of jobs they should pursue. According to Spencer, "This app is a valuable tool when looking for and evaluating job opportunities. It will help the user figure out and visualize their ideal job or career."

The app allows for customization of the headers, background image, color of the text and text boxes, and transparency of the text boxes. This allows users from all over the world to customize the text in their preferred language with their own images and color preferences so they can easily visualize their ideal career or job.

$2.99/£1.99/download

iCOOLgeeks today has just released the first 20 levels of Zeus Ball for the iPad, for Free on Apple’s Appstore. Zeus Ball is their new physics based puzzle game. In Zeus Ball, Medusa is wreaking havoc on the country side by turning innocents into stone. With a lack of heroes in the land, Zeus has trusted you to save the day. Your only weapon is the mighty Zeus Ball. Using simple TAP controls to direct the flight of the Zeus Ball, you must destroy the blocks, save the Princess, and become the hero. Use your cunning wit combined with the various powers of the elemental blocks; earth, fire, ice, air, stone, poison, and warp to solve the ever increasingly difficult puzzles.

This is the first of several versions of the game to be released. Zeus Ball is scheduled to be released on Mac later this month, as well as iPhone, iPod touch, and Android for the Kindle and Nook devices later this quarter or early second quarter. Zeus Ball is the thirtieth iOS app released by iCOOLgeeks, but it will be the first app they have released in almost a year. With the ever increasing competition in the mobile app space, iCOOLgeeks took a whole new ground-up approach to the development of their latest game, Zeus Ball. The graphics, gameplay, and overall quality of their latest project stands high, proving that small indy development studios can compete with the big publishing houses.

Free/download

Indie game developer Total Eclipse today is proud to announce the release of A Clockwork Brain, a brain training puzzle game with a Steampunk theme. In A Clockwork Brain, players can challenge themselves with a series of mini-games designed to test cognitive abilities such as visual, spatial, logic, language, arithmetic, and memory. It is a Universal iOS game and free to download from the App Store.

A Clockwork Brain contains four free mini-games, with six more also available as in-app purchases. The game features fast-paced, bite-sized game play; each mini-game playthrough is approximately one minute of intense brain training. Sprocket, the beloved robot from The Clockwork Man series, acts as the players’ guide and helpful instructor.

Upon starting the game, players can access Challenge Mode, which provides an overall training activity and randomly chooses four games to be played in sequence. If they prefer to train in a particular mini-game, they can do so in Single Game Mode. Both modes support OpenFeint and Game Center leaderboards, while local highscore tables are also available. Exceedingly skilled players can try reaching the ultra-hard Insane Round which gives great rewards to those who can last long enough.

Depending on how well players do at the mini-games, A Clockwork Brain awards them with Sprocket Tokens. Tokens can then be used to unlock a range of free upgrades such as an extra bonus mini-game, Single Game Mode and wallpapers.

Free/download

Itzy Interactive is pleased to introduce Itzy3D v1.1, a fun, family friendly casual game where users take control of our spider hero, Itzy as he moves from his forest home to encroaching farmlands and cities in search of food. Each, unique level invites players to explore the terrain to catch as many fireflies as possible while building webs to progress. Use Itzy’s natural camouflage to avoid level enemies or take the fight to them by powering up Itzy with unique Power Ups while you play through Itzy’s story.

Itzy3D includes:
* 4 free to play levels with the option to continue Itzy’s story in each of 6 unique, downloadable levels.
* Follow Itzy’s story through 40 beautifully illustrated cutscenes.
* 24 individual achievements to unlock
* Camouflage Itzy from his enemies or Power Up and go on the offense with Kung-Fu
* Level up system allows you to control how Itzy plays by customizing attributes
* 3 difficulty settings
* Huge levels and scalable difficulty give hours of re-playability
* Includes how to play game tutorial and gameplay demo
* Supports easy, touch screen controls
* Customizable options to control Itzy’s look
* Hidden bonus on each level
* Facebook support to link up and share Itzy’s achievements with friends
* Outstanding art style
* Original soundtrack and voice
Free/download

Onepoint Software, the leading provider of integrated project and portfolio management (PPM) software, has just released "Onepoint 360", its new multi-project dashboard for the iPad. Across industries Onepoint Project is known as one of the most easy-to-use PPM solutions with a solid feature set ranging from agile and formal project planning over monitoring and controlling to extensive reporting functions. The new iPad app not only allows accessing Onepoint Project from the popular tablet computer, but also stores the dashboard locally, so that all information is also accessible if users are not connected to the Internet.

Onepoint 360 is a multi-project dashboard app that was specifically designed for the iPad user experience. The app was optimized for landscape mode, but works also nicely in portrait mode. Onepoint 360 shows tabular status information, effort and cost plan/actual comparisons, a multi-project schedule and Onepoint’s unique project pipeline in a single info graphic-like view. Each area of the dashboard can be zoomed to full screen size by double-tapping the respective header area. Tapping onto a specific project name shows the most important information of the project in question. In order to be also usable in meeting situations without Internet access, the app synchronizes with Onepoint Project server and stores the information in an offline-accessible, local database.

Free/download

iOS developer, Richard Wilson has announced the release and immediate availability of Elicity, his innovative YouTube client app for iPad.

Instead of paging through hundreds of thumbnail images of videos, explore YouTube by scrolling, pinching and zooming on the beautiful word clouds created by Elicity from video keywords.

See an interesting word? Simply tap on it and a new word cloud will be created to allow further exploration.

At any point, watch the videos matching the selected words and share them with friends on Facebook, Twitter and via email.

"We rethought YouTube browsing from the ground up and tried to deliver an app that would make it a fun and tactile experience. I think we’ve succeeded", said Richard Wilson, developer of Elicity.

$1.99/£1.49/download

Woodroid mix the brick breaker gameplay, pixelart graphics and awesome visual effects to enjoy breaking all the pixels for free during more than 100 levels.

– Universal app. (iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch)
– Game Center integration.
– Retina display and HD graphics.
– More than 100 levels for FREE.
– Amazings visual effects.
– Easy to play!

Free/download