retroremakes
December 19th, 2009, 00:20
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_apptop.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/apptop.jpg)In this week's tragically undersupported (http://gizmodo.com/5428717/att-has-spent-less-on-network-construction-every-quarter-since-the-iphones-launch) app roundup: Unicorns, summoned! Bing, Bunged! Human beings, shot to death! Fancy cars, fancily raced! Food quanities, measured relatively! Everything, copied and pasted! Keyboards, questionably revolutionized! And more...
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/12/photo-2__1__01.jpgYounicorn (http://gizmodo.com/5426827/younicorn-iphone-app-requires-no-explanation): Excusing the terrible portmanteau of a name, this app is wonderful: for adults, as a silly joke; for children who may actually believe in unicorns, as earnest dream fulfillment. Everyone is happy. Also: unihorned. $1.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_screencap_2009-12-18_at_6.43.16_pm.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/screencap_2009-12-18_at_6.43.16_pm.jpg)Ratio (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ratio/id345119718?mt=8): Cue Dan, resident culinaire/food terrorist:
Michael Ruhlman, cookbook author demigod and Gizmodo Food Week contributor, is bringing his excellent book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking to the App Store. Ratio takes sometimes-threatening elements of cooking like doughs, cakes, sauces, sausages, stocks and batters and breaks them down into more versatile ratios (bread is five parts flour to three parts water, for example). The app looks really great, actually: It has all 32 of the "critical ratios" in cooking, plus a calculator (to figure out exactly how much of everything you need), recipe ideas for each ratio, and ways to both store and share recipes (via Facebook and Twitter).
Fivebux.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/12/screencap_2009-12-15_at_1.00.15_pm_01.jpgPastebot (http://gizmodo.com/5427068/pastebot-is-a-brilliant-syncable-clipboard-for-the-iphone): You know how Microsoft Office's clipboard lets you keep track of everything you've copied and pasted on your PC? This is like that, for the iPhone. Except flashier, and with wireless syncing. Two dollars.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/12/photo_4_01_01.jpgBattleship (http://gizmodo.com/5426242/at-long-last-battleship-comes-to-the-iphone): This board game is such a good fit for the iPhone that it's amazing it took this long to show up in the App Store. Anyway, now it has, and it's pretty good. The basic gameplay is pretty much exactly how you'd imagine it, but the extra gameplay modes—Salvo (multishot) and Superweapons (more than just torpedoes)—and the solid multiplayer implementations—Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and and pass-off—are what make it worth the price. $3.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_bing.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/bing.jpg)Bing (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bing/id345323231?mt=8): Sitting proudly in that small sliver of the venn diagram of non-Google-users and iPhone owners, the Bing iPhone app does exactly what it claims it will do, for free: It Bings. And it Bings quite well! Maps are included, too, if you're tired of the stock nav app.
Type n Walk (http://gizmodo.com/5427944/type-n-walk-app-lets-you-see-where-youre-going-while-texting): Says Adam:
Texting while walking is dangerous, as you can't see what's in front of you. The Type n Walk iPhone app, as predicted on April 1st (http://gizmodo.com/5195440/despite-being-an-april-1-gag-txtnwalk-mobile-app-is-sweet), solves that by using the camera to make the phone transparent. Sigh.
But it saves lives, man! $1.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_screencap_2009-12-18_at_6.47.08_pm.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/screencap_2009-12-18_at_6.47.08_pm.jpg)Gunman (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gunman/id342434839?mt=8): Not the first augmented reality gun app, and not the cheapest. But I will give it credit for being the first to actually work like a game: once players have connected over Wi-Fi and entered their opponent's shirt color, Gunman analyzes shots from the iPhone's camera—taken when the "fire" button is pressed and decides whether or not you've killed your adversary. It's like a real-life FPS. Or at least it would be, if the whole process wasn't excruciatingly slow. A million points for concept, and about, oh, three for execution. $3.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_drag.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/drag.jpg)Dragon Search (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragon-search/id341452950?mt=8): Dragon's fantastic speech recognition app was fun to play with, but in order to use it with anything you had to copy text, close the app, open another app, paste it in, and so on. Dragon search jumps straight to a browser. It's a lot like Google's voice search app, but the recognition engine is stellar.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/12/need-for-speed-shift-iphone-pr-1.jpgNeed for Speed: Shift (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/need-for-speed-shift/id337641298?mt=8): There are plenty of tilt'n'race iPhone racing games, but this is easily the most impressive to date. The graphics rank among the best I've seen on the iPhone, and all the familiar gameplay elements of the NFS franchise are here. The wide camera angle and automatic accelerating/tap-to-brake control scheme can make racing feel a bit like you're falling through the track, but it's not unpleasant or irritating—just a little odd. All that said, $10 feels a bit steep.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_type.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/type.jpg)TikiNotes (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tikinotes-6-keys-friendly-keyboard/id311175821?mt=8): Less a notes app than a platform for one of those wacky alternative keyboards, TikiNotes definitely comes with a learning curve. If you buy into their claims, the keyboard should make one-handed typing much easier, but I honestly didn't have the patience to prove them right (or wrong). That's up to you, QWERTY malcontents: the app is free, so what do you have to lose?
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http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/12/photo-2__1__01.jpgYounicorn (http://gizmodo.com/5426827/younicorn-iphone-app-requires-no-explanation): Excusing the terrible portmanteau of a name, this app is wonderful: for adults, as a silly joke; for children who may actually believe in unicorns, as earnest dream fulfillment. Everyone is happy. Also: unihorned. $1.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_screencap_2009-12-18_at_6.43.16_pm.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/screencap_2009-12-18_at_6.43.16_pm.jpg)Ratio (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ratio/id345119718?mt=8): Cue Dan, resident culinaire/food terrorist:
Michael Ruhlman, cookbook author demigod and Gizmodo Food Week contributor, is bringing his excellent book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking to the App Store. Ratio takes sometimes-threatening elements of cooking like doughs, cakes, sauces, sausages, stocks and batters and breaks them down into more versatile ratios (bread is five parts flour to three parts water, for example). The app looks really great, actually: It has all 32 of the "critical ratios" in cooking, plus a calculator (to figure out exactly how much of everything you need), recipe ideas for each ratio, and ways to both store and share recipes (via Facebook and Twitter).
Fivebux.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/12/screencap_2009-12-15_at_1.00.15_pm_01.jpgPastebot (http://gizmodo.com/5427068/pastebot-is-a-brilliant-syncable-clipboard-for-the-iphone): You know how Microsoft Office's clipboard lets you keep track of everything you've copied and pasted on your PC? This is like that, for the iPhone. Except flashier, and with wireless syncing. Two dollars.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/12/photo_4_01_01.jpgBattleship (http://gizmodo.com/5426242/at-long-last-battleship-comes-to-the-iphone): This board game is such a good fit for the iPhone that it's amazing it took this long to show up in the App Store. Anyway, now it has, and it's pretty good. The basic gameplay is pretty much exactly how you'd imagine it, but the extra gameplay modes—Salvo (multishot) and Superweapons (more than just torpedoes)—and the solid multiplayer implementations—Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and and pass-off—are what make it worth the price. $3.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_bing.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/bing.jpg)Bing (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bing/id345323231?mt=8): Sitting proudly in that small sliver of the venn diagram of non-Google-users and iPhone owners, the Bing iPhone app does exactly what it claims it will do, for free: It Bings. And it Bings quite well! Maps are included, too, if you're tired of the stock nav app.
Type n Walk (http://gizmodo.com/5427944/type-n-walk-app-lets-you-see-where-youre-going-while-texting): Says Adam:
Texting while walking is dangerous, as you can't see what's in front of you. The Type n Walk iPhone app, as predicted on April 1st (http://gizmodo.com/5195440/despite-being-an-april-1-gag-txtnwalk-mobile-app-is-sweet), solves that by using the camera to make the phone transparent. Sigh.
But it saves lives, man! $1.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_screencap_2009-12-18_at_6.47.08_pm.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/screencap_2009-12-18_at_6.47.08_pm.jpg)Gunman (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gunman/id342434839?mt=8): Not the first augmented reality gun app, and not the cheapest. But I will give it credit for being the first to actually work like a game: once players have connected over Wi-Fi and entered their opponent's shirt color, Gunman analyzes shots from the iPhone's camera—taken when the "fire" button is pressed and decides whether or not you've killed your adversary. It's like a real-life FPS. Or at least it would be, if the whole process wasn't excruciatingly slow. A million points for concept, and about, oh, three for execution. $3.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_drag.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/drag.jpg)Dragon Search (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragon-search/id341452950?mt=8): Dragon's fantastic speech recognition app was fun to play with, but in order to use it with anything you had to copy text, close the app, open another app, paste it in, and so on. Dragon search jumps straight to a browser. It's a lot like Google's voice search app, but the recognition engine is stellar.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/12/need-for-speed-shift-iphone-pr-1.jpgNeed for Speed: Shift (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/need-for-speed-shift/id337641298?mt=8): There are plenty of tilt'n'race iPhone racing games, but this is easily the most impressive to date. The graphics rank among the best I've seen on the iPhone, and all the familiar gameplay elements of the NFS franchise are here. The wide camera angle and automatic accelerating/tap-to-brake control scheme can make racing feel a bit like you're falling through the track, but it's not unpleasant or irritating—just a little odd. All that said, $10 feels a bit steep.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_type.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/type.jpg)TikiNotes (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tikinotes-6-keys-friendly-keyboard/id311175821?mt=8): Less a notes app than a platform for one of those wacky alternative keyboards, TikiNotes definitely comes with a learning curve. If you buy into their claims, the keyboard should make one-handed typing much easier, but I honestly didn't have the patience to prove them right (or wrong). That's up to you, QWERTY malcontents: the app is free, so what do you have to lose?
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