Loosely categorised as a game, and subtitled ‘Cellular Automaton’, this is a slick iPhone version of the mathematician John Conway’s ‘Game of life’, modelling the way (simplified) living cells might grow. While sounding boring, the result is a fascinating mix of biology and sci-fi-like special effects, as the cells mutate, spread and colour-cycle before your eyes in real time. Read the rest of this entry »

For anyone growing up in the early 1980’s, the two big public tests of reaction times and coordination were Missile Command and Defender in the arcades – I know that this is where a lot of my small change went. The idea was to shoot down incoming missiles and the standout feature was how you aimed – using an innovative roller ball. How can an iPhone port match up to these memories? Very well, as it turns out. Read the rest of this entry »

I personally do not understand the apps that are designed simply to show depictions of food, but much to my surprise, they are eating up the app store. One example is iSausage. This app is designed in humor, but could also be a treat for sausage fiends. iSausage essentially presents a  screen dominated by what appears to be an Oscar Meyer frank. You can shake the screen to shake the sausage at friends or press “Wiggle It” to be taunted by the Sausage. Read the rest of this entry »

With over a dozen currency converter utilities on the iPhone platform, several of which are free, there’s really no point in paying money to get this most basic of travel functions on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Currency here is one of the most established titles, contains currency information for almost 100 different countries and is automatically updated every time you start the application. Never mind the unobtrusive advertising banner, just think of this as a polished utility that’s 100% free! Read the rest of this entry »

By changing the way we see and use mobile devices, huge forces in society, apps are effectively altering the way we conduct life. They have created new mediums for social networking, an arguably more reclusive generation due to the amount of games and activities to keep a person occupied, an even greater reliance on technology, and new ways of doing and organizing daily activities. What seems to be quite incredible, however, is how they have influenced the business world. Whereas it used to be unheard of to be a successful entrepreneur without an MBA, elementary age kids are ringing in the big bucks with the apps they create (e.g. the Voorhes boys and their app MathTime). Especially in an economic crisis, making money off a free product may seem on par with seeing a pig fly, but free apps are the exception (the advertisements on them generate more than enough revenue for the advertisers and the app developers). Apps are even changing the process of advertising, an enormous part of business, and more and more advertisers are beginning to focus on mobile platforms, especially with the aid of apps. Apps are being used to run businesses and even create them. At this point, anyone can create an app; many colleges are beginning to offer courses in app-creation, and for the less tech-savvy, there apps, articles, and step-by-step instructions that help make apps (all you need is an idea). The kinds of apps cover everything under the sun, and there doesn’t appear to be any stopping point for their creation. As something that seems to never run out of supply or demand, it is safe to say that apps are somewhat of a business phenomenon. I would be so bold as to say that in the future, business conduction and platforms could be largely mobile, a lot of thanks due to “the app”. Apps are taking over our corporate-driven society and defining our world.

Charity Finder is coming out with an update! If you consider yourself a charitable person, this is something you should definitely keep an eye out for. Charity Finder 2.0 is scheduled to release on August 1st, and will feature 1,800 new non-profit organizations  to learn about (in addition to the ones already available on Charity Finder) and a donate option so you can donate directly from your phone to an organization of choice. Additionally, the update will have an events feature that allows its users to be notified of charity events in their respective areas. Not only will the update encourage the acts of loving kindness that are necessary in this world, it will serve as a networking tool so that all [iPhone using] philanthropists of the world can unite! Out of the thousands of apps in the App Store, Charity Finder is currently the only one that gives back through the mobile medium, and its update will take altruism to a whole other level.

One of the very first decent 3D games on the iPhone, released a year ago, Asphalt 4: Elite Racing has now been given a new lease of life as a budget ($1) game. The aim is to attract pretty girls, race fast cars and err…. take out rival cars by knocking them off the road. The rewards? New cars, new girls, new street circuits. Asphalt 4 is unashamedly an arcade game rather than a simulation, so take it as such, enjoy it and revel in the fact that it’s nearly free. Read the rest of this entry »