The iPhone App Review : iPhone Application News & Reviews

Price: $0.99    Score: 9/10     By Shaun Campbell

Launched earlier this year, Classics from development team Andrew Kaz and Phil Ryu still remains the most downloaded app on the iPhone in the Books category. With the addition of new titles and and a limited-time sale price of $0.99, we thought we’d take another look at this popular eReader.

From the moment you open Classics, you know you’re on a winner. The user interface is beautifully illustrated, and the bright and colorful covers of 20 different amazing literary works jump out at you from an old wooden bookcase. The titles in the Classics collection include:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Call of the Wild
• Robinson Crusoe
• The Jungle Book
• 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
• Paradise Lost
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• The Time Machine
• Hound of the Baskervilles
• Gulliver’s Travels
• A Christmas Carol
• The Metamorphosis
• Flatland
• Pride and Prejudice
• Dracula
• Treasure Island
• The Count of Monte Cristo (new)
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (new)
• Iliad by Homer (new)
• Frankenstein (new)

Simply tap on the cover of a book to start reading. You can jump straight in, or tap the icon in the upper right of the screen to view a list of chapters. Classics is more than just a digital file that you scroll through though - it’s a fully integrated virtual book. You turn each page with the swipe of a finger, or slowly drag the page across as you finish off the last sentence. Whilst no digital copy will ever be able to fully recreate the feeling of an actual book - this is about as close as you could ever hope for on a mobile device.

There are a number of new and updated features in Classics that really add to the user experience. When you finished reading, Classics will automatically drop in a red bookmark so you can come straight back to where you left off. The bookmarks are even visible in the titles you’re currently reading in the bookcase. There’s also a subtle progress bar at the top of the screen that shows you how far you’re into the book. Issues with lag and book-loading times in previous versions of Classics have also been greatly improved.

While Classics is not as feature heavy or as versatile as Stanza (which is free), the Classics interface makes for a much more enjoyable reading experience. The developers are also planning to continue to add more new books in the future, but even if you only wanted to read just one of the books included with Classics - it’d still be worth every penny of the $0.99 price tag.

Bottom Line: Great books, great reader, great price.

Classics requires the iPhone OS 2.0 software update and is compatible with both the iPhone & iPod Touch.

Price: $1.99    Score: 8/10    By Shaun Campbell

Drink driving is never a good idea. Putting aside the harm you can cause to others - in most countries, blowing over 0.05 - 0.08 could cost you your drivers license. But if you are going to indulge in a drink or two - how do you tell if you’re over the limit?

DrinkTracker Breathalyzer from slappme.com is a new app for iPhone & iPod Touch that helps you to keep track of your drinks and your blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

To get started, you simply make a new profile and enter in your gender, age, height and weight. It’s also important to enter in your target BAC (e.g 0.05). A BAC of 0.05 is generally accepted as the maximum allowable blood alcohol level for safe driving - but you can adjust your target as necessary for your circumstances.

Once you’ve entered in your personal details, you simply tap “Start New Session” in the home pane to start keeping track of your drinks. Tapping on “Add a Drink” will allow you to select from a list of typical alcoholic drinks such as wine, beer or spirits - each shows you the volume of liquid and the percentage alcohol content. It’s also easy to add a new drink to the list - simply enter serving size (ml) and alcohol content (%).

After selecting a drink from the list, all you then need to do is enter the time at which you had the drink. You can add the drink at the current session time, or if you’ve already had it, you can enter in the time it was consumed. Once that’s done, taking into account your personal details -  DrinkTracker Breathalyzer will automatically calculate your BAC, based on the amount of alcohol consumed, the amount of time elapsed. Your BAC is displayed as a concentration (e.g 0.02) on the main screen and is updated every 60 seconds.

You can also view information on the current drinking session, including:

• Drinks Consumed
• Time Elapsed
• Alcohol Ingested (g)
• Alcohol Remaining (g)
• Current BAC (%)
• Target BAC (%)
• Time to Reach Target BAC

These are all useful stats, but I’d love to see some more information provided in future updates. It’d be useful to have a warning that your next drink will put you over your target BAC and also the ability to enter a preplanned time for the end of the session, so that you could get an idea of how many drinks you could have in that period - before you start. Also, whilst you can add multiple profiles in DrinkTracker Breathalyzer - you cannot track multiple people at once.

Bottom Line: DrinkTracker Breathalyzer is a very useful and practical app and a wise investment in your own personal safety.

DrinkTracker Breathalyzer requires the x iPhone software update and is compatible with both the iPhone & iPod Touch.

Price: $1.99    Score: 8/10    By Shaun Campbell

Most people know their local cab numbers - but what do you do when you’re out of town? Cab4Me from Skycoders GmbH is a new iPhone app that makes finding a cab easy, no matter where you are. Cab4Me uses your current location (via GPS or cell triangulation) and retrieves relevant local cab company information from a database, so you can get the information you need while you’re on-the-go.

Using Cab4Me is surprisingly simple - the iPhone will detect your location and the app will automatically list both Cab4Me database results and web-results. Alternatively, you can search for cabs in a particular area or city using the “Search” pane. Cab companies in the Cab4Me database tend to be major & established companies, which is important, as safety and reliability are major concerns particularly when traveling. From the list of cab companies - you can tap on any listing for more information including:

• Additional information
• Services (e.g available 24/7, luggage space, baby seats, wheelchair access)
• Payment methods (e.g Cash, VISA, Mastercard, Amex, Diners)
• Available car types (e.g maxi-cabs, bus, limo)

Once you’ve found a cab company, you can give the company a call direct from the app and also add the company to a favorites list. There is also the option to rate the cab company - so whether your experience is positive or negative - you can let other users know.

The only two drawbacks that Cab4Me has are 1) The information provided on cab companies is often incomplete and 2) You must have an internet connection available to access the database. Quite often, especially when traveling, information regarding availability of certain services or payment methods is essential in choosing the right cab company - and you may not have access to this information at all if you don’t have data roaming available in other countries.

Bottom line: A very useful app for locating a cab that fits your requirements, no matter where you find yourself. Cab info can be stored offline, but requires an internet connection to access.

Cab4Me requires the iPhone OS 2.2 software update and is compatible with both the iPhone & iPod Touch.

Price: $4.99    Score: 8/10    By Shaun Campbell

Originally a free online-only multiplayer strategy game a la Risk, Aevum Obscurum is now available for the iPhone.  Aevum Obscurum is a turn-based strategy game set in Medieval Europe, in which up to 30 players compete for domination of the Continent. Aimed squarly at strategy afficianado’s, Aevum Obscurum is a reasonably complex game - although the iPhone version is not quite as overwhelming.

You start the game with a single European territory, some money in the bank and an army of 500 soldiers. Each turn you and your opponents make decisions regarding your treasury, army and defenses. Each province or territory in the game has a tax base, and you use the money raised through taxes to fund troop recruitment and building improvements. Buildings include watch towers that give you information on troop numbers in neighboring provinces and fortifications which sure up your defenses.

Once your turn is over, tapping “next” will show you the outcomes of that turn. You are given a quick overview of your finances - which is generally equal to tax income minus military upkeep. A leader board is also updated each round, showing you where your “empire” sits in relation to the other players in terms of points. Every territory in the game is worth 1 point.

In order to capture a territory, you need to invade it by moving your troops into it. You can do this from any of your territories that borders a neutral or enemy territory.  The outcome of the attack does depend partially on factors such as fortifications and morale, but in general, the larger force is victorious - and the bigger your force compared to your opponent, the lower your losses will be. For territories across seas, you will need to build ships in order to launch an invasion.

The graphics in Aevum Obscurum on iPhone are very basic (as they are in the desktop version) and this feels like a bare-bones kind of game production-wise - but the mechanics are spot-on.  It is fun to play, particularly in the later stages of the game as empires expand and clash.

Online multiplayer game play was at the heart of Aevum Obscurum for Mac, PC and Linux - and is currently under development for the iPhone. As it stands, you can only play against computer opponents on the iPhone version of the game.

Bottom Line: Interesting port of an online cult strategy game. For $4.99 though, I’d probably hold out for the multiplayer update.

Aevum Obscurum requires the 2.2.1 iPhone OS software update and is compatible with both the iPhone & iPod Touch.

Price: $0.99    Score: 7/10    By Shaun Campbell

Allied Aces: Stunt Pilot is a popular new 2D side-scroller from developer Squiddle Games.  Allied Aces: Stunt Pilot puts you in the seat of a WW1 fighter - the Sopwith Camel - in an arcade-style stunt flying game that challenges you to navigate a series of floating rings and/or collect stars to progress to the next stage.

Allied Aces: Stunt Pilot uses multi-touch input to control both speed and pitch. You simply swipe your left thumb up or down to control airspeed, while your right thumb controls vertical movement. You can perform tricks by tapping the screen three times and also perform faster turns by using two fingers at once.

The control system does take a bit of getting used to as the aircraft has so much inertia that it’s a bit sluggish to respond to a course correction. I often found myself over or under-shooting targets and having to loop around several times to collect the next star or successfully navigate through a ring. You also have to make sure you enter the rings pretty much dead-straight or you’re likely to clip the edge with a wing, sending you hurtling down towards earth.

Allied Aces: Stunt Pilot features decent, colorful graphics, a rousing musical score and solid sound FX. It’s a good game no doubt - but it could benefit a lot from a few more inclusions. There’s no high scores or leaderboards accessible from the main menu, no sound or music options and the addition of some kind of health system would be great for playability. Allied Aces: Stunt Pilot is a tough game, and with only 3 lives, I found it pretty hard going to get past even the first half-dozen stages.

Bottom Line: A challenging, but fun, scrolling stunt flyer.

Allied Aces: Stunt Pilot requires the 2.1 iPhone OS software update and is compatible with both the iPhone & iPod Touch.

The guys over at Tap Tap Tap have just posted a video of an in-house 3D performance test that compares the zippy new iPhone 3G S to the standard 3G. They ran the test one of their own forthcoming apps - the graphically heavy Plasma. In terms of frame-rate, the video shows that the 3G S is four times faster.

Not a definitive test by any means - but it definitely hints at the potential that the new iPhone 3G S has for more 3D-intensive game development.

In addition to the video they also have some Open GL ES speed test results which you can check out here.

So we’ve all seen the specs. The new iPhone 3GS (the S being for speed) is definitely faster on paper. And Apple claims the 3GS is upto “2x faster” than its predecessor in terms of loading times and app switching. But how do these claims measure up?

While it’s not exactly scientific analysis per se - the folks over at iLounge have just released two videos onto YouTube that compare actual performance between the iPhone 3G and the new 3GS as well as between the iPhone 3GS and the iPod Touch 2G (bottom video).

They perform tests with four different apps: Edge, Peggle, Real Racing, and Star Defense - all graphically intense games with considerable load times.

As is to be expected, the zippier 3GS outpaces both the 3G and the iPod Touch. It’s rough and ready analysis - but it does show an easily observable difference between the devices.

In both videos, the iPhone 3GS is on the right.

Price: $0.99    Score: 7/10    By Shaun Campbell

iBattleships is the latest iPhone incarnation of the classic table-top strategy game. Developed by Antonino Lo Giudice, iBattleships lets you face off in a turn-based naval battle against a friend over WiFi or against a computer opponent.

The game is simple - find your enemy’s ships before he finds yours.  iBattleships starts with the deployment of your ships. You get five in total that you have to place on a 10 x 10 grid - the Aircraft Carrier, Battleship, Frigate, Submarine and Mine Sweeper. There is a “trackball” in the top of the screen that you touch to maneuvre and rotate your ships into position. When you are happy with the location, you simply tap “deploy” to place them on the grid. Once all the ships are deployed, the game can begin.

The essence of game-play in iBattleships is taking turns firing at each other’s hidden warships. Again, the trackball is used to select which square to fire upon. While an unusual control method for a game, the trackball actually allows for more precision than fingers would allow on the small playing field. When you are happy with your choice you simply tap “fire” to launch a shell on that location. A sound effect will notify you of a hit or a miss. If you hit an enemy ship you get another turn. A further explosion will alert you when you’ve sunk an opposing player’s battleship.

The graphics and sound FX aren’t going to blow your mind - but they don’t really need to in a game like this. It’s a simple concept executed well. The player vs iPhone option can get a little boring, but the essence of this game (like the original) lies in the ability to play a friend either on the same phone or over WiFi.

iBattleships requires the 2.2.1 iPhone software update and is compatible with both the iPhone & iPod Touch.

Price: $4.99    Score: 7/10    By Samuel Bostrom               

One of the most useful functions of the iPhone/iPod Touch is the ability to use it as a document reader. You can read PDF from native apps Mail and Safari, but the features are limited. Normally I use the application Files in order to read PDF, Microsoft Office and iWork documents - and it usually works great for that purpose.

However, large PDF files are common and can cause problems. eBooks, for example, are often in PDF format and can easily run over 100 Mb. For a few different reasons there are issues with files of this size being read on the iPhone. The whole PDF file is normally preloaded into the memory of the iPhone, but if the file is bigger than about 50 MB, you won’t be able to load the document and the application will subsequently crash.

This is where the Good Reader app from Good.iWare comes in. Good Reader is an app designed to read large PDF files. It achieves this by loading the documents page-by-page, rather than all at once. I tested files of about 150 MB and had no issues at all. The App Store description states that Good Reader can handle files over 500 MB, so big documents are not a problem.

The downside of using this application is that there is a noticeable load time when moving between pages. Sometimes about 3-4 seconds - which can start to get a little frustrating, especially if you’re just intent on skimming through a document.

From my understanding, Good Reader is the only application that can handle PDF files over 50 MB. If you have the need to access large documents on your iPhone/iPod Touch, then this app will stand you in good stead. The only downside, as mentioned, is the load times - but an otherwise highly functional application.

Bottom Line: If you need to be able to read large PDF files, Good Reader is the way to go.

Good Reader requires the iPhone OS 2.0 or later, and is compatible with both the iPhone & iPod Touch.

Only hours after a midnight opening at the Orange Boutique in Paris, the guys over at Rapid Repair were already taking the new iPhone 3GS to task - dismantling Apple’s newest device to get the first look at what she’s running under the hood.

The chipset has been identified as the SoC (System on a Chip) S5PC100 from Samsung, which confirms the ARM Cortex A8 - a 600 MHz processor (capable of running at upto 833MHz). Coincidentally, it’s the same chip set that runs the Palm Pre.

Graphics upgraded courtesy of a PowerVR SGX GPU, and RAM has been lifted to 256 MB (up from 128 MB)

The S5PC100 has the ability to record 720p video and handle real-time video conferencing, at this stage however, Apple has only announced VGA recording capability on the 3GS. At least the potential is there.

See below for a comparison chart of the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre (courtesy Rapid Repair).