Here's a game I never saw coming: a driving title where you're supposed to drive like a vigilant hypermiler. Yep, that's exactly what the unholy union of Volkswagen and Fish Labs turned out with the Volkswagen Think Blue Challenge, a game where the goal is make every last drop of your fuel count. Here's something even crazier - it's quite entertaining.
While the premise sounds silly, the challenge is not. It's one thing to delude yourself about your eco-friendly driving abilities when you're on the road. When you've got just a small amount of fuel to make it through checkpoints, though, it becomes a...gasp...game.
In Think Blue, you start the game with a small amount of gas and drive from one checkpoint to the next, getting a small amount of extra fuel for every one you clear. You complete checkpoints by correctly answering a question about efficient driving. Don't worry, if you drive even a little bit, you probably know the answers.
Once you've finished all checkpoints, you then begin driving your car on the open road. Make sure you apply every fuel efficiency trick up your sleeve, from coasting down slopes to managing your throttle to taking turns intelligently, allowing the vehicle to cover as much ground as possible before your tank goes empty. The game does help you out, suggesting how to maximize whatever's in your tank, going so far as to explain why each technique works. You will eventually run out of gas and when you do, the game submits how far you've driven to the online leaderboards, where you can see how you fare among the mass of iPhone-toting hypermilers around the world.
Volkswagen Think Blue Challenge is built upon the same engine as Fish Labs' Rally Master Pro 3D, so the graphics and the mechanics are all awesome. While it's not going to be the most exciting game in your library, it is quite addicting, especially once you see how far the top performers have gotten. Plus, you might even learn a new thing or two about technical driving. You can download the game for free from the App Store.
This is something that could turn out big. A new iphone app called Dreamwalk provides users with a geocaching game that raises the ante a little by getting local businesses involved. Users can use the software to seek out "treasures," just like any similar game. Except, in this case, participating companies get to hide their own prizes for players to pursue, allowing them to get new prospects through the door in the process.
When you launch the app, it shows you a map that details where prizes are hidden. There are three ways to collect bounty - Instant Prizes, Collector's Stamps and Treasure Hunts - all of which require going out into the real world. For Instant Prizes, you simply have to go to the marked location on the map to get the reward added to your onscreen prize bag. Tap that and get instructions on how to redeem. Do note that these are usually simple stuff, like free fries at a local restaurant or cheap tickets to a show.
Collector's Stamps, on the other hand, require you to travel to different locations, gaining letter stamps at each one that spell out the words to the final destination. Treasure Hunts work similarly, except you gain clues instead of stamps. Since they're harder, the prizes for these two are usually bigger (e.g. videocams and gaming consoles).
Because they've only just launched, there are only a few thousand hidden treasures across the US, most of them concentrated in large metro areas (think New York, LA and Washington DC). However, developers at Dreamwalk Pty Ltd are negotiating for new businesses to come in and, potentially, make the loot more lucrative for avid treasure hunters across the country. Participating merchants, by the way, can easily upload new prizes via Dreamwalk's website, which will then turn up on gamers' maps.
Dreamwalk's beauty is that it is a win-win for all parties involved. Businesses get very hip marketing and users get a chance to win loads of free stuff around their area. An excellent concept that's totally worth the free App Store download.
[Dreamwalk Mobile]
| Editor's Rating |
| Price |
|
| Features |
|
| Interface |
|
| Usability |
|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Average Ratings |
| Price |
|
| Features |
|
| Interface |
|
| Usability |
|
| Overall Rating |
|
Does your kid have an iPhone? My nine-year old nephew has one - a hand-me-down from his mom when she got her shiny new 3GS. While kids will most likely use it to play games, you have to keep in mind that they can also use it to surf the web.
As on the PC, you'd like to keep them off from objectionable areas of the internet. Problem is, Safari offers zero parental controls on that end. As such, they're pretty much free to wander about cyberspace unrestricted.
The Mobicip Safe Browser fills this gap, giving you options to block out unsavory websites from being accessed on your kids' iPhones. Yep, it's an alternative browser that's actually approved by the App Store, because it does offer something that the native Safari client doesn't - a child-safe surfing environment.
Before you can force your kid to use it instead of Safari, you'll have to disable the latter manually: Settings -> General -> Restrictions. It would have been better if this could be handled right from the app itself, although being a one-time change, it's no biggie.
Its main strength is that it functions and looks nearly like Safari, making the transition from using one to the other seamless, with no required learning curve. The lack of a facility to import bookmarks is bit of a letdown, though.
Mobicip itself costs $4.99, which gets you the child-safe browser plus a free account for their filtering service. Any URL accessed from the app gets filtered through the company's servers, which decides whether to either allow or block it. Free accounts get three levels of filtering: elementary, middle and high school.
If you want more detailed control of your child's surfing habits, you can also sign up for a Premium account for $9.99 per year. This gets you plenty of latitude, including the ability to blacklist and whitelist specific pages and categories, download activity reports and manage multiple devices from a single dashboard.
[Mobicip for iPhone]
Child-Proof Your Kids' iPhones With The Mobicip Safe Browser4.125noel2010-03-05 15:14:06
App Reviews,iPhone AppsChild-Proof Your Kids' iPhones With The Mobicip Safe Browser
| Editor's Rating |
| Challenge |
|
| Graphics |
|
| Fun Factor |
|
| Game Play |
|
| Soundtrack |
|
| Price |
|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Average Ratings |
| Challenge |
|
| Graphics |
|
| Fun Factor |
|
| Game Play |
|
| Soundtrack |
|
| Price |
|
| Overall Rating |
|
While I generally avoid games where the main players onscreen consist of dots, arrows and other simple shapes, Tilt to Live turned out to be a totally different beast. Despite using simple-looking characters, it manages to deliver an experience that's both very edgy and extremely addicting.
At its most basic, this is just an object-avoidance game, where you tilt and swerve your phone to help your "arrow" avoid the "dots" going after it. Yep, it's that straightforward. The way it plays, though, is just a bundle of insanity.
Your arrow does have a wide range of weapons to aid it in subduing the onslaught, each of which require different strategies to be really useful. These include nuke explosives, an enemy-seeking multi-rocket and a haduken-style fireball, all of which are not only very effective, but are a joy to witness when fired.
The evil dots, on the other hand, aren't just dumb balls rolling forward either. They band together different shapes (like large arrows) to attack you in one big swoop, crowd you into a corner and circle you like vultures. Let even one of the dots touch you and you're dead. Hundreds of them can come up on the screen at any one time, by the way, which just sends the action into a frenzy.
Despite the basic-looking appearance, a lot of serious thought obviously went into Tilt to Live, making the level-ups, unlock-able weapons and other factors fodder for serious strategic gaming. It's a definite surprise out of left field, one that a lot of iPhone owners can probably appreciate. Well-priced too at only $1.99.
[Tilt To Live]
Tilt To Live Is Both Addictive And Interesting3.5833333333333noel2010-03-07 00:43:39
App Reviews,iPhone AppsTilt To Live Is Both Addictive And Interesting
| Editor's Rating |
| Price |
|
| Features |
|
| Interface |
|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Average Ratings |
| Price |
|
| Features |
|
| Interface |
|
| Overall Rating |
|
Aspiring guitar players can now get a new free Gibson app on their iPhone. No, it won't turn your handset into a Les Paul as other apps are inclined to do. Instead, it just bundles a number of free tools that six-string instrumentalists of all levels may find of value.
It comes with five different sections - tuner, metronome, chords, lessons and Gibson.com. The tuner is a chromatic software that can track whatever note you're currently playing (which it receives via your iPhone's mic) and indicates whether you're flat, sharp or in tune. It starts in "All Notes" mode, but gives options to allow for alternate tunings. Very useful, especially if you've got a bad ear for sound.
The metronome is just a regular metronome app, which allows you to choose a specific BPM rate. Tapping the screen three times will adjust the tempo according to your speed. The chord area, on the other hand, gives you access to 30 chord charts, a great resource if you need help figuring out which finger goes where on the fretboard.
Need guitar lessons? The app comes with very useful ones, drawn off the award-winning Learn and Master series from Legacy Learning Systems. It comes with a variety of instructions for new licks, riffs and sequences - a definite value for new and struggling players. Gibson also promises plenty of updates for this section, with more video lessons slated to come. Finally, Gibson.com is the app's news area, where they list Gibson-related products and special events.
Overall, the free Gibson app is a definite download if you're at all planning to learn the guitar. Even intermediate and slightly more advanced players might find it of value, too.
[Gibson App]
Gibson iPhone App Bundles Useful Tools For Novices And More4.3333333333333noel2010-03-03 12:27:10
App Reviews,iPhone AppsGibson iPhone App Bundles Useful Tools For Novices And More
