App Advice

Pay Your Bar Tab Using TabbedOut

Kiet Chieng — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:25:54 +0000

Going out on the town with your iPhone is great. Want to see a movie? Buy tickets in advance from your device. How about making dinner reservations? There’s an app for that too. But wouldn’t it be cool to pay for your dining or drinking tab from your iPhone? A new app called TabbedOut from developer ATX Innovation will soon allow you that freedom.

TabbedOut works by housing your credit card information securely on your device. When you visit a participating TabbedOut restaurant or bar, you provide the restaurant with a unique code generated from the app.

This code enables your iPhone to communicate with the establishment’s point of sale system and allows you to view and ultimately pay your tab at the end of your meal. You can pay your tab whenever you’re ready and your receipt is automatically emailed to you. No more waiting.

There are many great benefits to this system. The convenience factor is obvious. How many times have we had to wait for a busy waiter to come and take our money after we’ve finished eating. Another big plus is security. Identity theft and credit card skimming can be eliminated entirely since plastic is taken completely out of the equation. Not having to hand over your credit card can avoid any potential theft. While the app is free to download, there is a 99 cent service charge billed to the app developers for each transaction.

This innovative payment system is getting a big roll out this week in anticipation of the SXSW show in Austin, TX, where it is currently the only city to offer this convenience. The developers hope to bring the service to more big cities in the coming months so keep an eye on this one.

For those heading to Austin this week for the show, give it a download and let us know what you think.

TabbedOut is available for free on the App Store.

DisCover: Access Your Music From Home Screen Album Cover Icons + Win A Free Copy Today

Kiet Chieng — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:39:09 +0000

As great of a media player as the iPhone is, there are situations where getting to your favorite music is not always easy. Running the treadmill at the gym or navigating through rush hour traffic while scrolling through your playlist can sometimes be a chore (and not to mention dangerous). With the newly released app DisCover from developer Wuonm, this problem is now a thing of the past.

DisCover is a handy app that allows you to create icons of your favorite album covers which you can then place on your iPhone’s home screen for easy access. This simple shortcut solution is one that is handled very well and similar to another of Wuonm’s app, FaceCall, which allows you to make shortcut photo icons of your favorite contact numbers.

The process is fairly easy. Once you load the app, it automatically searches for all of the music on your device. You simply scroll to your favorite album and select the record you want to make an icon.

Onscreen instructions will prompt you to how to add the icon to your home screen and in a matter of seconds, the album cover and your favorite tunes are now residing on your iPhone for simplified access.

DisCover is a very handy tool. Getting to your favorite music now doesn’t require fumbling through menus and makes for an even better listening experience. Plus it’s cool to see your favorite album artwork as an icon on your iPhone screen.

As a treat, the developers have provided promocodes to share with 5 lucky readers. Simply leave a comment letting us know what you think of this app and we’ll select five of you for a free copy.

You have until tomorrow night, Good luck!

DisCover is available now for $1.99 on the App Store.

Appisode 89: GDC Is Here, A New Google Voice Solution, Plus Another Wacky App

Robin Rhys — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:19:44 +0000

GDC kicked off today and our very own Trevor Sheridan is there getting the scoop. There are tons of announcements that will be happening all day. So keep watching AppAdvice.com for updates.

Google voice has hit the iPhone… well, kind of. According to TUAW you can now get VoiceCentral’s Black Swan right on your device. Black Swan gives you google voice functionality through an in app experience – without actually being a native app.

EA has slipped out the names of some new titles that will hit the app store soon. One of which is Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11.

Today’s Wacky App is FaceGoo. Yea the name pretty much says it all.

App of the Day: Rate Your Life – Rate your day from excellent, good, normal, bad and of course, disaster. Over time you can start to see if your bad days are a pattern, or just one in a few. It’s a clever idea that lets you keep track of your life in a digital format.

Games On Sale Today: GT Racing: Motor Academy, Sparkle, And Where’s Waldo?

Tyler Tschida — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:49:47 +0000

Wednesdays are apparently about games, games, and more games. This morning we showed you a couple of quality games that were available for free, and now we have some quality games that are on sale.

GT Racing: Motor Academy ($6.99 -> $4.99): Gameloft’s racing simulator features a massive Career mode that will start you off by teaching you the driving basics and then sending you all around the world to compete on 14 different tracks. By winning races you will earn money to buy new cars and equipment, which will allow you to purchase new cards and equipment.

The game also features an Arcade mode, three different control schemes including accelerometer controls, the ability to view and upload replays to YouTube, online multiplayer, and over 100 licensed cars from 25 manufacturers.

GT Racing: Motor Academy’s price drop appears to be permanent.

Sparkle the Game ($2.99 -> $.99): From the creators of Azkend, Sparkle features familiar orb shooting gameplay where your launcher is in a fixed position on the map and you must fire like colored orbs in order to match three or more to clear the trail before they reach the hole. You can switch the color of the orb you are firing by tapping the launcher, and tapping on an area of the map will launch the orb.

We have an in-depth review available for Sparkle if you would like to see how it compares to other orb shooters.

Sparkle the Game is on sale for a very limited time.

Where’s Waldo? The Fantastic Journey ($2.99 -> $.99): The most famous search and find book series available for the iPhone. The game also you to scour the virtual globe in search of Waldo and his many friends. It features hundreds of hidden items to locate within 12 different worlds. It also contains other features that are meant to challenge your skills, such as paint splatters, screen shakes, and image flipping.

We also have an in-depth review available for Where’s Waldo? The Fantastic Journey.

Where’s Waldo? The Fantastic Journey is on sale for a limited time.

Freeverse To Release Flick Bowling Sequel

Tyler Tschida — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:22:52 +0000

Freeverse has revealed that Flick Bowling 2 will be hitting the App Store soon, taking you on a journey through space and time instead of just hanging out in that same old bowling alley.

Flick Bowling 2 will feature enhanced 3D graphics, true-to-life pin physics and gameplay that will be easy enough to learn but difficult to master. The game will employ the usual bowling mechanism where you flick your finger across the screen to roll the ball, and the ability to add spin by flicking from one side to another.

Flick Bowling 2 will take you throughout space and time across five very different environments and allow you to pick from six historical figures. It will also feature multiplayer via pass and play or via Bluetooth, and a Fast Lane game mode. ngmoco’s Plus+ will be integrated to provide leaderboards and awards.

Since Freeverse was recently purchased by ngmoco, we can only assume Flick Bowling 2 will use the freemium model in some sort of way.

Gowalla And Foursquare Receive Facelifts And Features

Tyler Tschida — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:27:45 +0000

We talked about Loopt’s update first thing this morning and yet, surprisingly, its update still hasn’t actually hit the App Store yet allowing Gowalla and Foursquare to beat them to the punch.

Gowalla v2.0 first and foremost features a new design that is said to be more readable and usable than ever. You are also now allowed to upload photos after checking in and browse photos from friends, and checkins can now be commented on. Speaking of checkins, you are now able to come back and add checkin messages for instances where you have skipped typing a checkin message because you just didn’t have enough time.

Other Gowalla 2.0 features include:

Hot Spots: Discover the most popular spots nearby
Browse your friends… and friends of friends.
Browse friends’ bookmarked spots and created trips.
More ways to get in touch with Facebook, Twitter and web links for friends.
Spot details (when available): address, phone number, Twitter name, Facebook page, website

Gowalla’s competition, Foursquare, also received a bit of a facelift today in v1.7, featuring quite a bit more color and a lot less black. But unlike Gowalla, the rest of Foursquare’s additions are fairly minimal, only including faster and more efficient checkin and shout flow, and the app’s “Places” view now supports categories.

All of these updates must have you location-based service junkies jumping for joy. Just out of curiosity, which LBS have you decided to stick with on your iPhone?

[Thanks to mmcnulty7 for the tip!]

Games To Download For Free Today: Funkyball Worlds And Sniper Strike

Tyler Tschida — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:32:35 +0000

Get over the hump day blues by downloading these two free games from Handmark and Donoma Games.

Funkyball Worlds ($2.99 -> Free): A ball-rolling physics-based platformer 72 levels across three different worlds. In the game you must guide the weighted Funkyball across stationary and moving platforms as you race against the clock. Stars can be obtained to improve your time, but you must try to avoid all of the hazards along your way otherwise you will fall off of the map and lose precious seconds.

The game features both touch and tilt controls, unlockable Funkyball skins, and OpenFeint integration for online leaderboards and achievements.

Funkyball Worlds is available for free today only (3/10/10).

Sniper Strike ($1.99 -> Free): An action game where you will be rewarded for your stellar sniper shot. Sniper Strike features three different game modes that will have you hunting for specific targets or just going on a shooting spree. Your rifle’s aim is controlled by simply touching and dragging across the screen and fired via a button located in the lower right-hand corner. The five different sniper rifles can be upgraded and modified by obtaining money for your work.

The game features detailed hit summary where shots to certain parts of the body will do more damage, six maps, progressive difficulty, and OpenFeint integration.

Sniper Strike is available for free today only (3/10/10).

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 And EA Sports Active 2.0 Coming To iPhone

Tyler Tschida — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:50:20 +0000

EA has just revealed that they are working on two new titles for the iPhone: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 and EA Sports Active 2.0.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 was essentially a given for the iPhone and iPod touch. The game will feature many minor improvements to the overall gameplay, but the biggest addition is the Ryder Cup. When participating in the Ryder Cup, you will be able to choose from the U.S. or European squad and participate in the various competition formats including foursomes, fourballs, and singles. Tiger Woods will head the U.S. team and Rory McIlroy will represent the Europeans.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 is set to launch for the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, and iPhone platforms on June 8th. iPhone platforms possibly meaning and iPad version as well?

The original EA Sports Active was launched as a Wii-only title and was targeted as a more intense competitor to Wii Fit. EA Spots Active 2.0, as it is being tentatively called, will be launching for the Wii, PS3, iPhone and iPod touch. The game will feature even more energetic workouts than the original and will also include a heart rate monitor, leg and arm straps each with their own motion sensors and a new online hub to track and share workout data. We’re not exactly sure at this point if any of the attachments will actually be available for the iPhone and iPod touch versions of the game, although without some sort of attachment you would be required to flail your idevice around while working out. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

EA Sports Active 2.0 should be available sometime this fall.

If and when we obtain more information regarding these two titles, we will be sure to pass it along.

Loopt Update Adds New Content Partners To Provide More Local Music And Entertainment Events

Tyler Tschida — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:09:24 +0000

Loopt v2.2 is expected to hit the App Store at any moment today, which will expand on the app’s Pulse feature to help you find even more local events that you can share with friends. The update will be arriving just in time for all of you SXSW goers. How convenient?

By accessing the now conveniently placed Pulse tab, you will be able to find, check-in at, share tips, and RSVP to tens of thousands of events with ease. You will also be able to see which of your friends are currently at these events, and which are going to be attending. For some music events, you will even be able to a hear a sample of the band playing from within the app.

“Locally-relevant content is crucial for helping people to truly discover the world around them,” said Sam Altman, CEO of Loopt. “By adding Events to our Loopt Pulse, our users can now not only find great places to eat and drink, but also discover music, movies, dance, comedy and theater events going on in their neighborhood right now.”

For those attending SXSW in Austin, Texas, this update will come in very handy. Loopt v2.2 will feature a full guide to the music, events, and celebrations at the event, allowing you to check in at certain SXSW venues for opportunities to win giveaways and other special offers.

Loopt v2.2 is basically about adding new content partners in order to provide more location-based events. The new content sources include SonicLiving (connects music fans to local concert listings, song samples, tickets and other listeners), Zvents (a leading producer of entertainment guides online, powering a network of more than 285 media partners), and Metromix (a local entertainment guide spotlighting bars, restaurants, and entertainment across more than 60 U.S. metropolitan markets). That’s on top of all of their current partners, including Zagat, CitySearch, Bing, and TastingTable.

Finally, the Loopt update boasts expanded sharing through Facebook and Twitter, improves functionality around checking-in and sharing locations, and adds a handful of searching options to help you more easily find places and events.

Will this update make you take a second look at Loopt for your iPhone, or are you already quite settled in with your other location-based service?

Verizon Wants Your iPad On Its 3G, Via MiFi

Alexander Vaughn — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:31:08 +0000

In what looks like a very smart business move, Verizon is apparently pushing its staffers to promote MiFi to future iPad owners.

As you know by now, the WiFi-only iPad will be launched April 3rd by Apple, followed by a 3G version which will come only by the end of April. The 3G iPad will come with an opt-in $30/month unlimited data plan from AT&T, but if you just can’t wait, or hate AT&T, Verizon wants your business.

Their MiFi, which you might know already, is a mobile WiFi hotspot, a little device which connects to Verizon’s data network, and lets you connect up to five devices to it via WiFi. Verizon believes it would go great with your WiFi iPad, and has sent an internal information to its employee to promote just that.

Alright, the data connection will cost your more than if you go through AT&T at $60/month for 5GB of data. On the good side however, you’ll be able to share it with all your other devices, and a lot sooner.

Interested?

App Advice

Pay Your Bar Tab Using TabbedOut

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