Aussie iPhone Talk

Hisptamatic

2010-11-22T20:38:00.007+10:30

So there's a stack of Photography apps popping up now. This one is a little different however.

Do you remember flicking through you parents old Polaroid snaps? Feeling the nostalgia? Feeling like those were better times?

Well this App recreates this Analog effect very nicely and basically makes photos of anything look cool. Like, Hipster cool.

For example, I tool a photo of a street corner with some posters on the light post and it looks like something from a music clip:

When you take a snap with the Hipstamatic it saves it straight into your images folder, which is a great feature saving a lot of stuffing around.

There are a few different 'Lenses', but one is clearly better than the rest which I always use.

So anyway, if you feel like getter a bit arty and wanna make a boring photo of a telephone box look cool, grab this app and shoot away. Apparently you can upload your coolest snaps to some Hipstamatic Contest, but I haven't done that. I know my shots are the coolest already.

App Name: Hipstamatic

Price: AU$2.49

Publisher: Synthetic Corp

Rating: 3.5/5

SoundHound

2010-11-18T16:23:00.006+10:30

Out with friends dancing the night away or driving home from work listening to the radio and hear a song that you like and you must know the name of? If your friends are rubbish with names (like I am) or they're jerks that won't tell you the song title, then there's now an app for you.

SoundHound will use the iPhone's mic to record the music playing which it will then analyse on its servers, giving you the name of the artist, track name, album name and even the lyrics for most songs. I've been using this app now for over three months and am highly satisfied with the music info retrieval rate. It was even able to work out I was listening to Rhythm Is Our Business the other day which I was quite surprised at.

I've set up my SoundHound so that when it opens, it will automatically start recording to get the song, saving me that extra click which could end up meaning I don't miss out on it catching the last bit of the song. After it returns with the results, it will save them in your history, this way you can go back to it when you're at home and go online and get the album.

This wonderful app has expanded my music library greatly and I will not go back to guessing what a song is, or humming it to friends for hours on end because I don't know what the song is actually called. I love it.

App Name: SoundHound

Price: AU $5.99

Publisher: Melodis

Rating: 5/5

Foursquare

2010-08-08T15:47:00.012+09:30

What the hell is Foursquare?

Well, basically this application is at the start of the next wave of social networking apps that combine Who you are with Where you are.

Users "check in" to places around town when they are out an about in order to gain badges and, if frequent enough, become the "Mayor" of an establishment.

Users can also share "Tips" about places so that others can fire up Foursquare, check in to a place, and see what there is to do around the area.

This app is starting to gain a lot of momentum in the US, but what does it mean for us Australian users?

What businesses are starting to realize is that Foursquare is a great way to advertise and draw people to their establishment. For example there are some great offers around the place that reward the Mayor of the place, like a free coffee each week.

The first example of this sort of thing I have seen in Australia so far was down at the Highway Inn in Adelaide, where a free drink (beer, wine, whatever) can be claimed simply by checking into the Place and showing the guys behind that bar.

I'm expecting to see much more of this sort of stuff so I would recommend that you at least grab this and have a look what's around you and starting checking lad!

The app itself has a few little issues that are constantly being ironed out. For example, the app will show the list of nearby Places, but does not order them by which is closest.

I have often seen the site down for maintenance as well. All in all though, its a solid application and is paving the way for this new type of social networking.

App Name: Foursquare

Price: Free

Release Date: 11/03/2009

Publisher: Foursquare

Rating: 4/5

Worth it?: It's free, and free beer. You be the judge.

Developer's Website: www.foursquare.com

Cleartune - Chromatic Tuner

2009-08-07T15:19:00.003+09:30

All you musicians out there, you can stop looking for that perfect app because I have found it and it is named Cleartune - Chromatic Tuner.

Have you every been playing around at home with your guitar or trumpet or cello or clarinet or piano or your own whistle or anything else at all that needs tuning but the notes just aren't sounding right? Sure you've tuned the instrument to itself - well done everyone can do that - but it still sounds like a wailing dog. Well friends, along comes Cleartune.

This app uses the iPhone's mic to hear what note you are playing and will show you on screen in real time what pitch it is. Then you can make your adjustments until you have a pitch perfect note.

I've used this app in my room mainly, usually with nothing in the background, but a few times with the telly on, and the app still works perfectly.

The app has a whole range of features which I haven't had the need for but the size of the list goes to show you how amazing this app is. (click through to the iTunes page for the list of features)

This app is dependable and works so well I can't recommend it enough for anyone that ever picks up an instrument.

App Name: Cleartune - Chromatic Tuner
Price: AU$ 4.99
Release Date: 16 July 2009
Publisher: Matthew Finn
Rating: 5/5
Worth it?: Yes buy it right now

iTunes Link | Developer's Website

Flight Control

2009-08-06T10:31:00.006+09:30

Flight Control is a line drawing game in which you attempt to guide planes and helicopters to their specific landing zone. There are three types of aircraft - red and yellow planes and blue choppers - which fly in from all sides of the phone which you then need to draw a line for them to follow. Starting off quite relaxed but moving to a hectic game rather quickly you'll be drawing little circles everywhere trying to stop planes from crashing in to each other.

But is that it? Basically - yes. There are a few different airfields that you can play on for a slight change of scenery, but overall, that's all there really is. Which isn't to say it's not fun. For a pick-up-and-play game this is great for when you have 2 minutes spare. But it just doesn't grip me in the long run.

The graphics are beautiful and the animation fluid - a very well presented game. The sound is also great and you have the ability to listen to your own music over the top which is always good. The game itself plays perfectly as well, with no problems controlling the aircraft.

All in all the game is good for a few minutes but doesn't have the lasting gameplay that brings me back for more.

Game Name: Flight Control
Price: AU$ 1.19 (currently on sale)
Release Date: 29 April 2009
Publisher: Firemint
Rating: 3/5
Worth it?: Yeah I reckon.

iTunes Link | Developer's Website

Purchased

2009-08-06T09:05:00.001+09:30

Hi. Hello. Obligatory welcome comments to this blog: Welcome to this blog.

I finally bought an iPhone 3GS 16 Gig about 10 days ago. Since then I have downloaded a lot of applications. And I mean a lot. Now, there are a few websites that review apps and things but I just thought that the world needed at least one more. And taddah - an Australian iPhone blog is born! Score one for you, dear reader.

It is my dream that I will initially post reviews about apps that I have purchased, which will then lead to a discussion of the app in the comments. I will link to every apps' applicable app store page and if possible, a website for the application.

I also hope to write about free things that you can find on the app store. I'm nothing if not cheap so I know how important it is to find out about freebies and good deals, so here's hoping I can stay up to date with whatever comes up. Also if people want to let me know about free things or anything else for that matter, then by all means I'd love to hear.

Thanks for reading, I hope I do well.