An app that promises to increase your productivity and enhance your brain-use sounds a bit too good to be true. UpBeing, released July 20, claims to do so by having you engage in eight sessions (40 minutes each), during which you listen to sounds of nature at different frequencies and enter a “relaxed state.” Obviously relaxing will help you to be more productive and focused, but is an app necessary for that? What about the relaxation this app “delivers” is so special, and why should it make us more productive than how we personally choose to relax? And can eight sessions of relaxation really yield dramatic results? The skeptic in me really is not that sure, and thinks that this $14 app might be a load of BS. However, I am willing to be proved wrong, and if anyone has faith in this app or has undergone dramatic improvements by using this app, I would love to hear about it.

Popular developer, Clickgamer, just released their latest collaboration with Studio Radiolaris, Zombies vs Sheep. This game, set in a Mexican shooting gallery (complete with a Mariachi soundtrack), has a simple goal: protect the sheep from zombies and other predators. The game is simple (tap-to-shoot the enemies), the graphics are unique (a cardboard cutout style), and the underlying theme is just plain funny (because obviously we need to worry about protecting our sheep from the living dead).  There are many features that make this game worthwhile, entertaining, and sure to be another App Store hit.

When people think about the action of waving, it is pretty universally accepted as a greeting. However, waving can beckon someone over, can be out of pure politeness, can be a mean of dismissal, or can imply a host of other things. How are we to know exactly what someone intends by this simply gesture? Hey U, a brand new app released today for the iPhone and iPod Touch, attempts to bring some clarity (and fun!) to the act of waving. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »