FaceDetectionDuringVideo

Face Detection is a feature of the iPhone that adapts the focus & exposure automatically when a face is present in the shot. This feature is only active when taking a picture but this hack allows it to work actively when shooting video. This is really nice as the environment can change quickly during a video and typically you want the video focused on faces if they are part of the shot. This hack is available in Cydia for free. [Read more…]

AccuWeather Update Getting Poor Reviews

AccuWeather recently updated their iPhone app and I have to say that I do not like it. It had a nice clean design with iPhone style graphics. It functioned. I finally had it figured out since the last update changed so much. Now the new app is ugly, clunky and unorganized. You’ll see there are a lot of grab handles that require you to swipe to get to more data which takes more steps to get to the same info as before. Here’s a before and after of some of the screens and lots of unhappy tweets. What do you think of the new update? Do you have another weather app that you’d recommend to others wanting to switch? [Read more…]

Bike Race

I recently installed a new motorcycle game over the Christmas holiday called “Bike Race”. I have to warn you, this game is highly addictive! The game itself is addicting enough because of the nature of the game. But, what’s even more addicting is the ability to play with others online including your Facebook friends. I currently have several games going with both Facebook friends and random people I’ve met through the game.

The game itself is pretty simple. You steer a motorcycle through a race track viewed from a two-dimensional angle on the side. A game I play on the Xbox called “Trials HD” is a lot like it but this version is not as high graphic. Nevertheless, it’s still as addictive! [Read more…]

Timehop: What did you do 1 year ago today?

This is a simple, yet fun app really worth downloading. All you do is open the app and you will get a list of things you’ve done 1 year ago today. The app also goes back 2, 3, 4, & 5 years. It pulls info from Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Instagram, flickr and your camera roll. Of course it’s really fun when you have kids because they grow up so fast. Now you can see your memories much easier and you can even get a daily push notifications once your Timehop is ready. [Read more…]

Robotek

A recent game my son and I found for the iPhone that’s pretty addicting is called Robotek. There is also an iPad version and even a version for your Mac. You start off with only one robot and you play against the computer who also has one robot. The first thing you do is spin three reels to see what kind of help you can get to defeat your opponent. There are also three different categories you can spin the reels in: little robots, defense & offense. Once you pick the category, you tap the green arrow and see what you get. If you spin three different images you get all three. If you spin two or three of the same image, you get that item at two or three times the strength. I like to start out with getting at least three robots. Then prepare a defense; then go on the attack. Between each spin there is a battle and it’s a fight to the death. [Read more…]

Cinemagram – It’s Like a Moving Instagram

There are all kinds of apps the are trying to get in on the Instagram popularity. Many apps are just knockoffs or just plain junk. Cinemagram is not one of those apps. It allows you to create a moving gif image, kind of like a very short video but in a picture format. The kewl thing is, you can have the image loop, go forward & back, or loop backwards. You can also make only part of the image move. There are some amazing and hilarious Cimemagrams. Here are a few to show you how it looks: [Read more…]

Apps for Election Day 2012

I know many readers are from all over the world, but since this website is based in the United States, I’d like to share some apps for election day. First, both Barack Obama & Mitt Romney have apps. [Read more…]

Facebook Update 5.1

Facebook has made some nice improvements to their app recently. Finally, it’s exciting to get an update for the Facebook app. In the past, Facebook has been a horrible app but since more recent versions of the app, it has been a far better experience. First, simply swiping to the left reveals your chat list and swiping right reveals the main menu. Very simple & clean; I like it! While in your chat list, you can keep your favorites at the top and easily rearrange them by tapping “edit” in the top right. Just tap the green + sign to bring them to the top and use the 3 little bars at the right of the name to rearrange. Another feature added to chat is the ability to see who’s online right now. [Read more…]

Angry Birds Space HD 1.3.1 Update

The recent update to Angry Birds Space adds yet another angle to the Angry Birds matrix. The theme adds fiery volcanoes that push you away from the planet’s surface. The developers went to great detail as usual. For example, when I hit a pig out of the atmosphere and he froze, when he floated past the hot pressure from a volcano he thawed out. There were only about 2-3 levels that really took me a while to pass. Most others I beat within 1-3 tries. [Read more…]

iOS 6 Now Available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

The new iOS 6 firmware for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch has been released. You can learn about the new features here: apple.com/ios/whats-new

First thing I would suggest is backing up your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Either back it up in iTunes or use iCloud. I use iCloud so here’s what to do: Go to Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > and scroll to the bottom. It should show the last backup and a button to “Back Up Now”. If it can’t be tapped, you need to be on Wifi. If it’s plugged in and on Wifi then it will do it automatically periodically. Here are the devices that can be updated to iOS 6. [Read more…]

Apple’s New EarPods Video

Apple has published another video to YouTube on their new EarPods. This was a product that really needed an update. I’m excited to hear how they sound and if they fit into my ears. Apple says they “tested 124 different prototypes of the EarPods on over 600 people.” If they don’t fit now, what else can they do? [Read more…]

Get iOS 6 on Your Device Right Now!

If you want to get iOS 6 on your device right now without waiting you can get it from a bit torrent. It’s really not too hard. I’ll guide you through the steps. This will put the same exact software Apple is releasing to the public. [Read more…]

Watch iPhone 5 Keynote Video

The recent keynote video for the iPhone 5, the new iPod touch and the new iPod nano is available for viewing at Apple.com. The video is just about two hours long and also includes previews of iOS 6. [Read more…]

Facebook Releases App Update 5.0

Facebook has released a new app that has been coded with Objective-C instead of HTML5. What does this mean to you? Hopefully a more reliable app that doesn’t crash! I’ve already tested the app on my iPhone and it’s much faster. The app looks mostly the same but there are a few things that look nicer such as photos. The look and feel of browsing photos, liking them and commenting on them is much better. The app update also includes the iPad and iPod touch. I’m actually excited about the iPad app because it was so bad before that I only used the website. The new app supports timeline and shows my profile the way it looks like on the website. [Read more…]

Twitter 4.3

Twitter has recently updated their app with a lot of new features. I’m just going to highlight a few. See the rest at the bottom of this post. The feature I like and have been waiting for is more inline links and images. Twitter calls this “expanded tweets”. The only one I’ve noticed so far is Instagram. Instead of needing to click on the link to see the image, the image is automatically embedded into the tweet. Hopefully YouTube, Foursquare and others are added in the future. Images posted via twitter already had this feature. [Read more…]