Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPad , iDevice Apps , Reviews Category: Rhythm game Seller: AppStar Games Requirements: iPhone OS 3.2 or later Compatibility: iPad ( iPhone version available ) File Size: 21.9MB Version Reviewed: 1.2 Price: $0.99 ( free lite version available ) Age Rating: 4+ Games don’t get much simpler than AppStar Games’ Iron Horse. That makes sense, considering the company’s principals are Garry Kitchen and David Crane, the resumes for whom date back to the Atari 2600 when technology forced all games to be simple, and developers still had to find ways to make them fun. Although technology has obviously advanced, AppStar is still taking a basic approach to gameplay. This is smart, because too many iPhone/iPad games have been ruined by horrible controls that just don’t work on the device. With Iron Horse, there’s no virtual d-pad or no tilting, you just tap. And it works here. Basically, a train is driving along the screen. Eventually, the last car on the train will pass by a car parked on a lower track. At the right moment, you tap the screen to connect that car to your train. A perfectly timed tap will improve your score, and four of these reward you with Free Turns you can stock up to use when things are going too quickly. A miss will penalize you, and you lose the game if you get three on one train.

Read the original:
Appletell reviews Iron Horse for iPad

Section: Mac Software , Audio / Video , Reviews Provides: guitar/bass amp simulation and effects Developer: IK Multimedia Minimum System Requirements: 1.5 GHz Intel processor, 1 GB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.4.4 or later. Price: $349.99 Availability: Now Version Reviewed: 3.0.1 Are the days of earth-shaking amplifiers over? Nope, and while IK Multimedia’s Amplitube 3 won’t drive your neighbors insane without some serious wattage purchase elsewhere, it does change the way musicians think about recording guitar. You don’t need thousands of dollars of guitar gear to sound like the pros anymore; just a guitar, Amplitube 3 and years of practice. You might already be familiar with IK Multimedia’s Amplitube guitar gear modeling software.  If so, then you know they know what they are doing when it comes to amp simulation.  Amplitube 2 changed my view of guitar software. I used to think that Line 6 was the only company doing it right; I was wrong. Now Amplitube 3 really seals the deal by reworking everything, adding almost 100 pieces of gear (including an expanded collection of bass gear), and adding more features to an already amazing piece of software.  Better look out Line 6, IK Multimedia is some serious competition. Amplitube 3 has “over 160 precisely modeled pieces of vintage and modern gear.”  This breaks out into 51 stomboxes and effects, 31 amplifiers (including preams and power sections), 46 speaker cabinets, 15 mics and 17 rack effects.  All of this stuff is either new or reworked, so it’s not like they’re just selling you Amplitube 2 with 100 extra pieces of gear, though that really wouldn’t be so bad.  If you’re somehow left feeling like this isn’t enough, then you can add more gear by purchasing more packages from IK Multimedia.  It’s kind of just like a plug-in.  Amplitube 3 can use the other amp packs directly.  Also, Amplitube 3 and all of the amp packs that you buy are usable inside of DAWs such as Garageband, Logic, etc. But honestly, the numbers aren’t anything to be concerned with here.  I’ve gone from lusting after specific pieces of guitar gear years ago that I thought would give me the tones I wanted, to now, when all I really care about is how my guitar sounds.  I’m not concerned with how many stompboxes or amps this package contains.  What I care about is whether they can be combined to create the tones I’m looking for. All of that gear listed above really covers the majority of the spectrum of sounds most players want.  You can run two amps at the same time and position them right where you want them in stereo.  You can run together a bunch of stompboxes, move two mics per cabinet anywhere you want and then run all of that through one for each channel.  This gives you some pretty insane options, and you never have to worry about being in the right room of the house, having enough cable, or anything really.  The app just does it all, and it sounds amazing.  They even say that Amplitube 3 actually models the way real gear dynamically responds to your playing.  So you shouldn’t feel like you’re playing through a computer (rather, I should say you might lose your snobbery towards digital processing).  I’ve always been excited about how computers can model real gear since it expands your options for a miniscule fraction of what the real gear would cost.  Amplitube 3 really gives you all of the tools to sound great, except maybe extra hours in your day to practice more.  I’m just going to assume you are fairly good at playing your guitar since you’d be less likely to make this sort of investment if you weren’t.

See original here: 
Appletell reviews Amplitube 3 for Mac OS X

In a world of plastic cases, Trexta’s iPhone covers stand out. Made from natural materials like leather and wood, they bring back fond memories of bowling trips in the old two-toned station wagon. In other words, they’re retro badass. For $29.95, Trexta’s line of Snap It On iPhone cases will give your iPhone a vintage makeover. The Wood

Here is the original post:
Trexta iPhone Cases Make It a Snap To Look Retro [Review]

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPad , iDevice Apps , Originals Last week, Appletell broke the official news that VH1 would be bringing Intellivision to the iPad. Last night, Keith Robinson announced via Facebook that Apple has approved the release for April 3rd, and that it’ll run $2.99 for six games. The big news, though, are the six games to be included. There are some sweet surprises in there for both vintage gaming aficionados and those just looking to have a great deal of fun. As you can tell from the photo above, you’ll get: Astrosmash Chip Shot Super Pro Golf Night Stalker Skiing Thin Ice Thunder Castle It’s a great initial collection. Classics such as Astrosmash and Night Stalker were a given, and Skiing will likely make perfect sense with the iPad’s accelerometer. But Thunder Castle? Thin Ice? Chip Shot? Are you kidding me? Along with Major League Baseball and Super Pro Basketball, Chip Shot is about as perfect as sports games got at the time, and I’m thrilled to see VH1 pull in these more obscure titles. Also, get a close look at the layout. I’m seriously digging that TV frame, and see the Jump and Edge text buttons on the bottom right? They were side button controls on the original Intellivision keypad, so it’s likely safe to assume that you’ll tap there to get that functionality on the iPad

Go here to see the original:
VH1 announces Intellivision for iPad lineup

It’s time for our weekly digest of tiny iPhone reviews, courtesy of iPhoneTiny.com, with some extra commentary exclusive to Cult of Mac. This time, we review Action Bowling Free, Advent Annihilation, Alien Glyphs, Color Expert, Cross Fingers, Fingerzilla, Minigame Party, Monkey Flight, Sound Warp Free, Super KO Boxing 2 Free, and Vintage Video Maker. APP OF THE

Here is the original post:
iPhone Apps Weekly Digest: Color Wheels, Vintage Videos, Games and Flying Monkeys

Drums are awesome; there’re few things as satisfying as making sounds by thumping something with a stick — even if that stick is virtual. Now, for a buck, the iPhone can be turned into a virtual museum of virtual drums, thanks to Vintage Drum by developer OutOfTheBit. Nine drum kits are available to choose from,

View original post here:
Stick Some Legendary Drum Pads In Your Pocket [Review]

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPhone , iPod touch , iDevice Apps , Mac Software , Originals Macintosh and iPhone/iPod/iPad product updates and announcements for February 26, 2010: Macintosh iPod Macintosh iTacet Software has released Cookie Platter 1.0 , a Mac OS X application which automatically deletes all unwanted cookies and saves specific cookies based upon a user’s favorite websites. This innovative software can process cookies for multiple web browsers simultaneously and allows customization by browser, domain and type of cookie. Users can group all domains into their root domain, as well as the ability to preview the cookie’s website without opening a browser and more. Codewave Software Michael Descher has announced that MyTunesRSS has been successfully introduced at Jazz at Lincoln Center for digital music library sharing. MyTunesRSS was selected from the pool of music sharing tools because of its advantageous features and overall usability. MyTunesRSS is a Media Server that makes iTunes libraries or simple watch folders available on a local or corporate network, or even over the internet. Zevrix Solutions has announced BatchOutput Server 4.2.8 , an update to its output workflow automation solution for Adobe InDesign. Originally developed for a major publisher in the U.S., the software automates InDesign output by processing files from hotfolders. BatchOutput Server offloads printing and exporting to PDF and PostScript to a central system leaving operator workstations free from the output process

View original here:
Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad product news – February 26, 2010

    From its humble beginnings on a grad student’s Mac Plus to its complete photo-editing domination, Photoshop has changed the world in 20 short years.   Photoshop is everywhere. And while fundamentally it is the standard professional-quality image editor, it’s also a cultural touchstone with a reach that extends to advertising, fashion magazines, television, film, and the news. Lighter versions like Photoshop Elements, Photoshop.com, and even Photoshop Mobile on the iPhone have distilled its power for the masses, and sites like PhotoshopDisasters.blogspot.com chronicle painful misuses for everyone to point at and giggle about. “Photoshop” the verb was even added to Webster’s dictionary in 1992. In such a Photoshop-saturated society, it’s easy to forget that the software hasn’t been around forever. Since February 2010 marks the 20th anniversary of Photoshop 1.0, now is the perfect time to revisit everything from Adobe’s systematic dismantling of its competition to the way the software was used to make Katie Couric “lose weight.”   Two Decades of Photoshop   We give you every single Photoshop release, plus the effects of Adobe’s software on its competition and our culture.   1987   Release: Thomas Knoll, a PhD student at the University of Michigan, creates a program called Display for his Mac Plus. It can display 256-shade grayscale images on a 1-bit black-and-white screen with dithering.   1988   Release: Display is renamed Photoshop, and the Knoll brothers (Thomas and John, an effects expert at Industrial Light & Magic [ILM]) license the first version to Barneyscan, a slide-scanner manufacturer. Approximately 200 copies of version 0.87 ship bundled with the scanners. Cultural: The first working version of Photoshop appears at Apple, and the era of Photoshop piracy begins as engineers pass it around amongst themselves and gape in awe.   1989   Release: John Knoll demos Photoshop for Adobe’s primary art director Russell Brown and founder John Warnock

Excerpt from:
20 Years of Image Editing: Photoshop from 1.0 to CS4

You already use your computer to make your own music, edit your own photos, and create your own movies–so why pay someone else to decorate your home? Your Mac is the perfect tool for giving your interior space a dash of 21st-century modernism. Follow along and we’ll show you how. Photography by Mark Madeo I’m not a thrifty man by nature, but after cobbling together enough money to buy my first single-family home, I wasn’t about to take out a second mortgage just to get the place decorated. In fact, the very concept of hiring an interior designer or color consultant strikes me as frivolous on an intestinal level. Color theory and design inspiration is free online, and at the end of the day, what looks right is right–because perfection in home decor is in the eye of the beholder. That last thing I need is some woman named Astrid telling me my walls would look better in “Butter Crème.” But that isn’t to say that even I, in all my brazen hubris, couldn’t do a better job with the help of my MacBook Pro. If the Mac can help me in other creative pursuits, why not put it to use in snazzing up Casa Philippe? I did my research, put in a bunch of nights at the keyboard, and came up with an interior design that suits me just perfectly. And now I’m going to show you how you can do the same for your own home. First we’ll look at how you can use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to make informed color decisions–by painting Pantone swatches directly on your walls. Next, we’ll explore photography. I’ll explain how inkjet technology can turn your shots into art prints and how to use photos to inspire digital illustration

Read more:
Customize Your Home with Your Mac

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPhone , iPod touch , iDevice Apps , Mac Software , Originals Macintosh and iPhone/iPod/iPad product updates and announcements for February 1, 2010: Macintosh iPod Macintosh TheMacBundles has announced that new weekly specials have been posted to its website. Until 2/7, TheMacBundles is offering the backup utility Parachute for a saving of over 60%. Additionally, Radiologik DJ is being offered for a saving of over 40%. People who order the weekly special also can receive an immediate discount off of the already low price of the January bundle. TheMacBundles has received widespread praise from journalists, Mac users, and software developers. Ben Software has announced SecuritySpy 2.0.3 , the premier multi-camera video surveillance software on the Macintosh platform. With features such as motion detection, real-time compression of multiple video and audio feeds, and network video and audio streaming, SecuritySpy is designed for demanding video surveillance applications. It supports a wide variety of network cameras and video servers, as well as FireWire, USB, and PCI video input devices. The Escapers has announced Flux 2 , their web design application for Mac OS X. After a long beta development period, Flux 2 from The Escapers has left it’s beta status behind. To celebrate leaving beta status, The Escapers have relaunched their whole website and created new blogs where future directions of Flux will be discussed. Flux 2 is a WYSIWYG design environment, but you can hand crank code too.

Read more from the original source: 
Macintosh/iDevice product update roundup – February 1, 2010