Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPhone , iPod touch , iDevice Apps , Originals You’ve all pre-ordered your iPad , right? Better get on that before the available stock is gone. And since you’re only about three weeks away from delivery, you should also stock on free apps to transfer to it when it arrives. This week’s list is all about driving games, Twitter and limited time freebies.  Half of this list won’t be free for long, so I’d better cut to the chase. Brizzly – There’s a new best Twitter app on the App Store every week, it seems. This week’s new best is called Brizzly.  It has most of the snazzy features like trends and news, lists, multiple Twitter account support, pics and more.  If you don’t already have a Twitter client, this is as a great app to take for a spin. Mini Desktop Racing Arcade – Take a toy car for a spin on your desktop.  You control the car entirely with your finger, just don’t hit anything. Transformers G1: Awakening Free – You ready to roll out?  Play as the classic Autobots against the Decepticons in this turn based strategy game.  Obviously you can transform and this is to your advatage when you want to travel faster.  And it’s all in 3D; not the red and blue 3D, this is the kind that stays in the screen

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It’s no secret that many recording artists — especially those from the bygone era of the long-form LP record format — prefer listeners to enjoy their music as a whole, rather than on a song-by-song basis. One of the pioneers of such concepts, Pink Floyd, has just scored a legal victory that may change the way we buy such music from iTunes in the future. BBC News is reporting that Pink Floyd has score a legal victory with its record label, EMI, over the company selling its songs by track through Apple’s iTunes Store, according to MacRumors. The high-profile band objects to the label splitting up what it considers to be single pieces of work. “The rock legends, signed to EMI since 1967, said their contract meant their albums could not be split up without their permission,” BBC News reports . “A judge agreed, saying the contract contained a clause to ‘preserve the artistic integrity of the albums.’ EMI has been ordered to pay £40,000 ($60,000) in costs, with a further fine to be decided.” Of course, Pink Floyd’s contract with EMI predates digital music downloads, particularly those from the iTunes Store, which pioneered the “99 cents per track” option that’s become so popular in recent years. Rather than having to buy an entire album just to get one or two favorite tracks, customers can pick & choose which tracks they’d like to own. The band’s lawyers “argued that it made little sense that the contract’s restrictions against the splitting up of ‘seamless’ material would apply to physical distribution while digital distribution would be treated as a ‘free for all.’” EMI argued that the use of the word “record” in the contract suggested that it applied only to physical media. For now, Pink Floyd’s music remains for sale by track on the iTunes Store — so get it while the getting is good, we figure that will change soon enough, and probably start affecting other classic rock bands as well…

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What are you going to do on your Mac today? The usual–emailing, updating your enemies list, removing the geotag data from all the photos of your secret underground lair? That all sounds pleasant enough, but to really flex your world-domination muscles, we found two turn-based strategy games that ape the classic gameplay of Risk. So whaddya say, after lunch we try to conquer the world?   Lux Delux   Hyperaddictive Lux Delux is different every time thanks to its staggering number of maps. The game starts you off with 10 built-in maps, then its Plugin Manager provides another 600-plus others for download–and more are coming out every day. Most of the maps are made by developers using Sillysoft’s Java-based SDK, but Lux Delux also has a built-in map editor so you can roll your own with no coding required. It’s hard to imagine ever getting bored. This keyboard-shaped map is a good example of the creativity in Lux Delux’s map selection. In each game, you can battle up to five opponents drawn from any mix of players using the same Mac, network players, and computer-controlled players.

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There’s reason enough to arch a wry eyebrow at yet another classic platformer with a virtual control overlay ported to the App Store, and Gameloft’s newest iPhone gaming release, Rayman 2: The Great Escape is no exception, even at $6.99. The original game was something of an unsung masterpiece when it was released back in 1999.

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Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPhone , iPod touch , iDevice Apps , Mac Software Macintosh and iPhone/iPod/iPad product updates and announcements for March 1, 2010: Macintosh iPod Macintosh Divine Fiat has announced The Complete Set , their entire collection of high quality themes for Apple’s Keynote presentation software. All 14 themes are now available for 60% off the individual theme set price. This is a collection representing great variety and value. Every theme comes in both standard and Widescreen formats. Each theme also includes extras such as fully customizable icon objects, custom texture and color palates and video tutorials. SimpleLeap Software has released Cram 1.3.4 , an update to its popular flashcard and multiple-choice testing study app for Mac OS X. Cram is perfect for students, teachers, or anyone else looking to prepare for any subject matter on their Mac with flashcards and practice multiple-choice tests. Cram features multiple study modes, and the ability to share test material with friends. Version 1.3.4 updates with new easy installer and minor bug fixes. Keynote Zone has announced KeynoteZone Collection 7 . All the best of Keynote Zone themes are now available for special price. Keynote Zone Collection 7 includes seven HD version themes.

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Louie Sulcer wasn’t expecting to make history this past week.  He just wanted to download Johnny Cash’s “Guess Things Happen That Way” and add it to a mix for his son. Ironically, the way things happened, the Woodstock, Georgia native was the man who downloaded song number TEN BEEELLION from iTunes. Sulcer’s reward?  A US$10,000 iTunes card — and a personal phone call from Steve Jobs.  At first, Sulcer thought it was a prank call, until he realized his caller ID said “Apple.” Even more ironically, Sulcer had recently gotten an iPod Nano as a birthday present.  With ten grand worth of iTunes credit — and a personal collection of nearly 900 songs — it’s a good bet he’ll be pricing out a 320GB iPod Classic real soon now… [Via Rolling Stone ]

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The latest AdMob Mobile Metrics Report  polled users of iPhones, iPod Touches, Android, and webOS devices as to their app acquisitions and usage during the month of January 2010.  It’s pretty clear just glancing at the graph that most phone owners adhere to the “cheap is good, free is better” philosophy right across the board.  But there’s more to the report than meets the eye: Android and iPhone users download a similar number of apps every month and spend a similar amount of time using the apps. However, iPhone users continue to download more paid applications, with 50% of users purchasing at least one paid application a month compared to 21% of Android users and 24% of webOS users. 73% of Android users are male, compared to 58% of webOS users, 57% of iPhone users and 54% iPod touch users. The iPhone, iPod touch and webOS have similar gender distributions, with just over half of the users on all devices being male. 16% of iPhone users said they intend to purchase an iPad, compared to 11% of webOS users and only 6% of Android users. Approximately the same percentage of Android users were interested in purchasing the Amazon Kindle as were interested in purchasing the iPad.

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Please Note: All these apps are on sale only for a limited period of time, so if you snooze, you simply loose!               Watermark your videos, follow all the business news or make super-efficient lists. Here are todays discounted apps that will make you a more productive human being. iVideoMark – watermark vide o – From $2.99 to Free A watermark app, this one lets you add text, images and logos to your video to protect your work of art.     AyeNotes (notes with shorthand) – From $.99 to Free Perfect for students or professionals, this app lets you write notes quickly and easily using an advance templating scheme available on the iPhone/Touch.      Business Junkie – From $.99 to Free This app may just help you to become a business tycoon as it delivers the 13 biggest financial news sites on your iPhone or iPod Touch.     Build Watch –  From $.99 to Free You can track software projects on your iPhone as this app integrates with popular continuous integration systems.     My Items – From $.99 to Free A must have management tool as it lets you make lists of items, goods, things etc so that its easier to tell how many items you have and where you kept them in.    

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I like it when companies port their old games to the iPhone platform, even when the results are somewhat less than amazing. Aside from being the best way to convince your somewhat technophobe friends that the iPhone and iPod touch are totally worth buying, they also allow me to indulge in some pleasant gaming nostalgia during my commute or whenever I have a spare moment. Even though I have played them both many times before, I have no doubt that I’ll enjoy playing through Final Fantasy I and II once again now that they’re available on the iPhone. Square Enix ported both titles to Apple’s App Store, now available for $8.99 a piece. Now whether or not you’re willing to pay $9 for these classic titles may depend on how many times you’ve played through them in the past, and on how many different platforms. Versions of the games have appeared on the NES, GameBoy Advance, PSP, PlayStation, DS and Wii. Some of the newer ports featured extra levels and bonus content, which are included in the new iPhone versions, so if you haven’t played them lately, you might have good reason to take another spin. The new iPhone versions also offer much-improved avatar designs and better sprites, though the story and gameplay mechanics remain unchanged. As someone who’s never not enjoyed playing through a classic Square title, I’m not too worried about becoming bored or being underwhelmed. By the same token, I know exactly what I’m in for, so there’s not likely to be any surprises coming my way. I’m mostly just hoping that my purchase in this instance encourages Square Enix to continue releasing its classic titles for the platform

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Don’t call it a port–Street Fighter 4 for iPhone and iPod touch is an entirely new game with the same look and feel of the console games and classic arcade cabinets. What’s different, of course, is the way you play the game. With a bit of added UI ingenuity from the "visual pad" engine, Capcom delivers a surefire hit that’s definitely going to tire out your thumbs.     The game pits eight characters against each other, including original favorites like Ryu, Ken, Chun Li and Street Fighter 4 newcomer Abel. There are four ways to play the game: Tournament, Dojo, Free Spar and Training Room, with the most notable being Dojo. The Dojo mode of game play is like a basic boot camp for newbie Street Fight players (like myself), or fighters that want to hone their special-moves skills. You can either quickly spar with a character of your choice or choose to engage in Tournament mode, which pits you against seven AI-controlled opponents each more difficult than the last. Multiplayer mode is an entirely separate entity and it will not be available via Wi-Fi or your iPhone’s 3G network, but rather through Bluetooth, which limits game play to you and a friend within feet. The simulated touch controls were incredibly accurate, even though there is only a directional pad and four on-screen buttons. The fluidity of the joy stick movements and button pushes were almost exactly as if we were in the arcade smashing buttons on a wooden cabinet. The controls are also entirely customizable, as you can place them anywhere on the screen. There’s also a special move assist that automatically engages your move with just the touch of a button, instead of requiring you to memorize a sequence of buttons. And for the more cautious types, the optional Auto Guard feature automatically shifts your character into a defensive position to block simple attacks. 

The new Street Fighter 4 was designed to appeal to handheld gamers who don’t have the time, money, or interest to purchase a dedicated console

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