toy posts

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

A BBQ in your pocket with Barbecue

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (RSS feed) on Oct 2nd, 2009

I've always enjoyed miniatures for some reason, and Barbecue [iTunes Link], from Equinux , is an enjoyable miniature barbecue grill. It's a pretty simple thing, really. You launch the app, light a match to get the grill going, then spend your time throwing a variety of meats and corn onto the grill. You double-tap to flip, and drag to serve it on a plate. Once the food is on a plate (only one item per plate), you can send it to Twitter, Facebook and email... something we see on every app, really.

If you're looking for a cute toy with a high degree of realism, a lot of time and energy went into the making of Barbecue, and you can learn all about the process of making the app on the Equinux site. It's only a buck, so what do you have to lose?

Gallery: Barbecue

Tags: app review, AppReview, barbecue, iphone, toy

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review, Music

Mujik for the iPhone. I'm scratching my head but enjoying it

by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on Aug 7th, 2009

Every so often something hits the App Store that is interesting but difficult to explain. At the same time, it is enjoyable to use, and you tip your hat to the people who thought it up, even if it has no real practical use.

Mujik [App Store] is a free (for now) app that allows you to create musical sounds by opening books on a shelf and chasing dust mites across the page.

It's a charming app, with interesting graphics, and I was able to create a passable tune. If your taste runs to Mike Oldfield or Brian Eno (who has his own app for creating music on the iPhone) you know the kinds of sounds I am talking about.

You do have some control over the instruments, the pitch, and you can balance the ensemble, if that is the word, by turning off any of the 3 channels.

The lads who made this app are from an Edinburgh, Scotland software company called Lucky Frame, and are obviously pretty creative in their offbeat way. The founder of the company says he wanted to create software that is "not intimidating and easy to use".

This app isn't to be confused with a composition tool, or a sequencer where you get a lot of control. It's something to play with and enjoy.

It would be nice if you could save your tunes, but instead they become fleeting memories. A 'save mode' is promised by the developers. Mujik runs on the iPhone and the iPod touch.

Thanks to Donnacha for the tip.

Here are some screenshots but they are just likely to confuse rather than illuminate. You just have to try it.

Gallery: Mujik for iPhone

Tags: app, app review, AppReview, audio, iPhone, iPod touch, Mujik, music app, New Age sounds, sound, toy

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

WWDC Demo: Coolness Test and Spin the Ball

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (RSS feed) on Jul 7th, 2009

Coolness Test (iTunes link) is a well-executed game of skill where you tap a green button as it moves around the screen. You have to avoid the red button, and both move around the screen with each tap. The developers found people were playing for extraordinary lengths of time, and I can see why. You can enter a sort of trance as you focus on the movement of the buttons. It might even improve hand/eye coordination, but all videogames say that, don't they?

Unfortunately Coolness Test, despite the low price of being free, suffers from over 3,000 negative reviews and less than 600 positive ones. Why? If you read the reviews, it's pretty much the deal with any of these one-trick pony apps: you either love it or hate it. I think it's unfortunate the developers called it a "coolness" test, when wrapping it in the obvious skill test it is would have been more apropos. But it is free, and if you're into button-induced trances, it'll do the trick. There's nothing functionally deficient about the game that I saw, so the reviews are simply people who thought it would determine their actual coolness, I guess.

Spin the Ball (iTunes link) is a bit more toy than game but it is what it is. Swipe your finger quickly across the ball on the screen, then use the accelerometer to "balance" the spinning ball on your finger. Just like a Globetrotter, you can keep spinning the ball with your finger, thus infuriating the Generals. Spin the Ball is also free, and seems to summon less rage by reviewers than Coolness Test, but I'd say it's the lesser of these two apps.

Tags: game, iphone, toy, video, wwdc, wwdc09

Filed under: Macworld

Sababa Toys shows the iNo

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (RSS feed) on Jan 21st, 2008

In the Moscone West "first look" section we found Sababa Toys demonstrating their iPod music-trivia game called 'iNo.' Unfortunate naming scheme aside, it looks pretty fun. You push your iPod into the device, it plays a random song while hiding the screen. If you think you know the song (or artist, etc.-- there are cards you draw), you press a little handheld button, which stops the song so you can answer. The iNo is also a speaker/iPod charger, although it uses six AA batteries, so maybe not the most economical charger in the world. Still, if you are tired of playing the built-in iPod music game and have some time to kill with musically-inclined friends this is a unique effort from one of the pluckier vendors we found at Macworld.

To see the thing in action watch the video after the break.

Continue reading “Sababa Toys shows the iNo”

Tags: game, ipod, macworld, macworld08, music, sababa toys, SababaToys, toy

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