My second favorite QR reader

• App review for NeoReader® - QR & Mobile Barcode Scanner
• Posted by rachely March 19, 2010
• Recommended for Social Butterflies or Tech/Social Networking Junkies

I used this app quite happily for a long time until something better came along. Neoreader has pretty good consistency with its reads, but what I don't like is that it forces you to take a picture of the code which it then reads. This is just one extra step that doesn't need to happen and can lead to confusion over whether your scan has happened yet.

Tumblr is made to be simple but this is just too simple

• App review for Tumblr
• Posted by rachely March 19, 2010
• Recommended for Music Fans, Social Butterflies or Film/TV Fans

Where Wordpress offered infinite customization, Tumblr offers simplicity. Perhaps I'm just used to too many years of Wordpress flexibility, but I find the inflexibility of this app frustrating and almost a dealbreaker for me. You can do MOST things with this app and for on-the-fly blogging it's great, allowing you to add audio, photos, everything. But the other day when I couldn't hyperlink text I became pretty frustrated, and it meant posting on my phone and then late refining it online. My opinions may change with more use but I'll be avoiding this app for a while.

Only for the quick of hand

• App review for SlapHappy!™ - The addictive reaction speed test
• Posted by rachely March 19, 2010
• Recommended for Outdoors Enthusiasts

I came upon this app after I met the creators at a SXSW party. I was skeptical about how fun the game would be and how it would translate to iphone, but it's actually pretty fun and challenging. This game is based on the classic school yard hand slap game where you pull away (hopefully) in the nick of time. The app uses the phone's accelerometer to measure your quick movements as your opponent's hands come to slap. You face several different opponents and there are a few so speedy I've yet to beat them. I still think this game is pretty overpriced for what it is, I wouldn't charge more than $.99 for such a one-note game.

Not as cool as I hoped, but still pretty cool

• App review for Aha Radio
• Posted by rachely March 19, 2010
• Recommended for Road Warriors, Music Fans or Social Butterflies

After adding this app to a curated list for SXSW award nominees, I was really intrigued by all it seemed to promise. Now that I've been using it for a few weeks I don't know if it's quite lived up to the hype I've built for it, but considering the cost it's a powerful, cool app. Aha Radio makes the most of your car ride by creating a flexible radio station of social media feeds, podcasts, traffic updates and even "caraoke" of people singing in their cars. The automated voice naturally sounds a little odd and misses a lot of the humor and sarcasm in social media updates. The caraoke is littered with audio spam and hasn't been quite as entertaining as I had hoped.

Better than Moron Test!

• App review for NFI ~ Need For Intuition
• Posted by johnny87 March 19, 2010
• Recommended for Road Warriors, Gamers, Workout Junkies, Parents, Students, Outdoors Enthusiasts, Shopaholics, Social Butterflies, Sports Fans or Tech/Social Networking Junkies

This is a funny little one! I've never played a game quite like this before. I mean I like moron test games and everything but this one is different.The puzzles are really clever and.. hmm tricky! I had tons of fun but all my friends suckd on this game, weird tho. :)

lynda.com - become a video editing whiz (etc) on the go

• App review for lynda.com
• Posted by sharakarasic March 18, 2010
• Recommended for Tech/Social Networking Junkies

Last summer, I would edit videos on one laptop while watching a Final Cut Pro training video on the other. I really learned a lot from the excellent video - and it was great to be able to rewind to the important bits. Now I can watch the videos right from my iPhone while waiting for the bus. It's a little hard to see all of the intricate tiny buttons of Final Cut Pro in the iPhone video, but still a great way to get the overall picture - I can always go to the website later to go over stuff. Nice app.

foursquare :: progress

• App review for Foursquare
• Posted by sharakarasic March 18, 2010
• Recommended for Social Butterflies or Tech/Social Networking Junkies

I think foursquare kicked ass at SXSW this year by adding event-specific badges and progress bars. So for example, once the app knew you were in Austin, it showed you progress bars for parties, panels, places, friends, badges. As you checked-in to venues, you would see your progress improve, and it was really addicting. The other masterful game-dynamic stroke was to surprise with unexpected but delightful badges, such as the Porky badge after I checked in to Ironworks BBQ, an Austin institution, or the Fixin' Wagon badge after eating at taco truck Torchie's, another Austin tradition. There was even a Swarm badge for checking in at a place with hundreds of people at the same time. foursquare really added to the SXSW fun in a very smart way.

Pretty Decent Game

• App review for Jailbreak: Voice Onrush
• Posted by AileCire March 18, 2010
• Recommended for Road Warriors, News Junkies, Foodies, Book Readers, Gamers, Students, Animal Lovers, Outdoors Enthusiasts, Music Fans, Shopaholics, Career People, Social Butterflies, Budget Hawks, Sports Fans, Film/TV Fans or Tech/Social Networking Junkies

I downloaded the game based on the review on the good game play, it is truly quite fun and kept me hooked for a while. Contrary to the review, I found the pixelated artwork refreshing, gave a very retro-arcade feel to the game. The music is pretty catchy too. Bottomline, it is a pretty decent game, I give it 8/10.

Foursquare: Not as lame as I thought

• App review for Foursquare
• Posted by jenniferbeese March 18, 2010
• Recommended for Road Warriors, Gamers or Tech/Social Networking Junkies

I tried Foursquare about a year ago, but didn't see the point. I downloaded the app this year for sxsw and I can't tell you how quickly I became attached to it.

Checking in is easy as the app finds locations near you. If it doesn't exist, you can add it. Once checked in, you can see everyone else at that location. It's a little creepy thinking that strangers can see your whereabouts, but for a convention like SXSW, this is a must-have app.

Never Miss Another Game

• App review for Yahoo! Sportacular
• Posted by jenniferbeese March 18, 2010
• Recommended for Sports Fans

This app gets a lot of use during football season, especially now that I'm no longer in Chicago. Who would think that California didn't care about the Bears? I don't really have any complaints about it. It loads quickly and gives me enough information that I don't feel like I'm missing out on the game just because I'm not near a TV or radio. I can see where the ball is on the field, the score, the time left, and predicted scores.

So Seductive

• App review for Kinky Dice
• Posted by bwallerstein1 March 18, 2010

I can't believe this app is free. I play this all the time with my GF. We love it!

I tried, and I don't get it

• App review for Paparazzi
• Posted by rachely March 18, 2010
• Recommended for Social Butterflies or Film/TV Fans

I came across this app in the process of reviewing past SXSW launches. I liked the celebrity concept and decided to give this a try. It's been several weeks now and I'm ready to throw in the towel, I just don't get it. The app in and of itself works just fine..it loads well, works quickly, makes natural sense, but the game is puzzling..I haven't a clue if I'm ahead or behind or if the pictures or points I'm gathering are making any difference. I suppose the idea is to make celebrities within your peer group so maybe I have used it wrong racking up pics of Guy Kawasaki and Chloe Sevigny. If I've missed something here, I invite the developers to tell me what the hell I'm doing wrong.

Spending money from the comfort of, well, anywhere!

• App review for eBay
• Posted by jessicadally March 17, 2010
• Recommended for Shopaholics, Career People or Budget Hawks

I all know that eBay is great, be it to get that fine collectible antique coin I've always wanted, the potato chip that Cher took a bite of or a new bicycle it's the site I go to when I want to find something for less than regular retail, or where I go when I couldn't buy it new in the store even if I wanted to. But the genius of having this on my phone is not lost on me, certainly not after this weekend. It never fails that people end actions at the weirdest times. Likely because they're in a different time zone but even still 7am on a Saturday? What are the chances I'm going to get up to see if I'm winning the auction and make that final winning bid at that time of the morning? Well, with the iPhone app, a heck of a lot better.

Unless you sleep with your laptop this app is great for just these occasions. You can bid from wherever you are without having to find a computer, assuming you have a connection. For me, this weekend it meant that I could discretely bid on an item I've been wanting for a while without interrupting the conference I was attending to leave the room and find a computer.

While the phone app isn't quite as good as the real website (pictures are of course smaller) it will definitely do in a pinch and if you're already bidding on something it will help you manage your auctions on the fly. The front page offers you easy stats like how many items are you bidding on, how many have you won, how many are you winning, how many are you selling, etc. It allows you to search and best yet it stores your search terms so if you didn't find that perfect limited edition Barbie last week you don't have to type in the whole description all over again. It allows you to refine your search by price range, category and a number of other fields and it lets you manage your ebay messages to book.

I doubt that this app will work well for those trying to sell items, at least not to post originally, but to manage anything you're doing or wanting to do on ebay it is simply a must have.

Vote by phone

• App review for Hello Washington
• Posted by jessicadally March 17, 2010
• Recommended for News Junkies, Parents, Students, Career People or Tech/Social Networking Junkies

Well, OK, you can't actually vote in an election with your phone (just yet) but you can contact your senator, representative or even the president and let them know how you'd like them to vote. This app turns that "just call your senator" request from something you'll never remember to something you can do, right now.

The app gives you the biographical information on the president, vice president, senators and representatives as well as letting you know what bills are on the floor of the senate and the house each week.

There's a forum section to let you discuss, debate and argue about different political issues and a news feed that aggregates any house or senate voting news as it's posted.

Best yet though each biography lists the contact information for the person in question, their address, phone number and even a write to me button which will generate an email from one of your accounts to the politician in question. No longer do you have to remember to bother them about a bill or something on the floor. You can do it right from your phone right when you think about it.

If this app had local political information it would easily receive the 5 bar award.

Political savvy at your fingertips all for less then $2.

Awesome entertainment

• App review for War Ship
• Posted by aswatseo March 17, 2010
• Recommended for Road Warriors, Gamers, Workout Junkies, Students, Outdoors Enthusiasts, Social Butterflies, Sports Fans or Tech/Social Networking Junkies

A very beautiful game which has some good graphics

"I think it's gonna be a perfect camping day"

• App review for Camp Where
• Posted by jessicadally March 17, 2010
• Recommended for Road Warriors, Parents, Outdoors Enthusiasts or Budget Hawks

I've heard a lot of bad reviews about the other camping apps out there so while I don't usually like to pay more than a dollar for an app I decided to get this one anyway. It only has drive in campgrounds but then again, in my state at least that's quite a few campgrounds, and if you listed all the hike in ones too you wouldn't be able to see anything but dots on the map in many places.

There appears to be very few campgrounds missing from this app. Each campground has a different colored square depending on the type of campground. Green is for City or County Park, Red for State Parks, Blue for National Forest camps. There's a page to send suggestions about a particular camp (so this app just gets better as we all use it) and the ability to search for nearby campgrounds. Who knew there was a camp spot 9 miles from my office in Downtown Seattle? Well, OK, I didn't.

If you're a car, motorcycle or bike camper this app is well worth having to get you to a place to stay as quickly as possible. My only suggestion would be giving actual times that these campspots are open rather than simply referring you to the website of the agency that runs the spot. That said it's a heck of a lot faster than trying to look this stuff up on the web!

Meh...

• App review for Seattle Cocktail Compass
• Posted by jessicadally March 17, 2010
• Recommended for Foodies, Career People, Social Butterflies or Budget Hawks

This app was one of my first apps which is funny considering I don't really drink. That said, there's something else that comes with Happy Hour and that's cheap food. Unfortunately this app isn't the best bet out there for this or happy hours in general.

What is nice about the app is that it tells you what happy hours are around you and when they end, highlighting them if you have less than an hour. What isn't so great is that it doesn't tell you all that much about what's included in the happy hour, just the basics "$2 off well drinks", etc. What's worse is that it leaves out a large number of happy hours all over town. Right now I know that my favorite place for cheap Italian happy hour is in happy hour with food all under $6 but this app won't tell me that.

If you want to look cool by having a Stranger application then have this one and for free it's not a problem to have it. But if your phone is filling up this one might be one of the first to go.

A lot of functionality for the $$$

• App review for Digital SLR Photography Toolkit For Dummies
• Posted by covermonkey March 16, 2010
• Recommended for Road Warriors, Students or Outdoors Enthusiasts

More useful than I thought it would be for such an inexpensive app!

Bargain Buy!

• App review for Selecting a Wine For Dummies
• Posted by covermonkey March 16, 2010
• Recommended for Foodies or Social Butterflies

Great bargain at 75% off - great app if you need help picking out the perfect wine.

Test prep on the go!

• App review for ASVAB Practice For Dummies
• Posted by covermonkey March 16, 2010
• Recommended for Students or Career People

Useful app to help prepare for the ASVAB - anywhere!