Attend this day symposium and learn about the latest trends, solutions and what customers want today in web development. You will gain valuable knowledge on how to manage projects, developing new ideas, the latest hardware and software tools and what’s new in delivery for the web. Whether you’ll be creating marketing, education, presentations, e-learning, e- mail campaigns, asset and content management applications you won’t want to miss this session! Whether you are new to web development, a graphic artist wanting to learn more, a marketing manager, production coordinator or an instructor, this is the symposium to see the latest in web technology.

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MacWorld Expo 2010 was quite a fun and educational experience. Even without Apple being at the show, the Mac community is still very strong. What I really loved this year was being able to meet the actual iPhone app developers at the App Pavilion and seeing the projects that they’re working on. There were also a lot of learning opportunities at the conference as well. Below are some of my conference highlights:

Interesting iPhone / iPod Touch Apps

I didn’t get to see all the iPhone apps at the show, but of the ones I saw, there were the interesting ones:

• Abvio.com – makes three fitness apps – Runmeter, Cyclemeter, and Walkmeter. The 2.0 versions have many innovative features like mapping out your run (or walk/bike ride) via Google Maps by tracking your on GPS. (iTunes)
• Navigon – an impressive GPS system. The new version features beautiful 3D graphics rendering, built-in social networks features, and automatic route customization based in part on past driving habits. (iTunes)
• QuickOffice Connect Mobile Suite is the first and only full-featured Microsoft Office productivity suite for iPhone/iPod touch with integrated access to multiple cloud services. iTunes
• Farm Frenzy 2 – a new version of the cute farm game for kids. Educational game that teaches children how to count and how to take care of a far. I heard that Farm Frenzy Ice Age is just around the corner! Full Version: (iTunes: Full | Lite)
• Cisco WebEx Meeting Center – allows you connect to Cisco WebEx meetings right on the phone! iTunes
• Square is an app that can accept various payment cards. This is a great tool for small businesses and street vendors! Only a small iPhone headphone port adapter and an app – both for 99 cents. Read more..
• Fastrac – helps you plan your day at Disneyland! Select all the rides you would like to go on and what day. The app will calculate what time you should go on each ride, making sure you’re never standing in line too long! (iTunes)

One thing I would strongly suggest next year is to have more space for the developers in the App Pavilion. Exhibitors only had 1/4 of a small table to stand at and to show off their products. Once Friday and Saturday came, it was just too packed.

Favorite Booths

• Targus engaged with the audience via social media. They gave nice bags away if you sent out a tweet about their booth. They also tossed bags and t-shirts into the audience! Most importantly, they had this bag that I just love for my future Apple iPad.
• Smule was such a fun booth! They demoed their “I Am T-Pain” iPhone app and had conference goers singing and auto-tuning their voice. It was great! Pictures!
• Office 2008 for Mac was so cute! They had people dressed up as each one of the Office products. And they’d dance when I ask them to.. :)

Great Learning Opportunities

My favorite thing about attending conferences is all the learning opportunities available. There were various sessions happening all over the expo floor as well as specialized classes and workshops in Moscone West. Some sessions I attended were:

• GameSalad is a software that allows you to make iPhone/Mac Games without any programming at all. They were located in the expo floor, so attendees were able to take various learning sessions offered by GameSalad. Sessions varied from beginner to advanced. Read more..
• Market Symposium SA: Web Development: Tools, Trends and Technology – I attended this session by Nick Floro on my second day at MacWorld. It was a great session on various Web 2.0 technologies. Read more..
• US982: Demystifying iPhone (& iPad) App Development: A Non-Technical Overview for Decision-Makers and Idea People – was a session meant for non-technical uses, but I found it quite informative. Ron walked through all the phases of iPhone App Development, starting with the idea all the way to contracting a developer and putting the app in the store. In addition, I loved all the resources he provided.
  My favorite part was when he showed up some tools for designing the user interface:
  • Case Study: “Things” by Cultured Code
  • The Developer Sketchbook for iPhone Apps
  • Mobile Sketchbook & iPhone UI Stencil (translucent green UI stencil)
  • UIStencils – (stainless steel UI stencil)
  • “Getting Real” – Interface First – (“design the interface before you start programming”)
  • OmniGraffle / OmniGraffle Pro (prototyping software)
  • Yahoo! Design Pattern Library – “Graffletopia” – iPhone Stencil Kit
  • Teehan+Lax – Photoshop stencils for iPhone & iPad
  • Cocoia – iPhone/iPad icon design template
  • Zebra – #2 mechanical pencil
  • Caveats about prototyping
    

  Read more..

Funny and Memorable Moments

• Seeing Leo Laporte dance on stage during “MacWorld Live.”
• Meeting Adam Savage!
• Seeing iJustine dance around MacWorld
• Chatting with Dr. Kiki about science, CES, MacWorld, and Leo’s wardrobe..
• Getting my official TWIT bandanna! Thanks Tony!
• Watching all of the beach balls bouncing around in the iPad Session!
• Giving Beatweek Best of Show Awards with the staff!
• and.. seeing, meeting, and hanging out with geeky friends of course!

Photo Gallery

Photos taken by Albertech.net and Daynah.net

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Coolibah is a very fun digital scrapbooking app! It was $12.99, but is now free! (with some limitations). There’s are a lot of beautiful scrapbook kits to choose from, made by professional designers. I personally love this app, especially when I’m on vacation. I can instantly create scrapbook pages and share them with my friends on social networks. My Review | iTunes

Wordcrasher Lite – play 4 levels for free! Make words out of the falling letters in the game. I like how the game pieces are like candies in a box. There’s great use of physics in this game. Full version is only 99 cents and well worth it. The developer has already started working on an iPad version with very beautiful graphics. My Review | iTunes

Angry Birds Lite – It’s a nice casual game where these angry birds get back at the pigs who stole their eggs. Catapult the birds and knock over all the pigs to advance to the next level. It’s a very simple concept, and very addicting as well. Lite version has 6 levels, and the full version has a ton of levels and is well worth the 99 cents!
My Review | iTunes | Full .99 cents

2Do Lite: A Stunning To Do List is an amazingly lovely task/to do list app. The user interface is simply beautiful. The lite version has a lot of capabilities. The full version is a bit expensive, but comes with more themes, calendars, colors, and backup.
iTunes

Alien Glyphs – A great puzzle-arcade game that tests how well your hand and eye coordination are. Match fast moving hieroglyphs to your given puzzle pieces. Great training for your eyes and shape recognition. (Free for limited time)
iTunes

Scoops – In honor of their release of a new game called Dizzypad, Scoops is free! Who doesn’t want to catch ice cream scoops in their cone? Catch as many as you can, but watch out for onions. You don’t want that on your ice cream! Also many other themes you can purchase in-app. Free for a limited time! iTunes

Touch Pets Dogs Go – is the best virtual pet app out there. Create, train, and feed your puppy! If you’ve played it before, this version will give you give you free puppy bucks, free 10 bowls of food, and also a White Rabbit Watch from the Alice in Wonderland collection!
My Review | iTunes

Alice in Wonderland Storybook — Enjoy the story of Alice in Wonderland in full color! The font is a bit small, but I love the classic illustrations in the app. The app is normally 99 cents, but is free until March 8, 2010.
iTunes

Alice Free Fall Lite – fall down, down the rabbit hole and catch some roses and powerups. But be aware of the falling cards and other obstacles! Try out the lite version for free. The full version is $2.99.
iTunes | Full $2.99

Alice in Wonderland – An Adventure Beyond The Mirror – is absolutely a fun adventure game, especially if you’re a big Alice! Journey with Alice and meet all your favorite characters from the story! Each one has their own special power that can help you finish the level. I’d recommend trying the lite version first before buying the full version for $4.99.
iTunes | iTunes ($4.99)

Alice in Wonderland Theme Song

Get the theme song from Alice in Wonderland by Danny Elfman for free! Available on Amazon, but US only.

Kina Grannis – Valentine — Kina’s Stairwells album released this week has already hit the billboard charts! She’s also making her hit single, Valentine, available for download on her website for free! Download now.

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Size: 14.2 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.0.3
Rate: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

TumbleDrop is a sweet and adorable physics-based puzzle game that have you smiling when you start playing! The gameplay is easy, simply tap on the yellow shapes to make the pink star fall safely on the ground. Be careful though, one wrong move and your star can tumble down into the water.

The animation and graphics in this game are simply beautiful. Although the graphics seems simple, the attention to detail is what makes this game so great. Notice the facial expressions of all the shapes, especially the pink star. The music in the game reminds me a soothing children’s lullaby. Another small detail that makes the game very pleasant to play.

For every level you beat, you unlock another level in that set. There are currently 3 sets in the full version — beginner, medium, and hard. There are also 20 puzzles in each set, totaling 60 puzzles altogether. The developer promised to add more puzzles future updates for free.

The simple game concept, gentle music, and adorable graphics makes the gameplay very calm and relaxing. There are no ticking clocks, so take your time to solve the various puzzles. Once you finish all of the puzzles, you can go back and challenge yourself by only removing 2 or 3 shapes to earn a gold star medals. You can also earn pink heart medals by removing lots of shapes.

In the full version, there is also a Quick Play mode. The objective is to complete as many random levels as you can without failing (having the pink star fall in the water). If you do fail, the score starts over and you continue with another random puzzle.

A lite version of TumbleDrop is also available in the iTunes app store for free. 10 puzzles of various stages are available for you to try out in this version. Upgrade to the full version for 60+ puzzles and a quick play survival mode.

You can purchase TumbleDrop in the iTunes app store for $1.99, or try out the lite version for free. For more information on TumbleDrop, see their official website.

This article was originally published in Beatweek Magazine.

Game Trailer

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Dr. Seuss’s ABC (iTunes)

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The Cat In The Hat (iTunes)

Get the classic “That Cat in the Hat” ebook. Enjoy the beautiful artwork and animation as the book reads to you right on your iPhone / iPod Touch. It’s perfect for the little ones.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas (iTunes)

Of all the Dr. Seuss apps available now, this is definitely my favorite! I just absolutely love the story and it can be enjoyed by both kids and adults. The narrator is wonderful and the animation and illustration is just lovely. I highly recommend it. Full Review..

Grinchmas! (iTunes)

Would you like to be Mr. Nice Grinch, or Mr. Mean Grinch? Here’s a fun game to either toss presents at the Who’s houses or snowballs at them instead! Full Review..

Dr. Suess’ Camera: The Cat in The Hat Edition (iTunes)

Take photos of your friends and disguise them as the mischievous cat in the hat! A fun app to make you smile with your favorite Cat in the Hat illustrations!

Dr. Seuss Camera: The Grinch Edition (iTunes)

Take photos and insert your favorite Grinch frames on your friends! You can be Mr. Nice Grinch, or a Mean one, or even one of the Who’s. Full Review..

Read more about Oceanhouse Media’s Dr. Seuss iPhone / iPod Touch apps!

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Size: 45.4 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.0.3
Rate: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

From the makers of Tap Tap Revenge comes the hit new iPhone/iPod Touch game, Riddim Ribbon! it’s like Tap Tap Revenge and your favorite race car game all rolled into one! Riddim Ribbon is a fast and upbeat game that any music lover would enjoy.

So let’s get this party started! You’re the DJ and the controls for the music mix are right in your hands! Tilt your device left, right, and up to the tunes of Black Eyed Peas, Tiësto, Benny Benassi, (and many more artists to be added soon) as you race down a curvy ribbon, gathering pebbles and hoops for points. When you reach a fork in your track, make a decision to go left or right for a different mix of the song. Jump over ramps to the effects level and give your song a more unique sound. Glide along the track, but be sure to stay away from obstacles that can slow you down!

Don’t be too intimidated playing this game the first few times. The game is easy to learn, but difficult to master at first. Once you get the hang of when to tilt the device during the curvy turns and jumps, it’s a lot of fun. Plus, the narrator is quite encouraging!

Each game is about 4-5 minutes, depending on what song you pick. The game comes with 3 great Black Eyed Peas tracks, including mixes of Boom Boom Pow, I Gotta Feeling, and Meet Me Halfway. For a limited time only, you can also get the mashup of “Imma Be/Rock That Body” for free with purchase. For each song, there are 2-3 mixes that can be played in your race to the finish line. At the end of the game, you can view your total points, your achievements, your top scores and dates of when you played, and how you compare to the global leaderboard. You can also share your score via email with your friends.

In-app purchases for 99 cents include various mixes of:
- Tiësto’s Louder Than Boom and Escape Me
- Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction

The game comes in three levels of difficulty — Easy, Medium, and Hard. You must mix up the previous level with an accuracy of 75% or better to unlock the next level. Harder levels include more twists, turns, jumps, and obstacles, both on and off the track.

One option I’d like added to the game is the ability to view the world-wide leaderboard at any time. Currently, you can only view it after you play the game. I personally like to see the scores I need to beat before playing the game. It’s just makes me more competitive.

Overall, the game is a lot of fun, especially if you love The Black Eyed Peas and racing games. The graphics and animation are great and makes you feel as if you are mixing the song. One note, your right hand may sometimes cover the speakers on your iPhone when playing. That’s not good since this game is music-based. I suggest picking up a game wheel accessory or a gamer’s case to enhance your gaming experience with Riddim Ribbon. Have fun, and happy dj-ing!

Riddim Ribbon is currently on sale for $1.99 in the iTunes App Store.

Video Trailer

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Size: 9.1 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.2
Rate: 5 out of 5 Stars

WordCrasher is one of the most addictive word games in the iTunes App store. Whether you love word games or not, you’ll fall in love with this one instantly.

The gameplay is quite simple. Colorful button-like game pieces with letters on them will fall into view. Simply tap on the game pieces to make words. If you make a mistake, tap on the orange X to clear the word or swipe to the left to clear one letter. If you make a word, tap on the green checkmark. You can also swipe downward to make letters fall faster. There are also two types of powerup — Time Freeze and Bomb. The “time freeze” powerup is helpful when you need a little more time to think about the words you’re creating and the “Bomb” is helpful when you need to clear the screen. You can create words using UK, International and US English spellings. Score big by making longer words or words with rare letters like “z” and “q.” Make as many words as you can before the screen fills up!

What’s magical about this game are the beautiful and colorful graphics as well as the realistic way the pieces fall and move in the game. Tilt the iPhone / iPod Touch and game pieces will fall and move around.

Two game modes are available in the full version — marathon and flood panic. In marathon mode, you make words with the game pieces falling down. When the screen fills up, the game is over. In flood panic, water and buoyancy are added to the equation. Game pieces are still falling down, but will float in water. The objective is to make longer words to lower the water level. Once the game pieces reach the top of the screen, the game is over.

WordCrasher uses the OpenFeint social gaming network to keep track of your scores and the leaderboard. Earn achievements and compete with your friends as well as gamers worldwide! Scoring categories include Flood Panic, Vocabulary, Marathon, and Word Score. You can even brag about your scores on Twitter and Facebook.

Overall, WordCrasher is very easy to play, fun, and can be quite addictive. The well-polished graphics and physics in the game also makes it really stand out. The best part is, Kevin Ng, the game developer, has already started working on an iPad version of his game. With the faster processor and higher resolution of the iPad, he can use more realistic and detailed graphics without cluttering the game. Read his blog for more details.

For more information about WordCrasher, see their official website. The full version is on sale for only 99 cents. A lite version is also available which allows you to play four levels of marathon mode. Happy word-crashing!

This article was originally published in Beatweek Magazine.

Screenshots

Video Trailer

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The amazing DVD cover photo was taken by The Bui Brothers. Catch their behind-the-scenes video of the Guild photoshoot! I love their work.

In addition to the new DVD, you can also find The Guild on iTunes!

• “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar” Single
• “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar” Music Video
• The Guild Season 1
• The Guild Season 2
• The Guild Season 3

Felicia is already writing Season 4, so stay tuned! If you want to know the story of how Codex and the Guild got started, be sure to check out the new The Guild comic books! The first issue will be released on March 24th, 2010 for only $2.80. Here are the first 6 pages if you don’t mind spoilers… :)

Favorite iTunes Screenshots

These are some of my favorite iTunes screenshots! See how many times The Guild appears in the image below!

All seasons of The Guild is now available on iTunes!

Video Interview on G4

This is probably one of my favorite Felicia Day interviews… so adorable and funny! And.. those shoes are just sizzling hot. Love them!

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