The Scott Zargold Report - iPod Touch App Reviews

Sudoku

2008-03-17T17:44:00.006-04:00

Version:1.0.2

This is a very unsatisfying sudoku game, that I never use.

Heres why:

There is no difficulty settings
The generated puzzles usually have too many numbers already filled in
Inputing numbers is a pain (you need to keep tapping a square for the number to increase)

Main Screen

I think sudoku would be a great game to play on the iPod Touch and iPhone.
So its too bad that this version isn't great.

I wouldn't recommend it.

- Scott

The Scott Zargold Report
http://www.zargold.com/

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iSolitaire: A Klondike Solitaire game

2008-03-17T17:18:00.007-04:00

Version:0.81

This is a great solitaire game, very similar to the one that comes with Windows XP.

Main Screen

The board scrolls down because when you get a full row it's too long for the screen.

Settings Screen

Double tapping anywhere on the board will bring up the settings screen.

This game works really well. I can't seem to find anything wrong with it. The graphics are nice, the animations are smooth, and it's a a lot of fun to play.

Great app!

- Scott

The Scott Zargold Report
http://www.zargold.com/

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Stumbler: A wifi scanning utility

2008-03-17T16:38:00.010-04:00

Version:0.04.1189413695 (I wonder why he chose such a long version number?)

If you're on the move and you need to find a wifi hotspot, the wifi screen in settings isn't so helpful because it takes a while to refresh.

Stumbler is supposed to solve the problem by providing you with a separate app to scan for wifi that allows you to rescan whenever you choose.

I find that it doesn't always work that well. Sometimes when you click on the rescan button nothing happens and sometimes the app will just hang for 5-10 seconds.

Main Screen

Listed here are all of the networks that stumbler just found.

Details Screen

When the app does work, it gives a nice set of details about the hotspots.

I like the idea behind the app, but it doesn't all ways work. And I find that when I need it to work most it doesn't. Hopefully It will be updated, and will work better in the future.

- Scott

The Scott Zargold Report
http://www.zargold.com/

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Converter: A unit conversion utility

2008-03-12T21:25:00.012-04:00

Version:0.21

Has somebody ever asked you: "If you were traveling at the speed of sound, how fast would you be going in Miles per hour?" or, "How strong is the Polish Zlot compared to the canadian dollar?"

If the answer is yes then you absolutely need to download Converter. This little app converts everything. And when I say everything I mean EVERYTHING! If you ever find yourself needing to convert anything like temperature, speed, volume, weight, kitchen measurements, length, etc, etc. this app will make your life much easier.

I don't find myself using it often but in a time of need its really useful.

This app is probably one of the better apps I've seen in terms of the quality and ease of use.

Main Screen

As you can see its a very straight forward app, clearly easy to use.

The precision slider allows you to adjust how many numbers after the decimal you want to see.

Measurement Screens

Yes there really are that many categories of things to convert.

From/To Screen

It would have taken way to many pictures to show all of the measurement screens. Since they are all very similar I'll just show you the one.

Its nice that it remembers the recently used units. That way you don't have to keep searching through the list over and over if you find yourself converting the same units a bunch of times.

Settings Screen

Since the app allows you do convert currency, you can update the exchange rates in the settings menu.(you need to be connected to the internet so it can download the lates rates.)

In advanced mode you can adjust the values of the different measurements.

Overall I really like the simplicity of the app and find it very useful.

Great time saver!

- Scott

The Scott Zargold Report
http://www.zargold.com/

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Sketches: A drawing app

2008-03-10T18:01:00.018-04:00

Version: 0.6

One of the cool things about a touch screen is that it has the potential to be used to draw stuff with your finger. Sketches takes that potential and turns it into a reality. It does it quite well too.

With Sketches you'll be able to draw with different size brushes and in different colors. You can even draw shapes. Another fun feature is that you can import a picture from your library and draw on top of it.(If your on an iPhone you can take a picture using the camera from the app and draw over it.) Its always fun to see how you would look with a mustache.

My favorite feature is that you can erase you drawing just like an etch-a-sketch. Give your iPod Touch or iPhone a little shake and... its gone.

If you don't like sketching on a touch screen but prefer the real deal, then this great travel etch-a-sketch is the perfect thing for making your inner artist shine.

Main Screen

This is the screen you'll see when you start up the Sketches app. (without my beautiful drawing, of course!)

The two icons on the top are for importing pictures. If your on an iphone, the one on the left will allow you to take a picture. The one on the right allows you to import a picture from your photo album.

Here is what the buttons along the bottom do.(from left to right)
The one on the bottom left is the "undo" button. The one beside it is for choosing the color and size of the brush. The next one is used for drawing shapes. The one beside that one is used to email your picture or to add it to your photo album and the button on the bottom right is used to erase your drawing.

Color and Size Screen

This is where you choose the size and color of the brush.

Shapes Screen

Here is where you choose a shape you want to draw. To draw a shape put two fingers on the screen and it will show up. If you keep your fingers on the screen you can move them around to adjust the size and shape of the shape.

Settings Screen

Here you can choose the background and change some other settings.

Backgrounds Screens

You can get rid of the top and bottom bars by tapping once on the screen.

The graph I drew shows you how many people love chocolate.

Overall its a pretty full featured app and is fun to use. I don't use it very often but when I do its always a pleasurable experience.

Good app!

- Scott

The Scott Zargold Report
http://www.zargold.com/

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Touchpad Pro: A utility to control your computer

2008-03-10T17:34:00.038-04:00

Now you can have multi-touch on your computer, even if you don't own a mac!

We all know that the iPod Touch and iPhone have great multi-touch capability. Since it's such a pleasure using multi-touch on the device we should be able to use it as a touchpad to control our computers. Touchpad pro makes this possible.

The Touchpad Pro app allows you to use your iPod touch or iPhone as a touch pad to control the mouse on your computer, just like a laptop, but wirelessly! With many other cool features.

Touchpad Pro is based on VNsea, so you'll need to set up a vnc server on your computer. If you need some help setting up a vnc server and configuring Touchpad Pro see my other post - Setting up Touchpad Pro.

Loading Screen

Main Screen

The main screen lists the configured servers (I only have one set up because I'm only using Touchpad pro to control one computer), and shows you the last time you logged in to each of them. If you use VNsea, Touchpad Pro will import your configurations to save you the trouble of entering them in again. If you want to add a new server you can do so by clicking the plus button on the top right. Logging on to one of the servers is easy just tap on it from the list. If you need to change any of the connection details you can click on the blue arrow.

Edit Server Screen

Here is where you enter your computer ip address, password, etc.

Preferences Screen

Here is where you can customize how Touchpad Pro will work for you.

Allow Rotation - Turning this option on will allow you to turn your iPod Touch or iPhone on its side allowing you to have a wider touchpad.
Flick Inertia - If this is turned on, when you flick you finger across the screen the mouse will smoothly glide after you lift your finger (This is a really good feature, it makes the mouse much easier to control.)
Thumb Scrolling - On some laptop touchpads you can scroll by sliding your finger up and down the far right hand side of the touchpad. This enables that feature.
Invert Scroll - Inverts the scroll. :-)
Mac Mode - If your using a mac turn this on to enable right clicking and scrolling
Quit on Suspend - This is a cool feature, it allows you to stay connected if you decide to return to the home screen. The icon on the spring board will have a red check mark added to it if you are currently connected.

Connected Screen

Keyboard Screen

Click on the keyboard icon to bring up the keyboard. (you can control the mouse AND the keyboard!)
As you are typing words they appear on the iPod Touch or iPhone screen too.

Help Screen

Remote Screen

The arrows act as the directional keys on the keyboard. "OK" acts as the enter key.
This is really useful for controlling programs like media player classic.

Overall this is a really cool iPod Touch / iPhone app. Its a lot of fun to use, and everyone I showed it to thought it was really cool. You can use it to have fun or to make life easier when controlling power point presentations.
The possibilities are endless...

Definitely worth the download.

- Scott

The Scott Zargold Report
http://www.zargold.com/

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Tris: A tetris game

2008-03-07T00:39:00.064-05:00

Update: Good news! Tris has been updated to version 0.6. This new update pretty much irons out all the bugs in the previous version, making this game now seem like it was made by a professional game studio.

The new Main Screen

The high scores button now works! Now you can see all of your high scores and spend countless hours trying to beat them.

Don't worry the resume feature isn't gone. It will appear if you quit while in the middle of the game and then return, or if you hit the menu button while in a game.

The new High Scores Screen

The new Game Over Screen

Now that you can actually lose (there used to be a bug that would keep the game going after you should have lost). There is a nice screen to enter your name for the high scores list.

The new About Screen

By the way, if you love tetris and you love puzzles you have to get the Tetris Cube. Its this really cool puzzle game using tetris pieces. What you have to do is fit the pieces together to make a perfect cube. Are you up to the challenge?

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Version: 0.5
This is one of the better tetris games that I've seen for the iPod Touch. It has very nice graphics, a pretty good control system, and quite satisfying gameplay. There are a couple of bugs, but they aren't major enough to spoil the fun.

Main Screen

One of the things I like about this game is that if you're in the middle of playing and you need to lookup a contact or check something out on the internet you can leave the game and come back to finish it later.

The high score button is a little deceiving when you click on it nothing happens.(update: fixed in Version: 0.6) I guess this feature is going to be implemented in the future. Its kind of annoying because I find that when I play tetris on the computer what I try to do is beat my high score.

If you absolutely can't play tetris unless there are high scores, you'll have to turn to the trusty note app in the mean time.

About Screen

Game Screen

This here is the game screen, where all the fun takes place.

The controls are a little unusual at first but you quickly get used to them. To move the piece left and right, just slide your finger horizontally anywhere on the playing field. Tap the screen to rotate the current piece. You can also speed the piece up on its way down by sliding your finger downwords.

One of the bugs, (I think its a bug and not done on purpose) is that if you decide to speed a block up by sliding downwards you can then slide your finger back up and it will make the piece go up (wierd huh?). It kind of feels like cheating.

Another bug is that sometimes when a piece falls instead of stopping when it hits another piece it will go on top of it. This doesn't happen often so its not something to worry about.(update: fixed in Version: 0.6)

Game Screen (again)

Here is a screenshot of me desperately losing. Clearly I was having a bad day because of my low low score.

One of the other weird bugs is that when the screen fills up and you should lose the pieces still try to fall. The game doesn't really end until you hit menu and choose "new game".

Overall it is a fun game with beautiful graphics and it's worth the download.

Have Fun!

installer source: http://sleepers.net/iphonerepo

- Scott

The Scott Zargold Report
http://www.zargold.com/

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