First, there was Ringtone Designer Pro (kudos to Blackout Labs. You’ve served me well. I’d have been in ringtone hell without you).

Now there’s RINGTONIUM and frankly, it makes RDP seem – well – more than a little *yawn* boring.

In the hot seat

What do you get when you cross the dashboard of a Lamborghini with a Bentley? The control panel of RINGTONIUM, all polished chrome (ok, brushed steel. It’s close enough.) and walnut; a pink tinted visor marks your chosen clip;  the jagged teeth of a waveform (a real waveform, no dull representation) contrast against a grass green backdrop lit by downlighters. You have found the app equivalent of the Seychelles: hot and very exotic.

A tap on the ‘Info’ takes you to the cockpit of a space shuttle, with its neon purple prompts flashing above each element. This looked so awesome, it actually rendered me speechless, simply because I really didn’t expect to see anything quite so sophisticated in a debut app. Bamboo Apps know their stuff when it comes to GUI.

Not only do the controls look good, but they work seamlessly, too.

Ringtone customisation

Yet we’ve barely even begun … glance below the dashboard and you find a further two tabs to explore.

‘FX’ puts everything at your fingertips to create a true custom ringtone. Unlike RDP, which allows you to apply a fade-in to your ringtone, but gives you no control over the length, RINGTONIUM allows you to control your fade-ins and fade- outs to the second. Tap the play button and experiment away, adjusting the pitch to a range of 12 tones above or below the original … add some flange and a pinch of echo and when you’ve finished mixing you can be confident that no-one else will have a ringtone quite as tasty as yours.

You can choose to loop your app, too – particularly useful if the track you’ve chosen best lends itself to a clip of only 25″ or 30″ duration. (Looping means your iPhone will continue to ring until you or your voicemail have answered it. Unless, of course, you have it on Mute.)

Dare to be heard

Calling all singers, musicians and DJs: create your own original masterpieces by utilising the mic. Why hide your talent when you can share it with the world?

Synching

As with all ringtone creators, you have to sync before you can proudly boast your new ringtone. Newbies to the process can find it quite confusing. Bamboo Apps have uploaded a You Tube video to assist with the process.

Bugs and bads

Minor flaws in an otherwise flawless app include:

• infrequent crashing at launch
• the touch sensitivity of the Echo FX slider needs some work and it would be helpful to know how many seconds I’ve applied to the Echo before I take my finger off the slider
• not being able to view the You Tube tutorial videos full-screen

These prevented the app achieving a full basket of 5 ToffiAppls, but I sense it won’t take long for the developers to roll out an update.

Lite or Pro?

A free, ‘Lite’, version of RINGTONIUM is available without the full range of effects. You can upgrade to the Pro version in-app (£0.59/$0.99 at time of writing). Or you can buy the Pro version immediately.

Rating

4/5. Excellent. RINGTONIUM is simply the most fun you can have with a ringtone creator.

Buy RINGTONIUM from the App Store

Melon Truck is the debut app from California software engineer, Batuhan Akalin. Billed as a family app, it makes a refreshing change to fire tropical fruit instead of bullets, ninjas or birds.

THANKS 'N' BIG LOVE TO LEILA GREGORY (ED.) X

This video complements my written review for Girls’n'Gadgets, a fantastic site for gadget-fiends! Do take the time to visit Girls’n'Gadgets – it’s a great read and there’ll be something for you no matter what your tech tastes. You’ll also find more detail about the JBL IIIP, so I recommend you hop along there next, or bookmark it for future reference!

Thanks to Bite Communications, London for supplying us with the JBL Onstage IIIP.

Want to see me REALLY let my hair down to the music featured in this review? Click here for the UNCENSORED version!

Their first update of Shadow Candy: SUGAR RUSH! (see Archives for info) coincided with the game making it onto the App Store’s ‘New and Noteworthy’ list of Games for iPad, just one week after launch!

And to cap it all, whilst promoting their work at Geeks-Con, aRVie Villanueva, the game’s creator, artist and sole developer, was invited to become a Cartoonista, which is quite a privilege – and here’s the video to prove it!

Agimat Takes a Bite out of ToffiAppl!

[This article was originally posted on 10 June 2010:] One of ToffiAppl’s functions is to promote exemplary apps and app developers … and having already reviewed, ahead of its arrival in the App Store this week, Agimat’s debut game for iPhone, iPod and iPad, we are happy to announce that both Agimat and their game firmly belong in that category.

We have rewarded Agimat for their creativity, attention to detail and sheer hard work, by crowning them our first ever ‘Developer of the Week’ and we are giving up our home page to them this week! A new article will feature each day (previous articles such as http://bit.ly/aPbTL2 and http://bit.ly/9st3a9 are automatically bumped from my home page, but you will be able to view them elsewhere on the site).

If you are interested in featuring as a ToffiAppl ‘Developer of the Week’, please contact Ally for more details – apps@toffiappl.com

ToffiAppl would like to thank Agimat again for picking them to feature this interview and review their app ahead of the rest of the world. It has been a hugely entertaining experience … almost as entertaining as the game itself (but not quite, lol!).

TOFFIAPPL RATING - 5 Sticky Fingers: "Exemplary"

The Sweetest Fix For Your Fingertips!

For a debut application, Agimat Entertainments certainly set the bar high for themselves: a 21 level game across 7 distinctive worlds with an original soundtrack – and an unlockable level at the end, which features a surprise so hard to find, they are prepared to offer a reward for the first person to find it and send in the required proof.

As I said, not bad for a debut.

LAUNCH

A flawless, crash-free launch led me to the really quite wonderful home screen, as featured in my ‘Calypso’ video – albeit the right way round! – featuring the feisty HIRO, the character you will effectively become for the duration of the game.

I’m please to see the Guide clearly visible as an option on the home screen, which you can access without going into any sub-menus. Here you will find a description of all the controls, power ups and moves. Agimat plan to expand the guide at the next update, so if you do have any comments to make on the Guide, I really do recommend you wait until the next update, as this might resolve your issues.

A charming little comic strip sets the scene of your adventure with HIRO. I recommend you read the comic strip before you begin play. You will then know what you are aiming for. (This does take a few minutes to load and is self-advancing, so I’d advise you not to exit from the app at this point, having assumed that it is hanging!)

CREATIVE

Agimat has created 7 worlds for Sugar Rush: Candyland, The Island, Rocky Canyons, Sky Kingdom, Underworld, Volcano and Secret Lab. Each world is visually stunning and has its own distinctive musical theme. Your play will be accompanied by original music created especially for Sugar Rush by the Australian composer, Paul Doolan – or you can activate your iPod before launching the game to listen to your own playlists.

aRVie Villanueva, Agimat’s artist, not only created the artwork – yes, every pixel of it – but coded the game as well.  He has paid painstaking attention to detail and adding some very clever, subtle little flourishes at each level. As you would expect of a developer who cut his teeth creating comic books, the colours are vibrant throughout and look gorgeous on the iPhone screen (though you might well be viewing it on the iPod or iPad). Colour is Agimat’s signature … the way it is employed and optimised it for the Apple medium.

GAMEPLAY

The game plays seamlessly throughout – or at least until the 21^st level, which is as far as I have got at time of review. No crashing. No freezing. No lag. The controls are responsive, perfectly sized and transparency means they don’t impede gameplay or detract from the visuals. I love it that HIRO doesn’t run out of lives; no matter how many times he dies during the game, the furthest back you find yourself is at the last checkpoint – so play is as continuous as you want it to be and isn’t interrupted by having to go back to the start of that level. This enhanced my gameplay experience, being an enthusiastic platformer, but certainly no master, and removed the frustration of finding myself back at square one (yet again).

If you have the skill to conquer all 21 levels with a high enough score, you’ll unlock the Boss Level where you’ll find a number of surprises waiting for you, including one so hard to find (the Super-Secret-POW button) that Agimat are giving away an iPod Touch to the first person who finds this button! Find out more about this, and a link to the Shadow Candy website, in Toffiappl:Juice (see tabs above).

SOCIAL INTEGRATION

There is no leaderboard, online play, nor Twitter/Facebook integration for posting scores.

EXECUTION

Execution is seamless. No crashing, no freezing, no lagging. There is virtually no drain on battery life – surprising given an app of its size.

Shadow Candy: SUGAR RUSH! is an exemplary application – immensely challenging, lots of fun, a visual delight, caters for all abilities and provides seamless gameplay.

RATING

5 Sticky Fingers

What are Sticky Fingers? Click here to find out!

All 5 Sticky Finger apps are added to the shortlist for our ToffiAppl of the Year Awards 2010.

On the basis of this debut we cannot wait to see what Agimat Entertainment comes up with next.

The app retails at $1.99 for all versions  in the US store, and £1.19 for all versions in the UK Store. Clicking the banner above will take you straight to the Shadow Candy: SUGAR RUSH! page in the iTunes Store.

Good!

Great

Excellent

Awesome

Exemplary

At ToffiAppl we rate apps differently to most other review sites, in that we don’t use the standard 1 – 5 Star system, with 1 being Poor and 5 being Excellent.

An app has to be good and deemed fit for purpose if it is going to feature on ToffiAppl at all, so you have the reassurance of knowing that, on ToffiAppl, your time will never be wasted having to plough through reviews for mediocre apps in your quest for excellent apps. Every app you see reviewed on ToffiAppl is worth purchase.

If I come across an app soooo bad as to render it useless or a rip off (e.g. an app that masquerades as free, but whose functionality relies on in-app purchases) I will flag it up, but it won’t be reviewed as such. I don’t want my readers conned or to have their time wasted by an app that is insulting to their intelligence (even if it is free!).

The Ratings System – in detail:

1 Sticky Finger = Good No frills but functional, for example a reference guide or book. Little visual appeal, employs no multimedia, but provides a smooth, user-friendly interface and fast, efficient delivery of its content, service or entertainment. Example: IDEO Method Cards; Quiz Quiz Quiz.

2 Sticky Fingers = Great A 1 Sticky Finger app with sensory appeal resulting in a more stimulating and satisfying user experience. Includes games based on a simple premise. Example: Opera Mini; Sheep Launcher; Qrank; Position App; Shadow Candy.

3 Sticky Fingers = Excellent This app appeals to the senses and employs some of the multimedia tools at its disposal e.g. sound, video and may even employ some social/community activity. Whether or not it is based on a simple premise, it pushes the envelope and strives to deliver something unique. The execution may not be spot on, but ultimately the app is sufficiently entertaining for this not to detract from the user’s experience. Example: Any app by ustwo and Smule; Hi! How Are You?; Words With Friends.

4 Sticky Fingers = Awesome Extremely entertaining/functional and a delight to use, but let down by frequent crashing, even after rebooting. Often apps requiring too much memory. Examples: Hipstamatic; Wild Things; NFB.

5 Sticky Fingers = Exemplary An App Awarded 5 Sticky Fingers is added to the shortlist for our ToffiAppl Awards, to be held at the end of the year. It employs most, if not all, of the sensory-enhancing tools that iPhone technology lays at its disposal with seamless execution and nothing to diminish user-experience. Rare, if any, occurrences of crashing. Examples: Shadow Candy: SUGAR RUSH!; Movies (Flixter); Tune Runner.