All the blogs yesterday were buzzing with the news that the App Store had launched the App Store Essentials Hall of Fame — 50 apps that Apple considers the "best of the best." You can sort by featured, release date, or name. I wish one could search by genre. And also for iPad-specific titles.
Jim Karpen
Jim Karpen holds a Ph.D. in literature and writing, and has a love of gizmos. His doctoral dissertation focused on the revolutionary consequences of digital technologies and anticipated some of the developments taking place in the industry today. Jim has been writing about the Internet and technology since 1994 and has been using Apple's visionary products for decades.
GeoQpons -- free app offers location-based coupons
By Jim Karpen
In a recent post I mentioned how barcode reader apps are the perfect assistant this holiday season, helping you find the lowest prices on things you want to buy. And another such assistant are the coupon apps, most recently GeoQpons (free), which offers you location-based coupons. You just show the image on your phone to the clerk.
The integration between devices and cars is only going to grow, and the new app myChevrolet gives you a taste of amazing things to come. The app is free, but you have to spend a thousands of dollars on a new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, or Cadillac. myChevrolet has location-based services, such as one for parking. It allows you to save your parking location to a GPS-enabled map and set a timer to track how much time you have on the parking meter. Or if you have a mechanical problem, the roadside assistance feature locates the nearest dealership.
Appbzr -- free app for finding and organizing apps
By Jim Karpen
appbzr (pronounced "app bazaar") is quite a popular and highly rated free app for helping you to organize, discover, and share apps. You can browse for price drops, hot apps, or the worldwide top 100. It also offers push notifications when there are price drops for apps that you're interested in.
TextNow -- free app gives you a free phone number that you can use for free texting on your iPad or iPod touch
By Jim Karpen
TextNow is currently available for free, and if you'd like to do free texting on your iPad or iPod touch, this app certainly deserves consideration. They actually give you a free phone number that others can use to send text messages to your iPad or iPod touch. It also can be used to send picture messages. It does have ads, but you can use in-app purchasing to upgrade to a version without apps ($5.99 per year). Here's a video demo.
I love the Slacker and Pandora websites — free services that let you create your own radio stations that only stream music that you like. Both are very popular, and both have iPhone apps. Now Slacker has taken an interesting — and timely — new direction. Given the constraint on data usage in AT&T's new plans, the ability of Slacker Radio 2.0 (released today) to cache songs can be a convenient and money-saving feature.
MultiSearch is a free app that lets you search multiple search engines simultaneously. These include Google, Bing, Wikipedia, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, YouTube, Flickr, iTunes, AppStore, Last.fm, Panoramio, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, and FriendFeed. You can choose which engines you want to search, and all the results are displayed in a single, browsable view. Plus, you can enable geolocation such that the search results are related to your current location.
Free Karate Kid app includes 5 mini-games
By Jim Karpen
The free Karate Kid app includes five mini-games that test your Kung Fu virtues: courage, endurance, patience, perseverance, and will. You start out as a white belt and try to become a black belt and achieve martial arts mastery.
GameFinder — free app helps you find games you like
By Jim Karpen
GameFinder (free) is a new app that helps you find games in a variety of ways. According to the press release, you can check out games that were recently reviewed on Slide To Play, a website that focuses on reviewing games and that has developed the app. You can also explore games by genre, or browse through lists such as STP Games of the Month, zombie-themed games, Match-3 puzzles, first-person shooters, games under a dollar, and more.
Okay, we won't get into an emotionally charged discussion of whether genetically modified food is bad for you. But if you're inclined to think that it might be, then you might be interested in ShopNoGMO, a free app that gives you a database of hundreds of brand names in 22 food categories that are free of genetically modified content. And if you're not sure how you feel about genetically modified food, the app also has an About GMOs section that gives you more information. Also in the app is a section that offers four simple tips for avoiding GMO.
