Month: October 2011

If you ever find yourself distracted or annoyed by ads in your web browser, there’s a way to fix the issue. OverApps is a handy little tool that will replace ads with interesting content.

The program works in a simple but creative way – it lets you cover up the ads you see on websites with an app of your choice. Want to keep up with your friends’ status updates on Facebook? Now you can no matter what webpage you’re on. The same goes for Twitter and Flickr. If you’re more news-oriented, there’s an app that will stream live headlines from CNN. On the other hand if you just want to look at something cute, there are apps that display pictures of puppies and kittens.

Those are just a few of the many app options you get with OverApps. The great news is that the service is currently free in beta version. For Windows XP or higher, OverApps supports Firefox, Internet Explorer and Chrome. For Macs, there’s currently support for Firefox.

Here’s how it works:

1. Whenever an ad appears on a website, you’ll initially see the ad itself (until you program OverApps to override it) and a top drop-down menu from OverApps.

Continue reading “OverApps lets you cover up web ads”

As an apology for the connection blackout experienced by BlackBerry users last week, Research in Motion (RIM) has  announced today that it will offer a series of free premium apps to its customers.

As of this Wednesday October 19th, BlackBerry users will be able to download a selection of premium apps, worth more than $100, for free. RIM describes the offer, which runs until 31st December this year, as “an expression of appreciation for their (subscribers) patience during recent service disruptions.”

Apps and games that will be available to download from the BlackBerry App World for free include: SIMS 3, Bejeweled, N.O.V.A, Bubble Bash 2, Shazam Encore, Vlingo Plus, and Photo Editor Ultimate.

Remorseful husbands traditionally buy flowers to get back into their wives’ good books and it seems multinational corporations are using apps and games to make sure they aren’t thrown out of bed by their customers either.

RIM’s sweetener has echoes of when the PlayStation network fell for several weeks, due to a hacking attack. Sony decided to offer a choice of PS3 games and subscription to its PlayStation Plus service for a month.

I’m not sure that the damage caused by three days without access network on your BlackBerry can be made up for with a bunch of free apps. What do you think?

Spending time at GDC Online 2011 was interesting.  While the conference is much smaller than the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, the specific focus on all things online offered a lot of interesting content and new technologies to learn about.

Digital Harmony Games’ introduction of Dragons vs Unicorns might have been my last meeting before I flew back to San Francisco, but it showed off something I have been waiting for in mobile games for a while now.

True real-time cross platform gaming

Continue reading “GDC Online 2011: Dragons vs Unicorns for Everyone”

Attending Playdom’s session with Steve Meretzky and Dave Rohrl led me to two distinct discoveries.

One: There is no magical formula for social games.
Two: Most of them have a limited lifespan.

The pair discussed ten trends in the session, they highlighted a lot of the evolution of the genre as a whole and named specific titles.

Continue reading “GDC Online 2011: What have you been playing? Social Games 2010-2011”

When I was contacted and asked to meet Chris Ulm, I didn’t really know much about Chris or Appy Entertainment. My meeting him at the end of day two of GDC Online 2011 was a bit of a last minute thing.

But I am glad to have met him.

His history is epic, especially for a fan of comics and games. He was the Editor in Chief at Malibu Comics and the Ultraverse. Malibu published the first Image Comics. He was part of the sale of Malibu to Marvel Comics. He’s been in the gaming industry on the console side during the days of PlayStation 2 and Xbox, working for and creating his own development companies.

Now he makes mobile games with Appy Entertainment as CEO, being one of the early developers and publishers with the launch of the App Store. He also admits he rambles, but is honest in his opinions and insights.

Appy Entertainment is primarily an iOS developer and publisher.

Continue reading “GDC Online 2011: Chris Ulm: Appy Entertainment, Mobile, and Comic books?”

The fifth version of Apple’s popular operating system for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad became available on Wednesday. Just last week, Chris expressed disappointment that many of the features rolling out with this new iOS release were already available to users via third party apps. While it’s certainly true that many app savvy users have already managed to create the effect of integration by installing third party apps, now this integrated experience is available to anyone who wants it through the free install of iOS 5.

Installation and set-up

Installation itself requires users to have iTunes 10.5. If you have an older version of iTunes, you’ll be prompted to install that update before you can install iOS 5 on any of your devices.

Once the iTunes update is installed, you can begin the process of updating your device to iOS 5. It’s never a bad idea to back-up your iTunes library and the other files on your device before moving forward. While there are messages assuring you that a back-up will be performed automatically, it’s better to be on the safe side in case an unexpected error occurs (which I actually experienced the first time I tried to install the new operating system on my iPad).

Once properly installed, iOS 5 set-up is a snap. You’ll be guided through a series of prompts as to whether you’d like to use iCloud, sign in with an Apple ID and even activate the Find My iPad service that helps locate your iPad in the event that you misplace it. After you answer those basic questions, you’re done and iOS 5 is yours to explore.

Continue reading “Apple’s iOS 5 arrives with a bundle of new features”

There are so many apps for kids on the App Store that it makes choosing the best one for your little angels a bit of a challenge. There are plenty of apps and games that are great for shutting children up on a long journey, yet much less that actually inspire, educate and encourage creativity in youngsters.

I’ve hand-picked a selection from the cream of the App Store: six original, innovative apps that encourage children to think creatively, as well as being a lot of fun. In general, these applications are designed for over threes, but they can be enjoyed by bigger kids as well. In fact, I defy you not to pick up and play with these once your little ones have gone off to bed!

Toca Hair Salon

If your child has aspirations of being a hairdresser, or even if they just like dressing up games, Toca Hair Salon is not to be missed. This excellent interactive app lets children run their own hair salon. They can cut, comb, blow-dry and tint the hair of six different customers to make weird and wonderful hair styles.

The presentation of Toca Hair Salon is a cut above. The fun characters include a dog, a lion and some human customers (or should that be ‘victims’?) You simply choose a tool, then use it to change the hair by running your finger along the head. It’s really addictive, and as you‘ll see from this 5-year-old’s video review of Toca Hair Salon, kids can’t get enough of it!

For ages: 3 & up
Price: $2.59
Compatible with: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRzz3NI6RCY[/youtube]
Continue reading “6 inspirational, creative apps for kids”