First it’s probably worth clarifying what XBMC is. It stands for Xbox Media Centre, and although it was originally conceived as a replacement firmware for Microsoft’s first living room console, the popularity of the platform has seen it spread to other devices (hacked Apple TVs, PCs, and such).

This iPhone app serves as a kind of next-gen remote control – dispensing with infrared and sending far more complex commands via Wi-Fi.

Being as we make intensive use of an Xbox running XBMC, this is an app we had our eye on for a long time, but couldn’t quite part with the £1.79. A new TV in the bedroom convinced us to make the purchase, as the infrared extender was very flaky with the Xbox, while a Wi-Fi remote is rock solid.

The app allows you to control every aspect of your XBMC set up, and goes one step further by scraping in all kinds of data about the shows, films and music you’re accessing through the platform.

So choosing a program to watch (for instance) can be done via the on-screen list, grouped into series, shows and individual episodes. Scrolling though menus on the remote control (being your iPhone or iPod touch) rather than through individual button presses on the TV, is immensely liberating.

You do have a more traditional remote control set up, which offers a gesture system as well as virtual buttons. Gesture control is very effective, allowing you to keep both eyes firmly on the screen while still using the iPhone’s touchscreen to navigate.

The buttons are configurable, too, so you can resize, rearrange, add more screens and customise your remote to a remarkable level of detail.

The tall and short of XBMC Remote is that once you’ve tried it you’ll realise this isn’t a nice add-on. It’s an essential part of your Xbox Media Centre set up.

We’d even recommend you buy an iPod Touch just to give your XBMC the remote control it deserves.

XBMC Remote info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Cost: £1.79

Version: 1.4

Developer: Collect3

Website/Demo: XBMC Remote website

Download XBMC Remote from

SMS Box For Lovers is essentially a myriad of pre-written smooshy poems, jokes and soppy apologies that you can copy and paste and then send to your better half. The trick is, of course, not to let them know that there’s an app for that too.

On the main page of the app, the list of categories is quite comprehensive. There are 16 in total ranging from love quotes and sayings, to wishes and jokes.

We started off by browsing the jokes category and found that many of them were quite funny though jokes such as ‘kissing a frog to get a guy is a waste of a perfectly good frog’ are among the stinkers. There are a lot of jokes there though, something that we found out can be said of all the other categories. You won’t be left short of something mushy to send your loved one.

Having browsed all the categories, we can say that the quality of the quotes, is largely high with the rest falling below par. However, stuff like this really comes down to preference and we think that most people should be able to find something that will float their boat.

Once you’ve selected you soppy saying, you can press the screen to select and choose your mode of sending. The app gives you the choice of SMS, MMS or mail. The former two means that the app will copy the text to the clip board and pressing the send button will take you to the message screen so that you can send paste it into the box. To use the mail feature, you’ll need to have a push mail account set up on your iPhone.

This sort of app really comes down to preference and if it’s the sort of thing that you’re interested in, then it delivers on its promise very well. Something that would be good is a feature that marked messages that you had already used, as it could save some embarrassment.

SMS Box For Lovers info

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Overall

Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Cost: 59p

Version: 1.4

Developer: Flysoft 

Website/Demo: Flysoft website

Download SMS Box for Lovers from

Life is full of big decisions, marriage and condiments are but a couple of those epic trials that it throws at us on a daily basis. What if you had an iPhone application that was forged from nowt but raw wisdom to aid you in making these achingly difficult choices? The Mighty Decider might be just the ticket.

Not only does it help you make some of the lighter decisions in life, it's also brimming full of funny one-liners straight from the mouths of the Mighty Boosh characters.

Mighty Decider has four main modes. The first is called Naboo’s Wisdom. Naboo is ahead with a turban that’s floating around on a twirling background with clouds and pressing his head will see him communicate with the gods of the ether and tell you fortune. Fortunes range from talk of bowling allies and stubbing toes, to hashcakes and the devil.

They’re generally pretty funny, but ultimately, completely useless. We went to a bowling ally that very night but there was no stubbing of toes…

The Spin the Bottle version was more useless than Naboo and also less funny. It’s also quite hard to actually spin it, like it’s on some grippy surface. We’d recommend sticking to real think if you really must play this game. There Flip a Coin section sees the character Crack Fox sitting on a garbage can and providing coin flipping services. This one is pretty funny and also actually works so if you don’t have a coin, then this is your substitute.

The final Ask the Moon section allows you to throw your big questions at this most of wondrous of celestial objects. It seemed to predict a lot of bad things for us, which made us want to give the app a bad review. However, we couldn’t do it.

From the moment you fire The Mighty Decider up, it’s clear that a lot of thought has gone into how the application looks. The art style is colourful and bold and it’s as easy on the eye as it is easy on the touch-screen interface of the iPhone.

An introduction is played out by a couple of stoned indie kids messing around with examples that you could use it for such as figuring out which chords to go to in a jamming session. A skip button at the bottom of the screen sees a long arm with a boxing glove punching them out the way…

The Mighty Decider is brilliantly drawn, often very funny and generally £1.19 well-spent on a bit of light iPhone entertainment.

The Mighty Decider info

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Platform: Google Android

Cost: £1.19

Version: 1.0

Developer: Tribal Games

Website/Demo: Tribal Games website

Download the Might Decider from

If ever you’ve been in the situation of not knowing what your screen saver should be but having trouble finding images or inspiration that comes in the correct resolution for your iPhone, then fear not.

The iPhone application 14,000+ Wallpapers features – as you may have already ascertained – over 14,000 wallpapers from which to choose and keep your favorite gizmo looking fresh every time you slide the unlock bar.

An iPhone application such as this has to be largely judged on the quality of the wallpapers therein. With so many too choose from, it’s just as well there’s an easy-to-use search feature which also breaks things down into categories. You can view the wallpapers via genre such as nature, sea or flower and also by the colours red blue and green.

We started out by browsing the Nature section. The images are broken down into scaled thumbnails (allowing you to see the whole image rather than a portion of it chopped into a square) which can be pressed to see the full size version.

The images themselves are varied and often gorgeous, ranging from beautifully drawn renderings to some amazing photography. The occasional out-of-place image pops up though. For example there was a photo of a long-exposure city scene in amongst the Nature images.

Next up we tried entering a category of our own which was Space. We were greeted with 7 pages – each containing about 24 images – of wallpapers ranging from amazing photos of nebulae and planets and an image of HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

There is also a category called ‘Sexy’ which contains pictures of scantily clad girls. Anyone looking for models of the male persuasion in here will be disappointed to find only two of which to speak. Also, many the girls have had obvious airbrushing jobs – and jobs of other descriptions – applied which is a little disappointing.

Like other apps that have a large number or jokes, images, or excuses to get out of work as a main feature, some quality is lacking. However, what’s not also brilliant is made up for by sheer numbers. There’s a lot of gorgeous eye-candy in this app and if you’re the type of person that’s forever getting bored of your wallpaper, it’s worth a shot at just 59p.

14,000+ Wallpapers Name info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Version: 1.2

Developer: Huisheng Ye

Website/Demo: N/A

Download 14,000+ Wallpapers from

It’s often said that Joke-telling is quite the art. Some people just have a real knack for the process of building up and delivering a punchline for maximum effect.

Aside from the interpersonal talent required for this skill, having the right material is another key factor for making people laugh successfully. In terms of quantity, 18,000 Cool Jokes should be enough to fill the troughs of just about any aspiring joker.

Before delving into the quality of the enormous quantity of jokes in this app, lets first take a look at how 18,000 Cool Jokes has been put together. A lot of these apps that have a text-heavy nature simply slap the words into an basic interface, stick it on the App Store at a low price and watch the money come in (albeit slowly in most cases).

However, 18,000 Cool Jokes has a decent wedge of production value. The interface is well thought-out and well-drawn. You can add jokes to a favorite list, share them via Facebook, Twitter or email at the push of a couple of buttons and view the ludicrously long list of laughs in random or in categories.

Many of the jokes are more anecdotal, amusing stories spanning some 400 words (about the length of this review). If you don’t have the time or inclination to read the jokes then there are options in the settings to display only the short or medium length jokes. This is another very useful snippet that’s very much in-line with the thoughtfulness applied to the rest of the app.

Which brings us to the quality of the jokes. With such a larger number, there will inevitably be some stinkers in there. However, after half an hour of reading we were pleasantly surprised. Some of the funniest are in the dirty jokes category and you do get prompted that the app is for persons of 17 years and above.

A particular favorite tells the story of a blonde and a brunette talking. The blonde explains that every time her boyfriend brings flowers home, she has to spend the weekend with her legs the air. The blonde goes on to enquire: ‘don’t you have a vase?’.

It’s tough to pick holes in 18,000 Cool Jokes. The comedy is on a decent standard; the interface is a breeze to use and looks great. Definitely worth a download for aspiring joke-tellers.

18,000 Cool Jokes info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Version: 2.3

Developer: Cramzy

Website/Demo: Cramzy website

Download 18,000 Cool Jokes from

The days of fighting over who gets to read the latest copy of the Radio Times are behind us; the highly-esteemed publication has entered the digital age by releasing a dedicated iPhone app which grants painless access to the week’s TV and radio schedule without even having to pop to the newsagents.

Just like its papyrus-based relation, the iPhone version of the Radio Times is all about making your viewing (and listening) activities as enjoyable as possible.

Full listings are included for all regions of the United Kingdom (you have to select your location the first time the app is fired up) and each station’s output is laid out in very much the same way as it is on the printed page.

Where this app scores over its non-interactive sibling is connectivity; when you select a particular programme you can add it to your favourites list, check to see if it’s repeated on another day (or even another channel) or explore the internet for related content.

For example, if you’re watching a show like Friends you can drop onto the web to check out Wikipedia links or even clips on YouTube.

What’s more, if you’ve stumbled across a real gem of televisual programming you can ensure it gets enjoyed by as many people as possible by sharing the details with your friends.

Heck, the app even connects to Twitter and Facebook, which means no one can escape your myriad recommendations.

There’s even a section called “Now Showing” where movies are listed, which proves to be a handy filter for those times when you’ve grown tired of TV shows and fancy watching something a little more substantial. A similar filter exists for sports-related content, too.

There’s very little to fault with the Radio Times iPhone app, but it’s not entirely perfect.

Aside from station logos there’s a complete lack of imagery, which makes the browsing experience a little drab at times. While this obviously helps keep download speeds fast, it wouldn’t hurt to have the odd photo here and there to illustrate some of the more noteworthy shows.

Also, if you want to find out what’s on both the TV and radio you’ll have to manually toggle between the two choices as the app only shows listing for one format at a time. This is hardly a deal-breaking issue but it does require you to drop back to the “Providers” menu each time to switch, which can become annoying after prolonged use.

The biggest stumbling block is probably the price of the app itself, but it’s hard to grumble too much when you consider the potential saving that could be had; this app means you never have to purchase a copy of the magazine again.

Radio Times info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: £2.99

Version: 1.2.0

Developer: tvCompass

Website/Demo: Radio Times website

Download Radio Times from

Everyone loves guns. Okay not everyone but most people. Okay maybe not most people, but definitely most boys. Well, a lot of boys at least.

Whatever age a boy is, he usually has a penchant for weaponry of varying descriptions, a fact that is largely responsible for the reason that so many guys play video games and not many girls do.

It was only a matter of time before people starting stuffing the App Store full of firearm-related applications to satisfy that gun lust.

A couple of weeks prior to writing this review we saw AAA Gun Club and iGunPro is a very similar application to that. The idea us that you get your very own gun cabinet which is laden with weapons of a multitude of calibers and categories.

Weapons include sniper rifles, semi-automatic machine pistols, handguns and assault rifles. Selecting your weapon is a matter of pressing on the gun that you want to fire, at which point  you’re taken to the firing range to get your itchy trigger some serious working out.

On the firing page a close-up of your gun is displayed, except the developers have taken it upon themselves to exclude the hindquarters of many of the weapons, leaving just the main body and barrel.

At the bottom of the screen is how many bullets you have left and you’ll need to head back to your weapons cabinet if you want a reload. To do this, you need to press the ‘i’ button at the top right hand side of the display.

In AAA Gun Club, the ‘i’ button will give you information about the weapon and how to operate it, making for a more realistic simulatory experience. The guns in iGunPro don’t have any moving parts so really all there is to do is fire the weapons which is a bit boring.

The sound effects used are very convincing and the blurry effects used in the animations of the firing weapons is also pretty cool. You can also set the rounds fired from some guns to three-round bursts or fully-auto.

There are many options that allow you to change things like the amount of recoil from a gun. However, this isn’t enough to carry the application.

iGun Pro info

Ease of use:
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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Version: 2.93

Developer: David Holtkamp

Website/Demo: Avidon Media website

Download iGun Pro from

There are a lot of drawing apps on the iPhone, but many are of a decidedly average quality.

The pens are either of limited use or scope and many of them render your pictures in a slower than satisfactory manner.

While many developers have attempted to make serious drawing apps with a professional finish, the vast majority have failed, with just a few, such as Sketchbook proving to be of any worth.

One way around the trap of trying to make a serious drawing app for a 3.5-inch touchscreen which is clearly unsuited to such an endeavour is to make a drawing app that isn’t so serious.

This is exactly what the developers of Glow Doodled have done. If ever you’ve wondered what your name would look like in a neon sign, then Glow Doodle would be a good place to start.

Mainly because a 59p iPhone application is a damned sigh cheaper than the real thing, but also because it’s this effect that the application aims to emulate.

The interface is orientated in a landscape view with your limited toolset along the bottom. There are five colours from which to choose, being red, green, blue and yellow.

As with all drawing apps, drawing is done with your finger rather than a finer stylus. This is little clumsy but the iPhone screen doesn’t pick up many finer tips.

There’s an undo button for any mistakes made but a redo button is too much to ask. At the right hand side are options to clear the screen entirely or save your handiwork to your iPhone library.

Once you’ve drawn your masterpiece, it’s time to make it light up. The glow button applies a filter to your previously unglowing drawn lines to give it that neon appearance.

Where two lines cross over one another, the light will be lighter which breaths some much-needed dynamics to the app. The primary colours bleed into one another a little too which varies things up a bit. The premise of Glow Doodle is incredibly simple and tools at your disposal are incredibly limited.

The best thing to do before buying this app would be to check out the screenshots on the apps page and decide if you like it. We thought they were pretty cool but, a few more features with future updates would really make the app worth the money.

Glow Doodle info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Version: 1.0

Developer: Y Lau

Website/Demo: Ooodot website

Download Glow Doodle from

If you own either an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, then chances are you’ve already experienced the wonderful world of online gaming connectivity.

Both of these machines use their own game community system, with Microsoft’s Xbox Live gamer tag setup being arguably the most accomplished.

You simply sign up for the service and can communicate with other players, unlock game-specific achievements (which contribute to your gamer score – a numerical indication of their prowess) and much, much more.

The concept has been tried on mobile formats in the past – Nokia’s abortive N-Gage portal was probably the best attempt thus far – but with the iPhone, Apple has been content to allow third-party developers to come up with their own equivalents.

As a result there are now three main rivals in the arena of social network gaming on the iPhone platform: AGON Online, ngmoco Plus+ and Open Feint. Of that trio, the latter is possibly the most popular right now, with more and more titles boasting support for the service.

Just like Xbox Live, users are required to sign-up for an free account. Once that is done, any new game they purchase will instantly log into Open Feint’s online servers where users can view what their friends are playing or even peruse what achievements they’ve successfully unlocked. And just like Xbox Live, there’s that all-important gamer score to encourage good-natured rivalry between friends.

You can add people if you know their Open Feint username but the service also integrates neatly with Facebook and Twitter. Friends using the former will instantly appear on your contacts list in Open Feint, and it’s possible to post score and achievement news to the latter.

The degree of interaction doesn’t end there, though. You can see what Open Feint games are proving popular at the present time and also indulge in a spot of banter with fellow players thanks to the app’s chat and forum options.

There’s even an option to view the “Free game of the day”, which is a daily promotion that details a specific title which supports Open Feint and has been reduced for a 24 hour period.

In truth, much of this functionality is available in Open Feint-enabled games, but none of them manage to tie together all the different facets of the service as skilfully as this dedicated application.

When you consider it’s being offered free of charge, there really is no reason why you shouldn’t have this on your phone if you’re a socially-minded games player.

Open Feint info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: Free

Version: 1.0

Developer: Aurora Feint

Website/Demo: Open Feint website

Download Open Feint from

Lego has been a firm family favourite for several decades now and the iconic red block logo is an instantly recognisable brand all over the globe.

It’s fairly easy to see then why an app such as Lego Photo – which essentially allows you to take any image and make it appear as if it’s constructed of bricks – is going to go down a storm with iPhone owners of all ages.

The app gives you the option of either taking a brand new photo or using an existing one from your phone’s gallery. After a few seconds you’re presented with a “Lego-fied” version of the image, displayed in a series of multicoloured blocks. Tapping the screen results in a pleasing ripple effect as the colour of the bricks changes, but the image remains the same.

When you’ve found the colour combination that suits your mood you can save the image, but it’s worth nothing that it saves directly over the photo if you’ve decided to take a fresh snap to use.

The first time we experimented with the colour changes we saved several times assuming that the app would create successive copies of the image, but in fact it merely overwrites the original.

If you want to use the same image but create several different variants then it’s best to take a snap using the iPhone’s default camera application and then edit that image using Lego Photo.

Of course once you’ve crafted your blocky masterpiece you can email it to friends or even perform the procedure on all your contact photos so your address book is filled with Lego-faced people, but that’s really all there is to it.

Aside from creating wacky pictures, there’s little else on offer here. However, depth of functionality isn’t really what Lego Photo is about; it’s a free app and works perfectly well for what it is, so there’s little reason to grumble about a lack of features. Besides, it’s virtually guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of anyone who has ever cradled a Lego block in their hands, and that’s no mean feat.

If you remember the good old days of sitting on the carpet attempting to build the Eiffel Tower out of Lego bricks but then realising in horror that you didn’t have enough to complete the task then Lego Photo will bring all those happy (or not so happy) memories flooding back.

Lego Photo info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: Free

Version: 1.0

Developer: Lego

Website/Demo: Lego website

Download Lego Photo from

Ever had raging arguments with your better half when you’ve put diesel in your petrol car and ended up getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with the sudden realistation that your AA membership is one day out of date?

Yes, don’t worry, it’s happened to all of us. At this point, you’ll get called a lot of things that are likely cruder variations of the word idiot with colorful language both before and after the said accusation. Now, you can prove them wrong with this simple iPhone application.

The Idiot Test is something like a simplified, cartoonified IQ test with a series of questions that will test your memory, pattern recognition and mathematical abilities, giving you a score at the end.

The tests are broken down into levels which are themselves catagorised with names such as idiot, fool, almost average and smarty. Each time you break through the threshold of a new level you are presented with a congratulatory screen that contains a password, allowing you to return to that point without having the repeat the preceding levels.

The tests start off simply with a series of different coloured buttons that need to be identified and depressed in order to advance to the next stage.

If you fail to answer a question or task correctly then you’ll fail the test and be ushered back to the starting screen where you can enter in the last gained password.

The tests are designed in such a way so as catch you out. They might follow a set pattern so that you become complacent with the answering the questions and thinking you’re doing well against the clock at the bottom left hand side.

Then without warning, you’ll think you’ve got the answer nailed and press what was previously the smallest circle on the screen only to find a tiny one has been surreptitiously sneaked in. Upon failing you get a sound bite that could be Nelson from The Simpsons laughing which makes the ending all the more bitter.

Once you’re through the first few levels the tests start to become mathematical and include equations where you must find the value of ‘X’. At this point we failed entirely but it will be good for anyone that didn’t fail maths quite as dramatically as we did.

The Idiot Test 3 is a well-made and entertaining little app that’s ready for some group fun with friends and colleagues.

The Idiot Test info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Cost: 59p

Version: 2.7

Developer: Nexx Studio

Website/Demo: Nexx Studio website

Download the Idiot Test from

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Empire and are into movies, you’re missing out. The publication has been delivering top-notch critique on industry shenanigans and productions since the late 1980’s. If you’re big into your films then Empire is the magazine to read.

Surely then to have all of the review from Empire on your iPhone would be the greatest boon of all for any film lover? Well, in short, yes – that it is indeed the case. As you might expect from such an established publication, the app is brilliantly made with a well-drawn interface.

After running for a couple of decades, there is a fair back-catalogue of movie reviews to archive. In order to tackle this feat the lists have been broken down so that you cans search the reviews library a number of different ways. For starters, on the homepage of the app, reviews are listed by the date posted.

There are also alphabetical lists for movies and directors with an alphabetical shortcut bar on the right hand side much like the one in your contact book. Believe us - you’ll need it.

The amount of reviews in the app is astounding. Scrolling the letter A took us nigh on three months to get to the bottom. If ever you’re in the position of wondering what to download from a payable movie service for your evening-in movie, this is a great way to find some inspiration. Being an established print publication, the quality of the reviews are excellent too.

You can browse movies by genres too so if you’re looking for horror flicks then you can bypass the new Mary Poppins remake while you’re scrolling down. You can also browse by actor, writer and date released, all of which culminate in a dynamic way to filter through the vast library.

A final touch is present in the form of a favorites section where you can bookmark reviews to show to your movie-watching buddies the possible candidates for the pending movie night. At a shade under £3 it’s veering towards one of the more expensive apps but considering that amount of content you get for that price – it’s a bargain.

Empire Movie Guide info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Cost: £2.99  

Version:1.01

Developer: Bauer Media

Website/Demo: Empire website

Download Empire Movie Guide from

Anyone that’s ever attended a pub quiz will know they can be pretty tricky affairs. There’s a lot of general knowledge to have a handle on if you and your team are to prevail and win that awesome - generally alcoholic - prize.

Anyone that isn’t one for general knowledge on popular subjects will be pleased to hear that The Impossible Quiz is a test of another type. The questions asked are not on sport, history, pop music or geography. They are questions of a more cunning mind benders and are arguably of a more entertaining nature.

We should warn users though that when you fire up the opening splash screen lets off a flatulence-resembling sound. If you’re sitting on the commuter train from Kent to London with a few million others jammed in, you’ll want to use this app with the volume down to spare embarrassment. Consider this just one of the many services proffered to you by KWM.

Let’s take a look at a question or two to give you an idea of what you’re up against. The first question we saw from the app was: ‘how many holes in a polo?’. The obvious answer would be one. However, you have to look at the question a different way. The real answer is four which represents the amount of Os in the sentence. Pretty crafty.

It’s just as well the answers are multiple choice too or we’d be in real trouble. Another question is: ‘can a match box?’. The answer options are ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘no but a tin can’ or ‘yes, one beat Mike Tyson’. This is another good example of the crafty nature of the questions.

You have three lives when you start a game, which again is just as well because the questions become progressively more difficult as the game carries on. The Impossible Quiz is a comical app and features sound bites and music that accords with this principle.

Some of the audio clips, such as the scream that issues out of the iPhone when you get a question wrong, are a little annoying but as there’s a volume button on the iPhone, this isn’t such a concern. The scribbly nature of the interface drawing really suites the app’s silly entertainment style. At 59p, this is definitely a worthwhile download for anyone looking for some chuckles.

The Impossible Quiz info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: £0.59

Version: 1.1

Developer: inXile Entertainment

Website/Demo: inXile Entertainment website

Download The Impossible Quiz from

Top Gear is a car-orientated TV program that broadcasts all over the world. If you grew up in Britain, from where the show hails, and you're into cars then it's likely that Jeremy Clarkson and the gang have been core component of your weekly TV diet for well over a decade.

A feature in the show known as 'The Cool Wall' has been present for several series now. The gist of the infamous wall is that there are four categories into which a car can fall. At one end of the scale, is 'seriously un-cool' which pretty much speaks for itself while at the other end is 'sub-zero', a category reserved only for the most stylish of rides.

Whether a car is cool or not isn't down to how fast or expensive it is. Some debate between the Top Gear hosts attempts to pin down how a car fares in this most illusive of specifications. The aim of The Cool Wall application is to browse through the categories of model and manufacturer and then guess which end of The Cool Wall the car falls in. getting as many correct answers as possible.

There are a heck of a lot of cars in the application so you're going to need to have seen a lot of episodes of Top Gear, have a good memory and a decent sense of style if you're to guess a car's position correctly.

Cars are chosen using two scroll-wheels which denote make and model and there's a randomiser button to chose for you if that seems too much effort. Once you've picked your car you're taken to a screen with a photo of the badge and four buttons which represent the four positions on the wall.

It's a shame that only an image of the badge is shown as it would be nice to see a picture of the whole car. There are a few obscure makes and models present which you might not remember or otherwise be familiar with.

Once you've pressed the button, a soundbite from the show plays with the final verdict for the car as decided by one of the Top Gear hosts. When you've had enough of guessing how cool Top Gear deems cars you can see an overall score of how many you've guessed correctly.

The interface is masterfully designed but the game gets a bit old after a few plays. However, The Cool Wall would be good for a chuckle with a few bored friends or even hardcore fans of the show.

The Cool Wall info

Ease of use:
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Overall

Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: £1.19

Version: 1.0

Developer: BBC WorldWide

Website/Demo: Top Gear website

Download the Cool Wall from

Anyone that grew up watching the X-Files might remember the opening credits with the hand placed on a temperature-sensitive panel with a hotspot in a certain part of one of the digits.

It's one of these temperature-sensitive gizmos that Heatpad aims to emulate. Of course your touchscreen isn't able to determine temperature, and so instead, the longer your leave your digits on the screen, the 'hotter' they will get. The result is an application that can make some pretty cool effects.

Being unable to measure temperature, the effects and images produced by Heatpad are purely aesthetic, but that's not to say that there isn't any fun to be had. At the default settings, the background of Heatpad is set to a cold blue.

If you place an index finer on your iPhone, the blue will slowly turn to turquoise, then yellow, to orange and finally red. Once you remove your digit, the colours will slowly reverse  back to the original cool blue. Thanks to the iPhone's multi-touch display, you can use as multiple fingers some cool pictures can be made using the app.

In addition to the default settings, the colours to change through different scales, some of which produce very cool effects. One we particularly liked was called 'Spirit' which sees any areas that you make contact with cycle through red yellow and black in a mesmerizingly slow fashion, slowly expanding the area until it covers the entire interface. Options such as 'Metal' or 'Fantasy' perform in the same way as the default settings except with different colours.

Other settings include sensitivity and inertia. The former determines how long you need to keep the touchscreen pressed before the different levels of the colour appear while the latter adjusts the rate of change back to the original state.

Heatpad is a very simple application which has little to no practical use. It can create some interesting shapes though that could possible be loaded into Photoshop or a similar application to be used in some interesting digital art. Watching the colours change is also pretty relaxing which is a quality that will appeal to many.

If you like the look of the screenshots then it could be worth a shot, just don't expect a broad span of usefulness.

Heatpad info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Version: 1.4

Developer: Padadaz

Website/Demo: Padadaz website

Download Heatpad from

Many of you will have grown up with movie heroes such as Arnold Schwarzenegger in films such as Commando and Sylvester Stone in the classic Rambo flicks.

If these were before your time then in all likelihood, games such as Counter Strike or even Call of Duty: Modern Warfare were not. With such gun-strewn entertainment fed into our vulnerable minds, a passionate enthusiasm for firearms is practically an unavoidable characteristic.

Even when you realise the horrific capabilities of guns, they seem to maintain a certain allure.

This is why AAA Gun Club for the iPhone has been written. You can now play about with virtual versions of your favorite weapons without so much as owning them, satisfying your urges along the way. This will be especially appealing for those residing in the UK where guns are about as easy to own by as winning lottery tickets.

When you get past the opening screen, you're presented with a weapons rack that resembles Arnie's shed in the movie, Commando. All of the important guns are present including an M16, AK47, .45 Magnum and of course, a Vulcan M134 Minigun. The developers have even thrown in a chainsaw, just in case of emergency.

The images of each weapon are both beautifully rendered and in scale to one another. After pressing the image of each gun, you're taken to a landscape-orientation screen with the firearm centered against a black background.

A question mark icon in the bottom right hand side of the screen bestows you with instructions on how to operate the firearm. Good use has been made of both the touchscreen and accelerometer portions of the iPhone's interface.

For example, sliding your finger back will operate the chamber return of an M16 and jerking the iPhone upwards will lock a fresh magazine in position in place and ready for virtual action.

There are of course ethical implications in selling an iPhone application that essentially tutorials people on how to use deadly weapons. However, we're here to review the app and not chime in our political opinions. We will say though, don't buy guns and don't use them. It's for the best.

On the whole, AAA Gun Club delivers some fun and realistic virtual firearms to mess around with. The sound effects are realistic and mechanism (from what we've seen in the movies) are a decent approximation of the real deal. Anyone that loves guns will be a kick out of this app.

AAA Gun Club info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Version: 1.7.2

Developer: The Binary Mill

Website/Demo: The Binary Mill website

Download the AAA Gun Club from

Have you ever known someone that has a face with a characteristic that's not quite to your liking? Perhaps their cheeks are too fat or too thin. Maybe their jaw should more resemble that of Buzz Lightyear or maybe their ears are disproportionally small for their head.

While purchasing a gift voucher for plastic surgery is an ever-present temptation, now you can see what they would look like with said alterations prior to investing your hard-earned cash on the real thing.

FaceGoo will let you take a fresh picture to smudge around or select one from your photo album. If you're not much of a portrait snapper then you can use one of the four bundled example faces. The interface is slim in the main squidging area, allowing you optimum space to manipulate the photo to your every whim.

The mechanic works much the same as the smudge tool in Adobe's Photoshop except a little less precise. The algorithm is quite cleverly executed and will let you distort any part of the face to your heart's content.

At the bottom right can be found a 'play' button and an 'i' button. You might expect the play button played some kind of media file but in fact it returns your face to the default position in a cool, springy fashion. If the 'use accelerometer' setting is turned on the options, then the play button turns the face to a sort of jelly which can be shaken and rotated around to varying degrees of squashiness.

This is a pretty cool feature and it's weird to see an image turned into a very convincing, liquidy eJelly.

The information button actually doesn't give you any information per say but it does open up the settings. There aren't a whole heck of a lot of them, but more than we expected. There is a slider to adjust the 'gooyness' factor of an image, a button that enables the app to remember the last goo next time FaceGoo is fired up and the afore mentioned accelerometer option.

For 59p in the app store, Face Goo represents a decent hours-of-amusement-to-cost ratio and worth a download if you're want to kill some time or see what your friends or colleagues would look like with a few improvements.

FaceGoo info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Version: 3.5

Developer: Robot Wheelie LLC

Website/Demo: Robot Wheelie website

Download FaceGoo from

Flatulence is a wonderful thing. This is mainly true if you're male and/or under the age of 16.

It's the the most endearing department of potty humor and, even if you don't agree with any of the above, something that we all succumb to at some point.

Even Her Majesty the Queen has to let out a bottom burp from time to time, and if that doesn't make it a right and true pastime, then we just don't know what does.

iFart Mobile for the iPhone and iPod Touch is an application that delivers pre-recorded examples of the fine art of flatulence. No such an app would be finished without a little production value and this app has done itself proud in that department.

A sort of industrial angle has been taken to the interface design which looks almost post-apocalyptic and is very well drawn. The quintessential big red button makes an appearance with the words 'fart now' emblazoned boldly in the center. Selecting a prootle of your choice from the scroll wheel below and pushing the button to make the app sound off.

The selection of farts is both versatile and extensive. Even the most experienced  connoisseurs of wind-passing should find something here to get their juices flowing. The names are quite creative too and include, 'Jack the Ripper', 'Bye Granny', 'Bombardier' and 'Fly By'.

The latter of these was our particular favorite. If you think you can do better then you can record your own farts for later consumption. Furthermore, you can buy fart packs to extend your repertoire of rear-end music.

Once you've had your fill of farts there is a few interesting features to check out. The security fart feature gives you five seconds to put you iPhone or iPod Touch on a flat surface. The next time your device is moved, iFart Mobile will let one rip right into the ears of an unsuspecting potential thief.

Just opposite the security fart feature is the sneak attack feature. This lets you set a countdown timer which will then play a bum-whistle when the timer reaches zero, ideal for if there is someone around and you just need them to hold your phone for a second.

There's no doubt that iFart Mobile is one of most immature and preposterous apps in the App Store. However, the execution is exemplary and the developers have done a great job on delivering what the title of the app promises. This one is definitely worth a download for the flatulence humor-inclined.

iFart Mobile info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Version: 2.3

Developer: InfoMedia Inc    

Website/Demo: iFart Mobile website

Download iFart Mobile from

Anyone that skates or has ever skated will appreciate how difficult it is to make a deck work against the god forsaken law of gravity.

When you first learn to pop an ollie it seems like the most impossible task ever bestowed upon you and learning hardflips may be responsible for many a skater being entirely unable to produce children.

A safer – and undeniably less satisfying – way to get your head round the process might be to download an iPhone application that helps you see how it's done.

This is what iGrind appears to have been made to do. Using your digits as feet, iGrind will let you work the deck to perform tricks in a way that's a lot easier-going on your trainers than the real deal.

Most people will also endure a great deal less pain though there's no real guarantee of this being case. When you first fire up iGrind, you're presented with a choice of three choices including two designs plus a blank deck.

We started off with the humble ollie. Pushing down with our back finger and sliding our front finger up the deck produced a satisfying pop that sounds like it's recorded from the real deal and saw the deck animated appropriately.

Sadly though the realism broke down somewhat when we realised that pushing down the back of the deck and produced exactly the same result.

The natural progresssion from this might be a pop-shoveit. We tried for some time to have the board rotate 180 degrees but for love nor money wouldn't achieve it. This simplest of tricks doesn't seem to be programmed into the application.

Next up: kickflips. Using two fingers, we produced a believable kickflip with the accompanying audio and animation. As you might suspect, lipping the board in the opposite direction produced a reverse animation and the resulting heelflip.

Sadly though moving just one finger to the side of the board produces the same result, so again there is no real need to emulate the footwork that would make a kickflip on a real deck.

Also,  this seemed to be the extent of the application's repertoire of tricks. We were unable to perform hardflips, 360 flips or any other trick in the app.

The deck is always stationary too, so there's no grinds and no apparatus to mess around with. Overall, iGrind is a very limited skateboard simulator and it doesnt even simulate the physics in a believable fashion.

The animations are decent, as are the animations, but that's about the only thing good things to be said about the app.

iGrind info

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s to deliver a virtual skateboard with realistic physics.

Download iGrind from

For those of you unfamiliar with Wallace and Gromit, they are a British-born pair of fictional characters, brought to life by animator Nick Park using Plasticine modeling clay and stop-motion animation.

Wallace, and his dog, Gromit are based in Northern England where they invent crazy gadgets, embark on comical escapades and eat a lot of cheese and crackers.

Wallace and Gromit: Digital Comic #1 is a comic strip for the iPhone which features an entirely new adventure for the pair. Titled 'The W Files', the story is based around a UFO spotting which the man and his dog go to investigate.

Not having to spend endless painstaking weeks on stop-motion animation has allowed the creators to include a whole host more characters than the animated series.

Wallace and Co. encounter UFO anoraks and are temporary impounded by the military, both of which are groups that feel a little out of place in a Wallace and Gromit escapade. The story is pretty easy-going and many of the gags are worthy of a good chuckle.

Surprisingly though, creator Nick Park doesn't appear to be on the production team. Going some way to make up for this is that comic book legend Dan Abnett has been enlisted to write the dialogue. Abnett is better known for his work with Marvell Comics and, to a lesser extent, his contributions to the Horus Heresy series of novels.

The style of the cartoony illustrations hold true to the animated series and generally easy on the eye. When a page of the comic book doesn't cover the entirety of the iPhone screen, blueprints of some of Wallace's contraptions appear in the back drop which looks pretty cool. The eye candy is extended to interface, with all menu screens and buttons being presented in a similarly decent manner.

Turning pages is performed using a side-swipe motion, much the same technique as browsing through your snaps in the iPhone's camera roll. Tapping the screen will bring up a slider which allows you to flick through the pages more rapidly, ideal for when you lose your place, especially when taking into consideration that folding the page corners isn't an option.

You can also select the page from a series of thumbnails from the main menu. Wallace and Gromit: Digital Comic #1 is well worth a download for anyone that's a fan of the characters and their escapades.

Wallace and Gromit info

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Platform: Apple iPhone

Cost: Free

Version: 1.0

Developer: Titan Publishing

Website/Demo: Titan Publishing website

Download Wallace and Gromit from

If you’re reading this review in a bid to decipher what the obscure name of the app is all about, the chances are that you’re not familiar with Leigh Francis’ hit TV series, Bo Selecta.

The word ‘cha’mone’ is one of the many scat-like noises for which the show’s caricature of the late Michael Jackson is famous. Also available in the App Store is Proper Bo, a sound board of catchphrases and popular quotes from MJ and other characters in the TV series.

Developers, Widebeam have taken it to another level with Chamone, bringing some more interesting and entertaining features to the table.

For starters, there’s ‘Cha’mone Me’ which gives a Bo Selecta-style overlay for a portrait photo of someone, shooting the subject to the heady heights of caricature stardom.

The app lets you upload an image from your library, and if you don’t have one that fits the bill, you can take a fresh one without having to close down the app. Next up is ‘Prank Selecta’ which is basically a Michael Jackson sound board featuring a comprehensive 27 quotes and catchphrases from the TV series.

Another feature lists a series of  on-set videos which are streamed via YouTube. The short clips are comprised of material from the TV show and some very funny behind the scenes footage taken on set with Leigh Francis generally messing around. This sort of thing is a lot of fun, and something that fans of the show will no doubt get a kick from.

The feature titled ‘Chamone TV’ closes the app and opens up Safari on a the app’s website. This appears to be a tribute site to Michael Jackson in the Bo Selecta style and has links to Leigh Francis’ twitter blog amongst other things.

Finally, there’s the Technical Support section. The main screen for this portion of Chamone shows Bo Selecta’s Craig David caricature sitting behind a help desk ready and waiting to solve your issues.

Pressing his bobbing head makes produces a sound bite with some basic but generally unhelpful technical advice. This wasn’t a favorite feature and felt more like filler than anything else.

While all of the features in Chamone are generally not of much use, it does provide its money’s worth of Bo Selecta-orientated entertainment for fans of the series.

Chamone info

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Platform: Apple iPhone

Cost: 59p

Version: 1.0

Developer: Widebeam     

Website/Demo: Chamone website

Download Chamone from

Finding a girlfriend can be tough. Whether you're fussy, not especially adept with the fairer sex or just seem to have bad luck, the dating scene can be like a minefield – only a lot deadlier.

Thankfully though, there's an app for that too.

Atrium Designs has put together Pocket Girlfriend, an iPhone app that negates the need for dating websites, speed dating or bad chat-up lines.

All you need to do is spend 59p in the App Store and a gorgeous, if entirely digital, brunette can be yours to enjoy at the push of a button. But how enjoyable is she?

Well, lets start with the aesthetics. The developers have responsibly steered clear of the 'size zero' type and wisely opted for the disheveled look, with the model having a few locks of her brown hair out of place. For attire, a white vest-top and impossibly small pair of french knickers are included in the price.

Next up – and these points are in no particular order of importance – is personality. At the top right hand side of the app is a button labeled 'talk'. The sound bites played are the sorts of things you might expect to hear by girlfriends made by Carlsberg.

Your Pocket Girlfriend says things such as 'it's important for me to stay in shape, but I'd never make you go to the gym' and 'I love to cook, and I actually know how'.

We'd be surprised if the audio bites didn't get the developers an angry email or two from short-tempered feminists but some of them are quite amusing. 'I don't mind if you find other girls attractive' was a particular favorite of ours.

The impressive list of sound bites can be turned on or off in the options screen and you can even record custom dialogue if quotes such as 'let me iron that for you' aren't to your liking.

As long as the app is open, your Pocket Girlfriend wiggles around in her French knickers and white vest exposing her midriff. If you were looking for further body parts to be exposed then you'll be disappointed.

One annoying aspect is the frame rate which is pretty stuttery and not as smooth as watching TV for example. While some of the sound bites are quite fun, Pocket Girlfriend doesn't really deliver a great deal.

Only the most girl-depraved person will get any true worth from this app.

Pocket Girlfriend info

Ease of use:
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Platform: Apple iPhone

Cost: 59p

Version: 1.2

Developer: Atrium Designs LLC 

Website/Demo: Atrium Designs LLC website

Download Pocket Girlfriend from

If you're into playing video games of the online variety, then you'll no doubt be at least semi-proficient at the application of smack talk.

Many's the time when another player thinks its a good idea to start mouthing off about how unfair it was that they didn't come out victorious, which often leads to a solid bought of old-fashioned talk of the smack variety.

This is what we were expecting when we downloaded the iPhone application of the same name. However, we were greeted with something altogether different.

Essentially SmackTalk! is an iPhone application to record your voice and then play it back to you distorted to resemble what you might expect a chipmunk that spoke English to sound like.

In order to accommodate this function in greater levels of silliness, the developers have added a series of cute-looking animals that animate as they play your altered voice back.

The mouths and bodies of the little critters move around to make it appear as though whatever torrent of filth you've just recorded into the mic is being spoken by them.

Swiping the screen to the left or right will select your cutesie avatar. Each animal has slightly different settings to the voice alteration such as higher pitch or playback speed.

Both of these settings can be adjusted manually too, ideal if the playback isn't quite chipmunk-esque enough for your particular tastes.

Along the bottom of the interface, you'll find buttons numbered one to five. These play play pre-recorded audio bites such as 'ooohooooo' and others of a similar ilk. The noises are generally pretty annoying, nonsensical and overall not of much use to anyone.

There's an info page which guides you through how to use the app, including some interface tricks such how to hide the buttons, but on the whole there isn't a lot to learn. The most fun you can have with the app is recording your own voice and having it played back chipmunk-style.

We found the use of colourful language a particularly entertaining combination with the cutesie animals. On the whole though, SmackTalk! is a random and silly application, the novelty of which will wear off quicker than the winner of this year's X Factor.

Smacktalk info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Price: 59p

Version: 1.3.1

Developer: Marcus Satellite    

Website/Demo: Marcus Satellite website

Download Smacktalk from

When it comes to video game-related sites they don’t really come much bigger than Eurogamer.

With over a decade of providing the latest reviews, news and previews to the insatiable gaming masses, this highly-regarded portal is, for many people, the only site worth bothering with when it comes to getting the scoop on the world of interactive entertainment.

To capitalise on the incredible popularity of Apple’s iPhone platform, the team behind Eurogamer has released a dedicated app which allows you to download all that lovely gaming content direct to your phone.

Naturally, it’s not a straight copy of the web-based site; the crucial information is neatly condensed to ensure it’s easy to read and loads quickly – two things that are of vital importance when browsing on a mobile device.

The app is divided into three main sections. The main “Eurogamer” feed showcases all of the content currently doing the rounds on the main site, so here you will see news, reviews and previews.

This flood of information can be a little overwhelming at first, so you’ll be happy to learn that it’s possible to apply a filter to ensure you only clap eyes on the stuff you’re genuinely interested in.

Elsewhere, there’s an entire section devoted to Eurogamer TV, which contains exclusive videos recorded by the site’s own team as well as all the latest trailers and insider clips. All of the videos shown are of a high quality, although as always you’ll need a Wi-Fi connection to really get the most out of them.

The third and final piece of the puzzle is the Community section, which is essentially your route into the hustle and bustle of the incredibly popular Eurogamer forum. While it’s advised you wear flame-retardant clothing before logging on (debates can get quite heated, you see) there can be no complaints with how the app performs in this regard; once you’ve logged in you can effortlessly indulge in a spot of banter with your fellow gamers.

On the whole, the Eurogamer app works wonderfully. The single biggest issue with it is the asking price. Considering this same content is available online for free, it seems a little cheeky to charge people to use it.

There are perks to this system though, which the creators of the app are quick to point out. You don’t have to put up with any distracting adverts and it also runs much quicker than viewing the site through your iPhone’s Safari browser. The video content is also only accessible on your phone via this app.

When you consider how easy this app makes it to surf the Eurogamer site and the high quality of the content on show – both in terms of text, screenshots and moving images – then it’s hard to grumble at the cost. Regular users are obviously going to get more value out of it than casual fans, but if you take your gaming seriously then it’s certainly worth downloading.

Eurogamer info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: £2.39

Version: 1.0

Developer: Eurogamer

Website/Demo: Eurogamer website

Download Eurogamer from

Have you ever wondered what your IQ is? Yes, so have we. We imagine it’s the sort of thing that everyone ponders, now and then.

Depending on where you look, IQ numbers are rated differently, though above 160 is largely considered to be veering towards the genius end of the scale. While few people reach these heady heights of raw intellect, it’s still nice to know where you come in the scheme of things.

However, we must start this review with a caveat - What's Your IQ is an entertainment app, so your results cant be put on your Oxford University application form.

The interface looks like it was designed by someone that’s worked on sets for adult movies from the late seventies. The muted colours and somewhat Disco font at the top make for a retro interface that hints at the application's lack of seriousness.

When we fired up What's Your IQ, the first question we were asked was: 'If the perimeter of a rectangular house is 25 1/3 yards and the length is 22 feet, what is the width?'

We're no expert on IQ tests but this struck as something of a humdinger for the opening question. Thank the Gods of math though, the questions are multiple choice which makes the process leaving you feeling not quite so bad about not paying attention in school.

The second question was: 'Which is the odd one out – slippers, pumps, heels, flip flops, sandals.' Note the lack of a question mark is not a typo on our part, but a grammatical failure on the part of the developer of this IQ-testing app.

Also we should point out to several countries on the southern hemisphere, that flip flops are what we call 'thongs' here in the UK. We decided to opt for slippers being the odd one out in the app and moved on to the following questions.

However it does show that the structure of the test isn't a 'start of easy and work your way through' kind of deal. The fact that the following question is basically a scenario of 'what is 17 minus 9?' confirmed our suspicions.

When question time is finished, you get given your supposed IQ score and the option to load it onto Facebook. We scored 131 on our first round but have serious doubts about whether it would be this high on the real deal. What's your IQ is good for a chuckle but even that wont last long. Download for free only in case of extreme boredom.

What's Your IQ info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: Free

Version: 4.0

Developer: Trippert Labs

Website/Demo: N/A

Download What's Your IQ from

We've all been there - due to circumstances outside of your control you’ve been simply unable to attend school, or work and the reasons are the kinds of things that you don't want your boss or teachers to know about.

While the old 'I know someone whose dog really did eat their homework' has turned into something of an urban myth, most people can do better. That's not to say it's easy though, especially if, like most people, you hate lying.

Today we're looking at Excuse Generator, an app that broaches this moral subject, and helps you churn up some dirty rotten fibs. When you first open up the app you're presented with the option for phone excuses or text excuses. If you want to salvage any sort of credibility we strongly recommend using the former in your blagging efforts.

Once the app is installed, opening up the loudspeaker feature option during a call provides access to the sound excuses menu. You can the select from eight different noises. While we felt that the car crash soundbite was a little on the harsh side, it's a pretty decent reason not to be at school, work or with the other half.

Other sounds include static noise, dog barking and cheering crowds, all of which are perfectly solid reasons to get off the phone to the mother-in-law.

The text excuse gives you a little dialogue, which can then be relayed to the appropriate authorities to meet your wicked ends. We decided to start off with the school excuses to see if there were any of the corkers we used to use as young whippersnappers.

Excuse Generator Lite came up with 'My homework must have dropped on the road as I was leaving home, sorry'. Any pro blag artists knows only too well that this one will get shot down quicker than you can say 'my dog ate it'.

After a few more pants excuses like 'My eyes hurt too much, I couldn't see any reason to do it', it was starting to look like this was more of a mess around app than a real excuse generator. Work excuses ranged from the semi-decent 'my key broke in the door and I have to wait for a locksmith' to the frankly laughable 'my dog ate my car keys'.

On the whole though the excuses were flimsier than a regurgitated math project. The audio excuses are fun but the text-based ones were more of a mess-around than anything else. You wont find much inspiration for your excuses here.

Excuse Generator Lite info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: Free

Version: 2.0.1

Developer: Kevin Umstead

Website/Demo: Klud Designs website

Download Excuse Generator from

Everyone likes to think they’ve got a bit of creativity in them, right? Even those with the demeanor of a depressed bank manager will start to drone on about the book they’ve wanted to write, if you press the right buttons. Brushes is a great app to unleash your creative instincts on another end of the spectrum- with a spot of painting.

Although a very simple app to use, this painting programme produces results that look just like a painting done on canvas, if you’re willing to put a bit of effort in that is. Brushes’s aim centres on this idea- to let you create pictures that look like art rather than just scribbles.

To do this successfully, Brushes starts out by limiting you. Your pictures are always the same size, and you only have three brush types to use. These vary in quite how thickly they lay the paint on the iCanvas, so to speak. So, Brushes is no Photoshop, but its strong points far outweigh its lack of gimmicky add-ons.

Firstly, you’ve got full control over the size of your brush, its transparency and the colour applied. Thanks to its pared-back interface, you can change this in seconds, while the equally intuitive colour dropper let you pick tones from within your masterpiece.

Everything’s controlled with the touchscreen. Tap near the bottom and your toolbar will pop up, giving you access to the fill tool, your brush options, the great undo and redo functions, the colour dropper and the colour palette. You can also zoom in and out of your image using the pinch method.

Perhaps even better than the ease of the interface is quite how natural applying paint feels. Since Brushes’s brushes never apply entirely cold, block colour, there’s always some interplay between what you’re applying and what’s underneath. It’s not that Brushes simulates the weight of the paint you’re plopping down onto your virtual canvas or anything quite so complicated, but it’s leagues ahead of the bog-standard MSPaint style freebie painting apps you may have used.

So successful is it in making you feel like you’re actually creating something that it’s a pity there’s not more linking in with social networking tools like Facebook, although you can view your gallery from an online address given to you within Brushes. Of course, communities create themselves, and there’s already a hefty Brushes presence on sites like Flickr where users show off their latest works.

Brushes works within a certain self-imposed walled space. The developers could quite easily have added a wider selection of brushes to bulk up its feature list, or a roster of wacky effects to apply, but these could easily dilute the pure, creativity-driven core of Brushes. Mind you, we wouldn’t mind a smudge tool, much as we know it’s just out of pure laziness.

Brushes Info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Version of app: 1.1

Price: £2.99

Developer: Brushes

Website/Demo: Brushes website

Buy Brushes from

Negative suggestion can be a powerful thing. Especially when we're younger, someone telling us not to do something because something bad will had happen builds up a curiosity that leads to a practically irresistible urge to do just that.

The classic example of this and one that entertainers such as Derren Brown have used in his psychological TV tricks  is 'the big red button'.

It's appeared in everything from Warner Brother's cartoons to comedy movies and now it's on your iPhone.

As the title hints at, the interface consists of a birds-eye view of a pretty standard-looking cardboard box and a large, round red button.

At the bottom is some text that reads 'DO NOT PRESS' in capital letters. The first time we fired up the app we decided not to give in to our child-like urges to push the big red button in all of its shiny splendor.

However after some time, nothing happened and as a result, our urges got the better of us. And so we did it. We pushed the button.

The text underneath then changed to '*ahem* DO NOT PRESS' and one more press will get you the text '...you pressed it again. Okay punk, press it again'.

Once more press will get you 'Yeah that's it. Come on, one more time' followed by 'again' and 'do it'. A few more presses and the text then changes its tune and tries desperately to stop you pressing the button.

These first few examples pretty much set the premise for the entire app. You press the red button and get more more dialogue that tries just about every trick in the book to get you to stop pressing the button.

There are promises of prizes, hidden invisible buttons that you'll never find unless you stop pressing the red one and you even get attempted guilt trips to stop you pressing it.

At multiple points, more than one button will appear in a bit to confuse you but there's always one in there somewhere that will get you on to the next bit dialogue.

The chat is often very funny and had us laughing out loud at the silliness of the app. After all of the build up we were half expecting there to be some kind of prize at the end.

However after about 15 minutes of entertainment the app goes back to the beginning and starts again.

At the time of writing the Do Not Press the Red Button is free and well worth a download if you're only after a giggle.

Do Not Press the Red Button info

Ease of use:
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Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: Free

Version: 1.0.3

Developer: AppZap

Website/Demo: AppZap website

Download Do Not Press the Red Button from

Clearly it's just not enough to have sketching and drawing on the apps for the iPhone.

You can now fashion fully 3D models from virtual lumps of clay on your beloved device. Sculptmaster 3D Free brings you straight back your high school art lessons with a lump of digital putty.

The first thing you'll notice about the app is that the inherent problem of inaccuracy that comes with using the tip of your index finger rather than a sharp implement.

To try and combat that problem, the developer has added in a zoom function so you can get right on close on areas that require some finer detail but it's still not quite enough to get sharp edges.

The working area is a three-dimensional rectangular shape which can be moved around at will which does make it easier to work with.

There are three main tools in your sculpting arsenal. One tool is a filler tool that adds in digital modeling medium wherever you press inside the work area.

If you start with your working area facing straight towards you then the filler tool starts adding in clay from the centre. Rotating your work area to different angles will start filling in different places.

Some experimentation is needed to get your head around how this aspect works as it's not especially intuitive.

Next up you have a clay remover tool. When selected, any time you touch your masterpiece to be, clay will be removed in layers. If you add a little too much in one location for example, you can then take it off with this tool. Finally, a rotation tool lets you move your model around to work on different areas.

The 3-dimensional aspect of this app brings it's own issues. Primarily is that when you put a finger stroke across a lump of your digital clay to remove some of its virtual mass, the rendering time leaves a lot to be desired.

Starting off with a large solid lump is a particular headache and our iPhone 3G took some time to render each stroke complete. Mercifully though, starting off with an empty box and filling it piece by piece doesn't involve so much waiting around.

Sculptmaster 3D Free a pretty fun app once you get the hang of it. However this is the tricky bit.

It's not an easy one to get your head around and the lack of tools for making sharp edges and fine detail limit the creative potential a great deal.

If you're interested in 3D modeling it would worth a gander but don't expect miracles from this most basic of digital modeling applications.

Sculptmaster 3D Free info

Ease of use:
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Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: Free

Version: 1.1.0

Developer: Volutopia

Website/Demo: Volutopia website

Download Sculptmaster from

Many characters from comedy sketch shows have infamous catchphrases. Even if you've never seen the show, it's likely you've heard them through other people doing their own impressions.

Much like listening to music, the familiarity becomes part of the fun. While our iPhone already helps us have our favorite music in our pockets, it can now help us have our favorite character catchphrases to hand.

Proper Bo is the iPhone app that any fan of Leigh Francis' Bo Selecta series has been waiting for.

On the home screen there can be found the heads no less than six of Bo Selecta's finest including celebrity spoof characters such as Michael Jackson, Craig David and Mel B. Pressing the heads of the respective characters plays a soundbite of one of the character's catchphrases or more famous lines.

Each character has 14 different sound bites which will be played at random when you press the portrait icon. Each of the portraits are complete with full costume and ridiculous facial expression. To keep things a bit easier on the eye, they bob around on the spot slightly which looks better than it might with them being static.

All of the best catchphrases have been included. Craig David's infamous lines such as 'it were reet bo, I tell thee' and 'Craaaaig Daaaaavid' are present. Michael Jackson features the full compliment of 'eeeheee's, 'chamone's and 'kiss my bad self's.

We fully expected Mel B to be locked and loaded with with brutally crude quotes relating to certain parts of the female anatomy. However, her repertoire has been largely cleaned up for this family-friendly app and about the worst it gets is 'yer bastard, yer'.

If you fancy mixing up your own batch of quotes then pressing and holding a character's portrait will open up a screen where you can select them individually. The app doesn't feature any settings menus and the features we've outlined here are pretty much all Proper Bo does.

For this reason, the novelty isn't going to last forever to put it lightly. If you and some of your friends or co-workers are fans of the series then the £1.19 should bag you quite a few laughs.

Proper Bo info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: £1.19

Version: 1.0

Developer: WideBeam

Website/Demo: Proper Bo website

Download Proper Bo from

We've seen many a drawing app that turns the iPhone's touchscreen into a blank canvas and provides a few tools that you can use to fill it.

Sadly though, the majority have fallen short, a fact mainly down to the fact that a clumsy finger on the touchscreen is no substitute for a sharp pencil and paper. However we've finally found that one simply nails it.

Sketchbook Mobile's opening screen shows a very cool drawing of a robot which has been accurately drawn and coloured. The first thing that goes through your mind when you see it is that it couldn't have been done on the app.

However when you first put your virtual pencil to paper, it becomes clear that it may just have been. The developers have done a great job in simulating a pencil stroke, with the lines starting off opaque and tapered.

The lines are drawn thin, sharp and precise and you can zoom in on areas that require more detail. These simple qualities are some of the reasons that drawings look so good on the app and that's before you so much as open the tool box.

A subtle icon in the bottom centre of the screen opens up a neatly designed circle tools menu.

Here you can select eight tools including the usual pencil and airbrush and eraser tools. While most airbrush tools are par for the course, the Sketchbook Mobile one is perfect. It's very subtle, allowing you to build up accurate layers of colour.

One of the things that makes this app stand out is the brush editor. You can select from a wide range of shapes and types of strokes from flared or tapered ends, brush sizes and a whole range of opacity options. The brush menu is incredibly dynamic.

The second major thing to the invaluable addition of layers. Much like in Adobe's Photoshop, you can have several different layers in a drawing and then manage them individually, making them invisible to allow you to work on others or change the opacity.

You can also import photos from your library or a fresh snap from the camera and add the shot into the individual layers.

In addition to the 30 colours in the app's pallet you can pick your colours from a colour wheel. This allows you to select any shade in between the primary colours and black and white.

Sketchbook Mobile app is a cinch to use, has a great interface, the brush strokes look awesome and the diversity of the tools is second to nothing we've seen on the iPhone to date. This app is going to take some serious beating.

SketchBook Mobile info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: £1.79

Version: 1.1

Developer: Autodesk Inc.

Website/Demo: Autodesk website

Download Sketchbook Mobile from

For those of you that are unfamiliar with SuicideGirls, here is the lowdown of what the group is about.

In 2001 the website was founded in a bid to make a collection of beautiful pin up photos of people that were far from in line with force fed idea of beauty we get from the mainstream media.

Incredible looking girls swaying more towards rockabilly, emo and other alternative styles can be found, doing their thing and looking nothing short of incredible. They're far from the barbie doll bimbos that you might see on the front covers of beauty magazines.

Many who have checked out the website will no doubt have had notions of bagging themselves a SuicideGirl. As the title unambiguously, Seduce a SuicideGirl lets you live out the fantasy of doing just that. And what better place to meet your very own SG than a comic book store?

You to play the role of an unemployed, comic book-loving software developer (see nerd). The basic premise is that you walk into the store and spy yourself a girl that is the embodiment of SuicideGirls - utterly gorgeous and farm from trendy.

You then get several points where you can ask one of two questions or make one of two decisions to a question or other event. If you're successful then, you are promised  the chance of a 'make-out' session with the SuicideGirl.

When you enter the store and spy your target, the first option you get is to either talk to her or play it cool.

We decided to play it cool and see what happened, but our lack of action resulted in the girl leaving the store and the app informing us that if we wanted to get anywhere we shuold spark a conversation.

After recovering from the embarrassment of such an obvious failure, we chose to to talk to her. After being favorably received, we were invited outside for a 'smoke' and on to the next phase.

We wont give any more away but suffice to say the correct answers aren't always the obvious ones. You'll need to exercise your pulling prowess to get to the end.

Once the roleplay is complete, you end up in the bathroom together. While a 'makeout' session is slightly tricky to simulate on even a touch-screen mobile device, you are treated to her getting her kit off.

This is an ever-so-slightly seedy ending to an otherwise extremely fun iPhone app. Seduce a SuicideGirl delivers on the promise and delivers a solid cost to laughs ratio.

Seduce a SuicideGirl info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Version: 1.0

Developer: SuicideGirls

Website/Demo: SuicideGirls website

Download Seduce a SuicideGirl from

Eve Online has to be one of the biggest and most complicated massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG) ever made.

Unlike many other games in its genre, characters are developed in real time. This gives a great advantage to players with endless online time on their hands, such as students or the unemployed, being unable to grind their characters far in advance of their peers who have a life.

The downside, however, is that when a character completes a skill, you need to know about it in order to set a new one training.

Thankfully, iClone is at hand to help you out. A common problem with these apps seems to be getting your characters onto them as you need to provide your API key. Being a random alpha-numeric string that’s about two billions characters long, inputting it manually is a royal pain in the starship.

On the accounts screen, the app says that it can add an Eve account to iClone via your iPhone address book if you add the app name in the organisation field. We couldn’t get this to work though so had to do input it manually.

Once this is done the app provides all the character info you need to know. iClone displays the skill that’s training, how long left until it’s finished, the date and time it finishes and your current quantity of skill points.

In addition to this you can also see your implants and current attribute levels such as memory or willpower.

Along the bottom there are buttons to show corporation, player owned structure (POS) or assets information from all of your characters. However, only the corporation feature would work for us at this stage, which may be due to the app being an early rendition.

The ‘More’ menu at the right-hand side provides a multitude of features with which to play. There’s an item browser that provides details on what appears to be every item in the game, from control towers to exotic dancers.

Perhaps more useful though is the jump planner, which can plan a route for your carrier, black ops or jump freighter to run across New Eden.

This will be of particular use to anyone not running a dual display rig as you won't have to alt tab into a browser or other app to plan one out.

iClone appears to be somewhat wet behind the ears, and it’s also free, so some allowances have to me made for any functionality issues. You can set updates to occur automatically though so if you download it then you could check its progress from time to time.

For now though, the character tracker and jump planner work a treat. iCLone is worth a shot if you’re looking for an New Eden Swiss army knife.

iClone info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: Free

Version: 1.2.0

Developer: Benjamin Scott

Website/Demo: iClone website

Download iClone from

Do you know someone who thinks they’re brain of Britain? Why not catch them out and make them feel stupid?

It may sound quite petty, but putting someone in their place is always quite good fun. Now there’s an iPhone app to help speed things along.

The first test isn’t actually a test. The app loads in landscape mode, leaving you feeling a bit of a Wally when you’re holding it the wrong way up when it is fully loaded.

You’re greeted with four coloured buttons on the first screen and despite it saying in the middle you need to press the red button to start, you can’t help but be distracted by the other colours and inevitably end up pressing anything but red. Immediate fail!

Sometimes the app asks you not to do something that actually looks like something you should do. For example, a big red button in the middle of the screen that says continue on it is contradicted by the instruction on the top of the screen telling you not to press the button! It certainly requires patience and willpower!

The cheeky messages the app serves up when you fail are also smile worthy. Our favourite was: “Everything with a brain makes it this far. You are now and average mammal.”

And so the game continues. It’s looks so easy, but it’s actually not. But it is utterly addictive and we were playing it for what felt like two minutes and looked at the clock and found half an hour had passed by!

The Moron Test info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Developer: DistinctDev

Website/Demo: DistinctDev website

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We’ve all got our favourite programmes. The ones where we know the lines before they’re said and where the catchphrases are ingrained in our minds forever.

I’m Alan Partridge is one such TV gem. It’s about a very silly man who says very silly things and that’s what makes it so funny and memorable. Some of his catchphrases and comments – and way of delivering them – are comedy moments. And now you can replicate them in your pocket!

The interface is kept very minimalist. In fact, it’s just an opening page and then the menu, nothing more nothing less. But that’s all this app needs to work.

On the menu page is a list of 10 classic phrases such as Absobloodyexactly, back of the net, cashback and, of course, Ahaa!

Just make sure you don’t have your phone on silent when you press any of them otherwise you’ll miss out on Partridge’s dulcet tones.

It’s a simple but effective app and it’s sure to get a laugh out of even the most po-faced people. So long as they’ve seen the programme, that is.

iPartridge info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Developer: Wotcha Software 

Website/Demo: Wotcha Software website

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Arcade machines can be very addictive, which can be bad for your social life as well as your bank balance.

However, Arcade Claw costs pennies and is something you can play under the table while you’re with friends meaning you get the best of both worlds without the scary bank statement.

Arcade Claw is a classic arcade game brought to the iPhone. You simply use the on-screen ‘joy stick’ to move the claw around and grab. It’s as simple as that. The items up for grabs range from cuddly toys to balls and more. Each have certain points and you can play for credits to unlock other parts of the game.

The accelerometer is also put to good use in certain areas of the game to move the items on the screen around. You can even swipe your finger around to get a different view of the game’s casing, which is pretty neat.

Once you’ve played this game, you’re hooked and, before you know it you’ve whiled away several hours. Whether you’re on your way to work or it’s two in the morning, you’re likely to find yourself with a strong craving for this game. But it won’t make you gain weight or empty your wallet.

Arcade Claw info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Developer: John Moffett

Website/Demo: John Moffett website

Download Arcade Claw from

Pocket God could almost be described as a game, although there’s no ending and no real objective as there is in a game.

You play god and decide whether you want to play good guy or bad guy with a group of Pygmies living on a remote island.

There are a number of different weather conditions to inflict, threat from sharks, fire, a volcano and dinosaurs, and it is you who decides whether the little critters live or die.

It took us a while to get the hang of the app, and work out how to carry out certain actions, but when we understood how to catch fish, make a fire, escape from shark attacks and change the weather, we were engrossed.

There’s a toolbar at the top that allows you to add or take away tools and threats. You can use it to decide whether the Pygmies have access to a toilet, have the facilities to produce a fire and change the weather to less favourable conditions. Gestures will control the conditions and characters.

You do get points for either being good or bad and there’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the app, but it certainly is addictive, in the same way that you’ll struggle to resist the temptation of simple games such as HarborMaster.

Pocket God info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: 59p

Developer: Bolt Creative

Website/Demo: Pocket God website

Download Pocket God from

As the name suggest, Radio Times is the TV planner magazines application for the iPhone.

At £2.99, it seems a little steep, but the app is very detailed.

After you’ve selected your country and which service you have (such as Freeview, Sky, Virgin etc), you’re taken to a list of programmes that are currently showing. Swipe horizontally and the app will show what’s on next, and you can view the day’s lineup in half an hour increments.

Along the bottom of the app, there are a range of options including Radio Times Choices, Films, and your Favourites that you can add when viewing listings by pressing the star icon next to each programme.

More options include Sports to see which sport programmes are on at what time across all channels, and Search which allows you to find a listing.

If you want to change the day, you can by tapping on the time at the top of the screen. This will take you to a rotary date option screen where you can change the date to up to a week ahead.

Radio Times may be expensive, and pretty complicated, but it is an in depth application with full Radio Times-style descriptions of each programme.

Radio Times info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Cost: £2.99

Developer: TvCompass Inc 

Website/Demo: Radio Times website

Download Radio Times from

The moment Apple announced an App Store for the iPhone I'm fairly sure your first thought was not "Wow, they can make a dedicated theatre app!", but then again niche doesn't necessarily mean bad.

That's certainly the case with 'iTheatre' - the first specialist guide to London's West End. It comes courtesy of official ticket agent BestofTheatre (surely a perfectly fine name in itself?) and aims not just to help you choose the right evening's entertainment, but also save you a few quid too.

In practice iTheatre is much better at the former than the latter with a detailed 'What's On?' main page that categorises Best Sellers, Family Shows, Musicals, Plays, Special Offers and a complete A to Z Show List. When you find what you want then each show has matinee and evening performance times, venue information and a description along with reviews, images and occasionally video footage. For the most part this is very well done though the text layout is a little cramped and reviews are limited to excerpts rather than the full critique.

As for the booking process, this is rather more limited. For some reason BestofTheatre has chosen to detail the 'Book' section for tickets solely by how much it can save you on the full ticket price. Without any sense of context however this is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard. After all, are you about to save £20 on a basic ticket normally costing £35 or a box seat priced in excess of £100? The only way iTheatre lets you know is by calling its booking office or ordering via Safari online. By some way of consolation, iTheatre is only at version 1.0 and has confirmed it is looking to fix this problem with a future update.

Other concerns are relatively minor: it isn't the prettiest app in the world and it can be a little slow to load on the iPhone and iPhone 3G but if you're an avid theatre goer then there's little to touch it from the more general entertainment apps out there. So yes, iTheatre may be niche and a little rough around the edges but it is a nice first try that can only improve. So next time relatives come to visit this is the app you'll need.

iTheatre info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Price: Free

Developer: Ubinow Solutions

Website/Demo: iTheatre website

Buy iTheatre from

In this age of netbooks, smartphones and mobile broadband it seems we have ever decreasing amounts of time for our own social engagements. And besides, when we do manage to grab a free evening how do you find what is on and where do you start?

Hoping to answer a few of these queries is Spoonfed, the latest in a long line of London entertainment guides aimed at helping you sort the wheat from the chaff. Like most iPhone apps these days, Spoonfed originates from an online website and what we have here is an attempt to make everything more pocket friendly without severe compromise.

Main search categories are listed as Live Music, Theatre, DJ Music, Comedy, Exhibitions and 'Beery Fun'. This does seem a little limited (Markets, Festivals, Promotions, etc would be nice) but events do appear largely up to date based on independent digging. Results are also reasonably well detailed with descriptions, map directions, phone numbers and pricing but sadly the flaws of the app are rather more fundamental.

At the core of Spoonfed's difficulties is the essence of the app itself. The company asks "Want to know what's on around you now?" to which I suspect many would reply: "No, not really". You see, searching for an evenings entertainment doesn't always have to be right on our doorstep. London dwellers have these things called cars, buses, tubes and trains and everything is pretty close together anyway.

Consequently, Spoonfed feels unnecessarily limited. After all, it lists social events all over London so why is there no ability to search by postcode? Spoonfed does let you search the full content of all its categories but trawling through each is a little tedious compared to saying: "Tell me what is on in x, y or z". Design is also a little garish while there's a lack of thought put into basic integration. For example, asking for directions to be shown in Google Maps these days should no longer mean being forced to exit the app completely or it losing your search results when you restart it.

Ultimately, Spoonfed is handy enough to warrant downloading - especially since it is free. Sadly however this good idea has been poorly executed.

Spoonfed info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Price: Free

Developer: Spoonfed Media

Website/Demo: Spoonfed website

Buy Spoonfed from

Apple's wonderful Remote app lets you take charge of iTunes over a Wi-Fi connection, but that can be a little restrictive for some people.

Some users do not like to use iTunes, or find that they prefer to use an open-source player.

VLC Remote is a better option for these people, because of the huge range of formats it can play back - not just audio, but video, too. Virtually any file you can get your hands on, the open-source and freely downloadable media player can handle.

When you boot the application up it will automatically scan for any computers on the network that are running VLC. Connecting to a computer once one is found is impressively simple - even more so than with Remote for iTunes - which is saying something, considering how fanatical Apple are about simplifying their programs.

Once you're connected, it's simple to browse through the computer's hard disk for media, and to drop files into the playlist. All the usual controls are there; play/pause, stop, a playback timeline and volume. Although this would make a perfect high-end remote for home cinema fans, it is equally suited to playing music from the comfort of the sofa, or to controlling music at a party while wandering about socialising. The beauty of VLC's adaptability is that it will be used in all sorts of ways, by all sorts of users.

It's an easy to use program, with completely intuitive and simple layout. The control screen will rotate 90 degrees, as well, which is ideal if you're laying on a sofa catching up on some video. This is an application perfectly designed to lazing around.

If the look of the program isn't to your taste, this is no problem. New skins can be downloaded from within the app itself, although the point of this is debatable, especially as the default look and feel is perfectly adequate.

Considering that this is built to connect to an open-source program, this application is remarkably smooth to use, and reliable. It works equally well as Apple Remote, and even connects to VLC running on PCs, as well.

Another boon is the easy availability and small size of VLC - you can take your iPhone anywhere, and install the media player on any machine in a matter of minutes. Setting up iTunes and Apple Remote, while also simple, would take longer.

The only niggle with the software is the cost. A similar app is available on Windows Mobile for free, but this costs £1.79. There is a free version for the iPhone, which is restricted only by the lack of skin support - so we have to recommend that you opt for that. Skins are a virtually pointless feature on such a small screen, and the free version works equally well, at no cost.

VLC Remote info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Price: £1.79

Developer: Rob Johnson

Website/Demo: VLC Remote website

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They say a picture paints a thousand words and those internet users who insist of posting ‘emoticons’ (that’s ‘emotional icons’, if you’re wondering) obviously subscribe to this adage.

These cute yet often irritating little icons are the new generation of the more basic, text-based versions – such as :) for a smiley face, for example.

However, an even more advanced breed of mobile phone-based icons – dubbed ‘Emoji’ – is currently sweeping Japan. They’re arguably more advanced that the emoticons used by western handsets and the iPhone is first mainstream telecommunications device available in this part of the world that supports them.

iEmoji is just one of many iPhone applications that unlocks support for the 461 different Emoji images currently available. Although it’s being distributed as an app, it’s actually a program that installs a Japanese keyboard within the phone that grants access to these colourful images.

Opening the app itself will merely present you with the complete catalogue of Emoji icons, divided into categories. Pushing the menu button at the bottom of the display opens up a list of options, such as the ability to tell a friend about the app, leave feedback with the developer and post a review on the App Store.

However, to actually install Emoji support you have to follow the instructions detailed in the ‘Help’ section. This involves dropping back to the iPhone’s settings menu and enabling the newly-installed Japanese keyboard.

This all sounds a bit scary but it’s actually pretty painless; once the keyboard is switched on, it manifests itself as a small globe icon that sits in the bottom left-hand corner of the iPhone’s on-screen keyboard – just next to the number/alphabet toggle button.

Tapping this opens up the Emoji keyboard, with the individual Emoji icons divided into their relevant categories (animals, faces, events, etc). Tap an icon and it appears in whatever you’re writing – be it an SMS message, a note or a comment on the App Store.

One area where it’s not possible to use Emoji is in emails, which is a bit of a disappointment but isn’t totally unexpected as the format is intended for mobile phones rather than computers.

Naturally, the caveat of all this icon-based fun is that you can only send Emoji to other handsets that support it – iPhones (even those without iEmoji installed) can display them but other western mobiles will just show a question mark where the Emoji should be.

When you’ve enabled support on your phone you can delete iEmoji; the app isn’t required once the Emoji keyboard has been installed. Also, if you find that you’d rather not have access to all of these images then you can simply switch off the keyboard support in the iPhone’s settings menu and your phone will revert to normal.

If you’re keen on allowing pretty little pictures to do your talking for you then this app will be worth every single penny of the 59p that the developer is asking for; however, those of you that shun the use of emoticons in text messages will probably be left wondering what all the fuss is about.

iEmoji info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Price: 59p

Version: 1.1

Developer: Spiceloop

Website/Demo: Spiceloop website

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Remote was Apple’s first downloadable iPhone app, loved by many.

The app's just had an upgrade, bringing slicker responses and new gesture controls making it by far the most handy optional download for the iPhone, but is it worth hitting the upgrade button?

The latest edition of Remote builds on previous versions by letting you tap into Apple TV using gestures instead of prods and pokes. Swipe your finger across the screen and on-screen menus will scroll. Tap the iPhone’s screen, and they’ll be selected.

It’s all very intuitive, and neat. Simple shortcuts, such as swiping a finger to the right to skip a track, make Remote much easier to use with Apple TV than the standard controller included by Apple, but it’s here that our major beef with the Remote App lies.

To make use of the gesture controls, you’ll need to be using an Apple TV. The shortcut treatment isn’t given to anyone using Remote to control their PC or Mac running iTunes. If that includes you, you’re out of luck.

Of course, Remote continues to let you control your computer’s musical output using the standard controls, and does so with aplomb. It’ll let you quickly and easily shuffle songs, or even build a playlist.

Clever features, such as iTunes DJ, mean you can use an iPhone or iPod touch running Remote to give guests the chance to add to a playlist at a party. Even better, using an iPhone or iPod touch to control your music means Apple’s AirTunes technology, built into every copy of iTunes, finally makes sense.

Fire up more than one computer or Apple TV on the same network, and you’ll be able to unite their output, effectively building a multi-room audio system with the Remote app at its heart.

But we can’t help thinking Apple has neglected its core fanbase owning PCs and Macs. Sure, using an Apple TV with the Remote app is slick and speedy, but to keep those features from anyone using a desktop machine just seems mean.

Remote info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Price: Free

Version: 1.3

Developer: Apple

Website/Demo: Apple Remote website

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There are more art apps on the iPhone than perverts in a life drawing class. But, like those beady-eyed pencil-wielders, most are just offering the same thing: a cheap thrill, with slightly dodgy results and a severe bout of depression when it’s all over.

Download almost any iPhone art app and we challenge you not to be left with a dismal feeling of “must try harder.” But TypeDrawing is different. Shunning the familiar territory of pens, pencils, brushes and erasers, it instead uses words, letters and punctuation to create an image.

Give it a phrase, and drag your finger across the canvas. It’ll follow the shapes you trace, spelling out your phrase over and over as you sketch your subject using the power of language.

As you’d expect, you’re given granular control over the fonts, sizes and colours TypeDrawing uses, and it’s remarkably fast, even when wrangling lengthy words and text heavy images.

There’s a neat unlimited-step undo action to remove any undesired squiggles, and after a few minutes practice you’ll find yourself cranking out unique pictures that set themselves apart from the rest of the humdrum mobile art crowd.

Once you’ve mastered the art of, well, word art there’s plenty more scope to show off. Making TypeDrawing choose fonts at random means every stroke of your finger produces different typography. It’s trickier to produce, but once you’ve mastered the technique it’s a real crowd-pleaser.

Naturally, you’ll want to share the fruits of your fingers, and TypeDrawing lets you easily save your canvas to the iPhone’s image library. There’s no easy way to share your creations from within the app itself, which is a shame, although Flickr groups have already popped up, dedicated to impressive artwork made using TypeDrawing.

Unfortunately, TypeDrawing still has some rough edges. There’s no built-in library of your previous artworks, so dipping back into them means you must remember to save them. Even then, it’s impossible to undo steps, making the app far from flexible.

Ordinarily, those points would count as critical failings of an art app. But in this case, they’re easy to overlook. TypeDrawing is so inventive, so unique, and so much fun it can get away with being slightly under-featured. What is included is spectacular, and inventive, and in a world of cookie-cutter iPhone art apps, that counts for a lot.

Type Drawing info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Price: £1.19

Version: 1.2.1

Developer: Hansol Huh

Website/Demo: TypeDrawing website

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Movies by Flixster allows you to view where a film is playing in your area, plus information about all the latest movies

While Google Maps may be able to tell you exactly where the nearest cinema is, knowing what is showing and when - and therefore if it is worth going in the first place - is something it finds a lot trickier.

Enter stage left 'Flixster'. The most popular cinema guide on the App Store partly because it is free and partly because it is excellent. It also has far more functionality than you are ever likely to need, so much so the term 'comprehensive' seems a little on the conservative side.

At the heart of Flixster is its movie listings. Every major cinema in the UK is held within its database, its location, phone number, select online ordering and complete film showtimes for the next seven days. Cinemas can also be searched for via current location or postcode with the results sorted by proximity and venues can be stored to favourites for quick checks.

So far, so good but then Flixster takes things to another level. If you'd rather search by movie you'll find details of films opening that week, top box hits and a complete searchable database of every title showing in the UK which can be sorted alphabetically or by rating. Select any film and you'll find the synopsis, cast list, (Flixster or Rotten Tomatoes) rating, genre, running time and even its trailer. Interested in films not out yet? A section in Flixster offers the same detail for upcoming films all ordered by their prospective release dates. Considering a DVD instead? The same data is also available though you will need to resort to Google Maps to find your nearest video rental store unless you simply use a download service.

You'd think that just about exhausts every option you could want with an app like this but Flixster still has another trick up its sleeve: social networking. Thanks to the newly open Facebook API, Flixster can connect with the application it also provides to the social networking site. This means you can synchronise your movie ratings and view the ratings and opinions dished out by your Facebook friends.

In essence then Flixster is a wonderfully comprehensive but also beautifully designed app that's surprisingly easy to navigate which will do more than you'll ever likely need. Sadly what knocks off some gloss is rather ponderous performance with jerky scrolling and slow load times. This is something the developers are aware of and the current version (2.2) does claim to significantly boost start up times and responsiveness but it still needs work.

Funny as it may sound it is also frustrating that there isn't a paid version of Flixster. The sole free edition supports itself via in-app advertising that can be quite annoying and frankly it proves such a good service I'd happily pay a small fee to have it removed - were it only an option. That said, to conclude with such a statement in itself can only be seen as a ringing endorsement.

Flixster info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Price: Free

Developer: Flixster

Website/Demo: Flixster website

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When Apple brought out 'Remote', which allowed users to navigate and control their computer-based iTunes library directly from their phone, everyone was blown away. Well we quickly moved on from there.

Following a number of unofficial alternatives, Sky has stepped up to offer an app that controls Sky+ and Sky+HD boxes remotely. Unlike the Remote app however, you can programme the boxes from any location and it works even when the boxes are in standby. In theory you never need miss a programme again.

For such a cool system, using it is remarkably simple: you just setup your own Sky Remote account via sky.com/remoterecord then follow the walkthrough instructions (little more than entering your Remote Record username and password in the Sky+ app). Multi-room subscribers will need to nominate one specific Sky box.

Once this is done everything will seem very familiar. The Sky+ app uses a menu virtually identical to the one found on Sky+ boxes (but dissimilar to the new Sky+HD UI) and allows you to surf channels by category, select favourite channels or even search all listings for specific programmes (a system which works far better than using the remote control with an actual Sky box).

Like the Sky menu, information can be called up on programmes you're interested in, along with ratings - and you're also given the option to record them. You will then be sent a confirmation message in the app if the recording request was sent successfully.

Limitations do exist, however. Namely there is no series link option and recordings can only be scheduled a minimum of 30 minutes before they broadcast. The latter is a particular pain since half a recording is generally preferable to no recording at all and in the case of sport, for example, a football match which starts at 4pm if coverage of that match typically begins at 3pm you've only got until 2.30pm to remotely record it. Daft.

There is also a credible alternative out there in the form of 'TV Plus' which does still have the same recording limitations - they are inherent in the Sky Remote Record functionality - and provides additional features such as a handy now and next channel view. Unlike the Sky+ app, which is free, TV Plus will set you back £1.19.

Overall the Sky+ app offers superb functionality completely free but it is debatable if it is actually the best example available.

Sky+ Info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Price: Free

Developer: BSkyB

Website/Demo: Sky+ on the App Store

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We’ve all experienced that terrible moment when you’re out of the house and you realise there’s something you desperately wanted to watch on telly. Although the introduction of ‘watch again’ services such as the BBC iPlayer have softened the blow of this very modern dilemma, it’s still annoying to know that a slice of televisual gold has slipped through your fingers.

TV Plus is an application that attempts to remedy this issue. It communicates with your Sky+ box and allows you to record programs even when you’re not in the comfort of your home. It also doubles as a comprehensive TV guide with over 400 different channels covered.

Naturally such technical witchcraft if reliant on you actually owning a Sky+ package and in addition to this you’ll have to register a My Sky Remote Record account. TV Plus prompts you for this vital information when you first fire it up.

Once you’re logged in you can select your region to ensure you get the correct channels. This is of utmost importance because the TV schedule differs between each area in the country.

TV Plus puts the channels into various categories such as Sport, Entertainment and News, amongst others. Once you’ve made a selection you’re faced with the separate channels, such as BBC1, ITV, Channel 5, etc. Pick a station and you’re given the current day’s program list. There’s also the option to see what’s on the goggle-box over the next six days, too.

Now for the really clever part. Selecting a TV program presents you with yet another screen which features a brief synopsis of the show in question. It also contains other salient information such as the time it commences and its duration.

Stabbing at the big red button that says ‘Record’ at the bottom of the screen does just what you would expect it to – it instantly tells your trusty Sky+ box to record the program when it starts. It’s quick, painless and incredibly easy to get your head around.

There have been some teething issues with TV Plus since it made its debut back in October 2008 but the developer appears to be dealing with feedback in a timely fashion. We did notice a few missed recording requests, which is naturally very frustrating and is something that will need urgent attention in the next update.

Another fact to consider before making a purchase is that Sky has recently released its own application for exactly this sort of thing, and what’s more it’s available free of charge. It’s slightly less intuitive though and we have to admit we prefer the way TV Plus operates.

If the developer can continue to work on ironing out the occasional bugs still present in TV Plus then we’d have no problem in being a little more enthusiastic with our recommendation. As it stands, the free Sky+ app is the smarter choice at present – despite the fact that it’s less pleasurable to actually use.

TV Plus info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Price: £1.19

Version: 1.2

Developer: Ed Lea

Website/Demo: Ed Lea on Twitter

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Cooliris has been around on desktop PCs for a while now. If someone walks past your screen and sees you using it, they’re guaranteed to stop in their tracks and ask you what it is. It just looks so damned cool. It’s a photo and video browsing app where preview images are arranged in parallel rows on a black background, and you can run through them with a flick of the index finger. Selecting images for close ups and then emailing them to a friend will have you reminiscing over Spielberg’s Minority report in no time.

It was originally made as a more convenient way to perform image searches on websites such as Google. Rather than typing in ‘mountains’ for example, and then having to click ‘next’ to view one page after another, Cooliris delivers one long stream of images for you browse.

The iPhone version is laden with useful functionality, although to use some features you’ll need to head over to www.cooliris.com and create an account first. Google’s image search has been worked into the app, along with Yahoo, DeviantART, Flikr and YouTube, with the latter providing video rather than images. Simply type into the search field what you’re after, and Cooliris will add them to the preview wall.

Once you’ve smoothly sifted through the images, you simply tap on one for a closer inspection. A menu bar then appears along the bottom of screen, allowing you add them to Twitter or your Cooliris favorites folder, email them to someone, download them to your iPhone photo library or view information about the file.
You can also subscribe to RSS feeds such as Digg: Reel Funny Videos, a good way to kill some time if you can afford the battery life. However, we found that some feeds can be a bit flakey and don’t work all the time.

Sadly, the iPhone doesn’t have the processing power of a PC. Cooliris is a relatively lightweight application on a modern PC, but loading it up on the iPhone makes it seem like a bloated mammoth of an application in comparison. It’s also not quite as slick due to restraints in computing power. Although the interface is easy to use, the iPhone struggles to keep up sometimes.

We tested it on an iPhone 3G, and people with an iPhone 3G S should suffer less. Cooliris is a great way to view and share photos and videos on your iPhone and definitely worth a tinker considering it is a free app.

Cooliris Info

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Platform: Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

Version of app: 1.3

Price: Free

Developer: Cooliris Inc

Website/Demo: Cooliris Inc's website

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Karma Art is one of those apps that are great for people with inclinations for creativity to kill some time while waiting for a bus. It’s also has the added benefit of making a creation to send a creation to a friend or loved one.

Many iPhone apps that are based on making pictures have failed before they’ve even been downloaded as the touch screen isn’t ideal for drawing. Karma Art capitalises on the interface though as making a picture is done by poking around pre made cut-outs which come with the application.

The app has several different backgrounds to make your drawing on all of which possess a decidedly natural quality. The textures include a canvas and different shades of roughly recycled paper and we’re guessing this theme is the source of the title.

Pressing the small blue flower icon at the bottom left hand side of the screen opens up the menu which allows you to add text to your picture using the iPhone’s keyboard. The menu also contains icons for changing the background and saving, opening or deleting pictures and adding objects.

Once you’ve written the text to be added to the picture you can select from 12 different fonts and 6 different sizes. After hitting the ‘+’ symbol to add it to the picture, it will do so as one object and will allow you to position it on the paper as such.

The list of objects you can add to your pictures is extensive enough to keep you interested and make for some varied compositions. The makers have included objects such as waves and fishes for underwater scenes and dinosaurs for anyone with a more pre-historic bent. The categories include transportation, people, animals, scenery and a few others. All of the images are drawn in a child-like stick men style which works really well with the natural backgrounds.

You can save or open pictures made in Karma Art straight from your iPhone’s photo library but there’s no feature that allows you to send them straight to someone via email or text which would have been cool. It’s a fun application though and a great way to kill some time if you’re stuck with some time to fidget and at just 59p, it’s a steal.

Karma Art info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod touch

Price: 59p

Developer: Stylem Media

Website/Demo: Stylem Media website

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Babelgum allows you to watch streamed video footage, including interviews, documentary footage, movie trailers and music videos.

It acts as a more personalised version of Youtube, grouping certain types of video together for easy access. You can select between categories, including music and film, with the most popular videos of each type subsequently displayed. The app also remembers your favourite clips, displaying them when you start the program.

This most recent version of Babelgum, version 0.9.1, boasts a wealth of updates and improvements on previous versions that boost its accessibility. The interface has been hugely improved - providing greater fluidity, quicker results, and faster buffering times.

For the first time on Babelgum, you can move to any point in a clip by touching the time bar. Updates for the app are now sent as alerts, automatically. The various dialogue boxes on screen are far easier to use where, in previous versions, they could be difficult to highlight. This is especially noticeable with regards the ‘invite’ box. It is now really easy to invite friends to view a clip, as your details are stored in the various boxes. You can now also write a short personal message.

Babelgum 0.9.1 automatically disables the screensaver when a video is played, ensuring that it is not interrupted at a crucial moment. You can also search for clips based on roles, or by publisher. And, finally, the upload times for each clip are now correct, unlike in previous versions.

Thanks to all these improvements, Babelgum is a pleasure to use. You can add any clips you like to your favourites, gradually building up a feature-length compendium. Although the format is very similar to Youtube, the clips seem to be categorised in a far more logical and user-friendly way.

A particularly fun feature is the ‘Shuffle’ function: you select a category, click ‘shuffle’ and have a clip selected for you at random. This means that you come across clips that you would never normally have seen.

The only major drawback to Babelgum is the quality of connection required to play videos at a normal speed. Without an excellent signal, clips tend to stutter along in an unwatchable manner.

Because Babelgum is free of charge, it should be an essential download for any iPhone user. Although similar to Youtube, it offers an enjoyable way of passing the time on the move.

Babelgum info

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Platform: Apple iPhone

Price: Free

Developer: Babelgum

Website/Demo: N/A