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Best of Smartphone Experts, 18 Oct 2009

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Best of Smartphone Experts, 18 Oct 2009

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Thundergod gets you out in the rain without getting wet

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

I'm spending the weekend in Northern Arizona on a photo shoot. It's dry up here, but I took along a little iPhone/iPod touch app that put me in the center of several dramatic thunderstorms.

The app is called Thundergod [iTunes link]. With creative microphone technique, and a good set of headphones, you'd swear you were in a raging storm, or a rain forest, or one of 5 other environments, listening to nature at its most spectacular. You can listen and let your mind drift off, consider the state of the universe, or just fall asleep in a soft rain using the built in sleep timer.

I suspect the techniques used to make these recording are similar to the highly regarded binaural technique, using 2 microphones separated by the approximate distance between your ears. Then when you play back with good headphones, you are instantly transported to a hyper-realistic, almost holographic place that closely duplicates being in a real space with real sounds.

This effect doesn't work through speakers. It can sound nice, but it's not startling or compelling. With headphones the sound comes alive, and you can begin to have an emotional reaction to what you are hearing.

The app also allows for a special equalization curve if you are using earbuds like the ones Apple includes, and it is effective. This app as produced by Holographic Audio Theater, who gave us the free app Naturespace that shows off their recording and producing prowess. It's a good introduction to their technique.

Thundergod is not cheap. It's a U.S. $9.99 app, but of you look at the App Store reviews you'll be surprised how many purchasers thought the app was worth the money.

The sounds are not short repeating loops, but something like a long concert that has a beginning, a middle and a conclusion. I liked the 'Thor' environment the best, because it was the most dramatic and attention-grabbing. It's not for relaxation, but for stimulation. If relaxation is what you want, there are sonic environments included for that as well.

My suggestion is that you try the free intro app, and if you like it, then go ahead and get Thundergod. The effect can't really be described, but must be experienced.

Thundergod gets you out in the rain without getting wet originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Thundergod gets you out in the rain without getting wet originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to Jailbreak iPhone 3G running iPhone OS 3.1.2 Using PwnageTool 3.1.4

Quick Look: Dark Horse and Gelaskins Brings Buffy-grade Protection to Your iPhone

Dark Horse Comics, purveyors of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, Angel, Hellboy, among other licensed and creator-owned fare have teamed up with Gelaskins to produce a series of comic and pop-art inspired protective coatings for your iPhone, iPod touch, and laptop.

They were kind enough to send TiPb a sample of the Buffy and Hellboy iPhone 3GS skins, and the art was bold and beautiful, and the product every bit as good as I’ve come to expect from Gelaskins (I’ve been using them for a long time, as those who’ve seen my iPhone 3G with Dragon skin in our videos can attest.)

They won’t protect your iPhone from severe impact, but they’ll keep scrapes and abrasions at bay, (and if an imaginary vampire attacks, maybe, just maybe, Buffy or Faith will jump out and dust them for you).

Each skin has a matching wallpaper available for download. iPhone and iPod touch skins are $14.95 and available via the above link.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick Look: Dark Horse and Gelaskins Brings Buffy-grade Protection to Your iPhone

Bento, Bed Bugs, The North Face Snow Report, RedLaser, Canabalt – TiPb Picks of the Week

Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they’re fair game.

So who’s on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!

Chad’s Pick: Bento

This week I am picking the Bento app from FileMaker. There are several apps out there that can keep track of passwords and other data. What is nice about Bento is that you can make these databases yourself! You can edit fields, make lists and choose data types. If you own Bento for Mac, you can sync the data between apps! For $4.99, Bento is a great value for simple database creation. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Chris’ Pick: Bed Bugs

Bed Bugs is a fun, quick paced pseudo-shooting game (for some reason it reminds me of Space Invaders). In the game, you try to keep your sleeper asleep by shooting the various monsters that try to wake him up. Different monsters have different weaknesses (when you can “shoot” them, for example). Succeed and your sleeper gets a good night sleep. [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Jeremy’s Pick: The North Face Snow Report

Snowboard/Ski season is fast approaching so my pick is the Snow Report. It’s free and you get a slick user interface, detailed information on any resort you select, trail maps, built in Twitter support, etc… Nifty little app that anyone interested in skiing or snowboarding should pick up.[$Free - iTunes link]

Matt’s Pick: RedLaser

RedLaser is created by Occipital, which has that nifty barcode scanning technology (used in foodscanner as well.) The application scans barcodes with ease and has recently come to my aid in purchasing books. After it scans, it pulls up results from Amazon, Google and other locations, letting you know where the cheapest place to purchase is. If you’re one of those people that like to compare prices while at the store, this might just be the perfect app for you! [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Rene’s Pick: Canabalt

Canabalt is a highly simplified, highly stylized — indeed pixelized — game where you race across rooftops, jump over obstacles, leap between buildings, crash through windows, avoid bombs and collapsing construction, and otherwise do everything you can just to keep running. If you hit something you slow down, if you don’t, you speed up, and if you mistime a jump, you fall, crash or get vaporized and the game is over. How far can you run? [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Your Pick?

You’re part of team TiPb too, so what’s your pick? What app was your absolute fav last week? Let us — and everyone — know in the comments!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Bento, Bed Bugs, The North Face Snow Report, RedLaser, Canabalt – TiPb Picks of the Week

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