{"id":42143,"date":"2009-11-14T15:01:38","date_gmt":"2009-11-14T20:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theappleblog.com\/?p=35751"},"modified":"2009-11-14T15:01:38","modified_gmt":"2009-11-14T20:01:38","slug":"weekly-app-store-picks-november-14-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/42143","title":{"rendered":"Weekly App Store Picks: November 14, 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the weekend arrives it’s time to take another look at the latest iPhone apps to hit the store. As ever, I’ve selected four of the freshest picks for you to check out.<\/p>\n

This week I’ve gathered a random assortment of app goodness for you to look at. There’s a great new sound toy, a tool for transforming your tweets into haikus, an app for Apple completists and a bombastic little tanks game.<\/p>\n

My top pick for this week is Into Infinity, a new sound toy from the folks at dublab. Plus, I’ve also been looking at Twiku, iCombat Lite and Mactracker.<\/p>\n

INTO INFINITY<\/a> (Free)<\/h3>\n

\"appicon_intoinfinity\"The iPhone seems to be just the right platform for interacting with sound, so whenever a new sound toy hits the App Store I’ve just got to take a look. INTO INFINITY, an art and music exhibition presented by dublab and Creative Commons, lets you create your own swirling sound mixes and then tweet them out.<\/p>\n

Once you’ve opened the app, orbs will start downloading to your mix space. Each orb is an audio-visual bubble, containing an image and a looped sample. Setting a variety of orbs in orbit immediately creates a musical milieu of sounds and melodies. Once you’ve created your perfect mix, hit the share button and you can send your creation to Twitter in a couple of taps.<\/p>\n

The folks behind the app are pretty special too. On one side we have dublab<\/a>, the label behind the most frequently listened to ‘net radio station (and a sterling podcast<\/a> too). And then there’s the Japanese contingent of Creative Commons, providing forward-thinking licenses that, in this instance, allow us to legally share all the mixes made within the app.<\/p>\n

Apart from being a fresh approach to creating mixes, INTO INFINITY is also worth supporting because of the app’s use of Creative Commons. I’m all for supporting sharing music — I’ve even made use of a stack of Creative Commons-licensed samples for my forthcoming album<\/a> — so, for me, it’s doubly important to support these kind of initiatives. Grab the app, make some mixes and start sharing now.<\/p>\n

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Twiku<\/a> ($1.99)<\/h3>\n

\"twiku\" Right now it seems like there’s not much room left for another Twitter client on iPhone. Recently released Tweetie 2<\/a> sits at the top of the stack for me, closely followed by Birdfeed<\/a> and Echofon<\/a>. Frankly, at present, it’s seems as if all bases are covered by these three able and aesthetically scrummy apps.<\/p>\n

As a new Twitter client though, Twiku presents a genuinely unique and certainly novel feature. As the blurb for Twiku points out, “There are many Twitter clients, but only Twiku can make your tweets; poetry.” And that’s exactly what it does, enabling you to transform your insightful and frequently witty observations — such as that rousing description of your lunch — into a delicate Haiku.<\/p>\n

As you tap the tweet out, Twiku reads through your message and helps with the haiku composition process. The app includes an impressive 120 thousand word syllable-counting dictionary, allows saving of drafts and can even bypass Twitter, allowing you to mail your creations to your friends.<\/p>\n

Mactracker<\/a> (Free)<\/h3>\n

\"appicon_mactracker\"Mactracker provides detailed information on every Apple Macintosh ever manufactured. There’s the standard info, such as the device’s initial price and launch date, but there’s also slightly more obscure data too. For instance, did you know that the Macintosh Performa 400’s maximum RAM speed was 100 ns? Or that the Macintosh Portable featured a Sealed lead-acid battery.<\/p>\n

Even if these interesting factoids don’t float your Apple-related boat, the app is worth downloading simply because it includes the Startup Chimes for every Macintosh ever released<\/em>. That’s a whole lot of Startup Chime. And if your abode is<\/em> overflowing with vintage Apple goods, this app will prove to be a incredibly valuable source of information.<\/p>\n

iCombat Lite<\/a> (Free)<\/h3>\n

\"appicon_icombat_lite\"Without a TV in my dainty little Helsinki apartment, I decided that it was time to give my Nintendo Wii away. It’s now installed underneath a large flat-panel TV at a friend’s home, allowing him access to the joys of golf, bowling and boxing from the comfort of his living room.<\/p>\n

It’s not the lounge-based sports activities that I’m missing though, instead I’ve had a hankering for the excellent Wii Play tanks mini-game<\/a>. Despite the slightly clumsy controls, iCombat Lite recreates the joys of the tanks mini-game. Across 10 levels, you’ll drive a toy tank around various arenas, attempting to explode your enemies using rockets, grenades and mines.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all the picks for this week. I\u2019ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?<\/p>\n

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