Disney recently released the classic story of Dumbo as an interactive app for the iPhone and iPad. For children young and old the story of Dumbo is an endearing classic and while this interactive story book to the original story and artwork it also and features such as coloring pages, puzzles and a musical instrument in the form of a Calliope straight from the pages of the book.
The story itself is beautifully recreated in its electronic form and has well delivered audio to so that your child can listen to the story as well as read it. The pages come to life with animated action too which brings the story to life even more.
One if the most impressive features though is the ability to record your own audio of each individual page. You can do this one page at a time and when turned on the narration will be you voice and not the origami voice. This will be awesome if for any reason your going to be away from your child as this can be one way to stay close.
The three additional features are fun too. Playing the Calliope is fun and sounds very authentic. You can either freestyle or follow the tutorial to play along with the tune. The puzzle provides 3 virtual jigsaw puzzles for you to put together and each has 3 difficulty levels which increases the number of pieces in the puzzle.
Also pulling from the pictures in the book are the coloring pages. In these pages you have a paint brush, pencil and a palette of colors to color in the picture. You can save your handiwork if you want to come back to it later or email your completed masterpiece.
A nice added feature is the ability to personalize the splash screen of the app, not only with your child’s photograph but also their name which you can either type in or write in using your finger or stylus.
It’s no surprise that Disney would produce such a great app but it’s good to see it come to fruition.
This universal app cost $1.99 and is available in the App Store now, whether you are wanting to relive the story from your childhood or enjoy it with your child or grand children this app is a great way to do it.
[rating: 5/5]What we like
What to know
Ever since I purchased my very first iPad 1 on launch day I’ve been searching for an app that will let me use the iPad as if I was hold a piece of paper in my hand, (And yes, I appreciate the irony of spending $500+ for a piece of paper!), and I’m yet to do it. Penultimate comes close, and I do love the app but it still didn’t feel natural.
Paper by FiftyThree aims to change all that with an app which is more than just for taking notes and is more about getting your creativity down on, well…..paper!
The app is built for the retina display of the new iPad, however, I’ve used the app on both the new iPad and the iPad 2 and other than it being a little more pixelated on the iPad 2 the experience is still one that will probably keep you coming back for more.
As a free download the app seems like an absolutely bargain to begin with but for free you only have access to a skill pen style and 9 colors. For many this will suffice, the experience is an organic one as you brush your finger across the screen and the pen draws pin-perfect pressure sensitive lines to create thin and thick lines as required.
Writing in Paper for iPad is an absolute joy, not only does it feel great but it looks amazing too and even though I’m not very artistic I felt that Paper brought out creativity in me that I never knew that I had purely because it’s such a great experience and possibly because there is an endless supply of paper!
The paper is stored in notebooks that you can create and name as you require and you can navigate through the notebooks and the pages with a swipe, while opening and closing them can be done with a pinch or by opening two fingers.
The minimalistic style also extends to the undo option which is performed by rotating two fingers anti-clockwise on the screen and while this works great some people may prefer the option of a virtual button to complete some of these actions.
In fact the only virtual in use are those to select the pen of choice and the color and it’s both these two items that left me wanting.
As mentioned previously the fact that the app is free initially seems like an absolute steal, however, if you wish to add additional writing options such as markers, pencils or a watercolor brush then you must purchase them for $1.99 each. This may seem a little expensive but if you find yourself using this app daily it’s certainly worth it.
Then there is the choice of color, a paltry 9 to choose from, why a complete color palette couldn’t have been included to allow you to choose any color you wish I don’t know. Perhaps a future update will see this included.
Those two points made, Paper is still a must download for all iPad owners, the free option will be more than adequate for many users but the chances are that after a few minutes, hours or days the temptation to purchase one, if not all, of the additional writing options will prove too much for many.
For a truly unique writing and artistic experience Paper by FiftyThree is a must.
[rating: 4/5]What we like
What to know
If you’ve ever spun a pencil or drumsticks in your hand, this game is for you. If you haven’t it’s still a fun skill to try. Your spin technique is what it’s all about.
You have three choices of challenge: time, spin, or distance. Time measures how many spins you can do in a fixed amount of time. Spin is just the opposite. It measures how long it takes you to do a fixed number of spins. And I’m not sure how distance is measured, but this is the endurance event of the challenges.
It’s got a fun industrial style with music to match. The graphics are fairly simple but provide feedback as to the challenge you are on, the time/distance/spins, and just some funky animations to let you know when you’ve completed a rotation. However, it can be hard, if not impossible, to read this information while also trying to spin your device, so it helps that there’s also tactile feedback for each spin.
This is a game that could be quite addictive for those who like to go one up on their previous score or on the scores of their friends through Game Center. You’ll be able to tell the addicts by the size of their forearm. This game takes a certain amount of physical skill and effort! It’s one that may be best played in short bursts.
To get the best scores, it’s probably best to spin your device on your finger or in your hand, if you’re comfortable doing that. If your not, consider placing it on a flat surface (a mouse pad for instance) and spinning it there. You’ll still want to use a bit of caution, as it would be pretty easy for it to go flying. But the more you do it, the more confident and in control you’ll be.
This is a really fun game that anyone, perhaps with a bit of caution, can do. It’s simplicity and game play makes it one that will always provide a challenge whether you play it frequently or not. But I think it’s one that you’ll keep coming back to.
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