Apple is looking to improve Siri, its digital voice assistant for iOS devices. The Cupertino, California company posted a job listing on social networking site, LinkedIn and is specifically looking for writers that can help to improve the personality of Siri.
We’re looking for a uniquely creative individual to help us evolve and enrich Siri, our virtual personal assistant. Siri’s known for ‘her’ wit, cultural knowledge, and zeal to explain things in engaging, funny, and practical ways. The ideal candidate is someone who combines a love for language, wordplay, and conversation with demonstrated experience in bringing creative content to life within an intense technical environment.
Siri is currently included in Apple’s newest iPad, iPhone lineup, as well the fifth generation iPod touch. Siri, despite initially launching to popularity has become a secondary feature for some users, who would rather do searches and scheduling themselves instead of relying on the digital assistant.
Apple is looking to improve the usability of the service, which has been somewhat of a failure and has partially contributed to the ousting of iOS chief Scott Forstall from the company. Apple appears to be molding Siri in order for it to become as similar to a human conversation as possible. During the introductory keynote, Forstall noted that Siri truly understands what a user is saying and responds as such. With this position fulfilled, Siri will continue to gain far more responses to prompts than it currently has.
{Via iMore}
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Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Play at Home with Daniel is the rather long title for a new universal app from PBS Kids for preschoolers. As a father with a two year old daughter this app was a perfect excuse to spend some time with the two things I love, my daughter and my iPad.
My daughter loves my iPad and so getting her to take a look at a new app wasn’t difficult and while she hasn’t seen the original Daniel Tiger show before she was instantly engaged with the app as it launched.
The app is split into four distinct areas and accessing them is via four large buttons with images of the four areas on them for easy identification. There is the Doctor, Bedtime, Bathroom and Sticker Book all with there own set of activities and interactions for your child to interact with.
When playing as the doctor with Daniel as the patient you’ll get to interact with Daniel as you give him a jab, check his heartbeat and check out his tongue by dragging the instruments to him from the side of the screen. You can even give him a sticker to show what a good tiger he’s been!
On in the bathroom you can help Daniel brush his teeth, wash his hands and flush the toilet while in the bedroom you can walk through the steps to help Daniel go to sleep including giving him his blanket & teddy, turning off the light and signing him a lullaby. All of which can be done by simply tapping on the screen.
This is the one complaint that I have about Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and that is there is a combination of controls, some just require a tap, while others need a tap and drag and this inconsistency can prove a little frustrating at times.
The final location is the Sticker Book where your child can interact with the four environments and create their own stories by placing virtual stickers all over the screen. These stickers include all of Daniels’ friends, furniture, artifacts, animals and other items from Daniel Tigers world.
Sticker placement is remembered as you navigate between the various scenes but the only option you have if you want to redo something is to erase everything and start again.
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Play at Home with Daniel is a fun and engaging title for your younger children to play with. It’s easy for them to navigate and to control and what’s even better is that the audio isn’t going to drive you as the parent around the bend!
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Play at Home with Daniel is a universal app and is available for $1.99 in the app store now.
[rating: 4/5]
For those of you that have downloaded any of the Disney Storybooks before you know that you are in for a treat as they bring the books to life on the iPhone and iPad.
Across the 28 interactive virtual pages of the book you can either read the story, have it read to you by the narrator or record the words and have those played back. This is great for your children to practice and listen back to their reading of for a parent to ‘virtually’ read the book to thier child when their not around.
Each page is beautifully illustrated, animated and can be interacted while the narration is clear and easy to listen too.
The storybook also includes additional activities including a matching game, 6 puzzles of increasing difficulty, 6 paintings and a talking Dory which acts similar to the talking animal games that are available.
At $6.99 it’s not cheap but it is an engaging way to re-live the Finding Nemo story.
The Finding Nemo Interactive Comic re-tells the story of Finding Nemo in a panel by panel comic book. You can either have the panels automatically appear or tap and swipe the screen to move through the story.
For your creative children you also get a step by step guide to how to draw the four main protagonists and you can either draw them directly onto the iPad or use the skills you learn and draw them elsewhere too.
Finding Nemo Interactive Comic is a universal app and is available from the App Store now for just $1.99
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Even in this electronic age board games have never gone out of fashion, the only difference being that where as many of these games were once played on literal boards they are now often being played on virtual boards on iPhones, iPads and other such devices.
And that is certainly the case of the award winning Whoowasit? HD which is now available on the iPad for $4.99 from the App Store.
Whoowasit? HD is like a cross between the classic board games of Clue and Guess Who and is a team based where instead of players competing against each the players are encouraged to work together to solve the puzzles and find the thief who has stolen the ring.
Set in medieval times the game is set in the rooms of a castle and by rolling the dice players take it in turns to move their character from room to room looking for clues to who could have stolen the ring.
The board is beautifully drawn with lots of detail and small animations. Each room contains a different animal and they will have clues to help you finger the thief. However, they won’t give up they’re information for nothing and need to be encouraged to spill the beans by giving them food which can also be found in the rooms.
As it’s a team game everyone gets to see the clues that are presented and can use them themselves. You may think that as everyone is working together that catching the thief would be easy. However, you are up against the clock and failure to find the thief in the allotted time will result in the game being over.
You will also have to avoid the ghost that moves from room to room as being in the same room will see you banished back to the nursery to start your hunt again.
The thief, clues and food that the animals require are changed each time that you play the game too ensuring that no too games are ever the same which makes repeat plays of the game more attractive.
The game also provides additional features for those players that own the board game version of Whoowasit? HD as it includes an interactive chest that becomes part of the board game.
Whoowasit? HD provides is an enjoyable experience and provides a more relaxed gaming experience compared to some of the other titles that are available on the iPad. While some people may be put off by the $4.99 price tag they should remember that this is a game that the whole family can play together and is considerably cheaper than purchasing a board game in a store.
[rating: 4.5/5]What we like
What to know
While car racing games dominate the App Store racing market there are those that prefer 2 wheeled transport and for those people there’s a new ride in town in the form of Rock(s) Rider, a new universal game that’s available in the App Store right now.
Rock(s) Rider is a trials based motorcycle game where your opponents are both a variety of obstacles and the clock and is based in a DaftPunk style warehouse full of ramps, jumps, loops and fireworks, yes fireworks!
If you’ve played Bike Baron before then you’ll have the basic idea of what you are in for here, however while Bike Baron is cartoon style arcade game, Rock(s) Racer is more of a simulator, with a few bells and whistles added for good measure.
The graphics look great, from the line-drawn design on the I game navigation to the industrial graphics of the levels themselves you aren’t going to be disappointed and the pleasure is matched in the audio department too where a pumping soundtrack and great sounding audio effects create an environment which you’ll want to keep coming back to.
Despite the claustrophobic confines of the warehouse each level is packed with action and controlling your two wheeled chariot over and through these obstacles is fun, challenging and at times frustrating.
These frustrations come from some of the level designs which can often leave your motorcycle trapped in a position that it can’t get out of. Sure you can go back to your last check point but the fact that you can even get stuck is, as I mentioned before, frustrating.
That frustration aside the game is a lot of fun, the controls are accurate and have multiple configurations so that you can choose between virtual buttons and touch controls but a combination of them both too, add to that the ability to control the sensitivity of them means that you have no excuse to control your bike with skill and accuracy!
And the bike responds well to these controls to and after a few rides you should be able to get the bike to do pretty much as you please. Of course that may sound like the challenge to the game is over at that point, you’d be wrong though as the real challenge comes not only from control the bike but from anticipating the tracks, collecting the relevant objects and finding the hidden objects too.
All of this takes place across 24 progressively difficult levels, bonus levels and additional levels promised at a later stage too, as you progress you will unlock features for your bike and character as well as a 3 wheeled bike that you can use on the bonus levels. Once you think you’ve mastered the various tracks though you’ll find yourself racing side by side with the bosses who are out to prevent you taking their crown.
Leaderboards and 40 achievements are provided via GameCenter integration which provide additional challenge to the game and while it’s a Universal app there is no synchronization of your progress between devices.
Rock(s) Rider, despite its frustrations, is a fun and challenging game, if you like you racing action on two wheels then this could be $2.99 well spent.
[rating: 4/5]What we like
What to know
Darkside is the second iOS title from developer Clockwook Pixels and if you have a soft spot for the retro game Asteroids then Darkside may be worth a look.
For those of you under 30 Asteroids is a 2 dimensional space shooter where you control a 4 line spaceship surrounded by spinning asteroids with your only option to spin and shoot your way through them.
While Asteroids still stands the test of time Darkside brings it into the 21st century with gorgeous retina display graphics, firework like explosions and a thumping aural experience.
Each level is based on a planet which you spin around and using the left virtual analog stick while shooting a full 360 degrees using the right virtual analog stick. The controls are simple and effective and allow you to navigate the busy planet at speed which is something you’ll need if you plan to progress through the levels.
You single weapon soon finds itself as little help against the huge asteroids that are bombarding you but luckily a variety of power-ups will provide you with just what you need to blast through the levels.
The game comes in three flavors, Arcade, Mission and Survival modes which add slightly different challenges to the main concept. Arcade is included in as part of the free universal app while a single in-app purchase will unlock the additional two modes.
If you are looking for a shooter that fires up the senses or want to relive the memories of yesterday year then you can’t go far wrong with Darkside that has a built-in trial period thanks to the 99 cent in-app purchase.
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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
Growing up I would frequently send and receive greeting cards that used the poems and character of Purple Ronnie, a stick figure, funny guy who always brought a smile to my face, and in Fancy Pants for iPhone and iPad I was taken back to that time as the lead character in this game reminded me of him.
However, most of you will know Fancy Pants from the web version of the game that’s been around for a while now and the port over to iOS is a pretty accurate representation of the stick figured platformer although the opportunity to take advantage of the iOS unique control functions of a touch screen and accelerometer was one that should have been taken advantage of. Instead the controls are simply via 4 virtual buttons.
All that aside Fancy Pants {App Store} is still a lot of fun, it’s fast, smooth and addictive and has loads of content that will keep you coming back for more again and again.
The back story consists of the everyday story of rescuing your sister from a bunch of pirates who have kidnapped her, the story is fun, entertaining but following the story is not required and doesn’t take anything away from the game play.
After a brief tutorial you’ll soon find yourself running, leaping, climbing and crawling through large sprawling levels which are full of obstacles but also various challenges and things to collect. You don’t have to complete everything to move through the store mode, in fact having something to go back to the earlier levels to do is all part of the fun.
The artistic style of the whole game is one of simple line drawings but they spring to life as Fancy Pants charges through the 11 levels and multiple arcade challenges that you can unlock as you play through the levels. These arcade games can then be played separately and you can track your success across all of this via the Crystal social gaming network.
If you decide not to complete all of the side challenges then the game can be literally run through pretty quickly, the question is though, why would you!
Despite not taking advantage of any iOS unique control options the controls do work well and Fancy Pants moves around so fluidly that even when he’s not swimming under water it can seem like he is, and that’s no bad thing!
If you like platform games but want something that is a step up from the normal jump up, jump over, stomp, repeat, repeat then Fancy Pants is for you. Fancy Pants is only 99c at the moment and is a universal game so can be played on both your iPhone and iPad, however there is no iCloud support so you’ll need to complete the game on both separately.
[rating: 4/5]What to know:
Every now and again apps arrive on my virtual desktop to review that are a little out of the ordinary and Skulls by Simon Winchester certainly falls into that category.
Skulls in an interactive book in which the author delves into the life of Alan Dudley, a British taxidermist whose ‘art’ got him arrested for dealing in protected species.
The story itself is a fascinating one even for those who don’t have a particular interest in the subject, however with the addition of of 300 animal skulls that can be spun and viewed at all angles it’s visually stunning too.
In fact even the extinct Dodo in skeletal form seems to come to life as you rotate it on the screen and I’m sure this would be even more the case if you get yourself some of the 3D compatible glasses for $5 from the touchpress.com website.
You have the option of either reading the book as you would any other or you can choose to have the book read to you. What’s nice about the audio option is the fact that the page will move as the book is read so that the relevant illustrations and pictures are always visible.
As well as using Skulls by Simon Winchester as a book it can also be used as a reference tool with all of the skulls beautifully displayed graphically in alphabetical order which can also be filter on based on Class, Group, Family and Behaviour.
You can also compare up to four of the skulls at the same time and rotate them simultaneously so that you can compare and contrast them.
Skulls by Simon Winchester is certainly not going to be to every ones taste, however it not only tells a fascinating story but is also a beautifully crafted application that utilizes everything that is great about the iPad.
[rating: 5/5]What to know:
[rating: 4/5]
Dream:scape is described by the developer as an interactive narrative experience and that is certainly how you should take it. Entering into Dream:scape for iPhone and iPad expecting a full-on gaming experience will leave you disappointed.
Yes, Dream:scape uses the Unreal engine to generate it’s sumptuous graphics and environments. In Dream:scape you find your self in the shoes of Wilson, who is caught in limbo between life and death, in a dream world where he is tasked to find the truth of his journey through his life and more specifically to the truth of his relationship with his childhood sweetheart Amelia.
As mentioned previously the game looks great, the world that you get to roam around has been beautifully crafted and has a lot of detail, all be it a little sterile in that there is not much that you can interact with. The only people you’ll run into are those featured in the diary that you’ll complete as you move through the 12 chapters of the game.
As the story is told you will make you way through a variety of locations with clues being passed onto you via the diary and the vocal narrative that helps move the story along. You will have to listen carefully at some points though as the clues can be quite subtle and if you miss them you could find yourself walking aimlessly around searching for the answers.
This brings me onto the controls. Two virtual pads control your movement as one controls your sight and direction while the other controls your movement. This is all well and good and it does work well, however with so much walking around and back-tracking to be done the game would really benefit from a run option.
Another annoyance is the diary that is used both as a reference to the story and includes a map to help you navigate the Dream:scape. Unfortunately, there are two issues with the diary, firstly the map is not interactive even missing a “you are here” option and when the diary is updated with the latest details of a completed chapter it doesn’t open to that page meaning that you have to page through multiple pages each time.
The story ticks along nicely and with quality voice acting adding to the overall atmosphere. The ‘game’ isn’t that long however and if you resolve the clues quickly you’ll find yourself completing it in just a few hours.
There are a few action sequences to mix things up a bit but they aren’t going to be enough to keep you entertained if you are looking for more of an action title.
At the end of the experience as it’s better to call it that than a game, I found that I had been sucked into the story and the twist at the end which is well worth waiting for. As long as you head into this unique title with the correct expectations you’ll find yourself suitably entertained.
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