The Talking Halloween Pumpkin Billy will repeat anything you say in a hilarious voice. Make sure you speak clearly and hold the phone somewhat close before talking. The lead character is armed with a knife in one hand and a bottle in the other. Tapping specific places or items on the screen will give you different reactions. Touch him and he will either swing his knife at you or hiccup. Touch his drink and he will begin to ramble. Touch the tombstone and he will tell you what happened. Background sound effects along with random character movements and gestures add to the experience.

The Talking Halloween Pumpkin Billy will react to your interactions and the scene around him. Tap the moon in the background and everything becomes dark. Access a variety of menu buttons at the bottom that initiate specific reactions. Some of the buttons transform the talking pumpkin into different characters altogether. Leave him unattended too long and the pumpkin will begin rambling, laugh, or simply move about.

The app looks crisp on the iPhone 4 Retina Display. It has vibrant colors, a clean and easy-to-use menu layout on the bottom portion of the screen, cool haunting background scenery, and of course the animated talking pumpkin with expressive facial animations and fluid body movements.

This app is prone to lose it’s luster after the Halloween season is over, but kids should get a kick out of the interactive features and quirky character traits Pumpkin Billy has to offer. It should be a hit with the youngsters, specially those that enjoy going Trick or Treating. I see this app being used as a vessel for what kids really want to say as they walk up to the doorsteps on Halloween: HURRY UP AND GIVE ME SOME CANDY SO I CAN HOLD UP THE NEXT HOUSE!!

***THINGS YOU CAN DO***
-Scream at him and he will scream back in a hilarious voice.
-Turn off the moon and see how he reacts.
-Touch the moon to bring out wolf howling, and see him yell back.
-Shake him and he will get mad.
-Touch him and he will either swing his knife at you or hiccup.
-Touch the friends button and he will tell you where his friends are.
-Bring out the bat and watch him run for his life.
-Touch his drink and he will explain something to you.
-Touch the tombstone and he will tell you what happened.
-Dress him up as the Reaper and watch the grass scream painfully while he collects their souls.
-Ignore him and he will either laugh and choke on his drink or feel depressed about being seedless.
-Dress him up as a ghost and he reacts funnily.
-Touch the candy button and he will bring out his friend.
-Touch “Happy Halloween” and he will either celebrate with hip thrusts, or feel lonely.
-Touch his knife and he will fix his face while singing.

Related posts:

1. MouthOff App Adds Hell-oween Pumpkin Mouth In Time for Halloween
2. Minimax Games releases Catch Halloween Candy 1.0.4 for iPhone
3. Halloween Experience for the iPhone adds multitasking background sounds
4. Halloween. Pumpkins. Puzzle.
5. Halloween Catch 1.3 for iPhone – New Game App Just in Time for Halloween

The kid friendly aspect of this app is what stands out the most to me.  It’s really easy to customize your face and email, share, and post to Facebook and Twitter.  I can see middle school aged kids having a field day making funny pics of their friends, teachers, bus drivers, and parents.  Adults can get a kick out of this app too, especially in a workplace setting, but for me it loses it’s luster pretty quickly.  Maybe that’s just because I’ve messed around with so many different face apps at this point

So there’s really not much to explain about Monstermakr.  If you’ve tried one face altering app you have the general gist of what’s involved.  The most important things to know is does it do a good job and is it easy to use, and for this app that’s definitely the case.  It takes literally one minute to snap a pic, drag and drop in some funny fake eyes, lips, mustaches, wounds, etc.  It takes just a touch or two to add sounds, share with friends, post to Facebook.  I think anyone fairly acquainted with an iPhone or iPod touch will create masterpieces with little to know direction.  Even 3-5 year olds could whip up a little somethin somethin with this app.

I think we can all agree that apps like this are seasonal and pretty cheesy, which is exactly why many of us like them.  Kids love getting into the spirit of Halloween and having a funny face maker is definitely something they’ll enjoy.  If you’re looking for one that both you and your kids can have fun with then Monstermakr certainly fits the bill.  It’s only $0.99 and probably good for a couple of laughs.

Pros:

• Kid friendly, mom’s can have fun with it too
• Easy to use and has a decent selection goodies to choose from
• Share creations on Facebook, Twitter, email, and assign to contacts

Cons:

• Stating the obvious, it’s seasonal so you prob won’t use it more than a handful of times

Version Reviewed: 1.0

Requirements: iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad; iOS 3.0 or later

Related posts:

1. Faces iMake
2. Facebook Fun 1.3 for iPhone – The Name Says it All
3. Social Fun Box for iPhone – Cool, Fancy Features for Facebook & Twitter
4. Are You Macho?
5. Volt

How many people have learned a cool trick in the past at a party or some other social event just to forget how to do it immediately after? It can be very difficult to sort through the necessary steps and intricacies of a magic trick unless it’s practiced on a regular basis. This is one aspect which makes the Magic Lesson app so great. You can use it’s built in walk throughs, explanations and video tutorials to learn each trick, and then easily recap over the steps directly from your phone right before you perform the trick, without anyone even knowing. Magic Lesson has a very logical and easy setup for accessing and learning new magic tricks. The video tutorials make learning the moves very easy even for the most novice of magic goers (I include myself in this category).

Core Features:

• 46-min of high quality videos and 170 pictures to guide the user step-by-step
• Detailed video/text explanation
• Variations are also included so that users can perform alternative routines
• ‘Points’ in each trick to explain the important concepts
• ‘Presentation’ in each trick so that you can perfect your talk!
• Periodical free updates for more effects

Magic Tricks Included:

• Chaos Prediction
• 4 Aces Production
• Unpredictable Card Revelation
• Coin Vanish
• Tissue Restoration
• Slip Prediction
• Jumping Coin
• Coin Through Table
• Mix-Up
• Matching Mate
• Card Warp
• Hand Master
• Card Basic

The premise and features of Magic Lesson are simple, but that’s a good attribute to have when serving as a teaching app. If you have an interest in magic then you’ll certainly love the opportunity to learn many great new magic tricks and show them off to your friends.

Related posts:

1. Free iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad Promo Codes for Magic Lesson: Original Video Guide App!
2. iPhone and iPad App Magic Lesson Advanced Sponsors Contest and Giveaway
3. Master illusions for any occasion with Book of Magic for iOS
4. Magic Lesson Advanced App Contest and Giveaway
5. Bestselling Magic Trick on App Store Lowers Price – Fights For Top Spot

You can interact directly with Tom the cat by poking, petting, punching and tail pulling. Each action will get a different reaction whether it’s a purrrr, or an OUCH! Strike Tom one too many times and he falls to the floor in dizzy fashion. Additional props include a glass directly beside Tom. When tapped, it’s filled with milk for our crazy cat to chug. If you leave Tom for too long unattended, he will start getting bored then yawn or sneeze.

While the interaction with Tom is an added benefit, the real value is the accuracy in which Tom mimics your every word. You’ll know when Tom is listening (recording) because he will turn an ear up, along with his paw. The lip movement along with that crazy cat voice repeating every word is pretty amusing. I was surprised by just how much the app will pick up. Any surrounding noise will be recorded. I did a test by  letting Tom listen to some Pavarotti on my computer and sure enough he belted out every word just like the opera singer, just with a slightly higher octave. The app sound effects are fun and his little growls add to his quirky self. I also saw that when Tom “talked,” or played back the recording, the pitch was appropriate to the pitch of the speaker; meaning, a lower-voice speaker resulted in a lower pitch, whereas a higher voice resulted in a higher voice, as opposed to a one generic pitch for the cat.

Another really cool feature is that you can actually record up to 30 seconds of Tom in action. After the recording is done directly upload that to YouTube or Facebook or send a direct email of the video. This a great feature for sharing your cat alter ego. Send your friends a message delivered by Tom and it will surely get a few laughs.
One drawback are the ads, but for a freebie that’s something that can be easily overlooked considering the comical nature of this app . Taking Tom Cat brings entertainment to the iPhone at NO Charge. You can’t beat that. There are similar apps out but none at the free price point that offer this level of quality, features, and flat-out fun.

Related posts:

1. Talking Halloween Pumpkin Billy
2. Talking Tom Cat released for iPhone and iPod touch
3. Talking Presidents 1.0 on iOS – Create Mt Rushmore Video Parodies
4. Appkruti introduces Look Who’s Talking 1.0 for iOS
5. Talking Headz 1.0 on iOS – Send Animated Character, Morphed-Voice Movies

Created by FunGear Studio, Jack-in-the-box : Find the difference is a prank app hidden behind the guise of a “find the difference” game.  It lets you customize a scare tactic to pop up and surprise unsuspecting victims during game-play.  You can choose from three included images and sounds or you can add/record your own, you can type a custom message that displays after the image and sound is displayed, and you can choose when you want the prank to be triggered (Level 1, 2, or 3).

So you’re probably wondering how you can set all this up without your victims sniffing out that it’s a prank app.  Well, I can honestly say there’s zero chance anyone that’s never seen the app will find the options menu.  It’s very cleverly hidden within a collage of images that runs across the top of the home screen like a banner.  If you press the pink gift box within the banner it unveils the options menu where you can customize your prank specifically for your victim.

So how good is this app?  Well, overall the quality of the find the difference game within the app is excellent.  It’s much more crisp, clean, and polished then you might expect from a prank app.  The layout and design of the menus and the types of options included are well thought out and executed.  Everything about the app is perfect except one MAJOR thing; the scare.

I tested Jack-in-the-box : Find the difference with three separate people.  Each one having absolutely no idea I was pranking them.  I tested various different scares at all three trigger points (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3).  Everybody’s initial reaction was that the game was fun.  In fact, one person said to me “I love it!” while playing.  So needless to say when I heard that comment I knew they were concentrating heavily on the game therefore the scare should have maximum effectiveness.  Unfortunately, due to the timing of the scare, every person I tried the app out on ended up being confused and not scared.

How could this happen?  Well, the scare is currently setup to only be able to launch after time runs out.  Once you select which level you want the scare to pop out on the app automatically removes one of the differences in the level so it’s impossible for your victim to complete it.  Once time runs out the scare makes itself known.  Unfortunately, because it comes at the end of the level, ever person I tried it on already had accepted they lost and diverted their attention away from the screen at the time the scare popped up.  When they looked back their first and only reaction was “what is this?”.

Overall I’m a huge fan of the concept of this app.  I absolutely love pranks so anytime I can find one that’s new and fresh I like to pull it.  Weaving surprise pranks into find the difference and hidden object style games only makes sense, however it’s super critical that you expose the prank during peak concentration and not after.  Making a tweak to how the prank is triggered would make a world of difference with this app.  If it were triggered based on time within a level instead of the end of the level the result of the prank would be night and day in my opinion.  Hopefully this is a tweak that’s made in the near future.  If it is, I definitely recommend snatching this app up for a good laugh!

Pros:

• The quality of the find the difference game is excellent; looks/feels real
• Concealment of the options menu is perfect
• You can add stored images and sounds, as well as record your own custom sounds

Cons:

• The scare doesn’t pop up until the end of a level; tends to be more confusing than scary

Version Reviewed: 1.0

Requirements: iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad; iPhone OS 3.0 or later

Related posts:

1. Running Game with a Difference, Gravity Runner, runs onto the App Store
2. Prank Your Friends with the New iPhone App – The LOST Whispers
3. One of the scariest apps ever – now updated
4. iApps Launches Prank ‘em 1.0 for iPhone – Different, Fun Phone Pranks
5. Volt

I didn’t expect much from MyWalls, from Simpa Studio. But the app far exceeded my expectations. When it comes to a wallpaper app, the interface is a secondary concern. What you want is one that just doesn’t get in the way. If you notice it, it probably failed. It should be just simple and make it really easy to get your wallpapers from the app to the Lock screen or the Home screen. With MyWalls it succeeds. After finding a wallpaper you like, you tap the picture to reveal the toolbar across the top and then tap on Save. It saves it as a Photo in your camera roll and you then go into the Photo app to set it as either your Lock or Home screen wall paper. To do that you hit the share button in the lower left corner of the Photos app and choose Use as Wallpaper. From there you can choose to set to the Lock Screen, Home Screen or both.

When you open MyWalls it gives you a list of categories. Just tap any category to view the wallpapers.  When you find a wallpaper that you like just tap it to activate the toolbar. The buttons across the top let you view more  info about the wallpaper (title, date published, and if uploaded by a user their name or just unknown), email it to friends, save it to your iPhone/iPod touch/iPad, or go back to the previous page.

Across the bottom of the app’s main window is an options menu bar.  You can use this bar to toggle back and forth between Category view (described above), the Search function which allows you to type in a theme or subject to locate associated wallpapers, the Settings page, Share page, and the Info page.  I tried out the Search function with a few searches of my own – Packers, cars, Kentucky, and dogs, but only cars returned any wallpapers. So in my opinion, the quickest way to find a wallpaper that you want is to first use the search function, and if there’s nothing there then head back to the category page and look around for the next best thing.

Next I tried out the Settings page. On this page you can give your name, web site, and email address to submit and share your own pictures. It lists a couple of submission guidelines, but fortunately they really only say that you’re permitting MyWalls to use your image.  You still get to retain ownership and copyright. Why would anyone give them the photos if they didn’t retain ownership? I am glad the developer chose to do it this way. As a result, I submitted one of my own pictures taken with the great camera on my iPhone 4.  To upload images into MyWalls just touch the Share button in the lower main menu bar.  From here you just browse and upldoad your wallpaper. The upload process is real simple, and you get a message at the end saying they’ll review it soon.

The last button is the Info button.  It gives you the obligatory information about the app such as the latest news about MyWalls, the option to request new wallpaper, to share MyWalls with your friends via email (link to download MyWalls), and to get help if you need it.

The strengths of this app are first that it is simple. The interface is intuitive and easy to get around in. I wish it could save the pictures to your home screen or lock screen from within the app, but I’m almost certain thats a problem with the iPhone OS and not the app itself as none of the other apps that offer the option to save pictures to the home screen do it natively either. One other nit-picky thing is that when you open a picture, at first there is a back and forward arrow at the bottom (see image below). I assume these are there to scroll through the photos in your category or those returned after your search, but annoyingly an ad jumps up and covers the buttons (see the soccer ball image below). Why would you do this?  Anyway, you can get around it just by swiping to move forward and backward, so I guess you don’t technically need the arrows, but the arrows being covered is frustrating. The developer should move the arrows above the ads or remove them altogether. Since this is a free app, removing the ads is probably not an option. Maybe they could offer a paid version so you don’t have to see the ads. As I said these aren’t the biggest of issues, but I thought they were worth pointing out.

The second strength is the photos. I found them to be beautiful. It is true this is a matter of taste, but I liked many of them. Be warned that there are a very few PG-13 photos. I opened the cartoons category and got a Sponge Bob picture and then a bunch of busty cartoon women. Though I am a bit prudish about such things, I was not offended by any of them. Again, it’s a mater a taste.

Finally, there is one problem – the pictures are only 320×480 resolution. The iPhone 4 screen’s resolution is 960×640. I hope the developer updates it to support this new resolution because this will make the images look great on the new iPhone while still looking great on the older phones. That said, none of the images looked bad on my iPhone 4. So it may not be a real issue. Below is the one I chose for now. But I will likely change it in a couple of days to one of the other great pictures in MyWalls.

Related posts:

1. Change your lock screen and home screen wallpapers for iPhone at once
2. Screen Pimp 1.0 for iPhone – Wallpaper With User Customization Options
3. 3D Wallpaper Pro – New iPad Wallpaper App on the Block
4. HKDL Wallpapers HD Provides Stunning HDR Images of Hong Kong Disneyland
5. From The Top Apps Releases Skindex, a Free home and lock screen maker

G4TV.com App Features:

• Up-to-the-Minute Gaming News
• In-Depth Coverage
• Game Reviews
• Cheat Codes
• A comprehensive TV schedule
• Exclusive clips from G4’s popular series including:
  • Attack of the Show
  • X-Play
  • Web Soup
• Network’s event coverage including press conferences, hands-on demos and exclusive interviews on the:
  • E3
  • CES and
  • Comic-Con
• Users can also watch G4TV.com’s original series, including:
  • Feedback
  • Sessler’s Soapbox
  • MMO Report

Having just launched on June 14, the G4 app is new to iTunes and is just in time for the 2010 E3 Expo. I wonder if they planned that A brief browse through the apps features showcases how much information is brought to your fingertips. The new app features all the latest gaming headlines, as well as the newest game trailers, exclusive expert reviews, high-quality videos, interviews with gaming luminaries and unmatched tips, tricks and cheats. Being that this is built for the iPhone and is putting out information to a select group of high tech people (like myslef) I would like to see some additional social media aspects built into the app in the future. The ability to directly connect with other gamers and share secrets, experiences and reviews would be a wonderful features for an upgrade. That being said G4 is a great app and falls in the “Def Download” category if you’re a gamer.

Related posts:

1. G4TV.com Launches iPhone App For Full Coverage from the World of Gaming
2. E! Online Mobile App Launches New Features For the Academy Awards
3. E! Online
4. NY Convergence 1.3 for iPhone – Exclusive NY Digital and Technology News
5. The Portable Gamer Joins Forces With 148Apps To Cover Mobile Games

Red Bull TV has a “LIVE” program section that provides full-length programs on tap at all times. This works just like a regular television channel so depending on when you tune it, the program may already be under way. This leads me to the biggest issue i’ve found with the app up to this point, which is no time controls on the video clips. No pause, no fast forward, no rewind. This feature is missing on all the video sections, (the live feed which is understandable, but its also missing on all the individual category video clips within the app). The only functionality in movie mode is volume control, the ability to email the video to a friend, or the option to rate the video.

A lot of the programming is taken from the Red Bull website, but its nice to get the feed on the iPhone if you are on the go. The production value is pretty good; (video quality is so-so because of the compression needed for streaming) but all-in-all it provides solid entertainment with a wide variety of video categories.

The “videos” section is nicely organized so you can search for what interests you most. It’s filtered by “most popular”, “best rated” and “latest additions”, plus has a Top videos section and a plethora of extreme sports categories. Check out all your favorite extreme sports; adventure sports like base jumping and free climbing, aerial sports, ball sports, bike sports, motor sports, water sports, even winter sports. The app pretty much has it all covered. Most of these video clips are short in length and are more or less a promo, providing a quick rundown of the event. This format works well if you want to get some quick clips in without the need to sit through an entire show. If you want full length material your only choice is the single Live feed program.

The menu design is elegant and efficient, easy to navigate, and quite simple to use. Preview the clip before you play by getting a quick overview graphic of the clip along with date, duration, view totals, and rating.

The live video feed bringing full-length programming directly to your device is probably the best feature with this application. The Red Bull Air Race is one video clip on the app that was pretty slick in my opinion. Watch Red Bull planes weave in and out of  aerial obstacles, requiring lightning fast reaction times and crazy pilot skillz. Mix in video of your favorite sports and entertainment stars and you have one cool app that should provide instant entertainment on the go.

App features:

- Stream Red Bull TV directly on your iPhone/iPod on demand
- Watch live events like the Red Bull Air Race directly in the palm of you hand.
- Browse the video archive and download the latest and best Red Bull video clips

Related posts:

1. Red Bull TV iPhone App – Action and Excitement Right in Your Pocket
2. The B-Boys are Back Re-Launch of Breakdance Champion Red Bull BC One
3. Bull Stampede
4. Get Macho – Bull Stampede Pro and Lite Charge on to the App Store
5. Paradise TV

Ok, so maybe Robodamus really can’t predict the future, but if you use him right you can definitely get a kick out of  convincing others that he does!  Created by James Purdy, Robodamus is uniquely designed to provide 3 specific types of fortune: insults, philosophical, and one’s you make up yourself.  Now, depending on your preference you can customize the probability that Robodamus will give a specific type.  Using a simple slider you can adjust whether you want more, less, or none at all of particular types.  So if you’d like more insults than serious, just slide the Humor slider over to the right and slide the Serious and Custom sliders to the left.  You can slide any of them all the way to the left to completely exclude them.  It’s as simple as that.

For myself, I prefer the serious ones.  It gives me something to look forward to.  However, if you’ve got some gullible friends then you will definitely want to beef up your custom ones.  Adding a custom fortune is really easy.  All you’ve got to do is type it in and save it.  Robodamus then plucks from your customs at random.  So, if you’re dating someone you really like just conjure up some romantic diddies and introduce your boo to the wonders of Robodamus!

Robodamus is the type of app that’s entertainment value relies solely on the creativity of it’s beholder.  If you’re a bit of a prankster and really creative you’ll get a total kick out of it.  You can get gullible people thinking that the app is genius and you can convince significant others that you guys are meant to be!  But, if you’re as sharp as a butter knife and have the social skills of a gnat then you probably won’t enjoy this app as much.  Just running it for standard fortunes has short lived entertainment value.

Overall the sounds and graphics the app provides are really sweet.  If I could change anything about the app it’d be to make Robodamus talk.  I feel like he should recite the fortunes verbally and maybe even laugh at you a little bit when you get an insulting fortune.  Maybe even give a serious look or gasp if he reveals a not so good fortune.  Currently he’s somewhat personality-less because aside from swinging into view and revolving his robotic hands he’s more or less a stiff.  I’d also love to see Twitter and Facebook integrated so peoples fortunes can be posted for all their friends to see.

Pros:

• Great sounds and graphics
• Easy to use interface
• Creating custom fortunes can be really funny if you’re creative
• Over 270 included fortunes

Cons:

• I wish Robodamus talked and interacted more

Version Reviewed: 1.0

Requirements: iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad; iPhone OS 3.1.3 or later

Related posts:

1. Free iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad Promo Codes for Robodamus Entertainment App!
2. The Amazing Fortune Teller 3D – Just in Time for Halloween
3. Free iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad Promo Codes for Fortune Teller Touch – Luck Detector & Future Scanner!
4. Fortune Wheel And Today’s Fortune Number 1.2 for iPhone – New, Answers
5. Volt

There are subtle features in Flux that can create extremely creative and vastly different outcomes.  The colorful particles displayed within the app are generated by a series of emitters.  You have four types of emitters at your disposal that produce drastically different effects.  You can choose to emitt particles from single points, lines, rectangular shapes, and circles.  You can customize the number of particles emitted (up to 3,000 particles), the velocity and frequency at which they’re emitted, and the length of time the particles stay alive (P-Life).  The number of available combinations and the difference in the final result are so vast it’s unlikely that two people will create the same artwork.

You can further customize you’re particle animation using Forces.  Forces are the energy within the app.  Much like gravity you can use a variety of forces to influence and alter how the particles move, shape, and interact within your creation.  There are three different types of forces for you to leverage: Vacuum, Perturb, and Disable.  Vacuum sucks particles into its center like a black hole sucking in stars, Perturb pushes and pulls particles in a particular direction just like gravity or wind, and Disable stops particles within a small area from moving.  Vacuum is definitely my favorite effect, but regardless of which force you choose, you can customize how each one affects your masterpiece by tweaking things like the range, power, and speed.

To sum it up, Flux is a pretty sweet entertainment app.  It’s not exactly easy to figure out how to create detailed artwork, but I guess experimenting and learning different techniques is half the fun.  If you’re not a creative person, or get bored with things easily then you may not like Flux, but creative types and people that need a little distraction during the day to keep themselves engaged will love this app.  It’s a great alternative to a stress reliever and also appears to fascinate the heck out of small children (my nieces and nephews can attest).

Pros:

• Unique and creative
• Once you get the hang of it its quite entertaining
• With the right amount of practice you can create some really sweet living artwork

Cons:

• I wish you could share animated creations by either posting to a built in online community or to YouTube
• Interface is pretty bland looking; could be jazzed up a bit
• Doesn’t have any sound effects

Version Reviewed: 1.01

Requirements: iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad; iPhone OS 3.0 or later

Related posts:

1. Flux 2 gets new Javascript Capabilities with Screencast Tutorial
2. Flux 3.1 introduces History feature
3. The Escapers release Flux 3 – Major update to Web Design Application
4. Robodamus – Robotic Fortune Teller
5. Frequency Annoyer