"Me, doctor?" "No, you patient. Me doctor." The handful of Monty Python apps released to date have been of mixed value. The Angry Birds ripoff Cow Tossing was amusing but not fulfilling, while the "Holy Grail" companion The Holy Book of Days offered a fantastic behind-the-scenes look at everyone's favorite Python movie. Now comes Python Bytes, a collection of 22 sketches from the first season (or "series," to use Brit-speak) of the "Monty Python's Flying Circus" TV show. Among the highlights: "Albatross," "Dead Parrot," and "Lumberjack Song." In other words, there's ample comedy gold to be mined here. The first time you run it, the app starts playing a random sketch. You can shake your iDevice to skip to another one, or tap the screen to pause playback and access the menus. Those menus give you access to three options. The first is Sketch Commentary, in which Pythons talk about the currently selected sketch. It's a nice extra, but annoying in that you can't pause the audio. If you tap it again, it simply starts over. The only way out is to wait for it to finish or return to the sketch. The Manage Sketch screen lets you scroll through the available sketches and, if you want, choose one to watch. You can also remove one or more sketches from the rotation, which to me seems a little pointless, but OK. Finally, the really weird option: App Signing, which reveals that on May 3, 2012, at the Regent Street Apple Store in London, Python alums Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin will be on hand to answer questions and, well, sign your app. And, sure, enough the app has the equivalent of an autograph book built right in, complete with your choice of pen sizes and ink colors. You can Read More
This Lego-supplied screenshot is a bit disingenuous, as Super Hero Movie Maker offers no depth-of-field option. But it's still tons of fun. As a parent, there's nothing quite so satisfying as watching your kids express their creativity. Doesn't matter if it's with a set of blocks, a box of crayons, or an app that turns long sequences of still photos into superhero-themed movies -- it's just thrilling. On Saturday, I gave my 9-year-old son a five-minute tutorial on using Lego Super Hero Movie Maker, a new app that lets Lego fans create nifty stop-motion animations using their own minifigs (i.e. little Lego people). By Sunday, he'd already created several hilarious movies, the best of which involved a giant praying mantis catching and devouring several minifigs (hey, who says the good guys always get to win?). And he was just getting started -- Super Hero Movie Maker was an instant hit. The app takes a simple, straightforward approach to movie-making. First, you choose one of about a dozen title cards, which you customize with the name of the movie and director. Next, you start snapping frames, which is literally as simple as setting up your first shot, tapping the screen, moving your subject(s) a bit, then tapping again. Wash, rinse, repeat. (Obviously you don't have to use superhero minifigs or even any Lego products at all.) A toggle button activates your device's LED if you need to throw more light on the scene, while another one adds a 3x3 grid to help with framing. Best of all, the app has an onion-skin toggle that overlays a transparent image of the previous frame, a huge help in positioning. When you're done shooting, you can add one of half a dozen action-adventure soundtracks or choose from a similar number of visual filters. The app Read More
Sigmund whispers dream suggestions while you sleep. You could hire a dream specialist to sit beside your bed and whisper dream-altering commands at you all night long, or you could pick up the Sigmund app for iOS for 99 cents. I had a dream a few weeks ago where I was having a hard time breathing, like the atmosphere was incredibly thick. I woke up to find a cat weighing down my chest. External stimuli can impact the content of your dreams. That's the thinking behind Sigmund. The app uses an algorithm to determine when you go into REM sleep and then whispers sweet nothings into your ear. Actually, it quietly speaks up to five words of your choosing from the app's list. There's an emphasis on words with strong visual correlations, such as "zebra," "mermaid," and "Los Angeles." I'm going to try out a combination of absinthe, accordion, encyclopedia, hurricane, and octopus, and then see what happens. Sigmund also acts as an alarm clock so you can escape from the barbarian croissants chasing you across Paris. I do see one big omission from the word list. There is no "zombie." Still, the available words give you plenty of flexibility when it comes to programming dream suggestions. Pair this app with the Remee Lucid Dreaming Mask, and you should by flying across Amsterdam on a blue anaconda in no time. Read More
Dolphin Sonar on the iPhone. Barely a month after the mobile browser Dolphin debuted Sonar for Android, a feature for browsing by voice command, it has introduced the feature to iPhones without the help of Siri. Dolphin representative Darren Weiss explained that the Dolphin Sonar (download) partnership arose out of a limitation of developing for the iPhone. "Since there is no native voice API available for iOS, we decided to partner up with Nuance, leaders in the the voice-recognition space." Nuance is best-known for making Dragon Dictate, a PC-based speech recognition program. It also now owns at least one Android app, Swype. The app works just like the Android version. Long-press the gesture hand icon in the bottom left corner of the screen, then tap the microphone icon, or shake the phone while Dolphin is running. That will pull up the microphone icon. From there, speak the name of the site you want to go to or the search you want it to perform. "Facebook CNET" instantly loaded the CNET Facebook page; "Share this" opened the Share options; "Google cheese" brought up search results. These were some of the same commands I tested on the Android version, and they worked just as well as on the iOS one. One major difference is that Dolphin Sonar is a 99-cent in-app purchase for people with iPhones, but remains free on Android. The browser itself is free on both platforms, but the voice API on iOS isn't, said Weiss. Read More
Get started with Highlight, the app that lets you discover people nearby. This year, about a dozen apps attracted some buzz (you can view them all here), but the one that garnered the most attention and activity was Highlight (iTunes link). The free, location-based app alerts you of people in your vicinity with similar interests and mutual friends. Not aimed at romantic pursuits, Highlight moderates the connection of potential friends, networking contacts, and colleagues, allowing you to bookmark those you find interesting. Naturally, SxSW was a perfect event to launch such an app, but Highlight is also useful to us observing the conference from afar. Meetings, parties, and networking events are ideal places to put the app to use, as it's less official than connecting with someone on Linked In or Facebook, but more useful than simply following them on Twitter. Once you download Highlight,get started with these tips: Adjust your privacy settings Once you log in with Facebook (that's the only way to use Highlight right now), tap the menu button (upper-left) and select Settings. Tap 'Manage privacy' and decide if you want to make yourself discoverable and visible by everyone or just friends of friends. If you choose the second option, you'll limit your visibility and only friends of your Facebook friends will be able to find and highlight you. Edit your "blurb" and profile Your blurb is the short status message others on Highlight will see when they're in your vicinity. Some users will choose to be clever and witty ("Ask me why the chicken really crossed the road.), while others might offer a slightly more practical message. For example, if you might offer a little snapshot of why you're at that networking dinner or party. If you ask a question or make an engaging statement in your Read More
The Silicon-Valley startup, known for its pear-shaped "smart" TV remote, will test out its new real-time polling feature with "American Idol" this week. The free Peel app's new interactive polling feature will debut with American Idol this week (click to enlarge). Last year Peel set out to redefine the remote-control space with a $99 fruit-shaped device that allowed you use your iPhone as a remote for changing channels and discovering TV shows. The Silicon-Valley based company got a lot of attention but the device didn't exactly set the market on fire. So Peel's shifting gears, adding a new interactive polling feature to its free app that will debut with this week's "American Idol." The idea is pretty simple. As contestants perform, users will be able "cheer" or "boo" during performances by clicking on corresponding virtual buttons on their iPhones. You can also react to judges' comments. The app will tally "results" in real time and provide a leaderboard for the evening's performances. Whether the app will be able to predict who gets voted off the show is anybody's guess, but Peel hopes to have thousands--or even hundreds of thousands--of users "voting" before the show's season finale. For now, anyway, the hardware will stick around but the company is clearly moving away from being defined as just another iPhone remote with a fruity twist. According to Peel's VP of marketing, Scott Ellis, who met with us in New York and gave us a demo of the updated app, American Idol is just a start for a more ambitious plan to add interactive polling to different types of TV shows. Now you can judge the judges (click to enlarge). Peel isn't the first company to do this (Miso, social TV startup, has had voting in its app for a while), but by tying Read More
Popular mobile journal sharing app Path has been updated, now with the ability to share your runs through Nike+, find and share the music you're listening to, and add cool filters to photos. Find out who you're listening to and share it with your followers on Path. Are you a fan of Facebook? Twitter? Instagram? Shazam? Nike+? Would you be interested in a service that essentially combines the functionality of all these mobile apps into one sleek and simple-to-use program? Then perhaps you should give Path a try. After its most recent update (see my colleague, Paul Sloan's take here), Path could become a major player in the social networking game, expanding its existing 2 million user base. All these enhancements take the brain-child of former Facebook platform manager, angel investor Dave Morin, to a whole new level. The major integration win for Path comes in the form of its partnership with Nike+. Now, when you want to complete a workout and share with friends, an option to share on Path is at your disposal. Path's integration is more than just posting your times, though. When you start a run, a note is made on Path. If followers add an emoticon (the equivalent of a Facebook "Like"), you will hear a cheer while running. Mobile social encouragement. Pretty cool. Of course Facebook and Twitter are longtime staples in the social-sharing world, but Path's unique user interface could prove to be the difference as consumers continue to search for the best way to express and share themselves and their lives. And what bigger thing is there in many people's lives than music? Path has tackled music sharing by adding the ability to track and tag music you're listening to and share it to your timeline. Path uses Gracenote to obtain information about Read More
If you ever wondered what your mom would look like with a luxurious orange mustache, the Official Lorax App will answer your burning question. I hope this doesn't shed. There's something about human nature that leads us to scribble silly mustaches on photos of people (and pets). For lazy graffiti artists, there's an app that can handle the mischief for you. The mustache can also double as a toupee. (Click to enlarge.) The Official Lorax App for iOS is a tie-in with the new movie based on the Dr. Seuss book about a fuzzy orange creature who speaks up for his beloved trees. The app only does two things. First, you can hold it up to your mouth and talk with the Lorax's mouth moving along to your speech. Second, you can stick a 'stache on any of your photos. There's one main complaint from the customer reviews and that's the lack of a Lorax nose. You just get the mustache. No nose. I'm not sure why this is a problem. You might be curious why I'm writing about this since it's pretty much on par with the ultra-creepy Bachmann-Eyezed app. It's mostly because the press pitch was so catchy. Here's a sample: Or perhaps it's your friends that are lacking some whiskers Just pull up their photo and slap on some ticklers Then email away, you can even send post! To your friends and your loved ones you're missing the most Granted, none of this earth-shattering, but the app is free. Just don't use it while you're in the theater watching "The Lorax," or you'll bug the other patrons. Read More
Specifically, it reads them aloud, giving you a nice audio overview of the news. And it's a lot more personalized thanks to newly added Facebook integration. Snackr for iPhone lets you listen to the news. There are countless ways to scan the news on an iPhone, and even a handful of ways to listen to it. But newly updated Snackr effectively does both, reading aloud the latest headlines and news summaries from a variety of sources--including some personal ones. In other words, it's like a news "snack"--get it? The app provides five minutes' worth of current headlines, but also lets you shift to other channels for more targeted news: top stories, business, entertainment, and technology. You can also create your own channels derived from nine broad categories, including sports, science, gaming, and music. What you can't do, alas, is hand-pick any news sources (like, say, CNET, ahem), nor can you add RSS feeds. But there is some nifty personalization available in the form of customized daily greetings, which include local-weather updates, sports scores, and even notification of friends' birthdays--all courtesy of Snackr's just-added Facebook integration. The app's interface is fairly straightforward, relying on side-scrolling lists in upper, middle, and lower sections. Up top: channels. Near the bottom: the current batch of stories (any of which you can tap to mark as a favorite or share via e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter). Snackr's midsection consists of a kind of graphic equalizer (which doubles as a play/pause control when you tap it). Swipe left to see the full headline and an accompanying photo. Custom channels let you swipe a second time for access to various settings--including the option to remove unwanted news sources. If you want to see (but not hear) more of a story, you can mark it as a favorite, then switch Read More
It seems Siri doesn't want to compete for attention. The powers that be at Apple are looking to jettison voice assistant Evi from the App Store, says the app's developer. Apple may be looking to take down its latest Siri rival for fear of competition. Launched as an Android App, Evi made its iOS debut in Apple's App Store in mid-January. But after a little more than a month, its days may be numbered. William Tunstall-Pedoe, CEO of Evi developer True Knowledge, told TechCrunch that he received a phone call on Friday from an Apple representative named Richard Chipman, who apparently handles some of the calls about apps on the chopping block. Chipman reportedly told Tunstall-Pedoe that Apple was going to remove Evi from the App Store since it was similar to Siri. The app not surprisingly appears to violate rule number 8.3 from the App Store Review Guidelines (PDF), which states that: "Apps which appear confusingly similar to an existing Apple product or advertising theme will be rejected." Neither True Knowledge nor Apple immediately responded to CNET's request for comment. But Tunstall-Pedoe wasn't shy about revealing his thoughts to TechCrunch. "I don't think it takes too much of a leap of the imagination to realize that 'confusingly similar' is code for 'competitive with,'" Tunstall-Pedoe told the site, "and that all the user and press reviews along the lines of 'now you don't need to buy a 4S--you can download Evi', 'better than Siri' etc. have resulted in a change of heart from Apple about allowing its users to get the app." Evi has several assets. Its voice recognition is solid--it was quite adept at understanding all of my questions. It can handle math, language translations, historical facts, and a host of other tasks. You can even help the app learn Read More
