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With the clock ticking down the hours until Santa arrives, here are some last-minute holiday apps to load on your iPhone or iPad as you go out caroling, do last-minute shopping or visit your friends and family: Santa's Big Helper ($.99): This has a number of features, and if you're looking for one good Christmas app, this is the one to grab. It has a Santa tracker, a naughty/nice list, the ability to write to Santa for those last-minute Christmas wishes, ask questions and more. FOOD52 Holiday Recipe & Survival Guide ($3.99): If you need a guide to hosting a holiday party or a good recipe for a family gathering, this app is great for doing everything from making pie to crafting a gingerbread house. There are eight suggested menus that will make fighting the crowds at the grocery store a bit easier, and you can follow community links to get help from other people. And if it's too late to take advantage of the app this Christmas, it'll be on your iPad for the next holiday season. For other cooking apps, take a look at Epicurious (free) and How to Cook Everything ($9.99 for full app, free for essentials), which are always great go-tos for recipes. A Charlie Brown Christmas ($.99): We took a look at this iPad app in November, and it turns the classic Peanuts special into an interactive storybook that brings a new dimension to the story. If A Charlie Brown Christmas is part of your Christmas Eve traditions, then it's worth the download and is currently on sale for $.99. Christmas Carols ($.99): You're out singing Christmas carols tonight and suddenly forget the words to "The First Noel." Instead of humming along awkwardly, pull out this app and look up the lyrics to a number of carols. It might not help you carry a tune, but you'll at least know the words. Cards (Free): It's Christmas Eve. You open your mailbox to find a Christmas card from your great aunt, and you realize you've not only forgotten to send her one, but you're out of Christmas cards and she doesn't use the Internet. Pull out your iPhone, grab a photo of your Christmas tree and quickly use this app to create a last-minute Christmas card. It won't get to your great aunt until next week, but it's the thought that counts ... right? You also might Read More

iPhone App $4.99 Our Review By Chantelle Joy Duxbury on March 21st, 2011 Rating: :: KITCHEN GURU An encyclopedia of kitchen and cooking knowledge at your fingertips, though a bit of a chore to wade through. Developer: Price: $4.99 Version: 1.5.2 iPhone Integration Rating: User Interface Rating: Re-use / Replay Value Rating: Overall Rating: How to Cook Everything is a veritable encyclopedia of cooking information. It boasts of having over 2000 recipes and hundreds of articles or chapters on food, kitchen, cooking and tools knowledge. Everything from how to peel garlic to the must-have pots and pans for your kitchen. Based on the cookbook of the same name by Mark Bittman, it takes on the challenge of being a guide for true beginners in the kitchen as well as practised home cooks, and offers everybody a little something. As this is an app based on a book, it is very text-heavy. My first impression was that it was a bit more like reading an eBook than using an App. The subjects and articles aren’t that well organized, offering branches off of branches of information without a real sense of progression. While the recipe section is easier to wade though, maybe they should offer a ‘Favorites’ section for the articles as well. I can see how this would work in a book form, but needs some non-linear navigation help in app form. As for the recipes, you’ll never be at a loss. You can search by ingredient, or read a list of some of the favorites or essentials. Within each you’ll find an easy to follow guide, built in timers, links to related articles. As per most recipe apps, there’s an easy to use shopping list, which is actually much more flexible than others I’ve used in the past. However, at this size, you think there would be some, any, instructional videos. Instead you’ll get instructional illustrations, not usually what I’d expect from a multimedia device. For a smaller, condensed version try the free ‘essentials’ app – you might find it easier to wade through, but will be missing out on some of the recipes. If you prefer, you could try the iPad version. I can see how using it on the larger device, but I don’t know if id be willing to pay an extra $5 for the privilege, as there doesn’t appear to be a difference in content. The developers Read More

The 2011 Academy Awards will be held today Sunday, February 27th and movie fans are gearing up for the big day. While the world is discussing which movies will be receiving awards for being the best of the best, many of you will be frantically planning a last-minute get together. To help you with that process, we have compiled five must-have apps to help you with the party preparation. Punch Bowl is an event planning app that lets you host an event, invite guests, and create and manage a list of food items for a potluck. A message board feature lets you share information with your guests, especially helpful for large groups. You can also use the app to find local vendors for those hard-to-find party items. Punch Bowl is available for free in the App Store. Want to cook but not sure how to prepare those scallops? Then check out “How to Cook Everything”, an app that does exactly what its name describes. The app has a database of 2,000 recipes and 400 how-to illustrations that will help you refine your cooking technique. Extra benefits include support for the iPhone retina display, multi-tasking in iOS 4 devices, metric and standard measurements, built-in timer and the ability to add recipes to the iOS calendar. Last but not least, How to Cook Everything includes social network support so you can easily share your cooking adventures with friends and family. The app is available both for the iPhone or the iPad and will set you back a mere $4.99. Allrecipes is an excellent resource for cooks, regardless of their cooking level. The website has a variety of recipes along with user reviews and community-submitted changes. The iPad version of the application brings the power of the website to your tablet device. You can search recipes by course, cooking method, or prep time. Once you have you a list of recipes, you can narrow your results using a filter which sorts recipes by popularity and/or member rating. The app is available for free, but if you are an Allrecipes member, you will want to upgrade to the Pro version. The $4.99 Pro version lets you tap into your online recipe box and removes any ads that are present in the free version. Love dips, but lack the creative flair to come up with your own? Then you should check out Dip Diva, an iPhone app with Read More

Apple has compiled a list called their 2010 Rewind. In it, they have named the top Apps of the year, and gathered them all up into one page so that they can easily be found. Let’s take a look at their top Apps in each category. On this list, you will find Apple’s best apps of 2010. Everything from best iPhone games of 2010 to best educational apps of 2010. Note that these are not our picks (though many of our favorites did make the list) but it’s a compilation of Apple’s favorite Apps of the 2010. Let’s take a look at Apple’s iTunes 2010 rewind: Shoot, Edit, Share – Best of iPhone Camera Utility Apps of 2010 1) Hipstamatic – 99 cents      2) Path – Free 3) Instagram – Free 4) Pocketbooth – 99 cents 5) iMovie – $4.99      6) Splice – Video Editor – 99 cents 7) ReelDirector – $3.99 Infinicam – $1.99 9) MobileMonet – 99 cents 10) ToonCamera – $1.99 11) lo-mob – $1.99 12) iMut8r – 99 cents 13) ZombieBooth – 99 cents 14) SwankoLab – $1.99 15) StopMotion Recorder – 99 cents Augmented Reality – Best Augmented Reality Apps of 2010 1) Peak.ar – Free 2) Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner – $4.99 3) ARDefender – 99 cents 4) Golfscape GPS Rangefinder – $19.99 5) Nearest Wiki – $1.99 6) Spyglass – $3.99   7) AR Soccer – $1.99      Hidden Sky – $4.99      9) Theodolite Basic – $1.99      10) Yelp – Free      11) Style.com – Free      12) Explore 9/11 – Free      13) San Francisco Guide – $5.99 Fun for Foodies 1) Foodspotting – Free      2) Jamie’s Recipes – Free 3) Mario Batali Cooks! – $4.99 4) How to Cook Everything – $4.99      5) MasterChef Academy US – $4.99      6) Omaha Steaks – Free 7) Levi Roots – $6.99 Cook’s Illustrated – Free      9) Teach Me Sushi – $4.99 10) Good Food Quick Recipes – $2.99      11) Weber’s On the Grill – $4.99      12) Campbell’s Kitchen – Free      13) Gordon Ramsay Cook With Me – $4.99      14) Chow Thanksgiving Dinner Coach- Free      New News – Best News Apps of 2010 1) Pulse News Mini – Free 2) Reeder – $2.99      3) Blancspot: The Art of News – Free 4) NBC Nightly News – Free      5) PBS NEWSHOUR – Read More

Although we haven’t talked about the How to Cook Everything iPhone app when it was initially released, now when it got a free version, we decided to give it some space on IntoMobile. Like its paid counterpart, How to Cook Everything Essentials is also based on Mark Bittman’s bestselling book, featuring such things as: And once you get to know the basics, you may opt to grab the full version of How to Cook Everything which comes with 2,000 no-nonsense recipes, hundreds of techniques, cooking tips and detailed ingredient and equipment advice. AppStore links for both apps are available below. And in case you didn’t know, Mark Bittman is the longtime New York Times columnist, blogger and television personality. How to Cook Everything ($4.99) [iTunes link] How to Cook Everything Essentials (FREE) [iTunes link] Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis. Read More

That’s right, it’s that time of the week once again for another brand new episode of the excellent AppSlappy Podcast. In the latest show, Scott and Eric talk about the recent 2.0 update of Skype, which finally lets users make calls via their 3G connection (Unfortunately, a small monthly fee for the feature will apply after 2010). The upcoming  June 7th WWDC event and Apple’s role in the Foxconn factory suicides are also discussed. Other app reviews/coverage include: You can download this week’s episode of AppSlappy directly and/or subscribe via iTunes. If you haven’t checked out the podcast yet, we highly recommend you tune into Scott and Eric’s show. It’s great for catching up on iPhone and app related content during the long commutes on those planes, trains and automobiles. Happy App Slappin’ ! Read More

Browsing the App Store this weekend?  Here are ten new or updated apps worth taking a closer look at if you are: A good-looking adaptation of the classic tale.  There are secret animations for your children to find on each page and an audio narration too.  $0.99/£0.59 It’s mole whacking extreme, with various other creatures joining the party along with unlockable levels, shake control, bonuses and an in-app purchase system for extra levels.  Free A comedy app where you tap an image of a body to indicate where it hurts, then Dr. Insult offers his medical opinion.  It’s not going to cure you, but it should make you chuckle!  $0.99/£0.59 A cycling computer which displays your speed on an analogue speedo, plus a dual tripometer and GPS location maps.  Logs are used to create a graph giving speed and time data for your ride.  Can be used in conjunction with SportyPal’s website, plus data can be shared over Facebook and Twitter.  $4.99/£2.99 An all-round workout tool that covers running, cycling and walking.  You can set the app up for interval training, distance and time or a Ghost runner, plus the readouts offer everything from your speed and time to altitude and maximum pace.  You can even play music from your iPod playlists.  $7.99/£4.99 A traffic management game with a slight twist.  Guide your car around the city streets to its destination, avoiding other vehicles and environmental hazards, all within a set time limit.  There is also multiplayer support and in-app purchasing for further levels.  $1.99/£1.19 A digital magazine written expressly for use on the iPhone and the iPod Touch.  Containing articles pertaining not only to the iPhone but to general topics too, the weekly-updated publication will include music and game reviews and advice too.  $1.99/£1.19 An odd little application where you show your support for a particular UK Premiership football team by shaking your iPhone in order to amass points.  The thing is, other people will be doing the same with their teams, so to ensure your team ‘wins’, you’ll have to shake it a lot!  Free Just updated, this is another entry in the ever-growing iPhone cookery application list.  This is designed to work both alongside and separately from Mark Bittman’s book and features 2000 recipes and plenty of how-to advice and guidance.  A shopping list feature and a meal planner are among the extras.  $4.99/£2.99 Starting with a solid Read More

Once again, we bring you five interesting apps from this week's releases! It’s Friday, and that means that it’s time for another Friday Five: five interesting apps released in the past week. Enjoy! Mikado Defenders Mikado Defenders is a tower defense game, but with a feudal-era Japan theme. Mystical guardian spirits come to your aid, demons attack, samurai commanders can be recruited, and of course you can improve upon your castle. The traditional-style artwork provides a gorgeous backdrop. You can deploy samurai foot soldiers, archers, and other units. The result is an epic war between demons and Japanese warriors…a neat change from typical tower defense. $2.99 Released: 2010-04-19 :: Category: Games Slingshot Safari Slingshot Safari is a cartoon-style game that tests your slingshot style against lions, tigers, cheetahs, and more. Animals react differently to your shots, but none of them will be too pleased when you try to shoot them—and you’re far from immortal! The graphics are funny, you can unlock eight levels, Plus+ is included, and the menagerie of ten different animals should keep your slingshot skills sharp. FREE! iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Released: 2010-04-16 :: Category: Games How to Cook Everything This extremely useful new app is essentially an iPhone-optimized cookbook based on the real-life one from Mark Bittman. Of course, there are many perks to having a cookbook on your iPhone or iPad instead of a physical book, especially when said book normally weighs in at 1,000 pages. In addition to the 2,000 recipes and 400 illustrations, you get full search capabilities, built-in timers, and shopping lists…all in the palm of your hand, and for only $1.99. The interface is easy to use, and the sheer wealth of information is staggering. No wonder it’s become a bestseller. $4.99 Released: 2010-04-17 :: Category: Lifestyle Field Agent Like making money? Of course you do. Field Agent is a new app that aims to help you do just that. It lists simple, easy-to-do jobs—going to Wal-Mart and taking a picture of a product, filling out a survey, visiting a website—and then pays you for them. It’s not just pennies, either; all jobs pay at least $3, and some can dish out as much as $12. Money is transferred to you via PayPal. Who knew that your iPhone could do anything but suck your wallet dry? The only downside right now is the lack of Read More