Microsoft Corporation

If you have a Kinect, you should probably own Dance Central 2. It's one of the best and brightest games the hands-free motion tracking device has in its library. It's also one of the few that actually shows off what the device can do well. If you need more a push, Microsoft might have just the thing: an app that pairs, loosely, what Harmonix did with VidRhythm [Free] to Dance Central 2. It's a promotional preview app, basically, dubbed Dance Cam. [Free] In it, users can record video performances of themselves dancing to a sampling of tracks from the Dance Central 2 proper soundtrack. Then, the app spits out a music video containing both. Pretty simple stuff, really. Dance Cam also has social hooks that allows for sharing and even mash-up videos between friends. The below fleshes out some of the finer details: Hard to believe this might turn someone onto Dance Central 2, so we're kinda thinking about this more as a strange little toy than anything else. It's free, so give it a spin -- especially if VidRhythm is your thing.   #3   Today, 10:20 PM Senior Member iPod Touch (4th Gen), OS 4.x Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3,153 I like the look of this (does it play anything like Cannon Fodder?) but the implied dependency on Facebook and a high probability of IAP have me being very cautious. Thanks for the comments! An audio cue would be fun... we'd have to find something that doesn't disturb the music. Currently the music isn't built to be modular enough to speed up or change during the game in response to user actions. What do you think about the size of the play field that is visible? Do you mind not being able to see the whole thing? Quote: Originally Posted by Mate, this is actually really good. I like the way the game is paused when you take your fingers off the screen, this should be a feature in all iOS action games. Maybe you could add some sort of aural or visual clue when the enemy's speed up, I was nearly caught of guard when the speed they moved at suddenly ramped up. Buuuut, on the other hand maybe not, it might be best to keep us on our toes...I dunno......this is why I don't make games :-)   #9   Today, 08:36 PM Junior Member iPhone Read More

As if there aren't enough apps that supplement or promote console games, here are three more that have appeared recently. First up is Dragon Shout (free), the Skyrim-mapping app that was released a few weeks ago. It's quite handy, and players can use it to find almost anything in the vast and wonderful world of Skyrim. By the way, if you're a real Skyrim fan, check out our list of 5 apps for Skyrim. Harmonix has released Dance Central 2 Dance Cam (free), which works with Dance Central for Kinect to record players dancing in real life, and then turn that clip into a music video. It's not a port of Dance Central, but a fun bit of promotion. It comes with seven song clips you can dance to, if you don't have the full game around. Finally and as promised, Activision has released official apps for the Call of Duty Elite program, which let you check your CoD scores, standings, and messages from your iOS device. It's interesting to see how these developers have responded to iOS. Instead of porting terrible versions of high-definition games to Apple's devices, they've used iOS to promote their console titles and provide some extra functionality, which customers associate with the bigger brands. Yes, Dragon Shout is unofficial, but we assume the folks at Bethesda would shut if down if there was a problem. Read More

During December and January, The Unofficial Apple Weblog is soliciting your nominations and votes for the best products for Mac, iPhone/iPod touch, and iPad. We'll start with nominations in a category, and then tally your votes for the top-nominated products a few days later. The winner in each category receives the highly-coveted title of TUAW Best of 2011. Today's category for TUAW Best of 2011 nominations is iPhone productivity apps. Sure, the iPhone is fun and it's wonderful for keeping in touch with friends and family. But it's also a productivity tool that goes everywhere with you. What apps are included in this category? Well, according to the App Store on the evening of December 18, 2011, there were a total of 6,464 apps in the productivity category. Will Apple's Pages ($9.99), Numbers ($9.99), or Keynote ($9.99) take the prize? Evernote (free) works on the iPhone as well, and it was the winner of our TUAW Best of 2011 award for Mac productivity apps. Will Evernote grab the award on the iPhone as well? Or will Dropbox (free) pick up the award this time? Mac and PC owners both love to control their personal computers from anywhere, and LogMeIn Ignition ($29.99) could be a fan favorite in the productivity category. Perhaps Microsoft will pick up a winner with the new SkyDrive (free) cloud storage app. TUAW wants to hear from you -- what's your favorite iPhone productivity app for keeping you up to speed with your workload? Leave your nomination in the comments below. Voting will start soon! Nominations close at 11:59 PM ET on December 20, 2011. Read More

SkyDrive is a file sharing iPhone and iPod touch app from Microsoft that gives users 25GB of online storage space for files that allows them to share those files with others. The application lets users access files from any Internet browser or Internet capable device. This program’s main concept is file sharing. Word documents, .pdfs, images, video, audio, and other files are accessed from an online storage space, and then shared. This iPhone app eases sharing by linking directly to this online space. By selecting a document from the folder, a user is given options to “view” the document or “view and edit” the document. Viewing brings the document up only for the user. Viewing and editing allows a user to share that document with another person. Once the photo is marked for editing, an e-mail program pops up with everything prepared for sending. All that is required is the receiver’s e-mail address. Design Since it’s a Microsoft application, it works with the list of programs available through the Windows corporation. Word, Excel, Hotmail, and Windows Live are either already programmed to link with SkyDrive, or only require another app download. The design is simple and similar to many apps on the market. Files are displayed in a horizontal list of folders. Each folder thumbnail contains a title, the number of items, the date it was created, and who created it. Document folders are displayed as standard Windows’ manila folders, while photo folders display one of the images from the album as a thumbnail. All of the swiping, scrolling, and selecting controls are similar to most applications for iPhones and iPods. Strengths One of the key strengths of its design is how quickly and seamlessly the files load and appear on the screen. Swiping through photos has very little lag. Larger files will slowly materialize at first, but then are easier to load later. This was tested with a good Wi-Fi connection, though. Weaker signals and slower connections may skew others’ performance. On top of this, any files located on the iPod touch can easily be selected and loaded to the online storage area through this iPhone app. It also gives users the option of sending links of entire albums to others. Overall, this program works wonderfully and had very little problems. However, other reviewers mentioned problems with it lagging or crashing. Whether or not this was due to Wi-Fi connections Read More

This week on The TouchArcade Show, we power through topics like Jack LaLanne's juicer to bring you the latest, hottest, and radicalest in iOS gaming. At the top, we discuss the upcoming iTunes Connect freeze. Later, we dig into new games such as Sin or Win, Sonic CD, and Kinectimals, and much later, we give a few lucky fan e-mailers their moment in the spotlight. Overall, this was a wicked show to do, so we hope you love it. If you'd like to give us a listen, do so via the handy-dandy links below. If you like what you heard, consider subscribing to us -- The TouchArcade Show is on iTunes and the Zune Marketplace for your convenience. Want our shows the second they hit the net? This is how to go about that, folks. Here's your show notes: GAMES JARED'S KITTY KORNER FRONT PAGE Christmas ain't going to stop this train, by the way. Look forward to another TouchArcade Show next week AND a bonus episode earlier in the week. Have fun this weekend, guys. I agree that this is a very nice game. I’ve played it for a while now, and they still haven’t even asked me for any money yet. Their freebie section is very generous. Nobody who doesn’t love this game will have to pay anything, which, I think, makes for the best possible business model. You’re right QuickWit, that the time and the number of moves isn’t tracked. I see this as a plus, though. I see this as a design decision, rather than an omission. It lends itself to a more relaxing game, a more zen-like experience. I can see the value in adding a scoring system like you’ve suggested, but I hope that it’s implemented as an option. This is a game that I’d rather not play competitively. As for the “hiding the dot” element, I agree that it’s nothing spectacular. It does add a little something, though. And this added gameplay element makes apparent another nice little design decision in the game. When you’ve “solved” a certain level, it’s not necessarily over. If you don’t hit the “Next” button right away, you can continue playing. You can “unsolve” it and find a different solution, or you can move around the other blocks to try and uncover the missing dot. In every other game that I’ve played that has a “find this thing” element, if Read More

If you think this little guy looks cute here, you should see him frolic around your screen. "Game" might not be the right word. Kinectimals simulates adopting and playing with a tiger cub (your choice of five breeds at the beginning, with five more you can unlock). Target audience: 3-year-olds. OK, slightly older kids might enjoy this as well, but Kinectimals is so simplistic that I think anyone over the age of 7 is likely to lose interest pretty quickly. That's not to say this Tamogotchi-style experience is bad, because it's not. Rather, it's cute as the dickens, with frisky tiger cubs who jump and coo and catch (or at least paw at) tennis balls. Soothing new-agey music plays in the background. For the first few minutes, it's not immediately obvious what you're supposed to do with your cub. If you tap him, the camera zooms in and lets you "pet" him. Eventually he'll wander off and get a ball or a jump-rope, both used for kid-friendly mini-games. Tip: tap the trophy icon, which offers challenges (starting with basic tutorials) that earn you experience points and coins you can spend on extra items. Those items can be found by tapping the inventory icon, which also reveals options like Food, Care Items, Trick Mode, and so on. There's even a weird but cute Camera option that sends you to a studio for a photo shoot with your cub. (The snapshots are automatically saved to your iDevice's photo library.) You'd think each photo would show just your pet, but they include the studio surroundings--lights, backdrops, etc.--as well. Like I said: weird. Some of this can be figured out just by tapping around, but I think parents should read the How to Play guide so they can properly instruct kids, who might get frustrated by the lack of progression. (Embarrassing admission: I didn't read the instructions, and I got frustrated by the lack of progression. Once I learned the basics, however, I started having some fun.) By the way, Kinectimals for iOS has the enviable capability to transfer cubs to and from the Xbox version. Speaking of which, the latter costs $50 at Amazon. Kinectimals for iOS is $2.99. I think I know which one I'd start with. Read More

Looking for a new app this weekend?  Here are ten great new apps for the iPhone and iPad that you may want to check out! Available as a free version, or as a full version through an in-app purchase, this Microsoft product allows users to take extensive notes, edit them and sync them with SkyDrive.  The free version has a 500 note limit.  Free. The mobile version of the Xbox virtual pet game.  By playing on your iPhone, there’s the chance to unlock five additional pets on the console version.  It’s also universal for the iPhone and iPad.  $2.99/£1.99. Sega’s classic Sonic game has had a loving conversion over to iOS, complete with both US and Japanese soundtracks and the chance to unlock Tails as a playable character.  It’s also universal for the iPhone and iPad.  $1.99/£1.49. Create amazing stop motion films using your iPad, plus the free iStopMotion Remote Camera app for the iPhone.  $4.99/£2.99. Access Microsoft’s cloud storage system known as SkyDrive from your iPhone and backup documents, videos and pictures.  Links can be shared and files accessed from a variety of devices.  Free. The classic Grand Theft Auto game that reinvigorated the franchise comes to iOS, with refreshed graphics, controls adapted for the touchscreen and universal iPhone/iPad support.  $4.99/£2.99. The latest digital instrument from Smule is an electric guitar, where you can learn a wealth of classic rock songs.  The app is free, but songs come as in-app purchases.  Free. A complete music studio on your iPad, that can be used by up to four people at one time.  It includes guitar and keyboard effects, a metronome, a looper, samples and a chord creator.  On offer until the 21st December.  $0.99/£0.69. A visual search engine for new and interesting apps.  Free. A universal, enhanced version of the classic Breakout, with five free levels before you need to use in-app purchases to upgrade to the full version.  Free. Read More

Posted 12/16/2011 at 8:11am | by Steve Haske Far be it from us to question Microsoft’s unexpected decision to cross-pollinate its Xbox gaming brand with iOS, but if you’ve ever wanted instant access to your Xbox Live account from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, the aptly-named My Xbox Live does exactly that. As you might expect, the app itself is a pretty straightforward affair. After logging in to your Live account, the interface becomes a portable version of the Xbox 360 console Dashboard, offering news and personal updates, such as messages. And interestingly enough, My Xbox Live also has far fewer ads than you’ll find in the latest Xbox 360 interface. It’s the personal interactions that make this app worthwhile for avid Xbox Live players. Want to see which of your friends are online, and what they’re playing? You can do that. You can also change your avatar’s look -- they appear as animatedly cartoonish as they do on the console -- and customize various other details about your profile. Essentially, My Xbox Live lets you do everything you can do on your Xbox 360; well, except actually play and download games. Beacons are a new social feature that helps My Xbox Live stay relevant as more than just a passive on-the-go app, and they let you rifle through your at-home game collection and send flares out for games you want to play. So, if you’re itching to tear into some Gears of War 3 co-op with a pal, you can send out a beacon to your Live friends, and you’ll be notified when someone else wants to squad up. It's a little superfluous, sure, but it works. The bottom line. My Xbox Live is a handy, if somewhat unneeded app; but its slick aesthetic and ease of use will please hardcore Live users. Besides, in the era of social media, why wouldn’t you want one more way to stay connected? Product  Company  Microsoft Contact  Price  Requirements  iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 4.3 or later Positives  Slick minimalist style and design. Very easy to use. Capitalizes on social media aspects of Xbox Live service. Negatives  Can't access Xbox Live Marketplace to buy avatar items or add virtual currency to your account. No notification services for messages. Score Tags: Read More

By Rob LeFebvre on December 14th, 2011 A bunch of trending new apps to check out today. Tell 'em 148Apps sent ya. Come one, come all, for another roundup of the hottest apps on the App Store today. We check all the hot trending places and list them here, for you, because we can, and because you are special to us. Gameloft brings the Western wear to this party, with a free-to-play open-world mission based game that kind of reminds us of Red Dead Redemption. Collect 8 different horses, 19 weapons and a wide selection of clothes, ammo and other sweet western themed stuff across 40 missions. FREE! Released: 2011-12-08 :: Category: Games Connect with your Halo:Reach stats and XBox LIVE playing friends with this trending app from Microsoft. Get direct access to your Waypoint Career progress along with all of your Halo: Reach stats, and even invite friends to play from the app itself. FREE! + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad Released: 2011-12-10 :: Category: Games Compose, play and record with up to four other rockin’ friends with this innovative app from Fingerlab. Rockmate makes things easy ont he non-musician with smart chord progressions, separated guitar effects and in-house produced audio samples while also being fully customizable with multiple drum kits and keyboard sounds. $0.99 iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad Released: 2011-12-14 :: Category: Music Use the power of light (and magnetism!) in this beautiful looking game from Foundation Mobile Games, LLC. Lumi HD. If pretty looking and sounding isn’t enough, how about 10 levels to complete, Game Center support and acheivements? No? Well, there’s also a ton of updates promised soon, including a butterfly race and “double rainbow” mode. $2.99 iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad Released: 2011-12-13 :: Category: Games Read More

Biggs is the editor of TechCrunch Gadgets. Biggs has written for the New York Times, InSync, USA Weekend, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Money and a number of other outlets on technology and wristwatches. He is the former editor-in-chief of Gizmodo.com and lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. You can Tweet him here and G+ him here. Email him directly at john@techcrunch.com. → Learn More Microsoft has ported Kinectimals, the Xbox 360 game that involves the care and feeding of dangerous animals in the wild, to the iPhone, suggesting that (at least in the short term) even Microsoft sees the value of releasing on iOS. The $2.99 game recreates the Xbox version fairly faithfully but without the Kinect motion controls. Interestingly, the app also allows you to “unlock” new cubs on the Xbox, proving that paid DLC can hide in multiple guises. The game supports the iPad and iPhone and follows the launch of the Xbox App for iPhone and iPad that came out in conjunction with the Metro update. Sponsored Ads Sponsored Ads Sponsored Ads Read More