New Apps & Games

Upcoming app to allow streaming of all episodes of The Simpsons

Good news for Simpsons fans this morning. FX Networks CEO John Landgraf announced this week that the group is creating a standalone app for the popular Springfield family, which will allow users to stream all 24 seasons of the TV show to their devices.

Speaking at the Television Critics Association winter press tour yesterday, Landgraf offered up some details about the app. He says it'll feature tons of content including all 500+ episodes of The Simpsons, which will be available for online streaming at all times...

Google Play Movies and TV app hits iOS

After Google Play Books and Google Play Music, the Internet giant Google on Wednesday has finally released the official Google Play Movies and TV application for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.

A free download from the App Store, the software allows you to access those purchased or rented movies and television shows you bought in Google's Play Store.

With this move, Google has completed a trio of software offerings that make it easier for people on the Apple platform to enjoy media bought from Google's content store. Die-hard Apple fans may not care much, but those who happen to use both iOS and Android will appreciate that Google is catering to Apple users with these apps...

New ‘Umoove Experience’ game utilizes eye, face-tracking tech

A new game is out this week that's causing quite a bit of commotion in the tech world. It's called 'Umoove Experience,' and it follows a main character as he flies around various villages collecting bottles of purple magic potion to score points.

But the real reason everyone is talking about this game is because of its control scheme. You see, it utilizes Umoove's eye-tracking technology, meaning instead of using touch or motion to control you character, you simply tilt/move your head...

Review: Battle Supremacy, the best WWII tank sim with a tactical twist to it

Atypical Games is well-known for its Storm Raiders title and the Sky Gamblers combat flight series (Lory reviewed Sky Gamblers: Cold War, if you're interested).

Last week, their new iOS game was released in the App Store, Battle Supremacy for the iPhone and iPad, now available for $4.99. In Battle Supremacy, you're in control of the World War II tanks such as the Panzer III.

The game is going to delight you with the visual awesomeness, challenge your gray matter with tactical thinking and single player campaigns scattered across the French, Russian and Pacific theaters of World War II and test your skills with a nicely done online multiplayer mode.

Just don't call it yet another tank shooter because that's precisely what Battle Supremacy is not about. Read my full review right below...

Vosis for iPad creates cool synthesizer effects from photos and live video

There's certainly no shortage of music-creation apps for aspiring musicians on the App Store, even if most of the available programs strive to perhaps dumb down the process of composing music. But every once in a while someone out there comes up with another great idea for music creation on the go.

Although ImageSonification‘s new iPad app called Vosis is not meant to compete with the likes of Apple's GarageBand and similar apps, I can easily see it used in the production and creation of live effects.

Now available in the App Store free of charge, Vosis creates cool ambient and synthesizer effects by analyzing greyscale image pixel data in your photos and live video feed. I've included a nice video after the break so do give it a look to learn what image and video “audification” is all about...

Confide brings off-the-record messaging to iPhone

With the recent Snapchat data breach (and the company's subsequently poor handling of the situation) and given the ongoing NSA snooping scare, little wonder some folks would think twice before downloading a messaging app to their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.

Storing your chat transcripts in the cloud introduces an attack vector so that's a big no-no, right?

And you definitely at all cost want to avoid the contents of your communication kept on the device itself, no? So how about a 100 percent off-the-record messaging software, one that would bypass the cloud while allowing for Snapchat-like disappearing text messages?

That's Confide for you...

Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project hits iOS, total mutant mayhem guaranteed

If you're in your 30s, surely you must remember an action videogame franchise that set the genre on fire. Starring a larger-than-life character called Duke, itt was originally created by Apogee Software and 3D Realms, with the voice actor Jon St. John borrowing Duke his distinct voice.

The long-standing Duke Nukem series has since seen numerous releases and the last installment was published back in 2011 by Gearbox Software, which acquired the rights of the franchise the year prior.

Duke Nukem II was ported to iOS last year and now the original king of action is making a comeback in Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, now available for the iPhone and iPad for $1.99...

Yahoo launches News Digest iOS app, new Food and Tech website hubs for normals

Today at its CES 2014 keynote in Las Vegas, the Internet giant Yahoo announced new Tech and Food hubs and introduced a new iOS application, News Digest. The free iPhone and iPad download utilizes a technology from Yahoo's March 2013 acquisition of mobile news startup Summly that distills information down to small gists.

The company has since rolled out Summly to some of its existing iOS apps, but this is the first time Yahoo's iPhone app tapped the summarization tech to the full extent to "get you in the know in no time".

It's quite ingenious - all of the hallmarks of great iOS 7 design are present: it's clean, elegant, self explanatory and updates you cleverly on the biggest news stories twice a day, once in the morning at 8am and once in the evening at 6pm EST.

Does the world need another news app? Existing App Store offerings more often than not overwhelm with information you may not necessarily care about. If all you need are key headlines of the day and quick gists presented in a finite and visual manner, then by all means give News Digest a whirl, you won't regret it...

Feed Me Oil 2 arrives, get downloading

The beginning of a new year is always a good time to release some new software. We're only two days into 2014 and already a pair of nice premium games has made an appearance on the App Store.

Earlier this morning, Sega released its Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed while UK-based developer True Axis brought us the awesome Jet Car Stunts 2.

And now, UK-based Chillingo has released a sequel to its liquid physics puzzler Feed Me Oil, a $2.99 download for the iPhone and iPad. And this time around, oil and water can mix for the first time...

Sega’s Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is now available to download

Rather unexpectedly and with little fanfare, games maker Sega has released a brand new title on the App Store. Called Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, the game is actually the official iOS port of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for consoles and part of its 2013 winter release schedule.

If you've played Mario-like kart racing games such as Rovio's Angry Birds Go!, you should feel right at home in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. A pared down version of Transformed on consoles, the game sports a brand new World Tour mode designed specifically for mobile, with multiplayer both locally and online for up to four players...

Shoots & Leaves turns your photos into Reminders and instantly creates sharing links

With the impending demise of the popular cross-platform file-sharing app Bump, sharing your photographs with the web at large, without going through popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, could easily become something of a mess involving switching between multiple apps to get the job done.

Fortunately, Shoots & Leaves ($1.99 in the App Store) comes to the rescue.

As the name implies, this little gem of an app - though not a file-sharing solution per se - allows you to turn photos into tasks with a single tap and easily create URLs for your photos that can in turn be emailed, shared on the web and more, for everyone to see online.

It supports multiple image-hosting services, user-defined actions, sending to third-party apps and lots more. Have a quick look at it right after the break...

Jet Car Stunts 2 has landed in the App Store

Jet Car Stunts 2, the official sequel to the quite popular over-the-top stunt driving game, is now available as a free download in the App Store. Jet Car Stunts 2 for the iPhone and iPad features even more outlandish courses/jet physics than the original, with insane jumps, ludicrous speeds and manic car handling guaranteeing hours of fun to those who've found themselves desperately addicted to the original title.

In what's increasingly becoming the positive trend, Jet Car Stunts 2 supports physical iOS 7 controllers and even includes a level creation feature. Your launch trailer along with additional tidbits can be found right after the jump (pun intended!)...