Omini Stones is a different kind of puzzle altogether. The developers call it a “classic swap-and-match puzzle.” They may be right, but I’ve never played anything like it. Thankfully, the app includes a good video tutorial which explains how to play pretty quickly.

Once I understood the details, the puzzle seemed like simple gameplay. Slide plain stones of contrasting colors but matching shapes to create Omini Stones. The Omini Stones can then be cleared from the board by being nudged over to another matching Omini. Clear enough from the board and move onto the next level.

Simple! At least for the first 5 levels or so. As the game progresses the stones, which start as triangles, begin to vary in shape — triangles, rectangles, circles. Remember, stones can only combine with another stone of the same shape. Pretty soon, it takes real strategy to slide the stones into right place. And another thing, some of the Omini are ticking bombs that must be cleared from the board before exploding.

Gamers that know how to plan ahead will be able to score extra points by destroying Omini clusters. Gathering 3 or 4 Omini Stones of the same color close enough to clear at the same time is a move that shows true mastery of the game. I managed it by accident, but it can also be done with intent.

Try tilting and turning your iDevice for maximum strategy points. As you slide the stones, the rest will fall into place according to gravity. It’s a nice feature and one of the reasons that Omini Stones is worth the slightly higher price tag.

My concentrating cranium was definitely got its weekly workout with this app! Unless you’re a hardcore puzzle-head, Omini Stones isn’t the type of game you’ll play in line at the bank. It requires more intense thought and deliberate strategy than a lot of the other casual gaming apps I’ve come across. It also provides  more of a challenge.

Omini Stones is fresh and familiar at the same time. So, if you’re looking for a challenging game, that will comfort you with a sense of familiarity even while you bang your brain trying to break through to the next level, then Omini Stones from MiOmega might be just what you need.

Watch the Omini Stones video demo:

• rating: 8/10
• app_name: Omini Stones

© AppCraver, 2009. | Omini Stones: Fun and Frustration Rolled into One Strategic Puzzle | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Tpo be clear, Globemaster is basically a clever repackaging of Wikinews, Wikitravel and Google Maps — all free resources used with permission. So, why pay for information you can get for free on the Internet? There are many reasons. (Editor’s note: Globemaster is on sale for $0.99 until the end of 2009.)

Globemaster is polished, easy to navigate and endlessly interesting. Even more, it passes my “airplane mode” test. All the information and functions (except for the ability to refresh news alerts) are available and work as expected even when your device is in airplane mode. This is one of my most important requirements for any travel app. You don’t want to get lost in a foreign country and find out your guidebook stops working when you don’t have a cell connection — especially when you’re using AT&T.

Other Globemaster features include:

• an intuitive user interface
• more than 260 countries and areas, and 1400 major cities and 4100 photos
• satellite view by country/city using Google maps
• information that is neatly categorized for quick access
• tip calculator with one-tap access to customary tipping expectations of your currently selected country
• currency converter with on-demand update
• “favorites” for saving tip and currency presets
• comprehensive information for each country including history, holidays, travel advice, reference information, weather, electrical requirements, languages, eating, staying safe, etc
• “alerts” from Wikinews offer international news and maybe insight about which countries to avoid

One of Globemaster’s features — the “neatly categorized” part — is what makes this travel guide stand out from the pack. The app takes information from wikitravel.com and separates it into bite-size pieces so jet setters like you and me can quickly find just the information we need at any given moment. The categories make planning for your trip a breeze. Wondering what to see, where to sleep, how to show respect? It’s all just a tap away.

Keep in mind that wikis are community-edited resources. Although generally reliable, sometimes you may want to double-check the facts.

The developers, Ivan Kerpan & Evgeniy Lebed, have done an excellent job of wrapping an intuitive, user-friendly interface around a community-created information. With the addition of the currency converter and the tip calculator, Globemaster is a practical and useful travel app that globetrotters won’t want to leave home without.

• rating: 8/10
• app_name: Globemaster:

© AppCraver, 2009. | Globemaster: Offline travel guide is clever, polished and endlessly interesting | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Paris 3D is part of this new generation of maps. Using the same aerial image technology — all new photos from 2009 — the travel app allows users to take a thorough exploration of Paris, France. Of course, if Paris 3D were just another map app, there wouldn’t be much to write home about.

The app combines the true-life images with the functions of a guide book. Armchair travelers will enjoy reading about the 2000 points of interest, all categorized by interest and location. Tourists actually visiting the City of Lights have even more options. You can plan a walkable route for getting around Paris and, if you veer off the beaten path, use the geo-location features to find your way back to the hotel.

In practical application, Paris 3D works better than expected. The app is a beast! It’s a huge download that should only be attempted when connected to your computer. This is actually a good thing because it means that all the information Paris 3D needs is stored on your device not on the Internet. You’ll be able to plan your itinerary on the flight overseas, and, even better, you won’t be tied in to a costly data plan while roaming about the city.

For an app with so much information, the map is surprisingly responsive. Screen redraw time is minimal — about the same or less as you would get using Google maps — and navigating from map to description and back again is a breeze.

Like any map-based app, you use your fingers to scroll and drag your way around. But, there’s one thing you really need to know if you want to get the most out of Paris 3D. The map starts out with a typical top-down view, if you want to get the full 3D view you’ll need to rotate your viewing perspective. Hold one finger down on the screen, this becomes your anchor point. Now, use the other to rotate the plane of view or to take a 360-degree gander around a building.

It took me a while to figure this out. But, it’s quite impressive once you get the hang of it.

As you browse the Paris streets, double tap any building for more information. The app will provide a list of attractions and points of interest based on your current location.

Paris 3D is the first of a series of city-exploration guidebooks from Mobile 3D City. As my grandpa might say, it’s amazing what they can do with technology these days. Of course, this map app is more than just an awesome showpiece, it’s a practical guidebook for discovering Paris on foot, in a car, or from your living room. I can’t wait to see what cities they do next!

• app_name: Paris 3D
• rating: 8/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Paris 3D Presents a New Way to Discover the City of Lights | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

When did you start developing apps for the iPhone? Did you have previous experience as a developer?

Me and my brother, Matt, started developing apps in february of this year. I had purchased a Macbook Pro with my bonus money from my day job and I surrendered the computer to my brother so that he could learn Objective-C As a Computer Engineer, Matt has written code for years.

Recently he had been more hands off with the code and was working as a IT Manager. Part of what made it so exciting for him to program iPhone apps was that he was back writing code, which is what he loves most.

I think for both of us it’s sort of a release from our day jobs. Matt is use to working on projects for months or years, and I’m use to having my ideas and designs molded by what the client wants. So iPhone apps gave me the ability to be creative on my own terms, and for my brother, it allows him to see the fruits of his labor at a faster pace then corporate life.

What / how many apps have you made so far?

We currently have five apps. Our first app was iPhaser & Tricorder. It was something we decided to do just to get acclimated to iPhone SDK. It actually turned into a moderate success and still is going strong 6 months after release.

Our second app is actually featured by Apple on the “What’s Hot” list. It’s called Ransom Letters. The app has gone through many name changes in an attempt to find something that works best for it in terms of marketings. First it was called Nabbed (and was reviewed on this site under that name) and after that it was called Crazy Letters. Now we have changed it yet again to Ransom Letters under the idea that calling it exactly what it is would be the best way to capture peoples attention. Currently, Ransom Letters is selling just shy of the top 100 list on the entire app store but we hope that soon it will make that list.

We also have a Halloween app called Costume Ideas – Halloween. It has over 2,000 costume ideas in it that cover everything from toddlers to adult costumes. It also helps you find the cheapest price for the costume.

We decided to follow the crazy of “sexy person” apps by making two apps. 25¢ Peep Show – Hot Girls and 25¢ Peep Show – Sexy Guys. We wanted to make a version for both guys and girls to enjoy. The idea was to turn something that was normally presented as a slide show, into something that was fully interactive and fit with the feature set of the iPhone.

What type of apps/games/software inspires you? Where do you get your ideas?

I get my ideas from every day life. Things that I see in my travels. Stuff people say. I talk to other developers and brain storm. I talk with my girlfriend and we come up with ideas. My brothers wife comes up with ideas. It’s funny…because it seems that everyone who knows that we develop iPhone apps wants to give us ideas. Some are good ideas, others not so much…but the best ones sort of just come to me while I’m not really searching for ideas. I guess it’s sort of like dating, if you don’t look for it, it will find you.

How do you settle on the price point for your apps?

As everyone knows, the price point that sells on the app store is 99 cents. Ransom Letters, for example, is something that we felt should maybe be priced at $1.99 but we wanted to keep it as an impulse buy. I guess the goal is to price it low so that you can get as high as possible in the charts. With some of the recent changes Apple has made in the App Store, our strategy might change, but for now, 99 cents is our price for all our apps.

What has been the best thing about designing for the iPhone?

The best thing is showing your apps to other people! It’s almost celebrity like. People can’t believe that they are talking to a real life iPhone developer. The first thing is always “let me see your apps” and the second thing is “Hey I have all these ideas I want to run past you”. It also feels good to know that something we created is out there being used by thousands of people!

What has been the biggest challenge about designing for the iPhone?

Time. Finding the time to do everything that we want to do. Both me and my brother work full time jobs. He has a family and a child. I have a girlfriend. We have a list of over 70 ideas. Some good, some not as good, but we have only had the time to fully develop five of those. So time is the enemy that we are always battling.

Is your company venture backed or privately held?

We are privately held. It’s just me and my brother but maybe eventually we might hire some programers so that we can work on two apps at once.

Do you have any other apps in the works?

We do have other apps in the works but recently we were approached by a large company to consult on their move into the mobile space. So we will be working on that app first and foremost before we get a chance to finish any apps that we personally have in progress.

What apps do you have on your iPhone?

I recently bought Canabalt. What a great game! The screen shots do it no justice. Everyone owes it to themselves to check out the flash version of the game at the very least.

What do you like to do when you’re not coding for the iPhone?

When Matt isn’t coding he is hanging out with his family or visiting our family. It’s pretty much the same for me. I hang out with my girlfriend every free moment I have. For the most part we spend the majority of our time at our day jobs or working late into the night on apps. It’s a tough life but the end product is worth it.

One Last Thing:

I would just like to ask everyone out there to at least take a look at Ransom Letters. We need your help to make it onto the top 100 list. We are so close and every single sale counts at this point! Thank you to everyone who has ever picked up one of our apps. The people who have written iTunes reviews or who have email us, those are the things that keep us working on these apps! Again…thank you all!

© AppCraver, 2009. | iPhone Developer: Michael D’Ulisse, More Blue Sky | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Alien Glyphs, the puzzle-based arcade app from Viacheslav Klimon, is a fast-paced matching game. Glyphs — alien glyphs to be precise — slide into view at the top of the screen and you must find it’s mate from the control panel below. The control panel contains a dozen or more glyphs depending on which level your on. As you get deeper into the game, the glyphs also come faster and become more complex.

Most memory-matching games don’t require a whole lot of strategy. Alien Glyphs attempts to overcome the standard by adding in a variety of power ups and penalties. Certain events slow down or speed up the time, or trigger  the glyphs to rearrange their position. Honestly, I had enough on my plate just trying to match the glyphs before the screen filled up and time ran out. However, serious gamers with better skills will appreciate the extra challenges.

Alien Glyphs has all the little extras that make a game truly polished: personal and worldwide high scores, OpenFeint integration, four different skins for customization, options for difficulty, a thorough tutorial, and an active developer dedicated to improvements and upgrades. In fact, this puzzle game has the feature set of apps well above it’s price point. It’s easy to see why the App Store reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

If someone told me that I would be testing out a memory app to train my brain and increase mental acuity, I’d have probably said “thanks, but no thanks.” Memory and concentration games sound more like work than fun. Alien Glyphs is slick enough that I’m more than happy to be proven wrong.

Watch the Alien Glyphs video demo for a taste of the action:

• app_name: Alien Glyphs
• rating: 8/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Alien Glyphs: Grab this Rising Star in Memory-based Puzzles | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Super Juicy is bringing a new kind of action to the popular genre started by Bejeweled. The point is still to match like objects, but instead of jewels or parrots Super Juicy is all about the bubbles, baby. Moving bubbles that float, squeeze and grow in an ever-changing dance that kept me engaged for all 38 levels.

One of the things that makes Super Juicy so fun is that every level is different than the one before. Each level adds a new twist: bubbles that grow larger, bubbles that require larger groups to destroy, bubbles that bubble up instead of falling down, bubbles with spikes (bad) or fruit (good). The physics of this game add another layer to gameplay, as you can tilt your phone to rearrange the bubbles slightly.

If you learn to master each obstacle, then maybe you’ll have a chance at passing level 35. Unlock all the levels and you’ll be able to play them in any order you choose. Don’t even try to coast your way through. Tapping bubbles the wrong bubbles will get you penalized, either by losing points by causing the bubbles to double in size.

The menu graphics and general navigation outside the game are nothing special. It’s obvious that Super Juicy developer Greg Hjelstrom spent his all his time on the game, not the menus. Chances are, once you’ve tried Super Juicy you’ll feel the same way. Who needs menus? I just want to play all 38 levels in a row.

My only real complaint with Super Juicy is that there’s no way to turn off the scoreboard. Each time the game ends, you’ll need to tap through the scoreboard to get back to the beginning. It may not sound like much, but if I’m trying (unsuccessfully) to pass a level it’s annoying to have to circumnavigate the scoreboard to get back to the main menu. A “play again” button on the game over screen would easily end this frustration.

Calling Super Juicy addicting, is like saying that crack may be habit-forming. It’s a wild understatement. The last update added 3 new levels and I’m already jonesing for more.

There is a Super Juicy Light, but with only 5 levels it’s just a small taste what the game has to offer. Save yourself the time and pony up the buck for the real thing.

Watch the Super Juicy Video demo:

• rating: 9/10
• app_name: Super Juicy

© AppCraver, 2009. | Super Juicy Will Bubble to the Top of the Best Apps Ever List | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

You’ll get a top-down view as you navigate from room to room. The graphics are crisp, with your typical monsters and mutants color scheme.

Runnin’ and gunnin’ isn’t usually my thing, so I was concerned that I would have a tough time testing Team Alpha. To my surprise, the dual-dial controls were really intuitive. The left dial moves the commando and the right dial controls where he shoots. It was sometimes odd to see his legs running forward while his torso faced backwards to shoot the bad guys, but overall the controls worked beautifully. The dials are smooth and responsive, leaving me to direct my focus where it belongs — on shooting mutants.

Team Alpha didn’t have any lag as I worked my way back and forth through the rooms, mutants came flying across the screen without even a hiccup. There are 10 levels each with multiple rooms. You won’t know what’s in a room until you get there. You’ll need to remember what you’ve done if you need to go back, which adds to the fun and complexity of the game. You can also tap the screen to view a map of your current level along with the rooms you’ve already completed.

From my playing, the rooms are pretty basic. They all contain mutants to kill or objects to blow up. Kill and destroy to earn cash. As you earn cash, you’ll become eligible to purchase bigger and better weapons for even more killing and destroying. Are you sensing the theme yet?

Team Alpha has just about all the features of a top-tier game: automatic game saving, a local high score board and global leaderboard. There is no true interaction over WiFi which is quickly becoming the norm for more advanced games. For me, this isn’t a big deal. But Open Feint integration would be a nice touch for gamers that look for a more layered gaming experience.

Team Alpha is a solid, video game for the iPhone and iPod touch. The features are strong, the controls are easy to use and there’s very little learning curve. There’s no denying that Team Alpha is similar to any number of strategic shooter games. But honestly, can you ever really kill too many mutants?

Wondering if Team Alpha is the app for you? Watch the video demo below.

• app_name: Team Alpha
• rating: 8/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Team Alpha: All the Mutant-Shooting Action You Can Handle | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Picto-Mail — Emoji are all the rage, but not everyone has the ability to see the miniature pictograms. Sure there are plenty of apps to unlock emoji on your iPhone, but what about your non-iPhone buddies?

If you consider this a dilemma, then Picto-Mail wants to solve your problem. Picto-Mail is an email program that uses “pictos,” or icons, to replace 2,500 common words. After you type a message, Picto-Mail will scan your text and any words it recognizes will be replaced with a picto.

The resulting message can be cute or confusing. If you’re familiar with the iconography, then it’s a fun way to send a semi-encoded message. If the recipient is less familiar, then the result will be considerably less fun. Picto-Mail claims that their specially-created “pictos” — representing words, phrases, actions, etc. — are globally recognized. This wasn’t always the case with me, but ymmv. I’m sure if I can learn to decode sentences like “Im a br f v ltl brn & lng wds bthr me,” then I can learn to read Picto-Mail too. (btw, it says “I’m a bear of very little brain and long words bother me.”)

It should be noted that Picto-Mail is a one-way email program. You use the app to write an email and translate it into pictos. The email can be viewed on any email system, however there is no Picto-to-English translator available. It would be more helpful if the Picto-Mail could also receive and translate incoming picto-messages.

As an email app, Picto-Mail is works as expected. You can access the iPhone’s built-in contact list by tapping the blue button or enter an address by hand if you prefer.

The messages I received displayed perfectly — exactly how they looked in the app. However, each “picto” comes attached as separate image. The files are pretty small, but my test message was just two sentences and had 8 attachments. Seems like it could get out of control pretty fast. The upside to the multiple attachments is that by reading the file names, recipients can use a sort of “mad-libs meets word jumble” approach and decode the message. Each attachment is named with the word it replaces.

Picto-Mail has a favorites feature that lets users save a message or part of message so it won’t need to be retyped every time. This can be a real time-saver and shows thoughtfulness by the developer.

Picto-Mail is an interesting concept, but the app lacks polish. The images are rather plain and and without a way for non-Picto users to translate the emails, it seems if all the wrinkles haven’t quit been worked out yet.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see an app like this take over as the next big thing in mobile communications. This sort of visual messaging could be faster than texting and easier to “read” at a glance. Picto-Mail just isn’t the app that’s going to start the revolution… yet.

• rating: 7/10
• app_name: Picto-Mail

© AppCraver, 2009. | Picto-Mail: Can You See Me Now? | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

MyPlaylists is one of those apps. The app plays music and lets you browse your music library to create new playlists. The big difference between MyPlaylists and the iPod app already installed is that users can create unlimited new playlists — rather than one very limited “on-the-go” playlist.

It’s a straightforward process — how hard can it be to build a list of favorite songs. Use MyPlaylists to create a brand new playlist or import and modify a previously-made playlist from your library. You’ll have access to all the songs in your library and can add or delete them from the current list by tapping the +/- button. Making a new set in MyPlaylists works much the same way as creating an On-the-Go playlist.

You can play your new playlist by tapping any song to start the music, just like in Apple’s iPod app. Once the music starts, the difference between MyPlaylists and the built-in iPod is nearly undetectable. You can set your songs to shuffle or repeat and use all of the tools you’re used to because the music is playing through the built-in iPod. Your new playlist will even continue playing after you quit the app.

MyPlaylists doesn’t offer much in the way of innovation. Anyone familiar with iTunes, iPods and iPhones likely knows how to create a playlist. There’s nothing cutting edge about creating them with MyPlaylists.

The big deal with MyPlaylists is that it offers the ability to edit your current playlists while away from your computer. Also, while users are limited to a single “On-the-Go” playlist, MyPlaylists lets music fans create as many new playlists as they want. For folks that keep a lot of music on their phone, there’s a certain amount of freedom in being able to mix up a quick set whenever the mood strikes.

The big downside is that music sets created in MyPlaylists are only available from within the app. They won’t sync with iTunes and can’t be chosen from within the iPod app. This isn’t a big deal most of the time. But if you do happen to create the perfect playlist, you’ll have to do it again in iTunes if you want to listen to it on your computer.

Graphically, MyPlaylists is “pretty ok.” Again, it’s nearly identical to using the built-in iPod Library — except for a spelling error on one of the buttons. Using this app will feel familiar and there’s virtually no learning curve.

Whether or not you need MyPlaylists is a personal choice. I like the musical freedom of creating multiple playlists on-the-go and the ability to quickly delete that one NSFW song from my otherwise awesome playlist. If these are features that you find yourself needing then it’s easily worth a few bucks.

(*Editor’s note: MyPlaylists is currently on sale for $0.99. So, if you’re on the fence buy it now.)

• app_name: MyPlaylists
• rating: 7/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | MyPlaylists: Control How You Listen to Your Music | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Most of the scanner apps are still rookies with less than a month in the App Store. Only two of them — Police Scanner by Juicy Development LLC and Emergency Radio by EdgeRift, Inc — are seasoned veterans with experience and multiple updates under their belt. Both apps do a very good job of providing live streaming transmissions to your iDevice, but there are subtle differences between them.

Police Scanner provides more than 1700 streams from 7 countries, so finding an agency to listen to is fairly easy. Police Scanner allows you to select a location from three different pages of listings or use the Near Me page to see a list of pre-selected agencies based on your current location. The Browse page is your guide to every available agency. Select a country, then drill down and narrow your search by region / state / county until you find an agency that sounds interesting. The Favorites page stores quick links to your chosen agencies making it faster to get to where you want to be for future sessions.

While listening to a stream on Police Scanner the screen displays the name of the agency, a play and pause button, volume control, and a favorite button that allows you to add that stream to your favorites page.

Emergency Radio provides around 1500 streams from 2 countries — the U.S. and Canada. Much like Police Scanner, Emergency Radio opens to a page that lets you choose how to select a station. The All page allows you to scroll through the streams or enter text to jump ahead to a specific city. The Nearby page is, again, a list of available streams close to your current location. You can adjust what distance Emergency Radio considers “Nearby” from as few as 5 miles to as many as 1000 miles. The Favorites page stores your list of preferred agencies. For those not familiar with police and fire codes, a glossary of terms is listed below the channel as it is streaming.

Overall both Police Scanner and Emergency Radio do a fine job and provide a good service. But in any head-to-head somebody has to win. So, here’s the break down:

Police Scanner has an edge on clarity with, what seemed to me, a crisper listening experience. By providing additional countries and more than 200 additional channels, they also have the edge on quantity. Finally, maybe looks aren’t everything, but Police Scanner has much better graphics.

Emergency Radio has the edge with their search function by allowing users to type in a city name. They also get points for including a glossary.

So many features in Police Scanner and Emergency Radio are similar but for now the nod of approval goes to Police Scanner. The clear audio and slick graphics are attractive, however its the ability to eavesdrop on crime-fighting play-by-plays in so many other countries that really won me over.

Just something to keep in mind, both apps can have long periods of silence. That’s the nature of a police scanner: Transmissions correlate to the call load and some areas naturally have more activity than others. If the action is too slow you can always find another channel or country to listen in on.

© AppCraver, 2009. | Police Scanner or Emergency Radio? | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!