Meporter seeks to capitalize on this concept by placing an app in your hands that enables quick sharing of news and information. Meporter’s tagline is “the beat on the street,” trying to capture the sense that the best way to get the feel for what is happening right now is through individual reports from smartphones. 

Read the rest of Stop the Presses with Meporter or discover more iPhone apps.

© 2011: written by Derek Walter for AppCraver.

GT Racing: Motor Academy is another excellent option and should especially appeal to automotive purists. This game requires one go through the steps of earning a license, buying a car, gaining sponsorships and improving performance over time. The details about the kinds of cars, making upgrades and crawling up through the racing circuit mean patience and will not be for those who want the quick, time-killing game that many iOS games are. But those who are willing to invest the time in it will be rewarded with a deep, true racing experience. 

The racing events are separated into four categories. The performances determine the kind of money and car prizes that can be won. Begin one of the circuits to race toward glory, with additional wins providing cash for better cars and upgrades.

GT Racing: Motor Acadamy HD is a racer’s game. Players who have a sizable amount of knowledge about car brands and their particular strengths will enjoy upgrading to a BMW, Porsche or choosing from other higher-end cars. In fact, there are 25 manufacturers and 111 licensed cars in all. Of course, doing so requires finding success in the different racing circuits.

The game begins with earning a Class “C” license, which is done by passing a series of driving tests. The player must brake within the proper amount of time or pass other racers to demonstrate racing prowess. The challenges when going for the higher-level licenses can get quite challenging.

Like other racing games, GT Racing: Motor Academy is controlled by tilting the iPad like a steering wheel. A gas pedal and brake pad are on-screen to control those functions of the car. Driving feels really smooth and brings the game to life. If for some reason the default calibration settings don’t feel right, they can be tweaked through the menu.

Those who want to challenge others can play GT Racing: Motor Academy over a network or compete online. A growing number of iOS games are adding multiplayer capabilities, and this is a solid implementation. Players can log in or create an account to Gameloft’s network to get started.

While there is definitely a learning curve, GT Racing: Motor Academy HD is a worthy entry to the racing genre for the iPad. Users who invest the time will be glad they did.

Related posts:

1. Finger Race with Touch Racing Nitro
2. Doodle Kart Draws Out the Race Car Driver In You
3. Real Racing: The Review and 3G vs 3GS

It offers a customizable platform with many flexible options for curating content from one’s YouTube account. The videos are presented in horizontal rows that can be slid across the screen. The rows can be customized into content channels, referred to as themes in Videohunters for iPad.

Power YouTube users will probably appreciate the additional search and customization options available. Those who just casually browse through online videos may find some of the choices overwhelming.

The themes, which are then saved as rows that can easily be scrolled through. For those who really like to break things down, the themes then be further curated to create sub-themes among the choies.

Read the rest of Videohunters for iPad Adds YouTube Customization or discover more iPhone apps.

© 2011: written by Derek Walter for AppCraver.

When using Venntunes, users can learn which artists are on a friend’s device as well as those that get the most play. Then by tapping the iTunes link view what songs are available from that particular artist on Apple’s music service. The route is somewhat circuitous, as first Safari opens and then redirects to iTunes (this is likely an iOS issue that needs further enhancement for developers). Just about all the major artists had an available link, although there were a few that were not available.

After going through the comparison process, information about your shared musical tastes (or lack thereof) can be then shared to social networks via Twitter or Facebook. 

Venntunes works with any iPhone, iPod touch or iPad; however, the app is not optimized for the larger iPad screen. It will only work among devices where every user has installed their own version of the $0.99 app.

Venntunes is quite easy to use, as it is only two steps to get it going and then swapping music information. It was relatively stable, with one crash during testing. There is no account registration necessary — just fire it up and start comparing music with others.

It could be even more useful, however, by providing further detailed information about the music collections. For example, names of specific songs as well as playlists could be a good entryway into musical exploration. Some graphs that represent favorite genres or play frequency would likely draw a lot of interest. Deeper integration with the web would allow for further Venntunes to offer further comparison with additional playlists and give users the flexibility to purchase music from other  services, like Amazon’s MP3 Store.

Venntunes is a good first start in providing a real solution for those who want to compare musical tastes and collections. With additional enhancement it could be a real go-to option to examine and discuss one another’s musical tastes among friends, acquaintances or even people you “bump” into on the subway.

Related posts:

1. MyPlaylists: Control How You Listen to Your Music
2. Xewton Music Studio is a Beast — and We Mean it in the Best Possible Way
3. Create Your Own Groove With Jamble Music Mashups

It is part art quiz, part portable art gallery.A large collection of artists’ biographies and paintings are there if you just want to dust up on art history. Or for a more challenging option check out three games within Master Pieces; each more difficult than the other. First is “study then guess,” which presents six paintings for you to stare at; then you choose the correct artist from among snippets of their work.

Read the rest of Discover Art with Master Pieces: The Curator’s Game or discover more iPhone apps.

© 2011: written by Derek Walter for AppCraver.

The promise of an iPhone that no longer drops calls may be tempting many AT&T customers to switch over to Verizon. But is the grass really greener?

It depends. There are many indications the Verizon iPhone offers superior connectivity and far less dropped calls than its AT&T counterpart. However, other studies show that AT&T has faster downloads and is throwing free minutes at existing customers in an effort to keep them.

Deciding which way to go is not a clear-cut decision as there are many factors impacting each phone’s performance.

Read the rest of Showdown! Comparing the Verizon iPhone vs. the AT&T iPhone or discover more iPhone apps.

© 2011: written by Derek Walter for AppCraver.

Sundry Notes Pro is a note-taking app that refuses to limit itself only to text. You can include audio, ink, images, even tables and math formulas. Sundry Notes Pro also integrates with an impressive number of other services.

Yet, for those who want a simple, focused note-taking application, Sundry Notes Pro may be overkill. The barrage of features will be welcome to power users, yet it may overwhelm others.

Tap anywhere on a page to bring up a circle of icons; each of them representing a different way to enter content. From here is where you can write text, draw, or enter other forms of media.

Text is managed through a series of text boxes. The strength here is that it allows for a two-finger tap to highlight an existing box to edit. However, if you double tap on the wrong location, the app interprets this as creating a new text box. So when you go to tap somewhere else, a popup notification asks you if you wish to delete this. It gets kind of annoying.

Enabling sync is accomplished through logging in with any number of social or productivity networks: Facebook, Google, Twitter, Evernote or Dropbox. Entering your Dropbox, Google Docsor Evernote credentials allows for the import of files from those services. Not everything comes through smoothly, however. Some images from Evernote transferred over in odd configurations. Also, audio is currently not yet supported when importing from another service.

Includes is a collaboration feature, where those logged on can use Sundry Notes Pro to work together on a shared note. This feature did appear to be consistent in practice and could be improved with a future update.

Sundry Notes Pro gets many things right. It has a robust feature set and excellent syncing. It needs some additional polish and refinement to truly reach its potential.

Related posts:

1. Take and Sync Notes with Notability for iPad
2. Notes Plus: Close Up Look Reveals Full-Featured Productivity on the iPad
3. Idea Organizer Grabs Text, Voice and Visuals for Easy Notes

Notability nails the balance between apps that favor creating typed notes or hand-written ones. While it is primarily designed for using the iPad’s on-screen keyboard, there is a very-easy-to-use way with Notability to merge drawings, illustrations, or other graphics.

The interface is well designed for solid maneuverability and, like many iPad/iPhone apps, has a design that harkens back to Notability’s pre-digital counterpart, a notebook. In landscape mode notes can easily be selected through the familiar side-anchored menu.

If you want to record while taking notes, just tap the red button for including voice. In all a note could include text, audio, and an image for a very dynamic alternative to the usual text-based messaging applications.

Notes can be organized through a series of categories. There is also a search function I found to be very effective for finding a specific note. Often when dealing with large amounts of text it is easier to just search rather than dig through a dizzying number of categories.

Other note-taking apps, like Evernote or Springpad, sync the notes to the cloud for easy access from other devices. While Notability does not have as robust a syncing system at these apps, it does hook up with Dropbox. By enabling your Dropbox account this allows to view notes on another device or download them from Dropbox into Notability.

For those unfamiliar with Dropbox, it is a free (up to 2 GB) file-sharing service that can sync data among multiple computers and mobile devices. If you are serious about giving Notability a trial for running your note-taking, getting a Dropbox account is strongly recommended.

However, Notability is a strong option for those who want a more robust note-taking option than the standard Apple app included with the iPad.

Related posts:

1. Notes Plus: Close Up Look Reveals Full-Featured Productivity on the iPad
2. neu.Notes for iPad Organizes Your Thoughts, But Stays
3. Idea Organizer Grabs Text, Voice and Visuals for Easy Notes

Like most remote desktop apps for iPad, trying to work on a desktop operating system from an iPad is clunky at best. Yet that doesn’t mean KineticExtend is without value. For those who are prone to forgetting a file or need to look up some document when away from the office, this can be a life-saving resource.

The KineticD software also backs up files to the company’s servers, safeguarding them in case your computer catches fire or has some other catastrophe. Accessing your documents through the KineticD company web site is not as smooth as other cloud-based applications, but it does a good job of getting everything there safely. The software runs in the background without any major drainage on your system resources, which can not be said of all backup solutions.

Another perk: a member of the KineticExtend team gives you a phone call after creating an account to ensure everything went smoothly. It is a nice touch that is lacking in many app makers and companies.

Connecting to your desktop remotely works very well, though interacting with a Windows machine on an iPad is challenging at best. There is usually a delay between tapping on an icon and waiting for a reaction. Also, the remote desktop features of KineticExtend only work on the professional version of Windows 7; Home Premium users are out of luck.

While KineticExtend excels at backup, it does not offer the flexibility in being able to quickly open and edit your docs from an iPad that SugarSync, Dropbox, Google Docs or related apps do. Those who want lightweight, cloud-based storage and productivity options may want to lose at different solutions. But for a small business or those with more substantial backup needs, KineticExtend is worth exploring.

Looking for more options? Check out our complete round-up of the best remote desktop apps for the iPhone and iPad.

Related posts:

1. Control Your Desktop and More with JumiOne
2. Use iLIVEx for Remote Access to X Applications With iPad
3. Bento Organizes Your Life From Desktop to iPhone

Knowledge Trainer’s subject matter covers a diverse group, such as history, film, science, sports, social science, arts and letters, and geography. Questions are grouped into a series of lessons, with each lesson challenging the player with 10 questions from each of the 10 different categories.

Answering a question correctly raises your “KQ.” The better your performance, the more demanding the questions. For any you misstep, you have the opportunity of going back and answering them correctly if you want to learn that information, though it will not boost your score.

Read the rest of Knowledge Trainer is Your Personal Quiz Show or discover more iPhone apps.

© 2011: written by Derek Walter for AppCraver.