For some people, a creative option may not be on their list of things they want in a mobile alarm clock but it is definitely an interesting inclusion. The developer, Stephen Gray, claims to have incorporated the drawing engine into his clock app so he could take a little piece of his child’s doodled imagination with him when he travels away from home. Sweet as that inspiration must have been, I’m inclined to believe Stephen himself has a bit of a creative side, too.

The drawing engine implemented in Doodle Clock isn’t all that different from other drawing apps and though it is limited in some ways, you can still make some neat designs if you are patient and persistent. You can select from various transparencies, colors, shapes, and brush stroke sizes to doodle your own numbers 0-9, write the days of the week, and even customize those flashing dots between the numbers. Doodle Clock also allows you to customize your clock’s background. Doodle and color your own background or use a picture from your phone’s camera roll. You can create and save more than one theme and use them whenever you like.

If designing your own clock seems a bit over the top for you, there is a well-designed “sand” theme included or you can simply elect to use the default mode, which is your basic digital clock theme.

Other features in Doodle Clock include settings for 12- or 24-hour time, military time, time zones, and customization of the display format. The two biggest bonuses, in my opinion, are the ability to shut off autolock so your clock keeps ticking away, even while you sleep and the alarm with snooze function. There are only three alarm sound selections, which mimic traditional ringtone options more than alarm sounds, but they are audible and both the alarm and snooze functions work perfectly. There are on-screen instructions included that make the app easy to navigate and not at all confusing to set up or use.

If I have any complaints, it’s the inability to rotate pictures loaded into the app from the camera roll. The clock’s background is displayed in landscape mode so any pictures taken in portrait mode won’t display properly as the background. Aside from this oversight, I’m pretty sure this app is a keeper. With a launch price of just $0.99, Doodle Clock provides a great service and value. Your iPhone (or even iPod touch) becomes a working travel alarm clock as well as a creative outlet.

• rating: 8/10
• app_name: Doodle Clock

© AppCraver, 2009. | Doodle Clock – Clock-a-Doodle-do! | 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!

There are more than a dozen ICE apps currently available in the App Store. Most are little more than a notes-style list of emergency contacts with space for allergies and medications. A few take it further by offering one-touch dialing of the emergency phone number. But, none go quite as far as ICEcare from Corsoft Corporation.

ICEcare has all the expected stuff — emergency contacts, quick-touch dialing, and medical history. The app also has some bonus material for use in other types of emergencies. There is a first aid section with treatment for 9 different ailments from insect bites to the Heimlich Maneuver. The Disaster Recovery section has tips for what to do during major emergencies such as a flood or earthquake. These general information sections are accompanied by section that can be customized with your personal Home Emergency Plan.

ICEcare is the most comprehensive emergency app we’ve checked out so far. But it’s not without its quirks.

First off, all of your information is managed online. You can’t enter or maintain your emergency contact info from within the app. It’s a simple process to go online to the ICEcare website and make a profile, but it’s annoying that this can’t be done from the app. Also, the ICEcare profile offers the option to upload a photo. It’s a smart idea and will let emergency providers verify your identity. But, there’s no way to use the iPhone’s built-in camera to take a picture or upload an image from the phone’s library. This seems like a real missed opportunity.

The other oddity with ICEcare is that’s it’s not as intuitive as one would expect from an app that’s designed for emergency use. The first aid and disaster information is contained in a tab called Communiqué. And the update button to sync your profile with the app is housed rather cryptically under the Sponsors tab.

Even with these minor inconveniences, ICEcare is good-looking app that does exactly what is says it will do — and more than other apps in its genre. Even better, it’s free.

Just remember, all of this emergency info won’t do a lick of good if medical personnel can’t find it. So, make sure that the ICEcare icon is front and center on your iPhone home screen.

• rating: 8/10
• app_name: ICEcare

© AppCraver, 2009. | ICEcare: Comprehensive Emergency Contact and Preparedness Information | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Smart Alarm

The idea is that this app will pleasantly wake you up in the morning with a dash of weather, a squib of news and a line or two about whether your stocks are flying or frying. In fact, if the app was capable of bringing you breakfast it would be called Smart Butler, or something like that.

You can use the Settings button to set up the clock to display 12 or 24-hour formats, font and font color and background screen color. You also can set the amount of snooze time you might need, from 1 minute to 59 minutes (if you need more than 59 minutes that means you’ll wake up dead).

Before going to bed, set Smart Alarm to your desired wake up time, and set the sound that you want to wake up to. Smart Alarm comes with 53 sounds of nature, instruments, and other sounds designed to wake you gently.  You could, for example, use Smart Alarm to wake up to waves crashing on a beach or an acoustic guitar. If none of the built-in sounds work for you, you can record your own sound with the app’s recording function.

Once you’re awake and seeing straight, take a look at your iPhone or touch and grab the latest news, stocks and weather report. Tapping the weather icon will give you a preview of the day’s high temperature along with a 5-day forecast.

Tapping the icon in the lower left corner — in either landscape or portrait mode — switches the scrolling ticker from news to stocks. Tapping an item on either ticker will take you to Google’s finance pages or to Reuters news stories, using the Safari Web browser.

Truth is, Smart Alarm works better for me as a day-time clock at work: I can keep an eye on the day’s top stories and stock performance and if I need to, set the alarm to wake me up in time to go home before the evening rush hour.

One thing to keep in mind: If you’re using Smart Alarm overnight and you run out of battery juice, you’ll be still sawing logs when you should be attending that day’s big morning meeting. So be sure to plug in your device for smooth sailing.

• app_name: Smart Alarm
• rating: 8/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Smart Alarm | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

3 Numbers has an old-world navigation appearance, which is quite elegant, but could be over the top for more practical users. Fortunately, this was taken into consideration and there is an option to for an incognito appearance. Which ever appearance you choose, 3 Numbers has a relatively simple to follow interface, though some aspects of 3 Numbers may not be obvious at first glance. There is a help section accessible by tapping the information icon shown in the currency conversion mode that contains directions.

So what can you do with 3 Numbers? Certainly more than 3 things, as the name tends to imply. The name is derived from the ability to retain up to 3 numbers you might use repeatedly by storing them to the fields at the top of the screen. I’m not exactly sure what instances this would be useful for, but perhaps there are a few. The main features of 3 Numbers are the currency and unit conversion tools and the tip calculator.

3 Numbers offers dozens of different currencies and conversion rates can be updated instantly. To use the currency converter, simply select the “from” currency in the left hand side of the dial scroll wheel and the “to” currency on the right. Tap the field above on the left to enter an amount and then tap the arrow button to convert. Similarly, entering into the unit conversion tool, the same UI applies and you can convert units to meters, kilometers, inches, feet, miles and knots as well as units of temperature, speed, and weight.

Like most tip calculators, the 3 Numbers tip calculator offers a sliding percentage scale and the ability to calculate the split of the total bill. Additionally, 3 Numbers has tipping “tips” for different countries, such as the standard dining tip, taxi tip, and other useful information that can serve as a guide while traveling. The final feature of 3 Numbers is the ability to take notes and upload them to a computer on the same network.

While there are several apps available that could combine to perform all aspects of 3 Numbers, some of which may be free, 3 Numbers is a fairly intuitive and simple to use multi-feature app that can perform a variety of tasks on the go. And for its current price of just .99 (USD) or $1.14 (Canadian Dollars) or $1.26 (Australian Dollars), you can hardly beat it.

• rating: 8/10
• app_name: 3 Numbers

© AppCraver, 2009. | 3 Numbers is a Travel Utility App that Provides Way More than 3 Functions | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Knot Guide — Knots are a lot like people: Some are stable; others are tight when everyone else is loose; and some always can be relied on in a hitch or a pinch. Some can even be handsome, although only a knot connoisseur probably thinks so.

Years ago, I earned a knot tying merit badge in Boy Scouts, and I’m still able to tell the difference between a reef knot and a square knot from a mile away. But I have to say, Knot Guide, from developer Winkpass Creations, taught me more in an hour about knots and their uses than I ever learned back when I was in short pants.

Knot Guide is organized into 13 knot categories (bends, binding knots, loops, hitches and so forth). There are 68 knots (57 of them are unique). In case you think I wasn’t paying attention, I know now that a reef knot and a square knot are identical.

The problem with learning how to tie knots, aside from a shortage of rope, is that it’s often difficult to see and understand how to tie a specific knot. You may have to watch the knot being tied dozens of times before you can replicate it without help.

Knot Guide is like a patient teacher, who doesn’t mind telling you why you might use one knot over another and then showing you over and over how to tie it until you’ve committed it to memory. You have the option of saving a knot as a favorite too.

Knot Guide is $3.99, which the occasional user might think is a bit on the high side. I’m cool with the price. It’s short money for the amount of fun and memories Knot Guide has already brought me. Besides, you never know: If I ever make it onto to the Survivor TV show and I need to lash two poles together, I’ll  know that I need to use the round lashing knot and maybe the square lashing knot.

To sum up, Knot Guide is easy on the eyes and practical. The color photos showing knot-tying  are clear and well composed. Of the two similar apps that I’ve seen, this is the better (and more expensive) of the two. However, a few how-to videos would be my recommendation for an upgrade.

• rating: 8/10
• app_name: Knot Guide

© AppCraver, 2009. | Knot Guide Serves Well in a Hitch or Pinch | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

JumiCam

Home-oriented Web cam apps like JumiCam require your installing a video server (invariably free) on your PC. I haven’t reviewed a version with a video server that runs on Mac or Linux, but I’d be surprised if none existed but you need to check that out for yourself.

JumiCam is no different than any other Webcam app that I’ve seen intended to stream video from a Web cam attached to a home PC. Dare I mention you almost always need a Web cam plugged into one of your your PC’s USB ports?

Once the server software is installed and the Web cam jacked in,  you can view live video and take single-image snapshots using JumiCam.

If you would like to be able to remotely stop and start your Web cam and record video, then you’ll need to step up to an app such as Sunray Networks’ AtHome Camera, which I liked quite a bit when I reviewed it in February. You’ll pay for the added features (no surprise, I guess) but the complementary (and free) server is more capable. AtHome Camera is $5.99.

There’s a free Lite version of AtHome Camera (no remote start/stop recording) that makes for a balanced comparison to JumiCam’s free Lite version (Wi-Fi only), so you might want to give those a try too.

If you want to look through at IP-based network cameras—typically in public locations—which you can also pan, zoom and tilt, that’s a separate category of app. In that instance, give Live Cams (Spy Camera—Pan Tilt Zoom) a try for $0.99. If you want to take in the view from a few IP cameras at the same time, check out IP Vision for $7.99.

The typical Web cam apps won’t work with IP-based network cameras but a couple of apps serve double duty with Web cam and IP-network cams. Mobile Cam View Standard is one option if you have $99.99 to drop.

Here’s a demo of Jumicam from the Jumi website:

• rating: 8/10
• app_name: JumiCam

© AppCraver, 2009. | JumiCam Adds to the Line-up of Apps for At-Home Streaming Video | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

1 Adam 12 see the woman at 1242 Hauser St. prowler complaint. Handle this call code 2; and so began my fascination with police shows and police radio jargon. Shortly thereafter I was listening intently to my father’s police scanner of the happenings all over southern California. So imagine my excitement and anticipation as I added the Emergency Radio iPhone app by EdgeRift, Inc and the Police Scanner iPhone app by Juicy Development LLC to my rapidly growing applications library.

Both Emergency Radio and Police Scanner pretty much accomplish the basics of what they set out to do, stream live radio conversations broadcast over police, fire and EMS frequencies.

Let’s take a look at each individually, starting with Emergency Radio. When selected Emergency Radio opens to an All Channels page from which you can scroll through more than a thousand agencies and select one to listen to. You can select the Nearby option and assign a mile radius to search for agencies from. As I sit here in the fifth largest city in California, the 36th largest in the U.S. I find that apparently my local agencies aren’t on the feed, neither are any of the neighboring agencies. The closest agency I can listen to is 22.80 miles away. That hurts but I’ll move on.

The stream on Emergency Radio is fairly clear and easy to listen to. For those not familiar with police and fire codes there is a glossary of terms for various codes listed below the name of the channel that is streaming. You’re able to scroll down and view the list to keep up with what’s going on. There is also an option to favorite a channel.

Still feeling the sting of not being able to listen to what’s happening within my city or nearby I decided to see what I could find interesting by scrolling down the All Channels list. Bingo, the LAPD channel, the motherload of police activity. Shortly after selecting LAPD I realize that I’m not listening to the LAPD broadcast but to a completely different agency within Los Angeles County. Recently I went back to the LAPD frequency and received a message stating that it’s momentarily offline. The developers have since posted a note on iTunes stating that a 24/7 LAPD channel will be included in a update currently awaiting Apple’s approval.

Onto the Police Scanner iPhone app, when selected it also opens to a page from which you can select a location by state, city, zip code or nearest your current location.  Again, the list of choices is almost endless with more than a thousand agencies to choose from. Chose the Browse tab and you can select such regions as Australia, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, as well as the United States. Again my big cities agencies are not available.

Police Scanner has the edge on clarity and seamless streaming. What police scanner doesn’t have that Emergency Radio does, is a glossary to reference while listening to the broadcasts. Both Police Scanner and Emergency Radio can have long periods of silence. Activity and need for transmissions is based on the call load of the agency you’re listening to. Some areas naturally have more activity than others. Sheriff Taylor and Barney Fife simply had less to do in Mayberry than McGarrett and Dano had on the Big Island.  If the action is too slow you can always find another channel.

Both Police Scanner and Emergency Radio lose out in the search category. There is no way to jump ahead while navigating. You have to scroll continually and work your way through the alphabetical order. But again Police Scanner gets the favorable nod because you can at least search by state which cuts down on the number of choices available at a given time.

If you’re really into Police, Fire or EMS broadcasts you might want to spend the bucks on a programmable scanner from your nearest electronics store. But for those that want to hear that occasional police chatter, or quickly tune in and find out why all the police cars are parked up the block. (Assuming your city is available) Police Scanner and Emergency Radio iPhone apps may both be worthwhile apps.

The pros and cons of Police Scanner and Emergency Radio are similar but I’d have to give the edge to Police Scanner. The search ability is superior, the graphics are far superior, I found the broadcast from the same Canadian agency to be clearer and I liked the broader selection of locations more suited to my needs.

© AppCraver, 2009. | Emergency Radio Vs. Police Scanner: Cops Unedited | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

I’m too paranoid to store anything vaguely sensitive on my iPhone. Where I draw the line is, “If I can’t afford to lose it, it does not live on my device.” It’s a bit irrational I know, when you consider that I could just as easily lose my wallet. Let’s just say, I have my quirks and you have yours.

One thing we’ll agree on, however, is that it sucks to lose your iPhone or iPod touch. I was all set to stick a gold star to my forehead for being such a deep thinker but then I found out that a bunch of developers had the idea before me.

A number of companies market apps that are designed to keep a bad guy’s hands off your data, either by protecting, destroying or by retrieving it.

The one thing all these app have in common is that someone — whether a thief or a good Samaritan — has to launch the app on your missing iPhone or iPod. These apps don’t work automatically (yet).

There are dozens of apps that will passcode protect your data and some are even capable of doing remote wipes for particularly sensitive financial data.

I’ve been a long time security nut and I’ve tried out several security apps for the iPhone. Recently, I’ve been looking at apps that use your iPhone’s GPS and/or Wi-Fi features to determine its location.

I’ll have to investigate further before I can post reviews but in the meantime, I’ve rounded up a list of security-related apps that look interesting and a few that might even help you get your iPhone back.

Lost Phone Recovery, RewardingReturn —Use the app to create a custom (onscreen) background with a personal ID number and a reward return label. RewardingReturn will let you know for up to 2 years if your iPhone is turned in. $6.99

GetItBack Corporate, Convenience Software – Enter contact info, including email address into the app, which displays a tantalizing Corporate Data icon on your Home Screen. When the app is launched, it will email you with the iPhone’s GPS coordinates. See also: GetItBack BankData and GetItBack Password. $0.99.

iHound: Locates Your Lost or Stolen iPhone, Davesworld — Install and sign up for a free iHound Software account. iHound uses GPS and Wi-Fi to determine the device’s location and plots it on a map for you. $2.99 (currently on sale).

Alarm System, Tommy Kammerer — Install and then “arm” your phone or pod. The device’s built-in accelerometer will alert you if it’s picked up. You can also program it to call another number. $1.99

Stolen Phone Tracker, TechReply.com — The app installs a yummy-looking Passwords icon, and when the app is launched, it will display a scrolling list of contrived passwords. The idea is to keep the thief busy long enough to pinpoint his location via GPS. The app triggers emails to you. $0.99

Look at it this way. If your iPhone or iPod gets out of hand and you manage to get it back, then it’s a great app. If you don’t get it back, it’s a piece of crap. But, you won’t know until the unthinkable becomes reality.

© AppCraver, 2009. | Lose Your Phone, Get it Back, Maybe | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

This nifty little app enables anyone to view streaming video over Web cams —yours or someone else’s — over any Wi-Fi and Internet connection.

You can also view snapshots over 3G and EDGE. (Apple’s SDK doesn’t allow for more than single frame rates on those networks.) i-c-LiveCams (IP/PTZ Webcam Streaming Video) automatically switches from streaming video to single frame rates when you move from Wi-Fi networks to 3G or EDGE networks.

You can monitor locations in streaming JPEG video and control the pan, tilt and zoom of Web cams with the capability such as Axis, Canon, D-Link, Edimax, Linksys, Mobotix, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, Trendnet, Vivotek, WebcamXP and Y-Cam Web cams. However, only Axis and Canon camera PLZ is supported by the app. Egerter says compatibility for the rest are on the way.

i-c-LiveCams (IP/PTZ Webcam Streaming Video) comes with the URLs for hundreds of public Web cams, which are stored on a server and regularly updated. If you’ve used apps like this one before (on your iPhone/iPod touch or on a desktop) then you’re probably aware that it can be a pain to find good lists of public Web cams and when you do, you often have to enter their addresses manually, which can be tedious because most are long.

Public cams in i-c-LiveCams are sorted in categories to make them easier to find and manage: Beaches and Bikinis-PTZ, Animals, Most Popular-Some PTZ and so on.

Tap a category and you’ll get views from cameras in six locations. Tap a view for a closer look and when available, to control the camera. I happened to click on Gulf Shores Alabama’s Pink Pony Public Beach and found someone already controlling the camera. I had to wait a couple of minutes before I was able to wrest control of the Web cam mess with its zoom, pan and tilt functions.

I’ve looked at several Web cam apps such as iCam (Webcam Video Streaming), My Webcam and AtHome Camera. They’re all quite similar. One significant difference is that i-c-LiveCams (IP/PTZ Webcam Streaming Video) is only $0.99, which makes it a bargain.

• rating: 8/10
• app_name: i-c-LiveCams (IP/PTZ Webcam Streaming Video)

© AppCraver, 2009. | i-c-LiveCams (IP/PTZ Webcam Streaming Video) | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!