We’ve had the opportunity to review Cohdoo Highlight from Cohdoo LLC. The Cohdoo Highlight takes the basic recording features of Voice Memos and expands them by adding numerous additional features that make the app significantly more useful compared to Voice Memos. One of my favorite features from Highlight is the fact that it has Dropbox integration – which lets all of your recordings sync with your Dropbox account. Additionally, if you’re on an iPhone or iPad 3G, you’ll even be able to pinpoint where each recording was made. Of course, the main feature of this app is the ability to “highlight” parts of your recordings while listening or taking notes in real time! Just press the highlight button while the app is recording and once you’re done, you can go right back there.

Cohdoo Highlight’s best feature, as it’s name describes, is the highlighting feature. All you have to do is press the button and the app will readily take you right back there when you’re reviewing your recording. In the settings, you can set the app to take you back 2, 5, or 10 seconds from when you pressed highlight – so you can catch up to where you wanted to leave off. Additionally, if you’re going over the entire recording later, you can more highlights while listening to it. I tried to share the file with my Dropbox account and it worked like a charm. You can also use multitasking on iOS 4+ to record while you’re using other apps but you need to be in the app in order to make highlights. The file is saved as a “.caf” file on Dropbox and opens with Quicktime – however you don’t have the ability to use the highlights when listening on the computer (we didn’t quite expect it either). You also have the option to email recordings through the app.

We really enjoyed having the ability to highlight important parts of each recording. While listening to a lecture, we took written notes while using the Cohdoo Highlight to record the lecture. As the instructor emphasized on important points, we highlighted those parts and noted the highlight number on our notes for our future reference when cramming. Compared to Voice Memos this app definitely has significantly better features which make the app absolutely a charm to use when recording and especially when listening to recorded content. After using this app we didn’t find anything that the app is lacking, in order to fulfill everything it’s intended for. We also loved the fact that we could utilize iTunes Sharing in order to download the recordings without having to use Dropbox.

Cohdoo Highlight costs $4.99 at the App Store, so it’s a little more pricey than the average apps that we’re used to. However, if you’re a student, this $4.99 investment may end up saving you hours of having to go through recordings to find the simple parts you’re looking for (and possibly help you maintain your sanity). This app is definitely a must have for those who take courses which have a lot of lecturing and note taking. We wholeheartedly recommend that anyone who takes recordings more than very occasionally. We definitely give this app a perfect 5 out of 5 rating!

Please check out our screenshots of Cohdoo Highlight after the break!

The very first time My Daily Journal is launched, it will ask the user to set up a password so that journal entries can be kept secure. This (optional) feature is the first of many great features included in My Daily Journal, and it’s a must have given the personal nature of many people’s journals. From there My Daily Journal will prompt you to choose the look and feel of your journal. Different settings can be chosen for the cover, font and paper. Optionally, you can use your own camera roll photo for your paper. Thankfully, My Daily Journal adds it as a watermark so that text is still readable. My Daily Journal makes it easy to go back in time to write a journal for any past date. Or you can make one for a future date as well as make multiple entries per day.

For the serious writers with concerns about somehow losing all of your journal entries, don’t worry. My Daily Journal has you covered. With backup/restore functionality via a Dropbox account, you can have peace of mind knowing your entries are safe. My Daily Journal also has several options to quickly share your entries. Entries can be sent via email (as text or PDF), as well as Facebook or Twitter. Just in case you’re worried, this can be disabled in the settings to prevent the accidental sharing of your deep thoughts.

JL Software Co included many other great features, such as a search function that indexes all entries, a nice calendar view, and a character counter for those of you who plan to tweet your entries. Also, the developer seems committed to the app with regular updates, which is always a big plus. We found that the app ran very well. Its fast, crash free in our tests, and the journaling experience was great.  On the off chance it does crash for you, the app automatically saves after every keystroke so you don’t need to worry about losing anything. JL Software clearly put a lot of thought into everything, and it pays off. There was only one thing that irked me, and that was the cancel button is at the top of the sharing menu. This goes against what one would expect on iOS as well as the rest of the app’s UI, where cancel is usually listed at the bottom. Also, the date selection screen feels a little crowded, but it works.

My Daily Journal takes mobile journaling a step further with great features like password protection, a variety of exporting options, backup/restore functionality and more with a great interface to go with it. TeenCastic gives My Daily Journal 4 stars. We highly recommend this if you are interested in journaling, and if you aren’t, try it out anyways. You may discover you enjoy journaling. It can be found in the app store here for $1.99.

My Daily Journal is a universal app, so it will run on your iPad too. We have not tested the iPad version, though we would expect a pleasant experience on the iPad as well. 

Check out Josiah’s Screenshots of My Daily Journal in the gallery, after the break!

• Fix the names of songs you import from a CD
• Add album art to songs without it
• Show videos by the band you are currently playing
• View the band’s bio from freebase
• Recommend albums and songs to you from via amazon
• Notify you of upcoming performances the artists in your library
• View news about the artists via google news
• Purchase merchandize, tickets, and music from the band through ebay

It fixes names of songs almost always accurately. Although it utilizes 3rd party resources to identify songs, it seamlessly integrates into TuneUp, making it easy to clean up your library. It does not automatically identify songs that need a TuneUp, which is a pain because with a large music library it is hard to quickly find the songs that are not complete.

Tune-Up Album Art

Adding album art is a breeze with TuneUp, it identifies albums that need art then quickly downloads all of the covers. It does not automatically add them however, you need to approve the album art. The album art for me, has always been accurate. It does not have album art for a lot of small bands.

Tune Up is a great tool for a music guru, but not for a casual iTunes user. If you are looking for an easy user interface, with a small set of necessary features SongGenie is for you.

Pros: Mostly accurate, attaches to the itunes UI. Has a lot of useful features.

Cons: Pricey, other alternatives are better. Can be confusing to use.

iPhone Integration: 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 5 stars
Re-use/Replay Value: 4 stars
Overall Rating: 4.7 stars

As we all know, board games are becoming increasingly popular on mobile devices such as the iPhone, and now award-winning family board game ‘Zooloretto’ has finally come to the AppStore!
For those of you how are not familiar to the game, the aim is to place different types of animals in your very own zoo to attract as many visitors as possible.
However you will lose points if you have too many animals and no space for them.

Once you start, you are presented with a tutorial to help you familiarize yourself with the game. Everything is explained very well showing you examples
of different situations you may encounter as you play on. Once that’s over you can finally get into the game; To customize your character simply tap on
him/her on the main-menu and either select the male or female character once you’re done with that you can also change your Player name.
After all this you are ready to play the game. Now you can either play with CPU’s or your friends (Pass and play), in the beginning you can play up-to 3 players (including yourself). However later in the game there are 2 more unlockable characters.

Once you begin you are presented with a view of your zoo (which is obviously empty at first) by tapping on the ‘?’ tile on the bottom-right corner of the screen you will randomly be given an animal, a coin (used for several different things, explained later in the review) or a vending stall which you have to drag onto a truck (3 trucks) this will place the item there and your turn will end and it will move on to your opponents’; they can place their items in any of the trucks
on the screen and so can you; who-ever grabs the truck they want first gets the items in it. The trucks can hold up-to 3 tiles. However if you are satisfied with one of the trucks and it only has 2 tiles you can just tap on it and take the truck. Once you have tapped on a truck the items can be dragged into their specific spot, for example if one of the tiles you got was a monkey you can drag the money into one of the animal pens in your zoo. Note only one specific animal can be placed in a pen so choose your truck wisely, you can end up getting animals that have no space in your zoo and as a result end up getting negative points. However you can expand your zoo to fit more animals if you have enough coins, on the other hand if you don’t have enough coins then they are placed in your barn and that’s how you accumulate negative points. Coins can also be used for things other than expansion; if your opponent has animals in his/her barn that you may need you can buy it from them, you can also use coins to make animals switch pens etc. If a male and female animal are put in the same pen they give birth to young ones, this can increase your visitor points. Similarly vending stalls, expansion and filling up pens do the same.
Opponents can be really tough at times but that’s all part of the fun. The game is designed pretty well and graphics and music is spot-on. However you may get bored of this game after you have fully explored it. The game also automatically saves if you quit in the middle of a match.

The Conclusion: Zooloretto is probably one of the most awesome board games I’ve played on my iPhone so far, from gameplay to graphics Chillingo has got it spot-on
however I’d like to see some more features added soon like Wi-Fi multiplayer for a start. If you’re looking for a family board game or just want to kill some extra
time I highly recommend getting Zooloretto.

If you enjoyed reading this, please comment & share:

iPhone Integration Rating: 5
Stability: 5
Features: 4
User Interface: 5
Re-use Value: 4
Overall Rating: 4.6

Mass Effect: Galaxy is a top-down shooter based on the award-winning Xbox 360 game. It retains the same conversational elements and effects of your choices in the conversations.

Mass Effect: Galaxy follows the story of Jacob, a former soldier who is given a mission to stop the detonation of a chemical weapon on the Citadel, the main international peacekeeping space-station. As the story progresses, Jacob meets many new characters that help him along his journey.

ME:G uses stylized, comic-style cut-scenes and conversations to further the story. The game takes the player on many adventures throughout various planets and locations around the galaxy. The combat is fought using the iPhones accelerometer to control the player’s movement while the firing is done automatically while the player selects the target by tapping on the enemy.

The conversation is dealt with as a slider wheel on the right side of the screen with many different options to choose from. Each option has a symbol next to it that will let you know of the possible outcome from choosing that option such as a fist meaning that a fight could occur or a thumbs-up meaning that you will most likely get a friendly response.

The game also has great sound effects and an amazing musical score. It helped immerse the player in the environment as does the scarce voice acting.

The graphics in ME:G are exceptional for an iPhone game, utilizing a comic-book style of 2-D graphics. The cut-scenes are used in a way to further the story while keeping them short enough to keep the player involved.

Overall, Mass Effect: Galaxy is a great, story-driven, top-down shooter with great conversation and cutscenes that break up the action. It honors the source material greatly and even adds to the suspense of waiting for Mass Effect 2. It is a good length story that has high replay value and is definitely worth the $2.99 price.

 

 

 

iPhone Integration Rating: 5
User Interface: 5
Reuse/Replay Value: 3

Overall: 4.3

BeastFace Photo Mashup is a really cool application that allows you to let out the animal in you and your friends! BeastFace lets you customize your photos by adding beasts into your photos, customizing and fitting your chosen beast, and lets you change the brightness, contrast, hue, and other aspects of your photo. In a way, BeastFace is a wild and modern version of PhotoShop for iPhone! Some of the application’s main features are the touch screen and multi touch usage, the many beasts included, and the amazing User Interface.

Like I said, BeastFace features an awesome UI. The few buttons make it easy to navigate through the app, and make it easy for a newbie to learn how to use it. Another reason why I like this app is because it is very stable, with no glitches in the time I tested it. One thing that I think was missing was a text editor, where you could comment on the picture, or title it. My personal experience with BeastFace was pretty good, although I have an iTouch, and didn’t have pictures of myself to Beast up:( I have included some screenshots of the User Interface below.

Overall, BeastFace Photo Mashup is a pretty remarkable app. Costing just two bucks, and having an awesome UI, you cannot go wrong selecting this application to let out the beast inside of you!

The Logo

A beast in another app!

User Interface

When I opened Blogo initially I noticed the long splash screen, for a small blog posting app a splash screen does not seem necessary. Despite this, the user interface is modern and unique. In addition it comes in two colors, blue and grey. The user interface is made up of a lot of images instead of text buttons which can be confusing to the new user, it took me about 10 minutes to figure out each button by hovering my mouse over them to activate the tool tip, although once you get the hang of it, it’s much easier to use.

On the main page of Blogo you are presented with two options New and Edit. In the New panel you can write a new post. When you click the Edit button a tab slides out of the right site of the window with your recent drafts & posts. You can search recent drafts and sort by various categories. In addition you can clear your editor quickly with the trash icon in the bottom right corner of the Edit tab. I’m a little bit of a geek so when I found the little tab in the corner labeled HTML I was overjoyed, I could edit the raw code of my post and quickly switch to the rich text editor so see if my modifications worked.

You can quickly add tags to your post with the small text field below the body, similar to twitter hashtags, you add a # before the tag. To upload a photo to your post simply drag the image file into the “dropbox”, it was super easy to add screenshots to this post and scale them to a desirable size, apply color effects and link them wherever you want. Everything is presented elegantly, the UI provides a lot of focus on the body of the post while also allowing for quick image uploads, post tagging, and styling of the text. When you are done you can preview your post with your theme rendered locally (so you don’t need the internet to preview your post).

I love streamlining my productivity, so when I figured out how to make the Blogo editor fullscreen (which took 5 minutes) I loved it. With the fullscreen view mode I can focus on writing the blog post and ignore the constant AIM messages and Facebook status updates.

Oh no, when I was saving this post something horrible happened, could my work be saved!?

Oh joy, it’s always nice when developers add a crash safety feature to their apps. Thanks brainjuice for saving my post.

Blogo can be a an asset to your blog if you hate the clunky online interface wordpress provides when you create your site. If you don’t mind the web based posting client then don’t get it, if you can afford it then you should get it to streamline your blog posting work flow. It takes a little while to figure out, but once you do it can create an awesome productive work environment for your blog.

iPhone Integration Rating: 5
User Interface Rating: 5
Reuse/Replay Value: 3

Overall NotePad Rating: 4

NotePad is an easy to use productivity application that is used to type notes on the iPhone, taking advantage of some of the phone’s great features. Things like special types of folders, shake to write, and computer syncing make the app really awesome.

NotePad’s UI is an amazing one, featuring just a few easy-to-use buttons, and my personal favorite feature: you can shake your iPhone once or twice to make a new note. You can also sync your notes to your desktop (which I didn’t try yet). Another cool feature is how you can make keyword or location-specific folders, making the app very advanced. My personal experience with the application was good, there was one bug that I managed to take a picture of (look at the screenshot with the popup), but other than that, the application ran very smoothly and I was very happy with it. The reuse value is weak because Notes delivers the same product and is free, but is strong due to the numerous features Notes doesn’t have: syncing and shake to write, for example.

Overall, NotePad is an OK app. Since it is $4.99 but has the same core function as Notes, which comes free with any iPhone/iPod Touch, NotePad is not worth it for your money. The cool features make it very modern and intuitive, though.

iPhone Integration Rating: 5
User Interface: 4
Reuse Value: 5
Overall: 4.5 stars

Soul Trapper is an audio adventure used for entertainment purposes. It features a clean interface, a streamlined gameplay, and some really good effects. The interface is clean, nothing special or better than your average iPhone app. The gameplay is streamlined and easy to learn, but you don’t really know your long-term goal. The feature that earns it a high overall rating from me is the AMAZING audio effects cleverly implemented into the app. The feeling is sensational; kind of like when you read a book, and you can picture the events happening. No other app I’ve seen delivers this kind of audio quality on this platform.

I couldn’t bring myself to giving the UI of this application 5 stars because it doesn’t have anything special. Of course, I have to commend the simplicity of the interface, and say that while reviewing this application, I really wasn’t looking at the UI that much, the game seemed more important. One suggestion I have to the developers is to give an introduction level to give the people an idea of how the app works. During the approximate hour I tested the game, I had a lot of fun, and would like to congratulate the developers of Soul Trapper on their achievement for making a really cool and unique app.

Overall, Soul Trapper is a unique application opening up a whole new genre of audio based applications on the App Store. I would definitely recommend it!

Note: It is rated 12+. See App Store for details.