HMAUS Signal 30 years of helping people with technology

Review by Frank Petrie

Product: Zagat ToGo
Author: Handmark, Inc. <mobile.zagat.com/iphone.htm>
Requirements: iPhone?, iPod Touch
App Price: $9.99
Test Rig: iPhone 3Gs

Food, food, glorious food. From the finest dining experience to the most satisfying of burgers, we all crave one type or another. And when that craving hits – where to go? What type? Chinese, Italian, Mediterranean? I don’t want to spend time debating the issue – I WANT TO EAT! How about just the local pub? I don’t care – I JUST WANT TO EAT!

“The most trusted guide to restaurants comes to the iPhone and WiFi iPod Touch with over 45 Guides of Restaurant Reviews and Ratings for *less than the price of 1 guide!*

Whether a cheap bite or a posh dinner, Zagat has shown the way for 30 years! Our Nightlife, Hotel and Shopping coverage also included where available.”

A getaway weekend all planned in seconds with only your fingertips? Let’s see.

THE JUICE

Zagat is a restaurant, travel and night life review guide started in 1979  by Tim and Nina Zagat as a way to collect and correlate the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, covering New York City, the Zagats surveyed their friends. Today, Zagats covers over 70 major metropolitan areas, but also has a very good handle on burbs like my South Jersey area.

You can choose from restaurants, nightlife and hotels (plus, occasionally shopping). After your experience at any of the listed establishments, you are asked to review your experience and rate such items as service, decor, promptness, etc. These reviews are then added to others of the establishment to give them an aggregate rating. Plus you can add any additional observations to your experience.

Additional functions are:

• You can use Zagat ToGo offline after syncing via Wi-Fi
• GPS: Find nearby restaurants automatically
• Recommendations: Our digital concierge tells you where to take Dates, Clients, Friends & more
• Advanced Search: Mix and Match by any criteria
• Top Rated Lists: “Best of” in your city like Best Buys, Best Burgers, Most Romantic & more.
• Reservations: Reserve tables instantly
• Sort: Filter by Food, Décor, Service or Cost!
• Email Reviews, Add To Contacts, & Full Photos
• 100% Complete: Every Zagat-Rated restaurant
• 100% Up To Date: New restaurants added M-F

THE PULP

As I had mentioned earlier, I put Zagat ToGo through its paces in my sleepy little hamlet. And I have to say that all of the reviews were spot on! Places were I had bad experiences were brought back to mind after reading of patrons suffering the very same nightmares, or conversely, any pleasantries that I had. I found the various ratings of decor and such to also to be extremely accurate.

I did find a few restaurants that no longer exist, but when you think of the sheer number of establishments that are covered in this app, that’s more than understandable.

THE RIND

Nada.

SUMMARY

If you’re just a couple looking for a good weekend out in a major city or just trying to pick from your local haunts, Zagat ToGo is worth every single penny. Doesn’t even rate a second thought. This is the kind of app that makes the iPhone indispensable.

In fact, it is too good in one way. It is not diet friendly.

RATING : 10 of 10

©2010 Frank Petrie

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Review by Frank Petrie

Product: Speedback
Author: Skyworks Interactive, Inc. <www.skyworks.com/iphone/>
Requirements: iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $0.99 (Limited Time Sale Price)
Test Rig: iPhone 3G/16GB

The Super Bowl has come and gone. I do have baseball beginning — my favorite sport. But what if I crave a little pigskin from time to time?

“Think YOU have what it takes to make first-string? Are you Pro-material? Could you be a Hall of Fame running back? Then suit up and hit the gridiron with SPEEDBACK.”

You know from past reviews how much I like Skyworks products. Will the string stay intact?

THE JUICE

You are the running back. But you have no blockers or front line to punch a hole for you. You have to find daylight by yourself. To accomplish it, you have three tools at your disposal.

First, you can pick from five different directions to run in. Of course, you change direction whenever you choose to avoid being tackled. Second, you can stiff arm your opponent. And finally, and probably the most fun, you can spin out of a tackle.

There are two modes of play, Classic Game and 2 Minute Drill. And you can either keep your scores to yourself or challenge others around the globe.

THE PULP

I have to be honest with you and say that when I launched Speedback for review, I wasn’t all that excited or interested.

But somehow, as with all their other games, Skyworks somehow managed to sink its hooks into me. I also found myself saying, “You can do much better than that!” with each play. And so the addiction began.

THE RIND

Nada.

SUMMARY

In the future, it would be neat if they could set up the game so that you could play against a friend who operates the defensive player. I’ve come to believe the secret in Skyworks’ games is that they lock you into playing against your own scores. You become your own opponent.

And even though this isn’t my favorite game of theirs (still can’t beat Arcade Hoops), I find myself going back to it. At this special price there is no reason that Speedback shouldn’t be in your gaming arsenal.

If I only could combine the spin with a stiff arm, I know that I could be a contender!

RATING : 7 of 10

©2010 Frank Petrie

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If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you probably know there are tons of great apps you can download from iTunes. Many of them fill your own heart with glee, but did you know that there are many that can fill your young son or daughter’s heart with joy too?

You may be wondering if allowing your $300 device in the hands of a three-year old is the wisest of moves. And, this I often wonder myself, as I watch my son shaking my iPhone rather violently to get the iGlowStick to light up — a definite fear of seeing your phone sail across the room removes some of the thrills for the parents. However, for the kids, they love it!

Here are some really fun apps for kids that build on an original post I wrote some time back: “Kid-friendly iPhone and iPod Touch“. I added “EV” for “Education Value” (how educational it is) and “PV” for Play Value (how interactive and fun it is). As any parent with active kids will tell you, getting 10 minute breaks that keep your son or daughter entertained, can make a huge difference. It’s wonderful if the app is educational too, but at least it has to have good, clean fun.

Educational:

Tickle Tap Apps have a series of very gentle learning apps for your toddler. CountCaddy ($1.99)
is a cat that helps kids with counting, while Field Flier ($1.99) is more free-form; allowing your child to help the birdy explore his surroundings while learning verbs. Both are well done, calming, and good for younger children (under 4). (Good support from the company also.) EV= high, PV = good

EliasABC and EliasZoo (was free, now $1.99 each) — simple, clean graphic and easy movement to help toddlers learn either ABCs or animal sounds. EV = high, PV = good

FeedMe (free) — Living in Hawaii, you know how important other languages are. Feedme is available in different languages, including Japanese. Interactive and educational, my son really enjoyed playing it with his mom. EV = good, PV = good
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Review by Frank Petrie

Product: Sorenson Squeeze 6
Author:  Sorenson Media <www.sorensonmedia.com/>
Requirements: Intel-based processor; Mac OS 10.4 or later; 512 MB RAM; 120 MB available hard drive space; QuickTime 7.2 or later
Price:  $799.00US; Squeeze 6 for Flash $499US
Test Rig: MacBook Pro 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 5GB RAM

For all of you videographers, I think you will agree that the most tedious part of the whole process is encoding your project. Sorenson has long been the high watermark, but this time they have outdone themselves with Squeeze 6.

“Free yourself from mundane tasks and your desk. We feel your pain, we’re here to help. With Squeeze 6, your workflow just got easy: Set it and forget it! Leave your desk and get back to what matters most — your videos, your business, your life.”

Let’s take a look around.

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Review by Frank Petrie

Product: RingtoneStudio 2
Author: PocketMac
Requirements: working copy of iTunes, 90 day money back guarantee
Price: $19.95
Test Rig: 13″ MacBook Pro, iPhone 3Gs

Ringtones. You either pay for them or you use another piece of software, then go through about a dozen or so steps to create exactly what you wanted. But suppose that you could create a ringtone out of a music or video file in just four steps?

“RingtoneStudio 2 for iPhone is the most complete option for creating ringtones on your Mac. We’ve designed it from the ground up to be incredibly simple to use. And it works with all models of the iPhone, including iPhone 3.0 and iPhone 3GS.”

Is it worth it? Let’s try it and find out.

THE JUICE

Installation is just the double click of a .dmg. The GUI should be somewhat familiar.

RS2 works with many different formats such as AAC, MP3, M4A. In fact, RS2 supports all of the audio and video formats supported by QuickTime/QuickTime Pro with the exception of DRM/protected media and some older formats like MPEG-1.

It can all be accomplished in just four steps after you launch the application. First, drag your chosen file onto the RS2 and choose the section you want to make into a ringtone. Second, use the selection tools to choose the section that you want to make into a ringtone (forty seconds maximum.) Third, tweak your ringtone using the volume tool and the cursors You can zoom in or out on the waveform in order to make precise trims. And finally, press the Create button and let RS2 produce your ringtone and deposit it in your Ringtone Folder.

When the creation is completed, you can then sync them up on your iPhone.

THE PULP

I made a quick ringtone from one of my favorite songs. And it was just as easy to do with a .mov file. Both files retained their audio quality. Quite impressive.

THE RIND

I don’t have many friends. Gotta work on that.

SUMMARY

You could accomplish the same using various programs. But RingtimeStudio lets you perform everything in four simple steps, all in one application. If you’re a fiend for constructing ringtones, then this one’s for you.

But, please — no Jonas Brothers.

RATING : 8 of 10

©2009 Frank Petrie

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Review by Frank Petrie

Product: ProTouch
Author: iSkin <http://www.iskin.com/protouch_apple_keyboard/>
Requirements: MacBook/Pro/Air, Aluminum wired/Wireless keyboard, Aluminum wired (with numerical keypad)
Price: $24.99, $34.99
Test Rig: 13″ MacBook Pro

Keyboards. Dirty fingers covered with lunch grease, skin oils and heat-seeking cats can really turn them into a real mess over time. Enter ProTouch by iSkin.

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Review by Frank Petrie

Product: Xslimmer 1.7
Author: LateNiteSoft <www.xslimmer.com>
Requirements: OS X 10.3.9 minimum
Price: $14.95
Test Rig: 13″ MacBook Pro; 5GB RAM; Mac OS X 10.6

Ahh, fall is here and Snow Leopard is in the air. But before you install/upgrade, you should really do a few things first. Naturally, perform a back up – RIGHT!? But then root around your virtual attic. Are there pieces of bric-a-brac just floating around in there? No longer used applications? Stray .plists? Toss ‘em.

Then you’re ready to use Xslimmer to finish up the job and get everything ready for Snowy.

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If you do training for others, or just want to share a tip with someone, taking a snapshot of your desktop of the item is often the quickest way to show what you mean.   And, as a Mac owner, you probably already know the built-in way to take screenshots with OS X; simply click Shift+Command+3 to get a full screenshot. (For more options, here’s a great Apple “Quick Tips” video.) But what if you want to add things like arrows, comments, or highlights to the screenshot to really help the other person? Voila might be a great choice for you. Voila adds the ability to edit your screenshots and then mail or upload them (Flickr, FTP) to share with others.

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A review by Frank Petrie

Product: Goaaal!
Author: Skyworks Interactive, Inc. <www.skyworks.com>
Requirements: iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $1.99
Test Rig: iPhone 3G/16GB

Once again I’m writing a review of a Skyworks game. But this time it’s not an arcade game. It’s a soccer shoot out.

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Mac Migration: The Small Business Guide to Switching to the Mac /  by Jason Rich

Book review by Dave Greenbaum

Originally published and written for the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 http://www.laugks.org/ and published by the author at http://www.clickheretech.com.

As an avid reader of Entrepreneur magazine, I had very high hopes for this book. More and more businesses are switching to Mac from PC and need a guide focused on how to get typical business functions done on the Mac. The book completely skips the iLife suite and takes the reader from the decision to buy a Mac over to the key tools a business owner needs in order to run a business on their Mac. Unfortunately, the book is incomplete, inconsistent and needs to check its facts.

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