Fresh iPhone Apps for July 27: Cooliris, Bubble Witch Saga, Manos - The Hands of Fate

Bring all the photos you shoot and share this weekend to one place with photo app Cooliris. It allows you to view shots from multiple sources and share them easily with your friends through social networking. It kicks off today’s Fresh Apps haul, followed by Bubble Witch Saga, a bubble-shooting puzzler that mixes in elements of Pachinko. Finally, we’ve got Manos - The Hands of Fate, a retro platformer old-school gamers are sure to enjoy.

Cooliris is like having a personal social network for all of your photos. The app allows you to aggregate all the images you have on Facebook, Instagram and your iOS devices, and put them in one place. You can also browse photos from the web, and quickly share them with others straight from the app. The goal is that you’ll never have to go looking around for your photos again, because Cooliris keeps them all together.

The great thing about Cooliris is that, because it keeps all your photos together, it makes it easy to share them and comment on them among your friends. You can also easily view everything with the app’s pretty user interface and view them on your Apple TV or Mac with AirPlay. There’s no limit to the number of photos you can include in Cooliris, either.

Video game aficionados will see elements of the popular Bust-A-Move franchise in Bubble Witch Saga. The goal in each level of the game is to shoot colored balls toward the top of the screen, where a number of balls are stuck together. Hitting a group of a single color with the same color from the player’s cauldron (the place from which the colored balls derive) clears them out, earning points and bringing the whole cluster of balls at the top of the screen closer to falling down. Your objective: Drop the balls down into cauldrons below, Pachinko-style, to earn huge points.

There’s an element of strategy to Bubble Witch Saga as well, because every time you make a big combo by clearing balls from the top of the screen, a spider descends from the ceiling that adds a multiplier to falling balls that bounce off it. But if you fire a shot that doesn’t clear any balls, a spider retracts from that same side – so you’ll want to be very careful about your shots and where you fire them. Your points on each level rack up to earn you stars, and how well you do on each stage is tracked on Game Center leaderboards.

Based loosely on a movie considered to be “among the worst films ever made,” Manos - The Hands of Fate brings players into a retro game world reminiscent of offerings from back in the 1980s. You play as Mike, a man exploring a haunted inn, armed with only his ability to jump and a gun as he works through the game’s side-scrolling levels. It’s not unlike games like Super Mario Bros., but Manos has its own weird charm that sets it apart.

The cool thing about Manos is how true to the retro feel it really is. With 8-bit graphics and a chip tunes soundtrack, it really does feel like a game from a bygone era. It also has some pretty challenging, engaging gameplay, providing players with regular boss fights and obstacles you’ll need all your skills to surmount. There’s also Game Center support for achievements and leaderboards.

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The Dark Knight Rises doesn't fall short of expectations

APPOLICIOUS ADVISOR RATING:

4 of 5 bars PRICE: $6.99TASTY: Surprisingly well-executed combatBUMMER: A clumsy camera. Also, pushy in-app purchasesCOOL: An actual video game based on The Dark Knight films!

As the first movie tie-in game to the Christopher Nolan Batman movies since 2005, Gameloft's The Dark Knight Rises has a lot to live up to. It sadly suffers from all the same issues all their other open world games have had to face. Despite that, it's actually very enjoyable and worth playing, as long as you can deal with some technical hiccups.

Gameplay can be described as a simpler, cheaper version of Batman: Arkham City, the excellent, mega-popular console and PC game of last year. You are thrust into the Nolan-verse Gotham City as the caped crusader, and while the city isn't truly an open world, it often feels like it as you glide and grapple-hook your way across the rooftops. The combat tries to imitate the fluidity of the Arkham titles, including counter attacks and useful gadgets that you can buy and upgrade with credits. It's not quite the same, but it's still enjoyable.

The story tries to hit all the main points of the newly-released film, albeit in a clumsy way with many remixed scenes. The voice actors do an admirable job imitating their Hollywood counterparts, but they usually fall short. The imitation of Hans Zimmer's epic score is also fairly bland and uninteresting, but these are all seasoning to the true gameplay experience, which is perfectly serviceable assuming your iDevice can run the game. Unfortunately, as with Gameloft's previous open world movie tie-in, The Amazing Spider-Man, this game is wrought with technical issues, from laggy frame rates to freezing and crashing. You should be fine with newer devices, however.

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Despite the occasional slow loading and pop-in, the graphics are amazing for the platform, especially on the latest generation of devices. I still wouldn't classify this as a great game by any means, but it really exceeded my expectations, low as they were. Were this game on a console, it wouldn't be worth a second look, but for only seven dollars on your iPhone, this is a very impressive experience. These movie tie-in games seem to be improving, and I hope they continue to do so.

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Apple TV now includes Hulu Plus

Perhaps that rumored “special event” hosted by Apple on September 12 will offer more than just an iPhone 5 and iPad Mini? Might an app-enabled version of Apple TV finally be in the works?

As first reported by MacRumors, the subscription-based Hulu Plus service is now appearing on the Apple TV menu (owners may need to reboot their device to see it). Hulu Plus, which has a monthly $7.99 fee, joins other blue blood digital services including YouTube, Netflix and of course iTunes, as pre-installed applications for Apple TV.

Forward-thinking Apple TV owners with latest generation iPhones (4 and 4S) and iPads (2 and “New”) can also run a variety of applications on their larger screens via the magic of AirPlay Mirroring. Here are some of our favorite iOS applications you can now run on Apple TV through that technology.

It seems inevitable that Apple will eventually open up a platform to enable third-party developers create apps directly for the TV device. Perhaps that is only a few weeks away?

Stay tuned.

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HABU Music can help you set the mood

APPOLICIOUS ADVISOR RATING:

3 of 5 bars PRICE: $0.99TASTY: Organizing your music by mood is a unique idea.BUMMER: Users of unlimited streaming apps are left out in the cold here.COOL: Ability to preview songs of a particular mood is nice for people buying a lot of music via iTunes.

In a post-iTunes world, where practically any song can be played whenever you want for a nominal monthly fee, music-previewing apps are fighting an uphill battle. HABU Music attempts to fight the good fight by carving out their own specialized niche in the music app empire via song labeling. It’s a decent idea, but HABU will need a little more refinement to become a must-own for serious audiophiles.

The app has two main features – the first sorts the music that users have on their iPhone into categories based on the mood of the song. There are 25 main categories like “Aggressive,” “Rowdy,” “Somber,” and “Sophisticated” that tunes are placed in. Users can also drill those 25 categories into 100 more specific sub-categories like “Dark/Groovy” and “Powerful/Heroic.”

It’s a neat idea, and for anyone with a nice amount of music on their iPhone, it works great. But for those carrying iPhones with limited storage capability while possessing huge music libraries, HABU just doesn’t work. I still have most of my music on a 120 gig iPod Classic, choosing instead to leave my iPhone storage space for games, photos and other miscellaneous things.

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The music not on my iPod is usually found quickly via the Spotify app on my iPhone, but HABU doesn’t sync up with Spotify, so any listening I do there is irrelevant to the HABU experience. This issue of compatibility isn’t surprising, and for most people it probably won’t be a deal breaker, but it severely lessens how useful HABU is for a listener like myself.

HABU’s other main feature lets users check out preview clips of a number of songs in the previously-mentioned mood categories. Users can then purchase the song they’ve previewed for their personal use via an iTunes link right in the app. There’s nice value in being able to preview any number of songs, but for some, streaming apps like Rdio and Spotify have made previewing songs (and purchasing them for a dollar a piece!) as novel as buying a CD.

How useful you find HABU Music really depends on what sort of music listener you are. If you have a modest music library that you carry on your iPhone and you often purchase songs out of iTunes, HABU Music is a cool way to organize your music by mood rather than artist or album. If your life is overloaded with tunes and you’re already using music streaming apps, HABU won’t bring much to the table, not until it finds away to meaningfully interact with those music-streaming apps.

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iPhone App Video Review: ORC: Vengeance

Who’s in the mood for a dungeon crawl? ORC: Vengeance is a new action RPG from Big Cave Games and Chillingo, and it’s nice to see them supporting something other than cute physics puzzlers. It’s pretty rare. This game puts you in the boots of an unlikely hero: an orcish war chief named Rok, as you slice your way through gloomy prisons, stormy keeps and creepy crypts. The production values are crazy good for iOS, and the entirely gesture-based gameplay is frantic and fun, if a bitty iffy on the control side at times.

Humanity being what it is, it pretty much dooms the game world in search for power by opening a gateway to some dark dimension or something. The point is, now nearly every human has been consumed or converted by the undead legion, and this was all after decades of war with the orcs. It’s up to you as an orc chieftain to fight back this otherworldly menace and avenge your people.

The premise isn’t just a gimmick here. The gameplay is designed in ways to really make you feel like you’re controlling a green screaming death monster. Fights are frantic and blows feel impactful, whether you’re bashing a barrel or smashing a skeleton. Heck, you can even hit the air with your shield to create a shockwave, as much sense as that doesn’t make. It’s not just in the high def graphics and great sound, but in the little details like this that make the game feel aesthetically awesome.

You control this emerald emissary of death entirely with gesture controls; tapping to move and attack things, holding the screen to run, and doing various gestures like a double tap, swipe, or circle to perform your special abilities. If you are a dungeon crawling enthusiast, you may be put off by the lack of excessive loot and ability scores. You only have four skill slots and four attributes to assign points into. You also only get one weapon slot and one shield slot. Essentially, the game is very simplified and streamlined, but it’s still great fun if you don’t mind.

Like I said, it’s the little touches that make this game a real gem. It definitely has flaws, but they don’t detract from the overall experience. Although, you should be warned that the game can really chug along or have crashing issues on older devices starting with the 3GS. Game Center leaderboards and achievements are also included for some added addictiveness. ORC: Vengeance is iOS Universal and available for three dollars at the time of this review. It’s definitely worth grabbing.

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Fresh iPhone Apps for Aug. 3: List Bliss, Infinity Blade II update, Glass Balance

Spend less time in the grocery store this weekend with the help of cloud list app List Bliss. The app allows you to share your lists over an Internet connection and even synchronize shopping, so you and a pal can get everything on your list by doing half the work each. You can use the time you save to play games including another big content update to Infinity Blade II that adds new story elements and enemies to kill, and Glass Balance, an arcade title in which you need to match colored pieces of glass to score points like in a match-three game, all while balancing them on a platform to keep them from falling.

The main goal of List Bliss is to cut down on the time you spend in the grocery store every time you need to go shopping, by trying to make the whole endeavor more efficient. Using cloud technology, List Bliss allows you to access your grocery list wherever you are, which means that everyone in your family can contribute to it on the fly, and you can use it to track what you’ve got at home and what you need to pick up.

The app also makes the shopping part easier. You can see categories available in the store to which you’re headed, scan barcodes on the items you already have to add them to your list so you know exactly what you want to pick up, and read product reviews before you make decisions. You can even split your list with a buddy with the “synchronized shopping” feature to divide and conquer at the grocery store.

Another free content update has just hit the award-winning Infinity Blade II, adding the new “Skycages” levels to the sword-fighting role-playing title. As always, players have to work through a series of duels in the game in which they’ll fight hulking beasts and agile warriors, swiping to match swords and parry attacks in each battle.

The update opens a new area of the game for players to explore, and with it come new enemies to defeat. You’ll also learn more about the immortal Deathless, the creatures at the heart of the Infinity Blade universe that usually need an introduction to your sword. The update throws in a new type of weapon to master – the energy blades – and adds 30 or so more items to find and use in your quest, as well as new achievements to earn.

Puzzler Glass Balance mixes two tried-and-true formulas most players have seen before and enjoyed. The first is balancing, in which you drop objects onto two sides of a fulcrum and need to keep them from tipping off the sides. In Glass Balance, that means pieces of glass that are of different shapes and colors, which you need to keep balanced in order to stay in the game. To score points, however, you need to get your match-three gameplay hat on, and put together combinations of the same color to clear glass pieces from the platform.

As you play through Glass Balance, you’ll be able to nab power-ups that earn you more points, like coins that double your score for a set period. You’ll need to be careful though, as you only have a set number of “lives,” and each piece of glass you lose off the side of your platform costs you one. Glass Balance includes Game Center support, so you can check your best scores against those of your friends or players from across the globe.

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New partners Foodspotting and GrubHub have different recipes for growth

Like a burger and fries or apple pie à la mode, Foodspotting and GrubHub are two mobile apps that go really well together.

Foodspotting, which has more than three million downloads across multiple platforms including iOS and Android applications, is a visual guide for unique food dishes. For the uninitiated, the pioneering app locates interesting meals near you, and invites users to snap pictures and share their favorite “food porn” experiences with others. GrubHub, however, provides digital food delivery and takeout services to more than 15,000 restaurants across the United States. More than 30 percent of GrubHub’s orders come from mobile platforms, including iPhone and Android applications.

Earlier this month, San Francisco-based Foodspotting rolled out an update that enables users to order food from GrubHub within the application. Currently about one-third of GrubHub’s restaurants are linked to the app, said Foodspotting CEO Alexa Andrzejewski. When looking at Foodspotting locations in Chicago, where GrubHub is based, I was not able to find any participating restaurants at first check. Andrzejewski said a future update will make GrubHub’s offering more visible.

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Even with a partnership that is not yet fully baked, it’s easy to see how the integration will provide Foodspotting with more engagement. It will also increase transaction volume for GrubHub, which contemplated building its own Foodspotting-like service before going in on a partnership.

“While this is something that is not technically that hard to do,” explained GrubHub co-founder and CEO Matt Maloney, “it makes a lot more sense to work with a partner who has been doing it a while. They are a good group that is very passionate about what they’re doing.”

Just as Foodspotting and GrubHub offer distinct services in food discovery and meal ordering, the two companies also have dramatically different approaches to how they do business.

GrubHub, founded in 2004, achieved profitability before going through a $7,000 seed investment from its co-founders. While the company has since raised more than $50 million in venture capital funding from the likes of Benchmark and others, GrubHub still has somewhat of a meat and potatoes approach to building a business with an intense focus on the bottom line. Conversely, Foodspotting, which raised nearly $4 million in funding from high profile investors in late 2010 and early 2011, is still in no rush to make money.

“We are still in the exploration and prototyping phase,” said Andrzejewski, adding that it would be impossible to generate significant revenue in her end of the restaurant sector without having a great product first.

“VC financing is important to get that experience off the ground,” she said. “You get it to a scale and you can then turn that into meaningful sources of revenue.”

Nearly a decade ago in Chicago, before Groupon and FeedBurner, it was nearly impossible for an upstart like GrubHub with first-time entrepreneurs to raise significant financing without revenue (much less a revenue model).

“It was a different time and different location,” explains Maloney, who worked alongside GrubHub co-founder Mike Evans at Apartments.com before they started their company. “We had restaurants that were willing to pay us for a transactional service.”

Maloney pointed out that industry game-changers like Instagram and Twitter “raised gobs of money before ever figuring out a revenue model", and that there are many paths for startup success.

“If you think about a brand conceptually as real estate in a person’s brain that they are giving you a few minutes a day,” he said, “that is a very valuable asset to some companies. It’s a great business model if you can nail it... I have no idea how Foodspotting will make money, but it’s a cool service and people like it.”

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TCM Hollywood Tour iPhone app brings the past to life

APPOLICIOUS ADVISOR RATING:

4 of 5 bars PRICE: $2.99TASTY: Great way to bring old-school celebrity maps into the app world.BUMMER: No way to set up a tour route through multiple stops.COOL: Short bios of all 100 spots make TCM Hollywood Tour more than just a celebrity-filled map.

Whether you’re a native Californian or just a movie buff on a west coast vacation, there’s a new fame-centric app that is worth checking out in TCM Hollywood Tour. TCM Hollywood Tour brings the old “map of the stars” into the iPhone age by providing not just a handy map dotted with the homes of some of Hollywood’s most illustrious stars of yore, but also additional biographical information that helps illuminate just what made these people or locations so famous to begin with.

Of course, as the Turner Classic Movies portion of the app’s name implies, you won’t find the address to any current celebrity’s L.A. locales in the app. Instead, Hollywood Tour provides 100 pinned spots ranging from movie studios and famous auditoriums or restaurants featured in films to the homes of classic stars like Barbara Stanwyck, Doris Day, Lucille Ball and many others.

The pins show up on an easy-to-use map, but are also listed alphabetically if you’re dying to know if a particular celebrity or location has been included. Dreamers can use the self-guided tour, but TCM Hollywood Tour also provides a guided tour that will lead you through a tour of all of the top spots.

Although TCM Hollywood Tour lacks the gossipy nature of Hollywood news in 2012, longtime fans of celebrity culture should find plenty to appreciate within this charming ode to old-school celebrity and film. It’s certainly more useful if you happen to be in California to scout out the 100 locations listed, but even as a fun biographical source TCM Hollywood Tour is worth a look.

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iPhone App Video Review: Extinction Squad

Extinction Squad is the latest and greatest [adult swim] published game. They’ve partnered with developer Pik Pok once again, who were also involved with Monsters Ate My Condo and Bring Me Sandwiches!! It’s a hilarious and gruesome title with great, colorful art, nice music, and highly addictive gameplay.

This is definitely up there as far as [adult swim] games go, offering a lot of fun and replayability thanks to the in-game store. It takes a little too long to unlock content and the app constantly encourages you to buy things, but I assure you all purchases are optional. You can save up for everything naturally.

After an explorer named Chuck Darwin goes out and discovers that the Dodo bird is not actually extinct, all hell breaks loose in the animal kingdom. All the endangered species of the world would rather throw themselves off cliffs than deal with the Dodos. It’s up to you to save them firefighter-style with a big trampoline. Otherwise they’ll hit the ground with a nice bloody splat. Different animals have different falling patterns, and as you’re juggling them, you’ll have to deal with collectibles and bombs as well.

The game is split into two modes. In Adventure mode, your goal is to save constantly increasing numbers of animals as you move from region to region. You can afford to let plenty of animals splat, as long as you don’t die yourself. However, letting them fall will break your score multiplier, which is always important. In Countdown mode, you’re racing against the clock, and can’t really afford to let them go splat at all. Special power-ups, such as animal magnets and bomb shields, will be randomly thrown to you from off-screen along with coins and various other goodies.

At first it seems like coins are hard to come by, but then you’ll get some tokens used to spin the Wild Wheel. This wheel offers all kinds of huge rewards, and it won’t be long before you amass enough coins to unlock new levels in different parts of the world or permanent upgrades to your power-ups. Of course, you can always buy coins in-app if that’s your thing, but some patience pays off in this game. It always helps to be lucky, though!

The aesthetics and sound design are all top of the line, and everything aims to make you smile and laugh, from the animations to the brutal deaths to the whacky sound effects. I especially loved the bonus segments in which you bounce a massive whale for as long as you can, with some rather messy end results. Game Center achievements and leaderboards are both supported, and while buying coins in-app can definitely give you an edge on the leaderboards, the game is still mostly skill based. Extinction Squad is iOS Universal and available for just one dollar at the time of this review. I fully recommend it as a great way to kill some free time and hundreds of endangered animals.

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Report: iPhone 5 to be unveiled September 12

In the strongest indication yet that Apple is ready to show the world a new-generation iPhone, tech blog iMore is reporting that the company is planning a special event for Wednesday, September 12, to unveil the iPhone 5 and a new iPad Mini. The iMore report also says the new iPhone will be available to consumers on September 21.

Of course, nobody from Apple has confirmed this report, which iMore claims comes “from sources who have proven accurate in the past.” Apple historically has held September media events, including 11 years ago when it debuted the iPod. It was last October, just before the death of founder Steve Jobs, that the company came out with the iPhone 4S.

So while the actual dates of September 12 and September 21 may not be set in stone, all indications are that an iPhone 5 – and perhaps the iPad Mini – are imminent. Rumors, images and videos of the next generation iPhone have been flying across the Internet in recent days.

Apple typically announces these kind of “special” meetings about two or three weeks in advance. So, if this iMore report is indeed true, expect official notification in the back half of August.

Stay tuned.

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Fresh iPhone Apps for Aug. 13: Burner, Organ Trail: Director’s Cut, Video Game Walkthroughs

Today’s Fresh iPhone Apps starts with Burner, an app that lets you create and use phone numbers that exist only for a limited amount of time, and at any point you can “burn” them – effectively deleting the number altogether. Following that is a helpful app for PC and console gamers called Video Walkthroughs by Game Front, an app that provides all kinds of tips and tricks for when you’re stuck in your favorite games. Finally, Organ Trail: Director’s Cut is a riff on the classic Oregon Trail, set during a zombie apocalypse.

It can be tough out there for people trying to meet other people. Burner is an app that can help. The app lets users generate single-use phone numbers – the kind you can give out to someone you just met who you might want to communicate with later. The idea is that the app gives you an added layer of security for people you don’t know, allowing you to “burn” the number later should you find the need cut ties.

Burner allows you to get “credits” through in-app purchases that allow you to generate numbers, and those numbers offer a preset number of messages or voice time to go along with them. You can keep the numbers in service if you want, burn or let them expire. SMS messages through Burner also don’t count toward your phone’s text message plan.

Riffing on the old-school adventure game classic Oregon Trail comes Organ Trail, a similar but decidedly darker take on the overland voyage to the western United States. The game places players in the midst of a zombie apocalypse with the goal of driving cross-country to escape the outbreak. Along the way, members of your party can get attacked by zombies and even contract dysentery.

As you move across the country, you’ll stop at various cities and settlements along the way where you can replenish supplies and trade with other travelers. The game throws a number of obstacles your way like bandit attacks, stampeding animals, zombie hordes and car breakdowns. How you deal with those issues and prepare determines how long you’ll survive.

Gamers looking for hints, tips, tricks and help for their favorite games should take a look at the recent update to GameFront.com’s iOS app designed to deliver its massive library of video game walkthroughs. The site houses detailed journeys through games by experts – and (full disclosure), maybe one or two penned by me, as I also write for them as well.

More than 3,000 walkthrough videos are available with the app, and the big 2.0 update that just came through has totally redesigned the app’s user interface to make it easier to use. You can also customize your experience, focusing on different platforms such as Playstation 3 or Xbox 360, or zeroing in on specific games like the epica and  popular Skyrim. All of the information on-hand in the app is free and available for streaming.

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Fresh iPhone Apps for July 24: HISTORY Here, Office Politics, STRUCT

Learn a little something about your hometown or wherever you might head for vacation around the U.S. with the help of HISTORY Here. The app pings points of interest around you and shows you historic information about those places. Following that are a couple of game entries for your entertainment: Office Politics, a high-scoring game in which you need to tap to stab your coworkers in the back, and STRUCT, a building title that will also teach you a little something about financial investments.

HISTORY Here helps you find the history in the world around you by using your iOS device’s GPS capabilities to ping important places nearby, and connects to the Internet to find information about them. The app includes photos and information written by History Channel experts, and can bring you info from the city around you or from any place you specify through the app’s search function.

The app can provide points of interest by adding them to the map as you’re looking at it, and it can also stream History Channel video over a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection. You can customize your local points of interest and share the things you learn and the locations that interest you with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

There’s only one way to climb the corporate ladder in arcade title Office Politics – you need to stab your coworkers in the back. You do that by quickly tapping them when they appear on the screen, or by swiping to spin them around if they happen to be facing you, and then hitting them when their backs are turned. The more stabs you rack up in a row without missing one or messing up, the more points you earn.

Office Politics includes seven different characters you can unlock, each one with a different set of special abilities. Those abilities can be used to quickly clear out colleagues you need to stab, or nab other bonuses along the way. The game also packs 18 different levels and four difficulty modes for players to work through.

STRUCT is a bit of a weird building title – it’s something like Tetris, but it’s also a game meant to teach users something about financial investing. There’s a lot of handy information in the app, but the gist of the game is about dropping various bricks into the right locations to complete a structure. In order to do that, you need to recruit different crew members, who carry bricks across the screen and will drop them in place when you tap.

How you build your team determines how fast the characters carrying bricks move across the screen, but it also has an effect on your score and the timer as you build your structure. Putting blocks in place in the correct spots is key to building a combo and completing a level, so you’ll want to be careful, but your higher risks are rewarded with better scores. STRUCT also includes Game Center support for achievements and leaderboards.

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New Amazon Instant Video app not (yet) fully operational on Apple TV

While the new Amazon Instant Video app for the iPad will challenge incumbent video entertainment leaders including Netflix and Hulu Plus for mobile mindshare, the service does not yet work well on Apple TV via iTunes Mirroring.

For Amazon Prime customers or anybody interested in alternatives to their current providers, Amazon Instant Video is a good deal. The app streams Prime content and also makes it available for offline viewing. Like other services, it also includes a Season Pass and the ability to watch a program on one device, press pause, and continue viewing where you left off on another.

One missing variable for now – which was confirmed by 9to5 Mac – is that Apple TV owners interested in watching Amazon Prime on their larger screens via Apple TV and iTunes Mirroring are out of luck. In this instance, Amazon Instant Video only distributes audio. It is unclear if this is a technical bug or licensing restriction imposed by Apple. Apple TV has long showcased a pre-installed version of Netflix. Yesterday, we told you how Hulu Plus can now also be found on the Apple TV operating system.

Might Amazon Instant Video be next? Stay tuned.

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AutoRap is just a broken record of an iPhone app

APPOLICIOUS ADVISOR RATING:

1 of 5 bars PRICE: FreeTASTY: The Auto-Tune works just like it should.BUMMER: Only one free “premium” is a little thin.COOL: The tech that matches your rapping to the music is legitimately impressive.

Let’s get this out of the way very quickly – AutoRap’s premium karaoke, that not only Auto-Tunes your singing but also takes your rhyme pattern and matches it to the music of the song (no matter how terrible you sound), is pretty cool.

In an alternate universe, AutoRap works and that sentence above would be the beginning of a long, gushing statement about how, despite the freemium charges associated with the app, it’s worth spending a few bucks on.

But here we are in this universe, where AutoRap barely actually works. Instead, the app seems like a weird, covert way to get users to sign-up for products they do not want.

The app has two “modes,” one is a “freestyle” mode where users can rap or sing over some custom beats. AutoRap will Auto-Tune your voice and make sure your rapping has a consistent flow when you rap over these tracks. And you can rap over them at least 20 times, for free. There’s also a button that also offers “Unlimited Freestyle Plays” but nothing actually happens when you tap it.

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The second mode is what most karaoke fans would come to check out in the first place – real karaoke versions of their favorite hip-hop or R&B songs. The selection is pretty impressive, from newer songs by Rick Ross to Outkast hits. But aside from the one free premium play that the app provides, good luck getting to try any of the “premium” tracks without a fight. It’s not unusual for a karaoke app to make users pay to get the good stuff, but AutoRap seems to have an entirely different agenda.

What’s strange is that AutoRap doesn’t make it easy for you to actually purchase premium plays. Although there are allegedly two ways to pick up premium plays, the only one that ever seems to get anywhere is the “free” option, which lets users purchase a variety of different products and services that will also supply them with premium song plays. The other option, to just go ahead and buy some premium plays for your own personal use without also signing-up for Netflix or liking Samsung on Facebook, has timed-out every single time I’ve attempted to use it.

And that’s not even getting into the issue of “plays” versus “tracks.” While other karaoke apps let you purchase a song for repeated uses, AutoRap lets you purchase a play of a song. So you can rap once over Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson” and then to go back later and rap on it again, you’ll need to use up another “play.” Which is sort of insane.

The technology used in AutoRap is fun, it’s just too bad there isn’t a worthwhile app built around it. Maybe in a few updates AutoRap will have its act up to snuff. For now, skip it like a record.

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Top iPhone apps for the 2012 London Olympics

Don’t try to tell me there’s nothing to watch on TV in the summer! The 2012 Olympics run from July 27, 2012, to August 12, 2012, and there are plenty of apps worth checking out for one of the best sporting events around. From apps that help you find your way around London’s Olympic Village to games that let you live out your Olympic dreams virtually, there is plenty to sink your teeth into when it comes to the 2012 Olympic Games.

Those lucky enough to be attending the 2012 Olympics in person should absolutely, positively not be without the London 2012: Official Join In App. With detailed maps for all of the Olympic venues plus a spectator guide with a full listing of the various activities happening in and around the games, consider this app like Lonely Planet: Olympic Version. But even fans not attending the games in person might enjoy the app thanks to live updates filled with news, photos and analysis about the events. Users can even make a custom schedule of the events they want to check out!

NBC Olympics includes a wide range of basic Olympics coverage from the network that has the exclusive United States broadcast rights of the games. The app publishes news and information about all the events, plus athlete profiles, photo galleries and more. You can even use Twitter and Facebook to link up with other fans. The network also has the NBC Olympics Live Extra app, which includes live and replayed video streams of all the events.

Of course, if you’re more concerned with the results of the events than the general hullabaloo surrounding the Olympics, the London 2012: Official Results App might prove more useful. Official Results covers all 36 events with a live schedule that notes which events are currently occurring, complete with live scoring and results, a calendar that shows each day’s events, and even an overall medal counter so you can hoot and holler as your country takes the first place spot on the podium. Official Results also has detailed information on each sport represented including the latest news, photos and background info. Serious fans can also track the performance of their favorite Olympic athletes right from the app.

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One of the real joys of following the Olympics is throwing your full support behind your home country. If you call the USA home, you’ll want to keep the 2012 Team USA Road to London by your side. Users of this U.S.-focused app can get daily updates on who will be making the team, special editorial content focused on the USA athletes and even a special button that users can hit to send personal messages to Olympic athletes through Twitter and Facebook. 2012 Team USA Road to London also contains information on the athletes, photo galleries and video clips.

For the Olympic fan who’s also a gamer there is London 2012: Official Mobile Game. The Official Mobile Game features nine events that players can compete in including the 100 meter dash, 110 meter hurdles, the triple jump, pole vault, kayaking and more. The game has an RPG focus as players can improve the stats of their virtual athlete by training them using over 200 in-game items. This premium version ($2.99) comes with bonus training points that would cost more to purchase in the free version.

Call yourself a trivia buff? Try out the London 2012 Game and see if you can answer the thousands of Olympic-focused trivia questions packed in the novel little app. The questions run the gamut of all the summer Olympic sports, and players can post their high scores to Facebook and Twitter and challenge their friends to top them if they dare. Fans of cartoon characters should also enjoy the numerous big-headed avatars that players can assume as they fight for their trivia lives.

There have been more and more apps released as the Games arrive. Sports Illustrated: Live from London was released on July 20 for the iPad. The free app is a daily tablet edition of Sports Illustrated featuring award-winning SI photography, the stories of the day and video wrap-ups, along with previews for upcoming events.

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Fresh iPhone Apps for Aug. 2: The Blocks Cometh update, Flight!, Campaign The Game

This week, we’ve got a few easygoing arcade titles for you on the App Store’s biggest game day. The first is an update to vertical scroller The Blocks Cometh, which throws in new characters and new challenges. Next is a paper airplane-throwing game called Flight! in which your goal is to get your plane as far as possible in a single toss. Finally, Campaign The Game brings simulation to the advertising world, putting players in charge of running a successful agency.

I’m a big fan of Halfbot’s The Blocks Cometh, and the game has just gotten another big content update that brings even more to the table. The core gameplay remains – players dodge falling blocks even as they jump from block to block, climbing ever higher to earn points – but Halfbot has added even more unlockable characters for players to chase within the game. The new update also supports iCade.

In the last update, we got a number of new game modes. There’s the Classic Mode, in which players climb as high as they can until they’re killed, and Arcade Mode that’s all about high scores, as well as a Casual Mode that significantly rolls back the difficulty on Blocks. There’s also a “Gamebot” mode inspired by classic handhelds that you can grab through an in-app purchase.

Throwing paper airplanes can be pretty fun in real life, especially when you learn how to make some sick folding designs and throw in additional elements, like a paperclip for weight in the nose. Flight! takes that premise and turns it into an arcade title, in which your goal is to throw a paper airplane as far as you can. Each throw can net you stars along the way, which earn you cash to spend on improving your plane.

The more you deck out the plane, the further you can get it to go and the more control you get in-flight. With upgrades like boosters and tilt controls bought along the way, you want to move through each city in the game by stringing together one throw per “day” in order to cross the whole thing. The fewer days it takes you to traverse the city, the better. There are also challenges to unlock, and Game Center support for achievements and leaderboards.

Simulation title Campaign The Game puts players in control of their own advertising agency, asking them to figure out the techniques that will make bring in the most customers for their clients and add the most prestige to their firm. Unlike simulation titles such as Game Dev Story, Campaign is actually pretty simple – you decide which employees are on your team and what the broad strokes of your campaign will be, and then you have to sit back and see how those decisions play out.

During each new campaign, you’ll have to deal with incidental events, however. Sometimes someone will walk into your office and force you to make a decision, and that decision can affect your score. Other times, you’ll need to decide whether a high-maintenance client is actually worth the effort. There’s also Game Center support, so you can compare your progress to that of your friends.

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Slices for Twitter tops iOS Apps of the Week

This week’s top iOS apps begins with Slices for Twitter, a fascinating app that breaks down Twitter into categories and lets users really get the most out of the service. For those not obsessed with the blue-bird social network, our other favorite apps this week include a journaling app, a social rights scorecard app, an app to set your out-of-office replies from your iPhone and finally, one to teach your pre-schooler the alphabet.

As the name suggests, Slices for Twitter breaks the darling social network into easy to manage “slices.” Its most prominent feature is its ability to search through 21 different categories so users can find people and lists related to the thing they most want to read about. Slices also features live event streams, which consolidate tweets for a single event on a single feed, and users can also bookmark their favorite feeds for quick access.

The journaling app Day One – Journal has received a sizable update with a host of new or improved features. Day One now features better photo integration as well as improved iCloud and Dropbox syncing. It has also added Foursquare check-ins and weather data to its feature set. If keeping a mobile journal is your idea of a good time, Day One just became a much more attractive app.

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The recent kerfuffle in the news regarding Chick-Fil-A’s stance on GLBT rights has a lot of people talking about which companies actually hold the views that they want represented. With The Scorecard – Duke It Out! you can find out for yourself. The Scorecard lets you compare two companies and shows their track-record when it comes to GLBT causes. Over 300 companies are represented in the app, so you can get a good idea of whether the company you’re looking at supports the cause in which you believe.

If your mobile worklife sometimes takes you to a spot where you won’t be available to answer emails, Responder for Kerio Connect is a must-own. The app lets you set an out-of-office response right from your iPhone. You can also check your current status to make sure you haven’t already set up one that you forgot about. Responder lets you save your favorite out-of-office messages for later use, too. Responder also has a “geo-fence perimeter” that can activate or deactivate your out-of-office reply depending on where you’re located.

Animal Alphabet will help your pre-schooler learn their ABCs with the help of some furry jungle friends and National Geographic. The app has six games with 60 different animals and 100 photographs, animal facts and sound effects. Animal Alphabet even focuses on learning how to write letters so kids won’t just be able to identify the letter and the sound it makes, they’ll be able to write it, too.

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ORC: Vengeance tops iPhone Games of the Week

We’ve got a variety of awesome titles for you this week, ranging from the gorgeous to the addictive. Leading the pack is a title that brings some awesome graphics to Apple’s iOS platform called ORC: Vengeance. It’s an isometric role-playing title not unlike the extremely popular Diablo III, and the gameplay mechanics are similar enough that if you need a mobile Diablo fix, ORC is a great candidate. But we’ve got four more awesome titles you should try out as well. Read about them all below.

The beautiful ORC: Vengeance could give dungeon-crawling role-playing games on bigger platforms a run for their money. The game puts you in the role of the titular orc, a warchief among his people, tasked with fighting bad guys and breaking out of a prison. The game’s graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is solid, and there are plenty of skeletons and zombies to smash along the way. You’ll also get to find a lot of lore for ORC’s world and plenty of loot to use to increase your strength. Fans of title such as Diablo III on PC should definitely give ORC a look.

You’re going to want to grab 10000000 if you’re a fan of matching titles or role-playing games, because this is a solid melding of both. You play a character who ventures into a dungeon to earn money, points and other resources by fighting off enemies and opening chests. In order to do those things, you have to make matches of objects just like you would in a game like Bejeweled. Your matches of different icons trigger different actions – match swords and you’ll attack an enemy, match keys and you’ll open a door – so the game requires a lot of strategy in how you work through the puzzle element, not just random matching as fast as possible. The whole premise adds a dimension to match-three gameplay that’s not often seen in the genre, and that makes this one a lot of fun and a fresh take.

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There are a whole lot of building games in the iTunes App Store that have their players managing things ranging from restaurants to medieval towns to settlements on other planets, and there are probably even a few with dinosaurs. Jurassic Park Builder takes a place among them by being a competent and fun free-to-play addition that does a pretty solid job with the license of the 1992 film, using the likenesses of the characters and the original audio for the dinosaurs you create to populate your park. You also get to deal with situations like the dinosaurs escaping and causing havoc, but from a park management point of view. All in all, Jurassic Park Builder is a fun bit of nostalgia with no cost of entry.

The classic trap-hiding, spy-punching title created from comics from Mad Magazine is back with an iOS update that gives it better graphics than its old Commodore 64 counterpart. But the core gameplay is the same – you’ll be trying to trick your opponent spy into blowing himself up by booby-trapping objects throughout each level, while you work to avoid traps and try to find the four items you need to escape the stage. Spy vs Spy can pit you against a computer-controlled opponent, but it really has always been at its best when played with a friend. Online multiplayer is included and you can also challenge another live spy with a local Bluetooth connection.

Pretty much any reason to return to The Blocks Cometh is a good one, and a bunch of new characters to unlock by completing challenges ranks pretty highly. Your job is to climb as high as you can by mounting bricks that fall from the sky, without falling to your death or getting crushed because you’re too slow. The premise is an intense one and the game is great for killing a few minutes already, with multiple modes of play. The new characters give you totally new things to do: namely, challenges for climbing to new heights or dying in specific places. All of it adds a degree of variety to an already very fun title, and now there’s even iCade support.

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Appolicious remembers Jerry Garcia with a list of iOS apps for Grateful Dead Heads

The Grateful Dead was a psychedelic rock band that all but defined the Haight-Ashbury scene in 1960’s San Francisco. The band ricocheted into the “turn on, tune in drop out” limelight through an association with Ken Kesey and his infamous acid test and the singular charisma of band leader Jerry Garcia.

Garcia, who would have turned 70 on August 1, passed away 17 years ago this week (August 9, 1995). The classic rock icon was actually into a lot more than the groovy sounds of the era; he was deeply influenced by early blues, folk and down-home bluegrass music. He was an acoustic and electric guitarist whose picking style earned him the esteem of the music world, despite the loss of a finger in childhood.

From the early ’60s to the mid-’90s, the band’s signature improvisational catalog of songs became quasi-sacred to legions of fans, known as Dead Heads, who clamoured to hear them perform live. Grateful Dead shows were always sell-outs with thousands of non-ticket holders camping in parking lots, hoping for miracles and selling crafts, food and sundries to finance their travelling caravan summer tour after summer tour.

The week “in between” his birthday and the anniversary of his death is now a holiday of sorts for Jerry Garcia lovers around the world. Special concerts, tributes, movie screenings and gatherings have been, and continue to be held in his honour. To help you celebrate The Days Between, we’ve compiled the best apps for deadheads on iOS for you here.

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One of the best apps for seeing Jerry Garcia perform live with the Grateful Dead and his other cohorts comes (at least for the next few weeks) preinstalled on your iOS device. Apple confirmed this week that YouTube will not be preinstalled on iOS 6. However, Google is working on a standalone app users can download from the App Store, and you can always access YouTube online via Safari, Chrome and other browsers. YouTube is a veritable cornucopia of complete sets dating back to the ’60s and individual performances as recent as the last Futher show. There are also interviews with Garcia and the surviving band members, clips from Late Night TV appearances and individual tribute videos that put trippy backdrops behind the even trippier sounds.

Of course, if you don’t have time to sort through the thousands and thousands of Garcia and Grateful Dead-related videos on YouTube, there are also plenty of socially-driven video sharing applications that will source killer clips recommended by your friends and members of your social graph. The best video discovery apps include Showyou, Squrl, and Frequency. Note that YouTube and the independent discovery apps are all optimized for AirPlay Mirroring, meaning you can watch video clips in full on an Apple TV if you have an iPad 2, new iPad, iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S.

Here is an example of a full show you can now watch via YouTube on your iDevice (and make sure to read on afterwards for several other app nuggets).

Whether you use the new Podcasts app, or just subscribe the old fashioned way, podcasts are another great source of Grateful Dead videos and music, along with fan commentary. It only takes a minute or two to create a playlist that will ensure your cup be full again… and again. A favourite Appolicious podcast associated with the Grateful Dead is the mvradio Shakedown Stream, a weekly program that weaves an entire show and multiple extra tracks and commentary within a four-hour or so session.

Once upon a time, Relix was all about The Grateful Dead and the tape sharing that was encouraged by the band. Yes, the Grateful Dead were early pioneers of “how to let fans have your music for free and still make a profit”. They even let fans plug right into their soundboards. The scope of the magazine has grown, but it still pays a lot of attention to all things Jerry and will turn you on to other bands with similar vibes.

For fans of all the band members, Dead Heads+ is a nice pick-up. The app has a solid selection of videos, a photo gallery, and a special section dedicated to Jerry Garcia. There is also info on Furthur, Ratdog and Phil and Friends.

The on-demand music service has its own app from Warner Music that is focusing this week on the Grateful Dead and the band’s influences. Spotify playlists can be accessed from iOS devices if you save them ahead of time. And, on top of the entire studio recordings, Spotify has tons of live Dead from Dick’s Picks and other series that showcase the best concerts. Spotify can also create a radio station based on The Grateful Dead to introduce you to similar bands like the String Cheese Incident, Hot Tuna, Phish, Widespread Panic, Moe and many more.

Have you ever wanted to play some Grateful Dead tunes on your own? This app teaches you how to play tracks from the titular live tour album. You need an acoustic or electric ax, and ideally a guitar adapter like iRig. There are four difficulty levels, the original master recordings, and you can slow recordings down to help you master harder licks. The app even provides feedback on your progress. Jack Straw, Ramble on Rose and Sugar Mag are included in the initial cost and other tracks can be purchased in-app.

Both of these apps give you access to an almost exhaustive supply of live recordings and concert videos at no cost. These apps are a Jam Band lover’s dream and have tons of Grateful Dead shows on offer. Wolfgang’s Concert Vault has video, Archivist has over 8,000 Grateful Dead live audio tracks.

Fancy yourself an expert on all things Grateful Dead? This app will put your knowledge of Dead-lore and dead sets to the test with a simple but very entertaining trivia quiz. Don’t try this one unless you really know your GD.

While this almanac claims to keep Dead Heads up to date on the Dead scene and community it hasn’t been updated since 2011. It will bring back heady Head memories of everyone’s halcyon days on tour with photos, videos, a round up of Dead facts, a community section and a shopping portal for Grateful Dead music, clothing and accessories.

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Flock - Photos Together tops iOS Apps of the Week

This week’s top iOS apps might seem like a rerun, thanks to Flock’s feature set sounding suspiciously similar to last week’s favorite, Vyclone. But sometimes a good idea is worth repeating. The rest of our top apps veer off into all sorts of other territories like hailing taxis, sharing videos and creating visual diagrams of the things you love. Enjoy!

In the same way that Vyclone took videos from multiple sources to combine them into one video, Flock takes photos featuring the same people and combines them into one album. Photos can be taken with any photo app while Flock works in the background sending out notifications when you have photos that your Flock-using friends also appear in. Users can choose which photos they want Flock to have access to and then can quickly combine their photos with their friends’ pics into one handy album.

Taxi Magic has been streamlining the art of securing a taxi at the end of the night for a while now, and the app’s latest update shouldn’t do anything to stop its momentum. Users can now schedule pick-ups in advance so they’re not waiting around at the end of an evening for a taxi they’ve ordered. Taxi tracking has also been updated to provide faster updates. Users can now also save their favorite taxi fleets to make sure they get the kind of ride to which they’re accustomed.

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Showyou, a video sharing website that lets users view videos from their friends on Facebook and Twitter, has been given a total facelift in its latest update. The layout has been made more user friendly, while all of Showyou’s core features remain. Users can still check out videos their friends have uploaded to social networks, and can still easily share videos posted on Showyou quickly through those same networks. With an index of over 50 million videos, there’s plenty to check out whether you’ve had Showyou for a while or are just getting on board.

Another app featuring a big re-design, Stamped, the social recommendations app, has some excellent new features worth showing off. The biggest addition is “The Guide” a visual representation of the best things your friends are stamping. Stamped now also features a “Tastemakers” tab so you can see what celebrities are stamping. And Stamped now integrates seamlessly with iTunes, Rdio, Spotify, Netflix, Fandango, Amazon and OpenTable so you can take advantage of those sites’ various features right in the Stamped app.

Pearltrees lets users create a visual representation (a tree of pearls, in this case) of all of their interests. Users can “pearl” web sites, photos, notes and other assorted media. Pearltrees can also be accessed offline, so you won’t need Internet access to check out your own tree at any given time. Of course, there’s also a sharing component to Pearltrees – users can share their tree at any time and also grab ideas from other trees in the app’s community.

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iPhone App Video Review: The Infinity Project 2

The Infinity Project was a fairly well-made first person shooter that hit the App Store at the end of 2009. Despite its dated visuals and lack of polish, many regard it as an iOS classic. Now, that game finally gets a sequel, simply titled The Infinity Project 2, and it's a far more ambitious title that makes several improvements, even if it still seems dated.

The game continues the war against the alien menace known as the Talon, who used a time machine to conquer earth in our present time. As you try to locate and take down the Talon, you learn that many human groups have sided with them, including a crazy cult that worships the Talon way of life.

The level design is very retro, and while the controls can be stiff or clunky and the enemy AI is the exact opposite of intelligent, there are many things that make this game stand out. Levels are very non-linear, with several wide open areas connected by linear tunnels. The game is more DOOM or Half-Life than Halo, with health packs and special consumable power-ups scattered across the world, waiting to be picked up by those with a vigilant eye. There is a lot of dialogue with NPCs, and a lot of it is surprisingly well-written.

But as I said, the gunplay is very unpolished. Even after you get used to the controls, they aren't always responsive. Although enemies just line up to die for you, so it's still pretty easy. They can also kill you fairly easily with grenades, since the only real indicator that one is nearby is a beeping sound which can be hard for your ears to track. There are lots of other little gripes I have with the game. Sometimes the compass is rather hard to read as you try to locate a certain item, or find your way out of an apartment complex.

The visuals and sound are greatly improved over the first game, but still look dated, especially when compared to other iOS shooters like N.O.V.A. 3. The voice acting clips are also bad, but  in a funny way. The game can be played through a story mode, survival mode, and even multiplayer. Despite all of the game’s many shortcomings, I really enjoyed it, but I know not everyone will feel the same way. If you don't mind playing something that looks and feels like it belongs in the late 90s and you can deal with the controls, you may just enjoy this game too. If you're looking for more nuanced gunplay and flashier levels, you should probably look elsewhere. Although, this game is quite impressive considering the very small size of the dev team. Game Center achievements are supported. The Infinity Project 2 is iOS Universal and available for three dollars at the time of this review. Shoot away.

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comScore products for measuring web site audiences, mobile usage and advertising effectiveness certified in Europe by ABC and OJD

Successful audits are testament to comScore’s ongoing commitment to transparency and quality in measuring the European digital marketplace

Press release

August 9th 2012. comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, has announced that solutions across its audience measurement, mobile and advertising effectiveness product suites have been certified in Europe by leading industry associations, ABC UK and OJD. ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) is the industry body for media measurement, that manages and upholds standards which reflect media industry needs and offers audit and compliance services to check that data and processes meet these generally accepted industry standards. OJD (Información y Control de Publicaciones) is a Spanish industry body that verifies circulation and audits web analytics and online audience measurement solutions.“comScore is extremely pleased to announce our recent successful audits and certifications by ABC UK and OJD as important industry confirmation of our measurement practices in Europe,” said Mike Read, SVP and European managing director of comScore.

“In addition to winning the online audience measurement JICs in leading European markets such as the UK, the Netherlands and Spain, these certifications further validate comScore’s position as a trusted digital business analytics partner.”

“comScore remains committed to providing not only innovative digital measurement solutions that deliver value for our clients, but also to aligning with industry-accepted practices so that our clients can use comScore’s measurement solutions with even greater confidence.”

The following comScore products have been audited and certified: -

Mobile Measurement: GSMA Mobile Media Metrics (MMM)

In the UK,the latest audit report from ABC under the auspices of JICWEBS has validated once again that “the GSMA MMM system is effectively designed and operated to ensure that the reports are produced in accordance with the JICWEBS industry-agreed standards.”

GSMA MMM is the only data source for measurement of the mobile audiences of websites and apps accessed via UK mobile networks.

Advertising Effectiveness: validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) Content Verification

comScore was one of only four companies to receive the first ever public certificate by ABC UK for Content Verification (CV) tools. Content Verification is part of comScore’s vCE solution to validate online campaign delivery across five key areas (visibility, audience, geography, brand safety, and fraudulent delivery).

ABC stated that, “It rigorously tested the ability of Content Verification products to block or report, in real time, the serving of an online advertisement onto destinations that have been defined as inappropriate to the advertiser’s campaign.”

Audience Measurement: comScore Direct Certification

In Spain, OJD Interactive validates that comScore’s data collection method for census-based measurement (comScore Direct) complies with industry standards. comScore Direct received a 2 star certification and has accomplished the requirements set for site-centric measurement by the Spanish JIC.

“comScore is to be applauded for being one of the leaders in gaining the ABC stamp of trust in these two key areas. Self-regulation to industry agreed standards delivers the transparency so regarded in digital trading today,” said Richard Foan, group executive director of communication and innovation for ABC.

comScore is also pleased to share that it has received accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC), a US-based industry association, whose goal is to ensure that measurement services are valid, reliable and effective.

About comScore

comScore is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence.

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New Amazon Instant Video app not (yet) fully operational on Apple TV

While the new Amazon Instant Video app for the iPad will challenge incumbent video entertainment leaders including Netflix and Hulu Plus for mobile mindshare, the service does not yet work well on Apple TV via iTunes Mirroring.

For Amazon Prime customers or anybody interested in alternatives to their current providers, Amazon Instant Video is a good deal. The app streams Prime content and also makes it available for offline viewing. Like other services, it also includes a Season Pass and the ability to watch a program on one device, press pause, and continue viewing where you left off on another.

One missing variable for now – which was confirmed by 9to5 Mac – is that Apple TV owners interested in watching Amazon Prime on their larger screens via Apple TV and iTunes Mirroring are out of luck. In this instance, Amazon Instant Video only distributes audio. It is unclear if this is a technical bug or licensing restriction imposed by Apple. Apple TV has long showcased a pre-installed version of Netflix. Yesterday, we told you how Hulu Plus can now also be found on the Apple TV operating system.

Might Amazon Instant Video be next? Stay tuned.

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Fresh iPhone Apps for July 26: Walking Dead: The Game, ORC: Vengeance, Bucketz, ParaNorman: 2-Bit Bub

It’s another big game day in the iTunes App Store, with this week’s haul being kicked off by the zombie apocalypse. Sure, there are a lot of zombie games out there, but none is as adult or engaging as Walking Dead: The Game. Telltale’s latest has some awesome writing and visuals, as does ORC: Vengeance, a top-down RPG with some incredibly good graphics. Arcade title Bucketz plays around with the Fruit Ninja formula a bit, adding balancing buckets to a game with flying fruit, while ParaNorman: 2-Bit Bub gives you a flinging puzzler in which you’ll guide a ghost dog as he climbs through various levels.

Telltale’s latest point-and-click adventure game has been out on PC and consoles for some time, but that doesn’t diminish the quality of the writing or the gameplay in the universal version that just hit iOS. Based on the graphic novel of the same name (and not the AMC television show), Walking Dead: The Game brings some great horror moments mixed in with lots of puzzles and interactions with other characters that will test your ability to think on your feet, act fast, and maintain your morality.

It’s important that we note that Walking Dead: The Game is definitely too adult-oriented and gory for kids, but it’s not all about killing zombies. In fact, the story is much more about how you choose to interact with other survivors; they remember what you say to them, how you treat them, and who you side with in an argument. This is the first of five episodes, but having already played the first two, I can’t recommend this game enough.

Isometric dungeon-crawler ORC: Vengeance will likely remind avid video gamers of PC title Diablo III right off the bat, and it does share some visual and gameplay elements with the extremely popular title. But ORC puts players in a role they don’t usually hold – that of one of the usual enemies in games like this, the hulking green orc. The game packs some awesome visuals and some great production values, as well as plenty of monsters to kill with your character Rok’s powerful attacks, executed through double-taps and swipes.

You’ll also spend a lot of time grabbing loot, upgrading Rok’s abilities and equipment, and increasing his stats as you gain levels through battle. There are tons of things to uncover, like lore books that fill in the backstory of ORC’s world, and iCloud support means you can sync your game with Apple’s cloud servers and have as many as four save files on one device.

Physics title Bucketz is a bit like Fruit Ninja as it involves flying objects that players have to intercept before they leave the screen. The goal isn’t to slice them apart with slashes though, but to catch them and drop them into buckets. Those buckets are arranged on a fulcrum, so not only do you get points for depositing items into each one, but you need to keep the weight of what’s inside both balanced to beat each level and achieve maximum points.

Bucketz also throws extra stuff your way, like stopwatches that you can tap to slow down time, and smoke grenades that obscure your visibility should you hit one. You can also earn coins to spend on power-ups between each level and to pull down bonus points. Game Center support brings achievements and leaderboards, and Bucketz features a style similar to the hilarious You Don’t Know Jack in terms of presentation, which means it’s in good company.

In time to promote the upcoming animated film ParaNorman comes 2-Bit Bub, a physics puzzler in which players take on the role of a bisected ghost dog as he attempts to prevent a zombie invasion. It seems Bub has been digging up bones from the graveyard, but those bones belong to zombies. If he doesn’t hurry and return them, the dead will rise and terrorize the living.

Each stage in 2-Bit Bub has players attempting to climb through the level, grabbing stars and eventually a bone to close things off. To do that, players can fling Bub in the air, using similar mechanics to Angry Birds. You’ll have to hit special rings from which Bub can hang in order to reach new heights and grab the bones. Your scores in each level can unlock extra content like posters and trailers for the film.

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