Appiphilia: The skinny on Weight Watchers app for iPhone

Remember to put your iPhone down when it's weigh-in time. Photo by: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

The battle of the bulge is one many of us have fought at one time or another. It helps to have a buddy going through it with us. So, those of us who never part with our iPhones can have a constant built-in weight-loss companion (or nag, as the need might be).

Now competing with the numerous offerings in the App Store for diet and exercise, Weight Watchers recently added its app to the mix -- and we gave it a try. 

Appiphilia: A Chase to legitimize iPhone photography

Does having a 2- or 3-megapixel camera on your cellphone make you an artist or a photographer? Chase Jarvis would argue it does.

“Yeah, everybody is an artist,” he said.

The 38-year-old commercial photographer is a kind of platform-agnostic photo-evangelist. Still buzzing from the limited sleep and excitement of the recent launch of a 256-page book of his iPhone photography ("The Best Camera Is the One That's With You"), a new iPhone app (Best Camera) and related photo sharing social network, he told us he's hoping to generate a bit of a pop cultural movement. 

Now that nearly everyone has some kind of camera in hand, "there's no barrier to entry," whether a kid playing with Dad's phone, a professional photographer or a grandmother tapping out snapshots of her day.

“My [65-year-old] mom is a great example. She was never programmed that she is a creative type,” he said. But when she got an iPhone, “it enabled something in her…. There’s no drama in this thing that you’re supposed to talk to your friends on.”

Appiphilia: IPhone apps to 'aid' in dating and mating

Want to put a pillow on your relationship and smother it? Or maybe hit an extended snooze on that incessant biological clock? Hey, there's an app for that.

Girlfriend Keeper (99 cents)

What it is: The app's name might be ironic. For some reason, that David Lee Roth song from the '80s kept playing in my head when I set this one up.

This is either a fun lighthearted take on flirtation or the lazy lover's crutch to communication.

You set up the app to send generically customized texts or e-mails (or both) to your special person, at least nominally from you. Now, "playas," hold up. It is set up for one at a time, so don't count on managing your romantic rundown in this app. Although, I suppose you could keep one on autopilot with this and really woo another. There's a history of communication in the app, so you can track the love notes "you" sent.

You can set the frequency of messages and "relationship level" -- strangers, casual dating, heating up, serious or married. Some of the messages seem to be coming from a socially awkward IT professional. Example: Chelle, Fact: a flea can jump 130x its height. Can you beat that? -Curly Kid

My heart still flutters when I read that one.

The texts could be interpreted as coming from you, but there is no mistaking where the emails are coming from, even if you set it up with your name: <no-reply@girlfriendapp.com>. Gee, how romantic?

The texts range from the indescribably inane to moderately amusing to sweet.  

Bottom line: If you're too lazy to text, what else are you too lazy to do? If I found my name and info in this app on my man's iPhone, I think I might personally text: L8R!

BabyBuilder ($1.99), Lite (free)

What it is: Ladies, you can exact your revenge by sending your significant other a look at what amazing creature you'd create together. No. 1, the fact that you're thinking babies could be enough to scare 'em off. No. 2, these things are possibly nightmare-inducing.

The babies are supposedly based on key features from pictures you upload, whether it's you and your SO or random people or celebrities. The tykes can come in four popular ethnic flavors: Caucasian, Asian, Latin and black, pulling on "classic" or slightly generic and stereotypical features to make that radical shift.

Every baby I made seemed to have Michael Jackson's post-reconstruction anime nose. Black babies had dark skin and full lips. Asian babies had more narrowed eyes.

As a biracial person, I found that selecting "Latin" came closest to reality -- and then I remembered that "reality" has little to do with this. Babies can be shifted among the four listed ethnicities and get different eye colors and hair options. And you can even name and save your little darling for later. You can share the blessed news and picture of your iBaby via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter or Flickr.

For giggles, I uploaded photos of Jay Leno (sorry, Mavis), President Obama (sorry, Michelle) and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (I'm so not sorry). The Leno and Obama babies looked exactly the same. I'm rather fond of the Rock Abbye Baby, even if it did have a Talking Tina vibe. 

I swear the kid said, "I'm ugly like my daddy," after puking. (No, its head didn't spin -- yet.) The creature also said, "I'm beautiful like my mama," and then declared it had a "poopy," complete with sound effect.

I also "made a baby" with my guy, an unwise move since the resulting "baby" scared my ovaries into a witness protection program.

Bottom line: This app could put you off reproducing. Ladies, your ovaries might run for cover after looking at your projected offspring. If that's what I'm likely to produce, I will stop trying -- NOW.

-- Michelle Maltais

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Konami's Krazy Kart Racing crashes into the App Store

Late last week, Konami released an iPhone app of its Krazy Racers game in the App Store for $7.99.

This version of the game lets users take on other racers as one of 10 classic Konami characters in more than a dozen themed racing circuits. The steering employs the internal accelerometer and includes a number of tools and tactics such as Nitro boost and extras you pick up along the way. There are with five different single player modes and an in-game map. Players can go bumper to bumper with friends in linked multi-player competitions.

We had a brief exchange with Axel de Rougé, lead producer and head of mobile development at Konami Digital Entertainment, about Krazy Kart Racing. (The name is apparently incorrectly listed on the App Store.)

Q. When you designed Krazy Kart Racing, what was the goal for the look and game play?

A. The game is based on Konami Krazy Racers, which was a GBA kart racing game released in 2001. We wanted to take this game to the next generation of mobile gaming.

Q. Do the 10 characters each give users a different playing experience?

A. Yes, every character has his distinct advantages and disadvantages with regards to handling, speed and acceleration. Depending on which character you use you will have to adjust your strategy for picking up items. If you are driving a slower character that is better in handling you might look to pick up as many speed bursts as possible, whereas you would try to slow down opponents behind you when driving a faster character.

Q. How is the online multiplayer designed to work?

A. At the moment it is basically single racing against other players. You can do that either using a local Wi-Fi connection, racing against people that are at the same physical location or you can play against any other player from all over the world using our Internet game servers. Once we see more people picking up online play, you will see additions provided.

Q. What additional games can we look forward to from Konami on the iPhone/iPod Touch in the near future?

A. We recently announced Wireway, which is an innovative new puzzle-platformer adventure that we are confident will become a massive success.

Q. Is there anything that stands out about the Krazy Kart game?

A. Krazy Kart Racing is the first kart racer to offer a dynamic camera balancing system. The camera rotates against the movement of the device when playing with accelerometer controls, so your eye doesn’t need to correct the perspective, giving you a much smoother steering experience. You hardly notice the difference until you switch it off.

-- Michelle Maltais

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Appiphilia: Finding your way through turn-by-turn nav apps for iPhone

Traffic along the southbound 110 freeway, seen from Elysian Park in the late morning. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times 

This summer, iPhones got the ability to tell you where to go and how to get there with voice-guided navigation apps.

As of Monday, TomTom joined the small group of apps available with voice-guided turn-by-turn directions. Sygic and Navigon both had apps available earlier this summer for iPhone and now other smart phones. The offerings from Sygic, Navigon and TomTom all have features in common and a little something that distinguishes them from one another. For a community of buyers accustomed to apps under $1, these are fairly pricey. That said, they're still less expensive than the average in-car nav device.

All of the apps are slightly limited by the device itself. Unlike a dedicated automotive navigational device, which typically uses a highly sensitive GPS receiver, most smartphones, like the iPhone, use "assisted GPS."

What they all have:

- Day and night display mode

- 2D and 3D viewing options

- Portrait and landscape viewing

- Multiple language options

- Onboard maps and points of interest

- On-screen speed, distance and projected arrival time

- Simulations of the turn-by-turn directions for when you lose GPS signal -- and it will happen

- The ability to play music and receive calls while using the app, though the app has to relaunch after the call ends

What they all need:

- Car mount (imperative!)

- More GPS power -- in the shadow of tall trees or tall buildings, the phone's little GPS that could just can't. (When the signal isn't strong, though, Google Maps seems to still work just fine.)

- Text-to-speech, so that street names can be announced (so far, none has this feature)

Check out how they stack up after the break...

Appiphilia: Sound off on Google Voice for your mobile device

In the last two days, Apple has rejected the Google-submitted Google Voice application and pulled three other related apps, triggering a storm of criticism from digital technorati. Credit: Los Angeles Times

And you thought getting a Google Voice number was a challenge. If you're an iPhone or iPod Touch owner, getting an app to use that service is likely to prove more difficult. Apple has put Google Voice on what might be an extended hold.

Before the service is even in wide distribution, three $3 Google Voice-enabled apps that allowed you to use Google Voice from your iPhone have been yanked from the App Store because of what developers have been told is iPhone feature duplication (dialer, SMS, voice mail, etc.). And today, we hear that Apple rejected the app offering from Google (its seeming bosom buddy). Big-time disconnect. 

If you managed to nab one of the iPhone apps before they were pulled, hang on to it. So far (fingers crossed), they still seem to function. And you can actually use the mobile browser on your phone to access Google Voice. You get access to all of the features in the apps, including dialing, voice mail (audio and transcripts) and SMS. You can also access your contacts and adjust your master settings.

BlackBerry (and, of course Android-powered phone) users don't have to sweat. You get Google Voice via a Google-produced app and some third-party offerings.

For the "Voiceless" (or those who don't yet have Google Voice), GV users get a phone number that reaches them wherever they are. It routes calls to mobile, home and other phones based on who’s calling and when -- and even lets them personalize call features, such as the outgoing voice mail message, for a particular person or group. Great.

But the challenge is in the calling back. Being able to dial out with the GV number is part of its value -- otherwise every time they call people back, their real numbers display. The GV number should pop up on caller ID.

We take a look at the apps -- the ones you can get and the ones you can't (in case you happened to snag them before they went ghost).

Appiphilia: Comic-Con on your iPhone, a reason to be animated

Fans grab for Ironman freebies at the Marvel Comics booth during the preview night for Comic-Con International 2009.  Credit: Denis Poroy / Associated Press

Comic-Con, the annual popular arts confab that draws about 100,000 people to the San Diego Convention Center, has begun for aficionados of video games, sci-fi flicks, comics, things avant garde and "guaranteed to shock, annoy or perplex the older generation," as our friends on the Hero Complex blog said. (The legion of superheroes on that blog are writing, shooting and tweeting all the excitement and news from Comic-Con. Check it out.)

If you're in this fantasy mecca, then you might want to put your iPhone to work. Hey, there's free Wi-Fi there, right? There are apps to keep you informed about the goings-on, keep you engaged and keep you entertained.

Official Comic-Con App (Free)

What it is: A digital guide to this year's Comic-Con, including news, programs, exhibitors and maps.

Bottom line: On the home screen of the app, a clock keeps count of how much longer the exhibit hall will be open. Under info, you get a lot of the content you'd find down the left rail on the main website – fast facts, guest details, registration information. The app lets you go through the list of programs and exhibitors by date and type, respectively, and mark them as favorites with pushpin icons. As you scroll through, you can ID them pretty quickly.

A better option might have been to collect them in a favorites tab to more easily scroll through and create a schedule. Since the maps are horizontal to begin with, they should really be viewable in landscape mode. It also might have been nice to have the pushpins drop in on the map to help you figure out a preferred route since the convention center is rather large. But they zoom and remain sharply detailed.

Fan Schedule's Unofficial San Diego Comic Con 2009 Events Schedule (99 cents) 

What it is: I know the name might be misleading, but it is an unofficial digital events schedule.

Bottom line: While the home screen isn't anything special, the app does let you create your own day-by-day schedule and easily see if your plans to hit the Black Panel, Dune, Women in Manga and the SteamPunk Meet-Up are likely to pan out. The schedule has a breakdown by event, room and time as well as a search.

iTunes App Store turns 1; cast ballots here for your favorite apps

iPhone screenshot from marcopako via Flickr.

Apple this morning said its iTunes store has served up more than 1.5 billion apps, those snack-sized pieces of software for the iPhone or iPod Touches that do all sorts of random things.

Since launching the App Store exactly a year ago, more than 100,000 developers have been busy cranking out a mind-bending 65,000 apps on the site. Some are useful (GPS apps that help the navigationally challenged, for example). Others are amusing (witness the explosion of games, a select list of which appears here from What They Play). Some unleash our inner artist. A handful are offensive, including the controversial Baby Shaker app. And some are just inane. Remember the $1,000 app that did absolutely nothing?

To celebrate this cornucopia of apps, we'd like to invite you to nominate your faves. Cast your votes in the comment box below, and at the end of the week, we'll publish the list of winners. Here are the categories:

• Most useful app
• Most useless app
• Best game
• Wackiest app
• Worst crApp ever
• Best news app
• Best time waster
• Best free app
• Best paid app
• App most likely to impress your friends at a party

-- Alex Pham and Michelle Maltais

Study finds the Palm Pre App Catalog user-friendly but option light

Credit: Chris Rank / Bloomberg News

It seems that when it comes to apps for the Palm Pre, one group of users has one hand clapping while the other is outstretched like Oliver saying, "Please, sir, I want some more."

Strategy Analytics, a Massachusetts-based research and consulting firm, asked a dozen mobile-savvy users in San Diego recently about their experiences with the Palm App Catalog. They were asked to spend at least five minutes browsing and to come up with five apps they were interested in.

Unanimously, these users found the store's interface intuitive and easy to navigate but did have some complaints, according to the report.

"While the App Catalog contains desirable and recognizable content, the volume of content overall is lacking," the report found. 

At the time of the study, there were fewer than 60 apps in the Palm store. This is one of the challenges of entering a game that's been defined and dominated by other players -- especially when they've trained smart-phone users and wannabes to expect more apps than you can easily scroll through in a day. According to Palm, more than 150,000 apps were downloaded on the first day the Pre was available to consumers.

Most of these testers seemed to gravitate to the familiar: Pandora Radio, Good Food -- Restaurants Near You, AccuWeather, AP News and Craigslist, the report said.

And although they found navigation and search through the store straightforward and understandable, the App Catalog's pricing structure left them a bit baffled, according to the report. Currently, each app displays "$Try me" when listed and when it's selected. The users wondered whether that meant it was a trial or for purchase -- or whether a fee might kick in later.

 So far, everything in the App Catalog is a free trial. No prices are currently listed with apps, nor is an expiration date for trial periods.

"Purchase details of content are not clearly defined, leaving users unsure if they are downloading a trial version of the item or the complete version," according to the report.

-- Michelle Maltais

What's your take on the Palm Pre App Catalog and its offerings? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Appiphilia: Some Google Maps smartphone apps get L.A. transit info

Have you noticed some new data points on your Google Maps app? Well, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has just hooked up with Google Maps to make it easier for passengers to plan trips using the MTA's buses and trains.

As mentioned on the LA Now blog, the MTA is the latest to add its info to Google's interactive maps. And you can tap into that on your iPhone as well. By tapping the transit icon (the bus in the middle), you can access schedules for the road and rail public transportation options to your destination. It includes the departure times, estimated travel time and price to hitch a ride.

The BlackBerry Google Maps app also offers transit details -- routes, times and distance. The MTA's info wasn't accessible when we tried to call it up with plans for a trip from downtown L.A. to Glendale and one from downtown to Irvine. Foothill Transit directions from L.A. to Claremont came up without issue.

Other transit agencies currently available through Google Maps include Foothill Transit and Metrolink.

-- Michelle Maltais

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