Now you can be the champ!

Hook Champ (US$2.99) is a fast paced, somewhat challenging, and utterly addictive blast of nostalgia-inducing gameplay. Complete with a rather humorous OpenFeint achievements system ("Hot Pants Deployed! - Fashion saved your life!"), Hook Champ follows Jake, a brave explorer who swings and flings about the various cave-like levels in search for valuable idols.

Different maps can be purchased with coins collected within the game, to unlock thematic worlds with their own unique hazards. One map, for example, is home to lava-based levels - fall into the lava and you're dead meat! To help combat Jake's complications in the field, you also have the ability to purchase (again, with the in-game coins system) character upgrades, including better ropes, grapples, or the highly-esteemed 'Hot Pants'. Hot pants provide various levels of protection from the lava of the levels already mentioned.

However it isn't all fun exploration for Jake. While trying to navigate the worlds and attain all of the coins and gems, dodging lakes of lava, and swimming slowly through bodies of water, you must stay on the run, as (and it has happened to this reviewer many-a-time), if the ghost who is chasing you throughout each level manages to catch you, the game is lost, and you must start from the beginning of the level once again.

At times this has left me in utter frustration, especially when the final score screen states that 98% of the level had been completed before being eaten alive by the dreaded apparition. However, the game has me hooked (pun intended), and as soon as I publish this review I'm off to try and finish the next level.

Thanks to Rocketcat Games, you too can get hooked! We have two redeem codes (US Store only) for Hook Champ, to whoever finds them first (hint: check our Twitter, you'll find them in our most recent tweet! While you're there, you should probably check out Rocketcat Games's own twitter page and maybe thank them if you are lucky enough to win.)

MyAppSource Rating: 5 Stars!

Take Her For A Spin!

Sygic Mobile Maps Australia and New Zealand (AU$79.99) is the ultimate driving companion, especially if you are prone to getting lost, or just love to go out for a Sunday drive, and need a means of getting home. This review has been based on the Australia and New Zealand version, althought everything exept the maps themselves, is the same no matter what country's version you are using. In this review I will not be comparing a GPS app to a classic street directory, nor will I be comparing it to it's various competitors, but I will be providing you, yes you, our valid readers with a comprehensive list of features, and all the little things that I found, which earn Sygic Mobile Maps a place on my home screen.

First of all, set the price aside. The GPS app market is expensive. However, Sygic's prices have been very competitive. You cannot expect to find a good quality GPS app, with all the bells and whistles for under $10. If you only need to overlay directions on a 2D map, there's already an app for that, and it came with your phone! However the hefty data charges it incurs whilst being used are more than a put off. This is where Sygic Mobile Maps begins to shine. The large file size of the app isn't without it's benefits. You are actually downloading the complete map, full of points of interest, straight to your device. I'll say this now and make it clear, Sygic Mobile Maps has absolutely no data fee's.

After thorough testing, and miles on the road, I have found a few things about Sygic Mobile Maps, that really sell it to me.

We all know that GPS signals can be slightly unreliable at times, depending on your location. This is because, to work successfully, your phone needs many satellites in it's line of sight. Simply, the more GPS satellites in sight, the stronger the signal and vice versa. Thankfullly Sygic has gifted us with numerous ways to begin tracking a route. You can elect to start from any location, or point of interest (POI), or choose to wait or a valid signal. This means that you can get going without a wait, unlike some more unreliable GPS solutions.

But the real zinger of Sygic Mobile Maps is the turn-by-turn voice navigation it provides. You can select from a multitude of voices, in many different languages, to let you know where to go without the distraction off picking up your device. My favourite voice, which I personally recommended is called "English UK (Simon)". Try getting a street directory to talk to you in the same way (not now, keep reading!). You won't be able to.

The interface also rotates depending on the orientation of your iPhone. So if it us docked (which I highly recommend for extensive use, all GPS apps drain battery like there is no tomorrow) on it's side, the view will switch to landscape mode, providing you with a much wider view of your surrounding area.

The highly configurable "dashboard" allows you to display all the information you need, and remove what you don't. Possibilities include GPS signal strength, time you began, estimated time of arrival, your current speed or direction, how many minutes you've been on the route for, and how many minutes are left before you reach your destination. You can also change the map between a 3D and flat mode to suit yourself, as well as change the colour scheme to (or automatically) change between day and night variants. The interface also tells you the current speed limit, and warns you if you have exceeded this.

Now onto the fun stuff. Planning a route is simple an quick. You can select a destination from an extensive list of POI's, 'favourited' locations, your phones contacts, or enter one manually. You can then select a starting point. Whether this is your driveway, or your current location is up to you. You can also elect detours, or add in another destination on the go, althought neither I, Sygic nor your local authority recommend operating this while driving. You can also choose to avoid toll roads, and set automatic route planning methods to the fastest, shortest or most economical route depending on your needs.

But what happens if you don't follow the exact route Sygic Mobile Maps gives you? Maybe you missed a turn, or maybe you (wrongly) think that another route is shorter. Either way, Sygic has you covered! Your route will be recalculated to get to your destination according to the settings in use.

In short, Sygic Mobile Maps is all about you. Not only is it the top grossing app, (in the Australian App Store anyway), but its highly configurable interface and route options allow you to get to your destination with ease, and hey, when you're told when you're speeding, and shown where all the speeding and red light cameras are located in the current area, as well as being provided with audible turn by turn navigation, and quick re-routing options in the case of a wrong turn, Sygic Mobile Maps is the back seat driver you've always wanted.

MyAppSource Rating: 5 Stars!

Spaced Out

Space Rush (US$0.99) is one of my (and the rest of the MyAppSource crew's) favourite applications. The other members of the team loved this app from their first turn. However, it took me several attempts to fully embrace the greatness of this simple, yet incredible, application. The first several times I used Space Rush I though it was a solid, if not spectacular game. This was mainly because I wasn't very good at it. After some practice and other members of the MyAppSource team throwing down the Space Rush Challenge gauntlet, I was addicted. This application, much like Volley, proves that applications with a simple theme and entertaining gameplay are often much better than their more theme-rich, yet poorly designed counterparts. This app was developed by Nicholas Patrick. There is also a Lite version of Space Rush, for all you cheapskates who want to try before you buy.

I often wonder what makes an application (or anything, for that matter) addictive. Is it personal preference? Is it the ability to separate a person from reality and immerse them in the much less harsh world of gaming? Is it the way an app makes you feel? Or is it simply because it is fun? I believe that the level of enjoyment and addiction (for lack of a better word) is caused by all of these factors meshing and making one big meshy ball of entertainment. Space Rush targets the last three questions. Space Rush can be a great stress release because it is you versus space and no one else can interfere. I find that Space Rush often has me at the edge of my proverbial seat due to the thrilling nature of its gameplay. It is definitely fun and hugely enjoyable, this certainly adds to its allure. All of these factors certainly help an application become popular and addictive, but it is the non-quantifiable factors which help to really set the great applications apart from the rest. Space Rush has this X-factor by the truckload. The prospect of besting your high score is enough to keep me playing for hours, now add the fact that OpenFeint can be enabled and I'm hooked.

The only thing that I could find which may need to be altered is the inability of the app to save the high scores without OpenFeint being enabled. This will particularly effect poor souls like myself who rarely have access to wi-fi, this means that OpenFeint is useless to us. I would love to be able to see the global high scores because on the screenshot I was sent the Global High Score was just over 1.8 million. My highest score is a touch over 3.4 million and I really would like to see how I rank globally. Not to boast too much about my almost superhuman ability to succeed at Space Rush, but I came out victorious in the MyAppSource Space Rush Challenge by approximately 3 million points. (Man, the rest of the team is bad). If the ability to save personal high scores without OpenFeint was added I would jump for joy (don't hold me to that). Enough about me, back to the review.

I am telling you from the goodness of my heart that you NEED to purchase Space Rush. You can be a pansy and trial it before you buy the full version, but believe me you won't regret it. Space Rush ticks all the boxes. It is cheap, great fun, addictive and you can compare high scores with anyone from anywhere (with wi-fi). Space Rush is one of the best apps out there and you simply must buy it. You can swing around to our Flickr and YouTube accounts to find some more screenshots and a helpful gameplay video (Be careful, the video involves lots of quick turning and movement. It may leave you a bit queasy.)

MyAppSource Rating: 5 Stars!

Surprise Mania

Car Mania (US$0.99), is an application that has really grown on me since I first picked it up. Car Mania is another superb application from the developers at Origin8. Car Mania takes a simple premise and shakes it up into a challenging and exciting multi-leveled traffic dodging experience. Ironically, it seems as though applications with simple objectives (rather than complex storylines) are often much more addictive and enjoyable than their convoluted counterparts, and Car Mania is no exception.

When I first used this application, I thought it was a nice time-killer, but nothing special.  However, another member of the MyAppSource team was adamant thats Car Mania is a classic, so, I gave it another chance. Car Mania made the absolute most out of this opportunity. In fact, I had to (reluctantly) put Car Mania down and begrudgingly dedicate myself to writing this review.

The features which altered my initial view of the game are the Time Trial and Road Rage modes. On the first play I did not pay any attention to these modes (BIG mistake! No. 1). These modes help to diversify the application from a one-mode wonder (I'm claiming that term), into a surprisingly challenging (and sometimes frustratingly so) traffic maze. Time Trial mode is as you would expect, complete certain goals within a certain time period. The goals are to direct each vehicle into it colour matched garage. Road Rage mode, takes the initial premise of the app and flips it upside down (literally!). I wont tell you anymore about the Road Rage mode, you'll have to buy it the app to find out, but, it is definitely worth the investment.

Another feature which I did not look into during my initial use of Car Mania (BIG mistake! No. 2) was the extra (and extra difficult) maps. These maps are completely different from the intial map, both in aesthetics and the obstacles that are present. Two of  the obstacles that these extra levels include are a volcano and a train, which passes directly through the centre of the level (and blows up your vehicles). The maps also help diversify the game play and create yet another challenging aspect in the game.

When I first played Car Mania, I though that it would be a three star app, at best (BIG mistake! No. 3). Now, I'm tossing up whether it should be rated four or five stars (Dammit! No half stars). Let's weigh up the pros and cons.

Pros:

• Entertaining
• Challenging
• Action packed
• Several different and enjoyable modes
• Crazy maps

Cons:

• Basic Premise

I thought it would be a four star app, but the Pros have defeated the Cons (by a considerable margin). The Pros won by so much that it can only mean one thing, and that one thing is:

MyAppSource Rating: Five Stars!

Just Tweet It!

SimplyTweet (US$4.99) is a beautiful creation straight from the ingenious developers that are MotionObj. This app not just another iPhone Twitter client. This app is a well thought out masterpiece of Twitter perfection. SimplyTweet is not a simple iPhone app. It is simple to use, but, 'under the hood' this app is an intricate piece of coding.

The main screen is presented in tab form, with five tabs at the bottom of the screen for friends, mentions, direct messages and more! These can be customised to suit your needs. For example, being the Twitterer that I am, I absolutely love being able to see what is currently trending. This is a feature that is not possible in many of the other Twitter clients available for iPhone. Twitter timeline updates are presented in a column under the "friends" tab, and you are automatically placed at the last tweet you have viewed, to catch up on anything you may have missed. New tweets are also marked with a blue dot (like that found next to unwatched movies in iTunes). Tapping a tweet shows it in a larger form, with options like retweeting, replying, posting a link to the tweet, emailing a link, and tracking the conversation that the tweet is part of (if available).

SimplyTweet has five various themes that can be applied to suit your style. (Personally, I don't like the pink template - black is more my style.) SimplyTweet also incorporates a much-needed feature that is lacking in many other Twitter clients, Push Notifications. Of course, push notifications are only sent for mentions and direct messages. A smart move by MotionObj, I must say. (Seriously, imagine getting notified for each individual tweet in your timeline. Not a pretty sight.)



SimplyTweet garners a handy 'new tweet' button at the top right of the screen, to make it easy to blast out a new update. A character count, and a handy hash symbol shortcut are also present. You can also insert your current location, based on your iPhone's GPS signal, or typing in landscape mode if you wish. There is also support for URL shorteners, text shortening, and photo and video uploading. And just in case you want to don't want to tweet just yet, you can save it for later as a draft.

While viewing a user's profile, you can see their picture (full screen!), check their following/followers count, as well as their update totals and favourite tweets. Perhaps most useful of all, SimplyTweet allows you to follow people straight from the app. Speaking about doing things straight from the app, any links you find in your timeline can be opened directly within the app, so you can come back without hassle.

For people with multiple Twitter accounts (myself included), you can easily switch accounts by hitting the username at the top of the screen, provided they have been set up correctly, which is a breeze. If you have a HootSuite Account, you can import your Twitter profiles directly from that, although I don't have one, so this feature remained untested.



All in all, SimplyTweet is your dream Twitter client for iPhone, and with a new update being rolled out the day of this review, my favourite Twitter client just keeps getting better. Without further ado, I proudly present SimplyTweet with the holy grail of ratings. Well done, MotionObj.

MyAppSource Rating: Five Stars!

Clear, Consice and Useful

SixPack App (US$0.99), is the perfect exercise buddy. From the labs of Pocket Cocktails Inc., this application is excellent for anyone who is participating in a weight training program. The developers claim that "SixPack App is your ultimate portable fitness guide." That is true. Pocket Cocktails also state that SixPack App contains "over 50,000 words of descriptive exercise text and 400+ Pictures". I don't know the exact numbers, but according to my estimations, that is also true.

SixPack App contains a plethora of exercises for each of the following categories: chest, shoulders, back, legs, arms, abs, yoga poses and stretches. Each exercise contains several clear and easily understandable images of how the exercise must be undertaken. The app also gives a clear-cut step-by-step guide on the exercise in question. The pictures and steps give the user a full understanding of what the exercise entails and exactly how to perform it.

For each individual exercise, SixPack App, also provides tips on the intricacies that are involved in the exercise and the exact muscles which the exercise will work. The tips give helpful hints on small issues that may arise during the process of completing the exercise. For example, the tips section tells the user what to do if the left and right muscles are not equally strong and how to correctly align and protect the users spine. The app highlights the exact muscles needed and shows the user this on easy-to-distinguish pictures.

SixPack App also gives instructions on workouts that can be undertaken. The workout categories are; circuit, beginner and push/pull, to name a few. Although the workout section does not provide the user with examples of exercises that could be used, it does provide the kowledge of how often to complete a workout and what muscles to target to increase workout efficiency.

SixPack App delivers on all levels. All the things you could ever want or need are included, and this means that you are never left scratching your head about any exercises. The thorough instructions and clear pictures make sure that every exercise is fully broken down into its basic components and then explained. so as to increase the ease of understanding. It's cheap, it's very effective and when someone takes your iPhone or iPod Touch and sees it they'll automatically think you work out (even if you don't). SixPack App is definitely worth the purchase for anyone who is currently participating in a weight training program.

MyAppSource Rating: Five Stars!

Sharing is Caring

Air Sharing (US$4.99) is just what all you file management enthusiasts have been waiting for. Avatron have devised the perfect solution to (what presumably is) everyone's worries. Air Sharing is essentially a document viewer. PDF, txt, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, pages, rtf... You name it, Air Sharing can read it. Of course, the benefit of Air Sharing is exactly how easy it makes it to transfer documents to and from your iPhone. To demonstrate just how easy this is, we have kindly prepared a few easy steps for you to read.

• Connect your iPhone (or iPod Touch) to a wireless network.
• With Air Sharing running, open the URL given to you by Air Sharing in your browser.
• Truthfully there doesn't need to be a third step, as by this time, you can already see all the files on your device, and upload more as desired.

The Air Sharing web interface presents you with a simple file directory, with an upload bar below it. Of course, if security of your documents has you worried, you can assign optional password protection to the web interface, just to make sure that no average Joe on your local network can get a copy of last months business report, or the wedding invitations you've been working on. Furthermore, you can password lock the app itself, so that if average Joe manages to a hold of your beloved iPhone, there will be no reason to worry (at least about your documents).

MyAppSource Rating: Four Stars! (Air Sharing)



Maybe this just isn't enough for you. Luckily, the good folks at Avatron have what you need. Air Sharing Pro (US$9.99) provides the same zippy speeds and ease of use that Air Sharing packs, as well as a plethora of premium features (and I must add, a way better looking icon). Pro features include viewing encrypted PDF files, file operations (copy, paste, rename, move), access to WebDAV Disks (and iDisk), emailing documents, direct transfer between two iPhones, zip/unzip and printing via print sharing (Mac and Linux only). I must add that the print feature alone makes the Pro version of Air Sharing a worthwhile investment.



Overall, Air Sharing provides a superb file storage, viewing, and sharing experience, and while Air Sharing Pro takes it one step further, both apps add invaluable features to your already feature packed iPhone. If your the type who is continually looking for more ways to use your device, or perhaps you need a function like that which Air Sharing provides, we recommend that you buy this app right now! You wont regret it.

MyAppSource Rating: Five Stars! (Air Sharing Pro)



Thanks to Avatron, we have a few copies of Air Sharing to give away. You can redeem the following codes in the right sidebar of the iTunes Store for US accounts (or at the bottom of the main window if you're browsing on your iPhone).

WWM34WX76HHH
46R97YH6TNWF
YL779PXHFFMW
7A47YJ4NHEFL
3HJFRY77ATML

Enjoy, and follow us on Twitter, as we will still have more codes to give away!