iPhone Application Watch: AppLoop, Astraware Sudoku, Starmap

AppLoop

AppLoop is a desktop application, currently in beta, which will create individual iPhone applications based on the RSS feed of a web site, with customisable colour palettes and a few other options.

The results won't be aimed at power users who already read a large number of RSS feeds in a dedicated feed reader (like Google Reader or Bloglines), but is more geared towards users who read a few sites regularly each day.

That said, there's a danger that this could be another breed of application which spawns multiple versions that do almost exactly the same thing. At a basic level, this is just an RSS reader, but branded.

We already have enough individual applications that count down to a different specific date to one another. I'm not convinced that this application, which automatically applies for inclusion in the App Store on behalf of the blog owner, is going to make things any easier for either other developers, or users looking for quality apps.

I'm not totally knocking the principle, but I wonder if the target audience (those who don't really "get" RSS feeds) wouldn't be better surfing to their favourite web site and then bookmarking them on their home page.

(Via ProBlogger)

Astraware Sudoku

Handmark has announced the availability of Astraware Sudoku in the App Store. I briefly reviewed Sudoku last week.

"We wanted to make a game that was extremely enjoyable and playable, with the smart features seamlessly incorporated so they are available without getting in your way," said Howard Tomlinson, Director of Games Development, Astraware. "Our hints help you to look for answers rather than giving them to you straight away, so you still get the pleasure of finding and solving the puzzle for yourself. That way, players improve and find themselves attempting, and completing, the trickier puzzles.”"

Usual price is $4.99, but it's available for $1.99 until the end of October.

Starmap

Starmap is a planetarium simulation for the iPhone.

Starmap helps users without any special astronomy skills and with only a basic knowledge of north and south to find sky objects. When searching for a planet or constellation, a yellow arrow guides the user towards the wanted sky sector. The application uses the GPS feature of the iPhone(TM) for defining the user's location. The sky map appearance can be modified by the user, displaying zodiacal signs or advanced features like equatorial coordinates. Starmap is published with a catalogue of the 120,000 visible stars. It offers a complete ephemeris of planets and their main satellites. Deep sky objects like galaxies are also included. It is available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch and Danish.

"I never thought it would be developed so rapidly," said independent developer Frederic Descamps. "I had the first working prototype within a week. Initial versions had slow graphics, but the help of the Imagination Technologies team raised Starmap to a high quality application."

It's $11.99 (€9.99 / £6.99)

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