iPhone App Review: Riddim Ribbon

Name: Riddim Ribbon
Written By: Tapulous
Category: Games
Price: $1.99 (iTunes)

Size: 45.4 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.0.3
Rate: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

From the makers of Tap Tap Revenge comes the hit new iPhone/iPod Touch game, Riddim Ribbon! it’s like Tap Tap Revenge and your favorite race car game all rolled into one! Riddim Ribbon is a fast and upbeat game that any music lover would enjoy.

So let’s get this party started! You’re the DJ and the controls for the music mix are right in your hands! Tilt your device left, right, and up to the tunes of Black Eyed Peas, Tiësto, Benny Benassi, (and many more artists to be added soon) as you race down a curvy ribbon, gathering pebbles and hoops for points. When you reach a fork in your track, make a decision to go left or right for a different mix of the song. Jump over ramps to the effects level and give your song a more unique sound. Glide along the track, but be sure to stay away from obstacles that can slow you down!

Don’t be too intimidated playing this game the first few times. The game is easy to learn, but difficult to master at first. Once you get the hang of when to tilt the device during the curvy turns and jumps, it’s a lot of fun. Plus, the narrator is quite encouraging!

Each game is about 4-5 minutes, depending on what song you pick. The game comes with 3 great Black Eyed Peas tracks, including mixes of Boom Boom Pow, I Gotta Feeling, and Meet Me Halfway. For a limited time only, you can also get the mashup of “Imma Be/Rock That Body” for free with purchase. For each song, there are 2-3 mixes that can be played in your race to the finish line. At the end of the game, you can view your total points, your achievements, your top scores and dates of when you played, and how you compare to the global leaderboard. You can also share your score via email with your friends.

In-app purchases for 99 cents include various mixes of:
- Tiësto’s Louder Than Boom and Escape Me
- Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction

The game comes in three levels of difficulty — Easy, Medium, and Hard. You must mix up the previous level with an accuracy of 75% or better to unlock the next level. Harder levels include more twists, turns, jumps, and obstacles, both on and off the track.

One option I’d like added to the game is the ability to view the world-wide leaderboard at any time. Currently, you can only view it after you play the game. I personally like to see the scores I need to beat before playing the game. It’s just makes me more competitive.

Overall, the game is a lot of fun, especially if you love The Black Eyed Peas and racing games. The graphics and animation are great and makes you feel as if you are mixing the song. One note, your right hand may sometimes cover the speakers on your iPhone when playing. That’s not good since this game is music-based. I suggest picking up a game wheel accessory or a gamer’s case to enhance your gaming experience with Riddim Ribbon. Have fun, and happy dj-ing!

Riddim Ribbon is currently on sale for $1.99 in the iTunes App Store.

Video Trailer

Popularity: 1% [?]

Happy Grinchmas!

Affinity Zero and I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas! May you and your families have a wonderful and joyful holiday season! And with that note, here is Affinity Zero’s rendition of Mr. Grinch.

From YouTube:

Affinity Zero’s rocked out version of You’re A Mean One Mr Grinch. Recorded live December 2009.

Al Morita – vocals/guitar/bass, Chris Oufiero – drums, Genevieve Wolff – guitar. Percussion: Chris, Produced/Mixed – Al.

Popularity: 1% [?]

iPhone App Review: I Am T-Pain

Written by: Al Morita

I’m a big fan when it comes to music apps, especially ones that let you be creative. “I am T-Pain” has two modes – one lets you sing like T-Pain on his songs and a freestyle mode that is worth the $2.99 alone. When connected to a speaker, the freestyle mode lets you use the app like an auto-tune machine. You have the option to have the auto-tune setting set to T-Pain or you can customize the tuning to major, minor, and even chromatic scales. This app works great for non-singers and singers alike as it automatically adjusts your voice to the nearest note in real-time.

The “I am T-Pain” app includes 14 songs to sing along with. Five of them are instrumental versions of T-Pain songs including the hits “Bartender” and “Dreamgirl.” Three are Christmas karaoke songs, and the other six are T-Pain beats you can freestyle with. You can also purchase additional T-Pain songs in the app for $0.99 – $1.99. None of the songs are installed by default, so you might spend some time downloading the songs if you have a slow connection. I found the karaoke interface to be very good with easy-to-read lyrics on the screen. If you mess up, you can easily restart the song. By default, all your songs are recorded onto your device so you can listen to them later. You can also upload your audio track to the Smule server and also add an audio player with your songs to MySpace and Facebook. They also updated the app so you can sing along to any song in your iTunes library, which is a cool feature. The only limitation in this mode is that you can’t upload it to the server.

This app has many hours worth of entertainment with the auto-tune feature and a good list of songs to sing along with. I applaud Smule for updating the app with new features and songs. They made an excellent product even better. The possibilities are endless, who knows – you might see someone using the “I am T-Pain” app at your next karaoke party. I know I will.

Pros:

• Excellent auto-tune feature in real-time
• Good selection of songs with app
• Share your songs via the upload feature
• Ability to sing to any song in your iTunes library
• Solid karaoke mode
• Good recording quality

Cons:

• Needs vocal recording level option

Learn more about the I Am T-Pain app in the App Store

Popularity: 1% [?]

Free Holiday Music!

What’s the holidays without a little bit of holiday music? I found some great holiday music for you, and best of all, they’re free!

Amazon 25 Days of Free Holiday Music

Amazon has 25 Days of Free Holiday Music where they give a new Hoilday mp3 each day before Christmas. Free music includes songs from Lady Gaga, Tori Amos, Casting Crowns, and more! Amazon also has a free Sampler Claus album as well!
Read more

Popularity: 1% [?]

Katharine McPhee’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”

Take a listen to Katharine McPhee’s sweet voice as she sings her rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” It’s beautiful, very soothing, and perfect for the holiday season.

The song is also available in the iTunes store for free, so get your copy now.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Get $3 in MP3s From Amazon!

Love music? Get $3 in MP3s from Amazon! This offer is only valid until Nov. 30th, 2009 11:59pm PST, so hurry! Happy Thanksgiving! :)

More deals: BlackFriday Specials: $5 Music Albums!

Popularity: 2% [?]

The Guild DVD Seasons 1 & 2

Just a reminder to go get your The Guild: Seasons 1 & 2 DVD now! It’s released today for only $14.99 in retail stores!

What is the Guild? It’s a show is about a group of online gamers who meet in real life, and all the funny adventures they have together. The new DVD set is beautifully packaged and comes with a ton of great extras that I’m sure you’ll enjoy.

I got mine, now go get yours too! I had the pleasure of interviewing Felicia Day about The Guild. Be sure to look for it in the next iProng Magazine issue (Tuesday, Oct. 6th).

Also, be sure to watch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight for Felicia Day’s guest appearance! And yes Jimmy, Felicia Day is quite awesome. :)

Related Links

• The Guild: Seasons 1 & 2 DVD
• Watch The Guild.com
• Felicia Day.com
• Felicia Day on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
• Purchase The Guild in retail stores & content
• Felicia Day Interview in iProng Magazine (Preview)
• Do You Want to Date My Avatar Music Video

Popularity: 1% [?]

iPhone App Review: iKoto

Name: iKoto
Written By: GClue, Inc
Category: Music
Price: $.99
Size: 2.1 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch

You can now play the Koto (Japanese musical instrument) on your iPhone/iPod Touch! It sounds really pretty and is simple to play. Just run your fingers across the screen over the strings.

At the bottom right are extra function buttons. The first plays a demo song called “Rokudan no shireable.” The second will play your last saved song. The third will record. And fourth stops the recording and saves it.

The sound of the Koto is so pretty, I thought I’d try out this app.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Geoff on TwitLive

This is Geoff Smith’s first live appearance on TwitLive.tv! I was lucky enough to see him perform on Leo Laporte’s show at the New Media Expo 2008. If you like “I’m a Twit,” check out his other songs as well. “Digg the Code,” “Ones and O’s,” and “Hello, Hello” are some of my favorites on his latest cd.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Marie Digby “Unfold” CD for $1.99

Marié Digby is currently my favorite artist! She’s another talented artist who emerged on the YouTube scene.

I first heard of her from iTunes though. When I heard her remake of “Umbrella” on iTunes, if loved it and had to have it. :) Her “Unfold” cd was released April of this year, and of course I already bought it! (iTunes CD Link). Umbrella, Say it Again, Invisible Girl, Girlfriend, Better Off Alone, Stupid for You, Unfold are some of my favorite songs on the cd.

If you don’t have her cd yet, you get can the entire cd for $1.99 on Amazon for today only! (Buy Marie Digby “Unfold” on Amazon).

Read more

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Daynah as Darth Vader

Here’s my geeky attempt to promote Affinity Zero’s next show. This is a teaser, come to the show if you want to hear the Imperial March song live! :)

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Weezer’s Video

I love Weezer’s Pork and Beans music video! It’s quite geeky and creative. Check out all those familiar YouTube stars. ;)

I guess I shouldn’t be so surprise by the geekiness since Patrick Wilson of Weezer is such a Twit ;) There’s a little bit of Chocolate Rain and Numa Numa in there. ^_^

Popularity: 12% [?]

iPhone Band

Why buy real musical instruments when you can play everything on an iPhone/iTouch? ;) Check out this iPhone Band!

Thanks for the link Cat D!

Popularity: 24% [?]

SEO and Web Design Rap

This put a big smile on my face today! It’s not everyday that I find a rapper who cares about SEO and Design Coding!

follow these instructions when you move into production
your photoshop functions then slice that design
do your layout with divs make sure that it’s aligned
please don’t use tables even though they work fine
when it come to indexing they give searches a hard time

This is what I try to tell designers all the time! No tables unless it’s tabulated data! LOL

Many thanks to iJustine for finding this!

Click on more for the lyrics.
Read more

Popularity: 15% [?]

Imagine – Open Source Edition

Psst. Want to hear something geeky and funny? Take a listen to Neal Campbell’s version of “Imagine”! That song just me smile today. Thank you Neal!

Popularity: 15% [?]