Mobile Apple Me

When you think of “Margaritaville,” the laid-back, easy going music stylings of Jimmy Buffet, the first thing that pops into your head is a sleepy village with driftwood buildings next to a blindingly blue ocean centered around a friendly bar filled with alarmingly old people in tacky shirts who understand the value of relaxing not just the body, but the spirit; the kind of relaxation you find as you swing in a hammock that you brought to the beach in your Lincoln Town Car.

What you probably don’t think about is how magnificently this vision of a) sleep and b) alcohol will translate into casual gaming on the iPad and Facebook. Well, that’s all about to change, thank God! THQ has announced Margaritaville Online, a free-to-play app “inspired” by the music of Jimmy Buffet. An iPhone version will be coming later, but you can play it right now on your iPad or on Facebook, so expect to start seeing invitations from your uncle who always posts political links to your Wall that immediately send you to Snopes.

And what does Buffet think of this electronic version of his popular, and commercially licensable style?

“The Margaritaville laidback state of mind is inherently social, and this game has captured the spirit of that lifestyle,” said Jimmy Buffett, who consulted on the game. “With Margaritaville Online, fans across the globe can party together any time and any place.”

Based on the trailer, it appears the players create an avatar, not unlike a “Mii” from the Nintendo Wii console, who wander around exploring, interacting with other parrot heads, playing mini-games, customizing (and presumably paying for) new looks and listening to Buffet songs.

Margaritaville Online is compatible with both iPad versions, and requires iOS 4.3. It’s available now.

Provides: Screen protection for iPhone 4/4S
Developer: MediaDevil
Minimum Requirements: iPhone 4/4S (screen for other devices are available)
Price: $16.26 (currently only sale for $13.00)
Availability: Now

There’s certainly no shortage of screen protectors available for the iPhone 4/4S, or any Apple touchscreen device, really. Many cases ship with them, but are those really all that good? If they’re thrown into packages with other products, can you really trust them? Probably, yes, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look elsewhere for standalone products. And if you simply want some basic  screen protection, a good place to look is at MediaDevil.

MediaDevil offers three options for iPhone screen protection: Crystal Clear, Matte Clear (Anti-Glare) and Privacy. Our review unit was the Matte Clear edition, so that’ll be our focus.

For screen protection, two things come into play: ease of application and appearance once it’s in place. Application here was a bit tricky, but I’m not sure how much of that was my fault. You need to remove the back from the screen protector, align it properly, then smooth it down with the enclosed smoothing card. Using the card was great for removing all the bubbles, but if some do appear, you can lift it off and try again. My problem with the application is that the lighting I had made it difficult to see the screen protector when trying to find the alignment. Or maybe it’s because I was putting it on a white iPhone. Either way, I simply had to guess at the alignment and hope for the best. Thankfully, after a couple false starts, I was able to settle on a slightly-off alignment that was 100% bubble-free.

Once the screen protector is in place, you may wonder how you lived without one. Although the Matte Clear does make your screen look a bit dingy (as do all anti-glare screen protectors), it does a fantastic job of eliminating glare and hiding fingerprints. In addition, it offers less friction than the iPhone screen, making swipe gestures easier to execute and be recognized. Great for gaming.

I’m quite pleased with the MediaDevil Matte Clear Magicscreen. Aside from the difficulty with the initial application alignment, the only complaint I have is that although you get two screen protectors with your purchase, you have to pay separately for a back protector, albeit at a slight discount. Still, it’s definitely worth considering if you have no other form of iPhone protection or didn’t receive a screen protector with your case.

Appletell Rating:

Buy the MediaDevil iPhone 4/4S Screen Protector

Back in December, we took a look at Breakout: Boost for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, a modern version its seminal brick-breaking game from way pack. It was a pretty good app, but it was limited by the lack of a mathematical symbol. Atari has corrected that with the release of Breakout: Boost+, and that + = 100 new levels.

Available for $0.99, Breakout: Boost+ features all the challenging and frenetic brick-breaking action of the original iOS hit that achieved over two million downloads in the first month after launch, only a lot more of it.

Features include:

• One hundred brand-new levels with unique brick layouts to smash through
• Boost Control allows players to manually adjust the ball’s speed, scaling up the speed to increase the score multiplier
• Special ball upgrades to aid your destruction, such as the Fire, Acid, Splitting and Grenade balls
• New and unique brick varieties standing in your way, including Exploding, Mystery, x4 and Metal bricks
• Save and restore in-progress games, so you can stop and start at your convenience
• Game Center and OpenFeint integration for score leaderboards and achievements

Product Breakout: Boost+

Garmin International, Inc. is well known for their satellite navigation products, but their social apps? Integration with Wikipedia, Facebook and foursquare? Indeed, as “mobile lifestyles” will be their focus at Macworld | iWorld 2012 in San Francisco this Thursday through Saturday. Garmin will be showcasing a wide range of location-based apps for iOS spanning aviation, fitness, tracking treasure hunting and, of course, turn-by-turn navigation.

Directly from their press release:

Check in with your navigation app: Among other new features, Garmin will demo social media capabilities for the StreetPilot onDemand app that integrate Wikipedia, Facebook and foursquare. Users can easily display locations from these networks on the map and check in upon arrival at their destination. Clicking on one of the Wikipedia icons on the map will reveal detailed information about a location, such as the identity of an interesting building or landmark. Also new for the StreetPilot onDemand app are some fun features that make driving more enjoyable, such as a variety of voices or vehicle icons to choose from as well as visually refined 3D renderings of buildings to provide a better overview. The latest versions of the StreetPilot Onboard and the NAVIGON turn-by-turn navigation apps will also be on display. Garmin acquired the German navigation provider NAVIGON in 2011.

Track what’s important: The Garmin Tracker app tracks what’s important. The app works in conjunction with the GTU 10 tracking device to display its location on a map, making it easy to virtually follow anything, from your loved-ones to valuables or the family dog. Users can set up a geo-fence to get alerts when the device crosses in or out of a defined area. The latest version of this app now also allows a continuous tracking mode, and enables users to send out map links to others, so they can follow the location of a device too1.

Get fit with your iPhone: The Garmin Fit™ app turns the iPhone into a powerful training tool. The app keeps track of current walking, running or cycling stats. Users can easily upload, review and share their activities on Garmin Connect™, a vibrant online community of fitness enthusiasts. With an optional ANT+™ iPhone adapter, users can also pair this app with Garmin fitness sensors like a heart rate monitor, foot pod or speed/cadence sensor.

Go on a digital treasure hunt: The free OpenCaching app provides a fun way for families, nature lovers, hikers, or scouts to go outside on a digital treasure hunt. Geocaching, a popular activity worldwide, takes digital technology away from the couch and out on the trail. Hidden treasure troves—known as caches—have been hidden around the world. Their coordinates have been uploaded to online communities, such as the free website Opencaching.com, along with details and clues. Garmin’s app allows users to participate in this treasure hunting game by hiding, finding, logging and sharing cache information right from the iPhone.

An iPad app for pilots: Garmin’s roots are in the aviation business and today the company is a leader in this space. Garmin Pilot My-Cast℠ is an aviation-centric weather and flight planning application designed specifically for general aviation, corporate and commercial pilots. The app provides pilots with a paperless cockpit, weather and flight planning along with navigation.

During Macworld | iWorld (Jan 26-28, 2012), Garmin will reduce the prices of its North American turn-by-turn navigation apps by $10. FreshMaps is 50% off (exact price depends on app version) as an in-app purchase within NAVIGON. Then:

• Garmin StreetPilot Onboard USA: $39.99 instead of $49.99
• Garmin StreetPilot Onboard North America: $49.99 instead of $59.99
• Garmin StreetPilot onDemand: the annual subscription is $19.99 instead of $29.99
• NAVIGON USA: $39.99 instead of $49.99
• NAVIGON North America: $49.99 instead of $59.99
• NAVIGON MyRegion: $19.99 instead of $29.99

To learn more about Garmin’s iOS lineup, visit the Garmin website or stop by booth #836 at Moscone West in San Francisco.