However, if you are like me and missed the first version, you have to get this new and improved game Chopper 2. Let’s see why I say that.

The first thing that jumps at you in the game is the 3D effects in the landscapes and instructions. Chopper 2 is built as a Universal app so it works both on the iPhone and iPad. It is an amazing deal at the launch sale price of $2.99 if you have both iPhone & iPad.

The graphics are eye popping and the effects are very cool on the iPad as well as in the iPhone 4’s Retina Display.

Game Play

The game starts out very simple and builds up with weapons and controls. It is essentially a side scrolling game where you tilt up/down to fly/land the helicopter. You tilt sideways to move forward or backward.

You fire your machine gun by just touching the screen anywhere. If you press and hold you will see an onscreen arc which you can trace to change the direction of fire.

You will notice that the landscape itself is kind of in a 3D thanks to the author David Frampton’s Magic Jungle software.

The game has 36 action packed missions over 12 unique and beautiful locations. The firing and 3d engine have totally been rewritten and you will see the difference instantly.

In fact, the instructions in the game are also rendered in kind of a 3D effect with great music to go with the game. It actually features a 17 minute long original soundtrack and with the OpenAL’s spatial sound effects it will be a shame to play this game on mute.

The game is rendered with HD graphics on both iPad and iPhone 4 and it looks absolutely gorgeous on the iPad’s larger screen!

On the iPhone 4, it even utilizes the iPhone 4 gyroscope for increased controls.

iPad Coolness

If you have both an iPhone or iPod Touch and an iPad, you are probably already jumping on this deal of $2.99 for both devices. Wait until you hear this.

You can use the game’s remote control feature and control the chopper wirelessly with your iPhone or iPod Touch over Bluetooth. How cool is that? It includes all iDevices except the first generation iPhone and iPod Touch.

Also, you can TV out this game from the iPad and play it with this Bluetooth remote control on your TV!

If there is one thing that I have nitpick about this game is the missile bomb control. You have to be perfectly still to fire it and aim right. The slightest move sends it off course. Maybe I haven’t figured out how to do it right.

I rarely give a 5 out of 5 for an iPhone game but this is a ground breaking effort from David Frampton and is definitely one of those games that redefines the iDevice gaming landscape forever.

If you are a fan of Coldstone Creamery, Chopper 2 game is a ‘I gotta have it!’

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store

Price: $2.99 (Universal app – launch sale price)

Reviewed at version: 1.0

Today again they have a few more iPhone and iPad games on sale for $0.99. The best value is in 3 $6.99 iPad games that are on sale for just $0.99.

• NFL 2010 ($2.99 –> $0.99)
• Brain Challenge 2: Think again! ($4.99 –> $0.99)
• Iron Man 2 for iPad ($6.99 –> $0.99)
• Brothers in Arms 2: Global Front HD ($6.99 –> $0.99)
• Shrek Cart HD for iPad ($6.99 –> $0.99)

I mentioned the Brothers in Arms 2: Global Front HD sale on our sister iPad blog this morning. There are 2 more games you can snag for real cheap for your iPad.

Appigo just announced via email that Todo 4 for iPhone & iPad is coming soon.

There wasn’t a lot more details in the mail other than the fact the app will have support for the new abilities of iOS 4.

Also, notable is that the Windows and Mac Appigo Sync clients will also be updated to support the new app features.

We will give you another heads up as soon as the update hits the App Store.

You can also read our ToDo iPad app review here.

The accelerometer has changed gaming and iPhone has become such a huge gaming platform with hundreds of thousands of games available for it now.

iPhone 4’s gyroscope adds another dimension. It can be easily explained with an action. With iPhone 4 you can tilt your device to move left or right in a game. And if you turned your body, you will also turn inside a game just like looking around in a room. (see video below)

Ngmoco has released a game called Eliminate:GunRange which uses the iPhone 4 gyroscope brilliantly.

You are in a beautifully crafted gun range with several different weapons and you have to turn a little to see all around the room to shoot down targets.

GunRange features 12 different weapons and 144 target-shooting challenges set in 3 different HD firing ranges.

The controls take a bit of getting used to but once you get the hang of it it gets really addictive to shoot down those targets.

The game is available in a ad-free version for $0.99 and as a free version with ads that popup every couple of levels. I tried the free version and the ads didn’t bother me. Actually it gave my eyes a good respite after a couple of levels.

For those who like to invert the axis setting, it has been added to the options. If you want to take a look at the future of iPhone gaming that is going to make use of the iPhone 4’s gyroscope, Eliminate:GunRange is an excellent start.

You can take a look at this video if you’d rather want to quickly check out how it works before trying.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store

Pricing: Free (ads) and $0.99 (ad-free)

Reviewed at version: 1.1

This app is a catch all for all of those membership cards you have floating around. You can even add library cards. With built in support for just about any loyalty card using establishment that I have heard of, and many I haven’t, it’s easy to input your card numbers for easy access. You can choose from one of the already know card types, or input a custom card. There are nine different barcode types to choose from when adding a custom card which will accommodate almost any barcode.

Once you have all your cards added you can select the card you need from the main screen, and it displays the barcode. If you turn your phone upside down, you can enter the gas/kiosk mode, which puts the barcode closer to the top of the screen, for easier access. And now you can store all your cards at home, and still have access to them whenever you need them. You can also go to the info tab of a card and get a link to the stores home page/member account page, place a call to their customer service, or press the store locator for locations (this feature is broken, and does not display locations near your position).

I would recommend this app to anyone carrying too many cards in their wallet, or on their keychain. The description in the app store says the next update includes “iOS4 compatibility, fast app switching, hi-res icons, cloud backup and much more.” The best part of this, in my opinion, is going to be the cloud backup. I have had to restore my phone, and most recently I upgraded my phone, and have had to manually re-enter all my numbers, which wasn’t fun. Another feature that would be great, but hasn’t been mentioned, would be to scan in your barcode with the camera.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store

Price: Free

Words With Friends has found itself as a regularly running app on my iPhone, as I compete with several of my friends – and some strangers – in a friendly, Scrabble-like game. I can’t call this a Scrabble game, probably for some obscure legal reasons, but for reference, that is just what this game is. A two player, word creation game, with mechanics just like that of Scrabble. Sure there are some point differences, and I would bet that the board layout is slightly different than that of Scrabble, but if it quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it must be Scrabble.

In my time playing, I have logged around twenty matches, most of them against my friends, but Words offers a great feature – random opponent matches. Rounds are played in a chess-through-the-mail fashion. Each player has nearly unlimited time to make a play, allowing them to think, plan, or just get on with their daily life before they make a play. The system checks to make sure that you have played a valid word, gives you the word score, then sends a push notification to your opponent alerting them it their time to play.
There is integrated chat for the match, allowing you to taunt or congratulate your opponent, however, the chat messages do not get push notifications, and you are left to simply notice there is a message waiting for you on your game board.

Words With Friends is a great way to pass a few minutes of your day, anytime you have a free moment. In an effort to discourage games from stalling out, the publisher has implemented an auto-resign feature that kicks in after more than a week of inactivity.
Some users complain about how long the time-out feature is for inactive players, but really, I have not experienced an issue with players abandoning a game for days at a time, nor do I see a reason to complain. Most of the complaints are from people that want someone to play “live” passing moves back and forth as fast as possible, and don’t seem to understand that one of the big appeals of this game is the ability to put it down, and pick it up at will, and to not be tied down, playing it for minutes or hours at a time.

Like any game, there are those out there who will drop a game if they start loosing. I had one random player resign only three turns in when they went  down 15 points. 15 points is not that hard to come up with, and with no way to block a player you had a bad experience with, or report them for poor conduct, you will likely run into some of these people if you choose to venture outside your friends.
As fun as Words is to play, its not as challenging as playing a live game of Scrabble. Why? Because this one lets you play tiles until it takes your word. So you can try combinations of letters to get the most bang for your buck, and reach for the triple word score tile. Also, you are on the honor system with your opponents to not venture out and utilize some of the many anagram and scrabble applications that live on the web.

There are some technical issues, especially on older 3G phones running iOS4. Its prone to crashing on my 3G, but plays beautifully on newer hardware. Other users report issues with slow word submissions, but this could be attributed to the increasing popularity of the application straining the publishers systems, as I have experienced the slowdown most often at night.
It would be great to have an in-game contact list, and not just refer to your iPhone contact list, so you can keep a quick link to players you enjoy playing with. However, there is a great feature that allows you to challenge your friends on Twitter and Facebook, sending out a link to get the game for their iPhone/iTouch/iPad.
If you are looking for a casual game to take on your friends that does not require both of you to be ready to play at the same time, I highly recommend Words With Friends. And if you are looking for someone to play, hit SmartpigGA up. Just be ready for a tough match.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store

Price: $2.99 (ad free)

Reviewed at version: 3.09

Guest post by: E. Lee Cunningham, MBA, is a small business technology consultant and Apple enthusiast. You can follow him on twitter @smartpig, or check out his other writing at his consulting company’s website – ELCInnovations.com

Skype has updated it’s app to run in the background allowing you to take calls even while the phone is locked. You can also switch to other apps while on a Skype call.

If only Skype adds the FaceTime like video chat to it’s app, it would just be the perfect app! Atleast they don’t have to jerks and block Skype on Fring which did just that for free!

Taptaptap has brought out a killer app that is Camera+.

There are plenty of camera apps we have reviewed in the Photography apps section. But, with all the apps that come out sometimes one app makes you stop and play with it a little longer.

Camera+ did that for me. (I am reviewing this app on iPhone 4 so it might slightly be different for 3GS/3G)

As soon as you launch the app, you will be greeted by a camera view that mimics looking through a DSLR. the LCD viewfinder has two options – Take Photo & Lightbox. And you have a Menu button in the bottom just like a camera button. The UI right at this point is gorgeous and it only gets better.

Menu

Let’s wrap up the Menu section first. Here you can turn on off Sound, Grid, configure sharing in facebook, twitter, or flickr. Sharing it on Flickr right from the camera app, a huge plus for me!

You can also choose to adjust the quality of images saved. Depending on what you plan to use your images for, you can save a ton of iPhone space by using the Optimized option.

Take Photo

Lets take a look at the most important feature of a camera app – taking photos. If you have a iPhone 4, you will see the usual flash option and front facing camera switch as-is.

The camera itself is a no-frills app except it adds an image stabilizer that turns green when you get a steady shot and is red when it’s shaky. Also, it does have the tap to focus and the 5x digital zoom you find the native Camera app.

You can continuously take photos and you will see a small image thumbnail on the left with a number badge showing your current count.

Now, go ahead and tap that thumbnail after you have taken your pictures. You have to hit ‘Save all’ at the top left to save all the photos you have taken so far to the camera roll.

You can also choose to tap on individual photos and hit save. I like this option as I can save only the photos I like instead of flooding my camera roll.

Lightbox

In the last screenshot you would have seen the menu when you tap on a photo. One of the options there is the ‘Edit’ option. This is where the app shines the most.

Lightbox feature lets you edit your picture in different ways.

• Scenes lets you give it different looks like Flash, Sunset, Night, Backlit, Portrait, Beach, Scenery, Concert, Food, Text. All these presets apply a different look to your photograph instantly.
  
• Crops lets you crop your picture in different ways. You can do a freeform crop by dragging the ends or do a golden or square crop.
  
• Effects gives you more control with options like Colors, Retro and Special effects.
  
• Borders lets you add different kinds of borders like a white border to vignette, etc.

Now, that you have taken a classic shot and applied some cool looks and borders, use the Share option to share it with the world through Facebook, Twitter or Flickr!

The app has high resolution graphics for the iPhone 4 retina display and looks gorgeous. It also has support for multitasking in iOS 4.

Sometimes the app seemed to take a bit of time for processing but it is on par with other effects-processing camera apps.

Even though you can get a lot of these effects and crop features in the free Photoshop iPhone app, Camera+ offers it in one neat package and in an elegant interface at an incredible price of $1.99. I highly recommend it for those who use their iPhone cameras a lot and have fun with it.

Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars

Availability: App Store

Price: $1.99 (was $2.99)

Reviewed at version: 1.1

Modern Combat: Sandstorm features

• 10 missions
• Local multiplayer via WiFi and Bluetooth and online multiplayer upto 4 players
• Wide range of authentic advanced weapons
• Sniper and Ironsight modes for extra precision shooting
• 3D graphics
• Cinematic snippers, military voiceovers.

This is a great game title that will get you hours of game time for $0.99 plus if your friends have it you can play multiplayer locally or online with strangers. Online multiplayer greatly extends the playing time of these games.

Gameloft also has couple of other games on sale. Dungeon Hunter is on sale from $4.99 to $0.99. Skater Nation is on sale from $4.99 to $0.99.

Other Games on sale

Audio Memos 2 – The Voice Recorder $0.99 –> FREE

iQuarters $1.99 -> FREE

Flubby Physics $0.99 –> FREE

Digital Heist $1.99 –> FREE

BomberDove $1.99 –> FREE

Pass Football $0.99 –> FREE

If you have ever tried counting calories, the task can be daunting.  Those trying to gain weight, or maintain a certain weight can also benefit from this task.  Today I want to show you how I count my calories.

Calorie Counter by MyNetDiary is a great tool to help you keep track of what you eat on a daily basis.  First you set up your profile: weight, height, age, gender, and activity level; that all weight watching applications use to determine your daily caloric needs depending on their unique algorithms.  Then you can optionally set up a free account to back up your data online, or access your information through the web.  That’s it!  You’re ready to count.

I want to add a word of caution here.  There are seemingly limitless ways to calculate your optimal daily calorie needs.  I do not stand behind any formulas that any application, or website uses, because each person has individual needs.  The best way to find out what kind of dietary needs you have, before starting your diet, is to ask a professional: dietitian, nutritionist, or physician.

On to counting!  From the home screen, you are able to do a variety of tasks.  There are so many things you can do with this one app.

The very top shows you the date, which you can cycle through, in case you need to add something you missed from a previous date.  Or perhaps you want to look at the information for a different date.

Next is the Meals bar, with a daily total of calories eaten, and calories left displayed.  Tapping this bar takes you to the Meal log, where you can easily enter food for a specified meal/snack.  You can enter food by searching for a food, scanning a barcode, choosing from the ready display of your most frequent entries, or pick a food you have added to your favorites.  There are also two custom methods to enter food.  The first is a custom food, the second is one I found very useful, a recipe, where you enter multiple foods that make a dish.  I used this to place in the meals that I eat on a regular basis, so I didn’t have to add each food separately at a mealtime.  When adding food to your meals log don’t forget to change the serving size, to keep an accurate total of consumed calories.  This is really the main reason that I got this app and I was impressed with just this function.

Next on the home screen is the exercise bar, with a tally of calories burned today.  This is where you enter any workouts above your normal daily tasks.  This works much the same way that the meals log works when searching for an exercise.  With a ready list of most commonly used exercises and a searchable database in case you add something new to your routine.

Tab number three is the weight tab where you keep track of your weight, which was not as useful to me as it may be to some.  On the home screen it will tell you how much you have gained/lost since the last input date.

The fourth tab is a line chart that charts your progress over time so you can see how well you are doing.  Below that is the Analysis tab, which will tell you how you are progressing through the day towards your goal, and tips about your intake of sodium, cholesterol, and more.

The next tab is the water log, where you can log up to 15 glasses of water per day.  This is always a great tool for me in the summer, because I need to encourage myself to drink plenty of water.  Since it displays how many glasses you have had today right on the home screen, every time I open the app I can get a reminder to have an extra sip or ten of water.

Tab number seven is a measurements log for hip, waist, and neck measurements.  Tab eight has a place for adding notes.  And tab nine has a place for adding vitamins and medications.  This is a good idea, but I think it could be improved on by adding a push alert.  I don’t know about you, but I almost always forget to take my vitamins.

Other features of the free app include a place to add before and after pictures, and even a community forum for support.

By now you are probably wondering “How many functions can one application have?”  The previous features are all a part of the free app and that is a lot of tools for free.  There is also a paid ($2.99) Pro version of this app that includes: carb, fat, and protein planning; blood pressure log; hours of sleep log; daily steps log; more body measurements; and more!  I haven’t had a chance to review these features, because the free app is more than I needed, so I did not upgrade.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store

Price: Free and $2.99 for Pro

Guest Post by: Drew Lane (twitter: @Phorz)