The iPhone Mom

This app, 55 Free Baby Samples, features a list of companies that you can contact regarding free baby product samples and coupons. The developers have included the contact information that you’ll need and the app also lets you add in offers that you’ve heard of. Your job is to browse through the list and then tap on the contact button for the offer you’re interested in. The app will then call the number directly.  (The app does provide a few website addresses but they appeared to be for more general baby websites. The majority of the contacts were phone numbers.) The list had a quite a few offers for formula samples, diaper rash ointment, baby food and even coupons for Orajel. Blessed Orajel! Overall, it looks like there’s some good stuff out there.  Unfortunately, I tried out the app in the evening when companies were closed so I wasn’t able to actually request anything.

This is a free app and it’s nice to have the contact information for all of the companies that are currently offering samples.I’m not one to spend hours on the phone requesting coupons but if I see an offer for something that I use all the time I will pick up the phone. Personally, I won’t be using 55 Free Baby Samples every day but it is something I’ll check out every once in awhile.

55 Free Baby Samples will also link you to the website babytobee.com for more free offers.

Price when Reviewed: FREE

Seller: Total Ecommerce LLC

Noteworthy Places is an app that I could really use. When you are out and about and you discover a place that you’d like to remember you use this app to mark it down. The app notes the location’s address and it’s place on a map. You can add in comments, a phone number, a rating, or even a voice memo to the location’s information. You can also snap a picture and add that too. Now you have the location noted down and it shows up on your personalized list. Once you’ve added in entries the list can be searched, viewed by categories and sorted by name, distance, rating and date. Find the location, tap on it and all the information you entered is right there.

Noteworthy Places doesn’t come with any preloaded applications and I think that’s fantastic! Instead of having to wade through locations that other’s think are important I keep the list limited to what I know I need. It’s my own personal list that I’ve created. I also think this app would be a great one to take on vacation. As you’re out and about exploring you could keep track of your favorite spots. Then if you ever happened back that way you’d know exactly where to go.

Noteworthy Places is currently free for a limited time. I’d suggest grabbing it and giving it a try.

Price when Reviewed: FREE (limited time)

Seller: Oblik Systems

Super Search 60 puts a twist on the hidden object game. This game gives you 60 seconds to find as many hidden objects on the screen as you can. At the top of the screen is the name of what you’re looking for and how many you need. (Sneakers x2). At the bottom of the screen is your score and the amount of time that you’ve got left. Tap on the objects as you find them and they’ll disappear. Now the row that had the object will shift down and  a new object appears at the top of the row. This keeps the objects on screen constantly changing as you play. If you take too long to find an object it will start to wiggle at you until you get the hint. When your 60 seconds are up the game is over and you’ll see your final score.

Super Search 60 is connected to Facebook so you can play against your friends. But if you’d rather not play against anyone else then you can compete against the clock instead. I’ve got just a couple of minor suggestions for the app. When you begin you’re asked to connect to Facebook. If you cancel the Facebook connection then you’ll be able to play offline. This is the process each time you visit the main screen. It would be nice to have the choice to play offline before you’re asked to connect to Facebook. I think it would simplify the process. My last suggestion is for a score board that keeps track of scores when you play the game by yourself.

Super Search 60 (Unlimited) lets you play the game for as long as you like. Super Search 60 (Free) allows you twenty minutes of play against your friends each week. I’m not sure if offline play counts toward those twenty minutes. I enjoyed Super Search 60. I thought it was fast paced, fun and something that my older children and I can both enjoy.

**Please see Matthew’s comment below about a game update!**

Price: Super Search 60 (Unlimited) – $1.99

Super Search 60 – Free

Seller: KlickTock

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Siri Assistant is billed as your new personal assistant, who just happens to be an iPhone app. It combines a smorgasbord of different information into one app that is also very easy to use. You can ask Siri to do all sorts of things for you. Find a restaurant, check the weather, book a taxi, find an ATM and more. It pulls in search information from bing, yelp, Yahoo, Citysearch and movietickets.com just to name a few places. You can type in what you’re looking for or say it out loud to the app. Siri uses dictation software from Nuance and it worked like a charm for me. It even deciphered what my 5 year old was asking for and we can’t even do that much of the time. Tonight I was looking for an alternative to cooking dinner so I told Siri I wanted to find a take out restaurant nearby. It used my location to pull up a list of choices along with their addresses and phone numbers. Some restaurants even had reviews that were pulled from the web. If you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for then you can let Siri “guide” you. The main screen provides a list of things that it can help you with. Restaurants, movies, events, local businesses, taxis and weather. You can tap on one of these and then continue to make selections that will narrow down your search results.

Siri keeps a running list of what you’ve used it for. This way you can scroll up and down the screen to look things over again. This list disappears when you shut down the app but the next time you open it the searches will be available via the “Recents” button at the bottom of the screen. Siri also has the ability to send you email reminders about anything you like. You simply set it up, choose when (and how often) you’d like to be reminded and the next thing you know you’ll have a friendly reminder in your inbox.

It didn’t take me much time to learn how to use Siri but I’m still discovering all the things it can do.  I’m impressed with how quickly it pulls up information and how relevant that information is. There’s no need to visit Safari and click through search results anymore. Throw in the app’s solid dictation ability and I’m sold.

Price when Reviewed: Free

Seller: Siri

I didn’t upgrade my iPhone 3G when the 3GS version rolled out. I’m holding out hope for an upgrade this year but so far we’ve been just fine with our older models. One thing that I do envy on the 3GS is the ability to record videos. There are times when I don’t have my video camera with me and things worthy of video taping happen. I know that I’ve said it before but my iPhone is with me constantly. It would be nice to add yet another thing to what I abuse it for.

A few days ago I received an email asking me to look at the Video Genius app. It claims to give your 1st Generation or 3G iPhone the ability to record videos. Honestly, my first thought was one of skepticism. Then I tried out the app and by golly, it actually works. It’s not HD video but it’s video, with sound to boot! (That doesn’t look as good typed out as it does when I say it.) Video Genius lets you record in one of two modes. Regular mode only lets you record 40-60 seconds of video but it’s at a rate of 10 frames per second. I thought the quality was pretty decent. I was surprised how good it looked. The longer mode records videos at a rate of 4 frames per second. You’ll capture more video but you’ll notice a difference in quality.

There’s really nothing to using the app. Open up the app and point the iPhone at what you want to record. (Recording can be done in landscape mode too.) Now to record you’ll tap a small green dot in the bottom center of the screen. To stop recording tap it again. Once you’ve stopped recording the video file is immediately transferred to your camera roll. When the transfer is over you can tap the camera roll button on the bottom right to view the video. On the bottom left is a button that looks like a light switch. Tap here and you can switch from the regular recording to the longer version. You can see the videos in the iPhone’s Photo Library, even when the app is closed.  I wanted to see how the videos looked on my PC so I hooked up the USB cable and dragged the files over. It worked smoothly and they play just fine, although they’re very small on my computer screen. I also emailed myself a file and it wasn’t so large that it got stuck, either coming or going.

Video Genius is currently free and I think I’m going to keep it on my phone. Would it be a good way to record the 5th grade orchestra recital? No. But for capturing quick moments it’s great.

Price when Reviewed: Free (App store says for a limited time)

Seller: CodeGoo

Math Kingdom combines math facts practice with an adventure game. You are the hero who must save a captured princess and recover the Math Kingdom’s stolen treasures. To do this you’ve got to solve math problems and make your way through the castle. You are asked to solve a math problem and then write your answer on the screen. If you get the answer correct you break though a castle wall. After breaking down ten walls you’ll face a monster. (They’re meant to be monsters but don’t worry, they’re not very scary.) The monster will present you with a more challenging word problem. If you solve this one correctly you recover one of the lost treasures. As you progress through the app the math problems increase in difficulty.  Each time you begin or continue a game you are given five “lives”. When you answer a problem incorrectly you lose a life. When all of your lives are gone it’s game over but don’t worry, this is a friendly app. It gives you the choice of starting over at the beginning or continuing where you left off.

When I was playing Math Kingdom I did have a little bit of trouble with the app crashing as I was trying to load a saved game. I powered off and then restarted my iPhone and after that I had no problems. I like the way Math Kingdom jazzes up math practice. This app is a fun alternative to flashcards. I especially like the way it incorporates actually writing the numbers. This is fantastic practice for kids and the handwriting recognition works very well. It did a terrific job deciphering my sloppy chicken scratch.

Price when Reviewed: $.99    FREE

Seller: Acoco Interactive

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

The idea behind the FunMail app is to take an ordinary text or email message and turn it into a picture. All you need to do to begin is type in your message. FunMail will pull up several images that relate to your message. Your text will be worked into them somehow. Next you choose the image you like and then enter in the number you’d like to send the text too. You can also send it as an email, just enter in an email address instead of phone number. The app works with your contact list which is helpful. Something to note is this – if you send a text you will first get your own text asking for verification that you are the one trying to send this message.  Within this text there is a link to tap and once you’ve done that your Fun Mail text message is sent.

FunMail is a cute app and I really like the way it takes your words and fancies them up a bit. However, I don’t have unlimited texting so using up two text messages to send one isn’t going to work for me on a regular basis. I usually go over my text limit as it is. Maybe if I’m near the end of my billing cycle and I’ve got something really special to say I’ll send a special text. Thankfully FunMail lets you send emails and since those are free I can jazz up my messages to my hearts content.

Price when Reviewed: Free

Seller: Fun Mobility, Inc.

Seb’s Tail is a storybook app offered by Kiwa Media. (They refer to it as a QBook.) This app has some of the more traditional features of a storybook app, as well as a couple of twists. Here are the app’s highlights:

You can listen to a read aloud version of the story or you read the story to yourself. It’s easy to switch between the two modes without having to go back to a main menu. Tap on the screen and a control bar appears. This is how you turn the page, record yourself, exit the book, etc. I suggest visiting the information section the first time you use the app to get a feel for what the buttons mean. You can also record yourself as the narrator. My kids go crazy for this type of feature.

When you choose to read the story to yourself you can tap on the words as you go along and then hear them read aloud individually. If you slide your finger from left to right the words that you touch will be read. If you press and hold a word it’s read and then spelled out. As the words are being read they’re highlighted and they literally jump up from the page. I liked being able to control the pace of the story with my finger.

The QBook allows you to color the book’s pages and then use them as the illustrations if you like. To access the coloring book feature tap on the screen and you’ll see a coloring icon on the control bar. To use your illustrations you’ll need to visit the app’s settings (main screen).

The app includes a memory game based on the story and a word search. The level of difficulty can be adjusted in the app’s settings.

Several languages are offered including English, Spanish, Portuguese and Maori. When you choose a new language it changes both the text and the narration. Very nice!

Finally, a simple thing but it made me smile. When you first open the app it asks you who the book belongs to. Enter in your child’s name and from then on, when you start up the QBook the first screen says “This Book Belongs to…” It’s a bookplate for your app. Darling.

I tried out the lite version of Seb’s Tail. It has only the first few pages of the story, a teaser really, but it gave me a great feel for what the full QBook would be like. From what I’ve been told Kiwa Media will soon be turning children’s books from Penguin into QBooks. When I hear more I’ll be sure to let you know.

Price when Reviewed: Full app – $4.99, Lite app – Free

Seller: Kiwa Media

The I Love Free Things app provides a constantly updated list of free samples that are simply out there for the taking. The app shows the list of free offers and you simply tap on the ones that you’d like to learn more about. You’ll then see a brief summary explaining what is being offered and what you need to do to receive the sample. There’s a line just below the summary that says “Visit this offer”. If you tap here you’ll be taken to a website where you can fill out the necessary forms. There’s also a line about comments. Here you can read what others have to say about the offer or put in your own two cents. You should see a star at the top right of the screen when you’re viewing the offer. Tap it and this free offer is added to a favorites list. As you go down the main list viewing each offer they will be marked as “read”. You can also mark all as read if you don’t want to take the time to look at them individually. In the top right corner is a refresh button. Tap that and the main list will update. Along the bottom of the screen are two buttons. One for “Search” and one for “Favorites”. Pretty self-explanatory. Search allows you to enter keywords about freebies you’re looking for. Favorites shows the offers that you’ve marked.

As I went through the list I saw a few things that interested me but the ones I was interested in wanted me to join their mailing lists. Unfortunately, I’m not willing to do that unless the freebie is a product I really want and I don’t mind the inevitable email. I’m not going to join a mailing list just to get something for free that I’ll probably never use again. To be fair, there were probably offers on the list that didn’t require that. I just didn’t select those products. Ok, coming off the soapbox now. None of that little rant has much to do with the I Love Free Things app itself. It is fine, easy to use and well done. The app does what it says it will, it provides you with access to oodles of free sample offers. I Love Free Things is free so it’s worth checking out to see if there’s something out there that you just can’t live without.

Enough of my ranting about mailing lists, I’m going to close with something that gave me a chuckle this past weekend. It also actually relates to free things and how they can be wonderful, or not, depending on your perspective. I visited our local Co-Op grocery store last weekend for the first time. It was a lot to take in, I had no idea how much stuff could be packed into one building, but I did notice a sign on the counter of the coffee bar tucked right in the middle of the store. The sign read “Unattended children will be given a free espresso and puppy”. My seven year old daughter was with me and she really wanted to know what unattended children meant. I think she was hoping that she was one so she could take a puppy home. No such luck I’m afraid. I loved the sign but I wouldn’t love those freebies, that’s for sure! Talk about an effective threat! I’ll bet every parent who visits the Co-Op keeps a firm grip on their kiddos!

Price when Reviewed: Free

Seller: mobile.ilovefreethings.com

I Love Free Things Website – www.ilovefreethings.com

I love finding apps that can reinforce what our kids are learning in school. I was excited to learn about PennyMe, an app that helps your children practice their money counting skills. Money gave both of my girls trouble. Part of that is genetic, there’s a reason I’ve never worked as a cashier and why I stay far away from the PTO cash box. The other part of the trouble came when it was time for homework and we looked at the worksheets. It’s hard to learn to tell a penny from a dime when you’re working off a black and white copy and my girls struggled trying to remember what looked like what.

Now that I’ve established that we’ve got challenges when it comes to counting money let me say that I’ve given PennyMe a try and I’m thrilled with it. It does a fantastic job offering practice exercises with money and the money looks like real money! There are two ways to play. The first is “Quiz”. Here you are given some coins and asked to select the matching amount of money. The coins can be moved around the screen just as if they were real money. In the easy mode the coins are shown along with their value. (Ex: a penny has 1c on it). In the normal mode there are no hints, the coin is all you’ve got to work with. In “Count” you are given a monetary amount and you need to drag coins into the middle of the screen until you’ve reached the set amount. You can use whatever combination of coins that you like, as long as you reach that total. Again, easy mode displays the coins value and normal mode shows you just the coins.

The only suggestion I have for PennyMe is to create a way to track scores. The games keep a score as you play but when you’re done the score is gone. There is also a timer that counts how long you’ve been playing. It would be nice to see that recorded as well. I wish this app had been around when my girls were in the first grade learning to count money. It’s going to be a terrific tool for my son when he gets there and I think he’s going to have an edge over his poor big sisters.

Price when Reviewed: $.99    FREE

Seller: Acoco Interactive

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.