It has certainly been a long time coming, but we are super pleased to present our newest iPhone application: Feature Creature – People of Walmart’s official application. We have been working closely with People of Walmart for almost a year now, had some ups and downs with the approval process, but now all of our efforts have come to fruition.

If you are unfamiliar with People of Walmart, the site is home to pictures of the trashiest, ugliest, and weirdest people/things that the terrific store, Walmart, has to offer. Pictures are often taken guerilla style of unsuspecting Walmartians and submitted by visitors of the site. The site, a satire of U.S. consumer culture and bizarre behavior, has grown exponentially since its inception in August of last year. We have known since the site launched that we had to be involved; and now we are proud to present Feature Creature – People of Walmart.

Feature Creature App:

The app is simple in nature, but full of content. Upon opening up the app, you are able to browse through People of Walmart’s extensive picture catalog of freaks and weirdos with the simple press of a button or flick of the finger. Shaking the app will populate a random picture from the PoWM archive.

Also included in the application is a camera feature which will allow users to snap a picture and  submit it right to People of Walmart with the easy to navigate submission form. Will your picture have what it takes to be the next Feature Creature to appear on the People of Walmart’s website?

Feature Creature is iOS4 ready and has been thoroughly tested by our killer development team. This is certainly not the end of Feature Creature though. We are excited to hear what people have to say about the application; leave a review on the iTunes store, shoot us an email, hit us up on Twitter or a comment on this post and tell us what you want to see in version 2 of the app.

Feature Creature is free and available in the iTunes store worldwide right now. Happy Creature hunting!

Though our new application, Secret Agent Cam has only been out for a few days, we would like to start receiving feedback from our loyal users. Below is a poll we are conducting to see what new features our users would like to see in the updates we will be releasing for Secret Agent Cam. Through the list, we will incrementally update Secret Agent Cam based on what users say. This is not a “top on is the only update we do” type of situation. We want to know where YOU, the user, wants Secret Agent Cam to be in the future.

We may have overlooked a feature you think should really be in the next update – we would love to hear from you. Vote “Other” and leave your idea or simply shoot us an email at contact@alkalimedia.com and we will add it to the poll. Thanks again to our loyal users. We couldn’t do it without you. =)

It has been a long time coming, but we are pleased to announce our newest iPhone application, Secret Agent Cam. This is, without a doubt, our most creative, unique application to date. We are so proud of it and we would like to welcome you all to download Secret Agent Cam and snap so discreet pictures.

Instructions on using Secret Agent Cam are below and features are as follows:

Instruction for Secret Agent Cam*

The gist of Secret Agent Cam is simple. Have you ever been out somewhere and wanted to snap a picture of someone without them knowing? Well that is EXACTLY where Secret Agent Cam comes in handy. Upon booting up Secret Agent Cam you are immediately greeted with what we lovingly refer to as “stealth mode.” Within stealth mode, your iPhone camera’s preview pane is completely blacked out, and to unknowing passerbys (and targets) resembling an iPhone that is off or in sleep mode. Once you have your mark selected, you simple tap anywhere on the screen and Secret Agent Cam will do the rest. Your picture will be immediately saved to your iPhone camera roll. From stealth mode, simple swipe up to access your normal iPhone camera preview window, in addition to your camera roll and Secret Agent Cam’s settings.

One of the coolest features of Secret Agent Cam is the transparency (or opacity) feature which can be accessed in the settings pop-up. Using the transparency slider, the user can adjust how transparent or opaque the stealth mode blind appears. This allows you to partially see the subject you are taking pictures of, while still maintaining a level of inconspicuousness. Additional features include allowing your iPhone to shake upon your picture being saved to your camera roll, landscape mode, and the tell a friend feature.

*Alkali Media recommends silencing your iPhone before operating Secret Agent Cam for full stealth mode.

I was excited Saturday morning when Mike and I headed for the Apple Store in Cherry Hill, NJ – excited but skeptical. Mike and I were picking up our company iPad with which we will be sharing joint custody – Mike has to pay child support. I had fairly low expectations for the first iteration of the iPad. I figured it was, like most people assumed before trying it, a big iPod Touch. I have heard that comparison over and over, and though it isn’t real far from the truth, the iPad does have some redeeming qualities that I think make it worth having.

Upon unboxing the iPad, immediately you are greeted the following screen:

Of course you need to hook it up to your Mac before you can use it, Apple really wants to build the anticipation.

After finally syncing up some of my music, a video, and some iPhone apps (I wanted to see how our iPhone apps looked on the iPad) I was ready to roll. I set up my wireless internet which was as easy as ever and then immediately set up our company mail account. Mail looks real sleek in horizontal orientation and in portrait it looks just as crisp, though I prefer seeing the preview of my selected email. Also, in portrait mode, it utilizes the pop-over which is a little strange for a regular iPhone / iPod Touch user.

But to hell with that, let’s get into some of the specifics that I have noticed about this newbie in the Mac family.

App Omission:

I am kind of puzzled by the absence of the world clock / stopwatch / alarm. No alarm? REALLY Apple?! Not only that, there are other glaring omissions from the familiar springboard. No calculator, no stocks, and no weather app. Why would Apple choose to remove these from the iPad? It seems like a very odd choice.

Speed:

The iPad response is super fast. Much faster that my iPhone 3G and from what I have seen of the iPhone 3GS, I would argue that it is much faster than that as well. Apps load quickly, games run smoothly, and change of orientation and pop-overs appear extremely quick. The speed really improves the overall experience on the iPad.

Battery Life:

I am extremely surprised by this one. After getting the iPad home on Saturday afternoon, I plugged it in and took it to capacity. I unplugged it around 2PM used it most of the day. This morning (Sunday) I woke up, and it still had 84% battery. This is a huge change from my iPhone, which I have to charge every single night just so it makes it through the workday. I am not using 3G though, which might change my perception of battery life. Wifi has been constantly chugging along though.

Typing:

Easily the worst part of the iPad experience. It is just plain awkward – that is the best way to describe it. Holding it with one hand is awkward enough to begin with, but throw in trying to type with one finger, while not entirely hard, is just not cool. If you have a table to put the iPad down on, it makes things slightly more bearable. Even then, I find myself typing with my index fingers for fear of pressing other keys with my palms and because there is no where to put my palms. When I originally saw the iPad, I thought the increased bezel size was to alleviate the problem of typing. Well, it doesn’t. Typing isn’t hard, just weird. I need a peripheral. On a side note, I dislike Twitterific on the iPad for it’s lack of a photo upload feature. For shame. [EDIT: apparently you need to pay for the pro software to get that feature. Eff that. Tweetdeck FTW - Lutz]

The Screen:

The screen looks great. No doubt about it. Images pop and things look bright and crisp. What hasn’t changed is the same downfall that has plagued both installments of the iPhone, the super smearable, oil and dirt prone, glass screen. Sure, it makes things look great, but being neat freak, I find myself wanting to polish the touch screen every 5 minutes. For 2 years I have had a matte screen protector on my iPhone, and I already want one on the iPad. Another problem a lot of people are reporting is not being able to use the iPad outside because of the glare. This is another thing fixed by the matte screen protector. I find it odd that Apple hasn’t come up with a more creative solution to these problems. The video did look stunning on it though – Claudio looks great!

The Bizarre:

Well, after taking quite a few screenshots in horizontal orientation, I was trying to view them in the photo roll, and wondered, “Can I use multitouch to rotate this photo?” To my surprise, I COULD! But then my dreams were quickly dashed because the photo would not stay that way; it would automatically click back to the previous orientation. I don’t quite understand why this is implemented and why it functions the way it does. Very strange indeed. The addition of the slideshow of pictures on the lock screen was something I was expecting, but a welcome change. The iPad is surely better than any digital photo frame. Something else I feel like adding in this section is the weight. Mike thinks it’s way too heavy. I think Mike is crazy and that it is just right for being utilized as a combination of a macbook and a mobile device.

The Name:

The name itself is incredibly dumb, but using the name is either genius or lucky. Apple had to know that it would be compared to feminine products and that it would be made fun of. But boy did the name get coverage in the media.

The Apps:

The crowning jewel of the iPad, this is why you should be buying one. Based on the small number of apps that I have tried, many have changed the way I view mobile/mac apps. These are stuck in a limbo between the two. They are not mobile applications and they aren’t quite the full applications you would get for your macbook. They all have unique features that you haven’t experienced on your iPhone (typically due to lack of physical space on the screen) or on your mac (due to the lack of a touch screen). The Marvel Comics app amazed me. You can buy comics in-app and then flip through the pages. I really enjoyed being able to flip frame by frame, rather than just page by page. The iBooks app makes reading classics enjoyable, and I would argue that it gives any regular eBook reader a run for its money. And that is just one reader of the many that I am sure will be released for the iPad. Groovemaker was fun to play with. I made some phat beats. And TweetDeck for iPad looks, and functions, like an angel. Check out this pic of the App Store on the iPad, it looks pretty swell too.

THE VERDICT:

The price is what ultimately makes or breaks the purchase of the iPad for me. Personally, after trying out the iPad, I am convinced I would buy one for personal use – but not for $500. I think the price point is way too high for the iPad. If it were around $300 (or $350 at the most) I would suggest everyone go out and buy one. Unless you have $500 to blow, for the low end model, I would suggest waiting for a price drop or until they upgrade to the next generation. It is definitely an awesome piece of technology and I can’t wait to see the flood of new apps. Where is the next-gen iPhone? I am ready to write a review.

I hope this will help people decide if the iPad is right for them. Perhaps it just makes the decision that much harder. Oh well, I tried my best!

Late!

Patrick

Well, it’s been a year since we first started this crazy ride. We have learned so much and are putting all of that knowledge to good use. We have made some great friends, made some changes in the bull-pen, and now we are ready to take on 2010.

First on our agenda this year is to finish our super secret project. We had some initial hiccups, as to be expected with a project of this size. We are so close to the finish line we can almost taste it. I think people are going to be very excited about the new app. We just can’t wait to tell you all about it.

Alkali Media already has plenty in store for 2010. Lots of potential projects, renovations, and of course new apps for all of you. With that said, in order for us to grow as a company and a brand, we are going to be eliminating the support for one of our previous projects, Drum FX Pro. We will continue support for all other existing applications and will hopefully be able to add some additional features to those apps in the near future.

As our company continues to grow, we feel as though our work should be representative of the passion and quality we put into each application. We hope you enjoy what’s in store for 2010. Thanks for all of your support in 2009, and here is to a great new year!

This post/review is courtesy of guest contributor, Jerry of mochaSync.com

I will be the first to admit it—I drink the Apple flavored Kool-Aid. Still, there are things I just can’t seem to justify; like the cost MobileMe. There seems to be plenty of free or low-cost alternatives to cloud computing and file management. Today, I will be talking about my favorite: Dropbox.
First, here’s a little about what kind of user I am. I have two laptops: one Mac Book Air and an HP that shall remain nameless (because it sucks). I also have a Blackberry and an iPhone. I work in an IT department which has no less than 32 projects going on simultaneously, I run my own wanna-be software development company and I manage my own band. So I have a lot going on in an average day. I need to be able to reference documents, songs, or ideas from anywhere, on any platform. Dropbox accomplishes this without missing a beat (no pun intended).

At work, I uploaded the most needed document – a monthly report – that I constantly need to modify. If I get a few minutes between tasks, I try to update the report as best as I can (hope my boss doesn’t read that). Having my report ‘in the box’ helps me avoid version conflicts between both laptops. It also comes in handy when I need to deploy a package to a user—no matter if I am at my desk or at home.

With my band, the very first thing I did was upload the newest idea we’ve recorded. Not only can I reference this at home when practicing, but I could use the Public Folder to share it with the rest of the band. Bam! A new collaboration method! No need for long email chains, emailing attachments and cluttering my inbox. This feature also works really well with photos and families! I take pictures of my daughter all the time—like every other parent does. By uploading those precious pictures that I took on my iPhone, I am able to share the whole lot of them with others like that relative I never remember the name of but somehow I have an email for. Of course the email doesn’t contain any hints to her name… oh and she barely can operate the computer, so why she has an email, I will never know…

Anyhow, the sharing is one of my favorite features. This feature alone sold me as a ‘home’ user. I needed a free alternative that doesn’t cloud up the user experience with “buy this as a print for $0.99 – limited time offer” BS. This is perfect for the minimalist in me, and that nameless relative of mine – damn it what is her name?!

Which brings me to my last big selling point – the user experience. Dropbox has made it so easy to share, from any place in the world that has an Internet connection, that it should be a crime to not check out this service. There is absolutely no clutter to the website, the Public Galleries, or the iPhone app. They’ve managed to turn a fairly intimidating service for most people into one that actually makes you feel welcomed – no matter your experience level. Yet, at its core, Dropbox is extremely powerful. Initial setup was a breeze and synchronizing the file changes is instantaneous and transparent on each platform.

Document management and photo sharing is only the tip of the iceberg. With the paid subscription options, which yield larger capacity accounts (50gig / 100gig), power users could use scripts to backup critical files and projects. Team sharing for work environments becomes easier and less tedious—users of SharePoint should identify with this point.

Whether you just need to share a few files here and there, or whether you are on the go at all times, Dropbox is a solid choice. With cross platform support, mobile access and a superb user interface, Dropbox is at the top of the list.

Dropbox can be downloaded here: http://www.getdropbox.com/

LoveBot is getting some love of its own over at mochaSync. Let me give you a little excerpt from the review:

“The artwork for the icon is cute, very light hearted and just what you might need if you’re a productivity junky like me.

… I think it will provide laughter to those of us who unfortunately are surrounded by pc’s and mac’s all day long.   I say give it a whirl and share in the fun with your co-workers.”

mochaSync does knock LoveBot for not having more variations of the robot, which is a very possible addition to it in future updates. And “command lines,” why the hell didn’t we think of that!? Please check out the review at mochaSync here. Thanks to mochaSync for the review.

Make sure you get your copy of LoveBot: Robot Pickup Lines through the link below, at a reduced price of $.99 now!

Image courtesy of Kitty Genius

]]> http://www.alkalimedia.com/2009/10/mochasync-reviews-lovebot-robot-pickup-lines/feed/ 0 http://www.alkalimedia.com/2009/10/back-that-app-up-lovebot-robot-pickup-lines-finds-a-mate-the-app-store/ http://www.alkalimedia.com/2009/10/back-that-app-up-lovebot-robot-pickup-lines-finds-a-mate-the-app-store/#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:17:10 +0000 lutz http://www.alkalimedia.com/?p=473 Let’s face it, your father’s pick up lines were so 2008. At Alkali Media, we’re trying to help people step into the future with LoveBot: Robot Pickup Lines. Everyone knows robots are 37.58% more charming than humans (if you’re questioning this statement, have you not seen Wall-E?!). And with the help of LoveBot, you can attract the mate of your dreams with the push of a button. With 20 high fidelity one-liners, like “Baby got backspace” or “Do you sync on the first date” you can move out of the way Casanova and let LoveBot do the talking for you!

Go ahead and grab LoveBot: Robot Pickup Lines in the app store now and also check out the other apps Alkali Media has to offer!

Have you fallen in love with LoveBot? Why not make a movie of yourself using LoveBot and send it to us at contact@alkalimedia.com We would love to see it! If it is good, we will even put it on our site!

We are very excited to announce that the second version of our Preston & Steve iPhone Soundboard is available now for download in the iPhone App Store! The newest version has some extremely cool new features that we know Preston & Steve fans are sure to enjoy. New features include:

• 9 new sounds including Pierre’s Noodling, “All I did was get out of the shower!”, “Hey Bitches, Hey What!”, “Monkey Pick Ass!” and more.
• A brand new look – a new background image to match WMMR’s new look, new buttons which can be pressed down.
• A “Stop” button to stop sounds from playing
• Bug fixes and improved stability.

We were not sure if this update would be approved, due to some of the questionable sounds (e.g. “Monkey Feces Throw, Monkey Pick Ass” and “Hey Bitches, Hey What”. But we were pleasantly surprised when we found out yesterday that our update had been approved! This does not mean we are sitting back and resting at all. More sounds will continue to be added and we are also working on another WMMR/Preston & Steve related application.

Stay tuned!

So here it is. The end of August. We are finally getting where we want to be as a company and we aren’t looking back. New clients, new projects, and new people are just a little of what’s in store for our next year as a full service iPhone development and publishing company. We couldn’t be more happy.

We recently met two new friends through online social networking site. Maybe you’ve heard of it? Twitter anyone? The two dudes we met seem to have everything we need in terms of programming so that we are able to continue  to grow as a company. iPhone apps and much more are on the way! Be patient. Everyone out there should be hearing much more from us in the upcoming month(s). New updates are being worked on and Pierre Robert, Robots, and David Lee Roth may even make an appearance somewhere along the way?

If there is anyone out there interested in having an application developed for you or your company? Don’t hesitate to contact us here or snoop around over here. We will get results for your company and build a base for your brand.