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Archive for the ‘Application Updates’ Category

Wings Earth 2.5 Submitted to Apple

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Wings Earth (Wings 2) gets an update with 2.5.

Here’s the highlights:

  • Major improvement to surface detail. 4 times more pixel density. What’s that? In other words, it’s more realistic… ;-)
  • Added highest-requested feature: turn off crash effects.
  • Added new audio track from Wings Galaxy
  • Ready for future versions of iPhone and iPod software. In other words it won’t break when iPhone 3.0 comes out. Or at least it better not or someone’s working a 24 hour shift.
  • General stability, speed and operating system compatibility improvements.
  • Improved help and support access.
  • Improved HUD performance and accuracy. Flight realistic control.

It’s a free update to everyone who owns or buys Wings Earth.

GasBuddy for iPhone Gets Major 2.0 update!

Saturday, May 30th, 2009

Our largest update in Bottle Rocket history! GasBuddy is already the most feature-rich fuel finder on the iPod and iPhone. But we’ve raised the bar again with over 32 important improvements, feature additions and tweaks. We listened to our customers and picked the top 30 requests (plus two more). They are:
- Address and name on list views
- Additional station logos to help you identify your favorite brands
- Improved price reporting screen
- Metric conversion setting
- Maps show your current location or center of ZIP code based on search type
- New Savings screen
- New GasBuddy screen with direct access to support
- Improved and better implemented customer support and FAQ’s
- Station location on maps more accurate
- Added ability to report price for unlisted station
- Added refresh to price report screen
- Added ability to report prices in areas where you are not currently
- Shortened Recommend email. Please recommend GasBuddy to your friends
- Added all keys to keyboards for optional GasBuddy.com member login
- Added help to On Fumes screen
- Added price data to On Fumes pins, when available. Remember that On Fumes is only for finding the nearest gas station when in an emergency.
- Added direct navigation to station in On Fumes screen.
- Added 96 hours to the price aging options
- GasBuddy now searches outside the search range to always find more stations for you
- Rewrote the GPS location code to use latest iPhone software
- Improved server connectivity to app
- Added help text in Settings screens
- Now diesel-owner friendly
- More stable
- Added more alert dialog messages

GasBuddy now fully Canadian-Friendly:
- All screens reformatted to be more Canadian friendly
- Canadian station detail view
- New Canadian price list view shows cents/liter with decimal
- New Canadian map pins
- Added Canadian price reporting screen
- 15 new Canadian station logos added
- Metric conversion
- Canadian Savings screen

The update has been submitted to Apple and should be approved in mid June… And here’s the great thing: Most every time you use GasBuddy when filling your tank, you save more than what the app costs. And, for example, in Dallas, TX a GasBuddy user will save as much as $300 a year (your mileage may vary). Truly amazing!

Get GasBuddy on the App Store now. Everyone who buys it will get the update for free.

Voxie just keeps getting better – SMS and Twitter coming soon!

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

Sneak Peek Alert!

Voxie will be adding the ability to update your Twitter account and send texts by speaking both! Will also include about 10 other improvements including better file management and multi-delete features. Coming soon to Voxie and a FREE upgrade to everyone who buys Voxie.

Voxie 2.0 is Here! Brings First-Ever Transcription to iPhone!

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Voxie 2.0 is now on the App Store. We accumulated all of our customers requests and ranked them by popularity. We included tweaks and feature additions to cover all of the most popular requests, and we’ll continue to add other features our customers request.

But the BIG NEWS is the addition of professional transcription, powered by Quicktate. This feature is just one more way that Voxie is differentiating itself from the competition. Voxie Transcriptions will convert your recordings to text by a professional staff 24 hours a day and quickly send to you or any number of recipients. There are many service plans with no commitment from light use to heavy commercial use including business letters, multiple speakers and legal transcription.

It’s really easy to use. Just record a message as you would normally do, but this time tap Transcribe and select if you want the transcribed text to be emailed back to you or to another recipient(s). You can literally dictate your emails, letters, notes to your friends or yourself. And, unlike other services, you’re not limited to 15 or 30 second mini-notes. You could dictate a complete letter.

The accuracy is excellent. Unlike “automated” services or cumbersome voice-recognition software, Voxie Transcriptions uses a professional staff based in the USA. You can give directions such as “Type this as a list”, and your pauses and “um’s” won’t be in the final message. This is an absolute requirement for business, legal and medical transcriptions. And now it’s available to everyone at an extremely low price. Plans start as low as $4.95!

Each owner of Voxie 2.0 can join the free trial to try the service out, and none of the plans come with a long term commitment. Try it out and you’ll wonder how you ever got along with out it!

More on the Voxie Transcription service here.

Get Voxie 2.0 for iPhone and 1st or 2nd generation iPod Touches here.

Wings 2.0 Coming in HOT!

Sunday, December 14th, 2008

Wings 2.0 is here, finally! After waiting on the tarmac (the App Store review queue) for a bit longer than we hoped, Wings 2.0 is available for download free for all users of Wings 1.0.

And if you don’t have Wings 1.0, there’s no better time than now to join the Wings family.

Over 10,000 people downloaded the Wings 2.0 update within 24 hours of its release. Wow, even the FAA’s supercomputer couldn’t keep up with all those newly filed flight plans.

Wings 2.0 has dramatically improved nearly every aspect of Wings. Take a look at what’s new in Wings 2.0?
- Inflight heads up display (HUD) similar to Garmin 1000
- Magnetic compass
- Flight controls
- Throttle speed control
- Dramatically faster
- New worlds added (old favorites retained)
- Change options while flying
- Whole new Wings look
- Crashing sounds, shake effects and broken glass (cumulating damage)
- Improved graphic detail
- More water and intertwined rivers
- Change viewing angle for sitting, reclining or lying down
- Make sure to see the Wings section in main iPhone Settings
- New main menu

Also, don’t forget to head over the App Store and check out “Santa Wings: Rudolph’s Christmas Flight” for some seriously fun holiday flying.


YouTube Video from touchArcade.com

[tags]iphone application, flight simulator, reviews, mobile gaming[/tags]

Power to the iPod First Gen’ers – Voxie Goes Old School

Friday, December 12th, 2008

That’s right, Voxie works on the First Generation iPod Touch. You can thank two of our customers who tested this and helped make this happen. Thanks Shaun and Skatt.

What will you need:
1. The 2.2 firmware update.
2. A compatible mic (this is the important part as most aren’t compatible)

The “Audio In” on the iPod Touch First Gen is in the dock connector and NOT in the headphone jack. It acts more like a normal iPod than a 2nd Gen iPod or iPhone. So, dock connector mics are the only ones that will work, but some may not work. To be clear, the Apple earbuds with integrated mic that comes with the iPhone will not work.

Please help us come up with a complete list of mic’s by responding to this post with your comments and experience in getting the iPod First Gen to work with Voxie. So far we have been told by customers that will work:

Macally iVoice III
Macally iVoicePro
Both are sold at many online retailers and also at TouchMic.com.

And customers have told us these do NOT work or has some issues:
Griffin iTalk Pro (also not listed as compatible with 1G Touch)
Belkin TuneTalk (see user comments on this post as there has been some issues using this one)

Note that the manufacturer of the mic might not even know it works for this application. This is something our customers helped us figure out.

But we’re certain a lot more mics will work just fine. So try yours and post a comment letting everyone know what works.

This is great for First Gen iPod Touch owners. Thanks Apple!

[tags]iphone application, audio recording, iphone accessories[/tags]

You’ve Spoken and We’re listening. Wings v2.0 coming soon!

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Since the release of Wings, many of you have written to us words of encouragement, advice and critiques. Wings placed us in new territory as our first app so we can’t tell you how much we appreciate the ongoing interaction with our users and the productive feedback you’ve provided. One of the most frequent comment we’ve received is that Wings doesn’t feel game-like enough – you really don’t have much flight control or suffer any consequences in game play. While we initially intended Wings to be more of a relaxation inducer and less of a high energy flight simulator, we also want to address the suggestions of our users. Wings v2.0 will do just that. You’ll find greater control options, improved game play interaction and more appealing visuals. We believe then that you’ll be as excited as we are about some of the key features that are coming to v2.0.

  • Menu UI Improvements: You’ll first notice some visual changes – a cooler, sleeker look and improvements to the user interface overall.
  • New Terrains: We’ve updated all stages with four amazing new terrains to explore.
  • Flight Control: Tap the screen while flying to access the new flight controls. You can then pause, return to main menu or control flight speed by moving the throttle.
  • Interactive Gameplay Feedback: Apparently flying without consequence is more distressing than the fear of crashing. Many of you asked for the ability to crash or sustain damage, so when crashing on the ground, the screen will now shake the back and forth (like a jostle effect) and show the screen to be “cracked” accompanied by breaking glass noise. Damage glass will fade once flight commences as not to add too much ‘distressing’.

There will be some other “surprises” to discover as we continue working to keep Wings fresh and compelling – so keep those comments coming. If you’d like to see something, let us know through our poll or comment below. We always love hearing from you!

[tags]iphone application, iphone developers, flight simulator, mobile gaming[/tags]

The Best Just Got Better – Voxie v1.5

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

Here’s your 411 to the Party!

I know we’re all used to celebrating birthdays measured in whole numbers, but this is software, and decimals and dots are just part of the game. You may be asking “HOW did Voxie go from 1.0 to 1.5 so fast”. For us to explain that, you’d just have to stop by the office one day and we’ll show you the pizza boxes and pile of empty Dr. Pepper cans. One look and you’ll say “oh, so that’s what people mean when they say all-nighter”.

Voxie 1.5 actually took a lot of all-nighters but it was well worth the effort. This may then lead you to ask “WHY the self induced maniacal pace to bring about the newest update?” That’s easy. You’ve likely read or heck…even heard us (if you’re fortunate enough to be anywhere near a Bottle Rocket fancier) boast that Voxie is the quintessential voice recorder, the recorder that defines recording, the recorder that will make you more appealing to the opposite sex.  Wait…nix that last claim, although we still maintain, however unverified, that you’ll be sexy…er with Voxie than without.

We don’t make these assertions lightly and we’re readily prepared to uphold our position.  After the initial launch of Voxie, we realized that one of the only features missing from 1.0 was Wi-Fi Sync.  So, only one week after Voxie’s debut, she’s already turning 1.5.  Growing older also means growing wiser so here’s what else maturity has brought:

  • WiFi Sync - easily transfers large or small files to your computer wirelessly which you can then import into your iTunes.
  • Remote Listen - connect wirelessly to Voxie from your Mac or PC to listen to your recording before copying them.
  • Expanded Email Support - email up to 5MB or use handy WiFi Sync for larger files
  • Improve Stability - a little less fickle because they say you settle down with age
  • Improved User Interface - we’ve made it even easier and more enjoyable to use

Now that we’ve got you all psyched about all the new features, you’re no doubt asking “WHEN does this party start?”  It’s already started – there’s absolutely no wait, there’s absolutely no lines!  We hope that all the Voxie users out there (and we’re thankful that there are so many of you) enjoy the new features. And to those who aren’t Voxie users yet, this might be the perfect time to head on over to the App Store and check it out, which answers the WHERE. Enjoy!

[tags]iphone application, iphone developers, audio recorder, mobile[/tags]

Voxie UI completed and in Beta!

Friday, October 10th, 2008

We’ve definitely put in a lot of love and labor into the app and I think you’ll be happy with the end result. There’s no shortage of voice recording apps out there but none of them have impressed me nearly as much as Voxie has.  There are a few that nearly came close…nearly, but I really think this one has it all.  Here’s a sneak peek of what’s to come.

We’ve invested a substantial amount of time on the interface design so it looks as good as it performs.  My favorite attributes are probably the simplest – the Express and Settings features.  When you’re completely on the go, like driving in a car, you don’t want the rigmarole of searching or pressing a sequence of buttons.  We created an Express feature that you either touch twice anywhere on the screen or shake it to start recording and repeat to stop.  (I definitely have too much fun shaking my iPhone!)  It will automatically save or send to a designated address.  

The Settings too are very well thought out.  It allows you to customize Voxie to your preference.  Since I’m always on the go, I’ve set up the Express mode to execute on application launch.  I prefer to keep my recordings saved locally so I can access it anytime, anywhere.  It completely compliments my transient lifestyle and since the recording is intended only for me, I keep the audio quality low (8kHz) to save on storage space but there is the option of setting it to Medium (16kHz) or High (24kHz) for better quality.  The other setting option that just blows me out of the water is the ability to change wallpapers.  I’m a girl and I’m sick of all the masculine skewed utility aesthetics that saturate the market. Voxie has a diverse selection of backgrounds that lets me personalize the appearance to suit my feminine taste.

Those just highlight my favorites but there’s a plethora of other robust functions in Voxie. The “standard” recording mode is loaded with features from speaker mode, and priority flagging, to the ability to label, categorize and organize. You’ll find many other hidden gems in this app but I think we should let it let it “speak” for itself.

Coming very soon to the iPhone App Store… 

[tags]iphone application, voice recorder, productivity[/tags]