You know what ‘s even more fun for an iPhone apps junkie like me than discovering a brand new app in the App Store? Here ‘s what “ getting to see a bunch of ‘future star ‘ type iPhone apps before they even hit the store. And being lucky enough to have been asked to take a sneak peek at them and offer my ratings on which are the most promising.
I have recently had this lovely opportunity thanks to Ouriel and Yann and the folks at The App Star Awards, the mission of which is discovering and rewarding brilliant upcoming iPhone apps
The App Star Awards is the first contest to highlight and reward new iPhone apps eventually heading to the App Store … 30 apps will be preselected and our prestigious Jury will pick 3 lucky winners in each category (game, entertainment, utility and other).
The jury members include a whole bunch of well-known and hugely respected folks from the technology blogosphere “ Robert Scoble, Louis Gray, Michael Arrington, Loic LeMeur, Raven Zachary, Jeff Scott, Tamar Weinberg and lots of others “ and then me. Lord knows how I snuck in, but I ‘m very happy to have managed it. 🙂
Anyway, enough about the people judging “ here are some details on a handful of the most promising apps I got to see and judge, with their own descriptions provided along with a few thoughts of mine where they fit:
Foto Brisko
The Foto Brisko application helps photographers to find photos that they want to try and reproduce themselves. The application will find interesting photos allow you to browse them, choose the ones you are interested in shooting. When you get near the location of the shot click a button and see your location and the spot the photo was taken.
This seems like it may be very helpful one for iPhone photographers (with their iPhones and serious cameras). Nice simple purpose, a niche I don ‘t think has been explored much, and a good UI.
Sketch Nation Shooter
Sketch Nation Shooter allows users to create their own games by drawing a player, enemies and a level on a piece of paper and taking a picture of the drawing with their iPhone camera.
Nice concept. Will be interesting to see how well it ‘s executed.
GateGuru
** misplaced most of the publisher ‘s description “ so just going with mine.
Yelp for airport terminals. Another one with (I think) a clever little niche, a neat UI, and a good set of features. Airport terminals can be a real drag “ this could be a godsend for frequent travelers.
Baby Bubbles
Being a parent of a new born or very young child is immense fun but it’s also hard work. So much to do, so much to remember…and this is where Baby Bubbles comes into its own. Baby Bubbles is an incredibly easy to use, media rich baby event logger and diary. However don’t let this fool you; Baby Bubbles provides unlimited event logging, media attachments and notes, as well as event statistics, and charting. Everything you need to keep track of your baby’s life and needs.
Boy would my wife and I have got a lot of use out of this when our daughter was an infant! Very good looking app.
Walk & Ride
Walk & Ride takes fully navigable, hyperlocal maps to the iPod Touch and the iPhone. It’s offline, always works, provides pedestrian and public transit navigation – and saves you precious time and expensive data roaming charges.
I love cities where the public transport is really good, and where you can get around with it and do a lot of walking. This looks like a great companion for cities like that.
zzZ
** screencap at top of this post
zzZ is an app to search and book a hotel wherever you want, wherever you are. Browse hotels through a cover flow, then book a room at the best rates available, directly from the app. For each hotel, zzZ offer photos gallery, detailed description and built-in Google map.
UI looks quite good. Another handy looking one for heavy travelers.
Here, File File!
Here, File File! lets you access your Macs’ files (yes – all of your files from all of your Macs!) from your iPhone wherever you are. Browse files and folders, attached storage, network drives, view your files, stream media, and email your files all from your iPhone. Don’t worry about forgetting a file ever again – access your Mac whenever you need to wherever you are!
Fits into the crowded file-sharing / access area, but looks to have quite a slick UI and a very strong feature set.
There are a good number of other promising and interesting looking apps in the mix as well “ these are just a handful that really caught my attention. If you ‘d like to see the video demos for some of my favorites, or any of The App Star Awards apps, take a look at them in the live widget below here “ just scroll through and click to select the demo you want to watch:
For more details on the awards themselves, or to check out the cool group of jurors, visit the web site here:
The winning apps will be announced next week at the LeWeb event in Paris “ on stage on December 9th. Good luck to all “ and thanks to Ouriel and Yann for inviting me to participate.
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