Ways These Two Tablets are Alike

These two competing tablets do have qualities in common. They both work at similar speeds, and they both have good quality audio. When it comes to battery life, the iPad2 delivers about 10 hours, but the Kindle Fire comes in a close second with about 8 hours of working time available. Both offer about the same screen resolution.

The iPad offers a choice of memory options with the minimum being 16GB and advancing to 32GB or 64 GB, while the Kindle Fire only has 8GB. The Fire offers unlimited Cloud storage on Amazon servers, though, so again, it’s pretty much a draw between these two tablets.

Pros for the iPad2

Unlike the Fire, which offers no camera at all, the iPad2 has two, one in the front for video chatting, and one in the back that takes still photos. Without a camera, you can’t use the Fire for video chats. The Fire doesn’t have a microphone, either.

Another point in the iPod’s favor is that it has 90,000 apps available compared to the 17,000 apps you can get for the Kindle Fire. If you’re one of those folks who love their apps, you’ll probably be happier with an iPad2.

Because the screen is bigger than the Fire’s, gaming, watching streaming videos, and reading are more enjoyable with Apple’s offering.

Pros for the Kindle Fire

The Fire has access to Amazon’s huge library of streaming TV shows and movies and Kindle’s extensive collection of books, expanding your entertainment choices dramatically. If your main goal is to use your tablets for these pastimes, the Fire is clearly your choice.

This tablet is also smaller and more lightweight, making it easier to transport. It will even fit in an average sized purse so you can effortlessly carry it almost anywhere.

One of the biggest and most obvious differences between the iPad2 and the Kindle Fire is the price. The iPad2 rings in for a hefty $499 while the Fire is much more modestly priced at about $199. That fact alone could play a major role in your purchasing decision.

Now it’s time to choose what tablet best fits your needs. We’re still partial to the iPad but the Kindle is a viable alternative. You might even want to consider visiting Presta to lease an iPad to see how you like it. Only you can decide if the features and benefits of the iPad2 outweigh the affordability of a Kindle Fire. Which one do you prefer?

The millions of fans paid homage to Steve Jobs in front of the Apple stores all over the world. Some of them laid candles, some laid bouquets in front of the stores and some even laid iPod in his memorial.

Many websites were transformed into the online memorials including the official website of Apple. This was a testament to the digital creativity inspired by Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was a college dropout who changed the world of technology in late 70s. Apple II was his first creation which gained the huge popularity worldwide. Then again in 1984 he brought Macintosh which was a technology breakthrough. His values, dedication and the hard work were the things which brought him ahead. He was moreover equipped with the true grit and mechanical aptitude.

Steve Jobs was not just a Savvy business person but he was a creative thinker who humanized the personal computing, software design and hardware design. He altered the language of computer interface forever, dragged the wireless carriers into boxing ring, and changed the way of selling the hardware and software. Furthermore he built the Apple one of the most valuable corporations in the world.

The grief and sorrow in the form of condolence messages on the death of this tech wizard was poured out mostly through his own devised gadget and this was a true tribute to the legendary. Steve’s spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple as left behind a company that only he could have built.

Below are a few unusual facts about Steve Jobs that you must know-

1.Steve Jobs: Psychedelics

This actually might be a shocking new for many of us but the truth is that the visionary was a psychedelics. He once used the LCD drugs in his young age, which is well known for its psychological effects. This drug however also can include the altered thinking process, this might be the reason that he looked at the things in a completely different which helped him adding a long list of inventions in his achievements.

2. Strict no to philanthropy

This is again quite shocking for his fans, but Steve Jobs never did any charity of a single penny from what he earned throughout his career as the CEO of the company. His motto was to improve the lifestyle quality with the best inventions.

3. Steve was a college dropout

Like the few other legendary industrialists like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates; Steve Job also never attended the college. He dropped out just after one semester.

4. Steve Job’s sister

The renowned novelist Mona Simpson is Steve Jobs sister and the strange fact was that he was unaware of this fact until his adulthood. They both didn’t know that they were brother and sister. Both the siblings are the best artists and were at leading positions in their own fields.

5. Steve Jobs was Zen Buddhist and denied Paternity

When Steve’s wife delivered the first baby, he denied the fatherhood and claimed that it was sterile. His wife raised the baby on her own but in due course Steve turned into a good father.

Michael is an Apple fan, he owns all the gadgets from Apple. At work, Michael is in area of stocks, forex, ufx markets and other investment banking. Michael considers Steve Jobs a legend.

Minimalism is a very strict design aesthetic where things are stripped down to the fundamentals. It eschews any kind of feature or element that is seen as a distraction or a complication to a basic design. Steve Jobs firmly believed in this kind of design philosophy and it is something that he not only applied to all his decisions while working at Apple, but also to his life as well.

Take a look at the iPod. It is a marvel of simplicity. A rectangular device with a screen and a circular controller.  You don’t see any kind of overt printing on the face and yet the controls are still intuitive that a child will easily learn how to operate it. There’s practically no learning curve. The iPod is a testament to Jobs’ desire for neatness and simplicity. The iPod perfectly reflects Jobs’ view on industrial design. To him industrial design should be viewed less as a science but more of an art.

Artistic eye certainly plays a big part in designing Apple’s products. Just look at the iMac and how simply stunning it looks. It is almost sculptural in its aesthetic, with hardly a button visible when you view it straight on. Jobs knew that a wonderfully designed product will make people desire to get it even without knowing if they have any use for it. That’s why whenever we see a new Apple product being unveiled the reaction is immediate – “I want one.”

Jobs is notoriously minimalist even in his personal life. In an interview, former Apple CEO John Sculley recalled a visit he made to Jobs’ house.

“I remember going into Steve’s house and he had almost no furniture in it. He just had a picture of Einstein, whom he admired greatly, and he had a Tiffany lamp and a chair and a bed. He just didn’t believe in having lots of things around but he was incredibly careful in what he selected.”

Only a few people would take minimalism to that extreme, but Jobs made it look so elegant and civilized. He deliberately went against the blatant consumerism that most of us have fallen victim to. It’s ironic that his own beliefs in minimalism and how he applied it at Apple have made us covet his products more.

That’s a genius at work.

“Robots have approved this message,” is spoken by a retro science fiction-esque voice. Type in, “Shut it” and the robot-emulating App “Type n Talk” will make the message come across through the power of audio.

The “Type n Talk” App is uncensored, so be sure to take the customized iPhone robot tongue and lash out wherever possible! For a gag, alarm the household pets to the invasion rants of a ruthlessly cold and accurate speech.

The simple style and up front directions make the “Type n Talk” application a quick and fun pastime. The App display is featured just over a keyboard that fully copies the look and experience of the iPhone’s own texting keyboard. There is a Reset button, a Speak! Button and a blue box on the top features whatever text has been spelled out for speaking.

There is even a speaker in the upper left hand corner to emulate using a voice recorder on top of the iPhone screen. The only limitation of the “Type n Talk” App is that the user must come up with the phrases, passages, quips and robotic commands themselves, because the internal robot in this application responds only to specific commands…for now.

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

Every group has a friend that buys a ten-gallon soda and, despite using the theatre bathroom right before the movie begins, has to relieve him or herself during an exciting or important point of a film. Aside from the annoying interruption of everyone’s fantasyland experience, as the pee-dancing personage stands and shuffles out, the culprit nearly always has to ask whoever they are sitting near what happened when they were gone.

The free “Run Pee” App is the solution to the bladderless movie-goer! This amazing tool provides Pee Times for every movie that is out, in order of when they came out or alphabetically. The Pee Times are places in the film where there is neither entertaining action, nor pivotal plot information, so that in essence the Pee Times are places that one can afford to miss.

Clicking on the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” shows that at 37 minutes into the film there is a 4 minute Pee Time window when an overly thirsty patron can empty themselves accordingly without missing anything. There is even a cue before the Pee Time emerges: “After Balthazar says to Dave…” then one can go urinate!

There are trailers for the films in the “Run Pee” App, and it is a good way to tell which movies are better off being skipped altogether, as the worst movies will have more useless periods of time where there is no plot development or action, in other words Pee Times. A movie with seven Pee Times and a total of 30 minutes of down-pee-time is probably not worth interrupting with a bathroom break in the first place.

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

The “Smithsonian Channel” application is the iPhone’s free TV channel, complete with show listings and full episodes of outstanding and educational entertainment, like the “Street Monkeys: Girl Gangs” episode. Perhaps “The Real Story” show of the real instance of “Silence of the Lambs” is more up the viewer’s alley, or perhaps the “Carrier at War: USS Enterprise” show on the mighty aircraft carrier.

The “Smithsonian Channel” App is one of those rare providers of full TV shows, not clips, but the whole “A Woman Among Wolves” (scary!) in its entirety. Animal and nature enthusiasts will revel in the whale song, as war veterans, hobbyists and aficionados will fly over the hostile waters of foreign territory on daring missions.

The intuitive “Smithsonian Channel” App provides a beautiful knowledge sharing TV show archive where television episodes and their scheduling is readily available, as is the fully visible videos of shows. The App is organized well so that the bored peruser with a hankering for portable TV can quickly sift through the Episodes, Popular and Recent sections of the “Smithsonian Channel” App’s videos. The Episode guide provides screenshots, the season specifics of the show and a summary of the “Zoo Vets” program.

Take the lunch break to a new height in educational entertainment, as the whales splash everything but the work desk! Get it here [iTunes link]!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

The free “Duke Nukem” application [iTunes link] for the iPhone is one of the greatest spectacles to ever emerge to trample eardrums! The “Duke Nukem” video game franchise is legend, and now with the Duke coming to download on X-Box and Playstation a new generation is becoming versed in the ultimate badass!

Sure the fabled “Duke Nukem Forever” game has been in limbo for eleven years (and counting). Sure the audience that remembers fondly the sneering hope for humanity as being a flattop wearing bulk of a man with a ridiculous arsenal and a loud voice are now in their mid-twenties and up. But this is the Duke.

No one has a more recognizable voice, except maybe Mario. But Mario does not threaten: “I’ll rip your head off and sh*t down your neck.” The Duke epitomized gameplay for achieving mindless on-screen violence to live out tag and have fun. The catchphrases and quips, threats and jokes were the best part of the Duke.

Welcome the “Duke Nukem” App. None other than Duke Nukem himself does this soundboard application! There are dozens of Duke’s favorite sayings, like “My gun’s bigger than yours,” from all of his video games and the App is conveniently organized into Taunt, Threat, Funny, Die/Kill, Idle, Rare, Curse and many others.

It just does not get any better than this “Duke Nukem” App. “Hail to the king, baby!”

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A+

Get five ten question quizzes about the hilarious hit Family Guy in the “Family Guy Trivia Free” application for the iPhone [iTunes link]! Find out which friend in the crew relishes in the most frantic hours of cartoon watching with these questions.

The first quiz is fairly straightforward and easy, even for a novice Family Guy watcher, but as the quizzes continue there are more and more difficult and episode specific quips inserted into the interrogation.

For example: “At one point a tour bus carrying a boy band breaks down in front of the Griffin’s home, much to Meg’s delight. What band stepped out of the bus?” There are four choices given to choose from, but only the genius that caught that one show is going to know who commandeered the Griffin daughter’s heart and sex drive.

The answers turn green when they are thumbed on the touchscreen and are correct. They turn red when they are wrong, and the quiz counts the questions and gives the successful percentage at the end of the suspense, to provide a similar jaw dropping experience to the slow motion capture of Stewie shooting Lois with an automatic rifle.

What episode do Bert and Ernie appear on the Griffin’s TV? Well, the “Family Guy Trivia Free” App will have to answer that question amongst other difficult and fastly addictive queries.

If the user does bad then Peter Griffin would suggest they listen to a Lionel Richie album, because it will change their life. “Who hurt you Lionel?”

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

As the hot pink haired Japanese game show host says on the “South Park FREE” application: “Here we make young greedy contestants on roller skates put their life in danger for petty sums of money!”

The most famous four South Park inhabitants, Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny, arrive on the television obstacle course in order to help earn some cold cash…in Yen. The catch is that the show is meant to humiliate and maim its contestants along the way toward earning a meager winning.

The “South Park FREE” App uses the actual South Park cartoon’s voices and images, as the kids are strapped to wayward skates and placed on what looks like a giant and dangerous board game. Disgusting, suicidal and sumo wrestler based traps are placed around the board that leads to the ultimate prize: 10,000 Yen (which the kids do not realize is not a lot of money…yet).

The controls are simple: tilt the iPhone and move Cartman to the side that is turned, while pressing on the screen causes the big boned elementary school student from Colorado to jump on the glowing Japanese board.

Playing the “South Park FREE” App one would never know that they were not in the show, so get it here[iTunes link]! The voices, backgrounds and kick ass Kenny deaths make the game ridiculously authentic, especially for a free iPhone offer. Enjoy keeping the kids alive for as long as you can!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A+

The “DC Comics” application provides many titles and series of comics and graphic novels that are available to preview and then download to a beautifully displayed iPhone or iPad screen. Get it here [iTunes link].

It is true that the entire DC Universe is there, and it is also true that many of the full series, runs and special issued comics cost small fees (the price varies according to the books). But what cannot be overlooked is that the “DC Comics” App gives a huge amount of high quality Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and other titles for free!

Fire up the intuitive application and immediately become wowed by the art that is featured everywhere! Jim Lee’s rendition of Batman greets the user upon opening this and every issue that one might have the slightest interest in getting, at a comic shop or for download in the App, displays cover artwork, titles and story information to provide the interested reader with killer insight.

The “DC Comics” App currently has Batman: Black & White issues up for free, and one can thumb up the vitals that say how the “Acclaimed author Neil Gaiman (THE SANDMAN, American Gods) and eye-popping artist Simon Bisley (LOBO) deliver a make-believe story spotlighting the struggle between Batman and The Joker.”

Download the book for free, or if one desires it in print then the “DC Comics” App provides a “Buy in Print” function that locates the user and the nearest shops that stock Batman: Black & White! Happy Fourth of July!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A+

Education is the path to wisdom, and the “Kalm Sutra” program gives a busy couple the luxury of learning some interesting sights and stances that have been forgotten in the modern world. The awesome, engaging and addictive App puts spontaneous and portable in the same sentence.

Besides the artistic drawings of Elephant loving Tiger there are directions on how to accomplish t he same feat and even the benefit of the position is listed for the true scholar. For example: The Blooming Souls spot features the Elephant who “holds in a firm plank position with Tiger embracing from below” and this helps build the Elephant’s stamina and upper body strength, while the Lady Tiger “can lay back and enjoy.”

Though there are advertisements, and only the Autumn book is currently visible for free (the full version is $.99), there is still a lot of engaging touchscreen activity to be had in the “Kalm Sutra” App. Want to liven the mood, then the intuitive application provides sensual Indian sitars, the likes of which have rarely been heard in the mainland US, except of course when George Harrison popularized it for a time.

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

The “Find My iPhone” App uses Apple’s MobileMe technology to connect iPhones and iPads and find them on a map when they grow skinny legs and walk away at a brisk pace. The coolest feature is that a user, who loses his or her device, can actually log onto any other computing piece and lock their lost iPhone os that whoever has it cannot access private information.

Really concerned about the nuclear launch codes stored in a stolen iPad, they’re always after me Lucky Charms, then go into “Find My iPhone” and wipe the data clean by remote, permanently. That is right: this message will self-destruct.

The biggest drawback to the “Find My iPhone” application is that the MobileMe account is required and Apple charges an arm and a leg for a year’s worth: $99. The good news is that there is a trial of 60 days for MobileMe that is completely free, and for the iPad owner who would rather not risk losing their investment, security is a price well paid.

Think the lost iPhone is nearby, then log onto “Find My iPhone,” from another device obviously, and blare, at full volume, a sound to help locate the lost precious.

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: B

People will be flying in from all over the world to gain access to the most cutting edge products, news and, of course comics, concerning television, movies, toys, anime, artwork, video gaming and a host of other bits and pieces that will be filling the Jacob Javits Center for three days. Follow all of the intense action with the official “New York Comic Con” application, free for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The “New York Comic Con” App is packed with useful news and details on the guests, including the first annual NYCC Spotlight created for the one and only Stan “the Man” Lee! Alongside the official announcements at the top of the intuitive App are Tweets about the Con and Buzz that is being written about the NYCC from all over the world.

Guests are shown, as they are announced, and are complete with pictures and fun biography information, so that when the user thumbs the touchscreen at a guest’s photo, then they can read all about how John Romita Jr. collaborated with Frank Miller on “Daredevil: The Man Without Fear.”

The “New York Comic Con” App has a directory of accompanying web sites and a lot of other fantastic (four) finds! Enjoy!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A+

For fans of Attack of the Show, featuring the gorgeous Apple TV-licking bombshell from Iron Man 2, Olivia Munn, great high quality video of stories are presented in the “G4” App, as are videos for X-Play and the Feed. Just thumb through the choices and queue up Attack of the Show’s search for the ultimate G4 booth babe contest. The video focuses on the assets of the three finalists, three stunning girls who game prodigiously, one of which will be the G4 Booth Babe at the E3 mega event!

For many years now, the experts at G4 have given up to the minute news updates on everything that is popular culture. Coverage of the San Diego and New York Comic Cons, every E3 expo and every technology, Apple product and gaming event in between is found in stunning brilliance on G4 TV and, now, the “G4” App!

There is even a free gaming companion, complete with a Cheats Section, in the “G4” application, so that the X-Box Live sniping can continue with ease.

There is humor, as in “Olivia Bites Kevin’s Foil Wrapped Cucumber,” there is up to the minute news stories on everything dealing with popular culture, as in “Michael Emerson on LOST Finale & Hurley” and of course the computing and technology wisdom the serious geek would expect.

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A+

The unique quality to the 2010 World Cup has been the droning of a thousand swarms of bees that any soccer fan can hear vibrating their television and surround sound speakers. The cause of the noise is not a killer bee invasion, but rather the South Africa age-old football camaraderie of the Vuvuzela. The Vuvuzela is a long plastic horn that South Africans invoke to cheer on their favorite football teams.

The free “Vuvuzela 2010” App allows for anyone with an iPhone, or iPod Touch, to either appear zealous in watching the great Ivory Coast games, or just plain annoying as the extremely authentic sounding application literally makes the device spit out the loud droning bee swarm sound. Disturb friends and family alike with a portable Vuvuzela occasionally blasting fun that will echo in living rooms and bars, like a form of water torture.

The “Vuvuzela 2010” App has been created for the die-hard football fans in mind. There are a number of color combinations to choose from before sounding the horn, and they represent either the team or the goalkeepers’ colors. Choose the appearance of the Vuvuzela, just like the fans in South Africa and let the sound fly!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

The “alQuran” App brings over a hundred different translations, verse by verse, so that the religious or the scholarly can study the holy Quran easily and effectively. The “alQuran” application has a great search feature, provides recitations, an easy to thumb through touchscreen design and a great book style reading experience.

The Arabic letters are shown above the English translations here and, if you are looking for authenticity, the “AlQuran” App even reads, in order, from right to left, as the book was originally read! “All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Universe,” and the descriptive and moving parables can be bookmarked for quick access in referencing particulars.

For Quran purists there are myriad translations and versions of the book in the “alQuran” App, including Arabic-Al-Mizan, Chinese, English-Daryabadi, English-Mohammad Ali (I’m not sure if this came before Cassius Clay dominated the boxing ring or after), German-AbuRida, Malay, Thai, Turkish-Ali-Mihr and even Uzbek-Sodikov. Passages can be emailed to friends or fellow classmates easily and there are many adjustments for font and display so to be pleasing to the inquisitive eye.

Even for the casual appreciator the “alQuran” App provides visually gorgeous words, and their translations, in a well-crafted reading mechanism. Enjoy the readings on the iPhone!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” and a just little bit later God invented the iPhone. Any scholar, of any religion or faith (or lack thereof) will want to have easy access to the often-studied Bible, if for no other reason then to double-check the King James version of Cain’s violent tale.

The “Bible” App is incredibly in-depth, intuitive and essential to referencing the big book! There is a search function here, to easily pull any elusive person, like Jonah hiding in the whale, or topic such as the end of the world that appears in the ominous Book of Revelations.

The “Bible” App is well planned and well organized, and even comes with reading plans to help readers track their progress and bookmark select verses. The application’s settings are phenomenally specific and allow the user to take control of the lighting background, the font size and the amount of the lines shown in the passages’ previews.

Genesis starts out the “Bible” App, as it should, and at the top of the touchscreen is a next button to thumb to the next part, or Genesis 2. Just below that feature is written what version of the Bible is being read and by pressing that one can unlock the dozens of different versions, including the 1545 Luther Bible written in Deutsch and the Finnish 1938 translation. Go alpha to omega with the “Bible” App!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

For every amateur, professional and federal UFO hunter, follower, hobbyist and hoaxer out there comes the incredibly adept “UFO camera” application for the iPhone.

The “UFO camera SILVER” App is free in the Apple Store and provides any user with three different images of UFOs for the purpose of doctoring an iPhone picture. Scare the pants off of every family member by revealing that the honeymoon picture, taken at the hotel resort, show a clearly discernable UFO in the clouds just over the Florida palm trees.

The “UFO camera” App is easily mastered and great for reproducing posters and pictures similar to the one Fox Mulder had over his desk in the FBI basement home of the X-Files. Either take a shot, or use one from memory to insert one or more UFOs. The free version allows for three different UFOs and the ability to adjust their size and transparency in the photo.

The UFOs take on the lighting of the photograph’s background and the effect produces realistic alien sightings on earth. The visitors can be seen flying over the pyramids in Egypt, over the billboards in Times Square, or over one’s own backyard barbeque.

Wave to the clouds, click the iPhone camera, and then insert a hazy UFO into the wisps of atmospheric cumulus. The “UFO camera GOLD” App version is $.99 and adds another sixteen kinds of UFOs, as well as the ability to turn, rotate and even add aliens and missiles to the flying disks!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

This free application for the iPhone is simple, impactful and really fun. The Smithsonian uses its knowledge to morph the iPhone user into a prehistoric Neanderthal type figure, complete with picture and background data.

Simply take, or choose someone’s photo. Then utilize the intuitive touchscreen controls to slightly move and scale the face in the pic to the “MEanderthal” App mold on the screen.

Once the photo is ready then the user has to choose which specific species to join: there is the male and female Homo floresiensis (from 95,000 to 17,000 years ago), the male and female Homo neanderthalensis (from 200,000 to 28,000 years ago) and the male Homo heidelbergensis (from 700,000 to 200,000 years ago).

Now if you want to talk about a stunning and shocking result of the “MEanderthal” App, the user’s picture takes on the chosen cave man type and the form is accompanied by great insight into the persona. The same face that one knows well, from the mirror, is transformed into a Neanderthal form, with big brow and nose, and the Homo floresiensis’s brain is described as, “a third of the size of modern humans…but you make tools, control fire…and your small size helps you survive on an island of limited resources.” Wow!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

The innovative portable electronics protection company Wrapsol has produced a thick film from the same clear-coat bumper protection of Formula One racing cars. The Wrapsol ultra is currently being made for everything from the Sony PSP to the Motorola Droid, and I was able to secure a few for testing purposes.

To start I’d have to say I have been dead against any screen protector on my iPhone, because I hate the lack of touch sensitivity and the bubbles that come along with them, though I understand the logic in protecting the touchscreen. Instead I had chosen a leather case that was open on the front but bordered so the screen did not suffer if I dropped it. It made my iPhone kind of obese, though.

A couple of dedicated readers, and myself, tried the Wrapsol ultra out for a couple of months, and the new Wrapsol film is awesome! The package includes two pieces that custom-fit the iPhone, front and back, giving the device an invisible barrier that absorbs shocks from up to six feet in the air, or where a person is most likely to drop it from. The pieces are custom cut and are easily placed on the iPhone and then squeegeed down so that no bubbles are present.

The film is thicker than most of the flimsy screen protectors on the market, and surprisingly, it does not disrupt thumbing the touchscreen at all; only the feel is a little bit different, as it is plastic instead of glass touching the skin.

The iPhone stands protected beautifully and invisibly beneath the Wrapsol ultra, even after months of abuse in the every day world (and the testers and I did perform extensive wear, dropping and tear). The package is $24.95 at Wrapsol.com and includes the squeegee and a micro cloth for wiping the shininess down.

The Wrapsol ultra also makes a donation with each unit sold to the Cool Earth organization, and all of the packaging components are completely reusable and recyclable!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

The free “Super Bowl Winners” application turns the iPhone into a quick American football history lesson. Bet with friends as to who actually played in the big game from any given year and wow them, and their wallets, with your knowledge!

The “Super Bowl” App gives a bare bones crash course for a brief Super Bowl history, and the winners that played, in list form on the touchscreen of the iPhone. The free version is strictly American football, but for $1.99 the World Series, Stanley Cup, NBA Finals, MLS, MISL, NPSL, ASLII and NAFL championships are given as well.

The Super Bowl history is based around the NFL AFL merger and the first championship game involving both leagues, in 1967. The game wasn’t actually declared the Super Bowl until 1969, and did not give out the Lombardi trophy until after Vince Lombardi died in 1970.

This handy “Super Bowl” App even includes all of the previous NFL Championship winners before the actual Super Bowls, when the AFL was a separate entity, though sadly the AFL’s championships have been left out here.

For the curious fan out there the “Super Bowl” App confirms that Jerry Rice’s San Francisco 49ers won the 1989 Super Bowl, and the 1970 champs were the Kansas City Chiefs. Enjoy!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: B+

The free “Hostelworld.com” application for the iPhone saves money in regards to hotel rooms, and the precious dollars, Euros and pounds can then be used for fun activities in the scenic cities and locales on earth.

The “Hostelworld.com” App is a portable version of the site that makes web reservations easy and inexpensive, especially when compared to Priceline.com (though I love the William Shatner commercials). This intuitive application compiles over 23,000 hostels and 6,000 budget hotels worldwide and places them in an extremely easy to use search function.

Thumb up the “Hostelworld.com” App and a “Sleep Easy” format displays the vital information: the date arriving, the number of nights staying and the amount of guests to stay are put in with the city or country that one is traversing to.

Going to London? A list of hotels and hostels appear with the rate per person per night and a positive feedback rating percentage. Pressing the touchscreen on All Star Private Studios allows for booking a room there, adding the locale to a list of favorites and reading the details of this affordable establishment in Willesden Green; there are self-catering studio apartments, private rooms, or the minimal hostel type beds there to rent along with free Wifi.

The “Hostelworld.com” App is perfect for the poor college student who wants some culture or even the businessman witha mind for a long weekend off in Amsterdam. Photos, reviews and facilities are all visible as well to get a feel for the place. Travel it up!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A

Every day the free “LOST ADDICT” application collects from the net the most up to the minute theories, discussions, videos, podcasts, articles and blogs pertaining to the television anomaly LOST. Many of the web sites that decipher the hidden messages from the episodes, like theoriesonLOST.blogspot.net and others, are presented in order of newest to oldest on a beautiful interface.

Now that the LOST finale is over the debates continue to rage on: many are very pleased with the way the mysterious island and its past, present and future inhabitants have ended up, while others are furious over what transpired in the very last episode; many are trying to figure out just what they interpreted the ending meant, as in real events versus purgatory events and the messiness in between.

The “LOST ADDICT” App has an amazing amount of information filtered down to one tropical looking screen. Read about the comparison between the evil Locke lowering Desmond down to the waterfall and the flashback to Desmond in the hatch when the button was not pressed… “The Hatch and the Cork” by LongLiveLocke, or DarkUFO on Twitter, gives a great explanation for the electromagnetism holding the evil part of the light back in the hatch from the Dharma initiative and the light in the cave! Get LOST now.

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A+

Finally the horribly inaccurate and, at their best, relatively close in function knock-off Twitter Apps can be discarded! The “Twitter” App is free for the iPhone and comes directly from the folks over at Twitter, and it shows!

The look and feel is that of the legendary website with a touchscreen Apple twist to it. Simply drag a finger down on the “Twitter” App’s screen and the tweets are updated, making for a fun touchscreen pulling and result. Twitter has taken socialization via the Internet by storm since its inception and the amazing text message type interactions create quick and easy ways to provide information, bad humor (at least in my case), links and friendliness.

Good as some of the free Twitter Apps have been lately, none of them have reproduced the awesome interface of the Twitter website, but the officials at the official site have donned it to an official tee. All of the Tweeters’ pictures appear alongside their tweets, just like on the site, and the list forms a picturesque iPhone experience.

The search function in the “Twitter” App is in real-time, and there are great sound effects that come when new Tweets emerge after a refreshing. At the bottom of the screen are the tweets and retweets buttons, the inbox button, the more stuff button and the search button. Exploring the more option shows the My Profile, Favorites, Drafts and the Account & Settings spot so that all of Twitter’s tools are present in the App! This is a must have!

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A+

Look out! Wallets will be getting lighter by the minute due to the ease of access and the convenience of this excellent and effective “Amazon Mobile” App.

The Amazon.com homepage has been shrunken to the iPhone’s screen flawlessly, and the thumb of the user can now realize the intuitive interface and the hosts of books, movies and near infinite other goods.

All of the well-known Amazon.com features are here, including the 1-click buy option, the Amazon user accounts, existing carts, wishlists, payment and shipping options and even the customers’ previous order history. All of Amazon’s great shopping tools are here, so that a user can easily compare prices of books, or read reviews to see if the comedic “Religulous” DVD is worth buying (and it is).

Exclusive to the “Amazon Mobile” App is a new experimental function called Amazon Remembers. With this an owner of an iPhone or iPod Touch can take pictures of things that the mobile consumer might want to buy or find out about. Amazon stores these things for you and if it is a product the “Amazon Mobile” application searches the web to find one similar; when Amazon finds an interesting product it will even email the user to let them know it is available alongside the photo that was taken.

If for nothing else, Amazon.com has proven a great source of information to find out about curious books and movies, and the customer reviews can be very helpful.

IMPULSIVE Review Grade: A