Get ready for your next match-three app purchase. Are we serious? Aren’t there enough (too many) match-three games in the app store? While it is arguable that iTunes needs another match-three style game looking to ride the Bejeweled bandwagon, Groovin’ Blocks is not your common match-up app. As the name implies, Groovin’ Blocks has been placed by Zoo Games as more of a jam session experience than a traditional puzzler. And rather than riding the wave of me-toos in the App Store, Groovin’ Blocks rides off it’s own previous success in the Wiiware download store.

A little time with Groovin’ Blocks will remind you of visiting your favorite dance club. Any fan of techno beats and flashing lights will most likely get into this app’s groove. While it has rhythm at its soul, it has puzzling at its heart. Similar to Tetris in layout, players must arrange stacks of colored blocks in an empty space. Blocks are eliminated by matching three or more blocks of the same color. By this process space is freed up for the oncoming blocks from above. Power-ups and multipliers are introduced into the mix by aligning downward arrow hits with beat vibes scrolling in from the sides of the screen. Multipliers remain activated as long as blocks are dropped into place in step with the game rhythm. Dropping blocks with special symbols on them to the beat awards power-ups. Power-ups can increase the value of nearby blocks or can blow up blocks around the power-up holder.

The game sports 50 levels of jiving action all arranged according to song. Locked levels can be accessed through achievements involving matches, power-ups, and multipliers. Three different difficulty levels – Casual, Experienced, and Hard – are available. Songs have a noticeable Nintendo feel to them, yet each is different enough from the others to make things interesting. The user interface is well arranged; however the instructions boxes could use a little stylish attention in our opinion. Zoo Games has not built in an online scoring system yet, but we think they will be adding these features in the near future.

Groovin’ Blocks is definitely not your run-of-the-mill match-three puzzler. While it is Tetris-like at its core, the app offers enough surprises along the way to make it stand out in a night-club crowd. For its current price of $1.99, we recommend you take a look at Groovin’ Blocks if you feel like bustin’ a move in the grocery store waiting line.

We bring a huge selection of iPhone game reviews to your fingertips. Stop by AppSmile where you can find out all about the best iPhone apps and what they can do for you.

There are two ways to deliver video files over the web: (i) progressive download and (ii) streaming. Progressive downloads are typically cheaper and work with any server, but do not offer content protection nor seeking to undownloaded parts. Streaming servers offer these functionalities, but must be installed on your server(s). Since server side access and / or knowledge is not always readily available, some developers choose an “in between” solution of HTTP streaming through the use of a small server side script (e.g. PHP, ASP, etc.).

HTTP streaming works through a very simple mechanism. Every time a seek operation is performed, the media player makes a request to the server side script with a couple of GET variables. One is the file to play and one is the start position. The server side script then starts the video from the offset given. Below is a short example. After you start the video, you can directly jump to any part in the video without having to wait until it is loaded.

Enter HTTP Live Streaming. The basic mechanics involve using software on the server to break an MPEG-2 transport stream into small chunks saved as separate files, and an extension to the .m3u playlist specification (.m3u8) to tell the client where to get the files that make up the complete stream. The media player client merely downloads and plays the small chunks in the order specified in the playlist, and in the case of a live stream, periodically refreshes the playlist to see if there have been any new chunks added to the stream.

This is in contrast to real-time streaming, as there would necessarily be a minimum latency of whatever duration the server slices the stream into (Apple refers to 10 seconds as an example). As the server encodes the video and slices it into 10 second clips, for instance, it creates or updates a playlist for the stream with the URL of the next clip. The client begins by downloading one or more of the clips, playing them in order. As one clip plays, the client begins downloading the next specified clip until it reaches a tag in the playlist that signals the end of the stream.

Adaptive Streaming allows programmers to offer a higher quality viewing experience to a broader audience. Being able to offer HD streams all the way down to low bandwidth streams, without pauses or interruptions of the video, makes for a significantly improved consumer experience.

Learn more about iPhone HTTP Streaming segments. Stop by Ankoder site where you can find out all about Online Video Encoding and what it can do for you.

It’s a wonderful feeling to listen to the theme music of your favorite TV show or movie because it brings back memories of how you might have spent time watching those things. And there’s no doubt that they had to be wonderful moments too. Apart from that these songs also have a melodious ring to them that make you simply love them for there simplicity.

You can now simply duplicate those tones onto your iPhone and not just that, but as ringtones! So now every time you get a call, you here your favorite theme and who knows, you might just get a few head turns. No one could possibly resist the hypnotic notes of the Mission Impossible theme which became just an instant hit soon after its release! Or if that’s defunct for you then you could try some added quirkiness for your phone with Mr. Bean or Pink Panther tones!

If that is also not to your liking, then there’s the popular Sex and the City, CSI Las Vegas and the ever so cute Office. Those with kids will find that sometimes pandering to their children is not such a bad idea after all. So their kids will be amazed when they hear Popeye’s trademark salty sailor voice pouring out from their parent’s iPhones. Or even the quirky Addams Family and who can resist the cute little Smurfs?

Movie based themes are aplenty here. So make your pick from famous movies like Terminator, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Transformers, Superman, X-Men and of course, the super sexy James Bond.

When you’re done with browsing through all these ringtones, you’re not going to know which one to pick! And in all probability, you’re going to end up picking a lot more ringtones than you need! And that’s totally cool because you don’t have to pay anything for these ringtones! The coolest thing is that you get to listen to these ringtones before you download them for your iPhone. Turn uber cool with awesome ringtones that you can find.

Thom crafts articles for Mac software experts, PocketMac. They specialize in Apple related software, including their software to create ringtones for your iPhone, Ringtone Studio 2.0 for the iPhone.

Rock Band, the wildly popular music game that has been causing a stir across the nation for some time now, has been released by Electronic Arts into the app store. With its near-console quality graphics, varied song selection, and spot-on controls, Rock Band cranks the fun dial to 11.

Rock Band offers three modes of game play: Quick play brings 15 built-in tracks to your fingertips; World Tour takes you through a fun-filled trip to multiple cities; lastly, Multiplayer allows a meet up with friends online or over Bluetooth and rock it out party style. Tracks are arranged according to difficulty level. While some songs are pretty easy, others reach a range or practically impossible. After a song is picked, players can select the instrument that they want to play with. Drums, bass, guitar, and vocals are all present to choose from. Every song has its own difficulty levels (easy, medium, and hard) and tapping challenges increase relatively. Players will travel throughout the world in World Tour mode. Boston is initially unlocked while New York, Seattle, Paris and Moscow will need to be unlocked as the tour progresses. If players have a Facebook ID, Leaderboards are available to peruse. Online play gives an experience for multiple players who can play the same song using different instruments, although not at the same time. Once each player completes the track, their respective scores will be combined to create a final score. Bluetooth grants a real-time multiplayer experience which is a lot more fun. Achievement statistics are accessible in the World Tour menu.

Graphically, the game is very impressive, even on the small screen of the iDevice. Bass and guitar require you to tap on pick-shaped spots at the bottom of the screen as notes stream vertically down a fretboard. Band animations play in the upper part of the screen. Tapping as the “notes” cross the target mark will earn you points and keep the song in tune. If you miss notes, the instrument sound will drop out and you’ll hear pick scratching noises. Long streaks of successful notes earn multipliers and greater points. Flicking the iDevice at the appropriate time puts you into overdrive. When using drums, you’ll still see notes streaming down a fretboard, but you’ll be tapping objects that resemble drums at the screen bottom. Missing notes on drums results in drumstick sounds. Vocals are a bit different. You’re still required to tap, but the notes stream horizontally across the screen. If you miss enough notes, the song will stop completely and indicate that you’ve failed.

In the audio department, Rock Band shines as much as it does visually. Included are 20 CD-quality songs from the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joan Jett, Smashing Pumpkins, Blink’2, Foo Fighters, Motorhead, All-American Rejects, and more. In-app purchases are present with the ability to buy more songs in pairs for $0.99. All the controls worked perfectly as expected in our experience with the game.

As it can be quite difficult to play through a track without missing a note, replayability is very high. The game is just plain fun to play too. Although there are similar games in the App Store such as the Tap Tap Revenge series and Guitar Rock Tour, none give the full package that Rock Band offers. Plus, the others are more forgiving than this title. Rock Band is top dog if you want the most demanding tapping experience on the iPhone and iPod touch. With a price tag of $9.99, it does cost more than the competition. But we think it’s worth it. This game shreds a 5 star solo right in the palm of your hand.

Looking to find the best deal on iTouch games, then visit www.AppSmile.com to find the best advice and free iTouch games for you.

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If you like quirky stuff, then you’re going to love surprising people with ringtones that are really cool and interesting. These ringtones can guarantee heads turning and people sitting up to take notice. Ringtones may have some sort of a gimmicky feel to them because of all the options available, but it depends entirely on the user on how it can be carried off.

If you’re into unique and different sounds, then you’re going to enjoy these rigntones that play different animal sounds. You can keep a different sound for each person who calls you and so if there’s someone annoying you can keep the mosquito tone as the ringtone for their calls and you’ll never need to look into your iPhone again to find out who it. Swat that mosquito off just like he deserves it with this ringtone!

You can hear the sweet sounds of birds chirping away to glory; and set this ringtone for someone really sweet and you’re bound to pick up the phone with an extra long smile every time they call you. Doesn’t that sound nice? But how about something funny? Then you need to try the chicken rap and you’ll break into a fit of laughter! This cool ringtone’s got chicken sounds neatly combined with an awesome chicken rapping his heart out for his audience, or you can pay the chicken diva ringtone and get into a laugh riot with your friends!

How would you like to annoy someone? Set the catfight ringtone on your iPhone and watch the alarming results yourself. It’s got a realistic take on how cats fight and it’s sure to raise hackles.

If the 1992 hit ‘I’m too sexy’, was your thing then how about having it on your iPhone as a ringtone? It is going to be with a difference though since it has been sung by chipmunks! Nevertheless, if farm animals are what you like, then enjoy the goat bleating ringtone for your iPhone.

Thom crafts articles for mac sync software leader, PocketMac. They specialize in Mac and Apple related software, including their software to create ringtones for your iPhone, Ringtone Studio 2.0 for the iPhone.