Free iPhone

Bejeweled Blitz [Free], now a Universal app for iPhone and iPad, is a stellar game. It takes the glorious match-three mechanic of the classic puzzle franchise, pumps up the volume on the jewel and match bonuses, and then condenses it all down into frantic, one-minute bursts of eye-gasmic, point-laden play.

Do you know a dude who hasn’t see Bejeweled yet? At this point, I’m pretty sure that the only people who aren’t into Bejeweled don’t have computers or phones, which pretty much eliminates them from reading this web site. So, I feel like there isn’t much need to go on and on about how the match-three mechanic works or what makes Bejeweled feel good.

Let’s talk about what’s more relevent: what Blitz does differently.

In brief, Blitz is a super breezy and pyrotechnic take on the classic formula. Each session ends at the 60 second mark, and the goal is to score more points than people on your Facebook friends list.

What’s remarkable is how well the game supports its structure; all the high-toned sounds and explosive colors feed into the dizzying time limit, reinforcing a sense of momentum that the other versions of Bejeweled straight-up don’t have. Similarly, the off-the-wall points system bolsters the high-score aspect of the experience by giving you tons of opportunities to score ludicrous amounts of points.

Needless to say, the game part feels good as always, and the new aspects Blitz brings out in Bejeweled are solid and good, too.

Blitz has some other stuff. While not having Game Center to connect with friends and see their high scores, it does support Facebook — and superbly at that superbly. From in-game, you’ll see your friends Facebook scores or even app scores as naturally as you’d expect. It even talks to the Facebook app.

There are also some fun extra elements on the puzzle side that connect to a free-to-play or in-game currency system. Before each match, you can bring in different, multiple use abilities to change up the match. For example, there’s a whirlwind power that rotates the board. This is purchased with credits that you earn in matches and can, of course, buy via IAP. I think you’ve got to be really, really dedicated to earn enough to bring these (awesome) abilities into each match, so be aware that the F2P element will always be winking at you.

So, yeah, Bejeweled Blitz is what it says it is, and it’s smart about the whole “blitz” part, integrating some new elements while allowing the same core play to shine. While I’d love to see some official iOS Game Center love, the Facebook stuff is sharp enough to support the entire structure. Convince some friends to jump in and I think you’ll have a good time.

TouchArcade Rating:

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Family Feud (& Friends) – @Alli_Flowers

If you’re a fan of the tv game show, you’ll probably enjoy this version on your iPhone or iPad. The sound and colors are just beautiful.

Game play is fast, and proceeds pretty much like it does on tv – without the kissing host. Some of the answers are pretty dumb, but then you have to remind yourself that of 100 people surveyed, some of them are bound to be pretty dumb.

You are matched against random people on Facebook – not necessarily your own Facebook friends. It just brings a feeling of competition. The hook into Facebook also means that when you go for the “Lightning round” you can request assistance from one of your actual Facebook contacts. Unfortunately, there is really no way of knowing which of your friends play.

• Free – App Store link

Cleartune – @sethclifford

This week’s pick isn’t going to be a very long one, but it’s a good one, especially if you play an instrument. I’ve used many iOS app tuners through the years, but the one I’m using now is likely to be the last, simply because it is so good and so well-designed, my eyes are forever blinded to other tuner apps.

Cleartune is a chromatic tuner that comes as a gorgeous universal app with a range of options for different settings and instruments. It’s both visually striking and shockingly accurate, compared to some of the other apps I’ve used. To tune, you can use the built-in mic on most iOS devices, or an external one on devices like the 2nd and 3rd gen iPod touch. The interface is clean and easy to understand, and what’s really nice is that you can launch and instantly tune using the most standard setting, or make any number of adjustments to modify the tuning to suit your needs. It supports some very advanced pro-level options, but you don’t need to use them to get value out of the app.

Since I got my Apogee Jam a few weeks ago, I’ve been trying out a lot of music apps, and this is one that’s earned a permanent slot on my iPhone and iPad. I only fire it up for short periods of time before I jump into other apps, but every time I do, I really enjoy its elegant design and simplicity.

• $3.99 – App Store link

IntelliscreenX (Jailbreak) – @andrewwray

IntelliscreenX brings unique enhancements to Facebook, Twitter, RSS, enhanced Mail and the iOS 5 Notification Center/Lock Screen. The app requires you to jailbreak your iPhone in order to get the additional functionality into your Lock Screen and Notification Center, but the added value is totally worth the effort.

IntelliscreenX is extremely powerful, letting users instantly access useful information on-the-go without having to jump into individual apps to retrieve information and perform tasks and status updates. As an example of some of the awesome things you can do, imagine pulling your iPhone out of your pocket and quickly [read: instantly] glancing at your Facebook newsfeed, sending a quick update and then making a passing comment on a friend’s post — all without even opening the Facebook for iPhone app. You can view inline comments on your friends Facebook status updates, as well as ‘Like’ anything you see on-the-fly with no delay whatsoever.

Same goes for Twitter, where IntelliscreenX lets you tweet, retweet and even @ reply someone without having to jump into any of the many Twitter clients available in the App Store. For Twitter, you can either view your regular timeline or drill down to only mentions of you, so you’re never left lacking on what’s currently going on with your Twitter friends and followers. The great thing about the Twitter integration is that you can set it to refresh every few minutes, so you’re never left waiting for your stream to update.

Adding RSS feeds is a breeze, and checking/clearing unread email items is extremely handy when you’re not able to take the time to check individual emails outside of the Mail app itself. One of the best features of IntelliscreenX, however, is the ability to collapse sections in Notification Center. Far too often am I left with an endless list of notifications in Notification Center, and the ability to collapse individual sections is a life saver for organizational freaks like myself.

In addition to the things I’ve mentioned above, IntelliscreenX also comes with a handy Notification Center widget called ISX QuickSettings — similar to SbSettings — that gives you instant access to toggles like Bluetooth, WiFi, Data, Orientation Lock, Respring, Brightness and more.

The app is $9.99 in Cydia, but trust me when I say it’s well worth the money. If you’ve been looking for a way to customize your Notification Center and Lockscreen, look no further than IntelliscreenX in Cydia — it’s hands-down the best option currently out there.

• $9.99 – Cydia Link

PhotoStudio – @jdipane

Taking pictures is a ton of fun on a device that has a great camera, and what I find to be even more fun at times is editing them in various ways. I don’t always want to have to break out my computer to edit a photo, or make a change, and that is why I like PhotoStudio. Sure, there are a lot of applications that allow you to change the image, some allow black & white, some with other affects, but this seems to put them all in one easy to access place.

With 194 different affects to add along with text labels and much more, this application is great for those of us who love to take a photo and make it look completely different. Integrated right with most of your favorite social networks like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and more the application makes sharing your new creations a breeze. Give it a shot, I bet you like it!

• $1.99 – App Store link

Twittelator Neue – @reneritchie

I use a lot of Twitter apps because a) I use Twitter a lot and b) I run an iPhone website so I have to, but I tended to always go back to Twitter for iPhone because it was simple, elegant and it fit the way I use Twitter and how my brain works. That’s an important consideration. For an end user, the user interface (UI) is the app. You can change a lot of things behind the scenes and as long as the UI remains pretty much the same, the app stays pretty much the same for the end user. Change the UI, however, and even if everything else stays the same behind it, it might as well be a whole new app.

So it was that when Twitter for iPhone went 4.0 and the interface changed significantly, it felt like I was no longer using Twitter for iPhone, and if I’m no longer using that app, I might as well check out a bunch of others. As I said, I’m familiar with a lot of them, have spent a great deal of time with some, but hadn’t touched others since they launched.

Twittelator Neue was one of those and in trying it out again this week, I was reminded how delightful it was. Pure eye candy. There’s a new wave of apps that are trying out new layering effects and physics, new animations and interactions. Twittelator Neue is one of those leading the way. This is not Apple’s Twitter client. It’s not flat an utilitarian like Mail or overly skeumorphic like Find my Friends. It’s glossy, it’s polished, it’s fresh, and it’s refreshing.

It doesn’t have the functionality of some other clients. It picks and chooses its battles carefully. More functionality will likely follow in future updates but I hope they keep curating it, keep it simple.

Either way, if you’re testing out new Twitter clients and you want to give your eyes a treat and your face a chance to smile, check out Twittelator Neue.

• $1.99 – App Store link

Save the Pencil -@llofte

One thing you may not know about me – I love puzzle games. I love all range of puzzle games, from the easy, relaxing games to the extremely difficult, brain-stretching ones. Save the Pencil is right in the middle. It’s fun, cute, a bit stress-inducing, and challenging.

The point of the game is to help the pencil, HB, draw lines between all the dots. Easy enough, right? Well, you must go through every blue dot once, and only once. The yellows dots must also be connected to, but can be used as many times as you want. The red dot? This is the dot that you must end on. That’s not all, though! You must also stay clear of the slew of enemies trying to break your lead, including paper clips, rulers, and erasers. As if that wasn’t enough, for those of with OCD, there are up to 3 stars you can collect along the way.

Seriously, this game is great. Oh, and did I mention? TiPb is giving away 5 promo codes! So go enter, or better yet, grab it now!

• $0.99 – App Store link

Diptic – @andy_mellor (Reader’s Choice)

Diptic is a really cool, simple app for creating photo montages.

The thing I love most about it is the simplicity! Choose from a pre-built layout (or amend one to suit) choose your pictures from your camera, library, Flickr or Facebook. Zoom and move it to fit the box and move onto the next pic. Theres a few effects you can use, like rotating and mirroring, change the borders etc. too. Then just export to your favourite social network or just save to your library.

I mainly use it for twitter to get more pics in one tweet and give a much better feel for what is going on. I recently went to see Coldplay and by the time I left the arena I’d tweeted this pic, gives such a good impression of the variety that was in the gig, much better than just one photo.

• $0.99 – App Store link

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so we will be choosing one reader to make a submission each week! Just look for the announcement on twitter or our Facebook page each weekend for a chance to be picked! In the meantime, jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• Worms Party: Larry, the worm, was at the party and decided to take a nap. However, his friends decided to pull a daring prank. They tied a turbo engine to their sleeping friend’s back and fired it up. In the blink of an eye their friend burst through the wall and was outside the house, flying through the dark of the night, on a great adventure! Wish him luck! [$0.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

• JabMe 3.0: Now you can jab your Twitter, Game Center and Facebook friends in one app. [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

• Tumblox: Who would have thought that a simple box full of boxes can be such a brain-twister? By just using buttons or the gravity itself, you can let cubes fall onto their destinations in over 80 carefully handcrafted puzzles. [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

• Orb Zone: Steady hands required: Route your orb through 48 tricky levels in this challenging game of skill. Collect enough energy crystals to get to the next stage, while avoiding nasty obstacles. [Free for iPhone and iPad - App Store link]

• Spark: Automatically let the people who matter know where you are when your battery is about to die. [$0.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

Any other big app or game releases or updates today?

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• Kick the Buddy Episodes: Buddy did not waste time either and prepared a surprise. Meet a cheerful Santa Claus on your roof in the new Santa Stops Here episode. Hit the Buddy with a Christmas tree or blow him up with fireworks! And you can do a lot more in this “truly Christmassy game”. [$0.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

• JabMe: Now you can jab your Game Center and Facebook friends. Send jab messages with awesome sounds to your friends. It’s the world’s first app to let you message your Game Center friends. [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

• Frosty Camera: Lets you take frosty photos of your family, friends and even yourself. Apply our special photo effects and frosty frames in Real Time.Watch as Frosty Camera transforms the world around you into ICE AGE. [Free - App Store link]

• Love Injections: “Love Injections” are extraordinary ways to surprise the one you love. It stirs your creativity, to think outside the box when surprising someone. With more than 200 images and text it’s full of original ideas to express your emotions. [$1.99 for iPhone - App Store link] [$3.99 for iPad - App Store link]

• Shiny Treasure: Become the richest and most feared pirate of the seven seas in Shiny Treasure! Build guard towers and use the powers of the mysterious green pearl to protect your valuable treasure chest from evil pirate looters! A tower defense game. [Free for iPhone and iPad - App Store link]

Any other big app or game releases or updates today?

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Back in September, Skype debuted a new Skype 5.4 for Mac Beta offering Facebook integration in the form of chat and news feed support. The company has now expanded that integration to include support for Facebook video calling.

Initiating a Facebook-to-Facebook call from within Skype is quite easy; all you need to do is connect your Skype and Facebook accounts. Then, select a Facebook friend and hit the video call button in Skype- your friend simply picks up the call from Facebook. This new feature lets you maintain social connections with your Facebook friends and compliments previously announced features such as being able to see when your Facebook friends are online, read their status updates and IM them all from Skype.