Mini-review: SmallTalk for Aphasia

SmallTalk is for people with Aphasia –  an impairment to your ability to speak, commonly brought on by a stroke.

The main feature is the visual glossary, a set of every-day terms rendered as cartoons – enabling the  user to communicate at a very basic level, such as asking for food or saying hello.

Additionally there is a set of videos of mouth-positions for self-practice, which is part of the rehabilitation program for stroke patients.

Notes: the main list of terms and icons is pretty easy to navigate – the list is not long enough to require a category or menu system.
There is one major navigation flaw, in that once you have launched the videos or the glossary, you cannot return to the start screen – you must exit and relaunch the application.

Verdict: this is more like an advert for the full Lingraphica product rather than something for day-to-day  use – the list of terms could be much longer, and sorted into categories.

Version: 1.0  | Size: 23MB (due to video content)

iTunes: Small Talk for Aphasia, Free.

Developers: www.aphasia.com

Review by: JimbobC

The sky is #ccc: ColorBlind Avenger

I wanted a simple app for determining the colour values of things I photograph, so I could steal colours from nature to use in web designs.

I wasted a bit of time with Think Ink (free) but it doesn’t do the hex values, and keeps trying to sell me “Neenah paper”, whatever that is.

Although intended primarily for colour-blind users, I’ve found that ColourBlind Avenger does exactly what I want, simply and quickly.  As a bonus, it also gives you the plain English name for many shades, which is fun.

The developer describes the genesis of the app here:

The basic idea is that you can take a picture of anything and then tap anywhere on the image to get color values and more importantly color names for that point. I first found out that I’m colorblind when I colored Santa Claus brown in Kindergarden. Those darn crayons with labels torn off.

Rating: Recommended app. Excellent for people with colour-blindness, web designers, decorators.

Store link : £0.59

Developer: Brian Wardle | Version: 1.1  | Size: 0.3 MB

For extra fun, run the HEX value of your chosen colour into Kuler from Adobe, and voila, a fun swatch:

Swatch by kuler, colour by OxfordBus.Co.

Review by JimbobC

ps if you want something a bit more full-featured, for a higher price, check out cliqcliq, which looks slick.

I want one: BeBot, the musical synth app

Watch the video:

This thing looks like the most complete musical instrument (disguised as a toy) to appear so far. £1.19 seems a small price to pay for becoming the new Ray Lynch or Vangelis.

2 small problem blocking me from musical stardom:

• Sound is still broken on my phone;
• I’m crap at music.

The normalware.com website has a nice manual for the app, but sadly it does not include instructions on how to acquire musical talent.  Hopefully there will be a flood of tutorial videos once this app takes over the world.

More from the app store:

Bebot is a feature-packed, polyphonic musical synthesizer with a unique multitouch control method, personified on-screen as an adorable animated robot character who moves and sings the notes while you play.

Featuring four different synthesis modes, juicy analog-sounding filters, a versatile delay/looping effect and overdrive distortion, Bebot is a full-fledged realtime synthesizer, offering a wide range of sounds and a high degree of control via the multitouch screen.

Up to four notes can be played and controlled simultaneously using multiple fingers. The note grid display, autotune system and user-programmable scales help you to play in tune with ease. Don’t just listen to your iPod music – play along! Or simply have fun making noises with your fingers, and let the cartoon robot entertain you and your friends.

Verdict: why oh why haven’t I replaced my phone yet
Version: 1.5, 1MB
iTunes store link (iTunes rating: 4 star, 100 reviews)