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The drum pad and beat maker app craze continues with the release of Ultimate Beat Maker [Dubstep] for the iPad. The app, designed with nearly 50 different Dubstep and electronic music beats, allows you to set and combine any of those 48 beats with the tap of a button. While lacking in a number of features that would make this a must-own app, it is still very fun to use.

This is a very basic app, basically providing a map onscreen of 48 Dubstep beats that you can choose from. Tap any of the multicolored blocks and a beat will … Read more

Vine is a sensation--one driven by celebrities, startups, and bloggers around the world, and the pedigree of being created by Twitter. As one of dozens of different video recording and sharing apps on the App Store, however, what makes Vine unique and worthy of a download?

Vine's premise is very basic. Record three, short segments of video and the software will string them together in a loop. While on its face value it might seem very elementary, there are actually some incredibly creative, unique applications of the platform, and because Vine is also a social platform, allowing you to … Read more

The premise of Takes is very basic. Take a handful of photos, add them to the timeline, and create a video with a soundtrack in the background of your photos. It takes only a few minutes to create these short videos and they can be instantly shared to your Facebook or Twitter accounts. With so many photo and video sharing apps on the App Store already, how does Takes stack up?

When you first open Takes, you are given a short tutorial. With only four screens, the tutorial manages to show you every feature you'll need. Because the app … Read more

The plethora of photo filter apps on the App Store sets the bar very high for any new app that attempts to carve out a space for itself. So it is with that in mind that Sketchoto Lite hits the iPhone, offering a number of clever, but oftentimes limited drawing and sketching filters for your photos.

The idea behind Sketchoto should be familiar at this point. You load a photo into the app or take a new one with your camera, crop it to fit the size of the app, and then choose a hand-drawn filter. Each filter will convert … Read more

The goal of Lost Kidz is to create a network of parents and individuals who will always be on the lookout if something happens to anyone else's child. Creating the sort of parental support that is crucial in today's world, Lost Kidz is as important as it is well constructed.

The app is easy to use. Turn it on and be sure to activate all of the notifications. When a child is lost in your area, the app will alert you with the information provided by that parent (or the police in the case of an AMBER Alert). … Read more

If there's one weak security spot for most people, it is their phone. Carried everywhere and containing almost every major piece of personal information they have, a lost phone can be a security and privacy nightmare. So apps like Mecrets are very attractive, providing an extra layer of protection against loss or unauthorized access of your personal data on your phone.

Mecrets opens to a combination lock interface. The app quickly explains how to set your passwords on the combination lock, and while it is vaguely more complicated than a simple touch screen, the added complexity is welcome when … Read more

Notes & Tags attempts to provide a unique experience that builds on the platform used by note-taking apps like Evernote. Unfortunately, it does not offer enough new features or tools to go above and beyond Evernote, and because both are free, it's hard to recommend this new app over the former if you are already using it.

The app is very basic. It opens to a note-taking screen where you title and create a note. You can add tags for each note that will then be used for searching and organizing your notes. Each note can be e-mailed or … Read more

With so many apps offering photo editing in some form, it takes a unique function to warrant downloading yet another app on most people's phones. Photo Mosaic Maker Free does a decent job of offering such an experience with a very easy-to-use mosaic creation tool that pulls directly from your photo library, but is it enough to warrant the download or upgrade?

When you start Photo Mosaic Maker, you're presented with the upgrade screen outlining exactly what features are missing from the free version. You can then immediately start creating your first mosaics. Assuming you've linked your … Read more

With so many to-do list apps for the iPhone, how do you know which ones are best suited for your needs? For the casual user, a free app is the best option, but there are hundreds of them to choose from, and some offer only marginal improvements over what Apple's Reminders app does. With Plain Tasks, you can enhance your to-do list creation without taking on dozens of tools you'll likely not need with this elementary yet effective, free app.

Plain Tasks operates exactly as you would expect. Upon opening, you are presented with a white screen and … Read more