The Online Magazine Focused on App Design, Branding & Marketing

Fans of EA’s Dead Space franchise are eagerly awaiting the third installment, which is set to release next week on February 5th. When they dive into it, however, they might find a horror far greater than reanimated, re-purposed corpses. Microtransactions.

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(Talksauce is Tapsauce’s regular editorial series. Whatever is written here is the opinion of the author, not of Rocksauce Studios. Especially if it’s a stupid opinion.)

There was a time when Twitter wasn’t the culturally accepted sensation that it is today. Social networking veterans will remember those rough early days when you tried to convince people that Twitter was the best thing since sliced bread and agriculture and everyone would roll their eyes and say something like “Why do I care about reading what everyone is eating for lunch today?” Of course, Twitter is far more than a bunch of people posting microblogs about what they’re putting down their gullet, but the popularity of people taking picture of their meals with Instagram and posting them on their timelines may convince a novice otherwise.

But a few New York City restaurants have taken a stand against this annoying but seemingly harmless practice.

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Brought to you by the folks behind Cut the Rope, Pudding Monsters is hands down the cutest game we’ve encountered this year. Not only are the little pudding monsters well designed, but the sound design and animations make this game addictive and entertaining! More after the JUMP…

The Game: Fluxx

The Device: iPhone 5

The Price: $2.99

The Basics: You might not expect a game that was designed by former NASA aerospace engineers to be so whimsical, but then you must never have played Fluxx.

Andrew Looney (of Looney Labs) first published Fluxx way back in 1996 and the clever card game has enjoyed enormous success over the years. Fluxx is a terrific party game, the kind that’s so easy and accessible that first-timers can pick it up in minutes and give experienced players a challenge. Looney Labs hasn’t rested on their laurels and has has continued to release all sorts of different themed Fluxx games over the years- Star Fluxx, Cthulhu Fluxx, Zombie Fluxx, Pirate Fluxx, even Monty Python Fluxx.

Now we have mobile Fluxx in an app that’s perfect for the property.

The Review: This is a fantastic adaptation.

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The App: HauteLook

The Device: iPhone 5

The Price: Free

The Basics: HauteLook is an e-commerce site that’s been around for about five years now, but they’ve launched an app that also offers their serves. For those curious, it’s actually owned by Nordstrom’s, who bought them out few years back. The app specializes in flash sales of higher end items for really good prices (think Michael Kors suits). The sales usually last from about two days to a week and once they’ve sold out, it’s gone. Because of that, the app is heavily built around demand.

The Review: The app itself is really user-friendly. It breaks merchandise down into the usual categories (men’s clothing, women’s clothing, etc) and you can go in and customize your profile so you only get alerts based on what you’re interested in.

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Mozilla, the company behind the ever-popular web browser Firefox, is entering the mobile world, where it plans to contend with the likes of Apple, Google and Microsoft. Only time will tell is they’ll be able to make a dent in this incredibly crowded market, but they’re moving briskly and with purpose. The company has officially revealed their first two phones (called “Keon” and “Peak”) and have announced a “first half of 2013″ release date…but for software developers only.

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The App: Cat Toy

The Device: iPhone 4

The Price: Free

The Basics: Of course there are pet toys available for your mobile devices. Of course there are. I initially downloaded Cat Toy because my girlfriend didn’t believe me that pet accessories were available in a digital format and this was the first app to pop up in the app store after a vague search. It fit all of the necessary criteria for the situation: it would prove me right in the discussion, it was free and my cats were nearby and could act as test subjects.

The Review: When it has your cat’s attention, Cat Toy works just fine. The main problem in this equation is your cat.

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Whenever I tell someone that I work for an app development studio and they want to see an example of our work, I immediately fire up Brewski Me. In addition to being a gorgeously designed and intuitive mobile application, its appeal is instantly recognizable. After all, what tasteful human being wouldn’t want an app that lets them rate and track the various beers they’ve consuming while discovering what their friends are trying? As far as I’m concerned, Brewski Me is one of Rocksauce Studios‘ crown jewels. It’s a perfect app.

And it’s only getting better! A few major updates have now gone live, deepening the Brewski Me experience in new and exciting ways.

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You went car shopping recently. How important was finding a car that would interact with your smartphone?

Finding a car that would interact with my smartphone was pretty important. Even more than that, it was about having a strong onboard communication system that seemed cohesive, seemed to work together and had an overall solid interface. Many companies have disparate systems, which is the main issue we ran into as we looked at different cars.

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A few weeks ago, our own Q Manning and Michael Robin took Apple Maps and Google Maps out on a trip and compared them side-by-side. Their conclusion? Apple Maps was better than Google Maps, at least in the Austin, Texas area. However, one opinion isn’t enough! Two of our business geniuses, Guthrie Bunn and Blake Fernandez, also embarked on a recent road trip, driving up and down California on Rocksauce Studios business. Their only ally on this trip was Apple Maps.

This is their story.

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