The new app, which unlike previous apps such as competitor Square, requires no external add-ons for the phone in order to work.  Rather than reading the card via the magnetic strip through an add-on dongle swipe reader, the app reads the card’s imprint to get the account number, cardholder’s name, expiration date, etc.

The app works by creating a window-like frame on the phone’s screen into which the card is “placed” by holding it in front of the phone’s camera.  The app then reads the card and lets the user know it’s got the data, which is displayed for confirmation.  Then all the merchant has to do is send the information through their processor, verify the charge, and the sale is complete.

In addition to the new software, Card.io is launching a software developer’s kit (SDK) for the app that allows developers to create customized or specific uses for the application, such as integration with popular website card processing apps or merchant gateways.  Potentially, developers could also utilize the app to recognize things other than cards, such as business cards or other items.

So far, more than 160 apps, including most of the popular processing gateways as well as top-level merchants like Newegg, have integrated with Card.io.

Very cool and enabling.

Your job is to help the flightless horndogs across the chasms and safely to the spawning ground so they can get their groove on.

The game is a sort of 2D puzzle adventure mixed with some fun scenery and a great premise.  Unlike some games of its type, it’s not full of environmental messages and preaching.  It’s just lusty penguins trying to make a new generation of penguins.

The game is by veteran app game maker Polarbit (Reckless Getaway, Tank Riders, Wave Blazer) and is only a dollar in the App Store.  It’s compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad with iOS 3.0 or higher.

Penguin Palooza is a lot of fun as your penguins hurl themselves at various angles or towards helpful tools or on-screen bonuses.  You direct them what to do and then hope for the best.  The more penguins you get across each chasm, the higher your score.

Definitely addictive and fun, the game is well worth the download.  Try it!

The game was made by developers involved in Minigore, Death Rally, Aqua Globs, and Angry Birds.  It can be played on its own or with friends.  It also includes a full-featured level editor that lets you make your own levels to share with friends or the Bike Baron world at large.

The game play is amazingly addictive and will keep you playing for hours.  So don’t play this game if you have no free time.  It also gets regular updates and lots of new player maps, so it never gets boring.

In fact, more than 32,000 user levels have been made thus far and the number keeps growing.  It’s a very popular game!

On the iPhone 3 and 4, it looks very good.  On the 4S and iPad 2, the graphics are really awesome.  It also plays on the iPod Touch 4th generation and the 32+GB 3rd generations as well.

Definitely a game worth trying (if you have the time) and are interested in something very new, unique, and totally fun. You’ll find it in the iTunes store.

The current favorite is Mini Motor Racing, which is a simple cartoonish motorized racing game.  It’s top-down racing game in 3D with some fun locations.  As you play, you can win points to upgrade your vehicle (or buy a new one) with each vehicle having more than one way to make it better, depending on your racing style.  You can play with up to four players when linked.

Fruit Boom is another imaginative and fun game.  This one sounds like it’s be warfare, but it’s actually a sort of battle and time management mashup.  As the local “Fruiterer,” your job is to collect fruits of the same type and throw them in the squeezer (press) to make fruit treats.  Screw up and things can get really hairy..  Tons of fun and very addicting.

Binary Mill has other games like Assault Squadron, Gun Club 2, Al Lowe’s Comedy Club, etc.  A new addition that’s very unusual is the Decide-o-Tron 8000, an app that works sort of like a Pandora for your game apps.  It watches your preferences and play style and learns your personality.  It then suggests games for you so you don’t have to flip through your catalog of owned games to decide what to play.  It even works on multiple platforms, so if you’re a PS/3 or Portable player, Xbox user, etc, then it will work there too.  Fun idea.

Definitely cool stuff coming out of this app house.

CineXPlayer has become the first and only iOS app to integrate Dolby Digital Plus into its playback.  This changes how the playback sounds dramatically and makes the upgrade to v2.5 well worth it.

I talked with NPX Software, which makes CineXPlayer, about their product and this upgrade.

“NXP Software aims to help people enjoy life to the full by delivering outstanding mobile multimedia experiences. That vision has seen CineXPlayer become a top video player in Apple’s App Store.  Many of our fans asked us to add true multi-channel sound.”

The app still allows you to move Xvid movies and content directly from one device to another without converting them, making it one of the easiest apps to use on your iOS devices, I think.  I use it on both my iPhone and my iPad.

NPX Software specializes in mobile multi-media and makes audio and visual apps for the iOS platforms.  They’re based in the Netherlands.

Well, now there’s an app to save you the embarrassment!  Toothpict is a simple little app that lets you alert your friends and (hopefully) let them alert you too whenever something is in your teeth.

Just load it up and a smiling mouth graphic appears.  Choose an appropriate food chunk from those presented, position it approximately where the offending chunk in your friend’s mouth is, and send them a photo via text message.

The app also comes with an obvious mirror option so that you can check your own teeth via your phone’s camera.  It’s a little awkward to use because of the iPhone’s layout, but it works.

FlightTrack Pro is an app that integrates with your Tripit, pushing flight alerts and maps to your phone.  Flight delayed?  You’ll know as soon as it happens.  Weather problems at your destination?  You’ll find out right away.  This app lets you fully manage your flights in real-time.

FlightTrack Pro lists over 5,000 airports and 1,400 airlines and can monitor them all.  It works on the iPhone, iPad, and Android.  Very cool.  Forbes listed this as one of their Top 10 Apps for Road Warriors – and for good reason.

Got friends coming or going at the airport?  FlightBoard is a great app for monitoring the Arrivals and Departures board for any airport in the world.  Why stand there getting a neck cramp staring at the screens on the wall when you can sit and view those screens on your phone?

That’s what FlightBoard is all about.  This is a simple, straight-forward, and very thoughtful app.  Well worth having if you’re traveling or picking up/dropping off friends or family at the airport.  I can’t imagine a limo driver or chauffeur who would go without this one either.

The app allows you to customize your workout with your own set of intervals.  You can even have multiples so you can have a M-W-F workout and a T-Th-S workout.  Or any other combination.

The app takes you through showing you the intervals you’ve set in sequence, going from one to the next.  For example, if you do warmup stretches for 3 minutes, then do pushups, then a rest, then squats, then a rest, and then jog in place, then a cooldown, the app would do something like this:

• Display 3 minute timer with “Warm Up Stretch” on the screen.  When the timer reaches 0, it changes to
• Display 50 rep display for pushups, and once clicked to say you’re done,
• Display a 15 second rest period timer, which when it reaches 0 becomes
• Display 20 rep display for squats, and once clicked to say you’re done,
• Display a 15 second rest timer, counting down to 0 to
• Display a 5 minute run in place timer which counts down to zero and
• Displays a 3 minute cooldown stretch and breathe timer.

This is a simple, straight forward workout app that is extremely useful.

Reaction pits you against two or five friends (you can’t play solo).  The game begins when each player touches their portion of the screen (all on the same phone).  Then some music plays and, randomly, a flash appears on the screen.  When the flash comes, everyone lets go of the screen (hopefully someone is still holding the phone) and it records the reaction speed of the players.

Then the winner is shown and reaction times are given.

So why is this fun?  Well, honestly, more than a best of three, this app is kind of lame.  There are situations where it’s awesome, though.  Here’s some ideas:

1. As a drinking game.  Have everyone play and the winner gets a free drink paid for by the loser(s).
2. As a random way to meet people.  Riding the bus?  Ask someone sitting next to you to play.  Instant friendship!
3. To test your left-right brain/motor reaction.  Play as two players, but against yourself.  Left hand on one side, right hand on the other.  Which one wins?

There might be other possibilities.  It can be fun, but it’s a little limited, so don’t bring this as your only entertainment on a long road trip..

This app receives your Twitter stream and tells it (literally) to you.

The app features a beautiful user interface that is classic, refined, and simple.  It lets you listen to your tweets by converting them to speech through your iPhone’s speaker or earbuds.

You can adjust the reading speed, tell it which tweets to speak and which to ignore (via filters), and more.

The app comes from App Cubby, an iPhone app development team that has been working on iOS since its public release in 2008.  The team has several apps to its credit include Trip Cubby and Gas Cubby, a traveling duo for the road trip.

Tweet Speaker is a great app and one that, once you’ve tried it, you’ll wonder how you got along without it.  The ability to listen to your tweets seems like a pretty dumb idea until you’ve used it for a while.  Then you begin to take it for granted as an easier, faster way to sort through your tweets everyday.