FOX Broadcasting Company’s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (free) is a companion app to the new 13-part FOX series, Cosmos. The app offers a full view of an interactive cosmic calendar which visualizes the history of the universe throughout the year. Episode sneak peeks and synopses are included along with additional videos, as well as a production diary and bios of those involved with the production. The visually impressive app stands on its own, but it’ll be of more use to fans of the show.
NCAA March Madness Live from NCAA Digital (free) has upgraded to version 4.0 for the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The app has been redesigned for iOS 7. March Madness Live lets users log in with their television provider to watch live streaming tournament games on TBS, TNT, and TruTV. CBS games don’t need a paid TV subscription. Live radio broadcasts, game alerts, live scores, and an interactive tournament bracket are featured in the app. Video highlights are also included, as users can track “unbelievable moments” in real-time from each game.
Continuing in its goal of encouraging aspiring animators, The National Film Board of Canada has released NFB StopMo Studio a redesigned and improved version of its original NFB PixStop app first released over two years ago. The new app provides a smoother user experience and enhances the set of creative tools within the app, adding contextual help and tutorials, and new video and audio editing features such as titles, sound effects, and more. The app allows the budding film-maker to easily shoot a series of photos which can then be animated and edited into a stop-motion film, along with the ability to add effects and vary animation rates on a frame-by-frame basis and easily export and share the results. At $1 it’s definitely worth a look if you have any interest at all in stop-motion animation.
StoryToys is back with another pop-up book, this one featuring the work of acclaimed children’s author Eric Carle in The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Friends — Play & Explore. However, unlike many StoryToys pop-up book apps, Caterpillar offers more than just a few page turns and basic interaction. The app features interactive games for children, in addition to a host of animal facts. Characters from a number of Carle’s books are brought to life in the author’s style. The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Friends currently costs $3, and is the best StoryToys app we’ve seen in some time.
