Grab your iPhone and download GarageBand, the app that Apple used to show off the power of the iPad 2 way back in March. It’s now available for the iPhone as well, along with AmazonFresh, a new app from online retailer Amazon that allows you to purchase groceries using your iOS device. In games, you’ll find yourself addicted to rhythm game Russian Dancing Men before long. We’ve also got a tough new physics puzzler in Bring Me Down, which packs great Unreal Engine 3 graphics.
GarageBand (iPhone, iPad) $4.99
A banner app from the launch of the iPad 2 is now available on the iPhone. Grab GarageBand and you can turn your iOS devices into musical instruments using their touchscreens, including guitars, keyboards and more. Your iPhone will generate the sound as if you were playing a real musical instrument, and the app can even teach you how to play.
Once you’re confident enough, you can also use GarageBand to record the music you create. You can save several tracks with the app, then edit and produce the music you record, as if your iPhone were a full studio.
AmazonFresh (iPhone, iPad) Free
Amazon is great for purchasing merchandise online, ranging from books and movies to technology and everything in between. Now, you can even order groceries on Amazon, and you can do so with your iOS devices thanks to AmazonFresh.
AmazonFresh lets you shop for groceries and use Amazon’s secure servers to make your purchases. When you buy something, you can choose when you want your groceries delivered to your door. The app also lets you scan barcodes to find products and order them quickly. Inititally available only to Seattle-area residents, hopefully AmazonFresh will expand to other major cities too.
Russian Dancing Men (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Rhythm game Russian Dancing Men has a Soviet slant and an easy-to-learn gameplay premise. In each level, you control a group of Russian dancers moving from left to right across a landscape riddled with obstacles you’ll have to avoid. You’ll hit various buttons in time with music to avoid spikes, pits and other objects in your way. The better you match the rhythm of the music, the higher your score.
Russian Dancing Men includes three difficulty modes and Game Center support that provides leaderboards and achievements, so you can see how your high scores rack up against players all over the world. It also includes a lot of humor and a cartoony style that makes it hard to put down.
Bring Me Down (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
Unreal Engine 3-powered physics game Bring Me Down has some pretty great-looking 3-D graphics, but its gameplay is pretty tough. In each level, you’re tasked with annihilating a stack of blocks to lower a character to the floor below. The trouble is, the guy you’re lowering to the ground is trapped in a ball that will roll off if you aren’t careful about how you lower him down.
Tapping blocks removes them, and you’re scored by how well you can remove the blocks without dropping your ball or two bananas (also encased in balls) off the side of the main platform. Bring Me Down includes 50 puzzle levels to play through. It also includes tips to help you solve each level and HD support for its great-looking graphics.
