The physical book is a fun read but the iPad versions brings the characters to life. I was the Project Manager on this book and I had a great time working with the team. The brainstorming sessions were great; the list of fun ideas was huge. Below is a just released video of the book. Outback Odyssey was developed by iStoryApps.com.

For the last several months I have had great fun working with www.istoryapps.com. They are a publisher and developer of high quality books for the iPad. Most of you know me as a game developer, but my background is in education, specifically teaching children how to read using technology. I leveraged that experience to create games for adults such as WordPop! When I got the change to work on some children books I jumped at the chance. My role was to work with authors and illustrators and brainstorm with them how the team could transform their book into an interactive iPad iBook. There are several books in the queue at Apple but below is one of the first books I worked on. Working with Woody was fun and inspiring. The more he understood the platform the more ideas we had. Well, enough writing. Please watch the video below and let me know what you think.

Our Latest Press Release.

Smart Box Design today announced that WordPop! for iPhone now has a “Brag” feature allowing players to quickly and easily email their family, friends, and co-workers their longest and highest scoring words. WordPop! requires just the right combination of word-building strategy, skill, and luck. Now over 60,000 players of WordPop! and Diet WordPop! can have “Bragging Rights” when they make that great high scoring word. This free upgrade is available now for download on the App Store.

“With over 60,000 downloads of WordPop! and Diet WordPop! our players are very dedicated to the game and love to outdo each other. Now they can quickly brag about their latest word and impress their friends” says Todd A. Sherman, President, Smart Box Design, “Additionally, bragging motivates players to do better as they attempt to out score each other.”

WordPop! has a Best Words list and a global Best Words list located online, but until now, players could not readily show off their Best Words. The addition of a Brag button within the game and on the Best Words lists solves this. When Brag is selected, a formatted email with the latest and greatest best words appears. The player simply decides who they want to impress and then send the email on its way.

WordPop! requires just the right combination of word-building strategy, skill, and luck. The 6 x 6 game board is filled with randomly selected and placed letter tiles. The object of the game is to clear the board by creating words. As each word is formed, the tiles in the word are removed and the remaining tiles fall to fill in the gaps, creating new word possibilities. Players need to plan ahead in order to clear the board and move on to the next round. Since the letters are randomly selected and placed on the board, each round of the game is unique, providing unlimited gaming experience. As players gain confidence and experience their word building skill naturally increases.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch
* Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later
* 2.8 MB

Pricing and Availability:
WordPop! 2.1 is currently $0.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category. Diet WordPop! is Free.

WordPop! 2.1

Purchase and Download

Today’s Best Words

Smart Box Design LLC, based in Bellingham, Washington, creates exciting high-quality thinking games for mobile devices. Smart Box Design develops and publishes games for iPhone, iPod touch, and the iPad. The company’s games include the award winning WordPop!, Diet WordPop, WordPop! Volt, Triples, Farkle Dice, Word Watch and Word Monaco Solitaire. For more information about the company, visit Smart Box Design online. Copyright (C) 2010 Smart Box Design LLC. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Using the letters in the grid, find and submit a word that no one has found yet. The letters do NOT have to be adjacent like they are when playing on your phone or iPad.

5 winners will be chosen at random. Contest ends 6/25 at midnight, PDT.

Make sure to provide your email address so we can contact you if you have won.

Posting your word is a quick and easy. Remember only one word can be submitted per day.

Be sure to tell your friends and family members about the contest so they can play too.

I found Lost (the TV show) with my iPad. Even though I pay for cable television I find it difficult to watch a show on a regular basis as I am usually working or researching when the prime time shows are airing. I typically would watch Lost on Hulu in bed when I was too tired to do anything else, but that meant disconnecting my laptop from my office environment (my laptop is connect to my second monitor, video conferencing camera, printer, backup hard drive, iPod Touch, phone, etc.) and plugging it in my bedroom. Not that big of a deal, but then in the morning I had to reconnect everything for work. This only takes a few minutes, but that time adds up every day. Then along comes the iPad. I simply remove it from my stand, disconnect the charging cable, jump in bed, launch ABC app and I’m off watching Lost (10 seconds flat). Then after watching I jump online to see what other viewers thought of the episode.

I am going to miss Lost but I am sure with my iPad I will find some other great way to be unproductive before I go to sleep.

Goodnight.