App Wrap: "Barefoot World Atlas," "Learn Chinese: Toy Story 3"
YNN highlights the coolest and newest apps for your cell phone or mobile device in the twice-weekly segment “App Wrap.” YNN's Adam Balkin filed the following report.
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Barefoot World Atlas
Add globes to paper books among the items children of the not-so-distant future might be talking about when asking this question of their parents, "That's what you used to use?" The "Barefoot World Atlas" app is a virtual globe kids can spin, poke and pinch in order to learn more about the people, places and significant events that mark our planet.
As you spin the world, you'll see flags which provide information about each country, including size and population. Users with wireless and GPS turned on will even learn the weather at a particular country at that particular moment and see how far it is from the exact spot the user is sitting. Music from the particular region also runs in the background.
Aside from the countries, users can see objects and animals that are relevant to where they are placed, ranging from the Japanese crane to the wreck of the Titanic, complete with explanations, animated illustrations and then actual photos to tap through.
Just released, "Barefoot World Atlas is also designed to take advantage of the new iPads ultra-sharp "retina display," though it will work on older iPads as well. An iPad-only app, "Barefoot World Atlas" costs $7.99.
Learn Chinese: Toy Story 3
Kids who want to become even more knowledgeable citizens of the globe now have a fun way to learn one of the world's major languages, called "Learn Chinese: Toy Story 3."
Disney Publishing points to reports that indicate with China becoming more and more of a world power, more and more parents are having their kids learn Mandarin. So, in order to help that effort, Disney published this app.
Users can hear the story on the app read on one of five levels. Level one is all English, level two is 25-percent Chinese and level five is all Chinese. The neat part is that as the child reads the English, he or she can flick any word down to the bottom and the word is instantly translated to Chinese.
"Learn Chinese: Toy Story 3" is an iPad-only app for $4.99.