Quick Look: Ali Jabs for iPhone
Ali Jabs is a bit of a departure for me in terms of reviews, because it’s not actually a game. Instead, it’s a collection of quotes and other details about the life and times of the famous boxer Muhammad Ali. I have to admit that the application is quite nicely put together. Listening to his quotes is pretty cool, the supplemental information about his life is interesting, and the photos have a nifty little 3D effect to them. The reality, however, is that most of this information is probably accessible on the internet, so this app is mostly going to appeal to those who are (a) die hard Ali fans, or (b) into collecting Ali novelties.
I Am The Greatest
The application presents you with 10 different images of Ali, each one linked to a famous sound byte of his. The images are actually pretty neat, as they look like collectible cards that would come wrapped in a package with a piece of gum. Plus, if you move your device around, the picture moves somewhat, giving it a slight 3D quality. I’m not sure if it was simply because of technical limitations, but it would have been nice to see this effect played up a little more. On any given picture you can hear the sound byte again either by tapping the picture or shaking the device. To move on to another sound byte you can click on the glove in the lower right corner of the screen. You can also access a screen via the information icon in the upper right corner that lists all of the quotes and lets you pick one.
In the lower left corner of the screen is a piece of paper. If you click that icon, you are taken to a screen with some information about Ali’s life. This was actually pretty interesting for me the first time through, but of course once you’ve read it there’s not much of a surprise there any more. The other thing that’s kind of interesting about this screen is that there’s an item at the bottom of each information screen with a link to a description of what the item is (which you can naturally go and by at shop.ali.com, if you’re so inclined). I’m kind of shocked that they didn’t actually integrate this better with the online shop, at least for those with some sort of internet connectivity on their device. The last thing of note is that you can actually email a friend from Ali Jabs to let them know about the application. A bit cheesy, but might have actually been cool if you could have picked which phrase you wanted to send the recipient.
Overall this is a nice looking, polished application. Once again, though, it’s a niche application in the sense that you probably won’t find it all that exciting if you’re not a Muhammad Ali fan. If you want to learn more about him it might be worth the 99 cents as well, but don’t expect the novelty of listening to quotes or looking at the slightly 3D pictures to last very long.
Final Verdict: On The Fence
App Store Link
App Shopper Link
[Note: image courtesy of App Shopper]
Tags: Ali Jabs, Eric Pankoke, iPhone, MGX Lab, Quick Look, review, technobrains
November 12th, 2010 at 4:26 PM
What kind of matter really, thank you for sharing, we have a common interest.