Black Friday and the holidays are coming, so the odds are you are planning to upgrade your gear. I picked up a two of the iPhone 5s models and am planning to get an iPad mini Retina. This means I have a couple of iPhone 4's and an older iPad mini to do something with, not to mention a Kindle Fire that just collects dust.

If you shop around, you can get some great deals when selling those old devices. It can be a bit of a hassle, but it's worth it. In my case, I ended up shipping off my old gear to three different companies.

NextWorth offered me the most for my old iPad mini... about $300 in fact. Many other buyback firms offered $240, so that was a big difference.

NextWorth also took my original Kindle Fire for almost $42 using their bonus 50 percent coupon code "BLCK50" which is good for Kindle only. Considering I picked it up a year ago for about $80, that's like renting it for $3/month!

AT&T gave me $118 for my old iPhone 4. That's not even a 4S.Other vendors wanted to pay me less than $80.

Finally, SellYourMac.com offered me $170 for my iPhone 4S. It more than paid for upgrading to an iPhone 5s, since AT&T had a $99 online promotion to upgrade!

Apple products retain their value particularly well. It helps that Apple keeps selling the older models. For example, the original iPad mini is still for sale, with only a $30 price drop. So your old gear still has value and I don't mind shelling out more for new gear, knowing that if I take care of it, I can get a lot of that money back next year! In short, shopping around doesn't just make sense for making purchases, but also for selling your old gear.  

Great news iPhone Lifers! Lifeproof, the manufacturer of the some of the most rugged, durable, and versatile iPhone cases on the market, has extended a special, exclusive offer to all of our iPhone Life readers. Read on to learn all about this great offer, which comes just in time for the holiday shopping season.

I am not alone in my great appreciation of the Lifeproof cases. Not only has a Lifeproof case saved my various iDevices on numerous occasions over the years, the Internet also has a seemingly endless stream of reviews and feedback from other iDevice users from around the world who attest to the high-quality and superior usability of the Lifeproof product line.

Now, for a limited time, Lifeproof has extended a special holiday offer exclusively to our readers in celebration of the season. All you have to do is head over to the Lifeproof website and place your order, making sure to enter the discount code iphonelife10 when prompted and you'll receive 10 percent off!

Don't delay though, this special offer will only be around for the next few weeks.

I count myself a big fan of the Lifeproof cases. Their low profile, unobtrusive designs are both elegant and highly protective. Whether you are looking for an iDevice case that is waterproof and ready for extreme duty, or are looking for a fashionable and stylish iDevice case that will also protect your iPhone and iPad from most calamities that may befall them, Lifeproof certainly has something to fit your needs and personal tastes.

You can read some more of my online articles about Lifeproof at the following links:

• Lifeproof: Leader of the Pack
• iPad mini: Lifeproof fre
• The Lifeproof nüüd for the iPad 2 - 4

More related:

• Otterbox and Lifeproof Join Forces
• Otterbox's New Preserver iPhone Case: The Best Attributes of Lifeproof and Otterbox Shine Forth

If you're in the market for a new iPhone or iPad, Black Friday (Nov. 29) is the day to take the plunge. Actually, many of the great deals start as early as Nov. 28 and continue through the weekend. In a previous post I mentioned two websites tracking Black Friday deals and summarized the best deals. I wanted to also point you to the continuously updated comprehensive roundup posted on MacRumors. Plus, they summarize the best deals in a chart at the top of the page. Some remarkable deals are to be had: iPad Air for $379 at Target, iPad mini (first generation) for $199 at Walmart, iPad 2 for $299 at Target, and iPhone 5s for $114 and iPhone 5c for $0 at Walmart. MacRumors also offers shopping tips, such as which online retailers charge local sales tax in which states.

In addition, eBay has posted their Black Friday deals, a convenient listing of which can be found on The Verge. The deals are available at specific times on specific days, and include the first-generation iPad mini for $239, the fourth-generation iPad for $399, and the iPad Air for $469.

Also, note that Walmart will match any Black Friday deal. You can read more on Techno Buffalo. According to the post, they started this price matching on Nov. 22. This is amazing. You can get Black Friday deals early without having to fight Black Friday crowds on Nov. 29.

If you're interested in tablet computers, but not necessarily the iPad, Latin Times is tracking the best Black Friday deals on the most popular tablets. 

Toymail is a cute, child-safe toy that can send and receive wireless audio messages. There is a ton of coolness about this idea. Imagine tucking the kids into bed from anywhere in the world, or enjoying an impromptu playtime while taking a break at work. 

Toymail is the brainchild of Gauri Nanda, an MIT entrepreneur who designed and marketed a runaway toy clock called Clocky. She has partnered up with her best friend Audry Hill (a mom of three), to come up with a fun and safe messaging system for little ones. The Toymail toys (which come in five characters) aren't just simple sound recording boxes. There's an integrated iOS app that let's you record, send, and receive messages to and from your little ones. You can even apply funny voice filters.

But the effort needs your help to get funded on Kickstarter. Even chipping in a dollar could bring Toymail to market, so go check out how you can help here. Only six days left to meet their campaign goal, so hurry!

We know you've come to rely on the bloggers at iPhoneLife.com for helpful reviews of all the best offerings in the App Store. With over 1 million apps for your iPhone and over 475,000 apps for your iPad, deciding which apps to download can be overwhelming. That's why we asked all of our bloggers to vote for their favorite apps released or updated in 2013. Here are their top three in seven categories!

Entertainment

Compiled by Siva Om

Our iDevices are revolutionary, considering the many ways they allow us to keep ourselves entertained. There are a tremendous number of awesome apps out there that deliver customized entertainment, but the following apps get our votes as the best of the best iOS apps for consuming entertainment media.

Pandora (free)

This free music streaming app offers the ability to fine tune music stations to your precise specifications. Unlimited music streaming and highly personalized stations helped make Pandora this year’s winning app.

You Tube (free)

Whether it’s for education or entertainment, research or silliness, YouTube remains a crowd favorite with its extensive catalog of free movies and videos.

Netflix (free, subscription required)

With a huge library of popular and critically acclaimed films, and a growing line up of award-winning, original shows, Netflix is definitely one of our favorites.

When it comes to tapping into our creative spirit, our iDevices have made it possible for everyone to be an artist and intuitively translate our imaginative impulses into just about any creative medium you can think of. Out of all the myriad options for iDevice content creation, these are our top picks.

Camera+ (iPhone, $1.99;  iPad, $4.99)

Camera+ is the immensely popular and feature-rich photo-capturing/editing, and sharing app that enhances your iDevice’s already capable camera, making the world of advanced photography techniques easily accessible.

Garage Band (free)

Apple’s Garage Band is undeniably the next best thing to having a full-featured music composition and production studio in your hands wherever you may go.

Procreate ($4.99 iPad only)

A 2013 Apple Design Award Winner, this intuitive app has incredible depth and potential for anyone artistically inclined, turning your iPad into a limitless, virtual canvas.

Social Networking

Compiled by Todd Bernhard

Gone are the days where you simply visited www.twitter.com to share your tweets or see what your friends are up to. A dedicated app makes it easy to upload photos and videos and stay in the loop, thanks to push notifications.

Instagram (free)

A picture is worth a thousand words, and Instagram makes it easier than ever to share those pictures with friends, fans, and countless others. The recent update adds 15-second video support, besting Twitter’s Vine app which is limited to 6 seconds. Numerous filters let you channel your inner Spielberg for custom effects. Your selfies never looked so good! And with Snapchat turning down $3 billion, Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram for $1 billion seems like a bargain.

Snapchat (free)

Snapchat addresses a specific segment of the photo sharing market. While other apps and social platforms want your photos to be shared with the world, Snapchat is designed to create self-destructing images that can only be seen briefly by the intended recipient then they are gone forever. There are workarounds, so politicians who like to share a little too much shouldn’t be overconfident!

Twitter (free)

Twitter’s own app wasn’t much to tweet about, originally. Most tweeters embraced third-party apps like TweetBot, Twitterific, and Tweetie, which led Twitter to purchase the company that made Tweetie. The result is a much better official app with full support from the social network leader.

Information & Search

Compiled by Todd Bernhard

Long ago, our phones displaced traditional media such as yellow pages, white pages, paper maps, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. Now, thanks to Text-To-Speech, the cloud, and always-on data connections, our phones combine GPS mapping with search engines and Siri.  The result is a robust solution for information access, making dedicated GPS units look like transistor radios compared to an iPod.

Google Maps (free)

Blame it on Apple, but the lackluster launch of Apple Maps necessitated a dedicated app from Google. As Apple learned, it’s hard work and Google has spent a long time building their mapping capabilities, with support for biking, walking, and public transit directions plus integrated search for hotels and more. Of course, Apple Maps is getting better with each release. Still, it’s hard to compete with Google’s cavalry of StreetView vehicles and petabytes of map data and images. 

Yelp (free)

When you want to search locally, Yelp has got you covered. For restaurants and much more, Yelp is a crowd favorite. Reviews are a source of dispute, with claims of fake reviews, pro and con, so remember, the best recommendations are from people you know. But the Yelp app helps you get the facts about businesses near you.

Chrome (free)

Apple has a love-hate relationship with Google, makers of iOS competitor Android as well as iOS apps like Google Maps and the Chrome browser. As with Google Maps, Chrome offers enough advantages over Apple’s built-in offerings that Apple had to allow it. Chrome offers tabs, private viewing, syncs with Chrome on other devices, is fast, and gets out of the way, which is important for a small screen device.

Productivity

Compiled by Nate Adcock

The best apps are those that help you get stuff done effectively. If an app doesn’t help you quickly organize a calendar or kill a zombie, it probably doesn't stay on your iPhone long. So, we have rounded up our iPhone Life favorite productivity apps that are so effective we never lack for zombie killing time!

Fantastical ($2.99)

Organize your life with this excellent calendar app that makes it possible to view monthly events and details together, and schedule a reminder into your iPhone with a simple, quick phrase.

Evernote (free)

Evernote will show up on just about every "best of" list you come across, and for good reason. Organize notes with sketches, images, and audio memos, and sync them across all your cloud connected clients.

Gmail (free)

Though Gmail is an app/service that requires a Google account, this app has a wonderful mobile email experience with auto-categorized email, priority, and uniform presentation no matter the endpoint.

Reading

Compiled by Nate Adcock

Reader apps are typically tied to a web store that sells books, magazines, or an aggregate of news feeds. Our excellent bloggers weighed in with the apps they prefer to curl up with for a good read! Let's check 'em out!

iBooks (free)

Featuring tons of the best authors and book titles that you will find (and always growing), this Apple add-on brings not only a superb browsing experience, but a very attractive and customizable reading experience!

Kindle (free)

It was a very close call between iBooks and Kindle, but at second place, the Kindle app is not hugely different from the reading experience in iBooks (fancy page turning, embedded content search widgets, etc.) You may find more competitive prices browsing the Amazon store (but separately, as you can only sync content in the app).

Flipboard (free)

Presents and curate webs site content (RSS, social networks, etc.) in a beautiful magazine-style layout. Brings together a superb iOS web reading experience to almost any content, and lets you save selections to your own custom magazine.

Health and Fitness

Compiled by Nate Adcock

Exercise and health apps are nearly as numerous as reality shows on TV these days. We received quite a list of votes back from our bloggers, and filtered them down to the best picks. From the overall standpoint of health, we think these three apps go together like wheatgrass, Greek yogurt, and kale (not sure those things actually go together, but they sound healthy!)

Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by My FitnessPal (free)

Keep tabs on all your diet and health stats in one place, and share your progress through this attractive app. Huge food database makes counting calories a cinch!

RunKeeper (free)

Track your fitness progress and improve your physical health with this GPS-enabled app that tracks you while you run, sets goals and helps you meet them!

24/7 ($0.99)

Technically classified as a "Medical" app, this app tracks your sleep cycles, can warn of a sleep disorder, and reminds you to get up and move to keep the blood circulating throughout the day!

DigiTimes, which has connections in Apple's supply chain and which is frequently a source of rumors, reported today that the Taiwan-based company Quanta has been tapped by Apple to manufacture the rumored 12.9-inch iPad, which some are calling the iPad pro. The report says the larger iPad will be targeted toward the education and enterprise markets. And it notes that Quanta is facing some serious design challenges with the larger iPad that could limit its availability. The report says the new iPad is expected to launch in the second half of next year. Interest in larger tablets seems to be increasing, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Apple jumped into this arena.

The same report says mass production of the iWatch is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2014, suggesting this new offering from Apple will arrive before the new iPad. According to a post on AppleInsider, the iWatch will have a focus on fitness and health and will come with a wide range of biometric sensors. I think this is credible information, given that Apple has a large number of patents related to health and fitness sensors. Plus, their new M7 motion coprocessor in the latest iPads and the iPhone 5s shows they've already figured out how to compile all the incoming data. It would be easy to imagine this same processor will be used in the iWatch.

According to DigiTimes, pilot production of the iWatch has already begun, but manufacturing challenges have led to low yields (that is, too many of the devices are defective), which has delayed mass production until the second quarter of next year. The report says Inventec, Quanta, and Foxconn are currently competing for the contract to manufacture the iWatch.

In other news, Apple has now confirmed that they purchased the Israeli company PrimeSense, which makes 3-D motion-tracking technology of the sort that powers Microsoft's Kinect, the gesture-recognition controller used with Xbox game console. Speculation continues that Apple will use the technology in their rumored HDTV, such that you'd control it just by making gestures in the air. A post on AppleInsider says it's unlikely that an Apple HDTV will come out in 2014, though.

Of course, Apple might have a completely different purpose for this sort of motion-tracking technology. In addition to Kinect, AppleInsider says other examples of PrimeSense applications include robots and 3-D scanners. In these applications, the technology is used to create a 3-D model of the environment.

Humans use only 10 percent of their brains. Actually, that's a myth, but it's probably not a myth that many of us utilize only about 10 percent of our iPhone's capabilities. In this weekly column I share tips and tricks for beginners, or anyone who wants to make use of the other 90 percent of their iPhone's abilities.

My family celebrates Thanksgiving with many different kinds of delicious foods. This week, I'm going to give you a smorgasbord of helpful tips.

1. Safari Autofill

Did you know that Safari can fill out virtually any form for you on the web? If you so choose, Safari can automatically fill in contact info, user names and passwords, and if you're feeling trusting, even credit card details. To do this go to Settings > Safari > Passwords > Autofill.

2. Save Precious Data

Don't have an unlimited data plan? Then it's important to keep track of what's using all that data so you don't go over limit. To see which apps are going to potentially use your data, go to Settings > Cellular and scroll through the apps. If you want to restrict a certain app to only use Wi-Fi, slide the toggle to the off position.

3. Customize Today View

The Notifications drop down menu (accessed by swiping your finger from the top of your screen towards the bottom) gives you all kinds of information about your day. It shows you reminders, weather, calendar events for the day, and what time your day starts tomorrow (always early for me). But, if you'd rather not include stock information, for example, you can choose to dismiss it from your day. Go to Settings > Notification Center and turn off Stocks. Same goes for Reminders, etc.

4. Disable Advertising Tracking

You may not realize it but iOS 7 enables the use of the Advertising Identifier (iAd), which allows apps to serve you targeted ads depending on your location. You can choose to turn this feature off by going to Settings > Privacy > Advertising and toggle Limit Ad Tracking to the On position. This will opt your Apple ID out of receiving ads targeted to your interests. However, iAd notes that by turning Limit Ad Tracking On, you will still get ads, but they won't be based on your interests. If nothing else, it will help limit those impulse buys that may get you into trouble. 

Apple has posted a Black Friday page on their website alerting people to special sales coming up. But they give no detail. They'll be hard pressed to match the great deals being offered by big-box retailers such as Target and Walmart. 

My recollection is that in the past they'd cut the price on an iPad $50. They don't typically offer a special price on the iPhone. The page suggests that you browse beforehand, and then show up on Friday to take advantage of the deals. And it says you can shop online, and then pick up your purchase at an Apple Store. The fine print says the sale will go from 12:01 a.m. PST to 11:59 p.m. PST. The promotional pricing can't be combined with any other offers. For the best Black Friday deals, see my previous posts here and here.

The website TUAW is also now tracking Black Friday deals.

If you're reading iPhoneLife.com, you already have an iOS device, or plan on getting one for the holidays. But the fun doesn't have to stop there. You will want to leverage some of the great accessories available for the iOS platform, especially iPads. Here are a few to consider:

1. Structure Sensor

3D printing is all the rage, but how do you get designs into your computer in order to print them? Enter the Structure Sensor, launched on Kickstarter. They sought $100,000 and earned more than $1 million! Just attach the sensor to your iOS device and capture objects and spaces instantly—even people! Use those designs for CAD and 3D printing; but remember, with great power comes great responsibility!

2. PUC

Last year, I bought a guitar for my daughter and it has gathered dust since that day. I should have acquired a JamStik or other high-tech option, which would have been more likely to keep her attention.  PUC, the makers of JamStick, now have a gadget for iPads that wirelessly connects MIDI-based musical instruments. The surprisingly tiny PUC works with hundreds of music-based apps and turns your iPad into a synthesizer and recording device.

3. MOCET Communicator

The MOCET Communicator turns your iPad into an HD VoIP phone station with enhanced audio quality. Plus it acts as a convenient stand and charging base. Make and receive calls from your iPad and enjoy high quality sound while listening to music, watching movies, and participating in video conferences.  

Before ordering any of these products, make sure you check which iPad model you have (Lightning or 30 pin, Air, iPad 2, etc., to make sure any you order the right accessory.) We all know that the iPad is the most popular tablet and most sought-after gift. With these accessories, the iPad becomes even more desirable and useful!

I don't typically write about the same app two or more times; there's only so much time to cover the one million apps out there. But VIPorbit, the Contact Manager deserves mention. VIPorbit was created by Mike Muhney, the co-creator of the original contact manager, ACT!, which took the world by storm in the late 1980s. When I last wrote about VIPorbit, I praised it, but criticized the color scheme. Thankfully, the latest version uses a much more elegant purple color palette.

VIPorbit has matured in other ways. It's cheaper, and even free for the iPhone app. Their optional monthly subscription is cheaper as well. I recently started a new business, and when I investigated CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems like Salesforce.com and ZOHO, it was shocking to see how expensive they can be.

If you just need a Contact Manager, VIPorbit can be a better fit, at a fraction of the price. The iPhone version is free, and the version that leverages the iPad is $20, but on sale for just $0.99 with a free trial! And the Mac version has a free trial for thirty days, before you need to commit to the $50 fee. The VIPsync sync service is a bargain at just $45/year, considering CRM services can charge that much for one month.

In continuing with the "free" trend, they are also offering a free e-book with advice for contact management. 

I love it when a plan comes together... and I love it when a vendor enhances their product, either based on my review, or coincidentally with my recommendations! Either way, such improvements need to be recognized. Such is the case with HeartMath and their Inner Balance Sensor for iOS.

When I reviewed the product, my only wish was for built-in support for the Lightning dock. And now that has been addressed.  In addition to enhancing the connectivity options, they have added cloud support to store your data. This way you can track progress, achieve rewards, and share your data.

Are you curious about what your trendy neighbors are buying and where they're buying it? I recently interviewed Peter Babiy and Surge Stefoglo, two of the founders of a new app called Slync. The app allows you to discover what others around you are purchasing. Users post a picture, the price, and the location of the item purchased. Whether it's your daily coffee, a new pair of sneakers, or a new iPad, Slync helps you find it near you. 

In this interview we discuss:

• Where the idea came from
• How they validated the idea by asking strangers at the mall
• The challenges of building a mobile app and overcoming thoughts of "giving up"
• Advice for anyone looking to build a mobile app
• Their vision for the future of Slync

Listen to the show:iTunes | Stitcher

You already have a ton of options when it comes to cloud-based music, including iTunes Radio, Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, Amazon Cloud Player, and more. Yet you might want to consider Google Play Music, since it offers a combination of features not otherwise available. As you know, services like Pandora and iTunes Radio let you listen to songs similar to what you like, but you're unable to request specific songs. And subscription services such as Spotify and Rdio let you request a particular song and typically charge a monthly fee of around $10, but they don't store your personal collection in the cloud. Then there are services like iTunes Match and Amazon Cloud Player that let you upload your collection to the cloud and stream music that you already own. Google Play Music combines the ability to request specific songs (like Spotify and Rdio) with the ability to upload your music collection (like iTunes Match and Amazon Cloud Player).

A very helpful article on TidBITS explains why this might appeal to you. The article notes that neither Spotify or Rdio has music by, for example, the Beatles or Led Zeppelin. But you might very well have that music in your own collection. The advantage of Google Play Music, therefore, is that you have all your music available to you in the cloud, plus you have available to you for streaming or downloading a universe of music you don't already own.

Google released their free Google Play Music app for the iPhone in mid-November. The TidBITS article explains that Google's service that lets you upload music is free up to 20,000 songs. If you also want to be able to stream songs you don't already own, then you'll need to opt for their All Access tier, which is $9.99 per month and gives you unlimited streaming from Google's catalog of 20 million songs.

The TidBITS article also walks you through the several components of Google Play Music. These include Music Manager, the desktop app that you use to upload your music, Google Play Music on the Web, which lets you manage your collection of music in Google's cloud, and Google Play Music on iPhone, which lets you manage your collection and stream music to your iPhone. As I understand it, the All Access tier actually lets you download and store music on your phone for offline listening.

Overall, the review really likes this service and says that one big advantage is that you can access your account via multiple devices.

W/Me by Phyode ($169.99) 

3 out of 5 stars

W/Me by Phyode is another wristband, like Fitbit Flex and Up by Jawbone, that monitors your health. What sets W/Me apart, is its ability to inform you of your mood and your body's vitality level. This fact alone was enough to inspire me to try out W/Me, but it also has some other really cool features. I received a free evaluation unit from Phyode, the company that produces W/Me. 

Basically W/Me is a tool to balance your body through rhythmic breathing. Your autonomic nervous system controls involuntary functions of the body, including breathing. If you concentrate on your breathing it really can balance your emotions. That's why we're told to take a deep breath when we're upset.

As someone who suffers from generalized anxiety, I took up meditation several years ago to help me relax. The first thing I learned was to concentrate on my breathing. Now, whenever I get anxious, I remember to breathe using my abdominal muscles instead of taking shallow breaths through my chest.

If you've never focused on relaxation techniques that focus on breathing, W/Me is a great product to get you started. Even if you are trained in breathing exercises, the wristband can be a great reminder.

When I received the product, it was packaged in an attractive wood box. Inside was the W/Me along with five different colored wristbands. You could choose each band depending on your outfit choice or your mood.

After choosing the lime green band because my kids liked the color, I turned it on. It welcomed me with a digital "Hi," scrolling across the band.

I downloaded the free W/Me app from the iTunes Store and it easily paired with my iPhone. There are no yearly subscription costs to use W/Me.

The app asked me to enter my sex, height, weight (ugh!), and age. This is used for what Phyode calls your life spectrum analyzer. After that, I started the measurement.

I had trouble getting the measurement to work while wearing the band. I wore it on my left wrist and touched the button on top of the band with my right index finger. I kept getting a message on the app to keep still. I stayed as still as a statue, but it wouldn't take my measurement. So, I removed the band and held the button on the inside of the band with my left index finger and touched the top button with my right. Then, the measurement began with no problems. 

The app encouraged me to stay calm and the timer was set for three minutes. You would be surprised at how long three minutes feels while taking the measurement, but the whole point of the device is to calm you, so three minutes is actually worth it.

As I continued to hold the buttons, I could see my heartbeat on the screen and a cartoon image of a beach and ocean were shown. The water level of the ocean rose and fell with my breathing. Occasionally a cute little fish would jump out of the water. Soon, the band vibrated. Time for my results.

The app showed my subconscious mental state was in the balanced circle but edging towards excitable. Maybe that's from the three cups of coffee I consumed that morning before taking the measurement.

Here's the rest of my summary: Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Age 40, Agility 74, heart rate BPM was 72.

I was a little confused about what my ANS age meant. I am 42 years old and my results showed me two years younger.

I asked a Phyode representative, named Bruce, what this meant.

"After measurement is finished, the app will compare your data with (our) database then tell you your ANS age is younger or older than your real age," he said. "If your ANS age is under your real age, it means your ANS status is better than people in the same age. Otherwise, it is worse than average. 

"This is because ANS status becomes worse as people get older. That's why we need to compare with people the same age. "Your ANS age is okay," he informed me, "but if you want better, keep doing abdominal breathing."

I wonder how much breathing it would take me to get my age back down to 21?

The agility score indicates my body's ability to adapt to the changing environment.
Bruce told me, if my agility score  is higher, my ability to adapt to the environment (and face stress) is higher.
"Your score, in the 70s, meets average," he told me.

The app is personalized to you, but also has the option of a guest using it to measure their mood and vitality.

There are five different levels of coaching through the app and one programmable level to practice abdominal breathing. Each level is defined by a different breathing rhythm. The higher the level, the slower your breathing needs to be. The app features a cartoon fitness whale called Attu that rises out of the ocean and disappears back under with a burst of bubbles in order to direct your breathing process. It's purpose is to help improve your ANS agility. There's also a customizable level you can program to help fine-tune your coaching.

I chose the highest level to start, since I have some experience in rhythmic breathing. After a few minutes, the reading showed an ANS age of 43 Agility 69 and BPM of 72. My ANS went up and my Agility went down so I guess I'm not as experienced as I think I am. Actually, while I was breathing I could tell I wasn't as relaxed as I'd like to be.

Another measurement I took later that day indicated I was in a passive state. Other mental states are pessimistic or anxious.

Attu the whale is a bit childish, but maybe that's the point. Maybe something as simple as a cartoon whale can stimulate relaxation.

Now, here I'm going to sound like a TV commercial. Because, not only does W/Me coach you on your health and rhythmic breathing, it's also a watch, email, and incoming call notifier, phone finder, flashlight, and camera shutter. Seriously.

W/Me gives you a digital readout of the time at the push of a button. If you so choose, it will notify you when you have new email or when you have an incoming call by vibrating on your wrist. If you've lost your phone press the button on your wrist and your phone will make a sound. W/Me can be used to trigger the camera shutter on your iOS device or check in on Facebook with your health stats. Another cool feature is a built in flashlight. The top of the band lights up to give you direction in the darkness. With another press of the button, it gives you a strobe light for others to find you.

Here are my overall thoughts on W/Me:

Pros:

• W/Me measures breathing and moods where other fitness wristbands don't. It coaches you on breathing techniques to help you relax and deal with stress better. It has some cool extra features.

Cons:

• The W/Me band will not fit extra-large wrists. It only fits medium sized wrists with a 6-7 inch circumference.
• The band is about twice as wide as other fitness bands, but that's because of all the extra features.
• It doesn't always perform measurements while actually on your wrist. I had to remove it and hold in my hands to get accurate measurements. And I don't usually wear large bracelets, so I don't think I would constantly wear the W/Me wherever I go.

The Final Verdict:

W/Me is a unique health wristband because it does what others don't by measuring moods and coaching relaxation techniques. If you're someone who struggles with relaxation and stress levels, and are willing to part with $170 bucks, I believe W/Me is worth a try.

City Birds (free from $0.99, Nov. 27-29)

3.5/5 stars

Matching fans are in for a treat should they decide to take City Birds for a spin. This game is pure casual action fun that’s not quite like anything I’ve played before on my iPad, and given the amount of games I have played, that says quite a bit. It’s easy to learn and quickly gets addictive. The problem is that once you’ve unlocked all the birds and completed all the challenges, which sadly doesn’t take as long as one would like, the game grows kind of stale. Hopefully updates that are in the works will address this issue so that this original game can remain fresh to its players for quite some time.

Your job is to rescue birds from the perils of crowded city life by capturing them so they can be transported to wildlife preserves. To do this you simply drag the birds from the air into cages that match the color of the bird. If you rescue multiple birds of the same color in a row you’ll get a color bonus which means extra coins. There are also three different levels of bird for each color, each of which gives you more points and coins than the last. There are missions to complete that will help raise your combo multiplier, and the coins you earn will allow you to unlock the bonus birds that were mentioned before. Occasionally a horse will fall from the sky (don’t worry, it has a parachute) that when tapped gives you a temporary bonus like making all birds the same color for some great bonuses.

So that the game isn’t a walk in the park, there are plenty of things to try and stop you. Balloons with dynamite float up from the bottom of the screen, and if you don’t swipe the balloons before the timer goes off the dynamite explodes and you lose a life. Wayward eggs that hit a cage before you can tap them cost you a life, regardless of whether the cage is empty or full. The biggest challenge is that the birds are constantly in motion, and if one flies off the screen you lose a life. Thankfully you can drag them away from the edge of the screen, but this can become quite a juggling act when you have lots of birds and few cages showing up. Then you add in the birds that come zooming by on jet packs and you’ll wish you had about 10 more fingers.

The biggest problem with the game is lack of variety. There are only a couple of deterrents and two types of birds, the normal fliers and the jet packers. This leaves you with the challenges to complete and the birds to unlock, but neither of those took as long to finish as I had hoped. Now the only thing I’ve got to work toward is earning a new high score, which is not something I really care about. I’ve already heard rumors that new birds are coming, but hopefully they’ll actually add to the game play instead of just being something else to unlock.  I’d also like to see unlockables besides the birds and more challenges to take on. Finally, I could see this game having a really interesting two-player mode where you can use the money you collect during the game to launch extra obstacles against your opponent.

There’s a real Saturday morning cartoon vibe where the graphics are concerned. The birds are well designed and the animation is decent.  Backgrounds are multi-layered with a nicely detailed foreground layer and a couple of generic silhouetted background layers to add some depth to the look. The music is enjoyable though there is only one song that plays throughout the game, and the sound effects are decent, but sadly the birds themselves really don’t make any noises.

Like many of the games I play that aren’t the umpteenth installment in a saga and don’t receive the hype that games from big publishers do, I was pleasantly surprised with what City Birds had to offer. The mechanics were fresh, the audio and visuals were fun, and while it lasted I enjoyed completing the missions and unlocking new birds. If you’re more into the unlocks and missions than chasing high scores you might find City Birds a bit lacking, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that future updates take care of that concern.

On Monday we published the iPhone Life Bloggers' Awards: Best Apps of 2013. You may have noticed a very important category was missing—gaming apps! That's because they're so important that they needed their own roundup. Bloggers voted for their favorite gaming apps in six different categories. Here are their favorite three gaming apps of 2013 for each category! 

Action/Shooters

Compiled by Siva Om

Action games bring the adrenaline rush and strategic planning of live combat to our iDevices. From the battlefield to the hunting grounds to whimsical side-scrollers and fantasy filled dungeon-crawlers, action-packed video games continue to be some of the most popular in the App Store, and these are our favorites.

Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour ($6.99)

This graphic military combat game creates an all too plausible scenario of a homegrown terrorist attack on American soil. Your elite Special Forces team is tasked with bringing justice and restoring safety in this harrowing tale.

Bastion ($4.99)

With totally original graphics and gameplay, this psychedelic game unfolds in a world torn asunder by The Calamity. A fantastic atmosphere and entrancing soundtrack help make Bastion a must-play.

Sky Gamblers: Cold War ($4.99)

The most realistic flight-sim for iOS, with a wide range of planes and settings, Sky Gamblers: Cold War keeps you hooked with stunning graphics and gravity defying action.

Adventure

Compiled by Eric Pankoke

This category has become quite vague and often abused over the years, but a true adventure game requires the user to wander around a world collecting items, solving puzzles, and quite often, interacting with other characters. In the old days one might have referenced Zork or the King’s Quest series, while modern audiences look to the catalogs of companies like TellTale Games and G5 Entertainment for this style of game play.

Abyss: The Wraiths of Eden HD (Full) ($6.99) 

Abyss has well-balanced game play, an intriguing story, a Hollywood-movie-style ending, and slick audio and visual elements to hold it all together. There is even a decent prequel adventure unlocked when you beat the main game.

Lost Treasures of Infocom (free with IAP)

It’s hard to beat a collection of titles that helped define the genre in the first place. Just don’t expect fancy 3D visuals.

Fighting Fantasy: The Forest of Doom ($5.99)

Take the gamebook engine Tin Man Games has perfected over the years and drop in one of the adventures that pioneered the “choose your own adventure” movement and how can you go wrong?

Arcade

Compiled by Eric Pankoke

One might describe this category as “action games for casual gamers,” and it tends to include platform games like Super Mario Bros, infinite runners like Temple Run, and quick reaction games like Fruit Ninja. Over the last decade the genre has also started to drift toward the adventure game market with puzzles and even somewhat of a storyline.

LIMBO Game ($4.99)

Great graphics, challenging puzzles that force you to think outside of the box, and the ability to tell a story without a single word make this an incredible platforming journey.

Type Rider ($2.99)

Learn about fonts while having fun in this game that has slick visuals, great level design, and solid controls.

Tilt To Live 2: Redonkulous ($2.99)

Intense action, cool weapons, fun music, and a sense of humor make Tilt To Live 2 a superior sequel and an absolute delight.

RPG/Strategy

Compiled by Siva Om

Games that thrust us into the role of a story’s character can deliver the most immersive gameplay on iOS. Some RPGS are very action-based, some more story-oriented, others predominantly strategy or puzzle solving, and some a mixed bag of all four elements. Our Bloggers voted and these are our top three RPGs of the year.

Infinity Blade ($6.99)

There's good reason Apple called on Infinity Blade III to demo iOS’s capabilities as a serious gaming platform at their recent product launch. With phenomenal storyline, graphics and gameplay IB3 takes our top spot in this category.

Walking Dead: The Game (free first episode)

A choose your own adventure set in the aftermath of a Zombie apocalypse, Walking Dead: The Game offers a viscerally terrifying glimpse into a world teeming with flesh eating corpses.

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas ($8.99)

Oceanhorn is the closest thing I've seen to an iOS-port of the hit Nintendo game series, Zelda. With its Zelda-esque puzzles, riddles and combat Oceanhorn is an instant modern-classic.

Sports

Compiled by Siva Om

Looking for a little adrenaline rush, or to hone your reflexes and competitive drive? Well, there’s an app for that! With over 2,000 sports games in the App Store there’s a sporting game to fit anyone’s tastes. Our Bloggers weighed in, scorecards were tallied, and these are our picks for best of the best.

Asphalt 8: Airborne (free)

The latest installment of this popular iOS racing series is nothing short of spectacular. Amazing graphics, high-flying aerial maneuvers and realistic courses make this our number one sports game.

Ridiculous Fishing: A Tale of Redemption ($2.99)

Classic 8-bit graphics combine with irresistible gameplay to create this twisted tale of atonement that will have you fishing with everything from guns, to chainsaws and toasters in an infinite arcade world.

Real Racing 3 (free)

This racing simulator has the best graphics and most authentic, realistic gameplay of any racing game. For the thrill of professional racing, Real Racing 3 can't be beat.

Word/Board

Compiled by Siva Om

Board games have been popular social pastimes from time immemorial. Now with our handy, ever-present iDevices we’re able to enjoy all the puzzles and strategic challenges of board games wherever we are. Of all the games in this category, including classic favorites and contemporary hits, these are our top picks.

Words with Friends (free)

This social word-building game is already an enduring favorite and one that should be on every board game fan’s iDevice. WWF is our pick as this year’s best in category.

Letterpress (free)

Letterpress is a game that will test your vocabulary and strategic skill while you focus on finding words, stealing tiles and taking over the board.

Scramble with Friends (free)

Zynga’s take on the popular timed word-find game Boggle will indeed have you frantically scrambling to spot words to beat your opponent in this addictive social game.

If Australia's Black Friday offerings from Apple are any indication, and most people are assuming they are, then it looks like tomorrow Apple will be offering a $70 gift card on the purchase of an iPad Air. But you'll be paying the regular price. Apparently there won't be any gift cards for the iPhone or the iPad mini with retina display, but there will be gift cards for the first-generation mini and the iPad 2 (probably about $45). So it looks like you'll get a better deal at the big-box retailers such as Target and WalMart. Target's price of $379 for the iPad Air (after a $20 discount and $100 gift card) looks like the best price so far. Wal-Mart will reportedly match any other Black Friday sale price. See my previous post for more information on Black Friday deals. 

Today, November 29, only, Apple is offering a $75 gift card if you purchase an iPad Air and a $50 gift card if you purchase an iPad 2 or the first-generation iPad mini. There's no gift card available for the purchase of the iPad mini with Retina display or an iPhone. It's great to see this offer, but one can't help but wish these were discounts rather than gift cards. And one can't help but observe that you'll get a better deal at Target, which is offering a $100 gift card on the purchase of an iPad Air, plus a price of $479 for the 16GB WiFi model, effectively bringing down the price to $379. And if you want the first generation mini, your best bet is WalMart, which is offering a $100 gift card with a purchase, effectively bringing down the price to $199. See MacRumors for a roundup of the best iPad and iPhone Black Friday deals. See also a great listing of Black Friday deals on IntoMobile and iMore. If you're in the market for a Macintosh, Apple is offering a more generous $150 gift card. Note that while Apple's Black Friday offer is for today only, the big-box retailers are generally making their offers available through the weekend.

If you happen to be one of the few folks on the planet who haven't experienced the revolutionary gameplay of the original Infinity Blade, now's your chance, no more excuses. For only the second time since this masterpiece of a game was released three years ago, Infinity Blade has gone free in the App Store in celebration of the season. But act fast, this deal likely won't last long.

Three years ago Infinity blade emerged and turned the gaming world upside down. Before then, no one had ever seen a game the pushed the limits of what a mobile platform could deliver. When this game came out, people never imagined such incredible console-caliber graphics and gameplay could be possible in a mobile game. Not only did Infinity Blade raise the bar as to what we can expect, it introduced a game to the world that would go on to become a staple at Apple product launch events, used to demonstrate the unprecedented capabilities of the iOS platform.

As if all of this wasn't enough, Infinity Blade also set in motion what was to become one of the most endearing, dramatic, well told, and emotionally gripping tales of love and honor ever conveyed in a video game. As it stands now, along with the original Infinity Blade we also have two Infinity Blade sequels making for a most phenomenal trilogy (Honestly, I'm expecting a movie before too long!) as well as two novellas by acclaimed fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, which serve to transition between the video game's chapters.

The original Infinity Blade is still one of the most formidable and impressive iOS games I've ever played, even as I look back on it as it turns three years old. It is at turns a dark and deeply disturbing look at our possible future as well as the heroic power and humbling weaknesses of the human spirit. Don't hesitate to add this award-winning title to your app collection if you haven't already—act fast though, while it's still free.

Several of us blogger musician types have raved about IK Multimedia gear over the years, and with good reason (see Mike Riley's recent reviews here.) Early this year at CES, I was able to get an up close and personal preview of the latest music creation gadgets, but only recently was able to check out the production versions of IK's iRig Pro and Blueboard. If you are wondering what in the world to get your favorite musician this holiday (with a Mac, iPad, or iPhone), look no further. You can check out the rocking guitar demo above for a taste!

If you don't know from IK Multimedia, you can get an idea from our CES post, or go to their website above. They have a variety of musician-enabling accessories and apps that can turn your device into a mini music-processing studio. They recently sent me a Blueboard and iRig Pro to check out and demo, which I had a blast with! If you are or know a guitarist with an iPad or iPhone, you will love these gadgets!

The Blueboard is a BT-enabled foot stomp panel which will allow control of the virtual pedal/amp arrays featured in their free guitar app called AmpliTube (free and paid versions available). The iRig PRO is a universal MIDI signal processing interface that passes audio from your electric guitar into your iOS device so that the IK music apps can do their magic. Output from iPad or iPhone can be pushed out of the audio jack to an external speaker or to headphones. Though I used the IK apps, many MIDI compatible devices or apps works with iRig and Blueboard.

In my case, I installed the required apps, connected my Fender Deluxe Strat to the iRig PRO (standard 3/4" male-to-male audio cable required and not included). I then connected the included MIDI-to-Thunderbolt cable from iRig Pro to my iPad mini, then used a 3.5mm male-to-male audio cable to run output from the iPad's audio jack to my little Roland Microcube practice amp. I wanted to hear the signal quality coming though from the iRig/mini, so I set the amp to disable all effects and a clean setting, but it turns out the amp passes raw signal through from source anyway. If you have an older 30-pin device (or want to use a Mac), the iRig PRO comes with appropriate adapter cables for that. A manual control knob on the front allows you to easily adjust gain, but otherwise connect your guitar to one end and the other to your device, and (with headphones) you are ready to rock!

I had some minor setup issues when I first loaded up the free AmpliTube app, which you should install if you want to filter and control effects with Blueboard (I also tested another free MIDI guitar app and it worked fine). You should also download and install the free Blueboard app to pair up (over Bluetooth) the pedal board. The main AmpliTube app wouldn't play any output until I reset my device (so don't forget to do that).

The Blueboard app is easy to configure and customize. The board/app comes already configured with the four standard foot buttons (ABCD) used as input 1-4, but the app will let you customize or program custom controls for whatever MIDI device you are working with, and also includes external 3/4" ports to accommodate say a wah pedal. In my case, I left the basic 1-4 array configured. Once paired, you can then use AmpliTube to configure and select your custom pedal and amp configurations using the stomp box.

The AmpliTube for iPad app is a music app with capabilities that rival GarageBand, and though the app has the hated in-app purchases (e.g, several items at the nose-bleed price of $4.99), WOW is it good! AmpliTube lets you process and filter guitar sounds, add pedal effects, swap out different amp models, add drums, loop tracks, and much more. The free app includes 2 basic pedals (noise filter, and delay), but the iRig Pro enables more (Flanger, etc.), and many more can be purchased through IAPs.

AmpliTube also lets you record and sample tracks, practice and tune up with metronome/tuner, and even share tracks. The app fully integrates both Blueboard and iRig, letting you set and assign custom pedal and sound configurations to your main amp screen. It really is well-done and easy to to use, and worked perfectly for me.

Pros

• Easy and cool way to use iPad or iPhone as a signal processor
• Staggering array of sound manipulation effects and features

Cons

• Pricey iAPs and upgrades

The Verdict
IK makes innovative products that work well, and I enjoy immensely. I have a one minor complaint: The Blueboard plastic construction seems a little lightweight for extended or strenuous live sessions. however both iRig and Blueboard are great practice and impromptu recording tools that work well with iPad, and should make any musician on your list happy this Christmas. Grab either at the links above.