App of the Week

If Pac-Man is the Madonna of 80s video games, then Q*bert is the Cyndi Lauper. The little orange guy was quirky, extremely popular and the star of one of the most merchandised arcade games of that era, but he’s never been able to achieve the same commercial success as some of his peers outside of his decade. Maybe it's because he only speaks Q-Bertese, or that he swears too much, but whatever the reason Q*bert deserves better. That's why it is nice to that him and his friends have made their way to the Apple App Store. Being part of the Apple ecosystem is so much nicer than the last time we saw Q*bert begging for Pac-Man cherries in Wreck-It Ralph.

Showtime has joined HBO in launching its own standalone subscription service for mobile devices. The newly released Showtime app gives iOS users "unlimited on-demand" access to original series, movies, documentaries, comedy specials and sports. A monthly subscription to Showtime is only $10.99 a month with a free 30 day trial.

Lifetime has always been known for its over-the-top made for TV movies, but recently the basic cable channel has been hitting a lot of home runs. Not only is Lifetime giving the king of B-movies, the Syfy network, a run for its money by releasing internet fodder such as The Choking Game, but it has also found ratings success with its adaptations of V.C. Andrews' Flowers in the Attic novels. The network also got the internet talking thanks to its controversial biopic Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B, and by nabbing big name talent such as Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig and Bella Thorne.

Sending animated pictures directly from the iOS keyboard is magical. Just ask anyone with RuPaul's Drag Race Keyboard installed on their iPhone. The Walt Disney Company has now jumped into the game, offering the free app Disney Gif to anyone running iOS 8.0 or later. Once installed, Disney Gif provides access to hundreds of categorized gifs from a custom keyboard. Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and ABC themed animated gifs can be pasted into Messages, Mail, or any other app.

We briefly touched on Bethesda's Fallout Shelter during the Fallout 4 frenzy at E3, but it deserves a much closer look than we orginally gave it. I'm not sure why Bethesda teamed up with Behaviour Interactive to release a mobile game based on the popular post-apocalyptic franchise. Is it just a gift to hold fans over until November 10, when Fallout 4 hits shelves? Maybe it's an introduction to the Fallout franchise for new fans? Whatever Bethesda's end game is, Fallout Shelter is a resource management title that is both fun for new and old fans.