This twisted first-person shooter — in which you’re a brown teddy bear battling pink teddy bears who want to hug you to death — has a handful of flaws with its gameplay and save system. But if you’ve got the right mindset (an immature one), Battle Bears can be a guilty pleasure.

Media software doubleTwist has added access to the Amazon MP3 store in its latest update, allowing you to purchase music from within the app.

If you’ve got room on your desk (or bookshelf), the AV 40 is an excellent set of compact studio monitors that out-performs the traditional 2.0 computer speakers we’ve tested, and even bests many 2.1 systems when it comes to overall sound quality.

Video Poker by Hoyle is exactly what it sounds like — v ideo poker for the iPhone — but what its name lacks in “sexiness” it make up for in sheer reliability. The Vegas-style game consists of Double Bonus, 5 Card Draw, Jokers Wild, Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild — all of which shine like a iPhone 3G S fresh out of the box.

myPantone for iPhone puts an elaborate cross-referencing system for Pantone’s major color libraries in your pocket. Despite some small interface flaws, and the obvious limitations of relying on an iPhone to accurately gauge color, designers who work with color can benefit tremendously by such an informative and versatile app

Filed under: Accessories , Odds and ends , ipod shuffle , Music When you think about the 3rd generation iPod shuffle , you probably don’t think about getting a case for it. After all, the little music box is less than 2 inches long, .7 inches wide, and .3 inches thick, and it comes with a clip.

Filed under: iPhone , App Store , iPod touch , App Review PocketSherpa [ itunes link ] is an interesting idea for a travel app, but it should be used with caution. When you download the free app, you’ll be asked to sign up with an email address and a password.

Deadlier Allusions is another installment of text-based who-dunnits for armchair detectives. The criminal capers are all murders where the victim has left behind clues that — if interpreted correctly — will point to the “perp.” It’s the players job to suss out the truth and solve the murder through multiple choice. Each mini mystery takes less than a minute to read, but depending on your base of knowledge could take much longer to solve.

iPeriod won me over. Although menstruation tracking apps aren’t exactly new to the App Store, I’ve avoided reviewing any of them.