If you are looking for a G-Talk specific app we found one, Nike just released a new app for runners and Vevo hits the iPhone with the best music-video app out there. We have all this and more on today’s AppAdvice Daily.

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If you are a visual learner then you may be familiar with the technique of Mind Mapping. Mind Maps are diagrams containing a central idea with branches for related topics. iBlueSky has been a staple among mind mapping apps for iPhone. It has great support for desktop mind mapping applications and when projects are emailed iBlueSky includes many popular formats automatically. From PDF, PNG, and OPML to support for NovaMind and FreeMind, your diagrams are available to share in a variety of ways.

One lacking feature for iBlueSky has been an iPad version. I am pleased to report that an iPad version is coming soon, so stay tuned.

The developer was kind enough to provide us with a couple of promo codes for AppAdvice readers. We will select winners at random from those who comment or retweet this article. If you are not following AppAdvice on twitter you can find us here. Good luck!

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Ringtone Designer Pro ($1.99) Apple may be taking away ringtones, but the App Store sure isn’t. Ringtone Designer lets you make a ringtone from any track on your iPhone with a few taps. You simply start the app, and then it takes you to your iPod, and you pick the song you want to make a ringtone of.

Next you get the song laid out, and you drag knobs to the section of the song you want as a ringtone. You save it, and then the next time you have your iPhone connected to iTunes go the the Apps section, and the file sharing section. Then you can save any ringtones you created to your computer, and drag back into iTunes, and sync the ringtone on to your device.

That’s it, and it’s a one time $1.99 fee for as many ringtones as you create. You can do this for free on many sites, so keep that in mind, but it’s pretty simplistic on the iPhone. I created a few ringtones, and had them back on my iPhone in minutes.

The knobs don’t offer the most precision with editing the beginning and end of your ringtone. There isn’t a time stamp so you don’t know exactly where you are in the song. You can edit and play the bit of the song you want live which makes it easy to have it start exactly where you want. It’s not quite the same at the end as you have to hear the whole 15 or so seconds rather than one like at the beginning.

You do get to see how long your ringtone is at the top of the app so it helps tweak the back end. The app doesn’t allow you to fade in an out of the ringtone, but what it lacks in customization it makes up for in ease of use. Apple restrictions require you to go through iTunes to get the ringtone, but it’s not very difficult at all, and not worth complaining about.

For $1.99 Ringtone Designer is worth picking up if you ever want to make ringtones really easily on the go.

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Overview

The World Cup may be over, but it’s time for some arcade style in Chop Chop Soccer. It’s a three on three cartoon free for all going up and down the small field flicking all over to pass, shoot, and tackle. We know of the simulation soccer games like X2 Football, Fifa, and Real Soccer, but what about some arcade soccer?

Features

You control the entire game with one finger as you drag to dribble, flick towards a teammate to pass, flick towards the goal to shoot, and flick at an opponent with the ball to tackle. The game lets you start an instant match, or play four tournaments on four different fields.

The Good

The game is for those who want more of an arcade feel instead of the realism of X2 Soccer 2010, Fifa 10, and Real Soccer 2010. You play on a small field with no out of bounds, and only three on three play for quick action at all times. You control the entire game with one finger which makes it great for pick up and play.

You can play a match combining any two countries, or choose the tournament mode with four cups to win for each of the four fields. The game has nice colorful cartoon artwork all in 3D with nice variability between the four fields. It’s fun to see the players bounding along sliding and kicking the ball around.

The game offers plenty of challenge that will keep some players, with a thirst for victory, coming back for more.

The Bad

Though the game has an arcade feel it’s still very difficult to score. You would think scoring would be easy, and playing defense would be tough, but scores on both sides are hard to come by. The biggest obstacle to scoring is the goalie which seems to block almost every shot, and can make amazing leaps no other player is capable of.

Another challenge are the controls which get in the way of fast paced movement of the ball to get the goalie out of position to be able to score. You can’t pass quickly between your players because the game doesn’t pick up the difference between flick, and dragging fast enough. You want to make a quick pass, but instead your player dribbles some more, and the ball is stolen.

With the flick controls it’s tough to be anywhere close to precise so shooting at the goal seems to be mostly luck. The opponents steal the ball from you almost anytime you have it unless you spin out of the way, but even then it seems they’re sliding into where you’re spinning before you even think to spin. The game also doesn’t let you choose the player you control, and simply auto chooses it which limits your control over the game.

You can still win games easily enough because it’s easy to play defense, but the arcade feel is lost from the frustration of the controls and opponent skill.

The Verdict

Chop Chop Soccer is a solid arcade soccer game that offers plenty of challenge. The game can be frustrating at times because of the controls, and the lack of a free flowing high scoring arcade feel. If you’re interested in an arcade soccer game this one should be right at the top of your list, but is worth considering overall.

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GameHouse has teamed up with CBS Interactive in order to bring you the official NCIS game for mobile platforms. NCIS: The Game from the TV Show for iPhone and iPod touch, and NCIS: The Game from the TV Show for iPad, serve up five cases for you to crack alongside your favorite crime solving TV show characters.

“Mobile is a key digital platform to further engage the existing fan base for shows like NCIS, as well as CBS’ other enormously popular franchises,” said Rob Gelick, Senior Vice President and General Manager of CBS Mobile. “NCIS: The Game from the TV Show is a perfect companion for anyone who enjoys the thrill of sleuthing alongside their favorite characters from the show. Now, in addition to watching NCIS, viewers can actually participate first-hand in solving the crimes via this mobile game.”

Join Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, Probationary NCIS Special Agent Ziva David, Special Agent Timothy McGee, Doctor Donald “Ducky” Mallard and Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto, as you help put the complex mess of crime scene evidence together to find the murderers before it’s too late.

The five crime scenes, created by the NCIS show writers and crew, will provide hours of intensity as you take part in the entire range of crime solving activities. Scavenge a crime scene to find those crucial pieces of evidence, then take them back to the lab for analysis. You’ll need to perform fingerprint matching, chemical testing, autopsies, and more.

When you think you have enough evidence to put a final list of suspects together, join in stake-outs to try and catch these heartless criminals in the act. As usual, most suspects won’t go down without a fight. Be a part of the interrogation process to get all of the information you need from these scumbags. You can choose to be the sensitive, caring helpful type of agent, or one that’s strictly down to business; it’s your call.

Options include the ability to resume a case at a later time, enable or disable vibrate, enable or disable tutorials and hints, turn sound on or off, and even play your own music in the background. To make a playlist, just go into the Options section of the game and tap on iPod.

NCIS: The Game from the TV Show for iPhone and iPod touch and NCIS: The Game from the TV Show for iPad are available for a limited time discount in the App Store at $2.99 each. Regular price will be $4.99 for iPhone and iPod touch, with the iPad version getting a price tag of $5.99.

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Hopefully you aren’t experiencing too bad of an app downloading hangover thanks to last week’s ridiculous sale frenzy, because we have quite a few more fantastic iPhone and iPad apps that are still on sale for a limited time.

All of the apps listed below are at their lowest prices ever, so we didn’t use the usual asterisk system to denote the extra special ones.  All apps are on sale for varying durations, so start downloading the one or ones you want as soon as possible.

iPhone:

• Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion! ($4.99 -> $.99) Check out our in-depth review.

Universal:

• Predators ($2.99 -> $.99) Check out our in-depth review.
• iShoot 2 ($2.99 -> $1.99)

iPad only:

• Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion! iPad Edition ($4.99 -> $.99)
• Friendly – Facebook Browser ($4.99 -> $.99)

As always, stay tuned to the site for more great deals on iPhone and iPad apps.

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Overview

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can, and now he is winging in to the App Store. Gameloft brings the comic book style to Spider-Man: Total Mayhem. Battle enemies, spin webs, and swing around the city as only Spider-Man can now on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Features

The game features 12 lengthy levels where you battle the regular scum of the city working your way up to the boss battles. The Triskelion facility has been blown up, and now six well known Spider-Man enemies are on the loose with Sandman, Rhino, Electro, Venom, Dr. Octopus, and Green Goblin. At your control is the ability to jump, attack, shoot a web, and spidey sense which appears when an enemy is about to attack.

The Good

The game truly puts the power of Spider-Man at your finger tips so you feel completely in control throughout the game. The game controls effortlessly so you can dish out massive damage in smooth as silk fashion that only Spider-Man could pull off. Whether you’re punching and kicking, shooting out webs, or swinging across the city the abilities flow through you with the wonderful game design.

The game really puts the action in an action adventure style with never a dull moment. Making it through the groups of regular enemies is plenty of fun to do with all kinds of actions while maintaining your combo. The boss battles though are the best aspect of the game as you face well-known enemies in very challenging matches.

Not only is it great to play, but also to see all the action commencing on screen all in 3D glory. Spider-Man flings out all the kicks and punches at high speeds, and then there are four web combos where he grabs enemies and slams them into the ground or spins them around. There are different soundtracks for each level which are all action packed just like the game.

The Bad

There isn’t much to complain about this game as it’s easily Gameloft’s best effort to date. This game is the first Gameloft game to actually have that extra spirit, rather than just going through the motions like usual Gameloft games. The boss battles are a little tedious as you have to do one type of strategy over and over rather than a full on fight.

The Verdict

Spider-Man: Total Mayhem is Gameloft’s best effort to date, and one of the best iPhone games overall, pushing the bounds of what you think the device is capable of. The game is exceptionally well designed in every regard, and there is really nothing to complain about. If you’re even remotely a fan of Spider-Man you will thoroughly enjoy every minute of the game which is quite lengthy.

Spider-Man: Total Mayhem is a must buy for $6.99 that will give you all the power of Spider-Man on a mobile device.

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Abvio’s iPhone-centric Runmeter, Walkmeter and Cyclemeter have been updated with two very useful and often-requested features: automatic stop detection and calendar sharing.  It’s just another healthy step in the right direction for outdoor exercise enthusiasts.

All three of Abvio’s exercise tracking apps now feature the ability to stop the clock automatically when you have stopped moving.  In the past, users would have to either open the app to stop the clock or use the nifty headset controls; but now none of that is necessary since the apps are able to recognize when you have stopped moving and control the clock for you automatically.  This new feature will go a long way in helping those who are constantly striving to improve their times by doing away with unnecessary down times.

The other new feature is the ability to add workouts to iCal, Outlook and Google Calendar.  When activated, the apps are all able to share your workouts with your iPhone’s Calendar app the moment you hit the “Done” button in the “Stopwatch” view.  This way you can keep track of your workouts on your iPhone’s Calendar, and then share them with your favorite calendar service on your home computer.  Like the auto stop detection above, this feature must first be activated in “Settings.”

These two new features coupled with the already long list of features included in all three of Abvio’s apps — multitasking, spoken statistics, the ability to share data via Facebook and Twitter, export data in CVS format, and graphs, stats and calendars all stored on the iPhone without any additional fees — will make any runner, hiker, bicycler or what have you, be proud to own an iPhone.

Runmeter, Walkmeter and Cyclemeter v4.1 are all now available in the App Store for $4.99.  The update is, of course, free to all existing users.

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Apple is on its way to releasing iOS 4.1 anytime now. We’re hearing they have now proceeded to completely reset the upcoming Game Center network. That is, Apple has deleted all the accounts and links created up until to now.

As a reminder, Apple announced its Game Center social gaming network feature back in April. Designed to help players find new opponents, communicate with their friends and fight for achievement, it has been very bad news for a couple of companies that have previously been doing this, i.e. OpenFeint.

Anyway, developers running beta releases got to open accounts and test Game Center out for some time now. It seems like Apple wants to give Game Center a fresh start before the official launch, that is rumored to happen tomorrow. So if you were running a beta and opened an account, you’re going to have to open a new one and reinvite all your friends. As for the rest of us, it gives us hope we’ll have more luck getting the usernames we want.

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MarkdownMail – Send HTML Email ($1.99) by Second Gear is an app that allows users to easily create HTML emails straight from their iPhone using Markdown language.

For those that are unfamiliar, Markdown is a language that was created by John Gruber of DaringFireball.net that is a lot easier to remember than raw HTML code.

MarkdownMail does one thing only, but it does it very well. It allows users to easily create HTML emails straight from their iPhone or iPod Touch in both portrait and landscape mode.

When the app is first launched, you’ll see an example welcome message from Second Elements that will show you what Markup language is. This welcome message only shows the very basics of Markdown though. However, the developers included a link to the original Daring Fireball post, which can be accessed in one tap with the ‘Syntax’ button at the top left corner.

You’ll have to delete the default message to start typing out your own, so tap that little trash can icon. As you write in Markdown, you’ll want to occasionally check your message’s progress to make sure that all the code is correct. You can view a preview of your message with the icon that looks like the traditional Safari icon that we’ve grown to know and love (maybe). You can close the preview and continue working, just remember to keep checking that preview so that everything is correct!

Once the message is complete, a tap of the envelope icon will pull up the New Message email screen, with the visual HTML message already pasted into the body. Just select your recipients and send the email off like any other! It’s that simple.

Want to get more information about Second Elements? All of their contact information is listed in the ‘Settings’ of the app. There is also a ‘Thanks’ section for other Markdown apps and John Gruber himself.

Personally, I haven’t heard of Markdown until I saw this app pop up on the App Store. But after taking a quick look at the Syntax post on Gruber’s site, I was able to grasp the basics in a fairly short amount of time. So if you’re not familiar with Markdown either like I was, it’s quick and easy to understand. This app will draw in both the expert, advanced, and beginner users of Markdown.

If you want to begin sending HTML emails from your iPhone, then MarkdownMail is definitely the way to go. Plus, the icon looks amazing on the iPhone 4 Retina display, and I’m sure you can make room for it on your home screen if you are a frequent user of HTML email.

For frequent users, it could be one of the best things $2 can buy.

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