Starmap Media has won yet another award for its innovative Starmap Media app and its associated multimedia stories. Sky & Telescope Magazine editors awarded it a prestigious 2014 Hot Products designation. This makes the third award for Starmap since 2010. To celebrate and introduce the app to an expanded universe of users, the producers of Starmap are making all Starmap Media stories available free of charge from December 17, 2013 to January 31, 2014.

Mobile Creators today announce The Great Photo App 1.0 for iOS and iPad devices. Even though everyone has a camera, taking a truly good picture still requires knowledge and mastery. With The Great Photo App, you will start learning photography by practicing. With the help of interactive lessons, you will gradually gain understanding of the foundations of the art of photography. This guide includes instruction on what exposure is, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, depth of field and camera lenses.

Thursby Software today introduces its new PKard Reader secure mobility sled bundle for the iPad mini. The bundle includes Thursby’s elegant and discrete CAC/PIV one-piece case and built-in smart card reader, or sled, for the iPad mini, along with the PKard Reader secure browser app, phone and email technical support. The one-piece design is easy to put-on and take off, and the card does not protrude when fully inserted. It supports CAC, CAC Dual Persona, PIV and PIV-I smart cards.

Recosoft has expanded the PDF converter series on the iPhone with PDF to Pages, which converts PDF files to editable Pages documents; and PDF to PowerPoint, which converts PDFs to editable PowerPoint files. Both PDF to Pages and PDF to PowerPoint have been designed specifically for the iPhone. Mark any area in a PDF page and convert just the selected area to JPEG or PNG formats. The selected can also be converted to the Pages or PowerPoint format as required.

Elixr LLC, in partnership with Mobelux, introduces Elixr 2.0 for iPhone and Elixr for Android, a social network for discovering great drinks and great drink venues. Check-in, edit your drink photo in creative ways, and cross-post to your favorite social networks. Find out what your friends are having. Make new connections based on drinks you love or where you are. Find the best drink venues nearby or around the world. Search across all of Elixr to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Sunside Inc. has released a launch trailer for Episode One of its highly anticipated episodic science fiction adventure game Abducted. Abducted by aliens and taken thousands of light years from home you have one ultimate goal: Escape. With a focus on deep storyline and immersive gameplay, Abducted is a mixture of classic adventure game and RPG-lite elements combined with stunning graphics. Episode One of Abducted will be available December 19, 2013.

TENideas, LLC today introduces TENideas 1.0, their new productivity app for iOS devices. The brainchild of Cara, an award-winning, idea-generating creative director, and her team of innovative thinkers, the TENideas app is a simple, interactive and fun way to generate, organize and act on ideas. This easy-to-use app helps you accomplish new things by doing things in new ways. Use TENideas to work with ten of your own ideas every day to become more innovative, successful and creative.

App developer Aetys today introduces Plume’s School – Saving Christmas, its new educational app for iPad/iPhone and android devices. Plume’s School – Saving Christmas is the latest in a series of Plume’s World apps, all of which are designed for children up to age 7. The app focuses on vocabulary and beginning reading skills. It also reinforces memory skills and allows kids to practice their fine motor skills.

Parachuting Frog introduced their third title for iOS, Solisqr – v.1.0. Solisqr is a minimalist and stylish board game and puzzle. Based on the classic one player board game of peg solitaire, the aim is to eliminate squares on the board to leave only one in the central position. Play a relaxing game or against the clock. Built around the idea of peg solitaire, players jump one square over another to try and leave only one square left on a cross-shaped grid.

UK based Think Code Release Ltd has announced Simply Contacts 1.1, an update to their popular productivity app for iPhone and iPod touch. Simply Contacts offers a whole new experience for everyone who needs to get the most out of their contacts. In just one screen you are able to search and sort your contacts, as well as phone, chat, FaceTime, email, message, share, and so much more. Its simple and clean user interface makes it the fastest, user-friendly contacts manager.