iPad iPod ‘Audiobook Pop!’ Sci-Fi Review and App Giveaway [ReviewContest]

Review and giveaway of the iPad (iOS) app “Audiobook Pop!” Details on the giveaway are halfway down the post.

1. Review

While there’s nothing like holding a book in your hand, I happen to be a big fan of audio books.  They’re convenient, engrossing and entertaining. The best audio book I’ve ever listened to is “I Am Legend” by Richard Matheson. Hearing the narrator made the story even more engrossing.

“Audiobook Pop!” is an iPad app that lets you listen to 30 books from the public domain in Librivox.

My first reaction when I heard about the app is “Why not just download the files from the site yourself and save two bucks?” So, I tried it. First, I installed the app and downloaded and listened to a story. Fast and easy.

Then, I went to Librivox.org and tried to download the same story.  It’s a pain. The first problem is the books aren’t categorized, so you have to know what book you’re looking for. There are literally thousands of books.

The other problem is you have to download each file individually unless you want to download the zip file and transfer them to the device from a computer.

Finally, Librivox uses volunteers to record the audio. Despite the valiant efforts of the community, some of the voice quality is poor. Some books are recorded by multiple people, so you have to listen to all recordings to find one with good quality.

So, yeah. This app is a great idea. Especially for two bucks.

Here are some screenshots

Here’s a partial list of stories in this app:

• Niels Klim’s Journey under the Ground
• A Journey to the Interior of the Earth
• Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
• The British Barbarians
• Thuvia, Maid of Mars
• The Sky Is Falling
• Two Thousand Miles Below
• The Poison Belt
• The Green Odyssey
• The Machine Stops
• D-99
• Space Prison
• Greylorn
• Hunters Out of Space
• Operation Terror
• This World Is Taboo
• The Scarlet Plague
• Lone Star Planet
• The People of the Crater
• Storm Over Warlock
• Voodoo Planet
• A Knyght Ther Was
• The Master of the World
• The Skylark of Space
• Mercenary
• Oomphel in the Sky
• Omnilingual
• Little Fuzzy
• Last Enemy
• The Cosmic Computer
• Space Viking

If you have an iPad or iPod, and like audio books, you should pick it up.

Apple Store links

• Audiobook Pop! – Sci-Fi http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audiobooks-sci-fi/id524304270?ls=1&mt=8
• Audiobooks Pop! – For Your Kids http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audiobooks-for-your-kids-free/id410097004?mt=8

There’s a free versoin of their kids books there too if you want to try it.

• Audiobooks Pop! – For Your Kids Free http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audiobooks-for-your-kids-free/id410097004?mt=8

2. Giveaway

What’s the Prize?

Thanks to Audiobook Pop! we’re going away a promo code for a free copy of the app to three contestants. It’s only for iPod and iPad, but they’re working on an Android version.

How Can You Win?

We’ve hosted giveaways on the past, and learned from mistakes. All you have to do is follow us and them on Twitter and share the contest news with others. If you don’t have either account you can blog about it or otherwise share it and let us know in the comments.

We’re trying to let as many qualify as possible.

Here are the ways you can enter

• Follow The Geek Twins on twitter
• Follow Audiobook Pop! on twitter
• Tweet about the giveaway
• Leave a comment
• Subscribe to our rss feed

Each entry gives you a point, so it’s not hard to get at least two points. If there’s a tie, the winner will be chosen at random.

Rafflecopter is a contest tool I’ve seen used effectively on several blogs, so we’re going to try it.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So, do you want to win a copy of Audiobook Pop? Have you tried Audiobook Pop? Do you like audiobooks? What’s the best book you’ve listened to? What’s the worst?