I love writing this blog because every week I get to discover new and great apps. This week we have five very different apps in our Top iPhone and iPad Apps. Just a reminder - Top Apps are determined by their AppScore (must be at or above 75) and "games" cannot be the app's primary category. The first app on our list is Mixel for iPhone (88 AppScore) a photo app the takes multiple photos and shuffles them into collages. Coming in second is Bad Hotel (85 AppScore), the app is kind of a game in its play but its primary category is Music because in the app you are a hotel builder / musical composer and the way you build your hotel creates musical compositions. Tied for third (80 AppScore) are BeeSports (also a game of sorts in its play but its primary category is Entertainment) a track and field app featuring olympic style events and Ultralingua Dictionary a dictionary offer language translations. Closing out our top 5 is Tweet Category (75 AppScore) an app that helps you organize and categorize your tweets. Lots of apps this week to make your photos more fun and your social media life more organized so check them out. I'm going to try out Mixel on my next trip and think Ultralingua Dictionary could help out there too. Of course, let us know what you think of them in the comment section below.

As always our iPhone and iPad app rankings are based on aggregating professional review scores from around the web.

1.		Mixel for iPhone	88
		Free: iPhone
		Mixel turns your photos into beautiful, fun collages with just a tap of a button. All you have to do is choose your pictures, tap SHUFFLE, and the app automatically lays them out. It's instant and incredibly easy. You can pull in images from Facebook, Instagram and of course your phone, and share what you make with everyone. Even better, Mixel lets your friends add on to your collage, sparking super-fun visual conversations. Check out a quote from AppSafari: "The Mixel iPhone app is fun, attractive, smart, and a refreshing change and perspective for social networking iPhone apps. The photo collages are gorgeous, and the special touches to enhance the artistic dialogue, sharing features, and nicely-crafted interface make it a steal for its free price tag. In fact, after you use it, you may want to pay for the Mixel iPhone app social network" (August 29, 2012).

2.		Bad Hotel	85
		$1.99: iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch (Universal App)
		In Bad Hotel you are a budding entrepreneur, whose hotel is rather unfortunately located within the territory of Tarnation Tadstock, the Texas Tyrant. Your only defense against Tadstock’s army of seagulls, rats, yetis, and more is to build your hotel as quickly and intelligently as possible, using an array of increasingly sophisticated weapons. You also become a composer, creating complex musical structures to defend their hotel. A vast variety of music can be generated, from delicate beach chillout to country banjo techno. Check out a quote from AppSpy.com: "Bad Hotel is a wonderfully compelling side-evolution of the tower defense genre and is heartily recommended for genre fans and those who enjoy unique game concepts" (August 22, 2012).

The Olympics are a global event with over 200 nations represented in the 2012 London Olympics. They bring together a myriad of nationalities and ethnicities to one stage and are the perfect time to learn more about other cultures and languages. In honor of the multitude of places and regions that make up the Olympics, we are highlighting seven top iPhone and iPad language translation apps. These apps will help you communicate and engage with people of all different cultures if you find yourself in a bar, restaurant or even at the London Olympics cheering for your respective teams. See what these translation apps have to offer and we'd love to hear about any cultural experiences you encounter with the help of these apps.

As always our iPhone and iPad game rankings are objective and based on aggregating independent professional review scores from around the web.

		SpeechTrans Ultimate Voice and Photo Translator	95
		$9.99: iPhone and iPod Touch
		Never be at a loss for words on your next trip abroad. With the sophisticated voice recognition feature, you will be amazed at how easy it is to translate into other languages within seconds! With SpeechTrans you can also dictate status updates directly to your Facebook and Twitter or send emails and reminders to yourself… all using the power of your voice. SpeechTrans even allows you to make calls on any phone in the world and speak their language with their patent pending InterprePhone service. Simply press record, speak for up to 55 seconds, press stop and it speaks back the translation for 16 different languages. Check out a quote from PadGadget: "If you are planning a trip anywhere you don’t speak the language, or if you have met somebody you want to communicate who speaks another language, this app is indispensable and worth every penny of the cost" (May 8, 2011).

		SpeechTrans Ultimate for iPad and Photo Translator Powered By Nuance	XX
		$9.99: iPad
		The iPad version of SpeechTrans Ultimate.

		SayHi Translate	93
		$0.99 (66% off, limited time): iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch (Universal App)
		SayHi Translate offers translation of 24 languages & dialects with speech recognition and 9 languages with voices. The app was featured by Apple in "What's Hot" and has been at times the #1 business app in the App Store. Check out a quote from Apple’N'Apps: "SayHi Translate is an extremely powerful app that can bridge the language barrier wherever you go. It’s an amazing deal at the price, and one of the best apps you can have if you ever interact with anyone who doesn’t speak your language. SayHi is an absolute must that can really be invaluable, and is an app that makes the iPhone and iPad better devices" (May 2, 2012).