Duluth's Greg Bambenek, 64, has developed an app designed to attract fish called TalkWithFish for iPhones, iPads and iPods that allows anglers to play sounds underwater with an attached speaker. The sounds include bass crunching crayfish, bluegills chomping beetles and even herring flatulence.

Minnesota Life Insurance, an affiliate of St. Paul-based Securian Financial Group, now offers an iPad app that can help people calculate their economic value using financial data. The "Human Life Value Calculator" can be downloaded for free from Apple's App Store.

Two software developers in Fargo, North Dakota have created the Winter Survival Kit app for iPhones and Android smartphones. The Crookston Daily Times reports the creators wanted to help after a powerful blizzard left hundreds of drivers stranded last winter. This free app can notify help and provide some potentially life-saving alerts. It can also help you prepare for winter travel.

Page Productions in Plymouth launched what became a runaway hit, but a profile in City Pages reports things got nasty as host Guy Fieri grew into a superstar.

The two creators of the Hipstamatic photo app are now celebrity iPhone-app publishers who own an entire San Francisco building and run a wildly successful business in a cut-throat industry. But three years ago, Lucas Buick and Ryan Dorshorst were failing graphic designers with $1.83, a tiny, freezing St. Paul office and a desperate last chance to make something work.

The Twin Cities lifestyle publication METRO announced Wednesday it will cease publication next month after six years in business. The magazine's publisher, Minneapolis-based Tiger Oak Media, said it is turning attention to other products that are having more financial success.