Valentine’s day may already be over, but sending sweet messages to your loved ones will never lose its appeal. Aussie start-up AppVillage created Talking Bear Hugs to allow any iOS user send personalized messages in the cute and cuddly voice of a cute and cuddly bear.

Isn’t he cute?

Learn more about the application after the jump.

Sending Bear Hugs Now A Reality

Meet Wafer the brown bear in Talking Bear Hugs.

Talking Bear Hugs is one iOS application that allows you to play with a virtual teddy bear right off the bat. You can hug him, tickle him, record a minute-long message (modulated in a male “bear” voice) and send the message online. The features are pretty neat considering you’re already getting the app (and the basics) for free!

For $0.99, though, you can unlock Suzie the Panda in her cute Chinese-inspired background.

Isn’t he cute? Poke him on his tummy and he’ll giggle relentlessly.

A cute little button on the bottom of the screen with the phrase “Hug Me” will make Wafer (or Suzie) walk unsteadily towards the screen, getting nearer and nearer and opening his arms to give the user a big, warm hug. The “Send Hug” button, meanwhile, will reveal a microphone button you need to press to record a short greeting. You also get the options to stop the recording and play it back after pressing the mic.

The “Share” button will then reveal sharing options available to you. You can preview the video, save the bear’s image, send the message via email or share via Facebook.

 

Applatter Thoughts

Although we love the cute, ticklish Wafer, we feel that the application could work on some of its weak points. The Talking Bear Hugs features great 3D animation, but the app falls short when it comes to voice synchronization. We would also like the bear’s voice to sound a bit less like coming from a guy with a bad cold.

Overall, with the superb 3D graphics and background and cute, kid-friendly features, Talking Bear Hugs is a must-have for parents and kid-at-hearts. And it looks like the team behind the app will be churning out more animated 3D bears soon, so there’s definitely something to look forward to from Talking Bear Hugs. (Hopefully, an Android version will be available soon as well.)

Kudos to Robin Hucik, Nicky Glover, Zaavit, Mike Paech and Nomad for this whimsical and entertaining app!

Get the chance to test the app for yourself. .