The year is 2150. The Earth’s resources have been completely drained, so humanity is forced to seek out a suitable replacement in the vast emptiness of space. It’s a song and dance any sci-fi fans is familiar with, but one that’s often overlooked as a backdrop for a video game. Space Frontier takes that backdrop and turns it into the game’s entire basis for existence.

Thirty different planets are out there to colonize, with a total of forty stages to complete. Each habitable world has its own special circumstances and conditions, so what might make for a successful settling on one may not work on another. Factoring in the various missions and scoring that’s based on a player’s speed of completion, and we have ourselves one consistently playable little space adventure.

Anyone anxious to start their own space-age real estate business can give Space Frontier a look right now. $3.99 is all it’ll take to get the ball rolling.

$1.99

Space Frontier:스페이스 프론티어

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-12-03 :: Category: Games

I’m a bit of a drifter in life without any set plans. I look at a friend of mine who has everything planned out in her future and kind of envy her. It must be nice to be so driven and focused on doing everything just right. While clearly we’re both just different people in how we approach life, an app like 2016 could well keep us both happy.

It’s an app focused on helping its users imagine how they’d like their life to be in 2016. It’s a self help tool, really, to inspire people to achieve these aims. 2016 goes through some standard questions to assess just how the user wants to be in 5 years time. They cover the likes of what kind of property they want to own, what kind of career they want to have, what their relationship status is plus more. In all there are 80 questions about various spheres of the user’s life which should hopefully encompass everything possible.

Users can then record a video letter to themselves in five years time to see how things are going. It’s a pretty cool idea backed up by cloud saving functionality. Of course the only way to know if it works is check back in 5 years. I’m certainly keen to give such things a shot.

2016 is available now and it’s free with a $2.99 full-featured version available via an in-app purchase. A small price to pay surely for the potential future benefits.

FREE!

2016 — Create your perfect future

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-06-16 :: Category: Lifestyle

Technology is cool and moving rapidly. We all know that, right? Sometimes though, something will catch the eye that is just mindbloggingly cool. The kind of thing that makes the future seem more like present day. One such technology is that of Autonomy’s Aurasma platform.

It’s an app that can be installed to then allow the iOS device’s camera to see and recognize images in the real world. In doing so it then allows for the possibility of adding a virtual world layer that can then provide anything from a 3D animation to a trailer of a film or game. As the demo below shows, it can enhance a regular paper advert, showing a trailer for a movie or how a piece of furniture could be implemented. It’s impressive stuff and certainly futuristic in nature.

The Aurasma app also offers the ability to create individual channels with users able to make their own virtual worlds for their friends. As well as that, exclusive deals and content can be accessed from participating movie studios and retail stores. Such partners range from Paramount Pictures and Universal to publications such as New Scientist and The Wall Street Journal, as well as shoe retailer Tsubo.

Aurasma is available now for all iOS devices and is a free app. All users need to find is the relevant content!

FREE!

Aurasma

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-05-10 :: Category: Entertainment

I’m an iPhone purist, I’ll admit it, I love my phone just how it is, stable, fast, non-glitchy. Sure from time to time I’ve wished I could customize my text message tone or set a new wallpaper behind my icons, but in the end it’s not worth it. At least that’s what I tell people most days. I confess however that today, for the first time since 1.1.2, I gave serious consideration to jailbreaking my iPhone. What could lead me down this dark path again? How about controlling a game on my iPhone using a Wii Remote!?! The BTstack project has managed to pull it off!

If you’re not familiar with what the BTstack Project is, it’s an open source project focused on expanding bluetooth device support far beyond what Apple is currently allowing. A lot of the above information comes to us from this article via Zodttd.com which also includes a statement from the developer saying his next target is the PS3 controller. Upon reading, I was almost giddy with anticipation and immediately started spreading the word. But one of my colleagues, being the glass is half empty type that he is, quickly pointed out why I shouldn’t get too excited.

“For one,” he said “theres nothing comfortable about hunching over a table, looking straight down, just to keep your hands free for use on a controller…”

I quickly pointed out that an iBend would be a quick, easy, and cheap solution to that. He conceded this point but continued.

“Secondly and much more importantly [BTstack] is hacking their iPhone to use them, no major developer is ever going to spend the time and money making a game that needs a hack to be used fully.”

I hated to admit it but he had a point, however it may not be a relevant one for much longer as I know of at least one legitimate controller being developed for the iPhone, the GameBone Pro.

The GameBone Pro has amazing potential as 22Moo states it will be fully compatible via bluetooth or dock connector, fully functional D-pad with 4+ action buttons, and a built in speaker/mic, etc. While there is no official price listing or release date yet, we know they are targeting an early 2010 release. Gratefully they are making their developer’s kit free to anyone who wants it.

The free SDK is an important point I’d like to touch on momentarily. While I’m certain more than one developer has a controller under development, it’s my hope that in some circle somewhere there is a committee working on a set standard of controller code. Without a set basic standard we will end up in a market where a game may work with one joystick but not another. Resulting in another BlueRay vs. HD DVD war, only with more players. A war that would most likely end up with game developers ignoring the idea of external controllers all together simply because of inconvenience.

With a set standard though I can already see what the future may hold for iPhone gamers. I can imagine sitting at an airport with a friend waiting for our redeye flight to arrive and needing something to do. Out of my pockets I pull three things, my iPhone, GameBone Pro, and a Pico Pocket projector. Out of his pocket he grabs his controller and within a minute we are playing Marvel vs. Capcom (not currently released for the iPhone) dreamcast style on a 60″ while being totally portable and wireless…I’m getting giddy again.