Popcap Games is known all over the world for a wide array of flash-based games. From the incredibly successful colorful match-em’ Bejeweled, to the marble-smashing Zuma, Rocket Mania and Bookworm. Their portfolio of games is, all in all, quite impressive. Today though, Popcap Games announced via their Twitter stream that their well-loved plant-munching, zombie-infested tower defense title Plants Vs Zombies, which is available for both PC and Mac, is coming to iPhone February 15th.
The game involves using a variety of plants including potato mines, peashooters, cattails and hypno-shrooms (to name just a few), to repel an army of zombies led by “Doctor Zomboss”, a giant machine with zombie commanding it. The homeowner, along with a neighbor (called Crazy Dave), must defend the homeowner’s house during day or night, in the front yard, the backyard, and even on the roof!
“Several plants are nocturnal, like mushrooms, having a lower sunlight cost and are ideal for nighttime levels, but will remain asleep during daytime levels unless startled by a coffee bean. In the “back yard” levels that includes a swimming pool, seeds must be planted atop lily pads on water spaces, while on the roof levels, all seeds must be planted in clay pots. The various plant abilities range from firing projectiles at zombies, turning zombies against each other, quickly exploding and wiping out an area of zombies, and slowing down zombies through a high defensive value. Certain plants are highly effective against specific types of zombies, such as a magnet-shroom that can remove a bucket or another obstacle being used for defense from a zombie’s head.”
As you probably already know by now, last Wednesday Apple unveiled to the world its new “tablet computer” – the Apple iPad. Shortly after the event came to a close, like always, Apple issued registered developers of it’s ADC network the next beta of the iPhone OS SDK. Version 3.2. Now among trivial changes, like this version of OS only being compatible with the iPad, one change has been uncovered which is slightly confusing.
If you’re not familiar with VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol, the technology allows for telecommunication using the internet. Take a service like Skype, for example. It uses VoIP to connect its millions of users to other users around the world at very little, or no cost at all. Ever since the introduction of the iPhone SDK, Apple has stood by the fact that its partnering mobile networks, AT&T in the US and O2 in the UK, weren’t so keen on the fact that developers could (if they wanted) use VoIP to circumvent monthly call plans. So, Apple being Apple and wanting to keep relations sweet put a restriction on the iPhone SDK stating that use of VoIP over a 3G data connection was prohibited.
Late Wednesday night though this all took a turn around – for the better, with the introduction of the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK Beta – as now, this SDK does support VoIP over the iPhone’s 3G network. In fact, a few applications, such as iCall and Fring, are already supporting this new rule, ultimately saving you money on phone calling through local and international ad-supported calling. This all leaves me to ask myself one question .. What must AT&T, O2 and the other mobile networks selling iPhone call plans around the world, think of this move? Did they sanction it? Maybe they believe they’re going to make so much of a killing off 3G pre-pay plans with the iPad this Spring, that they don’t care about loss of revenue in regards to call plans on the iPhone? Continue reading iPhone OS SDK 3.2 Beta Lifts VoIP Over 3G Restriction. AT&T and O2 Say “Wahh?!” »
It’s pretty common knowledge now that Google and Apple aren’t getting along as much as they used to. In fact, when Google’s native ‘Voice’ application, which mainly allows users of Google’s far-reaching social network to send voice-like emails to anyone with an account, was kindarejected from the App Store, the world reacted.
Just like when Google’s native Latitude app was rejected though, the firm took no time over announcing its “slap you back in the face” course of action against Apple, publicly stating its plans to bring the service to both the Apple iPhone and it’s android based devices in the near future, via the web. But with no official release date, people (including myself) started to ask when it would happen.
Today, Google have announced its Google Voice web app now works on the iPhone. Using HTML5 the web app provides a clean, crisp and user iterative native-esque experience, providing easy access and Voice functionality you’re probably all now familiar if you’re lucky enough to have a Google Voice account. The web app centers around a virtual keypad just like you see in Phone.app, and works as expected. Although, with the app being totally web based, the necessary iPhone OS pop-up confirmations are still present. With the app, you can either dial Google Access numbers, or international numbers and pay Google’s low cost rates. Need to see who’s been sending you voicemails lately? Just switch to the inbox tab. Here, just like as you would if the app were native, you’ll see a list of voicemails, as well as the ability to view or play the message in full and call or text the original sender.
Need to send a message to one of your contacts? Tap compose, and the HTML5 powered web app will bring up the necessary compose tools for you. Maybe you want to easily access certain sections of the web app directly from your iPhone’s homescreen? As you would with other sites you can add a webclip icons which lead directly to these sections the usual way, from Mobile Safari.
Finally, Google Voice on the iPhone .. even if it is a web app. Yes, I’m looking at you Apple.
Let’s take a step back from this materialistic world for a minute, and put things back into perspective. It’s time to give something back people. If you’ve ever made an excuse not to donate to charity .. (do you stamp on little kittens while you’re at it?) .. well, frankly, now you don’t have one. Launched on Monday, ShopKick Inc have announced they’ve partnered with both Citibank Inc and Kraft Foods to bring a modern charitable experience to the iPhone that you’ll just want to get involved with – and trust me, you will!
Available for FREE from the App Store, CauseWorld allows you to collect “Karma” when you either come close to, or on entering a retail store. Here’s how it works. On your trip into town, or into the city, you visit a bunch of retail stores and open the CauseWorld app near or inside the participating store(s). By doing so, you’re rewarded with a certain amount of “Karma”. This “Karma” actually represents a small chunk of the $500,000 fund both Citibank and Kraft have each provided together. You the user then get to spend this virtual “Karma” on real world charitable actions, and the best bit is, you get the choose which ones.
I know what you’re thinking .. I have to buy products at the store to gain this Karma, right? Wrong! Simply opening the app at any participated store will result in receiving a whopping chunk of Karma. So far, there are nine charities taking involvement in what CauseWorld is trying to achieve, including the likes of American Red Cross, Feeding America, American Forests, GlobalGiving, DonorsChoose.org, Prevent Child Abuse America, Carbonfund.org, American Humane Association, and Room to Read.
Recap: You get to help real-world causes by simply walking into a store. It’s not even your own money and you get social credit for doing so. So, If you do do one thing today, make it this: CLICK HERE to re-tweet this and spread the word about CauseWorld to your followers on Twitter. Heck, why not put a link to it on your Facebook profile? If only a small amount of you download and start using this app in your day-to-day routine, the world could be seriously better off for it.
You must download this app.
CauseWorld
Category: Social Networking Released: 2009-12-23 Price: FREE
Outside combines a range of statistical weather information including local forecasts and current lows, to bring a different twist to the weather experience on iPhone. But it isn’t all there, yet ..
Search is a big business nowadays, and up until today there’s been one prominent search engine giant which has dominated the App Store in it’s entirety. I am of course talking about Google. They first covered the need for immediate search by introducing Google Mobile onto the store, which also included the ability to search by voice. Later, we then had them introduce a mobile version of their widely popular Google Earth software.
With Apple having partnered with Google in the past to bring Google Maps out of the box on the iPhone, by all accounts it seemed Google had (and still has) things pretty much sown up! .. But let’s not forget, Google aren’t the only ones who want a piece of the iPhone’s ’search’ market share. After all, Microsoft had already created numerous version of Bing for other mobile devices, however as noted earlier in the year it was clear if Microsoft wanted to complete with the major search giants like Google, they’d have to bow down to the iPhone – and they have ..
Yesterday, having already released a mobile version of their Seadragon software earlier this year, and later introducing their Tag reader software, we saw the debut of Bing. Microsoft’s own relatively new search engine. I have to say, I was surprised. Not by the fact we now have Bing on the iPhone; Surely that was inevitable, right? No, What surprised me the most is how well designed it is. It’s clear it was thought about beforehand, and I like that in an app.
Quite simply, Bing lets you search – and just like Google it does so in various ways, not surprisingly one of them being of course – voice. According to Microsoft, it’s key features on the iPhone are the displaying of the daily image from Bing.com, easy to access voice search, tips and tricks on the home page, “Locate Me” functionality, the ability to add pushpins and save locations. Represented by little Grey squares, Bing’s homescreen is home to some of the latest news stories of the hour, alongside some interesting facts, off set on the ‘Pic of the Day’.
The app lets you search by Images, Movies, Maps (which ironically uses Google Maps), Businesses and Directions. Search results are displayed in-app, with the app featuring a built-in browser. Sadly though, no option to switch out to Safari. Figures much? Searching for businesses is pretty cool. If the business has been rated by Bing users, Bing will display and break down it’s rating for you. For example, say you’re searching for a coffee shop, if it has the data, Bing will display rates for aspects like the atmosphere, drinks and menu quality. A nice plus. Directions in-app feature full Google Maps, plus location (if turned on), along with manual directions and the option to manually step through each turn on your journey.
I must say – it’s a good start Microsoft. One which I wasn’t expecting and definitely a pleasant surprise from you of all people. That said, I do have a small caveat. Turn by turn directions with voice overlay would have been nice.
The sequel to an overnight App Store hit, Illusion Labs debuts Labyrinth 2. With it’s dramatically overhauled gameplay, slick graphics, mutliplayer, level creator and more you just have to pick this one up!
Wired Magazine is reporting that the company Molinker, best known for being essentially a copycat developer who at their peak had 1000 applications submitted and approved on the App Store have been recently been removed. It appears that this removal was mostly based on the developer gaming the review system by giving away free application codes in response for 5 star reviews. The most interesting thing of all is, is the one line in the article that discusses the fact that one of this company’s apps showed up in the “Staff Favorites” list which until now I honestly thought was chosen by people who worked at Apple. This opens up a can of worms in terms of how those selections are actually made, and should be investigated more.
On one hand I’m glad they decided to remove the offending company and their spamware, but on the other hand it brings out some glaring issues in the setup of the App Store. Since the launch of the App Store, there have been quite a few complaints about the approval process, the amount of spam apps that get on, and the general needle in a haystack feel that some developers are gripping with. I would love to see Apple find a way to help quality apps find their way out of the grime and for there to be a leveling playing field for everyone, but I sadly think that that day is a ways away.
On one hand I commend Apple for taking action on what essentially is a 1% cut of all their applications on the store, on the other hand, when there are 100,000 apps in the App Store, the store is going to get gamed and it shouldn’t be up to other developers to report on people. It should be interesting to see what kind of precedence this sets for future developers and people abusing the appstore system.
We love Instaviz. In fact, we reviewed it in full back in January of this year proclaiming how good it actually was. Imagine a white board .. and then imagine all that creative power, in your pocket. You don’t need to bring anything with you. Simply you, your ideas, your thought-process, and .. your finger. Closely compared to the likes of Microsoft’s Visio, and based off the concept of Graphviz, an existing and open source software package which achieves more or less the same results, Instaviz is dubbed ‘graph creation software’ and it very cleverly uses the iPhone’s mutli-touch interface to harness the manipulation of mind-map environments.
A few weeks back now, Glen of Instaviz gave us the heads up on an update to the software Version 1.5. This new version sees a variety of new features added, some which were needed, and others which are just nice to have. The more noteworthy is this version includes an entirely new display architecture. It sounds fancy, but we’re basically told that this means that the zooming, panning and placement of objects is faster, smoother, and more reliable. Still all part of this new architecture, in 1.5 Pixelglow added animation, meaning now, any and all objects which you create morph into their final shapes, and once an item is deleted – it fades out. The update also adds two-finger panning and zooming in ‘Edit’ mode, Batch file operations in Graphs list, and complete help files and localizations in 10 languages. They’re small changes, but ones which I’m sure will make a difference.
“One of our goals with this update has been to make scrolling and zooming within Instaviz 1.5 so intuitive and smooth that you don’t notice you’re working on a small screen.”
As well as all that, they’ve also rejigged the sharing aspect of Instaviz, meaning you can now carry out features like export, duplicate delete and preview in one tidy interface, at graph level. Finally though, and probably most excitingly, is this verison adds the future foundations for Instaviz 2.0, with this verison introducing the ability to in-line edit, as well as adding CoverFlow-like views for your graphs.
INSTAVIZ 1.5 GIVEAWAY
Instaviz 1.5 is already available on the store, and courtesy of Glen and Instaviz we’ve got a whopping 10 COPIES of the application to giveaway to you creative lot! Being a creative based app, we thought long and hard about what we wanted to base this giveaway around. In the end we came up with this ..
We want you to tell us the most creative way you can think of, of how you (personally) would use Instaviz 1.5 in your day to day life.
Whether it be for business purposes, personal purposes or down right off the wall purposes, we want to know! Leave a comment on this post with your answer, and a prize for the most creative! Your answer can be as long or as short as you want it to be, and we’ll judge on creativity of your answer alone. Be quick though, we’re giving you up until December 9th @ 11am EST to get your entries in! All winners will receive one valid iTunes App Store promotional code for Instaviz 1.5, will be picked randomly, and announced here shortly afterward.
Good luck!
Update 12/10/2009: All winners have been notified. Check the email address your used when you commented to see if you have won.
It’s become pretty evident to us that the iPhone / iPod Touch is the next big educational learning tool. If you’ve ever seen a 2-4 year old pick up one of their parents devices, swipe it to unlock, and then easily navigate to their favorite apps, you understand. Kids just seem to take to the device so quickly and so easily. It’s easy touch screen and accelerometer controls just makes perfect sense to them.
It’s due to that obvious affinity kids have for the device, and the need to have a site dedicated to both general and education apps for kids and parents that we’ve partnered with an iPhone obsessed mom to create GiggleApps.
We’re going to start out pretty slow with just a few app reviews per week. But along the way we’re going to do our best to get our readers input on what they want to see and help point the site in that direction. You can keep track of the new posts via Facebook, Twitter, an RSS feed, or even Email.
There aren’t many people who don’t love Tweetie for iPhone. In mid-October of this year we saw Loren introduce to us his completely re-vamped version. Hyped to high heaven, Tweetie 2 saw a more simplistic UI, a new (coined revolutionary) way to refresh your timeline, better account management, a new tweet composing experience, custom URL endpoints, the ability to save tweets as drafts for later publishing and more. It was seen as a great step up to the original Tweetie.
But with recent changes to Twitter’s API, new service introductions, and with Tweetie 2 not having any support for these out of the box, it was clear it was in for an update, very soon. Cue, 2.1. If you happen to follow me on Twitter, you’ll probably (almost definitely) know that I’ve been closely involved in the beta-testing of Tweetie 2.1, and I have to say it’s an update well worth attention. Most notably, this version brings support for Twitter’s new ‘Lists’ feature.
If you’re not already aware, Twitter Lists are the new universal way to categorize your followers, and for them to categorize you. It’s as simple as selecting which ‘list’ you want that person to appear on. Other people following you then have the option to follow that specific list, meaning if you make a list called ‘Favorites,’ and add all your favorite Tweeters, anyone who follows that list will essentially see the best content from your followers. The Twitter list feature has become so popular in the short space of time it has been live, that people are now starting to judge ‘influence level’ on how well you are listed, and in what categories.
In Tweetie 2.1, lists are pretty much the same as they are on Twitter.com, but it’s how they’ve been implemented which makes the experience a whole lot more user-friendly. Tapping the ‘More’ tab in 2.1, you’ll now see all the ‘Lists’ you belong to, or have been added to, including the one’s you’re not even following. Choosing a list will throw you into a specialized, scrollable time line which only consist of the members of that list. Want to see the stats of a list? In the bottom left you’ll see an ‘i’ info button. Tap it, and the current list being viewed will flip over to reveal the owner of that particular list (and tapping on him or her will take you to their profile page), alongside the list’s following and follower counts. Continue reading First Look: Tweetie 2.1. Brings Twitter List Support, Among Other Trippy Stuff. »
In a recent press statement (which I had trouble tracking down), Virgin announced that they will be offering the iPhone in the “coming months” to Canadians (all indications are that it will be in February 2010). Recently here in Canada (Ryan, the author, is from Canada – ed.) we saw the addition of two more iPhone carriers in Bell and Telus but both offered very little in terms of competitive plans against the previous carrier, Rogers. As a consumer I was really hoping this increased competition would see an improvement in the available plans, but it appears that they all have a pact to not even make an effort. All of them offer almost the exact same plans, rates, and contracts with extremely little variation.
In most countries iPhone purchasers have the ability to pick up the devices for $199 on 2 year contracts, but not here in Canada. All 3 carriers offer 3 year contracts only. It also rumoured that Virgin will be offering the same forced 3 year contracts on us consumers. Now, Virgin has been establishing itself as a budget carrier with free phones, cheap plans, and generally the place to go if you are a very light phone user. So how they come at the release of the iPhone on their network should be very interesting. I believe that they have a real chance to steal a significant market share if they offer up something unique and flexible with this famous device. I’d love to see Virgin take a risk in it’s pricing structure and allow a la cart pricing plans, pay as you go data, and 2 year contracts. I’d even be willing to fork over an extra $100 at purchase to get one less year on my contract.
With this addition, we are one of the leading countries in terms of carrier choice for the iPhone, but sadly still behind on pricing and contract options. If Virgin misses this opportunity to steal a decent size of the market, I’ll be sad, because I really want to get one, but no one has provided what I’m looking for.
Dashboard. Introduced into Apple’s OSX operating system in late April 2005, allows you to manage various little programs dubbed ‘Widgets’ visually on the screen, arranging them anywhere and in any way you like. Each widget then has its own certain configurable preferences. It wasn’t anything new, but as always, it was the way Apple went about it that made it so popular. With iPhone OS running on Leopard, many people have looked into the possibly of bringing well adorned aspects of OSX, to the touch platform. With the recent release of ‘Orbit,’ (for jailbroken devices), from Ireland-based developer Steve Troughton-Smith, we saw ‘Spaces’ unofficially make its debut on the iPhone, for the first time. But .. What about Dashboard?
Developed by Mobile Pond, and designed by their lead Omer Shoor – also the designer behind Photogene, iGizmoz brings the fully-fledged ‘Dashboard’ experience, to iPhone – Only due to SDK restrictions, it’s an app and it’s not directly built into iPhone OS .. (I wish it was!). Here’s how it works. Opening the app will reveal your dashboard. Tapping on the bottom left-hand corner will slide two further section out from the sides of the screen. The first is your ‘Widgets Dock’. Just like Dashboard OSX, iGizmoz dims the background (your now in ‘Edit Mode’) and displays all the available addable widgets on a visual dock. This time though, the dock is Leopard-styled. Reflections and all!
In total, the app offers 11 widgets, with no obvious way to add more, yet. The widgets included are: Clock, Search, Calendar, Contact, Countdown/Stopwatch, Stickies, Picture Frame, A Swinging Cat Thingy, Os and Xs (naughts and crosses) and a Light Bulb. To add a widget to iGizmoz, simply tap and drag it from the bottom dock, onto any point on the dashboard. You know that shrink and grow animation you get when dragging a widget onto Dashboard? You guessed it. That’s there, too! Once you’ve added a widget to the Dashboard, activate ‘Edit Mode’ by tapping and holding any widget of your choice. From here, as well as being able to edit the current position the widgets, you’ll find two more options. Delete, and Settings.
Tapping the settings button will bring up the specific configurable options for that particular widget. For example, in the ‘Clock’ widget settings, you have 6 different clock styles to choose from, as well as options to configure your timezone and the seconds display. Once your happy just tap on an idea of the dashboard which is not taken up by widgets, and you’ll exit edit mode. Need to delete a widget? Simply enter edit mode by tapping a holding again, and hit the ‘X’ button (top left) associated with that particular widget. Now granted, the icons for each of these built-in widgets do need a little work, but graphically, the widgets themselves are (in my opinion) – stunning!
The second sliding draw in edit mode offers a few other configurables. Tapping the global settings button (top right) throws you into the main settings of the app which basically consists of letting you choose a different backdrop for your dashboard. iGizmoz offers 19 pre-set backgrounds, and the option to add your own custom image from your iPhone’s on-board photo library. Need to reset iGizmoz, under the ‘Maintainence’ section, just tap ‘Reset Gizmoz,’ and factory settings for your dashboard will be restored. Tapping the next button on the sliding draw will snap all your current widgets to grid. Exit edit mode? just tap that last ‘X’ button to return to your dashboard.
I know what your thinking .. “320 x 480 is way too small for this kind of thing. I mean, I’ll be able to fit like, What? .. 3 widgets on-screen?”. Normally you’d be right, but iGizmoz has a hidden secret. Swiping to your left (while not in edit mode) will reveal your true dashboard space, spanning roughly 3 homescreens wide!
So, there you have it. Dashboard on the iPhone. Personally, I’m hoping they’ll add widgets via in-app purchases. That would totally rock. Right? iGizmoz officially launches on the App Store tomorrow, Wednesday 25th for just $0.99
Update: iGizmoz is Now Available on the App Store. Get it here.
We all know Apple’s App Store approval process is less than perfect, and that sometimes their rejection policies seem down right crazy. We’ve seen app’s rejected for multiple reasons, but nothing quite like what happened to IUGO earlier this year. If you cast your mind back to June 29, you might remember Vancouver based development studio IUGO releasing their hilarious, quirky title A.D.D Lite. The idea behind the app was simple; to give the user short bursts of fast-paced, addictive and challenging (slightly risque), crazy, raunchy, fun. For example, tasks you may encounter include the waxing of a man, threading a pencil into a bum-crack, and un-doing a chick’s bra as fast as you can .. Just an regular ordinary day for me, then.
As with any developer, they too thought they’d be in for a smooth ride on the approval train, and unfortunately as we all now know, that wasn’t to be the case. IUGO submitted a ‘Lite’ version of thier A.D.D app, with the intention of submitting a more feature-packed paid version, at a later date. Monitoring the success of A.D.D Lite, shortly after releasing it they submitted the full version of A.D.D to Apple for approval. Now, although the game is raunchy (in parts), and it was meant to be .. they didn’t think that anything in it would break Apple’s App Store policies, because let’s be honest- it didn’t.
With all this in mind, (as you can imagine), IUGO was more than I little stunned when their approval wait time surpassed 2 weeks, then 4 weeks, and then 6 weeks. It was clear that Apple wasn’t going to let this through. With word from Apple simply stating “the game is taking an unusually long time to review and that they apologize.”, they drew their own conclusions and in August of this year IUGOME took the decision to pull ‘A.D.D Lite’ from the App Store in all countries. Their reason being was that the lite version existed only to sell copies of the full version of A.D.D. What’s even more baffling is that IUGO was actually prepared to re-think and change elements of the game at Apple’s request, but never once got word to do so. At this point, they just wanted the game approved and would do anything they could to help it.
After 6 months of the full version of A.D.D being stuck in Apple’s approval process, I can’t blame the guys and girls over at IUGO if they’d completely forgotten about the title. Yesterday though, out of the blue, their painfully long waiting came to an end, announcing via their Twitter stream that the game had indeed now been approved by Apple, and that we should wait for it to appear on the store!
“OMG OMG OMG!! A.D.D. has been approved! No I’m not kidding! Still waiting for it to show up on the App Store! Holy Crap! Six months later!”
A few hours after that, it did. In all it’s glory. Packed with roughly 80 mini-games, and updates coming with more on the way, A.D.D is now available for purchse in the App Store, for $2.99. There’s no lite version however, as mentioned that was pulled earlier this year. Will it return? I hope it does .. But, God help IUGO if they have to wait another 6 months for Apple to re-approve that ..
I’ve always been a fan of Google Earth. Ever since it was first introduced I’ve always thought the concept behind it, was incredible. Having the ability to virtually surf the globe, and search in any country, state, region, city, town or street and visually fly to it, get walking or diving directions to it, or simply see and read about the surrounding area via various Wikis, was (and still is) almighty powerful stuff – But really, Who am I kidding? You already knew that!
Up until October 28th 2008, Google’s ‘Earth’ service, a spherical flurry of thousands of satellite images which depicted the planet in 2D (and shortly after, 3D), was available on PC, Mac and a selection of chosen mobile handsets. When Google announced Google Earth for iPhone though, I was, like most of you, quietly excited. Not just because this was a mobile version of Google Earth, but that this was a gesture-based version of Google Earth, on the iPhone – and with its built in GPS unit, we now had location-aware mapping, tied into the largest search engine on Earth. That, was exciting.
When the app finally debuted on the App Store, many people including me thought Google had gotten it as right as they could. Spot on, in fact. A stable, feature-packed release which (without exaggeration) literally put the globe in your pocket. Okay it ran a little clunkier on the 3G than the 3GS, but that was to be expected.
If there’s one thing I like about the App Store though, it’s the update process. It forgets the old, and ushers in the new. Most of the time, updates to said app(s) happen fairly frequently. Google being Google though, their 2.0.0 update (a major milestone release) has been nearly 10 months in the making, and last Monday saw it’s debut on the store Has it been worth the wait? .. Well, somewhat. While this release doesn’t bring too many ground-breaking features, it does have some nice additions. For example, if you’ve been waiting to view maps you’ve saved on Google Earth Desktop on your iPhone, your sure going to like this release. A new feature in the software aptly named ‘My Maps‘ now allows you to view any and all previously saved ‘Maps’ on the software’s desktop counterpart(s), on your iPhone. Not only that, but these ’saved’ maps can include layers upon layers of information. For example; itinerary, route lines, traffic, and other data. This essentially means you can no create truly ‘personalised’ maps – and it works well!
Another nice addition I liked was the use of greatly enhanced visual feedback when tapping objects. Before, it was kinda a guessing game of which ‘Wiki’ or place marker you were selecting, (especially if you happen to be selecting from a group of similar wikis or places). Now in 2.0.0, tapping on a wiki or object results in a light glow of that object, meaning you can differentiate, more easily. It’s still not perfect, but it’s a helping hand. Alongside this ‘icon glow’, you’ll also notice that the presentation of place information is much more streamlined, and easier to read.
And that’s it! Apart from those two main new features, the app is said to have had its overall performance enhanced – although I have to be honest and say it wasn’t really all that noticeable (to me anyway!), and of course Google took this opportunity to add support for a variety of new languages, brings the total supported up to 31 (from the previous 18)!
My only gripe now is I wish they’d update some of the satellite images in their database. Some of them are what? 2003? .. Ugh. You can read more about this update in detail over on The Official Google Blog.
If you’re a gamer like I am, it’s pretty much a given that you’ll be familiar with or have heard of, Electronic Arts. From their multi-million dollar Need for Speed franchise, to Tiger Woods, Scrabble, Command and Conquer, FIFA, Monopoly, Tetris, MADDEN and more, it’s clear EA really does play a major part in the day-to-day gaming experiences most of us buy into.
Today, Visceral Games a studio which is a part of EA, are announcing a new ‘experience’ across multiple platforms, which boasts both a fun social aspect that involves the iPhone. The app is called Dante’s Inferno™ and centers around the aspect of sending people and or brands to ‘Hell’. Based on the original poem(Dante’s Inferno), the app calls upon you to ‘damn’ others to one of 9 preset ‘circles of Hell’. These 9 circles include: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud or Treachery. Once you’ve decided who you’d like to damn, and why, you can then ‘punish’ your victim and await a reaction (if any) from onlookers who are also using the social experience. The free application will also come with a ‘Hell Browser’. This extension will allow you to see a snapshot of all the activity in Hell, on a daily basis, as well as allowing you to see what essentially will be “The Demon of the Week”. Basically, at that point you’ll be looking at the number 1 most hated person, TV personality or brand, for that week. Sound interesting? It gets better ..
“Angry at your mom for grounding you? Send her to ‘Treachery’. Mad at your ex- for cheating? Send them to ‘Lust’.”
Today we have confirmation from EA that one of the new features to the service will allow you to send someone directly to ‘Hell’ from your iPhone. Using the iPhone’s camera you’ll just be able to snap of photo your victim, choose which circle of hell you wish to throw them in, and then punish them. Now although we know the basics of how the experience works, we don’t actually know the true mechanics of how this will play out on the iPhone yet, and admittedly the information given to us has been a little sketchy on that side of things. One thing we are certain of though is that Dante’s Inferno will be in the App Store shortly, as a FREE app! Continue reading Visceral Games, An EA Partner Studio Announces Their Multi-Platform Social Media Experience: Dante’s Inferno. Works With iPhone! »
From the creators of the award-winning conversion app, Convert, comes the second of TapTapTap’s iPhone titles. This time, voice morphing. But does it really live up to the studios previous titles?
The Settlers for iPhone is a reincarnation of the classic PC-based title of the same name. With stunning visuals and audio to match, I found the game to be both immersive and addicting.
Can’t seem to get up on time? You probably need this. With it’s great UI and a wide range of settings, it is a great solution for your waking needs. I really like Alarm Clock Pro… even if it DOES have a flashlight attached.
If there’s one persistent problem with the iPhone, it’s its desirability as a device. That shiny black and glass fascia, and user intuitive software really does appeal to us. Unfortunately, most of the time it also appeals to a different group of people. A group of people with the sole intention to steal. With the introduction of Mobile Me, we saw Apple try to combat this age-old situation, introducing for every one of it’s users the ability to track their devices, directly from their online account from anywhere on the globe.
Before Apple showed it’s hand though, there was one prolific company who were set on making tracking stolen devices – specifically iPhone’s and Macintosh computers – their sole business. That company was of course Belgium-based software developers, Obicule. When their security software, Undercover, came to the iPhone, it hit the mainstream. But there were also the usual critics. See, the problem was that the software would only work as intended if the actual application was open on the stolen device. Today, Obicule are announcing what they deem to be a major update to Undercover for iPhone, version 1.5, and sees this exact launch-to-function issue, resolved. In a stark move, this update now adds adding the ability to remotely open the app on the stolen device.
So, How does it work? Well, Obicule have revealed that harnessing a clever use of push notifications, the user can remotely send the stolen device a push notification alert, (rather similar to ‘Find My iPhone’ on Mobile Me), therefore been able to ensure that the owner of the device can remotely open the application, allowing the tracking of the device. Upon registration at the Undercover Center, you’ll be able to access your ‘Undercover’ account online, from anywhere, and once the app is activated, this account will store the devices location and IP information, allowing you to track it under the radar.
To me, this update from the company really proves the true potential of and how powerful Apple’s Push Notification Service can be; and that if more developers put their mind to it, the service could in fact be used for more than just status updates and alerts. It seems the update is already live on the App Store, so if you are an Undercover user, I say go and grab it!
Universal Studios Home Entertainment have today announced their plans to offer next generation user interactivity on a selection of their upcoming Blu-ray titles. Arriving this coming holiday season, the studio will be focusing on bringing a variety of special features targeted for (and which will integrate exclusively with) both the Apple iPhone, and iPod touch. So, I bet you’re wondering what titles can be expect this functionality on? There are five new and upcoming titles, all on Blu-ray, which we’ll see include these special interactive experiences. These include: Bruno, Funny People, 9, American Pie Presents: The Book of Love, Public Enemies, and Inglourious Basterds.
Split up into two main sectors, this new announcement sees Universal as an entertainment studio shift focus into the iPhone space, and equally importantly at the same time, jump on the ever-changing, ever-evolving social networking band-wagon.
The first of Universal’s announcements is pocket BLU. Described as ‘Groundbreaking,’ this free application will connect through Wi-Fi to any network capable Blu-ray player, and will extend the Blu-ray experience in an variety of new and exciting ways.
Feature extensions to your Blu-ray experience will include the following:
An Advanced Remote Control. Not only is Universal Studios set on extending your visual Blu-ray experience, it seems they also want to enhance the the way you interact with it. Pocket BLU™ will see the introduction of a sleek, elegant new way to operate your Blu-ray™ player. You’ll be able to navigate through menus, playback and BD-Live™ functions with ease, straight from your iPhone or iPod touch.
Sulake Inc the guys behind the original online hit sensation Habbo Hotel brings Bobba Bar to iPhone and iPod touch. A watered-down, but graphically stunning version of the franchise.
id Software finally brings the Doom experience we’ve all been waiting for to your favorite iDevice. True and full, this port will replicate the experience that sucked up most of your childhood! But, just how are those controls?
When taking photos on the move, sometimes it pays to have photo editing apps. After all, you’re not going to tweet that picture without a bit of increased contrast, or brightness – right? It’s a well-known fact nowadays that the majority of photos we see on the web have being edited in some way in a graphics package such as Adobe Photoshop. But what if you can’t get to your computer and need reliable and feature filled editing applications on the move?
Being a keen photographer and designer, I thought it’d be fun to give you my low-down on the photo editing apps I personally think you should have on your phone. I’ll explain why I think you should have them, and what features and benefits I like most about each application. Here we go!
PhotoForge
Definitely one of the more fully-featured photo editing App Store offerings, PhotoForge (in my opinion) should have you pretty much covered for your mobile editing needs. Just like all the editors I’m about to feature, the app will allow you to open, edit and save a photo to your iPhone’s camera roll. What makes PhotoForge a great pick for this over it’s competition is it’s feature set. As well as allowing you to rotate and crop your photo, the app also offers a wide range of both adjustment and visual effects which are comparable to Adobe Photoshop on a mobile level. Continue reading Four Of The Best Photo Editing Apps For Your iPhone! »
On November 28th 2008 Apple hit a landmark for their iPhone App Store. They reached 10,000 approved applications for their device. Less then a year later, Apple has hit another landmark in approving their 100,000th app. This number is mind boggling when you think about the amount of development man hours that have gone into it.
Recently I’ve read some other saddening numbers in that some developers are seeing piracy rates of upwards of 90% on their applications. I firmly believe that Apple’s recent move to allow developers to sell in game purchases in their free apps is a direct response to the massive pirating we see going on. If developers, publishers, startups and the like are going to make money consistently on the device in a complete sea of pirates and the race to $0.99 they are going to do start thinking and doing things completely differently. A lot of people are starting to expect a lot of game for almost no money. The problem is very few companies can exist by merely selling their app for such a low price, but then you’ll almost never get noticed if you price yourself higher. It is definitely a catch 22 for many devs. What I see happening in this space is that the devs who take the model of giving their game away for free and then convincing me to go farther by spending $0.99 or $1.99 will more likely succeed. The other approach is to lock people out of the game based on a timed events similar to how iMob does it. There may even be a 3rd or 4th solution to this problem that has yet to emerge.
This flood of apps will not stop, and some analysts are saying that we’ll see 250,000 applications by this time next year and that number may even be low if we look at the growth pattern over the last year and half. Crazy as it sounds, I think this is just the tip of the iceberg that will be the app store. Everyone will be developing stuff for the iPhone. At some point, Apple will be changing it’s slogan to “There are 100 apps for that” as extreme over saturation hits in all areas. Even Adobe is releasing a Flash game converter that allows you to make your Flash game into an app and with that every Flash game will get converted in no time.
Following on from the immersive RPG that was Return to Mysterious Island, iPhone publisher Chillingo have announced they’re bringing a sequel to the store, announcing Jules Verne’s Secrets of The Mysterious Island is coming to both iPhone (and iPod touch), shortly. The first of the series hit App Store shelves in May of this year, and like most adventure based titles seemed to go down in a storm with the iPhone crowd. Recently I seem to be saying that a little too often about various titles, but having actually owned (and played) this title myself, I can say quite honestly say the adventure was thoroughly enjoyable to play through.
Based on a graphic novel by Jules Verne’s, and carrying on from titles such as 1112 and Cassandra’s Journey, the game sees you take the role of Mina, a sailor who becomes stranded on an island, somewhere in the Pacific ocean. As you trail and tap your way around the island, trying your up-most to survive, and finding objects and (more importantly) food along the way, you try to unlock the mysteries hidden within.
Described by Chillingo as an experience which will mirror that of Robinson Crusoe, this new release will carry on from where you left off. The game will start off with a helicopter crash, and continuing the theme of being stranded, you will have to guide Mina to safety. This time will also see you visit new locations including: Captain Nemo’s base and scouring the ruins of an unknown civilization. Eventually, you will realize the cause of the threat to the island, and will aim to prevent it.
For approximately 700 Mb, the player will find out the end of the adventure of Mina. Jules Verne’s “Secrets of The Mysterious Island” contains stunning 3D graphics, many ambient sounds, music designed to enhance the mysterious atmosphere and feel.
Remember .™? If you don’t, the title was the debut of London-based iPhone development studio ustwo™. The game was 2D and involved the user guiding a white dot around a playing field, trying to avoid red matter (triangular), and collecting blue matter (circular). It hit the mainstream for a number of reasons, firstly for its design ethics, but secondly and most importantly being that it was the first ever application to have hit the App Store, whilst having been designed from concept to final within a 48 hour period.
This had never been done before. The thought of developing a polished title such as .™ within such a short period of time, to most other developers I imagine may have started their worst nightmare. There are going to be 6 titles within this ‘exclusive’ set of apps – sorta a “collect em’ all” diddy. The first was .™ which we profiled a few weeks back, and the next is supposedlyInkstrumental™ CRAZO™ (although as we mentioned in our previous first look, the studio themselves isn’t sure if that’ll ever see the light of day, yet.)
In the meantime the studio isn’t standing still, today announcing the sequel to their debut hit title. Calling it ..™. Having not seen the game yet myself, or had chance to play with it, I can only go off this visually stunning teaser trailer which the company has just released above, which to me seems to convey we might just be in store for some 3D goodness – (well .. I hope so)! While it’s not clear if this sequel will follow the 48 hour development method ustwo™ are now famous for, you have to admit that ..™ trailer is pretty damn trippy.
Having played .™, it’s addictive nature tends to bring with it high replay value, and as with any title, high replay usually means value for money. With no word on price yet, it’s hard to judge if ..™ will live up to it’s original – but according to ustwo™ we won’t have to wait long to find out. The title is expected to hit very, very soon.
Update: In a stark move, the studio has created a fully interactive online version of the upcoming game. Part of their new ‘48App’ section, you can now play both .™ and ..™ flash versions – here. Looks like ..™ will be 3D after all! Although, it’s still unclear whether the game will use touch and drag gesture controls, or take advantage of the accelerometer. We’ll see!
.™
Category: Games / Action Released: 2009-09-17 Price: $1.99
Following the announcement from O2 UK that the two-year exclusive contract agreement between both them and Apple over the iPhone handset is indeed about to end, Orange is believed to be gearing to start selling the iPhone 3GS (and iPhone 3G) just one day after Apple and O2’s exclusivity agreement ends – November 10th, adding to the 27 countries and territories the company already sells the devices in.
While O2 had originally believed it had the rights to sell the handset until 2012, the agreement originally signed in 2007 actually only secured O2 exclusivity of the handset for a two year period.
I know what you’re thinking; Everyone has an iPhone now, so what’s the big news here? Right? .. Wrong. According to SlashGear, Orange has already had over 200,000 people register their interest for the new handsets. The really big news here however, is that Orange is about to get feisty with their offerings. With the end of this exclusivity agreement between Apple and O2 UK, this opens the floor to other companies selling the handset. Yes – companies. More than one – and for the first time ever, this means one thing; competition.
As previously reported, Vodaphone UK also recently showed their hand, stating they too will be offering the handset. With the holiday season fast approaching, this launch will see both Orange and Vodaphone fighting to secure iPhone customers. Orange however, has a plan. Still speculation, Orange are said to be re-thinking the way they are going to offer the handset, with one UK columnist saying the telecoms company could offer customers bundled accessories or even pre-installed applications.
With no handset pricing or tariffs announced, we’re yet to see if the jump from O2 to Orange for existing customers is a viable or more importantly – affordable – option. What is certain though is it’s going to be a fight for customers, and a tough one. At this point, I can’t help but think that Orange has the upper hand.
In fact, according to one source, Orange has teamed up with T-Mobile over the summer, and are both allegedly already selling the device in other areas of the world – and, although Vodaphone UK has managed signed a deal with Apple to sell the devices, it now comes to light the company won’t get it’s hands on the handset(s) until early next year (2010).
It’ll certainly be interesting to see how all this plays out, and what the benefits will be for both new (and existing customers) – if any.
- GOOD LOOKING, BUT ..
:: ABOVE AVERAGE :: 
In a recent press statement (which I had trouble tracking down), Virgin 
Recently I’ve read some other saddening numbers in that some developers are seeing 
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