Tag: Switch »

Computer engineering and getting kids into IT isn’t always fun and games, but Nintendo Switch puzzler TryBit Logic certainly makes it seem that way.

Developed by Himacs, the game pits players against an army of bugs and teaches them the fundamentals of computing while they battle them.

The aim of TryBit Logic is to help a friendly ‘Bitrobo’ fight off an onslaught from those pesky glitches, and the way to defeat the enemy is to combine logical operations panels to expose their weaknesses. Toggling a bug’s switch from 0000 or 1111 is the best way to kill them off.

You’d be forgiven for thinking a game about harpooning fish and fighting pirates would be set on the high seas. But the action in Airheart is entirely airborne. Following up on its PC and Playstation release last year, this award-winning game has now been released on Nintendo Switch.

Airheart is a rogue-like game where, instead of exploring dingey dungeons, you explore colourful levels in the sky. It’s a follow up to prequel Cloud Chasers, also developed by Zurich-based Blindflug Studio. The story picks up where Cloud Chasers left off, with Amelia Airheart leaving the desert for the clouds. You control her journey from sky city Granaria, all the way up to the stratosphere in a customisable aeroplane. As you go, you’ll encounter marauding pirates, whose aircrafts you can repurpose for parts and weapons, as well as flying fish which you can catch for oil and money.

It's been a little over a year since the release of the Nintendo Switch. AAA studios and small indie devs alike have warmly embraced the console, and it’s not hard to see why. There have been some really great games on the Switch over the first twelve months of its life-span, which got us thinking.

And some of those games would be great additions on other mobile devices. So here are a few games out on Switch that should totally be ported to iPhone and iPad. If you’ve got your own suggestions, make sure you chuck them in the comments at the bottom of the article. With that out of the way, let’s get on with it.

Philips' hue lighting collection is growing, with the addition of two new upcoming members of the family: the tap switch, which lets you control connected lights wirelessly, and the "lux," which is a white-only version of the 16 million-color original Hue bulb. Hue is known for its connectivity with iOS devices, allowing you to control room lighting from the comfort of your couch.

The tap switch, which will be available later this year for $60, impressively requires no external power source. The device powers itself with the kinetic energy of tapping its buttons. The "lux" bulb, which will retail for $40 per bulb (or come bundled with 2 bulbs plus a hue base for $100), is a very bright white coming in at $20 less than its colored brother.

Both of these new products will be available in Europe and North America sometime this Fall.

This week at 148Apps.com, everything was about - what else? - the iPhone 5. Site founder and all-around iPhone guru Jeff Scott provided some much-needed advice for anyone interested in switching carriers when upgrading: "So you, like many, have decided to switch carriers with the iPhone 5? You could go data only but perhaps you still need the phone part of the iPhone. Let’s say for instance you are tired of the customer-hostile management at AT&T and want to move to Verizon. Just, you know, as an example.

Let’s rundown what you will need to make the switch and any pitfalls you might hit. It’s a fairly simple process, but there are some things you should know first, before starting."

Read all of Jeff's great advice at 148Apps.com.

Meanwhile, GiggleApps headed to the Great White Way, courtesy of Amy Solomon's review of Broadway Barks: "Broadway Barks is a lovely interactive story, written, narrated and sung by Tony-winning actress Bernadette Peters, based on the previously published children’s book with CD of the same name. Versions for both iPhone as well as iPad are available.
This is a cute and charming story of a dog who no longer has a home and is all alone in the park until he is discovered and given a chance to be seen at Broadway Barks – a charity event in New York City to promote the adoption of animal, ultimately finding a new home."

Read the full review at GiggleApps.com.

Finally, 148Apps.biz featured a how-to for creating a better mobile app from Prince Arora: "You just came up with a great idea for a mobile app or you are working on a new feature to add in your existing app. You have laid out all the screens, primary & secondary actions, and interaction flow in your head and you get down to write the code.

Great! However, this scenario is the same as starting to build a house without a blueprint. Wireframes are like blueprints and visual design is like interior decoration for an app.

So before you start writing code, work on a blueprint — this includes writing down the features/user stories, designing the flow charts, defining the primary & secondary action and designing the wireframes. These sounds like a lot but I’ll walk you through each step to show you how simple it can be."

Read all of the steps at 148Apps.biz.

And that, my friends, brings us to the end of a very busy and exciting week. Stay abreast of the latest news, reviews and contests by following us on Twitter and Liking us on Facebook, and be sure to meet me back here next weekend for a rundown of what you might have missed. See you next week!

Got a few minutes to kill? Why not spend it flipping some switches up and down? For most people, the prospect of flipping switches up and down for fun probably doesn't sound very entertaining. Bread Engine, makers of the iOS game Switch Frenzy, beg to differ.

In this game, a set of five switches appear on screen and brightly colored arrows direct whether each switch should be flipped up or down. A blue arrow means the switch should be flipped in the direction the arrow is pointing. A red arrow means that the switch should be flipped in the opposite direction. This may sound simple enough, but when there are several different switches lighting up on screen at once things can get hectic. Other switches need to be held down or flipped multiple times, which adds to the frenzy.

With each successful switch, a bonus button is filled. Once full it can be pressed for an increased score multiplier. There is a classic survival mode where players see how long they can last without flipping a switch the wrong way, and a time attack mode where players see how many switches the can correctly flip in two minutes. In both cases the action is intense and fingers will fly while trying to get to each switch in time. Multi-touch comes in handy here as it quickly becomes necessary to flip several switches at the same time.

Achievement and leaderboards (with Game Center integration) make getting that high score all the more important. This is the kind of game that will keep friends competing back and forth in pursuit of higher and higher scores.

The beautiful minimalism of this game makes it the perfect way to spend a few spare minutes, but don't be surprised if a few minutes turn into a few more, and a few more...

Unlike the iPhone, the iPad is used in many households as a mobile computer that is used by many, if not all, members of a family. While many households have an iPhone per family member, it doesn't seem nearly as common to have each person with a personal iPad. I don't know whether it's because of price, size, or a combination of both, but the iPad seems to be used as much more of a family device.

One thing that the iPad is sorely lacking is multiple user accounts. Having a family unit is great and all, but many want to have their own pictures in their photo collection, their own apps on their home screens, and their own websites in their favorites. Nobody has figured out solutions to the first two problems, but the third may have been solved by an innovative new app called Switch.

Switch, from Mechanical Teeth, offers users a browsing experience that lets each user their own password protected account. Each account gets its own history, bookmarks, and tabs, allowing each user to browse the web without everyone in the house knowing what they are doing. Of course, the inclusion of multiple accounts also allows personal iPad owners to switch between their own interests, giving you access to a work only account, a school only account, and a casual account for your few free moments.

Hopefully Switch will spark some interest into multiple user account development... enough to make Apple take notice. All the apps in the world are great, but if Apple would add some multi-user functionality to their next iOS update, the world would be a much better place (well... maybe just slightly better). In the meantime, be sure to pick up Switch from the App Store today.

[Source: Macgasm]