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January 28th, 2010, 21:05 Posted By: wraggster
Like the camera references, this could just be another case of vestigial SDK weirdness -- but for whatever reason, devs have noticed (and we've been able to reproduce) a "Touch to return to call" bar in the iPad emulator just like you'd expect to find on an iPhone during a traditional GSM call. It certainly seems like Steve would've bothered to mention during today's festivities if you could do something crazy like pair up a Bluetooth headset and go to town (and you'd need a voice plan on top of that $29.99 data anyway), so who knows: either Apple's just made every UI element as adaptable as possible regardless of whether it's applicable to a particular device, they're planning a higher-res iPhone down the road, or they're integrating the bar into some VoIP action. Or... you know, none of the above.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/28/i...ls-or-will-it/
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January 28th, 2010, 21:04 Posted By: wraggster
50 seems to be a pretty trendy number right now, what with Palm's Pre Plus and Samsung's i8910 HD both showing off the ability to run more than 49 concurrent processes. Joining that number party, albeit in a different fashion, is this video demonstrating 50 games running smooth as butter on a Motorola Droid handset. If you thought you had to have a Zune HD, iPod touch or one of them webOS thingies to get your mobile gaming on, maybe this will serve as a competent dissuader. See it after the break.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/28/5...ays-android-c/
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January 28th, 2010, 21:03 Posted By: wraggster
Well, here we go again. Apple might have stolen all the headlines yesterday with the iPad, but as we've already noted, that name has been in dispute since September -- and it doesn't look like Fujitsu, which has been selling its own iPad since 2002, is going to back down. "It's our understanding that the name is ours," Fujitsu PR director Masahiro Yamane told the New York Times. Maybe, but it's not quite that simple. Here's the deal: Fujitsu applied for the "iPad" mark in 2003, specifically covering handheld devices used in retail. (The Fujitsu iPad is a $2,000 Windows CE point-of-sale device.) Along the way, the application got bogged down because a company called Mag-Tek had already registered IPAD for its line of PIN-entry keypads, and Fujitsu's application was listed as "abandoned" in April of 2009. The notice of abandonment apparently woke someone at Fujitsu up, because the company then asked the Trademark Office to re-open the application, arguing that Mag-Tek's IPAD had nothing to do with the Fujitsu iPad. The USPTO agreed, re-opened the application, and the process continued until September, when the iPad application was published so other trademark holders could oppose registration. That's when Apple signaled that it wasn't so happy about things -- and filed its own "iPad" trademark application using a shell company called "IP Application Development."
Phew -- still with us? That leaves us at now, with Mag-Tek selling the IPAD under a valid, registered trademark, Fujitsu selling an iPad with a pending trademark application, and Apple sucking all the air out of the room with the launch of the iPad and no US trademark at all. We'll be honest: we'd always simply discounted rumors Apple would call it the iPad, because this is kind of a mess. Apple can't just take "iPad" from Fujitsu because it really wants the name -- it's likely going to have to argue that "iPad" is confusingly similar to "iPod," while still trying to register "iPad" on its own and telling the Trademark Office that it won't be confusing to people looking for the Mag-Tek device, or the Siemens "iPad" motor trademark, or potentially even Coconut Grove's trademarked iPad bras. Of course, all these problems can be solved with the direct application of cash and some nice ambient media attention, so it's likely we'll see some friendly joint PR from Apple and Fujitsu along with an agreement to share the name sometime before Apple's formal opposition is due on February 28. That's pretty much what happened when Apple bit the "iPhone" name from Cisco, anyway. But still -- why can't Apple ever learn to have these conversations ahead of time?
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/28/a...emark-dispute/
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January 28th, 2010, 20:59 Posted By: wraggster
Bad luck, non-US countries. iBooks won't be available from launch in any country other than the US. That could mean Apple's still to finesse the licensing details with book publishers in each country, or you're just plain out of luck.
While I doubt they could write off one of the most attractive features of the iPad that easily, it's disappointing that there'll be a delay in other countries. Apple's Australian website is one of the first sites to have any trace of the iPad, which confirms the lack of ebooks.
I'll be busy pressing F5 every 10 minutes on the UK Apple site, looking for any sign of the iPad, as I just can't believe Apple could launch the device without ebooks from the get-go in the UK, considering Penguin's a British publisher, Hachette a French one, Macmillan originally Scottish but now German, and Harper Collins a British/American company.
http://gizmodo.com/5458585/ipad-coul...ries-at-launch
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January 28th, 2010, 20:58 Posted By: wraggster
As you're probably aware, the Apple iPad, like the iPhone and iPod Touch, doesn't support Flash. Apple has its reasons for this, but clearly Adobe isn't happy about it. Here's their response.
It looks like Apple is continuing to impose restrictions on their devices that limit both content publishers and consumers. Unlike many other ebook readers using the ePub file format, consumers will not be able to access ePub content with Apple's DRM technology on devices made by other manufacturers. And without Flash support, iPad users will not be able to access the full range of web content, including over 70% of games and 75% of video on the web.
If I want to use the iPad to connect to Disney, Hulu, Miniclip, Farmville, ESPN, Kongregate, or JibJab — not to mention the millions of other sites on the web — I'll be out of luck.
Adobe and more than 50 of our partners in the Open Screen Project are working to enable developers and content publishers to deliver to any device, so that consumers have open access to their favorite interactive media, content, and applications across platform, regardless of the device that people choose to use.
The main arguments against Flash running on the iPad are that it's a resource hog and a security risk. Both true! Hopefully the web is moving away from relying on Flash for videos and ugly menus, with HTML5 acting as a more-than-adequate replacement. But we're not there yet. While I can appreciate the fact that Apple is trying to keep the iPad more stable by not including Flash, the fact that it kills off most online gaming and video streaming in the process makes the tradeoff questionable.
http://gizmodo.com/5458645/adobe-res...-lack-of-flash
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January 28th, 2010, 20:55 Posted By: wraggster
The iPad! A revolutionary, game-changing product. But also, far from perfect. Let's help Apple out on that second front, shall we?
Don't feel like you need to stick to realistic improvements, either. Sure, me adding Flash to make Hulu usable wasn't too crazy, but please think outside the box here.
Send your best entries to me at contests@gizmodo.com with Improved iPad in the subject line. Save your files as JPGs or GIFs under 800k in size (seriously, anything over will not be posted because our gallery system freaks out when we try to feed it lots of large files), and use a FirstnameLastname.jpg naming convention using whatever name you want to be credited with. Send your work to me by next Tuesday morning, and I'll pick three top winners and show off the rest of the best in our Gallery of Champions. Get to it!
http://gizmodo.com/5458783/lets-help...ad-even-better
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January 28th, 2010, 20:54 Posted By: wraggster
FSF's John Sullivan launches the Defective by Design campaign and petition to rain on Steve's parade, barely minutes out of the starting gate. 'This is a huge step backward in the history of computing,' said FSF's Holmes Wilson, 'If the first personal computers required permission from the manufacturer for each new program or new feature, the history of computing would be as dismally totalitarian as the milieu in Apple's famous Super Bowl ad.' The iPad has DRM writ large: you can only install what Apple says you may, and 'computing' goes consumer mainstream — no more twiddling, just sit back, spend your money, and watch the show — while we allow you to."
What is clear is that the rise of the App Store removes control of the computer from the user. It makes me wonder what the next generation of OS X will look like.
http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/0...-Step-Backward
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January 28th, 2010, 20:52 Posted By: wraggster
Yesterday marked the announcement of the Apple iPad device, and with it came a new version of the SDK. In this new version, Apple has lifted the voip over 3G restrictions that limited VOIP traffic to wifi only. This morning, Fring announced that it's iPhone app is 3G capable starting immediately. No update is needed as apparently the app had 3G capability all along, but a server side block prevented its use. Furthermore, apparently a 3G capable version of skype has been ready for some time now, and has been waiting for this restriction to be lifted.
http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/0...king-On-iPhone
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January 28th, 2010, 20:50 Posted By: wraggster
Developer and publisher Nordcurrent has today released its ambitious iPhone minigame compilation 101-in-1 Games. It should come as no surprise that it bundles together just over one hundred bite-sized titles from a number of genres.
The collection brings together a number of puzzle and action titles, from racing and sports to cooking, shooting and sudoku. Initially just ten titles are available to play, with the rest accessible as unlockables.
"101-in-1 Games is a great fit for the iPhone and iPod Touch," said Victoria Trofimova, Director at Nordcurrent. "With its extensive use of the hardware's touch screen and its vast array of games and a great price, it is a must-have for every iPhone and iPod Touch gamer."
Priced at ÂŁ2.39, making each game cost 2.39 pence each, 101-in-1 Games offers some of the best value on the Apple platform.
http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/297...buts-on-iPhone
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January 28th, 2010, 16:39 Posted By: wraggster
Steve Wozniak, legendary co-founder of Apple, has stated that the iPhone serves better for actual working tasks than the new iPad.
Responding to a question at the University of Chico about how he thought it would affect the entertainment industry, Wozniak said that he saw the iPad as a rival to the Kindle.
“It’s an e-book reader,” he told reporters. “ It’s sort of like what Amazon has. I foresee something where you’ll be able to subscribe to magazines and newspapers – this is not announced, I’m totally guessing.”
He went on to say that the iPad would not function as well for everyday working tasks as the iPhone: “I don’t think it’s better than an iPhone for that sort of task.”
For Wozniak, the interesting aspect of the iPad was the way it revolutionised the distribution of media content.
“That would be a bigger change,” he noted. “It’s not a piece of hardware, it’s a whole new thing in how it implements a store – the whole selling and distributing.”
http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/33071...than-an-iPhone
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January 28th, 2010, 16:38 Posted By: wraggster
Chillingo boss Chris Byatte says games developers and publishers will be keen to support Apple's new iPad with new versions of their games, if it sells well.
"If the iPad install base grows quickly publishers and developers will invariably build two resolutions," he tells ME.
Byatte also thinks Chillingo's existing games, including titles like Ravensword and Radio Flare Redux, will be "awesome gaming experiences" on the iPad.
Byatta also confirmed that Chillingo isn't just planning to support the iPad with games, but also with its newly-launched iPhone social games platform.
"Chillingo is already working to make Crystal compatible at the iPad's higher resolution," he says.
http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/297...ategy-for-devs
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January 28th, 2010, 16:33 Posted By: wraggster
Key iPhone developers have expressed their commitment to creating games for Apple's newly unveiled iPad, and labelled the device as an important part of the impending shift from traditional console games to casual games that are enjoyed by the wider market.
"This is big because it will build on the success of the iPhone and iPod touch, increasing the presence of the iPhone platform in the living room and the bedroom," said developer Tapulous, creator of the best-selling title Tap Tap Revenge.
"That means users will spend more time in front of iPhone OS devices, and less time in front of their TV and traditional console devices, which ultimately means they will spend more time in Tap Tap Revenge and other iPhone games.
"This is part of a big shift from traditional console games aimed at hardcore gamers, and towards casual, social games enjoyed by everyone during their spare minutes."
The games the studio has currently released onto the App Store will run unmodified on the iPad, said the developer - Apple has confirmed that the device can run almost all of the 140,000 apps currently available through its store, either in 1:1 pixel in the centre of the screen, or by doubling to full screen in low resolution.
But it added that the new form factor opened up a world of new possibilities - "For example, two-player mode will be a blast on the iPad. We're going to aggressively explore how we can take full advantage of the new capabilities."
Those new capabilities will also be exploited by iPhone developer Firemint from the offset. The Australia-based developer of the acclaimed Flight Control confirmed that it was already working on an optimised and re-imagined version of the 2 million plus-selling title for iPad.
"Flight Control will work perfectly on iPad without any changes from us," it said. "But we want to ensure a delightful experience on iPad that feels just right.
"We started developing Real Racing before the iPhone 3G was announced. Similarly, we are already building our next generation of games for higher definition, more powerful devices than are available today.
"The iPad announcement and Apple's A4 chip have come at a fantastic time for us. We are working on some incredibly fun and exciting games that will look amazing on iPad and take full advantage of its features, as well as working brilliantly on iPhone and iPod touch."
At the device's unveiling, EA also demoed a version of Need for Speed and Gameloft showed off an enhanced version of its iPhone title Nova.
The iPad - which features an accelerometer and 9.7 inch multitouch screen - is set to launch in March.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ad-development
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January 28th, 2010, 16:33 Posted By: wraggster
New development start-up Wonderland sees significant advantages for game design in Apple's new iPad, singling out the size of the screen and its processor as opening more creative avenues than the smaller iPhone.
The team, made up of ex-Lionhead staff, went public this week – the same day that Apple unveiled its new device to an expectant market.
"There are two features in particular that have incredibly exciting gameplay consequences: the big screen size and resolution; and the way that the iPad is going to be used," said Matthew Wiggins, CEO of Wonderland Software, speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz.
"You can see from the software that Apple demoed, how the 4x pixel area totally changes the kinds of interfaces and interactions available compared to the iPhone - things that weren't possible, or are severely compromised, on a smaller screen are now up for the taking. The faster, in-house processor backs this up really well - it's a big thing that Apple can now control the hardware and software for their products."
Wiggins also said gameplay experiences for the iPad can be designed for longer periods of time, as the device is targeted at the home entertainment market, rather than as a portable gadget.
"Equally significant is the way the iPad is going to be used – this is a device designed to be used sitting down, for extended periods of time. This means that where the iPhone favours shorter, more bite-sized experiences, using the iPad is going to be a lot more immersive and substantial. For a developer exclusively developing for Apple platforms, it's a exciting opportunity to create games that work with both kinds of consumption," he added.
Wonderland is currently working on iPhone game GodFinger for publisher ngmoco, and while development is ongoing, it's not interested in jumping on any early "me-too" bandwagon.
"We'd be mad to not support it in the future, but we won't release a game for it until we have something magical to give to people. When that will be, I can't say,” offered Wiggins. “In the short-term, they'll be a lot of me-too developers trying to get a cheap port done for launch, in attempt to win the goldrush lottery. A few will succeed, most will not. Needless to say, we won't get involved in that."
One of Wiggins' early suggestions for game design is to tie both the iPad and iPhone together, to help create persistent experiences.
"After that initial rush, I think there's a fantastic opportunity for creative, talented devs to produce experiences tailored for the iPad," he said. "Apart from the different experiences possible due to the design of the iPad and the way it will be used, there's potentially some very interesting stuff you could do with having both iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch clients for a server based game – using the iPad at home for longer, more immersive play, then using the iPhone app whilst you're on the move to keep tabs on the game. This will work brilliantly for persistent games."
Early critics of the device may be asking who the target market is, but Wiggins believes Apple has thought long and hard about how it will sell the iPad, evidenced by the low starting price of the vanilla SKU.
"They've made a good start by tackling this head-on – before even announcing it, Jobs talked about whether there was a need for a 'third category' device. Apple are conscious of the problem, but after spending years on the tablet fence, they wouldn't release this device without being sure of it's appeal and usefulness.
"They've also managed to deliver it at a great price - by positioning it way below their laptops, they are stopping them going directly head-to-head. The biggest surprise of the launch was the $499 price - no one expected that low."
According to Wiggins, the casual market will be attracted to the iPad and its ease-of-use, not just as an entertainment device, but as a substitute for a traditional PC.
"The iPad is going to be a hard sell to the geek-tech crowd, who generally have a powerful laptop and a smartphone already, but that market doesn't really matter to Apple now - they are going for the millions of people who want a brilliant user experience, rather than the complexity of a traditional computer," said Wiggins.
"As soon as people watch a video of the iPad being used, and eventually have a chance to use one, they'll want it. It's been 12 hours since the launch, and already both my wife and son want us to get one - that's the appeal that Apple are going for with this," he concluded.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ameplay-design
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January 28th, 2010, 14:29 Posted By: VampDude
Twitter, blogs and Facebook users get the knives out
After hitting a grand slam with the iPhone, Apple can't be too happy with some of the early reaction to the iPad. On message boards, Twitter, blogs, and Facebook, a recurring theme has been to compare the device to a "giant iPod touch."
Considering none of the naysayers have ever handled an iPad, the comparison may seem harsh. But viewing the demo, it's not hard to see how people came to this conclusion. After all, the thing looks like a giant iPod touch, from the black-and-chrome exterior to the recessed start button. And, while Apple has introduced some new UI elements, such as drop-down menus, other basic features are based on the iPhone/iPod touch model, including the accelerometer, app store, some of the icons used for playing media, and, of course, the touch screen.
There are other criticisms as well. During the event, a comment left on the Industry Standard by reader David Kuan read:
"1 hr into the event ... and I am heading towards snoozeville. Here are my iPad not-so-good impressions thus far ....
1. Bezel is too large
2. 1/2 in is TOO THICK Even Kindle DX is thinner at 1/3 in
3. Full size QWERTY is nice but bad ergonomics when typing iPad on a flat surface
4. No SD slot for storage portability (A BIG MISS HERE!)
5. Phenomenal email? I must have dozed off during the "phenomenal" part
6. No camera? Sigh!
7. No FLASH support (MAJOR OUCH!)
8. IPS display means more power consumption and requiring backlight. Difficulty to read outdoors due to glare. OLED would be a much better choice but at this size it is yet to be economical for mass consumer target."
However, other people are very excited about the prospect of owning an iPad. There have been a huge number of iPad-related tweets saying "I want one," particularly after the pricing was announced -- the base $499 Wifi model seems to be within many people's budgets.
But the true gauge of the iPad will come when the devices ship in 60 days, and Apple releases sales figures later in the year. Wall Street thus far seems undecided, if Apple's stock price is anything to go by. It dipped to a low of about $200 during the beginning of Wednesday's demonstration, but the price had recovered to around $208 90 minutes later.
Via: PC World
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January 28th, 2010, 01:34 Posted By: wraggster
In case you missed it back in June, the Palm Pre was rooted by extracting the Root ROM from a Palm tool used to reset a device with damaged software. A lot has been learned from examining the code inside that ROM but we’re most amused by one thing in particular. If you grew up in the 80’s there’s a pretty good chance you know the Konami Code by heart. So did the developers of WebOS, the firmware running on the Palm Pre. By inputting the familiar (UpUpDownDownLeftRightLeftRightBA) set of gestures the handset enters Developer mode for connection to the SDK which was leaked last summer but is now in open release.
http://hackaday.com/2010/01/27/nes-l...ding-for-palm/
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January 28th, 2010, 01:29 Posted By: wraggster
Sorry Steve, but we're not necessarily interested in playing first-person shooters like N.O.V.A. on your newly-revealed iPad. That doesn't mean we can't see the gaming possibilities though. Don't get us wrong, we're excited to see that most of our iPhone games will work, but we think that's only the start of the story.
Real time strategy: The interface just isn't big enough for detailed troop management on the iPhone, but the iPad's larger display could be the perfect thing for trying to keep up with a hectic battlefield while managing resources. A beefier processor means the game won't be held up by too many orcs/soldiers/space cars on screen. The apps we want: Command and Conquer, StarCraft 2.
Board games: It's obviously a great size for classics like chess and checkers, but we could see playing a hell of a game of Risk that we could either pass around the room or play against friends online. OK, we were kidding about the friends part. Good luck trying to get people over to your house to "pass the giant iPod Touch around." The apps we want: Risk, Pandemic, Othello.
Most iPhone games with a virtual d-pad: Think of it, if you can move the buttons on your favorite d-pad controlled iPhone game, you may never have to wish for invisible thumbs again. Well, you might still wish for invisible thumbs but only so you can freak out neighborhood children. The apps we want (and are thankfully already out): Pac-Man Championship Edition, Wolfenstein RPG.
That one on the iPhone where it looks like you're drinking a beer: Dude: Giant beer.
Adventure games: We know some of these have been making their way to the iPhone, but pointing and clicking your way through adventure classics just seems like a natural with the iPad's larger screen (not to mention the reduction on iStrain as you read those piles of text). More and more of these gems are being remade with high resolution graphics -- we think it's high time to start enjoying them on a screen that does them justice. The apps we want: Everything Telltale's ever done, Quest For Glory.
The games that run like crud on your iPhone: After all, you've already paid for them, shouldn't you be able to play them without a bunch of chugging and stuttering? Note: This doesn't really apply to those of you rocking a 3GS, though we'll see how well your phone continues to stack up when devs also have the juiced up iPad in mind for their apps.
Popcap: Sorry guys, but there's probably nothing to be done about this one. They're going to make games, and those games are going to be a lot of fun. You're not going to be able to stop playing it. Plants Vs. Zombies is going to be fun on the iPhone and it's going to be several percentages funner on the iPad. Sorry. The apps we don't necessarily want but will be powerless to avoid: Peggle, Bejeweled, Plants Vs. Zombies.
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/27/th...-want-on-ipad/
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January 28th, 2010, 01:22 Posted By: wraggster
he Apple iPad may be great for web-browsing. It may be the best slate on which to list half of the 10 Commandments since solid rock. But, for gamers, well, thou shalt have some legitimate doubts about this thing.
Why might the iPad not become the next great player in games?
(Bear in mind, we've now played games on the iPad.}
Uh, It's A Giant iPod Touch: If our man in San Francisco is sitting at Apple's press conference, waiting for Apple to announce a revolutionary way to play games via the iPad, well, I hope he lifts his feet when the janitors come by to sweep the floors. The wait could be long.
As best we could discern from today's announcement, the button-less, tilt-sensitive, touch-screen iPad offers no game-controlling interface improvements over the button-less, tilt-sensitive, touch-screen iPod Touch. In fact, the iPad doesn't appear to even have a camera, which has been supported by some iPhone games. The iPad just shows games bigger. It shows them Beautifully, of course, but Nintendo convinced the world a few years ago that graphical improvements are not the key to modern game machine success.
The Third Pillar Might Not Stand: Back in 2004, Nintendo was preparing to release a new gaming device, the DS. The two-screened system is a hit now, but back then it seemed about as unnecessary as a third shoe. Nintendo claimed that the portable DS would become a "third pillar," as crucial a strut to Nintendo's fortunes as the home console and the portable Game Boy. But that didn't make much sense, because the DS, which could play Game Boy Advance games seemed like it would need to supplant the Game Boy line to be successful. Why, really, would someone need two portable Nintendo machines?
And so the question can now be asked of Apple: If your consumers still need a computer and a phone, needs which you already can fill, what room in their wallet, their bag and their life is there for a semi-portable, semi-desk-ready tablet computer? For gaming or otherwise?
App Apprehensions: It's wonderful to hear that the iPad will run iPhone and iPod Touch games, but those games were made to run on a screen the size of an iPod Touch, not a screen a little bigger than a Superman comic book.
Do you want to run iPad games in a window while you multi-task on the iPad? That would be the closest you'd get to having App Store gaming available on a computer you can sit down with. Well, no can do. You can't multitask on an iPad. Plus, we're talking about games that either won't fill the iPad screen or will have to be blown up by users to play at bigger than their native resolution. We're told that the iPad supports "pixel-doubling" which will compensate for that, but it's hard to get that excited about the concept of playing iPhone games, but larger. The best hope here is that the early announcements of iPad-enhanced games such as Nova and Need for Speed Shift will swiftly give way to announcements of iPad-original games.
The Cost: You could buy an iPhone 3Gs for $299, a Nintendo DS for $129, a PSP for $169, a Wii for $199, an Xbox 360 starting at $199 or a PlayStation 3 starting at $299. Or you could buy an iPad starting at $499, gamers. Tough sell?
Versus PC Gaming: You can look at the iPad as a super-sized iPhone. You could look at it as chunky big brother to the DS and PSP. Or you could look at it as the most gaming-ready computer Apple has every released. In that last respect, the iPad is a nice advance for the prospects of being able to put an Apple product on your desk and play games on it.
But in that last context, the iPad must be compared to, well, Windows-based computers. The barrier to entry for developers is low for either: Make an App for the iPad. Make your own game for the PC. Grassroots developers could flourish on either platform. But we're likely to be seeing sized-up portable games on Apple's iPad for a while. They will be compared to fully-realized PC games that can be run with controllers, keyboards and mice. Advantage, Windows gaming... for now and for a while, it seems.
Room For the Little Guys? One of the best stories about gaming on the iPod Touch and iPad has been how the App Store allowed the smallest developers to vie in the marketplace against the biggest game publishers. The result of that competition has been wonderful games from the littlest crews to the biggest, everything from Tiger Style's Spider to some of EA's best.
The bigger screen size of the iPad, however, may raise expectations for the quality of graphics on iPad games — and smaller studios may find it more challenging than the EAs of the world to create games that are as visually pleasing as they were on the iPod Touch and iPhone.
Inherited iPhone Issues Some models of the iPad will run over Wi-Fi. Others can run on the 3G network, which raises questions about whether they will run into the same networking issues that plague games played over networks on the iPhone.
Another possible problem involves Apple's control of software for its devices. Gaming on the iPhone/iPod has been hampered by Apple's sometimes-unpredictable moves to remove some games from the store due to rights complaints. It's Apple's right to do so, but those who disagree with Apple's decisions could come to look at an iPad as another gaming device that is firmly controlled by its platform holder, just like an Xbox 360 or Sony or Nintendo machine. We're not talking about a market as free as Windows gaming or even Facebook gaming, for better or worse.
Hard To Handle?: Do gamers want to grab the short ends of a magazine and then pretend they are gaming? The original Xbox controller wasn't even that broad and it was a bust. Or would you rather trace your finger on a placemat? Those seem to be the two most likely postures for iPad gaming, an experience devoid of buttons and control sticks. iPhone game developers are still figuring out how to make games fun with some of the same feature restrictions. The iPad's added size looks to make such problems with iPhone gaming controls and comfort even more pronounced.
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There are some reason to be excited regarding the experience of playing games on the iPad. Modern Apple products generate an enthusiasm that few other devices do. But Apple still has a long way to go before it can boast that the iPad as an option of first or even second resort for those who want to play video games.
When it was just a theoretical device, the iPad had the potential to be a must-have for gamers. Right now, it appears to be more of a "maybe," one that, from the get-go, instills as much doubt as it does enthusiasm about the newest way to play video games in the 21st century.
http://kotaku.com/5458360/ipad-doubt...wonder-machine
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January 28th, 2010, 01:19 Posted By: wraggster
iPhone owners holding out hope that OS 3.2 would bring some of these fancy new iPad spoils to their devices might be in for a disappointment, because two of the big ones -- split view and popovers -- are both referred to in Apple's updated human interface guidelines as "iPad-only." Realistically, this shouldn't come as a surprise; both of these UI elements were built to shine on larger displays, and it's hard to say how you could make either one of them work on HVGA -- but it's important for devs to note that heavily investing in these are definitely going to make it difficult to make their apps compatible across all iPhone OS-powered devices. Considering that iPhones will almost certainly continue to dominate iPads for sales volume, we know how we'd be developing.
In other news, running the updated iPhone simulator in iPad mode gives you the option to take photos, which doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense considering that it doesn't have a camera. There are plenty of plausible explanations for the muck-up, but our guess is that Apple's left the vestigial capability on-board since the framework's already in place for the iPhone and there could very well be iPads down the road that have a cam (or two). Follow the break for a shot of the iPad's Address Book imploring you to take a photo -- and savor it, since it's probably the closest you'll actually get to snapping a shot on the device any time soon.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/i...s-split-views/
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