ScummVM continues to leap forward in a leap year, and we are pleased to announce the next shiny bugfix release of the project.
As usual, it holds a number of improvements, it's more stable, and it should bring you even more fun than 0.11.0.
We fixed the digital iMUSE system (better COMI experience), King's Quest 4 bugs were squashed, and support for fanmade AGI games has been improved; Lure of the Temptress, Inherit the Earth and I Have no Mouth all work better since we fixed several crashes, lock-ups and all such buzzwords.
As a special bonus we are glad to announce the return of the BeOS port and the deeply missed Playstation 2 port.
ScummVM is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games, provided you already have their data files. The clever part about this: ScummVM just replaces the executables shipped with the games, allowing you to play them on systems for which they were never designed!
Some of the adventures ScummVM supports include Adventure Soft's Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2; Revolution's Beneath A Steel Sky, Broken Sword 1 and Broken Sword 2; Flight of the Amazon Queen; Wyrmkeep's Inherit the Earth; Coktel Vision's Gobliiins; Westwood Studios' The Legend of Kyrandia and games based on LucasArts' SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) system such as Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max and more.
Heres whats new:
Ports:
- Revived the PS2 port.
- Revived the BeOS port.
SCUMM:
- Improvements for Digital iMUSE subsystem. This fixes several glitches in The Curse of Monkey Island.
- Fixes for cursors in HE games.
AGI:
- Fix for zombies in King's Quest 4.
- Fix for changing palettes in fanmade games using AGIPAL.
Lure:
- Fixed some conversation crashes in the German version.
- Fixed operation of the optional copy protection dialog in the German version.
- Added saving of conversation flags as to whether a particular conversation option had been previously selected or not.
- Fixed glitch that could cause transformation sparkle to happen a second time.
- Fixed behavior of Goewin when you rejoin her after meeting the dragon.
SAGA:
- Fix for rat maze bug in Inherit the Earth which made game not completable.
- Fixes for Inherit the Earth and I Have no Mouth game startup on a number of platforms.
- Reduced the number of simultaneous open files in I Have no Mouth, to allow it to run on platforms that can keep a limited amount of files open (e.g. on the PSP).
- Fixed graphics glitch in Inherit the Earth with simultaneous speech.
- Fixed palette glitch in Inherit the Earth when looking at the map while at the docks.
Download the iphone Version and Give Feedback Via Comments
Thanks to Zibri, we've just released verion 0.5.4, which has compatibility with 1.1.4 and the 8GB iPod touch. It doesn't yet install the App Pack, that will come when other touches are supported (which will hopefully be soon). You can download it at our Google Code page. Please note that this new version of iJailBreak will downgrade your bootloader to 3.9 from 4.6.
Tiger should now be supported in this release, however that has not been tested. If you have had a good experience using Tiger, please contact us
UPDATE: You can be running 1.1.4 to use iJailBreak 0.5.4!
The chaps at BGR have received a leaked AT&T memo, which states the company will be offering refurbished iPhones for the lowly price of $199 (4GB) and $249 (8GB.) The refurbished iPhones will be made available with new contracts only, and are bound to sell as quickly as heavily discounted iPhones. Jump for the AT&T memo.
March 1, 2008
Refurbished iPhones at COR Stores. For a limited time, select COR stores in the New England Market will offer refurbished iPhones (both 4GB and 8GB) for a special price. These devices are good as new and give customers the opportunity to experience the revolutionary iPhone with big savings. New activations only, upgrades with Manager approval. Refurbished iPhones will only be available to purchase in select COR stores across the Northeast Region and will be available while supplies last. Please reach out to customers that have recently purchased an iPhone to see if they are interested in activating an additional iPhone at a discounted equipment cost. Please note no in-store sales materials should be created. This is to be sold as a closing tool only. Product is available while supplies last from initial shipment. Failure to follow this communication will result in a Code of Business Conduct violation
If you manage to get your hands on one, drop us a shout below to let us know the condition your new-to-you handset is in. Also; 4GB, anyone?
This native application sets up an AFP file server on your iPhone or iPod Touch and also provides a simple GUI interface for controlling the file server.
Changes:
Compatible with 1.1.3 firmware.
Uses -w flag in lanchctl for afpd.
Go button auto enables/disables as user types.
Share names have new defaults.
Added default share for ~mobile.
/Applications/AFPd.app/afpdcontrol must be 4755 mode.
Error is shown if permissions are set wrong.
Pianist is a virtual Piano for your iPhone, previously known as iAno.
Features:
A complete four octave keyboard
Multi-touch. Up to 5 keys can be pressed at once allowing complex chords.
Sounds like a real piano with realistic piano multi-samples.
Animated piano keys react to your touch.
Play along to all your MP3s.
On-screen keyboard navigation allows you to easily move up and down by octaves or "part octaves" (ie. left-most key is a C or an F).
New (tiny) application that creates a note in Notepad from the lap times and stop time of the stopwatch. Supports firmware 1.1.3 and below. Tested on 1.1.3. http://modmyifone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36031
iNdependence is a Cocoa-based application for Mac OS X which provides an easy-to-use interface for jailbreak, activation, SSH installation, and ringtone/wallpaper/application installation on your iPhone. It's open source under the GNU v2 license.
The source code for interacting with the iPhone has been broken out into a library (libPhoneInteraction) so that it can be easily reused by other applications. http://code.google.com/p/independence/
ZiPhone is a famous unlocking tool for MacOSX and Windows.
Release notes:
ZiPhone 2.5 is now on download site for
you all to enjoy. I decided to release it for everyone since MANY are helping supporting sponsors. And it would not have been fair to them.
I suggest you to do a restore to 1.1.4 not an update. Because installer keeps old installed apps in it's cache and you would have problems.Hoping people at nullriver software resolve that soon. After restore to 1.1.4, just use "ziphone -Z Y" or the first button on GUI versions.
Have fun! And thanks to everyone for supporting and caring! Stay tuned! More interesting things are coming up on this site!
Converter.app by Vladimir Kofman is a unit and currency converter for iPhone.
Changes:
1. Advanced Mode: now it's possible to see more than just "from" and "to" units, results are displayed for all units. Also in advanced more it's possible to rearrange the units' list as you wish.
2. More Languages:
- Spanish by J. Palacio and Southie
- Chech by janvacula
- Simplified Chinese by super3547
- Danish by Nikolaj Mogensen
- Polish by Piotr Biegala and Tomasz Szeweluk (will be available in the next version)
- Dutch by Herbert Kats (will be available in the next version)
- Logical Hebrew support (big thanks to Amir Leshem)
3. Update Currencies issue on 1.1.3 firmware: It should work now! (let me know...) Also, any 1.1.4 feedback is welcome!
4. No new measurements/units: I know I promised to add more measurements... I'm planing a major update (both for content and technology) for the next version, so please be patient (I'm sorry to keep you waiting...).
Pool for the iPhone is a native Pocket Billiard game to run on Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.
The object of the game is to pocket all colored balls, using as few strokes as possible. The order of pocketing is free. If the cue ball (white) is pocketed, one of the previously pocketed balls is placed back on the table.
Changes:
- Selectable ball size (16 and 18 pixels).
- Added shadow.
- Small changes to graphics.
With just Jiggy and a browser, you'll be able to write an awesome iPhone application in a matter of minutes. JiggyApps run natively on the iPhone, so there is no messing around with HTML and the limitations of Mobile Safari. At the same time, you don't need a compiler or even a Mac, because JiggyApps are written in JavaScript.
Release notes:
February 24, 2008
This is a runtime and sdk only release - the IDE has not changed.
Fixed scope problem with callbacks and closures.
Fixed UTF8 problems. "Æøå".length returned 6, now it correctly returns 3
Added ClientSocket
Although these changes seem fairly small, they could have a big impact on existing code if something is not quite right.
Please report on how existing apps work with this runtime.
Oklahoma Christian University? Sure as hell (woops) haven't heard of it either, but they must be the Cal to Abilene Christian University's Stanford (or sub your fav rivalry here) as they seem ready to pony up the cash necessary to fund the next free-gear-to-students publicity stunt. This time the offering is not only an iPod touch or iPhone, but a new MacBook as well -- and to sweeten the deal, current students can trade their machines in for a new one. Your tuition (and tithing) dollars hard at work, OCU parents, students, and alumni.
We've gotten a tip that there could be a new iPod nano color on the way -- purple to be exact -- due to a Circuit City circular ad distributed in Minneapolis this weekend. As far as exciting or even remotely interesting rumors go, this one falls about one space after dead last, and is most likely some kind of funkdafied CMYK mishap, or worse yet -- the most boring Photoshop job in the world. Still, for all you serious iPod aficionados who simply must have the latest shade, perhaps your player will soon be awash in Grimace-colored tones that only the Hamburgler and Prince could truly love.
Core, an iPhone Hacker with mad hacking skills, has managed to port to the iPhone a functioning P2P client based on Transmission, which is a popular torrent app for Macs. This is the first time P2P torrent software has run natively on the iPhone, and the prospect has us in tizzy fits of excitement.
Tests have been carried out, and they have worked a charm. However, before you guys go nuts about downloading completely legal torrent files, there are some things you should know:
• This is a command line client at present, and although someone will chuck a GUI on it in the near future, steer clear unless you can handle messing with terminal.
• EDGE and P2P will screw your shit up. If you plan to get your download on, it's WiFi all the way.
• If you start a download immediately before having sex, your iPhone's battery will be dead before you are finished; i.e. torrenting will drain your battery extremely rapidly.
• You won't see this up in installer.app, hit through on the link for further instructions.
All that aside, this is a neat development and bodes well for the post-SDK era. If anyone does give this one a go, let us know how you get on.
There's only one thing (okay, so maybe that's a stretch) that we love more than a mod that gives you all sorts of bragging rights: a mod that adds all sorts of utility. Tanntraad's most recent concoction -- a DIY iPod video projector -- most certainly ratchets up the PMP's functionality, as this homegrown device requires no external power, a ridiculously small amount of parts and no prior experience as a projectionist. Needless to say, the resulting unit blows up the video on your iPod for an entire room to see, and while we're sure the quality is nothing to write home about,
A new version of the MMS application SwirlyMMS for iPhone is out!
Release notes:
Hi all you swirly iPhoneMMSers!
We are happy to announce that we have just submitted a new version of SwirlyMMS to the Ste source repository! Expect to see it soon on the Installer. The major feature in this release is the capability to receive MMSs, which we know many of you have been quite eager for...
So, now you can both send and receive MMSs with your iPhone! Isn't that cool? Besides the new receive feature, a couple of bugs have been fixed and a few under-the-hood enhancements have been made.
Admittedly, this release is still pretty rough. Ok, it is very rough ;-) However, we will make major improvements in the user interface till the next v0.4 release, or dare we call it v1.0…
How it works:
Tap 1Shoot icon in SpringBoard.
Point to what/who you want to capture.
Stay calm.
Done, no further tap required.
As soon as the accelerometer inside your iPhone thinks is stable enough 1Shoot will capture the picture without any further tapping. The application will close inmediately after the shoot. Your new photo is saved in the Camera Roll photo album.
Not very useful, unless
* You care taking the photo as fast as possible
* You like self portraits
* You have kids or pets (not comparison intended) http://iphone.wuonm.com/1Shoot/
SpringDial puts speed dials of your contacts on the SpringBoard of a jailbroken iPhone. The advantage of this is over using the Webclip method is that it is more of a true speed dial. Safari doesn't have to load, and you are not asked to confirm the call. If you happen to have a photo for the contact in your Address Book (don't know what Apple is doing for windows users, so this is probably only available for Mac OSX users, but you can edit the contact on the iPhone to add a photo), then it is what is used as the icon for the contact.
Funiculus is a Guitar Tuner to be used with an iPhone.
Release notes:
Funiculus 0.60 is out...it will be on Installer soon (via the ModMyiFone.com source), but until then, here is a copy for those who want to install it manually:
funiculus_0_60.zip
If you do install it manually, be sure to set the permissions. See the previous entry for instructions on how to do this.
For screen shots, take a look at the "Four Faces of Funiculus" entry from a few days earlier. For those updating since the last Installer release (0.50), there are a huge number of changes. For those updating since 0.58, here are the tunings that are now present:
Guitar: Standard
12 String Guitar: Standard
Mandolin: Standard
Banjo: Standard
Ukulele: Standard
Violin: Standard
Viola: Standard
Cello: Standard
Baritone Ukulele: Standard
Guitar: Drop D
Guitar: Open A maj
Guitar: Open C maj
Guitar: Open D maj
Guitar: Open E maj
Guitar: Open E min
Guitar: Open G maj
Guitar: Open G min http://mauvilasoftware.com/funiculus/
So we finally had the chance to lay palms to Meizu's M8 prototype. Better yet, we set it up side by side with it's muse, the Apple iPhone. Let's be clear, the prototype is not functional by any stretch of the imagination. It simply turns on and then slaps up one of three images representing the home screen, dialer, or media player depending upon which of the three physical buttons you press along the bottom of the main display. The capacitive touch panel does not work at all. While the physical components may or may not be in place, this is clearly a very early engineering sample. Having said that, Meizu claims that the hardware is complete and final -- they are only working on their Meizu OS tweaks to the Windows CE 6.0 base. However, the GUI and icon designs are pretty much locked in at this point with only minor changes expected before this hits China this August for a to be determined price. Unfortunately, Meizu is still working on their international deployment strategy (duh, they're looking to sign up distributors at CeBIT) so they are not willing to commit to any dates or prices. Gotta say, for all our justifiable M8 bashing, the mini One felt good in the hand and the additional hard buttons, 720 x 480 pixel display, 3 megapixel camera and likely el cheapo price tag have once again perked our interests. Still, it's a long way from it's original 3G HSDPA and kitchen-sink roots and a bit too late (GSM/EDGE in 6 months, Puh-leeze) at this point to be anything more than a novelty outside of China. Nevertheless, the development lifecycle has been fun to watch.
We know what you're thinking, and trust us, we're right there with you. Nevertheless, The Urban Institute, a Washington-based think tank, has reportedly come to the conclusion that the reason US violent crime rose in 2005 and 2006 after declining every year since 1991 is because more iPods were on the streets.
You heard right -- these researchers are suggesting that the "iCrime wave" occurred primarily due to the popularity of Apple's darling and the relatively high value of possessing one. Granted, the iPod has been the focal point of quite a few muggings in the past, but blaming a fruit-flavored PMP for a nation's sudden urge to take up larceny? Pfft.
Here we go, the first honest to goodness GPS solution for the iPhone. Having already brought the solution to the PSP, Nav N Go have now worked their iGo My Way 8 magic into Apple's touchscreen devices. The prototype on display at CeBIT supports turn by turn directions and location finding via a WiFi key or fob. The WiFi key receives the GPS data and retransmits over WiFi while the fob offers the option to directly attach the unit to the iPhone or iPod Touch's docking port. Expect to hear more about these official 3rd party apps during our coverage of Apple's SDK launch event later today.
Everybody agrees that Safari Mobile on the iPhone is pretty much the best way to surf the web on a mobile phone save one issue: no Flash support. This annoying little hangup prevents pretty much all video sites from working, save a tiny selection of YouTube videos, and seriously hinders the functionality of sites that use Flash heavily. You'd think that adding Flash support would be at the top of Apple's list of things to do, but from what Jobso has been saying it looks like we shouldn't hold our breath.
Essentially, Jobs said yesterday that Mobile Flash is too wussy for the iPhone and regular Flash is too beefy. He wants Adobe to make a Goldilocks-esque middle version that'd be juuuuust right for the iPhone. Funny, Mobile Flash seems to work OK on all of the other phones that it's installed on. I'm sure we could make do with it on the precious iPhone.
It's pretty disappointing, especially with the SDK news due to drop tomorrow that many assumed would bring Flash support along with it. There's certainly still a chance that we'll be surprised and will receive it, but it looks like Jobs would rather make us wait by throwing his weight around and forcing Adobe to develop a whole new version of Flash just for his oh-so-special phone. Thanks for thinking of the consumers, Steve! You're so great
PuzzleManiak is a port of the marvelous Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection on Nintendo DS. All 27 games are ported on NDS: Tents, Dominosa, Mines, Bridges, Light Up (aka Akari), Pattern (aka Picross), Net (aka Netwalk), Untangle (aka Planarity), Sudoku (aka Solo), Galaxies, Slitherlink (aka Loopy), Blackbox, Mastermind (aka Guess), Map, Filling, Solitaire (aka Pegs), Sixteen, Fifteen, Slant, Rectangles, Netslide, Samegame, Unequal, Flip, Inertia, Twiddle and Pyramid (adaptation of Cube).
Alex has now released a first PUBLIC and OFFICIAL version for the iPhone, but with only three games included so far - compared to the Nintendo DS release. http://www.puzzlemaniak.com/blog/?p=240
This project is intended as an example both of general programming practices within the iPhone frameworks and of attractive interface and effective interaction design for the iPhone platform. http://code.google.com/p/tris/
MobileChat is tan AIM instant messenger application for the iPhone.
Release notes:
Localizations (English, Italian, French)
UTF8 Character Support
Conversation Themes
Added WiFi Keep-Alive option
Added XMPP Options for Plain Auth and TLS
Added MSN “HTTP Method” Option
All protocols allow you to specify the server and port now
Changed Network Detection
Fixed iPod Touch chat bubbles
Added sound files
Correct handles line breaks
Fixed HTML stripping
Fixed text size detectiong
Fixed clear history crash
This is an implementation of Mahjong solitaire for the iPod touch and iPhone. The aim of the game is to pick matching tiles, removing them from the board. You win when there are no tiles left. You lose when it is impossible to pick up any more tiles. If the application crashes, it counts as a draw. You can only pick up tiles that are not overlapped by another, and can be freely moved either left or right. You probably already know how to play. This is released as Free (as in Freedom) software, under the terms of the GNU GPL Version 2. Graphic design by Sarah Gleeson. http://www.netsoc.tcd.ie/~eoinmcl/content/mahjong.html
Super Pong is a fun and very quick block-blasting pong game. You can move the paddle by either tilting the iPhone left and right, or by dragging your finger along the bottom of the screen. The game can be paused by tapping the screen and from there, you can access the settings.
Currently, there are ten levels and three difficulties, which range from fairly easy to incredibly fast and nearly impossible on the harder levels. I like developing games that are fun for all skill levels, so rest assured - it's a good challenge.
Waves is a small toy for your apple iPhone or iPod touch. You can select a predefined image or your own wallpaper and you can touch the screen to generate some wave effect over the image.
This application might be interesting for muslims: Get prayer (salat/salah/namaz) timings for your local city along with Qibla direction, distance and athan (azaan/azan) now on iPhone and iPod Touch!
Other release notes/features:
Supported Firmwares
Tested on firmwares: 1.02, 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3
Prayer Timings
Do you travel a lot (or want to look like someone who travels a lot)? Or are just not sure what time to offer salat? Now you can get prayer times for 23,978 cities in 252 countries round the globe in iAthan for iPhones!
Seven Day Prayer Schedule
To find out prayer timings for the next seven days for the selected city, simply scroll the page to the left to switch between days. Very useful especially in Ramadan or when traveling.
Favorite Cities
Whether on the move or on a short visit - you can set and retrieve details of unlimited favorite cities so that it's easy to turn back to them when you're back in town. Manages settings for each city separately to avoid frustration.
Hijri Date Converter
Convert gregorian date to hijri date and vice versa. COMING SOON .
Hijri Date Adjustment
iAthan allows you to adjust the hijri calendar by subtracting or adding days in order to reflect your current date.
Add Custom Cities
Can't find your city in our database? No problem - enter details of your city and iAthan will remember them for you. You can save UNLIMITED custom added cities - COMING SOON.
Numerous Athan MP3s
Numerous athan files can be downloaded from within iAthan to select from. Each individual prayer can be assigned a particular athan file. More files will be available for download from iAthan periodically. Currently it offers Athan from Makkah, Medina, Al-Aqsa, Bosnia, Yusuf Islam and Egypt.
Timings on a date
Want to know what time you'll be waking up later this year in Ramadan, or what time the prayers will be on a particular date? iAthan Prayer Calendar can take in a particular Gregorian date and give you calculated prayer timings on that day. COMING SOON
Automatic Alerts
You can set automatic Athan and vibration alerts for specific prayer times. This is especially useful in western countries where there is no Athan and no way of being notified of the current prayer. New: iAthan Beta now alerts with athan/vibration even when the phone is asleep! (Please read the Note above)
Islamic Events
Use the Islamic Events of the Year. feature to find out when's what! It provides dates of important Islamic events/festivals both in Hijri and Gregorian for the current year.
Five Calculation Methods
iAthan/iAdhan/iAzan offers five famous prayer times calculation methods so that you may be able to switch between them based on your personal preference and locality.
Using custom prayer calculation method
If the built in calculations aren't good enough for you, you can set custom Fajr and Isha angles to compute prayer times - COMING SOON
Asr calculation methods
iAthan has both standard (Imam Shafi', Hanbali, Maliki) as well as Hanafi method.
Qibla Direction
Did you know that magnetic compasses are incorrect and cannot be trusted for getting the direction of Kabah? This is because the magnetic field changes and does not point to the TRUE North. iAthan/iAdhan/iAzan gives you an accurate direction of the Qibla based on True North as well as the relative direction from the current position of the Sun or the Moon in the sky.
Volume Settings
Set a different volume for individual prayers! Want Fajr athan to be louder than Asr (when you're at work)? No problem. iAthan/iAdhan/iAzan lets you set volume for individual prayers to adapt your surroundings and circumstances.
Adjust individual prayer times
You can adjust prayer times individually by adding/subtracting minutes to each prayer time
All-in-one Display
Based on the all-in-one design of Prayer Times for Mobiles.
iQuran - the Mobile Quran (Koran/Coran) Recitation software for iPhones and iPod Touch.
iQuran offers its users the Complete Quran in Arabic along with its various translations. Specially designed to allow easy reading with easy scrolling, iPhone style. With excellent built-in audio capabilities, iQuran utilizes these to provide a very satisfying recitation playback experience, with verse for verse recitation along with auto-scrolling and verse highlighting. http://www.guidedways.com/mobile/iqu...oad_iquran.php
Attached is iDialer v3.0 for manual installation and testing.
Just copy the files into your existing /Applications/iDialer.app folder from a previous install.
Changes:
1. Loads ten times faster - handles 1000 contacts ok.
2. Ignores missing/blank numbers
3. Option to ignore Fax #s
4. Compatible with 1.1.3 (and probably 1.1.4)
5. Marks FAX #s with F: in display
6. No longer filters out duplicate phone #s - shows all matching names
7. Smarter font sizing for long names
8. option to turn off sorting of matches (to speed up matching)
9. new icon
Thanks to everyone for testing out the early versions of iBlackjack. Your insightful feedback, encouragement and generosity has helped me create a great game. Since all efforts are now focused on making iBlackjack a great commercial game developed under the official iPhone SDK, we had to deactivate the old unsupported versions.
By now I was hoping to know more about when the final version of the game would be available. We originally planned to get it out ASAP in March, but are at the mercy of Apple and their SDK timelines. Since we wont know details of that until late next week, I will have to provide updated details and a date at a later date.
For the past two months I have spent all my time working on improving iBlackjack. Lots of effort has gone into creating a great new polished game. A game that really reflects well of the iPhone/iPod Touch platform. I think it looks great now and I can't wait to get it into everyone's hands ASAP. Until then, here is a screenshots of the game as it stands today. http://www.patrickmccarron.com/2008/...e-details.html
colloQ is an improved IRC client for the iPhone, based upon mColloquy.
Release notes:
After a hiatus from coding, I recently got back to it and fixed the extended ASCII characters bug! This fix is so important that I decided not to spend time with any more fixes or enhancements and release it right away. It is available on Cydia now, and will be available on Installer very soon. http://code.google.com/p/colloq/
That sound you hear? A million rabid iPhone users crying. After teasing us with mountains of glorious SDK features and apps, Apple dropped the bomb that we won't be getting any of those features until the iPhone / iPod touch 2.0 software update, which arrives as a free update in June.
Apple finally let us know how we're going to grab all those snazzy new SDK-developed apps: App Store. The application will run right on your iPhone or iPod touch (it's going to be included in the next firmware update) and lets you choose your apps and download them straight to the device. Unfortunately this will be the "exclusive way" to get new apps, which might not sit well with the "free, as in free speech" crowd. Developers get a 70% cut of revenue, while apple takes 30% for store "upkeep." You can also sideload applications you've purchased in iTunes, and updates can be pushed automatically to your app by developers.
Apple wasn't just loving on gamers and enterprise types with its app announcements today. Other hot softwares to get the iPhone treatment include AIM, Epocrates and Touch FX. It probably wouldn't be much of a stretch to call AIM the most requested app for the iPhone, and while we would've liked to see it included out of the box, it's better late than never, right?
Stoked about the little SDK that was announced today? Apparently, so was Apple, as it's already starting to announce the first games to go along with it. For starters, we've got Touch Fighter and Spore (!!!), the first of which was somehow thrown together in two weeks, the latter of which won't be available until September. Also, users can expect Super Monkey Ball, which was hailed being a notch above your average "cellphone game." Simmer on that for a second, we'll keep updating as we get more in.
You knew it was going to happen eventually, right? According to Apple, devs are going to be able to grab the much-anticipated iPhone / iPod touch SDK today, thus ushering in this exciting new era of third-party development for those devices. Developers will have access to the same "Cocoa Touch" framework and all other APIs used by Apple for iPhone software development. Features include hardware-accelerated 3D graphics, location-enabled apps and full access to all the media capabilities of the iPhone. The 3-axis accelerometer is also up for grabs. Just like normal Mac applications, developers can use Xcode for their project -- a coding environment bundled with every copy of OS X. In addition to traditional Xcode tools there's a new feature called iPhone Simulator which acts as a full-on iPhone emulator for testing out apps without destroying your device. If you're feel like living on the edge, however, Apple claims it's just as easy to shoot an app on over to the iPhone for live testing. If you want to get in on this action, you can join the ADC for $99, download the relevant software in about an hour from now, and start pumping out the apps. If you need a little extra motivation, Apple is launching a $100 million "iFund" to help support development on the platform.
As was hinted at some days ago, the Cupertino crew decided that the iPhone was finally ready for prime time in belt clips around the nation. Well, great news friends, Enterprise to Apple means Microsoft Exchange and ActiveSync support. We can expect features like Push mail and Contacts, Global Address List, Cisco IPsec VPN, authentication via certificate, and even remote wipe. Also on the table is Salesforce.com's Sales Force Automation CRM Application (SFA) and they've even thrown in support for maps. When can we get our greedy little hands on this you ask? As soon as the next iPhone firmware update rolls out, that's when.
Forget the nonsense that says playing Counter-strike causes shooting rampages or firing up Bully leads to dishing out swirlies. When it comes to pop culture, iPods may be the real cause of crime.
At least, that’s the conclusion of the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. As reported by the Associated Press:
They argue that the tantalizing gadgets are perhaps the main reason U.S. violent crime rose in 2005 and 2006 after declining every year since 1991—although a close look at the findings suggests the hypothesis has holes.
The AP notes that robberies - the taking of something by force - which had been in a longterm decline, surged in 2005 and 2006. During that same time period, the iPod went mainstream. Annual sales jumped from 5 million in 2004 to 90 million by 2006:
One widely accepted theory holds that crime happens when three things come together: A motivated offender encounters a suitable victim and perceives a high chance of getting away with it. And the Urban Institute researchers believe the sudden prevalence of iPods increased all three factors…
Anecdotal evidence bears out a lot of this. Subway officials in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., reported big increases in iPods being stolen from passengers. News reports cast the iPod as the latest must-steal item for some thugs, following in the footsteps of things like Air Jordan sneakers.
Jack McDevitt of Northeastern University’s College of Criminal Justice, however, was skeptical:
There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence of cell phones, iPods, GPS systems that have been targets for theft… I could sort of understand and buy that in… a short spike for a few months. But to suggest that that’s driving the crime numbers in any major way, I don’t think so.
Here's the good news: "select" registered Apple developers won't be the only ones with access to iPhone 2.0 beta software before the official June launch. The bad news? It still probably won't be you. Apple is courting enterprise IT departments to test out the 2.0 beta in a new "iPhone Enterprise Beta Program," but there are quite a few restrictions and caveats, with an extensive application form and no guarantee of success. If you get into the program, you'll get to test out all those new enterprise features announced today, and provide Apple with feedback on how awesome everything is.
Another press event, another 3G iPhone no-show. Man, just think how nice it would be to have a brand spankin' new HSDPA capable iPhone for downloading all those fancy new apps. Sure would come in handy for syncing your massive corporate email accounts (with attachments), too. Otherwise, you iPhone users will be stuck with your paltry EDGE when WiFi isn't available. Will that all change in June with the launch of the 2.0 firmware? That's what the rumor mill says -- and it makes sense to us. What say you?
Just in case you didn't catch the blip earlier between Steve's announcement of the iPhone SDK and the App Store, here's some fantastic news for the thumb-happy sect: Spore is coming to the iPhone. In fact, the EA Mobile title will go down as "the first 3rd party game on the iPhone." Sadly, it won't actually be available until September, but at least you've got a month to circle on your calender, right? Additionally, EA affirmed that there were "other games in early stages of development," and that it was "actively using the new iPhone SDK to develop games for the iPhone OS." Jump on past the break for the full release.
As anticipated, today Electronic Arts announced that:
- The first 3rd party game is SPORE for iPhone but we have other games in early stages of development
- The iPhone's touchscreen and tilt sensitivity is perfectly suited for SPORE and it will be available to play on iPhone in September
- We are actively using the new iPhone SDK to develop games for the iPhone OS
- As the leading publisher of mobile games world wide, we are thrilled to extend our relationship as a developer of games for various existing Apple products (Mac, iPod nano, video iPod) and now iPhone & iPod touch
Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello Quote: "The animation technology in the iPhone OS enables us to build awesome games," said John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts. "I think iPhone consumers are going to be blown away by the games we create for this platform."
So with hardware accelerated 3D graphics, an integrated database API, tightly integrated performance monitoring tools, and a highly specialized version of the Cocoa framework tweaked just for the iPhone and rechristened as Cocoa Touch, the iPhone's just-announced SDK sounds like a winner. But how does it compare to its well-entrenched competitors from Microsoft, Nokia, and the iPhone community itself? Let's have a look.
We know, we're flat on our backs from being blown away here, but Apple confirmed to us in a post-keynote Q&A session that SIM unlock software will not be allowed in the iPhone App Store. You know what that means? The Jailbreak community lives to crack another day.
Apple has invited Sega to recreate its cult-hit Super Monkey Ball for the iPhone.
It is a surprisingly apt first game for the iPhone, because the player controls the monkey by tilting the surface that it rolls around on, rather than the character itself. On the consoles this was done via a control stick, although the iPhone’s accelerometer will ensure a more interesting experience.
Sega has said that “if anything [they] underestimated what the iPhone was capable of” and that “this is not a scaled-down game but the full console version.”
Knowing how rampant the Apple rumor community can get, we try not to stir the pot too feverishly, but iLounge has made a bizarre little discovery that we thought you might like to see. Apparently, it's already possible for iPhone / iPod touch developers to create pages in iTunes offering content to limited groups of users. While perusing these pages, they apparently stumbled upon the Education First Educational Tours page, where international travel tour registrants can download TourCast audio and video content. Strangely, an odd, almost Zune-like device can be seen in the corner of the graphic for this page bearing the Apple logo. Could this be some wild slip? Is what we're looking at a rendering of a new iPhone or touch device, or is this some random mockup meant to suggest a "general" Apple product? We're strongly, strongly leaning towards the latter, though maybe Jobs let one slide through the cracks this time.
Although we just saw the Nav N Go / Gomite prototype demonstrated yesterday, a company called PosiMotion claims that it has the "world's first wireless GPS" accessory for the iPhone. To prove it, they've launched a two-page website. Fishing for some of that iFund dough are we boys? Anyway, according to the site the G-Fi WiFi GPS receiver will support the iPhone and iPod touch and is expected to ship this summer. Really though, how much confidence will VCs have in an upstart still running on the ol' Cingular network?
The enthusiastic high-fives of future iPhone instant messaging users yesterday might be quite a bit less enthusiastic today when they find out that Apple is not going to allow user-made SDK applications to run in the background. This means every application, from IM to VoIP to GPS mapping, will have to terminate entirely when the user switches out to take a call or change a song. How does this affect you? It means you won't be a be able to receive IMs unless you're currently inside the IM app, forcing you to disconnect when you take a call. There's an upside and a downside to this decision.
First, we already know that apps running in the background as a process is possible on the iPhone. The iPod app, SMS app, and various other apps all run in the background now and continue running no matter where you go in the phone. Also, user-made Installer.app apps like Apollo (an IM client) already run in the background just fine. So why did Apple make this limitation that all apps have to quit whenever the user switches out? Memory management. From Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for the iPhone:
Apple has no idea what combination of applications you could possibly install on your phone, and they can't control it. If you were to install two apps that took up loads of the iPhone's memory (we're talking RAM), and they both ran in the background, it would slow down the phone's other, more important tasks such as calling or iPodding. If this were the case, Apple would be blamed for making a slow or non-responsive phone even when it's not actually Apple's fault. This is exactly the thing that goes on in Windows Mobile devices. It's fine when you're just running normal, natively-installed apps, but when you get to multi-tasking with your own installed programs, the phone becomes sluggish and everyone curses Microsoft. Apple wants none of this.
So the implication to you, the end-user, is that you can't have apps running in the background, constantly checking the internet. This means no RSS reader that's always up-to-date and no IM apps that always sit in the background, listening for messages. If you're wondering Exchange's push email and calendars are going to work in this scheme, it'll be integrated into Apple's first-party Mail system, which can be allowed to run in the background.
But in the end, it's only a small portion of apps that are really affected by this rule. Games or utilities can save their app status to disk often so that you can resume where you left off when you start it back up. But until the iPhone allows SDK-applications to run in the background, you're probably better off using a web-based chat application in Safari (which already has permission to).
Of all the software demonstrated at the iPhone SDK launch yesterday, nothing was more compelling to me than the games. With the addition of the iTunes App Store which will allow iPhone users to purchase and install third-party applications right from the phone, even over the relatively slow connection of the EDGE network, the reward for the developer who creates the first hit game for the millions of existing iPhone and iPod Touch customers could be substantial. For just $100—the price of the iPhone SDK—even indie developers have soup-to-nuts sales access to millions of mobile gaming customers.
But there's more than just the easy access that makes the platform promising. Mike Lee, "Chief Primate" of fledgling software company United Lemur (and formerly of Delicious Monster) thinks the hardware is more compelling than that of even dedicated handheld gaming devices.
"It's more like a Wii than it is a DS," said Lee, before warning that "superior hardware doesn't guarantee success." I pointed out that some types of games, such as traditional fighters and platformers, pretty much require a dedicated directional pad.
"Instead of being stuck with a d-pad, you can create any kind of control setup you want," said Lee. "When you need something more sensitive, like an analog coolie hat controller, the phone itself can be used. Like the Wii, the developer may need to think outside the box a little when it comes to game design and control, but that's a good thing." Developers can view the hardware as a limitation or inspiration.
Certainly some games will work better than others. At the SDK launch event, SEGA's Ethan Einhorn said Super Monkey Ball on the iPhone "feels like it was always the way Super Monkey Ball should be played."
Even developers who haven't worked with Apple hardware in the past are intrigued. Scott Jennings, currently working for MMO developer NCSoft (but not commenting as an employee of NCSoft, but only as a developer in general) noted he is "pretty stoked about it, to the point where I'm thinking of picking up a Mac Mini to run the SDK. This would be a great platform for strategy/RPG games."
Although I remain emphatically opposed to the Touch platform's monolithic third-party application distribution model that allows no way for users to officially install their own software outside of Apple's chute, there's no doubt that the App Store provides a distribution system for games that in many ways exceeds those currently available from dedicated game vendors. Microsoft's Xbox Live system offered the first real only distribution method for indie game developers, but the relatively high barrier to entry has held back the indie hordes from easy access to Xbox gamers. Sony has dipped their toe in downloadable games for the PSP, including the ability to play Playstation 1 games, as well as downloadable game demos and a handful of games that can be played from the PSP's flash MemoryStick. Promised game integration between the Nintendo Wii and the DS has been minimal, at best. Neither portable platform allows gamers to connect to an online store over Wi-Fi to download games directly to their device.
Sony appears to be dabbling with a similar idea if the 2006 patent released today is any indication. If the PSP2 (or PSPhone—hopefully the same thing) ends up being, more or less, an iPhone, I can't wait to see what the Nintendo DS2 ends up being.
What about downloadable game demos, one of the best aspects of connected game systems? Although there doesn't seem to be a simple system in place for the iTunes App Store to provide a separate demo software that can then be easily upgraded to a pay version, the ability for developers to distribute free software with no tariff from Apple should make game demos possible. Demos may be able to provide a link at the end of the game to the specific purchase page of the full game on the App Store.
The iPhone is already a great mobile internet device, smartphone, and media player. It will certainly be a solid casual game platform. It could become the first portable gaming console it's appropriate to pull out in the middle of a business meeting. But more exciting is the chance that with a robust development community experimenting with new gameplay ideas and and easy access to a marketplace of millions of users, the Touch platform could go on to become a viable environment for more than just the type of pass-time trifles that have been common on phones but as one of the platforms for truly innovative games.
We're sure there have been some really great Java Micro Edition apps developed over the years, we just haven't been fortunate enough to find any that aren't a Bejeweled variant run into many of them. But that could very well change with the news that Sun is using that fancy new SDK to develop a Java Virtual Machine for the iPhone, which it expects to have ready "some time after June," and which will allow iPhone users access to the vast libraries of existing JME apps. We suppose the real conundrum now is which Java ME app we'll grab first: Harry Potter, or MapQuest Mobile. These choices, they overwhelm us.
Oddly enough, this isn't the first time we've seen a product proudly designed in Cupertino erupt, but it's pretty safe to say this story could have had a much more tragic ending. Reportedly, an iPod nano owner recently awoke to a blaring fire alarm around 2:00AM, only to find his beloved PMP wrapped in flames on the bedroom floor. Thankfully, the fire was tiny enough to be extinguished without any major trouble, and no substantial damage of property or human flesh was tallied. As of now, we've no idea if the unit simply exploded or if surrounding circumstances are at least partly to blame, but you can bet your bottom dollar that be sleeping with one eye open (and on our media players) tonight.
Hello everyone. About two weeks ago I began mucking with the webserver to test out the video service for ZodTTD. While it was more popular than expected, it was also bad timing. I had a lot of real-life things to catch up on, and was sick for a good portion of this unexpected absence. The changes I made to the webserver that hosts zodttd.com as well as the increased traffic I began getting, pushed this server to it’s limits. The downtime was due to those reasons. Rumors of Apple hiring me, while flattering, are sadly not true.
In the meantime, I am looking into upgrade packages for my webserver, and seeing how much things will cost for the long haul. I am 100% dedicated to ZodTTD.com and won’t let you down.
I have genesis4iphone being polished up for an upcoming release. Once the ZodTTD.com website is more stable, it will be released. For those unaware, genesis4iphone is a Sega Genesis (with sound!) and SegaCD emulator for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.
Finally, iPhone owners no longer have to mope around with a feeling of shame and embarrassment in their hearts: AT&T has blessed them with an "unlimited" calling plan. That's right, if you so desire (and you do so desire, don't you?), you can latch a $119.99 all-you-can-eat plan onto your super-device. Sure, it looks peachy, until you notice that despite your "unlimited" status, you still only get a measly 200 text messages, which is like a three-course steak dinner with no dessert. At least you'll never again have to end a conversation with Mom because you're worried about overages -- though you'll want to keep a close watch on those SMSs, since the prices seem to be constantly heading skyward.
We've seen antiquated Macs given new life as fish tanks and living room decorations, but the iWipe takes repurposing to an entirely different level. As you can clearly see in the image above, one particular engineering soul figured a spare Macintosh SE case would look a whole lot better in his bathroom than in the trash, so he whipped out a screwdriver, removed some internal brackets and gave the unit a fresh coat of paint. $15 and a few hours later, out popped his new toilet paper dispenser.
Check out the read link for a bunch more pics -- oh, and stop second guessing yourself, you're totally building one of these next weekend.
While Apple continues to market the iPhone as a 3-in-1 device -- web, phone, and iPod -- it's clear that Jobs has a 4th market clearly in his sights. It's no accident that EA and Sega were both selected to demonstrate their skills with the iPhone SDK during last week's press event. Now Gameloft, the worldwide number one mobile game publisher in terms of revenues -- has committed to developing games for the iPhone. "Over 15 titles" are expected in 2008, in fact. Oh iPhone, is there anything you can't do with your 3D processor, multi-touch display, and 3-axis accelerometer? Oh right, GPS, 3G data, corporate Exchange, A2DP Bluetooth audio, MMS, ... you get the idea.
Update: John Carmac -- co-founder of Id Software -- just commented that, "We (Id) have put in our application like everybody else." So yeah, it'll play Doom... officially this time.
This is a weight watchers points calculator, pretty basic but it does the job. Both the US and the UK systems are included, and Jiggy runtime is required for it to run. http://www.modmyifone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56631
Chess is Gogosoft's first application for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. Chess matches you with other players over the internet, so you must have an active data connection.
Release notes:
Time for a new release of NetChess.
We've updated some of the endgame logic, cleaned up some interface nits and made the bots a touch easier. Additionally, we've added some tech to speed up performance over EDGE connections.
iPray native Prayer Times, Athan/Azan and Qibla direction software for iPhones and iPod touch (previously known as iAthan). Get daily prayer (salat/salah/namaz) timings for your local city along with Qibla direction, distance and athan (azaan/azan) now on iPhone and iPod Touch! http://www.guidedways.com/mobile/ipr...load_ipray.php
Tris is yet another Tetris game for the iPhone, which has seen an update recently.
This project is intended as an example both of general programming practices within the iPhone frameworks and of attractive interface and effective interaction design for the iPhone platform. http://code.google.com/p/tris/
Sun Microsystems is developing a Java Virtual Machine for Apple's iPhone and plans to release the JVM some time after June, enabling Java applications to run on the popular mobile device.
The JVM is to be based on the Java Micro Edition (ME) version of Java, said Eric Klein, vice president of Java marketing at Sun, on Friday afternoon. Apple had not shown interest in enabling Java to run on the iPhone, but Sun plans to step in and do the job itself after having pondered Thursday's release of an SDK for the iPhone by Apple.
[Read the full article on it's page]http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/07/sun-iphone-java_1.html
This is just getting silly, don't you think? The iPhone Dev Team has once again proven their totally gnarly talents by freeing up the latest firmware before it's even the latest firmware. Apple, here's our suggestion -- just let people do what they want with your devices, since they're clearly going to do it anyway. That way, instead of making enemies, you're making lifelong buddies. Reasonable, right? Steve, give us a call, we're more than happy to riff on some ideas for playing nice with the end-user.
Just four days after Apple announced that the beta version of the iPhone SDK would be available to developers, some 100,000 downloads have taken place. 'Course, it's not like we're shocked by Cupertino's latest horn tooting, but we've all ideas that number pales in comparison to the amount of requests for unlocks.
Nevertheless, the real news from the Apple camp is that companies such as Namco and PopCap are apparently on board to bring titles such as Pac-man, Galaga, Bejeweled, Zuma and Peggle to the iPod touch / iPhone via App Store. Furthermore, Six Apart's CEO admitted that it's already developing a "native iPhone application for TypePad," and the VP of THQ Wireless implied that we'd be seeing some of its wares surface here as well. As for release dates? Your guess is as good as ours.
Uh oh. Japan's trade and economy ministry is now officially investigating the explosive nature of the iPod nano. The culprit is model MA099J/A -- AKA, the old black and white plastic model already reported to spew "chest high flames," cause bedroom fires, and explode across the floor. The Japan incident occurred in January when an iPod nano reportedly "shot out sparks while recharging." At this point, all odds are with the nano's lithium ion battery. Apple Japan has been ordered to investigate the issue and report back to the ministry with the cause. Kind of like asking the fox what it was doing in the hen house, eh?
Update: Apparently, the Japanese ministry "strongly warned" Apple for failing to report the incident (as required by law) when it occurred. Apple's filing with the ministry came on March 7th.
This one's definitely not for the casual iPhone unlocker, but if for some reason you're looking to toy around with a couple of different firmware versions at a time, you can now apparently set up a dual-boot system of sorts on the phone. As Jonathan "NerveGas" Zdziarski notes in his how-to, the hack in question has actually been in use by the iPhone Dev Team for "several months" now, but he says that "now that several more advanced techniques have been developed," they've decided to let it loose for all to use. Needless to say, there's some partition-making and a good deal of command line work involved in the feat (all of which could cause you some serious headaches), but once you've got everything set up, you'll apparently be able to switch between different OS versions just by changing your root-device with a simple command. As iPhone Atlas points out, that option will likely become a lot more attractive once the SDK-compliant 2.0 firmware is released, but if you've got some ideas of your own in the meantime, you can find all the details you need at the link below.
Mark your calendars, Apple fans -- WWDC officially kicks off June 9th this year (running until the 13th). Expect Mac, iPhone, and IT tracks for your varied Apple platform development needs. No official word yet as to whether El Jobso will be taking the stage at this WWDC, but it certainly wouldn't be an Apple event without him.
Yesterday I whined a bit about the lack of original announced titles coming to the iPhone. Specifically, very specifically, I called out Infinite Interactive, asking why they haven't jumped onto the iPhone bandwagon yet.
We all know the world can't get enough Puzzle Quest... well, at least I can't get enough of it. And the thought of being able to play the very touch-perfect puzzle RPG on my iPhone gives me goosebumps. So after my little hint didn't result in any immediate announcement of an iPhone Puzzle Quest or Galaxtrix, I took matters into my own hands and emailed Infinite Interactive to see what was up.
Janeen Fawkner, producer on the game was quick to respond:
Hi Brian, We would love to do a game on the iPhone, but we'll have to see what our publisher D3P has in mind... We'll suggest it to them
Sounds good, but I'm impatient, so I went to D3 next, asking when we could hope to see a Puzzle Quest on the iPhone and pointing out that Inifinite was gung-ho. Their spokesperson's response?
They're looking into details now and will get back to me soon.
Now, now, I want it now! I even made this handy-dandy screenshot for them. You can imagine what a pain I was to my parents when I was a kid.
Waves is a small toy for your apple iPhone or iPod touch. You can select a predefined image or your own wallpaper and you can touch the screen to generate some wave effect over the image. http://gnese.free.fr/iPhone/Waves/
The dev team has been using dual-booting to jailbreak the iPhone for several months now, however now that several more advanced techniques have been developed (many of which are still private), I thought it apropos to release this cool hack for those who would like to dual boot multiple versions of the iPhone software (or other OS's) from their handset. It's a neat little hack that I think might be useful for developers playing with 1.2.
[Read the full article at it's release page]http://iphone-dev.org/s5l8900:dualboot
iCopy is the first application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that allows you to copy and paste text and URL's between web pages. You also have the option of emailing copied text or URL's. http://www.biocow.com/iCopy/
Guitarist is a virtual instrument for your iPhone.
Features:
* Unique "hammer-on" metaphor simplifies solo playing by removing the need to independently fret and pick a string.
* A complete guitar fretboard (including open strings) to the 15th fret.
* Multi-touch. Up to 5 strings can be played at once.
* Each note is a separately recorded sample, for maximum quality.
* Animated strings press down at your touch for visual feedback.
* Acoustic guitar patch included, with more options available in a later release.
* On-screen keyboard navigation allows you to easily move up and down the fretboard.
* Left handed stringing option.
* Various guitar tunings available with more to follow.
A new app called Capture has been released. This utility is used to capture the screenshots on the iphone. It saves the files to camera roll (var/mobile/Media/DCIM/100APPLE). http://www.modmyifone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63391
KARAJAN is an easy to use music and ear training application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It provides lessons for learning to recognize intervals, chords and scales with detailed statistics. At the moment there are three built in instruments, more will come in further versions.
Every musician who wants to improve his/her pitch recognition skills. KARAJAN is a good friend for first year music theory students whether they are in junior high, high school, or college, but it is also very useful for every hobby musician.
Because KARAJAN is free, fast and you can use it everywhere where your iPhone or iPod touch is with you. No desktop or labtop required anymore.
Features:
Intervals
Chords
Scales
3 build in instruments
3 levels
Detailed statistic function
Reverse play
4 different play modes
The main objective of WeSpot is to try to spot the differences between the two pictures. Easy peasy premise but the game is actually quite challenging.
If you're a fan of Chinese Chess, head on over to iPhone Cake and check out some of their offerings. Their Installer source is: http://iphonecake.com/src/all
We're very close to releasing iJailBreak 0.5.5 and iJailBreak Mobile 2.0. They're going to have some pretty neat features, and uses dev-team support software instead of Zibri's, which was apparently stolen from the dev-team. More as we come closer to release!
Demiforce, known for their high quality Gameboy Color homebrew Drymouth ( http://www.pdroms.de/files/420/ ) are working on an iPhone homebrew called Trism.
It's a puzzler and a demo video has been published on Youtube. Check it out and lets hope for a public release soon. http://youtube.com/watch?v=hy0ptZisr70
Gemlogic is a gem-based puzzle game, much like the one we all know. This one's a little different though since all moves are allowed, and the difficulty lies in getting to the highest level without your life running out. The higher the level, the more difficult it becomes.
There are three difficulties, beginner, intermediate, and veteran, each offering a different sized board (5x5, 6x6, and 7x7 respectively). Also, the higher the difficulty the faster the life meter decreases. http://www.spiffyware.net/iphone-gemlogic.php
Watching Google tiptoe around its relationship with Apple as it rolls out Android is one of the most enjoyable aspects of watching the industry these days. This is perfectly illustrated in the words of Rich Miner, group manager for Google's mobile platforms, who said, "there's a much larger potential market on Android than for the iPhone." A truthful statement in all likelihood assuming that the OS is robust upon its global release later this year and available on handsets from HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and LG as expected. Miner then took a few shots at the iPhone SDK saying, "There are things I saw people doing with the first version of the Android SDK that it seems like you can't do with the iPhone at least at the moment." He then noted that the SDK had been downloaded 750,000 times (compared to Apple's 100k in 4 days) as of February. Naturally, he then applied a thick, brown coat of public relations salve saying, "[If I were a developer] I'd certainly be looking at the iPhone, and if you believe there will be lots of Android phones out there, as we do, I'd be developing for both platforms."
As we expected, Apple just loosed the iPhone into Ireland and Austria. €399 nabs the 8GB model while €499 takes the 16GB unit home. T-Mobile has the honors for Austria as it does in Germany while O2 carries the flag in Ireland as it does in the UK. Interestingly, Irish subscribers are not entitled to Visual Voicemail or free WiFi even though you get both on O2 UK -- neither country offers an unlimited data plan. Tsk tsk. Regardless, early adopters from those countries already had their unlocked iPhones months ago which makes the launch just a formality at this point.
Yeah, there's a lot of good, civically-minded things you could do with your cash... but wouldn't it be more fun to blow it on a 1GB iPod? If you're dying to prove how little £20,000 (or around $40,000) means to you, here's your chance. A jeweler named Thomas Heyerdahl has created an 18 karat, diamond studded, white and pink gold iPod shuffle, meant to be auctioned at a charity in London. We've seen an almost identical version which appeared to be selling just for the heck of it -- at least this one seems to be going to good cause.
TimeCapsule is a 3rd party application for iPhone and iPod Touch. It can keep multiple states of a particular program by saving its preferences/settings/databases. These states are restorable. Currently, the TimeCapsule only supports backup/restore of the following apps:
AddressBook’s contacts
Call History
Installer’s sources
Map’s bookmarks & history
Map’s caches (not tested)
Notes
Safari’s bookmarks & history
YouTube Video Cache
SMS
Transit’s Preferences
Stocks
VoiceMail
Weather
WorldClock http://databinge.com/blog/
SpoofApp is a revolutionary way to change the Caller ID number people see when you make calls from your iPhone. You get to decide what number you want displayed when you make a call.
In order to use SpoofApp you must signup with a Caller ID Spoofing Provider. This only takes a couple minutes. Once you sign up, you will receive a PIN number that you simple enter into the SpoofApp program which will unlock the ability to make calls. http://www.spoofapp.com/
Forget ordinary iPod song play back. MixMiester Scratch let's you perform a scratch anywhere, anytime – even right on top of any song in your iPod Touch or iPhone. MixMeister Scratch is both easy to use and fun.
To get started, just choose from a list of included vinyl scratch sounds and start scratching. Scratch on top of your favorite tracks by selecting music to play from your iPod or iPhone. Then load MixMeister Scratch while the music plays and you can scratch on top of your music and adjust volume of the music in real-time using the touch interface.
Homebrew is unstoppable on the iPhone and Ipod Touch, heres the latest news from the ijailbreak team:
We've just released iJailBreak 0.6 (referenced to before as 0.5.5). This version provides 1.1.4 support for all iPhones and iPod Touches, and, as before, allows you to freely enable the $20 iPhone apps. It also adds com.apple.afc2 support, allowing for easy manipulation of the filesystem.
As always, iJailBreak is released under the GNU General Public Li cense version 2, We are currently having trouble with Google Code, so please download iJailBreak from here
Wiki2Touch is an offline reader for Wikipedia articles for the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch.
Targeting the iPhone or iPod Touch platform this project is a reader for Wikipedia articles. The compressed backups can be downloaded from Wikipedia. Not needed data is removed and the result is recompressed. Then an index of the article names is created. The result must be uploaded to the device. Using this software you can then search and display the contents of Wikipedia offline. http://code.google.com/p/wiki2touch/
iPray native Prayer Times, Athan/Azan and Qibla direction software for iPhones and iPod touch (previously known as iAthan). Get daily prayer (salat/salah/namaz) timings for your local city along with Qibla direction, distance and athan (azaan/azan) now on iPhone and iPod Touch! http://www.guidedways.com/mobile/ipr...load_ipray.php
Gemlogic is a gem-based puzzle game, much like the one we all know. This one's a little different though since all moves are allowed, and the difficulty lies in getting to the highest level without your life running out. The higher the level, the more difficult it becomes.
There are three difficulties, beginner, intermediate, and veteran, each offering a different sized board (5x5, 6x6, and 7x7 respectively). Also, the higher the difficulty the faster the life meter decreases.
Release notes:
This update was in response to numerous requests for allowing new themes. The app now checks to see if a new theme exists in ~/Media/Gemlogic/Themes/Default, and if so, loads that theme instead of the default one inside of application package. This is more ideal than people manually inserting new images into the package, since a new release would kill their theme.
iPlus is a *fully automatic* tool for setting up your iPhone! For Windows and Mac OS X (intel/PPC)
It will downgrade the bootloader, unlock, jailbreak and activate the iPhone. And even better, it will also install the most important and common packages as well as several fixes, with a custom payload for installing other packages.
Quote:
We're all anxiously awaiting iPlus 2.1, but our dear aviegas has been sick. Please wish him a speedy recovery. http://www.ipluspwns.com/?q=node
TimeCapsule is a 3rd party application for iPhone and iPod Touch. It can keep multiple states of a particular program by saving its preferences/settings/databases. These states are restorable. Currently, the TimeCapsule only supports backup/restore of the following apps:
AddressBook’s contacts
Call History
Installer’s sources
Map’s bookmarks & history
Map’s caches (not tested)
Notes
Safari’s bookmarks & history
YouTube Video Cache
SMS
Transit’s Preferences
Stocks
VoiceMail
Weather
WorldClock http://databinge.com/blog/
PuzzleManiak is a port of the marvelous Simon Tatham’s Portable Puzzle Collection. The iPhone version now holds 22 games converted. http://puzzlemaniak.com/blog/
We know there have been a couple of crappy videos here and there on the web, but we finally got our own grubby paws on the yet-to-be released iPhone 2.0 beta, which isn't officially due until this June. It isn't exactly awash with changes, but here's what you need to know:
Exchange is so on! Changes are pushed over the network, but over WiFi it does check-ins, so it's not as instantaneous.
There's no contact search that we can see, so far. Maybe that only gets turned on if you have thousands of contacts (which we definitely do not).
There's a new button in the calendar, but we don't know what it is and can't make it do anything.
The App Store is there, of course, but doesn't do anything yet (except error out that it can't connect).
Wondering when Apple will make good on its agreement to license Cisco technology? Well, the branded Cisco VPN screen has definitely been added to the VPN settings. We couldn't really test this one, but assume it works as advertised. We don't yet know if it supports SecurID or other hardware token authenticators.
Parental controls most certainly work. Marvel as we turn off YouTube!
You can now order your preferred WiFi networks.
In addition to having a new sideways scientific mode(!), the basic calculator now does commas and has new, useful functions for the math nerds; both the calc and the iTunes icons have changed.
By far our favorite new feature is multi-select in mail, though. Now when you hit edit you can select as many messages as you want and delete or move them as a group. Friggin' finally. Now where's that two-pane client?
Definitely encouraging stuff in here. We'll have some video up of this thing a little later; in the mean time, there anything you want to know? Big ups to our source(s) for hooking us up with this!
The word is out, kids. Adobe has apparently gone against old Jobsy's wishes, and it's planning a Flash player made all special for the iPhone (ala Windows Mobile) despite Apple's concerns that the technology -- in its current incarnation, anyway -- isn't cut out for mobile duty. During a conference call today, Chief Executive Shantanu Narayen said, "We believe Flash is synonymous with the Internet experience, and we are committed to bringing Flash to the iPhone," adding, "We have evaluated (the software developer tools) and we think we can develop an iPhone Flash player ourselves." We wouldn't be surprised if Adobe were to be given a pass on all those pesky SDK rules that would likely prevent a proper browser-based Flash component to be coded for the device, though those Apple dudes can be real sticklers for rules.
The subscription-based iTunes rumor has been around for what feels like eons, and apparently, it's rearing its always intriguing head once more. According to a report over at Financial Times, the suits in Cupertino are currently "in discussions" with major music outfits about a new model that could essentially "give customers free access to the entire iTunes music library in exchange for paying a premium for its iPod and iPhone devices." Reportedly, a distribution model similar to Nokia's "Comes with Music" could be used on both iPhones and iPods, while traditional subscriptions would be reserved for the iPhone -- a device which has a monthly billing relationship already attached to it. As it stands, we're hearing that the major holdup is Apple's hesitation to pay big bucks in order to access the labels' libraries, but here's to hoping the iTunes buffet opens for business sooner rather than late
Adobe has admitted it can't bring Flash to the iPhone just because it thinks that would be a neat idea.
Comments made Tuesday by Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen were widely interpreted Wednesday morning as confirmation that Adobe and Apple have figured out a way to make Flash available on the iPhone. Unfortunately, that's not exactly what Narayen said, and the company has now also clarified that it can't simply use the iPhone software development kit to bring Flash to the iPhone unless Apple approves.
Narayen's comments weren't exactly definitive, but they were judged by several media outlets to be a confirmation of Adobe and Apple's plans to put a Flash player on the iPhone. They aren't; they're merely a statement of what Adobe would like to do with Flash. Wishing things to happen and actually making them happen are sort of different.
On Tuesday, Narayen said, "We are also committed to bringing the Flash experience to the iPhone and we will work with Apple. We've evaluated the SDK, we can now start to develop the Flash player ourselves and we think it benefits our joint customers."
The comments came during a conference call announcing Adobe's quarterly earnings (the company did pretty well). Adobe obviously would like to get Flash on one of the most buzzed-about mobile Web surfing devices in recent history, especially coming off its deal to license it for Windows Mobile, but let's look a little closer at Narayen's statement.
First of all, working with Apple can mean very many things, and that seems to have been missed in the early reports. "Working with (company)" often means you're trying to sell skeptical executives on the merits of your idea, not actually collaborating on technical development. If you call up Apple with a great idea, and leave a voicemail on Tim Cook's extension with your pitch, technically you're working with Apple.
But Narayen also seems to have misunderstood the terms of the SDK, much like Sun executives did when they announced, then backed off, plans to release Java for the iPhone.
Flash isn't a mere third-party application, like a game or an instant-messaging client. It's a plug-in that would have to work very closely with Safari on the iPhone, and that's something Apple has declared off-limits to third-party developers at this time unless they get a hall pass.
And even if Adobe was granted a special dispensation to dig deeper into the iPhone, it couldn't actually distribute Flash onto the iPhone unless Apple approved its inclusion in the App Store or bundled it with the iPhone. That is, unless Adobe wants to hook up all those jailbroken iPhones with Flash, which I guess it could technically do but would probably ruin its chances of ever getting an official blessing for Flash on the iPhone.
Adobe clarified Narayen's comments in an official statement on Wednesday.
"Adobe has evaluated the iPhone SDK and can now start to develop a way to bring Flash Player to the iPhone. However, to bring the full capabilities of Flash to the iPhone Web-browsing experience we do need to work with Apple beyond and above what is available through the SDK and the current license around it." Key words there: "beyond and above" (I always thought it was the other way around).
Now, none of this means Apple and Adobe really aren't working to bring Flash to the iPhone. There are clearly benefits to having Flash, even Flash Lite, on a mobile device, and the two companies have worked closely for years. Apple CEO Steve Jobs' main problem with the technology is that he believes Flash is too big, and Flash Lite is too small, for the iPhone.
It's quite possible that the two companies are working together "beyond and above" on making this happen, and Narayen simply spoke out of school regarding their secret project. However, it's important to note any such collaboration is not what Narayen implied, which was that Adobe could just put Flash Lite on the iPhone using the SDK.
I asked an Adobe representative to comment on whether or not that technical collaboration was taking place, and they're looking into it. Don't hold your breath waiting for an update.
PuzzleManiak is a port of the marvelous Simon Tatham’s Portable Puzzle Collection.
Note for the upcomming release:
Version 0.4 is close to be released…
"Daily challenge" play mode (everyday, download a new puzzle and compare your score to other players) will be integrated.
Another day, another patent lawsuit for Apple. This time they're being sued by the firm Mirror Worlds. The patents at issue deal with a "document stream operating system," which means files are stored in a chronologically ordered stream, and whoa, are archived automatically.
Sounds like Time Machine, even though the suit doesn't name Time Machine explicitly. In fact the whole suit's rather vague, except they say that Apple knew about their patents back in 2001. But like most patent suits, this one will probably go quietly into the night.
A recently unearthed patent filing shows Apple is thinking beyond its current living room video vending machine, the Apple TV. Among a number of new features, the design specifies how DVR information could be sent to a portable remote control similar to Apple's existing iPod and iPhone, taking integration among its products to a new level.
And it's not just working together for the sake of some superficial "better together" marketing angle. How many times have you heard friends discussing some great new show that you missed? With the capabilities Apple illustrates, one could perhaps call up the TV listings right from their iPhone and schedule to record the next episode. What's unknown is how Apple would transfer recorded DVR shows to an iPod or iPhone -- would recordings by synced through iTunes? And, if so, would they be tied to an authorized account to discourage internet redistribution?
In fact, while the addition of DVR features might raise questions about Apple retreating from selling TV shows, it would really reflect the reality of these show purchases being opportunistic (as well as perhaps serving as a tactic to bring NBC back to the bargaining table). Besides, DVR integration with the iTunes store could lead to more revenue opportunities. In the aforementioned scenario, the DVR could offer the opportunity to buy the episodes missed so far.
While patents don't necessarily portend market entry, would TiVo be able to withstand a market entry from Apple better than the Rio or Treo did? The DVR pioneer has stepped up its service offerings significantly over the past few years; few broadband-delivered TV entertainment services have escaped its partnership purview. These have included internet information and casual games, TV shows and movies on demand, subscription music services, video podcasts and more. No US TV platform offers a more versatile array of services, but the jack-of-all-trades approach still hasn't brought sustained profitability or enough pull from TiVo's simpler and cheaper cable competition.
Apple would be well-positioned to supersede even TiVo's functionality if it offered an SDK for Apple TV (or a DVR-enabled successor) as it has for the iPhone. In addition, Apple could gain a significant marketing advantage versus TiVo – and indeed the cable companies -- if it stuck to its subscription-averse philosophy, or perhaps rolled the subscription fee into .Mac. The latter could provide online TV listings for remote scheduling similar to the way MSN offers the feature for Windows Media Center.
Apple could clearly bring a lot to the DVR. The question is, what could the DVR bring to Apple that would motivate it to play in this extremely competitive market? (This is not a new question to Switched On readers.) However, an opportunity to bolster its offerings in portable electronics markets that it leads (iPod) or where its share is growing (iPhone) might persuade Apple to see the living room as a more strategic support environment for its iCosystem and less of a cash cow.
Due to popular demand, psx4iphone is currently being worked on. Its next update will include firmware 1.1.3+ support, landscape and portrait support, as well as performance increases.
More news to come as things develop further.
snes4iphone will be getting sound and landscape performance increases shortly. gpSPhone will be getting an update that increases landscape performance as well.
iPray native Prayer Times, Athan/Azan and Qibla direction software for iPhones and iPod touch (previously known as iAthan). Get daily prayer (salat/salah/namaz) timings for your local city along with Qibla direction, distance and athan (azaan/azan) now on iPhone and iPod Touch! http://www.guidedways.com/mobile/ipr...load_ipray.php
iBooter is an interactive console for iBoot (the apple bootloader). Most of you would have used iphuc, which uses iBoot. However, it's dependant on iTunes the mobile device library and can't get replies from iBoot, which results in one way communication, where you blindly say cmd setenv foo, but you never know what happened.
With iBooter you can debug phone booting issues as well as run it in Linux/MacOS/Windows without iTunes installed. You can use iBooter to read memory/write memory, load ramdisks, change your wifi mac address, read files from nand and much more! http://www.iphonelinux.org/ibooter
Mizumori Ado's exclusive iPod nano case, called the Factron Quattro, sure as hell has the street cools about it, but unfortunately, it looks like its going to be a limited run in Japan only. The designer, Mizumori Ado used a full aluminum construction to match the iPod nano's housing, and we have to say, the Factron Quattro is the only way to protect your fat PMP. After all, the hefty clunker sure does have a tough time getting in and out of pockets and bags without scratching itself. Available in green, red, silver or gold and with the option of various scrawled patterns adorning the rear face plate, the case does look quite unique. Checkout the gallery for some more shots and know that no pricing details are available, but we'd guess you'll be paying a pretty penny if you are able to get Mr Importer on the case.
The iPhone is definitely turning into an enterprise heavyweight. Tom Gibbons, head of Microsoft's Specialized Devices and Applications Group (which houses their Mac developers) confirmed to Fortune that Microsoft is looking at bringing native Office apps to the iPhone with the SDK: "To the extent that Mac Office customers have functionality that they need in that environment, we're actually in the process of trying to understand that now." And why wouldn't they?
So, there might not be an iTunes subscription plan, but that doesn't mean the labels are any less enthusiastic about a monthly cash drip. According to their CEO, Sony BMG is "working on" its own subscription service, which would "provide access to our entire music catalogue for all digital players, including Apple's iPod" for about $9 to $12 a month. Better yet, he said it's "even possible that clients could keep some songs indefinitely, that they would own them even after the subscription expired.
A new version of the MMS application SwirlyMMS for iPhone is out!
Release notes:
So, it is time for a new release. It has two major fixes. One of them will make all o2-uk users happy since it will now let them receive. You have Mabbutts to thank for this.
The other "fix" is that the text-size limit of 2048 characters is now removed.
As for earlier versions you need an external viewer to view received pictures.
CubeWorld is an iPhone native application that's able to show spherical panoramas. Rendering is based on a cubic map and it's done using OpenGL.
Changes:
Added a lot of extra options (speed for autopanning, inertia and accelerometer, and added a way to switch direction for normal dragging)
Up-Down zero for accelerometer is now set when "entering" in a pano (so just be "confortable" before clicking on view)
You can zoom-out till 0.5 (instead of previouse 0.7) (it means: you can zoom-out MORE than before...)
You can use your own logo as startup screen - just put in /private/var/root/Media/CubeWorld your own logo.png file (320x128)
When the iPhone was unveiled a year ago, it was obvious that it would outclass the status quo in mobile phones, particularly in the US where mobile operators have been holding back innovation. Far less obvious was the potential for the new phone to rival dedicated handheld gaming consoles. Here’s how well the iPhone stacks up against the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP in both hardware and as a business model.
Not a Fair Fight.
At first blush, one likely wouldn’t think of the iPhone as being in the same league as handheld gaming consoles. However, when Apple showcased a half dozen prototype apps at the SDK launch, fully half of them were games. Clearly, Apple isn’t going to be ignoring games on the iPhone.
The most obvious competition the iPhone faces is the leading Nintendo DS and the distant runner up, Sony’s PlayStation Portable. Incidentally, both gaming units appeared on the market in late 2004; the iPhone benefits from being nearly three years younger, and therefore based on considerably more modern technology. However, gaming isn’t an easy market to break into.
In addition to the very popular DS and the runner up success of the PSP, there have been notable failures in mobile gaming. Nokia’s Symbian-based “side talking” N-Gage, released in late 2003, fell dramatically short of sales goals and turned into an embarrassing joke for the company. In early 2005, Microsoft worked with Gametrac to deliver a WinCE based gaming device called Gizmondo; that company fell apart after scandals erupted involving executives’ ties to a Swedish crime ring and massive embezzling and reckless spending resulted in its bankruptcy. It didn’t help that Gizmondo was branded the “worst console of all time” by gamer magazine writers.
The Spectacular Failure of WinCE and Windows Mobile
Playing the Console Game.
Successfully deploying a game console is a lot of work and a lot of risk. The hardware has to deliver competitive features while also being priced low enough to attract a large audience of buyers. There’s also the catch-22 of selling units before enough game titles exist, or alternatively, lining up developer support before having sold any units to players.
Gaming heavyweight Sega pulled out of the living room games console business entirely after the tepid launch of the Dreamcast in 1998. Despite pioneering hardware, the Dreamcast suffered from poor marketing and was subsequently blindsided by the smash success of Sony’s PlayStation 2 nearly two years later.
However, Sony’s own efforts to enter the handheld gaming world, long dominated by Nintendo, didn’t materialize as planned either. Despite attractive hardware and its association with the most popular series of living room consoles ever, the PSP has fallen short of selling half as many units as the DS: 31 million PSP units versus 65 million DS. Nintendo also still sells the earlier generation Game Boy Advance, which has sold an additional 81 million units since 2001. Combined, Nintendo has sold nearly as many handheld gaming units since 2001 as Apple has sold iPods.
Microsoft similarly proved that its desktop PC monopoly power was no match for the entrenched players in the games console business, losing tens of billions on the original Xbox and Xbox 360 while remaining in a distant also ran position. Just two years into its massive investments in the 360, the console has already seen sales fall of dramatically in its second year, and entering 2008, it has consistently slipped behind the PS3 in monthly unit sales.
Video Game Consoles 2007: Wii, PS3 and the Death of Microsoft’s Xbox 360
Apple’s Quiet Gaming Strategy.
Apple seemingly wouldn’t stand much chance in throwing its own ring into the rough and tumble games console business. Its last effort, a licensing deal with Bandai to resell a low end PowerPC Mac as the 1995 Pippin entertainment system, was a notable failure.
Rather than directly competing against the big players, Apple has been developing games for the iPod in what has appeared to be a Steve Jobs Hobby since late 2006. However, those efforts translate directly into the new iPhone development platform, as Apple has used iPod games to perfect a system for secure digital software delivery through iTunes.
When the games appeared, it was a bit of a surprise to see what the iPod could deliver. It shouldn’t have been; the 5G iPods have the same ARM7TDMI processor as the Game Boy Advance (the iPod actually has two), a higher resolution 320×260 screen compared to the GBA’s 240×160, far more RAM (64MB) and plenty of disk storage to avoid needing to carry around any cartridges.
The iPod could deliver these major hardware advantages over the GBA because it was designed to be sold for around $400; the GBA was intended to retail for around $200. The iPod certainly wasn’t designed to compete as a gaming device, but its latent capacity makes it a viable alternative for the tens of millions of users who already have an iPod and want to use it for new things. Apple’s pioneering $5 game market also lowers the threshold for impulse buying.
Hacking iPod Games: How Apple’s DRM Works
Can a Phone Play Real Games?
The iPhone has similar hardware advantages over the DS and PSP, both of which were engineered to sell at much lower price points. The DS originally sold for $149 (and is now $129), and the PSP debuted in the US at $249 (now sells for $169). The 8GB iPhone debuted at $599 (and now sells for $399).
Apple’s engineers not only had a bigger budget to spend, but could use more modern technology given that Apple released the iPhone two and a half years later. Here’s how their hardware compares:
Nintendo DS: Late 2004
67 MHz ARM 946E-S (N-Gage processor) + 33 MHz ARM7TDMI (same processor as the original iPods)
4MB RAM
256KB Flash + cartridge storage
Dual, 256×192 3“ displays; one is stylus touch sensitive
No accelerometers
No camera
No mobile radio
WiFi 802.11b/g
No Bluetooth
Sony PSP: Late 2004
333 MHz MIPS R4000 CPU + GPU with 2 MB onboard VRAM running at 166 MHz
32 MB main RAM (new models expanded to 64MB), and 4 MB embedded DRAM. MemoryStick storage, UMD media
480×272 (368×207 usable for video); no touch screen features
No accelerometers
No camera
No mobile radio
WiFi 802.11b
No Bluetooth
Apple iPhone: Mid 2007
Samsung ARM SoC 620 MHz 1176 running at 412 Mhz + PowerVR MBX 3D GPU
128MB RAM
8 or 16GB Flash storage
320×480 3.5” display with finger multitouch input
Accelerometers for direct physical control
2 Megapixel camera
Quad band GSM + EDGE
WiFi 802.11 b/g
BlueTooth 2.0 EDR
The iPhone is in a significantly different class of performance, has far more internal resources for games, and is equipped with a variety of other hardware–from its camera to its ubiquitous (if slow) mobile network to its multitouch high resolution display and accelerometers–all of which have to power to unlock entirely new classes of games and other more serious applications.
As a handheld console, this feature set makes the iPhone a bit like the Wii, with interactive new gameplay features, and a bit like the PS3, with higher performance gaming specs and additional online and media capabilities. Buyers won’t have to decide if they want a handheld game console; they’ll get it for free when they buy the iPhone or iPod Touch.
Further, because Apple is attaching game development as a sidecar dessert on top of a device that is primarily monetized as a hardware sale (boosted by retail and accessory sales, media sales, and carrier revenue sharing), developers will get more bang from their buck and will incur less risk developing games for the iPhone. The iPhone has also already proven itself as a very desirable smartphone, even before the arrival of any native games, ameliorating the worries of a whether games developers should invest in the platform.
The iPhone’s development tools are more approachable to a wide audience of developers already familiar with the Mac, they’re significantly cheaper to obtain and get started with than other consoles, and game distribution will be much easier and more lucrative because Apple doesn’t need to squeeze fat licensing fees out of its developers to make money. In fact, Apple will do best by continuing to give developers those groundbreaking 70% royalties on their software sales, encouraging a wide and deep gaming market to develop for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Apple’s iPhone vs Smartphone Software Makers
The Chips and the Frameworks.
The iPhone’s System on a Chip processor bundles an ARM 1176 clocked at 412 MHz. The DS uses a pair of much earlier and simpler ARM processors, while the PSP uses the now dead end MIPS architecture, which was used in the Nintendo 64 and earlier PlayStation and PS2 consoles. Both Nintendo and Sony have since moved their modern living room consoles to variants of the PowerPC family.
That leaves the iPhone with an ideal CPU architecture for handheld gaming, and one familiar to existing smartphone developers. Above the hardware level, the Phone’s Cocoa Touch layers on a mature development framework that makes creating software for the iPhone much easier than developing for Symbian, Windows Mobile, Palm, RIM BlackBerry, and other mobile platforms.
The iPhone’s SoC also bundles a PowerVR MBX graphics processor. In the late 90s, prior to the advent of ATI and NVidia as GPU leaders, PowerVR rivaled 3dfx Voodoo graphics cards in the PC market. Sega’s Dreamcast was also built around a PowerVR graphics processor. Following the rise of ATI and NVidia, PowerVR moved into the embedded mobile arena and became the standard for mobile smartphones and related devices.
Getting performance from smartphones has often been difficult because mobiles commonly rely on their own proprietary software or least common denominator packages like Sun’s stripped down Java ME. Apple’s iPhone SDK uses OpenGL ES, the same standard graphics API used by Symbian smartphone developers and the Sony PS3. This standardization will make graphics and games development for the iPhone familiar to a wide audience.
Again, in addition to using the PowerVR hardware and Open GL ES software, Apple is also providing its own slick software integration with tools such as Core Animation, making it much easier for developers to achieve a consistent look and feel with the buttery iPhone interface without necessarily being experts in embedded video development.
Origins: Why the iPhone is ARM, and isn’t Symbian
And the Competition?
Nintendo has long held a dominant position in handheld gaming, developed through a strategy of focusing on playability. The Game Boy, GBA, and DS didn’t deliver the most incredible hardware of the time, but did serve as low cost gaming devices paired with large libraries of games licensed by Nintendo. The company has worked to maintain high quality games for all of its platforms.
That also results in making Nintendo’s platforms closed tighter than Apple. Nintendo started in its closed development plans after the Video Game Crash of 1983 nearly wiped video gaming out of retail stores. Atari had encouraged unlimited game production for the 2600, resulting in some game titles being produced in greater quantities than the console itself. The result was a glut of games foisted upon retailers and a backlash against gaming.
Nintendo successfully reintroduced gaming by positioning its new NES game console as an “entertainment system” paired with a toy robot. As gaming took off again in the late 80s, Nintendo’s strict controls gave it strong market power and delivered exceptional profits. Independent developers couldn’t ship games for the NES without a licensing agreement with Nintendo.
Nintendo ruled the roost until its deal to build a new CD-equipped Super NES system with Sony fell through, resulting in Sony leaving to develop its own PlayStation games console in late 1994. Sony maintained the same games licensing model as Nintendo. When Microsoft entered the fray in 2001 with the Xbox, it similarly relied upon software licensing revenue to partially bail out its console hardware losses.
These conventional game console makers rely heavily on software licensing fees to keep their heads above water; Apple doesn’t. Software sales through iTunes will be self supporting in an effort to drive software availability. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have largely been opposed to small homebrew development, and are therefore going to be threatened by Apple’s encouragement of software development freed from licensing profiteering.
iPhone 2.0 SDK: How Signing Certificates Work
Microsoft recently unveiled XNA plans that try to achieve both: courting small developers to make online Xbox games and software for the Zune, and then subsequently taxing them as much as 70% in exchange for marketing exposure. Like Apple’s iPhone App Store, Microsoft won’t allow outside development, not because of security issues, but because that’s where Microsoft hopes to make the majority of its money. It remains to be seen how well that will work for the company, particularly given the extremely low uptake of the Zune and the year over year free fall in sales of Xbox 360 units.
Microsoft also appears to have given up all efforts to repurpose WinCE as a third party handheld gaming platform after the failure of the Gametrac Gizmondo. While the company recognizes the importance of “developers, developers, developers,” without a viable platform to sell to, those developers won’t care.
Nokia is trying to resuscitate N-Gage 2.0 as a gaming platform for its higher end N-series smartphones as part of Ovi, a portal site that also plans to sell music and GPS maps. The gaming platform will be constrained somewhat by the simpler specs of Nokia’s phones; the N81 has a similar processor, but only 96MB of RAM, a far more limited graphics resolution of 240×320, and no touchscreen or accelerometers, limiting the new N-Gage platform to the simplistic cell phone style games that have already failed to garner much attention.
Nintendo is unlikely to be pushed from its perch of selling $130 handheld game consoles by the $299 and up iPod Touch and iPhone. It has also demonstrated no interest in moving into mobile phone gaming itself. Unlike other hardware makers, Nintendo has also worked to sell its consoles at a profit while also earning software licensing revenues. That means Nintendo may be less likely to deliver games for Apple’s platform, as it would tend to draw attention away from its own handheld gaming efforts.
At the same time however, the company was quick to point out that its DS didn’t directly compete against the Sony PSP, and those two products were only $100 apart; Nintendo might therefore aim to deliver software for the iPhone because of the limited competition between the two platforms serving different markets at very different price points.
Sony is working to establish the PS3 and grow sales of the PSP before the three year old platform begins to run out of steam. PSP developers face more complex and expensive tools, which has resulted in fewer games being developed and sold. The PSP only had 2 games in the US top 50 last year, compared to 12 for the Nintendo DS.
Sony has also hampered the PSP with its preoccupation with promoting its own proprietary, physical media formats, including the failed UMD and MemoryStick. Apple’s online distribution model will democratize development and the iPhone’s wireless App Store and large Flash storage will encourage lower priced game sales in volume.
Sega no longer makes its own gaming hardware, giving it free rein to develop titles for the iPhone. It demonstrated a prototype of Super Monkey Ball using the iPhone’s accelerometers to control player movement. Sega noted that the iPhone’s 320×480 resolution meant that it had to spruce up its graphics, commenting that the iPhone supported console-style graphics rather than those typical of a cell phone.
Artificial Life, Aspyr, Electronic Arts, Feral Interactive, Freeverse, Gameloft, id Software, Pangea, THQ, and Namco Bandai have all confirmed an intent to deliver games for the platform, with Gameloft announcing plans for fifteen titles by the end of the year. Apple also demonstrated Touch Fighter, its own in house game, showing off the iPhone’s use of both OpenGL graphics, accelerometer support, and OpenAL audio for stereo sound positioning.
Ethan Einhorn, who demonstrated Sega’s Super Monkey Ball, told gaming site Next-Gen, “From a technical standpoint, the iPhone is competitive with dedicated handheld gaming devices [like the DS and PSP]. The delivery system for software will be digital and easy to use. And the ability to have all of your portable electronics needs catered to with one device is irresistible. Given all of that, the potential for the iPhone as a games platform is massive. From a technical standpoint, the iPhone is competitive with dedicated handheld gaming devices. This is a phone that offers plenty of power to work with, no compatibility concerns, and uniform input functionality. That represents an evolution in the mobile gaming space.”
10 Games Perfect for iPhone : Next Generation
As Apple migrates its 150 million iPod installed base toward the iPod Touch and iPhone, the company will pair a large user base with enthusiastic development efforts. Users will get the gaming environment as a free addition to the phone, media player, and web browser they purchased. Conversely, that also means that lesser phones with plodding web browser capabilities and simplistic media playback–as well as dedicated games consoles that really only play games–will have a hard time competing against the new platform. That should make for an interesting 2008.
Now gamers can play the games they want, on whatever platform they want! With CrossOver Games, you can run many popular Windows games on your Intel OS X Mac or Linux PC. Whatever your tastes — first-person shooters, fantasy, strategy, MMORPGs — CrossOver Games provides the capability to run many popular games titles. CrossOver comes with an easy to use, single click interface, which makes installing your games simple and fast. Once installed, your game integrates seamlessly into your Desktop. Just click and run! Best of all, you do it all easily and affordably, without needing a Microsoft operating system license.
CrossOver Games is built on the latest versions of Wine, based on contributions from both CodeWeavers and the open-source Wine community, and then lovingly hand-crafted by Stefan Dösinger, our very own Wine/Games connoisseur. Unlike other CrossOver products, which are aimed primarily at office productivity applications (and hence maximum stability), CrossOver Games aims to bring you the latest, greatest, bleeding edge improvements in Wine technology. This means that the newest games run faster and better under CrossOver than under other versions of CrossOver, or other version of free Wine, for that matter. You want to run your Mom's knitting software? Maybe you should look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you need better framerates on Linux or Mac so you can frag your buddies: check out CrossOver Games!
The list of supported games and apps includes:
Steam
Half-Life 2
Team Fortress 2
CounterStrike 1.6 and Source
World of Warcraft
Guild Wars
Prey and more
Sorry for the lack of updates as of the past few days. I've been fighting a bad head cold.
As I start to feel better over the new couple of days, I will get right back into the swing of things. That's what I get for staying up all night working on ZodTTD.com projects.
I will update everyone on the status of my projects later today. That includes news on the public release of genesis4iphone and updates to my projects such as performance increases in gpSPhone and snes4iphone, and OpenTTD and psx4iphone updates to work on Apple iPhone and iPod Touch firmware 1.1.4.
Here it is folks, iLibertyX! Combining the power of iLiberty+, with the ease and style of Mac OS X, we get the single best Jailbreak/Unlock available today. Dive into iLibertyX to reveal its almost unlimited functionality.
With this new sleek GUI, you can choose exactly what you need to get the job done… Whether it be using older jailbreaking methods for phones pre-1.1.4, or setting your new phones free for the first time, you can do it all simply by checking a box. But thats not all, iLibertyX also supports the new PB+J (pepijn’s boot and jailbreak), in other words, jailbreaking your new iPod Touch is now no more than plug and click!
You’re an iPhone/Touch noob? No Problem! iLibertyX isn’t only powerful, its also intuitive. Launch it, and it automatically shuts down iTunes, detects which type of device is connected (iPhone or iPod Touch), and changes the default settings accordingly. Plug and play has just been redefined. http://theiphoneproject.org/
Apple's no stranger to having its wares ganked (a lot), but this one really has us scratching our noggins some kind of fierce. Apparently a couple of meddlesome 20-somethings working at a Salem, New Hampshire Apple store managed to scoot away with somewhere between 330 and 700 iPhones. After somehow stuffing that many handsets into a panel van / pickup truck / privately owned C-130, they seemingly sweet talked a single high-roller into snatching up their entire stash for upwards of $138,000 -- which could be a bargain (or not) depending on the actual quantity included in the deal, internal capacity, etc. Minutiae aside, both individuals are currently residing under the strong arm of the law (surveillance cameras are hard to dodge), but curiously, nothing is mentioned about the buyer who didn't find spending over a hundred large with a couple of average joes (who just happened to have an inordinately large amount of iPhones for sale) the least bit odd.
While it doesn't exactly come as much of a surprise, it seems that Apple has plenty more goodies in mind for the iPhone (and, presumably, the iPod touch), with a recent batch of no less than six patent applications revealing some of its plans to turn the device into what it describes as a "lifestyle companion." In this case, that rather vague term refers to what is effectively an upgrade to the Nike+iPod system, with the iPhone's accelerometer and other built-in capabilities also coming into play in addition to the usual external sensors. It doesn't stop with workouts, however, with the patent applications also indicating plans for a diet coach of sorts, which could even make use of the iPhone's camera to scan bar codes on products. Those components would also of course all work together, with the system able to suggest workouts based on your diet and physical condition and vice versa. Of course, these being patent applications, there's no indication as to when we might actually see such a a system, but it sure seems a good deal more likely than some of Apple's other ideas.
Potential iPhone developers should go and grab the latest release of the SDK, beta 2, and revel in the new Interface Builder. Make your own fancy UIs for your iPhone game, or maybe just make an improved iFartz. We're cool with either.
ScoresPro is bringing you the iScores Application. A Real Time service for iPhone devices which delivers Livescore data for 6 different popular sports.
A complete four octave keyboard
Multi-touch. Up to 5 keys can be pressed at once allowing complex chords.
Sounds like a real piano with realistic piano multi-samples.
Animated piano keys react to your touch.
Play along to all your MP3s.
On-screen keyboard navigation allows you to easily move up and down by octaves or "part octaves" (ie. left-most key is a C or an F). http://moocowmusic.com/Pianist/
We know Apple's had its Inkwell handwriting recognition software in OS X for years now, so we might have otherwise just totally glossed over this Handwriting Recognition Engineer job listing on Apple's site. Except for the part that reads: "The recognition technology you create may extend beyond Mac OS X to other applications and the iPhone." They always love to throw those little tidbits in there, don't they?
The iPhone Dev Team has demonstrated that Apple will probably have a very difficult time patching the iPhone to thwart their efforts: not even 24 hours after the release of the latest update for the iPhone firmware 1.2.0 (or 2.0, as The Steve calls it,) they sent us this picture showing that they have pwned it again, getting it to work completely unlocked, and run all applications. As they told us: "Apple will not really be able to patch it this time." Check the new Contacts application, which was in the Touch and seems to have been revealed in this latest revision.
Finally, I am starting to feel better health-wise. While I'm not at 100%, I am quickly getting there.
For the past week I was usually too sick to work on my projects directly. So I was trying to get saurik's (www.saurik.com) toolchain up and running. The reason this is important is I believe it will give a good performance increase to all my projects. Currently his toolchain seems to be early in development, but it's progressing fast. So even though I was sick, I still tried to get work done. Though it seems my work for the past week came up short. I just finished compiling psx4iphone with this new toolchain without any errors. This was a large task as the toolchain doesn't currently (though seems it will as time passes) support Objective-C which is important to iPhone apps such as mine. After days of mucking with the code and finally getting psx4iphone to compile, I ran psx4iphone. It crashes immediately with a segfault. It seems more work will need to be done before getting the toolchain running my apps. It will most surely get there, I just hope its soon.
So what does all that mean? The short of it all is, performance gains across my apps from me switching to newer tools will have to wait. That waiting period is to be determined.
In the meantime, I will focus on what I currently do have in terms of toolchains and projects using them.
There's a lot of work for me to do with my existing projects, so I will get right on it. I will also be going through ZodTTD.com forums and answering questions when I can.
Sometimes it gets hard for me to go through the entire forum, so if something really needs my attention, be sure to private message me there.
Thanks for hanging in there while I was gone,
ZodTTD
Jonz has released a new version of his Nes Emulator for the iPhone:
NES.app lets you play Nintendo games on your iPhone. It is a fully functional, feature-rich Nintendo emulator.
NES.app uses an emulator core we call NESCore, which we've forked from pNESx and InfoNES and re-engineered as a highly-portable and high-performance Nintendo emulator core.
In order to use NES.app, you will need ROM images of Nintendo games. ROM images are files containing the dumped instruction code from a physical cartridge. In many cases, you are legally entitled to posess a ROM imageof any game that you presently own. ROM images for NES are widely available online, or with the appropriate hardware, you can dump them yourself directly from the cartridge.
Features
Multitouch: Use the directional pad + A + B, or other combinations
Landscape Mode: Turn the iPhone counter-clockwise to play in landscape mode
Zapper Tap: Tap objects on the screen to shoot them
Full Screen: Enlarge your NES picture to the max possible
Save State: Save an instant snapshot of your game and come back to it later
Game Genie: Use Game Genie cheat codes
... and many more
NES.app is not iPhoneNES!
NES.app started as a fork of iPhoneNES v0.01, but has been completely rewritten to run very fast, and with many additional features including sound, multitouch support, full-screen, landscape mode, game genie codes, saved games and much more. It now contains zero code from the original iPhoneNES project.
2.1.0 [jonz] Many bugfixes, added build support for firmware 1.2/2.0
See README for full instructions
Added XCode project for iPhoneOS (Beta 2 SDK) build
Added bi-directional hot corners (up-left, up-right, etc)
Press as if on the real controller - between both directions
Added advanced option for number of sound buffers (default 5)
Changed default palette from A to C (most accurate)
Renamed plist files to use com.zdziarski instead of natetrue
NESapp-2.0.3.tar.gz Latest binary release [ 1/15/2008 ] for iPhone v1.1.2 and lower NESapp-2.1.0.tar.gz Latest binary release [ 3/29/2008 ] for iPhone v1.1.3, v1.1.4
BGR is claiming iPhone firmware 2.0 will provide a YouTube plugin for MobileSafari.app. They aren't citing their source, but they're pretty confident in their assertion:
David Bruemmer and Douglas Few, engineers at the US Department of Energy's Idaho National Lab in Idaho Falls, have put together an unlikely use for the Wiimote—they've hacked the remote so it can control a bomb-disposing, landmine-detecting, machine gun-carrying robot.
The Packbot robot, which is manufactured by iRobot in Massachusetts, is 70 cm long, transports itself via inbuilt tracks and is usually controlled via joystick-like device. However, the joystick method is problematic because it separates speed and direction controls, therefore requiring the soldier's undivided attention. The Wiimote hacks works exactly as you would expect; by simply waving the remote around the robot moves accordingly, and when an object of explosive interest is detected, the Wiimote's in-built vibration feedback goes nuts. We're guessing the B-trigger shoots the on-board machine gun, and if it doesn't, it definitely should.
The crazy modding pair plan to get to work on the iPhone next. They reckon soldiers should not need to lug laptops around with them when a modified iPhone could do the task equally well. First stop; iPhone controlled Packbot, complete with streaming footage. Now, there's something you won't get going on WinMob.
