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Android and iPhone to get PlayStation 3 like Graphics in 3 Years

Taimur Asad — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:48:17 +0000

Imagination Technology, makers of the PowerVR GPU chip has said that we will definitely have “graphics comparable to the PlayStation 3 in three years” time. For those of you who don't know, PowerVR GPU chip is the one that powers both, the iPhone and Motorola Droid.

Opera Mini For iPhone Could Be Coming Soon To App Store

Andy — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:04:43 +0000

Norwegian web browser developer Opera has revealed that the company's mobile browser application for the iPhone is just "weeks" away from submission to the App Store for approval. According to sources, the new Opera Mini iPhone app was likely to be six...

Apple Replaces iPad’s Mute Switch With Screen Rotation Lock

iPhonehacks — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:34:20 +0000

As you might know, Apple’s latest creation, the iPad, is now available for pre-orders in the US. Folks at 9to5Mac have observed that Apple has made a last minute change in iPad’s hardware. They have replaced the mute switch just above the volume co...

iSMEStorage – The first Cloud Storage Virtualization App for the iPhone

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:15:00 +0000

UK based SMEStorage today announces that its iSMEStorage iPhone application is live in the Apple App store. iSMEStorage is the first iPhone application to let users access and manage over 10 storage clouds from their iPhone in one Cloud file view. Clouds from which files can be viewed and managed include Amazon S3, RackSpace CloudFiles, Box, Apple Mobile Me, Microsoft SkyDrive, Microsoft Live Mesh, Gmail-as-a-cloud, Email-as-a-Cloud, FTP-as-a-Cloud, Google Docs, and WebDav enabled clouds.

iPhone app marketing professionals announce release of new book

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:30:00 +0000

Michael Vallez of CrazyMikesApps and Bryan Bowers of iProduceApps today announces the release of their new iPhone app marketing eBook. It is titled "Secrets To Effective iPhone App Marketing" and covers twenty separate topics relating to iPhone app marketing and promotion. People who purchase the eBook will also receive two case studies that analyze some of the most successful app launches and provide insight into how those results can be duplicated.

iBrr Bluetooth Receiver & Remote for iPhone – New P2P Remote

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Techno Gurus today announces iBrr Bluetooth Receiver and Remote 1.0 for iPhone and iPod touch. This is a brand new app that uses peer-to-peer networking via WiFi or Bluetooth technology to transform an iDevice into a remote control. iBrr also provides a secure way to ensure that others have no access to the device. One device is used to control the music playing on the other, which is usually connected to a stereo or speaker system via the headphone jack or an Apple-brand docking station.

AT&T Claims To Be Working Hard To Enable Tethering For iPhone Customers

iPhonehacks — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:50:53 +0000

AT&T’s iPhone customers have been waiting for tethering to be enabled on the iPhone ever since Apple introduced the feature in iPhone OS 3.0. If you have been patiently waiting for AT&T to officially enable iPhone tethering then we have some ...

Apple Has Developed A “Full-on Solution” To Multitasking In iPhone OS 4.0

iPhonehacks — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:26:00 +0000

Folks at AppleInsider are reporting that iPhone OS 4.0, which is expected to be released in June will finally allow third party iPhone apps to run in the background. Multi-tasking is one of the most requested features by iPhone users. AppleInsider clai...

iDongle – Standalone Tethered Booting For Your Jailbroken iPhone

Andy — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:22:17 +0000

The new iPhone 3GS models with updated ROM do not allow users to perform the traditional full jailbreak. As a result, there may be instances when the user may be required to perform a tethered jailbreak everytime their iPhone crashes or reboots. This c...

More suggestions of multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0

Dave Caolo — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:00:00 +0000

Filed under: OS, Software, Developer, iPhone

Developers have found further evidence of multitasking support for 3rd party iPhone apps in the latest beta (3.2 beta 4) of the iPhone SDK, and suggest that it will become a reality this summer.

9to5 Mac reports on a new line found deep within the latest iPhone SDK. Specifically, SpringBoard.js has a reference to a "multitasking dialog box" that did not appear in version 3.1.3 of the SDK; it seems that it's new to version 3.2. Of course, there's no assurance that this refers to 3rd party support for multitasking, but it is new.

Additionally, Appleinsider's souces with "proven track records" state that Apple has developed "a full-on solution" for 3rd-party multitasking which will be a part of iPhone OS 4.0. No specifics were given on how it will be pulled off or how it will address the two main concerns: battery life and security.

Let's assume that Apple's plan addresses the security issue, but battery life still presents a problem, one that was supposedly addressed by Push Notifications. Apple's remote notification service allows applications to offload polling processes to web servers. By keeping the update algorithms working off the device, the iPhone's battery is spared. Certainly the iPhone itself must take on the task of keeping all of those apps up and running.

It should also be noted that iPhone OS does not use a paged memory model. That means, multi-tasking applications must compete for the same memory space, making it more likely that apps will receive memory warnings and even crash when they use too much memory. That's not an issue in the one-app-at-a-time space, but a real problem with multitasking

Of course, the iPhone OS is already fully capable of multitasking. In order for non-Apple apps to participate, Apple must lift the current restrictions within the OS. That's something the company won't do until the iPhone engineers have devised the best and safest method. As for iPhone OS 4.0, Appleinsider notes that it's got "a ways to go." Hopefully we'll have an answer in July.

More suggestions of multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4.0 to Support Multitasking?

Taimur Asad — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:44:18 +0000

According to the reliable sources at AppleInsider, folks in Cupertino are preparing to finally bring multitasking support in the next version 4.0 of iPhone OS. If this rumor holds up to be true, then Apple can finally silence all the iPhone critiques who have been praising the rival Google’s Android for its superiority in multitasking support; something which iPhone has lacked since day 1 with the original iPhone (EDGE) launch back in 2007.

GDC 2010: Canabalt postmortem

Mike Schramm — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Other Events, iPhone, App Store

"What kinds of games do you like?" Adam "Atomic" Saltsman asked of his panel audience at the Canabalt postmortem during the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. "Role-playing" was yelled out, as was "puzzler," and eventually Saltsman picked "platformer" as the genre. Without another word, he quietly went to work on a laptop. Then, his partner at Semi Secret Software, Eric Johnson, took the podium to tell us all about what it was like to make one of the App Store's most popular games.

He started by saying that the game was originally developed in just "five very long days," and was created for the Experimental Gameplay Project and based around simplicity -- it only uses six colors and, obviously, the one button. For a game that's so simple, it actually had a lot of complex influences. It drew from older games, like Another World and Flashback, as well as modern works, like Half-Life 2 and District 9.

Continue reading GDC 2010: Canabalt postmortem

GDC 2010: Canabalt postmortem originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Poynt for iPhone is a mixed bag

Mel Martin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Freeware, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

Poynt has come to the iPhone, after having been a very popular free app on BlackBerry phones. Poynt provides local searches of individuals and businesses. It also shares a database with Open Table, so you can use it to make reservations at restaurants. Unlike the BlackBerry app, it has augmented reality, but is missing some features beloved by the Blackberry crowd.

Like some of the other iPhone search apps, you can enter the name of a business, and get a phone number, links to a website (if there is one), a mapped location, or directions. If you use the theater search, you'll find nearby movie houses. You can also search by movie genres, or get a list of the top 10 box office films. You can't buy tickets, but you can stream trailers.

When you search for restaurants, you get similar results to those of the business search. Results include phone numbers, restaurant websites, maps, and directions. You can also narrow your search by cuisine, or by distance.

Continue reading Poynt for iPhone is a mixed bag

Poynt for iPhone is a mixed bag originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC 2010: How to develop an app with EA Mobile

Mike Schramm — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Gaming, Developer, iPhone, App Store

For the first panel of day two here at the 2010 Game Developers Conference's iPhone gaming track, Oliver Miao of Centerscore Studios took the stage to talk about working on Surviving High School for the iPhone as a part of Electronic Arts' Mobile division. As Miao made clear early on, he's an "insider outsider" at EA: his company was started with a few friends, purchased by Vivendi in 2006, created a hit mobile game called Surviving High School in 2007, and was bought by EA in 2008. Last year, they were commissioned to recreate their game for the iPhone. In one of the most interesting iPhone panels at the conference yet, he talked about the ins and outs of working with EA on an iPhone title, and explained both, what it was like to work with the company, and his own philosophies on game design, especially concerning in-app purchases and microtransactions.

Most users seem to believe that microtransactions and episodic content are, at the very least, a pain to deal with (and are, at worst, a scam), but Miao is convinced that they're actually necessary to having a successful game -- he said that every developer, going forward, "will need to have them." Read on to find out why.

Continue reading GDC 2010: How to develop an app with EA Mobile

GDC 2010: How to develop an app with EA Mobile originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fitaide Lite – Innovative iPhone App for Those with No Time for Fitness

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0000

POSCITECH today announces Fitaide Lite 1.0, the free version of Fitaide, for the iPhone or iPod touch. The Lite version retains the core features of Fitaide, but can be run for a maximum of 30 minutes per session. To celebrate the launch of the Lite version and to demonstrate the versatility of the app, iTunes gift certificates will be up for grabs this weekend for those who can use the app to capture the maximum number of distinct activities per day.

New Gestures Found and Camera Features Removed in Newest iPad OS 3.2 SDK

Mike McKinnon — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:10:42 +0000

9to5Mac is reporting that a couple of new gestures have been uncovered in the the iPhone SDK 3.2 Beta 4. There seems to be a triple tap gesture and a long press gesture revealed. In the gestures folder, a couple of new plist files have been discovered: "3Tap.plist" and "LongPress.plist".

Count The Beats: Inspiration… two apps for the musician on the move

Matt Tinsley — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, iPhone, App Store, Music

Recently I've been preparing to move home and finally did last weekend. Naturally I had to pack up all my musical gear, equipment and of course, my Mac. In the week leading up to the move, I've had my iPhone and nothing else. With no creative outlet and the pressure of looming project deadlines, I found myself scouting the app store for a fix to help me start fleshing out a few creative ideas.

This is what I found that worked well for me.

1. TonePad and TonePad Pro

The iTunes Store describes TonePad Pro as "...the easiest way to make music. Discover the inner musician in you. Create songs by simply touching." And this is exactly what I found. With a 16 x 16 matrix, and an easy-to-use user interface (literally start tapping your fingers and music is made), I found myself coming up with little melodies and tunes immediately. Although you only have the 16 x 16 matrix, to me, what initially seemed quite limiting soon became a boundary for creative focus.

You can save an unlimited number of tunes to listen back to, and upload them to a shared server where your buddies can check out what you've been musing. With the paid version, you can save your melodies into a ringtone that will sync back to your iPhone, too.

2. Flourish

Flourish is something a bit more immersive. While having a steeper learning curve, there's loads more to explore here. The user interface is really fresh and unique (especially for the iPhone), and presents a creative challenge in focusing your composition whilst giving you the space to try different approaches to what you are creating.

Basically Flourish represents musical phrases as physical loops:

-Record loops with expressive multi-touch keyboards.
-Generate percussive and melodic sequences.
-Build arrangements by ear or by eye.
-Select from a consonant collection of instruments.
-Sequence loops by connecting them in chain.

Check out the Flourish website for a few demo clips.

Let us know in the comments below what other apps for the iPhone / iPod Touch, or the Mac, that are inspiring you to make music.

Count The Beats: Inspiration... two apps for the musician on the move originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Will iPhone OS 4.0 Unify The iPhone And iPad Platforms?

Andy — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:48:06 +0000

Though the iPhone and iPad run on a common operating system, the version of OS installed on iPad will not be compatible with an iPhone. The reasons are evident: With a different screen size and variant features that the iPad will come with, the OS on i...

GDC 2010: Call of Duty: World at War Zombies postmortem

Mike Schramm — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Gaming, Retail, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store

Russell Clarke of Ideaworks Game Studio hosted a post-mortem report near the end of the first day of GDC 2010 about Call of Duty: World at War Zombies for the iPhone. The game was one of the first big brand hits on the App Store -- it successfully brought a game mode from one of Activision's Call of Duty console games (originally developed by Treyarch) to Apple's handheld device. After a quick joke about how a "post-mortem" was an appropriate exercise for a game about zombies, Clarke got into the nuts and bolts of how Ideaworks went about adapting the game for the iPhone.

The most major feature of the game's development, he said, was the decision last year around this time to sit down and work on prototyping for about six weeks. Nowadays, there are a few successful first person shooters around the App Store, but last year, FPSes were still a new genre for the iPhone, so the team decided to really brainstorm how one would work on a touchscreen.

Continue reading GDC 2010: Call of Duty: World at War Zombies postmortem

GDC 2010: Call of Duty: World at War Zombies postmortem originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PixelMags – 100+ Magazine Apps for iPad

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:50:00 +0000

California based PixelMags has 100+ apps ready for Apple's iPad. PixelMags publications are releasing to top paid book app spots all over the world. 30% of readers are making subscriptions their top In App purchase. The release of the iPad is sure to increase this digital publishing phenomenon. Since PixelMags launched in December, 60+ titles for iPhone and iPod touch have been sold in 77 countries through the iTunes App Store.

GDC 2010: Interview with Street Fighter IV producer Takeshi Tazuka

Mike Schramm — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Gaming, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPad

We stopped by the Capcom Fight Club party here at GDC 2010 last night, and in addition to playing the new game, we also got to talk to producer Takeshi Tazuka. Actually, we got to talk to his translator -- Tazuka only speaks Japanese, and I only speak English, so the interview was done with a middleman in between.

But even with the language barrier, we did get some good chat in about the new game, Capcom's future plans for the iPhone, and what Tazuka thinks about making a game like this for the iPad. Read on for more.

Continue reading GDC 2010: Interview with Street Fighter IV producer Takeshi Tazuka

GDC 2010: Interview with Street Fighter IV producer Takeshi Tazuka originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Patent Hints At Technology To Replace Conventional Keys With iPhone

Andy — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:36:07 +0000

Carrying a bunch of keys in your trouser pockets could soon be a thing of the past if a fresh patent filed by Apple is anything to go by. In the patent application, Apple has described a technology that can replace conventional locks with electronic al...

GDC 2010: Ngmoco justifies the freemium model

Mike Schramm — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store

As popular as Ngmoco and its games are, whenever we seem to post about them, the subject of their business model seems to rise to the top again. While they have emerged as one of the iPhone's top original developers, they've also lost a lot of fans by sticking with a model they call "freemium," even to the detriment of some of their most popular games. They release games for free, and then monetize the games by using microtransactions, selling both virtual items and virtual currency for real money.

tweetmeme_url = "http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/10/gdc-2010-ngmoco-justifies-the-freemium-model/" tweetmeme_source = "tuaw"

We have a lot of questions for the company, and we'll be asking even more of them coming later this week. But first things first: we cornered Ngmoco producer Allen Ma here in their suite at GDC 2010 and asked him to try and tell us why Ngmoco is so insistent on "freemium," and how they feel about some of the adverse customer reactions to their model. Read on to hear why free-to-play, pay-to-play-more is the model that they're betting their business on.

Continue reading GDC 2010: Ngmoco justifies the freemium model

GDC 2010: Ngmoco justifies the freemium model originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iDongle Solves Tethered Jailbreak Issue

Mike McKinnon — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:19:28 +0000

A new hardware solution for the tethered jailbreak has been announced over at www.myboyfriendisageek.com. It is called the "iDongle" and it is a small device that plugs into the 30 pin dock connector of your iPhone or iPod Touch. It solves the need to get home to your computer to re-jailbreak, if your device crashes or reboot on the go.

Report Claims Apple Is Threatening iPhone Competitors For Patent Infringement

Andy — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:53:20 +0000

Apple is reportedly in talks with several leading handset manufacturers over their alleged infringement of the company's proprietary inventions. In a recently published report, Oppenheimer & Co's Yair Reiner writes that Apple's lawsuit against HTC has ...

GDC 2010: Ngmoco previews We Rule and GodFinger

Mike Schramm — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Gaming, Freeware, Developer, iPhone

We stopped by Ngmoco's suite at GDC 2010 on the afternoon of the first day of the show, and got a chance to preview two upcoming titles they're working on testing and releasing soon. Both of the games follow Ngmoco's popular (and yet much-maligned) "freemium" model, in which you download the game for free with the option to buy in-game items or currency that can change up or speed your gameplay. Still, while the model might turn some players off, the games we saw were the kinds of games Ngmoco is slowly becoming known for: polished casual experiences that bring an established genre squarely into their business model.

The first game we saw was called We Rule -- it's currently "beta testing" in the Canadian App Store and will be available to users in other App Stores soon. It was described to us as "Farmville meets Age of Empires," but what we saw was much more like Farmville rather than the more combat-based RTS title. The game opens on a screen full of "realms," each one developed and grown by one of your Ngmoco Plus+ friends, and you can zoom into your own to start building it up.

Continue reading GDC 2010: Ngmoco previews We Rule and GodFinger

GDC 2010: Ngmoco previews We Rule and GodFinger originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DSstyles announces Cubical Series Swarovski Crystal iPhone Case

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:00:00 +0000

DSstyles today announced a new series of Swarovski Crystallized iPhone Case, the Cubical Series. Each Case featuring with the excellent combination of flat back round and flat back square Swarovski crystals. The series combines these crystals to bring new visual effect. These New Swarovski Crystallized iPhone Cases will definitely be the trend for 2010 for any Swarvoski Crystallized Cases.

Don’t trust the critics: Four Apple products they thought would fail

Chris Rawson — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone, iPad

Ever since the iPad's introduction a month and a half ago, the internet has been awash in criticism of the as-yet-unreleased device. "It's just a big iPod touch," many have said. "No Flash, no multitasking, no sale," others bemoaned. And a few have gone so far as to say, "It doesn't do a lot of things that a netbook that costs half as much will do." For these reasons and many more, many of the pundits and forum dwellers have but one prediction: the iPad is going to crash and burn.

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Don't you believe it, because the critics have been wrong before. Several times, actually, according to The Week, which provides a list of five Apple products the critics thought would fail. Out of those five, only one, the Newton, failed to find mainstream success. The other four were industry-defining products which went on to sell millions of units each.

What did the critics have to say about these four "failed" Apple products when they first debuted, and which products were they? Click "Read More" to find out.

Continue reading Don't trust the critics: Four Apple products they thought would fail

Don't trust the critics: Four Apple products they thought would fail originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intego Releases VirusBarrier X6 Dual Protection

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Austin based Intego today announced VirusBarrier X6 Dual Protection, featuring the latest version of its acclaimed anti-malware and network security software together with BitDefender Antivirus 2010 so Mac users can protect their Windows installations. The latest version of Intego's anti-malware and network security program includes new threat-detection techniques, improved methods of detection, combined detection protocols, proactive behavioral analysis, and a full range of defensive functions.

GDC 2010: Street Fighter IV for the iPhone out now

Mike Schramm — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:30:00 +0000

Filed under: Gaming, Software, iPhone, App Store

Tonight at GDC 2010, I went out and stopped by the Capcom Fight Club party here in San Francisco, and while there, Capcom projected the actual App Store interface for sending their Street Fighter IV app to the App Store on various screens around the room. We actually got to see them press the button on the release live and in person, and sure enough, the game is in the App Store right now for $9.99.

Before you go press buy, though, I'll also tell you that I got a chance to play the game, and while it is about as faithful a Street Fighter IV game as you can get on the iPhone, playing a fighting game without actual buttons is not really an ideal experience. While I was able to pull off a Hadoken and almost all of the other old moves after a few tries, the highest levels of competition in a fighting game require precision and subtlety, and this control scheme has neither of those. If you just want to play Street Fighter on an iPhone, sure -- be an early adopter, pick up the game, and enjoy a few rounds of Guile vs. Ryu. But if you're looking for the kind of in-depth fighting experience that Street Fighter IV on consoles and in the arcades offered, you probably won't find it here -- the controls are a little too inconsistent to really dig into the deep counter and powerup systems on display.

Continue reading GDC 2010: Street Fighter IV for the iPhone out now

GDC 2010: Street Fighter IV for the iPhone out now originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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