Android – Iphone – Applications

     We all are very aware of how horrible, biased, and hypocritical Apple’s App Review process can be and the number of very valuable apps they have left behind. But now the developer of one of the most popular apps, Facebook, has decided to leave iPhone development in search of “greener” less restrictive pastures.

     This is a statement made by Joe Hewitt, the developer of the Facebook App, regarding why he quit:

     “My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however…

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: App, Apple, Iphone, OS

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) have come to an agreement. Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion as part of the agreement. Previously AMD argued that Intel was using incentives for PC manufacturing companies to making exclusive deals with them. The litigation process started back in 2004.

AMD will be dropping their lawsuits in Delaware and two pending cases in Japan. They are also going to withdraw all regulatory complaints. However Intel isn’t completely off the hook yet. Government agencies could still bring a case against Intel. The European Union already fined Intel $1.45 billion this past May. Intel is appealing the fine from the European Union.

AMD and Intel have also made a cross-license agreement that will allow AMD to split into two companies. Globalfoundries is the other company that AMD has spun off. Globalfoundries does not have to worry about lawsuits from Intel either.

“Everybody is a winner here including Intel. They should be congratulated for trying to put this behind them and listen to everyone’s concerns as well as defend their rights,” stated AMD CEO Dirk Meyer in a conference call.

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: App, OS

Universal Studios Home Entertainment have today announced their plans to offer next generation user interactivity on a selection of their upcoming Blu-ray titles. Arriving this coming holiday season, the studio will be focusing on bringing a variety of special features targeted for (and which will integrate exclusively with) both the Apple iPhone, and iPod touch. So, I bet you’re wondering what titles can be expect this functionality on? There are five new and upcoming titles, all on Blu-ray, which we’ll see include these special interactive experiences. These include: Bruno, Funny People, 9, American Pie Presents: The Book of Love, Public Enemies, and Inglourious Basterds.

Split up into two main sectors, this new announcement sees Universal as an entertainment studio shift focus into the iPhone space, and equally importantly at the same time, jump on the ever-changing, ever-evolving social networking band-wagon.

The first of Universal’s announcements is pocket BLU. Described as ‘Groundbreaking,’ this free application will connect through Wi-Fi to any network capable Blu-ray player, and will extend the Blu-ray experience in an variety of new and exciting ways.

Feature extensions to your Blu-ray experience will include the following:

An Advanced Remote Control. Not only is Universal Studios set on extending your visual Blu-ray experience, it seems they also want to enhance the the way you interact with it. Pocket BLU™ will see the introduction of a sleek, elegant new way to operate your Blu-ray™ player. You’ll be able to navigate through menus, playback and BD-Live™ functions with ease, straight from your iPhone or iPod touch.

Video Timeline. By turning your iPhone into landscape mode, you will bring up the video timeline, allowing you to instantly access any point in a movie. I don’t know about you, but for me this seems like a great addition and definitely something I can see myself using.

Mobile-To-Go. Sick of special extra content stuck on your physical Blu-ray disc of your favorite blockbuster? I know I am. What if you could take it with you, in your pocket? This new feature aims to do just that. With it, you’ll be able to unlock a selection of exclusive bonus content with your Blu-ray™ discs to save to your device or to stream from anywhere there’s a Wi-Fi network, enabling you to enjoy exclusive content on the go, anytime, anywhere.

Browse Titles. Maybe you’d like to see what other current blockbuster titles support this functionality, or in fact upcoming ones. With the browse titles feature, pocket BLU will give you access to a complete list of pocket BLU-enabled titles available and coming to Blu-ray Hi-Def. You’ll be able to view free previews and see what additional content (if any) is available to unlock on your device.

Pop-Up Keyboard And all this, with keyboard input OTA. Enter data into a Blu-ray player with this easy and intuitive keyboard that will also facilitate such Blu-ray features as chatting with friends and sending messages.

But that’s just the half of it. The second announcement from the studio is social BLU. This new app will aim to add social interaction to your Blu-ray user experience, namely Twitter and Facebook. The studio says you’ll be able to create status messages for each of these services, about the title your currently watching, at the click of a button, to share this Blu-ray experience with your friends.

The American Pie Presents: The Book of Love release will be the first of these titles to mark this integration of Blu-ray content with social networking. Once available, you’ll be able to control status updates from your Blu-ray player, from UniversalHiDef.com, or within pocketBlu.

Of course to make this all possible, Universal have to first update their BD-Live Center.

Newly redesigned, Universal’s BD-Live, which will be first seen on Funny People, will offer an easy, fun, and interactive experience directly from an Internet-connected Blu-ray player. The “What’s New,” feature will allow you to check out the latest releases coming to Blu-ray and theaters, along with exciting BD-Live features. The update will also bring a “Content Center”, where you will be able to intuitively find favorite previews, trailers, and more.

Universal says that login and registration aren’t required unless you want to access select community features, and with everything designed in a one-click and tap navigation, universal reckons that the Blu-ray experience will be more seamless than ever before.

Personally, I think it’s great that we’re seeing major film studios using iPhone and iPod Touch as tools to extend our already rich media experience, and I can’t wait to see where this will lead.

Look out for all the titles mentioned dropping this holiday season!

Popularity: 1% [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: App, Apple, Application, Free, Iphone, ITunes, OS, Unlock

Gravity Sling is the first game to be released from the iPhone Game Jam event held at this year’s 360iDev developers conference in late September. Participating developers were given one night to quickly brainstorm and produce a working game prototype. Gravity Sling was the brainchild of the guys at Riptide Studios, and the result, after a bit of post-event polishing, is a simple and pretty space-themed game that is compelling despite its sometimes shallow and buggy trappings.

In each level of Gravity sling, you need to propel your floating astronaut towards an awaiting space shuttle. This is done by simply picking a destination where you want to aim the astronaut to. A large arrow is shown and adjusts to the changing position of your finger, which represents the desired direction and speed. Letting go sends the astronaut on his fateful journey. Strewn across the various levels, however, are planets of varying sizes that will cause the astronaut to alter course and ricochet around in artistic spirograph patterns. If you gauge the gravitational pulls correctly, your astronaut eventually succeeds in reaching home. Your score is basically the distance travelled, and the longer you can send the astronaut into various orbits before successfully returning, the better. Each successful trip’s distance is logged onto OpenFeint leaderboards, and there are various easily-obtained achievements as well.

All of this works well in Gravity Sling, but sometimes feels like an exercise in trial and error as you can just crash your astronaut quickly and repeatedly in order to find what is often the one sweet spot or zone. Touching the precise area for a massive score is elusive, and there is a stated goal distance for each level, but this seems a bit arbitrary as you are not penalized in any way for finishing a level below the goal. You can quickly burn through the levels if want to simply complete them.

Although getting a super long shot can be satisfying, it can also be a bit dull at times. Gravity Sling’s gameplay is basically fire-and-forget, with no interaction once the astronaut is on his course. A very successful score can have you just looking at the screen for 2-3 minutes, waiting for the astronaut to reach his destination. There’s no way to influence his trajectory or fast forward. Touching the screen at any time starts him on a new trajectory from scratch. The worst is waiting for a long time for what appears to be a good score, only to have the astronaut get pulled into a planet for a crash and burn, Sputnik 1 style. Speaking of crashes, Gravity Sling itself does crash occasionally, the menus can be a little sluggish at times as well, and I have seen the occasional garbled continue screen.

It should be noted that Gravity Sling is one of the first games to use downloadable content as its sole source of revenue. The base game, with 15 levels, is available for free. At this price, everyone should download and try it for themselves. The levels can be completed quickly, and may just hook you into its just-one-more-time core gameplay. An additional 30 level pack is available for 99 cents, which basically offers more of the same. The developer has talked about releasing more levels, as well as a level editor, and has even hinted at some new gameplay elements such as moving planets. The prices have not been revealed, but these additions would definitely expand on what is already a solid app.

Gravity Sling is ultimately a fairly straightforward game that does very well for itself considering its humble Game Jam beginnings. Sir Isaac Newton’s head proved that gravity can be compelling, and this app does a good job in stating its case as well. There is a lot of potential to it that a bit of fine-tuning and enhancing can help reach.

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: App, Application, Download, Free, Game, Iphone, OS

After months of hype and a Canada-exclusive open beta, ngmoco’s Touch Pets Dogs has finally arrived in the worldwide App Store, nipping on the heels of Eliminate. It’s a virtual pet sim with surprising depth, as well as the Plus+ community features you’d expect from the company that created the Plus+ iPhone gaming network. The pups are cute and the game is fun, but the need for an internet connection and the quick depletion of food will have some would-be pet owners grumbling.

In almost every pet sim, your first stop is the adoption center, and Touch Pets is no exception. Here, you can pick from seven breeds, including a robo-dog. Once you’ve adopted your pooch, you head to your “house,” and the tutorial begins. Touch Pets quickly covers the basics of petting, feeding, cleaning, and playing with your puppy. There’s plenty else to do: you can toss a frisbee around, dress up your pet, teach it tricks, have a playdate with another pup, or embark on a career.

Your puppy has five stats that control its happiness: Energy, Water, Petting, Let Out, and Cleanness. The last four are all straightforward (give it water, take it outside, etc) but energy is the one that will annoy many players.

Energy is constantly drained, though some activities are more tiring than others for your poor puppy. To replenish your pup’s energy, you have to feed it…and here’s the sticker. You only get a certain amount of food per day; after that, your dog goes to sleep. (Thankfully, unlike iPuppy World, you don’t have to sit there and watch the dog sleep; it uses the iPhone clock.) Extra food can be bought via separate apps (in-app purchases are coming with the next update) but be warned: those little costs add up, fast, because food disappears quickly. Your “starving” pet won’t die, but really, ngmoco? A real dog doesn’t digest food in five minutes.

But while your puppy is awake, there are plenty of tasks to do. Your mileage will vary depending on how much you like petting/watering/playing with your virtual puppy; personally, after a few days, I was tired of taking care of my pet’s needs every time I opened the app. But you can also do things like teach your puppy tricks (alas, this isn’t Nintendogs, and tricks are gesture-based rather than voice-based) and invite others over, either by picking a random puppy from the global news stream or by finding one of your Plus+ friends. Puppies can play with each other and become friends or, if they’re of opposite genders, fall in love. In-game puppy bucks, which are earned when your pet is happy, can be spent on tons of different clothes, toys, or treats.

ngmoco clearly anticipated that players would need goals beyond the basic love-your-puppy, and the careers are their solution. There are a number of careers available (Celebrity, Scientist, Rescuer, etc.) but each is essentially the same. You’ll need to improve a skill, buy an item, or some other combination of relatively simple requirements before you can send your dog on its mission; it then dashes off the screen and goes to do its “job.”

There’s a lot to do in Touch Pets: Dogs, but the game’s strongest point, I think, is the puppies themselves. The animations are smooth and the puppy’s movements and actions seem realistic, and any puppy-loving kid should be delighted to see them prance about the screen.

Not all is perfect, of course. For one, you can’t play the game without an internet connection—period. If you’re an iPod Touch user or an iPhone user with a tiny data plan, you may want to give this one a pass. The constant need for food also means that you can’t play for more than ten or fifteen minutes before your puppy collapses into a coma…unless you’re willing to pay real cash for food. I played the free version for a few days before redeeming a code for extra food, and the playtime limit makes this one of the tougher “freemium” apps to play. A tweak to the energy consumption rate would be much appreciated.

That being said, Touch Pets: Dogs is hands-down the best pet sim the App Store has yet seen, and it adds one more quality title to ngmoco’s impressive catalog. Whether or not you’re willing to invest the time and money in a virtual pet is another matter entirely.

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: App, Free, Game, Iphone, OS, Tutorial