We know there are lot of entrants in the group deals space — see my recent piece, Groupon and the Wannabes — but now the competitors are seriously bulking up. LivingSocial — which has more than a million daily email subscribers — is today announcing it’s raised a $25 million Series B round led by U.S. Venture Partners and including Grotech Ventures and Revolution Capital, bringing the company to a total of about $35 million raised. That follows Groupon’s $30 million B round from Accel Partners and New Enterprise Associates announced in December.

Setting up group deals does require capital, because you need salespeople on the ground to find desirable venues and negotiate with them — and given the now tens of competitors in some cities, elbow out your rivals’ salespeople. LivingSocial is currently in 13 cities (it launches four more today), still quite a bit behind category leader Groupon, which is in 40. But armed with this new capital, LivingSocial CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy said the company hopes to rapidly expand its business.

O’Shaughnessy said LivingSocial’s angle, beyond deals, is to help small businesses grok social media in order to keep in touch with their customers. The Washington, D.C.-based company, which has been around for two and a half years with products like online book reviews and drink coupons, launched the deals product last summer. “We’re basically creating marketing budgets for people who never had marketing before,” he said. “There are not a lot of ways to guarantee customer foot traffic like we do.”

LivingSocial, which is not currently profitable as it expands (again, regret the incessant Groupon comparisons, but they say they have been turning a profit for a while), takes a 30-50 percent split of revenue collected from its deals, but it only pays out if its customers spend money, so there’s little financial risk for participating businesses. It primarily brings in customers through daily emails, but it also has an iPhone app with push notifications and a Facebook presence. O’Shaughnessy pushes off the competitive angle, saying many more merchants want to work with his company than they have space for, but says he’ll work to stand out from the crowd with the launch of an affiliate program today and soon launching more personalized subscriptions.

P.S. For those of you who are skeptical of group buying and competing in such a jam-packed space, I should say I’m a total believer. In the course of writing this article, I happily bought a half-off coupon for my neighborhood sushi joint, which happened to be LivingSocial’s San Francisco deal of the day. Speaking from personal experience, group deals totally spark spending and loyalty.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

How Social Networks Will Help Yelp, Not Kill It

More:
LivingSocial Gets $25M for Group Buying

Touch Arcade at GDC met today with Stephane Portha of Eurocenter and had a look at several impressive upcoming iPhone and iPad game titles that will arrive from the studio in the coming months.

Eurocenter is readying an iPhone version of the open source artillery game Scorched 3D developed by Gavin Camp, itself a modern take on the classic, 2D title Scorched Earth. The studio has gotten Camp's blessing on this enhanced iPhone port and, down the road, intends to submit progress made on the iPhone version back to the core project.

Open source PC release

Scorched 3D for the iPhone, like the open source desktop version, is a turn-based game that presents the player with a series of islands to defend by means of highly controllable artillery weaponry. The task at hand is to take the lay of the land and aim your turret at the enemy's tanks as best you can by adjusting the angle, rotation, and power of your ordnance. Cash is earned by successful hits and can be used to purchase a variety of available weapons, including dirt clods, missiles, napalm, and nukes (some, obviously, being more effective than others). Once you've made your adjustments, pull the trigger and your turret, as well as your enemy's, will exchange fire and find out where the carnage will lie.

The iPhone version features a combination of drag-control to manipulate the camera angle and slide-control to turn two onscreen aiming gears. The visuals in the game go beyond the desktop version and, along with the fluidity of the animation on the 3rd Gen iPod touch demo device we previewed, are highly impressive. What's more, iPhone 3GS-class devices feature real-time shadows and shader effects that add to the eye-candy.

Interestingly, the title will be released as two separate games. The first release will feature single-player modes as well as on-line head-to-head action. It will follow the “freemium” pricing model that, in the base release, will offer the full game experience, with an option to pay in to gain more money, islands, and weapons for those wanting to move things along more quickly, as opposed to spending the time required to progress through the game the hard way. A second release will follow, that delivers an MMO-type experience where many players can compete to amass islands, defending them against other players in an ongoing game world. It's really a sort of heaven in your pocket for all the Scorched Earth fans out there.

See our gameplay video for a look at the title in action.

The initial release of Sorched 3D for the iPhone is expected to appear in the App Store in late April. Stay tuned for a closer look when the game goes live.

As for the other titles we previewed from Eurocenter, well, we can't talk about those just yet, but you definitely won't be disappointed. Stay tuned…

Originally posted here:
GDC 2010: Eurocenter Bringing ‘Scorch 3D’ to iPhone

Posted by Rachel King @ 2:20 am

Categories: Mobile, Cell Phones and Smartphones, Verizon Wireless

Tags: 4G, Network, Verizon Communications Inc., Handset, Data Plan, Cellular Phones, Wireless And Mobility, Networking, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology

Verizon Wireless has announced that they will issue their first LTE handset for the 4G network by the middle of 2011. But with the good news, there’s a bit of bad news: unlimited data plans will probably be eliminated.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Verizon’s CTO Anthony Melone said that the 4G network will launch first, before the end of this year. Then, Verizon will roll out LTE phones about three to six months later. The handhelds will include dual chipsets for compatibility with already-existing networks as it will take awhile to blanket the nation with full 4G coverage.

But equally as interesting, Melone notes that plans with “as much data as you can consume is the big issue that has to change.” That sounds pretty serious, which probably means they’re already in the process of devising new plans with data usage allotments. And Verizon is not alone in suffering from too much traffic on their data networks.

Personally, I can’t imagine not having an unlimited data plan after having one for so long. But I’m definitely one of those iPhone user addicts who should probably enroll in some type of rehab program for spending far too much time on my smartphone.

But if Verizon chooses to eliminate unlimited data plans, do you think other wireless providers will follow?

Read the original:
Verizon announces it will debut a 4G handset by mid-2011

Posted by Sam Diaz @ 2:00 am

Categories: News to know

Tags: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., ComScore Networks Inc., Apple Inc., Nimsoft, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Computer Associates International Inc., Ryan Naraine, FTC, Sam Diaz, Tablets

News to know: Here are today’s notable headlines. You can get News to Know via email alert and RSS daily. For continuous updates are BNET’s around-the-Web tech coverage:

Sam Diaz: FTC sniffing around Google-AdMob deal; Is a challenge coming?

Mary Jo Foley: Comscore’s latest data: Bing’s U.S. share grows and Windows Mobile’s drops

Larry Dignan: CA acquires Nimsoft for $350 million; Eyes smaller enterprises

Sam Diaz: Schmidt on China: “Something will happen soon”

Joel Evans: Verizon Wireless’ current 3G and future 4G LTE could super charge the iPad

Matthew Miller: Wal-Mart most searched for business by TeleNav users

Sam Diaz: Facebook Fan Pages get boost with ’social engagement hub’

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: EFF: Apple “acting as a jealous and arbitrary feudal lord”

• Jason D. O’Grady: Apple’s iPhone developer agreement published (updated)

Larry Dignan: Apple’s iPad spurs rivals to improve products

• Jason Perlow: Apple iPad: Open market for content rivals?

Christopher Dawson: National Educational Technology Plan – Part 1

• National Educational Technology Plan – Part 2 (Enter, Microsoft)

Jason Hiner: 140 tech experts to follow on Twitter, updated for 2010

Andrew Nusca: Dell Streak: Mini 5 tablet docs leaked; reveal specs, colors

Dan Kusnetzky: Cisco raises flag to claim the foundation of the Internet’s future

Doug Hanchard: FTC: Don’t blame Google for newspaper woes

• Sam Diaz: Can tablet PCs bring life back into newspaper-style reading?

Heather Clancy: How deep can Intel get inside the smart grid?

Ryan Naraine: Freshly patched Adobe PDF flaw under ‘active attack’

CNET: Twitter aims to filter out malicious links

Joel Evans: Doodle Jump jumps over 5 million times a day

Andrew Mager: A real-time Twitter visualization: Tweetflare

Heather Clancy: Smart Planet video: Gates-funded effort aims to cool the ocean

Ryan Naraine: Hackers can locate and exploit the Energizer USB charger backdoor

Doug Hanchard: Cable and satellite providers want revised FCC rules and fees

Rachel King: Elgato debuts smaller EyeTV Hybrid USB tuner for $150

CNET: Potential console killer OnLive to go live June 17

Sean Portnoy: New Lian-Li computer case let you turns your PC into a mecha spider

Tom Foremski: Intel’s research work at its Berkeley Labs

Mary Jo Foley: Windows Azure AppFabric gets a commercial availability date

Ryan Naraine: IE zero-day flaw leaks out; Exploit code published

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: Tipster Report: Mac Pro ‘hexacore’ Xeon Core i7-980x coming Tuesday

Doug Hanchard: FBI’s ‘Most Wanted’ turns 60; this town wants its own list

Andrew Mager: 15 SxSW 2010 Parties and Meetups You Can’t Miss

Doug Hanchard: Massachusetts revised information protection law in effect – with a few twists

Ryan Naraine: ;Adobe Reader and targeted malware attacks

Paula Rooney: SpringSource launches lightweight tc server for virtual, cloud environments

Jason Perlow: Why I Can’t Get Into “Caprica”

Andrew Mager: 1,000 checkins later: A Foursquare report card

Andrew Nusca: ARM exec: More than 50 tablet PCs coming in 2010

Doug Hanchard: British Telecom chief: File share users should be fined, not disconnected

Rachel King: HP, TiVo pair up for Windows Home Server add-in for MediaSmart

Larry Dignan: Review: Google Apps Marketplace well stocked, highlights ecosystem

Doug Hanchard: US Trade Rep unsure if legal options exist to negotiate China Internet restriction

Robin Harris: The disk error mystery

Dana Blankenhorn: Small practices getting IT pitch from all angles

Matthew Miller: Foursquare and Gowalla appear on more mobile platforms

Paula Rooney: Citrix’s XenApp 6 debuts

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: Mozilla’s FrankenFirefox

Rachel King: MSI Wind12 U230 AMD-based netbooks with 12.1″ displays now available; starts at $429.99

• Pentax introduces 40MP 645D medium format digital SLR camera

Go here to see the original:
News to know: FTC; Comscore; CA-Nimsoft; Google-China; iPad; Walmart

More:
PRS Guitarbud jacks your axe, ego into iPhone / iPod touch

Video: Pixel-bots to the rescue!
Even as tiny blocks, you’ll recognize Super Mario Bros. in this Arduino project
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Move over Humping USB Dogs. Here comes the Dodobongo USB Dog.
NES game harmonicas let you blow on your cartridges for fun and profit

Continued here:
Daily Crunch: Pixeled Edition

Pelago knows that just about every location-based app in the world is seeking coverage right now just prior to SXSW where they will all battle Highlander-style. So they approached me with a pretty smart pitch: curing the “social rut.” What they mean by that is these days, despite the prevalence of social networks, people are actually less social than ever because they’re being roped into playing games like Farmville and Mafia Wars for hours on end. Sitting in their rooms. Alone.

While that may be a part of social networking (a rather large, hugely profitably part), it’s not really social. That’s why location-based networks excite me: they have the potential to bridge social networking with actual social activity. And that’s exactly how Pelago is positioning the latest version of its location-based app, Whrrl 3.

The core idea behind the new iPhone app (which launched in the store today) is that people inspire others to do things. So when you see a friend is out doing something fun, you may want to join them. Or it may entice you to go out and do something else, and hope others see it on Whrrl and join in. It’s the grouping of people with similar interests into “Societies” that is a key to Whrrl 3. For example, a basic society is that each venue in the application has its own set of “regulars.” If you visit the place enough times, you unlock the badge making you a regular, and giving you access to member-level activities, such as recommendations and specials nearby.

One of these societies, launching alongside the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas this week is the Austin Underground which “will provide members with at-your-fingertips access to the hottest parties, events, and other fun things to do at the conference,” according to Whrrl. Over 50 merchants in Austin are participating to provide exclusive offers, apparently. To unlock the membership, you have to check-in at some of the following places: Four Seasons Hotel Austin, Outback Steakhouse, Cool River Cafe, Chuggin’ Monkey, J Black’s, Red Fez and Third Base, and others.

Other key features of Whrrl 3 include Recommendations — you create these (with photos, if you choose), to let others in your social graph (or your society) know fun things to do in an area. Ideas, are recommendations served up to you from societies you’re a part of, your friends, or Whrrl’s algorithms. Fun Facts are shown each time you check-in to a venue, with information about it. And of course, there is a point system (Influence Points) that turn the whole thing into one big game. What’s interesting about Whrrl’s game is that you can get point by inspiring others to do things with the app. Points also allow you to level up in your societies for more special deals.

All of this is an extension of the “footstreams” idea that Whrrl launched last December. That’s where they also first introduced the society idea as well. The key to both of those is about real people doing real things in the real world. That, in turn, shows what you’re interested in, and allows Whrrl to clump you into these groups with out like-minded people.

So that all sounds great, but will anyone use the app? After all, adoption has been a problem in the past and this isn’t the first time Whrrl is pivoting its product. In fact, they actually did exactly a year ago with Whrrl 2 just before SXSW.

Their main problem is convincing people to use Whrrl instead of the current location-based darlings, Foursquare and Gowalla. That’s going to be difficult because those networks are quickly building up social graphs and once those are established, users are less likely to leave. So Whrrl needs something to differentiate itself, and while their pitch to me is good, it’s an entirely different matter convincing users. And the things that would seem to help differentiate networks like Whrrl actually hurt them sometimes. For example, since location-based services are still new to so many people, it’s best to keep things as simple as possible. But Whrrl is piling on features that, while maybe cool, are likely to confuse new users.

Still, if Whrrl is able to secure some solid deals around Austin to get people using the app and checking-in, that could certainly get people using it. Of course, Foursquare and Gowalla have their own deals too. Then the problem becomes one I’ve had this past week while testing out all these location apps: fatigue. I can’t possibly check-in with each of these apps each time I move from place to place. The people I’m with have started rolling their eyes at me while I take my 10 minutes to check-in to all the different apps.

I’m not saying there can be only one. But one would sure be nice.

Find Whrrl 3 in the App Store here.

Excerpt from:
Whrrl 3 Wants To Kill Farmville. Not Foursquare. Not Gowalla. Farmville.

Today Gameloft launched a new edition of N.O.V.A on the App Store. If you have been holding off on this exciting FPS because of the expensive price tag, you can now try it out for free.

It includes a tutorial level on the controls and plot, along with one short level.  You have access to 6 weapons and a glimpse into the extensive story line that is completely developed in the full-version. In short, N.O.V.A Lite will let you experience the game with nothing to lose.

If you don’t know about N.O.V.A already, you’ll be playing a retired Marine that has been re-recruited for a special mission involving a missing spacecraft. Basically, your job is to find and destroy the aliens that killed off the crew members. It’s an amazing title with full 3D environments and cut-scenes which will most certainly get you hooked on the full, $6.99 version, which we previously reviewed.

Here it is previewed by our friends over at iPodUplink:

Related Posts

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• N.O.V.A. – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance Teaser Trailer Released
• Review: Modern Combat: Sandstorm

More:
Gameloft Unrolls N.O.V.A Free Edition Into the App Store

Just two weeks since the last update, Apple released last night a new beta version of the iPhone OS SDK. Unlike the previous ones however, this fourth beta doesn’t seem to be bringing much for us to speculate about.

The main novelty, if we can call it one, is the presence of some hints of an official implementation for new touch gestures. Nothing major, since these were already long documented by Apple and possible with some fiddling. They will however make it much easier for developers to enhance their apps with gestures like triple tap, long tap or rotate.

Lastly, the camera references have now disappeared, and the rest of the update seems to focus on fixing some minor bugs, not that surprising getting that close to the iPad’s launch.

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• Funny: Apple Strips The iPad Commercial Soundtrack From Its Titillating Lyrics

See more here:
SDK Update: New Gestures Implementations & No More Camera Hints

Since it launched last July at our Realtime Stream CrunchUp, Brizzly has been one of the best web-based Twitter apps. It offers support for viewing pictures inline, shortened link expansion, multiple Twitter accounts, and even some Facebook support. But they’ve been quiet in recent months. Now we know why.

The Brizzly team went into hibernation because they made a couple of acquisitions, and have been working on a new feature. First, they bought one of my favorite Twitter iPhone apps, Birdfeed. One of the earliest apps to gain Twitter geolocation support, I had been worrying that Birdfeed would go extinct because developer Buzz Andersen recently joined Jack Dorsey’s mobile payment startup, Square. But since the acquisition (which actually occurred in the November/December timeframe), Andersen has been working closely with the Brizzly team to wrap the app in its new skin.

And it’s more than just a new skin, as Brizzly for the iPhone, the app gained support for posting pictures to the service (or using Flickr), Twitter Lists, and tab editing to better customize the app. Also, if you are on a tweet page that has a photo link attached, you’ll be able to see a preview of that photo. It’s a robust client that stands among the best for the iPhone. And it has a bonus feature: News.

The News tab on the iPhone app actually ties in to the big new feature for Brizzly itself: Brizzly Guide. Previously, Brizzly’s website had an area on the side where users could explain the current trending topics on Twitter. Now, that area is a larger site, Brizzly Guide, which gives you more detail about the trending topics. This is actually quite useful as a source of news information because it can tell you both quickly and rather throughly why something is trending. For example, this page for Chuck Norris shows his name is trending because today is his 70th birthday. The page includes images (in this case, of Norris), and links to other relevant information about him. It also has an except from Wikipedia to tell you more.

These Brizzly Guides are all community-built, like Wikipedia. Anyone (with a Brizzly account) can edit them at anytime. Top contributors are displayed at the bottom of the Guide site, as are top trends this week. You can also search these guides, to look up previously hot topics.

The other acquisition Brizzly made could potentially be very interesting in the long run: Wikirank. Though the service was shut down a little while ago so that the team behind Small Batch Inc. (its parent) could focus on their new project, Typekit (which aims to better fonts to the web), it remained an interesting one. As a visualization and analytics tool for Wikipedia, Wikirank showed data in interesting ways that offered insight not seen on the face of Wikipedia itself. Though Brizzly co-founder Jason Shellen isn’t yet sure what they’re going to do with Wikirank, the idea will probably be along the lines of visualization and analytics of this Brizzly Guide information.

Shellen also notes that Brizzly signed an enterprise agreement for Typekit so that they can use it on Brizzly Guide.

Something else Brizzly has been working on: a new idea called “Picnics” (here’s an example). Basically, this allows someone to pick out tweets from the public Twitter stream and respond to them in a different, but still public, environment. Brizzly tested out the idea the other night during the hit Fox show House (frequent House director Greg Yaitanes is an investor in Brizzly parent Thing Labs), and Fox even promoted it. Actor Jesse Spencer (who plays Dr. Robert Chase on the show) responded to tweets directed at him as they came in.

While Picnic isn’t ready for a full-scale roll-out just yet, Shellen notes that it “should prove to really transformative for us in the near future – expect to see more picnics in the future.”

And if all that wasn’t enough, something else Brizzly has been working on recently: a new round of funding. Stay tuned.

Find the free Brizzly iPhone app in the App Store here.

Go here to see the original:
Brizzly’s Been Busy — Buying Apps, Creating Guides, And Going On Picnics.

I've always been a huge fan of the Resident Evil series, and having likely spent weeks of combined playtime in my life playing and re-playing the games of the Resident Evil universe. It's more than a little weird to me that Gameloft has somehow managed to make a better Resident Evil game than even Capcom, the original creators of the series, has on the iPhone.

If Gameloft's highly “inspired” games make your eyes roll, you should turn back now because when I first saw Zombie Infection today there was little I could do to stop myself from groaning at the first level we were shown– A nearly identical African cityscape to the one found in Resident Evil 5, with an equally similar premise to the game complete with a second character you come across named Shawna who serves as your female sidekick.

Zombie Infection comes loaded with 10 levels, some lifted directly out of Resident Evil games, and others in locations that could either be described as “ridiculous”, “awesome”, or possibly even “ridiculously awesome”. One such locale we were shown was a zoo, filled with zombie zoo animals. After just barely making it out alive after fighting a zombified lion, my play session was brought to an end by some gigantic crocodile that sprung up from the water.

Like other similar Gameloft games, controls work exactly how you would expect. A virtual joystick handles all your movement, while context sensitive buttons appear that do things like open doors, shoot, holster your gun, unleash melee attacks, etc. Speaking of melee attacks, there's also a number of “finisher” moves that you can pull on nearby zombies. For instance, if a zombie is knocked to the ground you can run over to them and a button will activate allowing you to stomp their head. Also, like Resident Evil games, you cannot move and shoot at the same time.

I wasn't able to get a solid answer on the graphics engine powering Zombie Infection, but the polygon count of the character models, scenery, and all the texturing was extremely detailed. On top of that, it was running at an excellent framerate, making the whole package that much more impressive.

Aside from the standard campaign mode, there's also going to be a survival mode Gameloft is calling “Arena Mode” where players fight off endless swarms of zombies. Other details are scarce at the moment, and much like Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell we only had enough time with the game to blow through a few levels. Needless to say, I'll be giving Zombie Infection a thorough play through as soon as its released sometime later this month.

The rest is here:
GDC 2010: Gameloft’s ‘Zombie Infection’

Going out on the town with your iPhone is great. Want to see a movie? Buy tickets in advance from your device. How about making dinner reservations? There’s an app for that too. But wouldn’t it be cool to pay for your dining or drinking tab from your iPhone?  A new app called TabbedOut from developer ATX Innovation will soon allow you that freedom.

TabbedOut works by housing your credit card information securely on your device. When you visit a participating TabbedOut restaurant or bar, you provide the restaurant with a unique code generated from the app.

This code enables your iPhone to communicate with the establishment’s point of sale system and allows you to view and ultimately pay your tab at the end of your meal. You can pay your tab whenever you’re ready and your receipt is automatically emailed to you. No more waiting.

There are many great benefits to this system. The convenience factor is obvious. How many times have we had to wait for a busy waiter to come and take our money after we’ve finished eating. Another big plus is security. Identity theft and credit card skimming can be eliminated entirely since plastic is taken completely out of the equation. Not having to hand over your credit card can avoid any potential theft. While the app is free to download, there is a 99 cent service charge billed to the app developers for each transaction.

This innovative payment system is getting a big roll out this week in anticipation of the SXSW show in Austin, TX, where it is currently the only city to offer this convenience. The developers hope to bring the service to more big cities in the coming months so keep an eye on this one.

For those heading to Austin this week for the show, give it a download and let us know what you think.

TabbedOut is available for free on the App Store.

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Go here to see the original:
Pay Your Bar Tab Using TabbedOut

As great of a media player as the iPhone is, there are situations where getting to your favorite music is not always easy. Running the treadmill at the gym or navigating through rush hour traffic while scrolling through your playlist can sometimes be a chore (and not to mention dangerous). With the newly released app DisCover from developer Wuonm, this problem is now a thing of the past.

DisCover is a handy app that allows you to create icons of your favorite album covers which you can then place on your iPhone’s home screen for easy access. This simple shortcut solution is one that is handled very well and similar to another of Wuonm’s app, FaceCall, which allows you to make shortcut photo icons of your favorite contact numbers.

The process is fairly easy. Once you load the app, it automatically searches for all of the music on your device. You simply scroll to your favorite album and select the record you want to make an icon.

Onscreen instructions will prompt you to how to add the icon to your home screen and in a matter of seconds, the album cover and your favorite tunes are now residing on your iPhone for simplified access.

DisCover is a very handy tool. Getting to your favorite music now doesn’t require fumbling through menus and makes for an even better listening experience. Plus it’s cool to see your favorite album artwork as an icon on your iPhone screen.

As a treat, the developers have provided promocodes to share with 5 lucky readers. Simply leave a comment letting us know what you think of this app and we’ll select five of you for a free copy.

You have until tomorrow night, Good luck!

DisCover is available now for $1.99 on the App Store.

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View original here:
DisCover: Access Your Music From Home Screen Album Cover Icons + Win A Free Copy Today

GDC kicked off today and our very own Trevor Sheridan is there getting the scoop. There are tons of announcements that will be happening all day. So keep watching AppAdvice.com for updates.

Google voice has hit the iPhone… well, kind of. According to TUAW you can now get VoiceCentral’s Black Swan right on your device. Black Swan gives you google voice functionality through an in app experience – without actually being a native app.

EA has slipped out the names of some new titles that will hit the app store soon. One of which is Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11.

Today’s Wacky App is FaceGoo. Yea the name pretty much says it all.

App of the Day: Rate Your Life – Rate your day from excellent, good, normal, bad and of course, disaster. Over time you can start to see if your bad days are a pattern, or just one in a few. It’s a clever idea that lets you keep track of your life in a digital format.

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Go here to see the original:
Appisode 89: GDC Is Here, A New Google Voice Solution, Plus Another Wacky App

SAN FRANCISCO–To most consumers, Apple’s App Store may seem like sunshine and rainbows. But to a developer, getting an application on it presents a number of legal challenges.

No, it’s not Apple’s historically notorious approval process. Instead, as attorney and Joystiq contributor Mark Methenitis explained to a group of developers during a talk at the Game Developer’s Conference here Wednesday, it’s the contracts developers have to sign that can get them into some serious trouble if they’re not careful.

Apple’s contracts, which include the iPhone developer program license agreement, the registered iPhone developer agreement, and the iPhone SDK agreement, aren’t “outside the realm of being reasonable,” Methenitis said. But there are some common pitfalls developers need to watch out for when crafting their apps.

One of those is confidentiality. It’s been well known that developers can’t talk about pre-release builds of things like iTunes, the iPhone OS, and the iPhone SDK (except to each other), but that same confidentiality stretches out to cover an entire device, too–not just an app that takes advantage of undocumented features. This means a developer who has a test version of the new OS can’t even let a non-developer friend use that phone to make a phone call since it would be a breach of that contract. Can Apple really make sure that doesn’t happen? No, but if that person who used the phone blabs, and it can be traced back to that developer, there’s nothing to protect the developer in a legal suit.

Within the same language there’s also a clause that says whatever information is sent from Apple is confidential, though whatever a developer sends back is not. This means a developer can tell Apple he or she is working on something, and Apple can then go out and tell that to one of his or her competitors without legal repercussion.

Though where Methenitis said developers really stand to get into trouble is not so much with confidentiality (which can be handled by keeping one’s mouth shut), but with exporting an app to another country. Not having one’s app up to code in various privacy and compliance acts can result in actual jail time, not to mention hefty fines. How hefty? Try five years of jail time per user install, and/or a $5,000 fine (also per install).

Methenitis went over some of the various multinational compliances a developer will have to get cleared before an app can be offered outside of the U.S. Developers have to make sure their apps are compliant under the CAN-SPAM Act and Children’s Internet Protection Act, alongside whatever digital rules exist in the countries where the app will be offered. This can add months of lead time to a release–even if a game is finished. Methenitis’ advice was simply to “find a good privacy attorney,” in order to speed it up. Methenitis himself claimed to possess no such skills, though he is a licensed attorney in the state of Texas with the Vernon Law Group.

Alongside compliance, developers are also extremely limited when it comes to encryption both in the U.S. and when exporting their apps to other countries. File encryption is commonplace for security within apps, though it’s used mainly by developers to keep information from being taken outside of an app. This is important for things like downloadable content and proprietary app assets a developer does not want someone else to reverse-engineer.

The problem with encryption is that there’s government regulation of any software a developer wants to export that makes use of it, thus paperwork that needs to be done prior to any kind of release. Also, Apple’s own threshold for encryption within the SDK is limited to 8 bits, which means developers who want to create an app that takes advantage of 256-bit encryption (which is often used for banking and password apps) have to get the approval prior to submitting. This becomes even more of a headache if a developer plans to offer that same app in other countries where encryption compliance may differ.

Again, Methenitis’ advice is to get things figured out ahead of a release, and with the help of a legal specialist. Though such advice could be expected from a lawyer.

View original here:
GDC talk: Legal pitfalls for iPhone app developers

$13 dollars. Whole package. Must. Resist. More

Take a break from reading our hard-hitting news coverage and take a look at these cute little things. Perfect stocking stuffer (I know, a little early) for your favorite app developer and/or iPhone fanatic. What with these things, those Android pillows, and all the other tech knickknacks I’ve been seeing, it seems that pretty soon they’re going to need a whole online store just to hold all of them.

They are quite cute, though.

[via Chip Chick]

Originally posted here:
Aw, iPhone app fridge magnets

Here at GDC 2010 we had the chance to meet with Benjamin Zuckerer of CipSoft and have a look at the upcoming iPhone version of their popular TibiaME mobile MMO.

TibiaME is an exclusively mobile, top-down 2D MMO that made its debut on Nokia platform devices six years ago and has been growing its community ever since. At present there are approximately 50,000 active players in the game world, which consists of 67 islands, with 16 levels each. The islands exhibit a variety of different terrain types, such as forest, dungeons, ice, and “undead.”

TibiaME places the player in the game world as either a warrior or a wizard. The islands of the world are peopled by other online players and a host of enemy characters that range from squirrels to demons — 56 types in all. There are magic-using boss monsters to contend with, as well. During the demonstration we were given of the pre-release iPhone client, there was no lack of activity in the world, as can be seen in our demo video.

While the iPhone version of the game client ties into the same game world that has been running these six years, it is a complete, ground-up rewrite that has been under development for a year and a half. The 20

It’s not that Brizzly’s perfect, or that it does justice to its source material (the unassailably pretty, wonderfully lean Birdfeed)—it’s that it comes close enough, and it’s free. More

We know, we know, you’re sick of future iPhone OS rumors… but one more couldn’t hurt right? The folks over at 9to5Mac have been exploring the new iPhone 3.2 beta 4 SDK, and have found a few files that could indicate more gestures are coming to the next iPhone OS. Something we reported on a pretty decent amount of time ago. The two files, “3Tap.plist” and “LongPress.plist, are located in the “gestures” library folder and, according to 9to5Mac, are not in previous versions of the SDK. Now, we know that “three taps” does not have a defined OS-wide function in the current iPhone OS, but we’re pretty sure that a “long press” will bring up a contextual menu to copy, cut, and paste among other things. For those iPhone haters out there, we’re pretty sure we know what one fingered gesture you want to give the iPhone… but unfortunately the “FlipBird.plist” file was not included in this build of the SDK. Check out the full report at 9to5Mac.

Read

See the rest here:
More gestures coming in the next iPhone OS?

Regulating big consumer issues such as the availability of Internet apps on mobile devices and metered broadband are outside the Federal Communication Commission’s authority, said Kevin Martin, the former FCC chairman, speaking today in Seattle at the Mobile Broadband Breakfast. Martin, who is now with Patton Boggs LLP, responded to a question about how as networks open up, the activities to keep them closed are being pushed to hardware, by saying, “The further it is pushed out the more difficult it is for the Commission to address it. The FCC’s core regulatory authority is on wireless and carriers, so its direct authority is less and less the further out you go.”

The issue of just how far the FCC’s authority reaches was raised last summer, when the agency opened up a probe into the blocking of Google Voice on the iPhone. It turns out that Apple had blocked the application, not AT&T, prompting questions as to what the FCC could really do to force Apple to allow Google Voice on the device. Apple has yet to relent.

Additionally, the FCC doesn’t appear to have authority to stop the recent efforts of carriers and ISPs to introduce metered wired broadband, according to Martin. The Commission can, of course, step in when ISPs discriminate by tying services to required service bundles, but he doesn’t think metering violates any rules.

Martin also praised the potential for more spectrum for mobile broadband, but suggested that more spectrum alone isn’t the key. He said getting traffic off the wireless network faster will help, as will bigger and better fiber connections. Additionally, he said the FCC’s stated goal of providing 500MHz of spectrum to carriers, and its plan to offer broadcasters compensation for relinquishing some of their spectrum, will require changes in the law that only Congress can implement.

Martin steered clear of making judgments on the current FCC, but by delineating the limits of the Commission’s authority, I left feeling doubtful that the agency has the authority to implement some of the policy goals it’s recommending in the National Broadband Plan. I also wish that instead of focusing on things it can’t control, the FCC comes up with a solid plan to address competition in wired and wireline, so that a competitive market can do what the FCC cannot.

The rest is here:
Former FCC Chair Lays Out the Limits on the Agency’s Authority

Freeverse has revealed that Flick Bowling 2 will be hitting the App Store soon, taking you on a journey through space and time instead of just hanging out in that same old bowling alley.

Flick Bowling 2 will feature enhanced 3D graphics, true-to-life pin physics and gameplay that will be easy enough to learn but difficult to master.  The game will employ the usual bowling mechanism where you flick your finger across the screen to roll the ball, and the ability to add spin by flicking from one side to another.

Flick Bowling 2 will take you throughout space and time across five very different environments and allow you to pick from six historical figures.  It will also feature multiplayer via pass and play or via Bluetooth, and a Fast Lane game mode.  ngmoco’s Plus+ will be integrated to provide leaderboards and awards.

Since Freeverse was recently purchased by ngmoco, we can only assume Flick Bowling 2 will use the freemium model in some sort of way.

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See original here:
Freeverse To Release Flick Bowling Sequel

The first game that Gameloft showed us at GDC this year was the latest in a long line of Splinter Cell games, a series that also has several books associated with it along with a movie that may or may not still be in the works. In the games, you play as Sam Fisher who is an extremely experienced member of an elite team within the NSA called the “Third Echelon”. Splinter Cell games are episodic in nature, and this is the sixth installment in Sam's adventure.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction for the iPhone closely follows the console game with the same title. In fact, they are so alike, they even share cut scenes and voice work. (And because of this the voice acting is much higher quality than typical Gameloft games.) There is also a surprising amount of chatter between the bad guys you come across, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction is one of the few iPhone games that frequently drops the F bomb. It will be interesting to see how much of that remains in the final version of the game.

There are 10 included levels that Gameloft estimates will take players anywhere between 4 to 5 hours to burn through, and of the few levels we were able to see in the demonstration the locales vary wildly from night time stealth missions to missions in middle eastern cities complete with sand blowing everywhere. Overall the game looks amazing, and according to Gameloft is running on the next evolution of the NOVA engine.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction controls well, using a virtual joystick for movement, an array of context sensitive buttons that appear when needed as well as the same buttons that act like dials seen in many other Gameloft games that can be swiped to select different weapons and gadgets. There's a cover system, different instant kill melee attacks, and a “tag and execute” aiming mode that can potentially allow players to slay entire rooms full of bad guys.

For the few minutes I was able to play of the game, it's hard to form much of an opinion on it. Initial impressions are positive, but we'll need to put the game through its paces once it's finally released. Gameloft isn't discussing release dates with Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction yet, but the console versions of the game are due to be released on April 13th, so it's unlikely that we will see the iPhone game before then.

See the original post here:
GDC 2010: Gameloft’s ‘Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction’

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 1:59 pm

Categories: Apple, Business, Mobile, Personal Technology, Web Technology, iPhone

Tags: Open Market, Apple Inc., E-books & E-Readers, Notebooks, Personal Technology, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Jason Perlow

Apple’s new iPad will contain its own iBooks store for e-book and subscription content. How many hurdles will third parties face to sell their content?

On Friday, I anxiously await to be able to place my order for my new iPad. For my own personal use, this is a device that is going to kill a lot of birds with one stone, particularly as it relates to electronic content consolidation.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

As of today, there are over 150,000 iPhone/iPod Touch applications in Apple’s App Store that will run on the iPad unmodified at launch date. The iPad will also be able to download all the videos and music that is available on iTunes.

At launch, the iPad will have its own eBook and subscription content store, iBooks. It’s unkown how much content is going to be available on iBooks from day one, but it is estimated to be thousands of best selling books and a significant line-up of newspapers and magazines.

Today, Apple permits the leading eBook reseller, Amazon, which has over 450,000 titles available, to distribute Kindle for iPhone on the App Store, as well as Lexcycle’s Stanza, a popular eBook reader and store also owned by Amazon with about 100,000 titles to choose from. Stanza can also download books from other independent electronic bookstores.

Apple also allows other companies such as Zinio to provide magazine and ebook content with their own viewer/store apps. Adobe Digital Editions, the format used on Barnes and Noble’s Nook and the Sony Reader has not yet been natively ported to the iPhone, but it would not be technically impossible for the company to do so given the market opportunity, as long as it wasn’t based on Flash.

The big question that remains is, will Apple allow these competing content stores to run on the iPad and the iPhone now that Apple has its own book store?

While it would seem that the answer SHOULD be “Yes”, there is some reason to have pause and expect the worst.

In the past, Apple has had a long and often arbitrary acceptance process of what it has allowed in its App store. Applications from major developers, such as the first version of Google Voice, have been rejected presumably because the app duplicated some form of the iPhone’s functionality or for contractual reasons and/or pressure from AT&T. One of the more notable ones other than Google Voice was Podcaster, now known as RSS Player, which Apple claimed duplicated iTunes’ functionality.

Apple reserves the right to reject the publication of any app, for any reason.  It has also removed “Wi-Fi discovery” applications because they used undocumented iPhone APIs. There is now a cottage industry of web sites and blogs that tell you how to avoid rejection, and there’s a lot of criteria there where you can run afoul.

Recently, Apple has pulled over 5000 “Adult Themed” applications from the app store — applications which allowed iPhone and iPod Touch users to get access to or download adult content even if it was not immediately viewable.

If we can infer the same about Amazon’s Kindle library, there is certainly a wealth of material that could be considered “Adult Themed” (such as from Sex columnist/author Violet Blue) that might fall under this umbrella, but if the company is consistent with the way it works in its App Store ecosystem, Apple could make any excuse to kick Amazon Kindle, Lexcycle Stanza and Zinio off iPad island.

Personally, it would make me and a lot of other folks feel a lot better as a prospective iPad buyer if Apple were to make some sort of statement that it will NOT exile competing eBook reader apps or bookstores from the App Store. This would open up the market for folks like Adobe and others who would want to target the iPad as the premier eBook development and content consumption platform.

Should Apple make a commitment to allow competing eBook stores to remain on the App Store and run in native iPad mode? Talk Back and Let Me Know.

Go here to see the original:
Apple iPad: Open market for content rivals?

The App Store censorship horse may have been beaten to death, but mainstream German media—whose iPhone applications have been censored by Apple because of its content—are not surrendering. I’m glad. In fact, I hope they win this war. More

When iTunes web preview pages first appeared for songs and albums the industry was abuzz with the possibility that iTunes could be migrating to the cloud. iTunes preview has so far had little impact on how we use purchased media content, but it has had a huge impact on how we find iTunes media content on the web, especially with iPhone apps. The iTunes web preview pages are an enormous draw for search engines and consistently rank high in the results when searching for the names of apps.

A Quick History of iTunes Web Preview

Previously, web links to iTunes content opened a redirect page (hosted on phobos.apple.com) that asked you to wait “One Moment Please” while the iTunes application was launched. This page only had a thumbnail of the cover and sparsely listed just the title and publisher.

iTunes web preview first appeared on November 13, 2009 with full pages including descriptive text (hosted on itunes.apple.com). Audio clip previews were added on January 7, 2010. These pages still launch the iTunes application, but also include the full description, select customer reviews, and links to related content. Preview pages for iPhone apps were published on February 4 and podcasts were added March 1. TV Show and Movies still have the old style pages that just launch the iTunes application.

In hindsight, the launch of iTunes 9 on September 9, 2009 with store pages rendered completely in WebKit using HTML was a sign of things to come.

iTunes Web Preview has SEO Mojo

These web preview pages have exposed text content to Google and other search engines that can now crawl and index these pages. To measure the impact this has had on search results, I did a short study on the Top 100 Paid Apps in the iTunes App Store. I chose to track the relative ranking in Google search results of the iTunes preview page and the app’s homepage when searching on the app name.

For this study, I only looked at the search results for the app name. While keywords would have been interesting to track, they are not publicly available. The keywords that publishers submit to Apple are hidden content in the iTunes App Store and are not included in the web preview page. I dropped special characters that appeared unlikely to actually be typed into a search (trademark and copyright symbols, for example).

In almost all results, iTunes appeared in the first 10 results on Google. In fact, the median result was #4. In some cases, the pages were only launched only a month ago, so that’s impressive. iTunes appeared above the app homepage for 68 of the Top 100 Apps.

In about 2/3 of the apps, the iTunes preview page ranked higher in search results. There is a marked difference between these two sets of apps.

For all 100 apps, the median rank of the developer’s homepage (as published in iTunes) in Google search results was #17. Developers should take note here because a rank of 17 means that your app’s homepage is pushed off to the much less visited second page of results.

For those cases where the homepage appeared before iTunes, the median search result rank was #1. The iTunes preview page median result was #5. When we look at the other set, where iTunes appeared above the homepage, the median iTunes result was #3 and the median homepage result was #71.

We can see here that homepages that rank well for searches on the app name have a pretty good chance of capturing customers who are looking for that app. However, if the homepage is not doing well for a search on the app name, it is far more likely that the customer will end up at the iTunes store, or perhaps a review site.

Some Surprises

While I was not surprised to see the iTunes preview pages come in at the #1 result for App Store specific titles like “Space Miner: Space Ore Bust,” I did not expect to see the iTunes page fall near the top with some older brands that predate the App Store. “Frogger,” “Skee-Ball,” and “SpinArt” — single word titles — all show iTunes at #6. Tetris, Scrabble, Rock Band and Final Fantasy have the iTunes preview page holding a spot between #13 and #15. “Playboy” — another single word term that I would have thought to have lots of search results — shows the iTunes page for the app at #7.

What Does It All Mean?

There are two issues that most developers should look for right away. The first is the non-safe characters issue mentioned above. The second is to look closely at the app description. Previously, the app description was not indexed for iTunes searches. Only the name and hidden keywords are used for searching inside iTunes. However, the description text is being indexed by Google now. It would benefit publishers to spend more attention on crafting the right message in the app description to reach those searching on the web.

Apple’s move to go with HTML content in the app store and the new preview pages for the App Store and other content have had a clear effect on where iTunes content appears in web searches. More web traffic is going to go straight to the iTunes Store as this trend continues but developers can take a few steps to make sure that customers find the info that they have prepared for shoppers on their own web sites.

Related GigaOM Pro Research: Needed: A Neiman Marcus for Mobile Apps

Here is the original:
App Store SEO: The Impact of iTunes Web Preview

Tired of all that boring ol’ two finger pinching-and-zooming and swiping on the iPhone? Ready for some fancy new gestures to be thrown into the mix? Wish granted. Soon. Maybe.

Last night, Apple released a new beta of iPhone OS 3.2 to developers. As is par for the course at this point, people almost instantly began tearing through the OS looking for secrets hidden within – and it looks like they just found one.

Tucked deep within the file system is a set of gesture recognizers, defining which fancy finger tricks that iPhone OS can recognize. In this latest build, it seems that two new gestures have made the list: “3tap” and “LongPress”. While no one has nailed out any way to make use of either just yet, we’re pretty sure we can deduce what they are from the names: three finger tapping, and long-hold presses.

Neither of these are really brand new; long-hold presses are already used by Apple to rearrange apps on the homescreen, and developers could have been detecting three-finger taps manually from the beginning. Their presence as official gestures, however, indicates that Apple might be looking to make them more easily accessible to developers and more widely used throughout the OS.

I’m having a hard time thinking of ways that a three-finger press could be used in an intuitive way where alternatives wouldn’t work just as well. Any ideas? Let us know in the comments below.

[Via 9to5mac]

Read the original post:
Two new gestures coming to iPhone OS: long press and three finger tap

By Katie Marsal

Published: 03:45 PM EST

Related AppleInsider articles: Condé Nast plans for iPad, but is caught in… Adobe working to sabotage HTML5 (updated) Hulu to make videos available on iPad without… Apple’s iPad promo materials misleading on… Google fights Flash, adds HTML5 support for…

A comparison of streaming video via the Adobe Flash and HTML5 formats with numerous different browsers on both Mac and Windows produced wildly different results based on the operating system and browser, making neither a clear winner.

The test, from Streaming Learning Center, was conducted in response to recent comments alleged to have been said by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, in which he reportedly called Flash a “CPU hog.” While the test found that HTML5 is significantly more efficient than Flash on the Mac when running the Safari Web browser, those same advantages do not exist on other Mac browsers, or in Windows.

“It’s inaccurate to conclude that Flash is inherently inefficient,” author Jan Ozer wrote. “Rather, Flash is efficient on platforms where it can access hardware acceleration and less efficient where it can’t. With Flash Player 10.1, Flash has the opportunity for a true leap in video playback performance on all platforms that enable hardware acceleration.”

The report noted that Apple has not enabled the hooks to allow GPU-based acceleration for H.264 video decoding. Anand Lai Shimpi, founder of AnandTech, asserted “it’s up to Apple to expose the appropriate hooks to allow Adobe to (eventually) enable that functionality.”

Adobe’s update to Flash 10.1 on the Mac improved CPU efficiency within Safari by 5 percent, but the Web format still trails far behind HTML5 due to hardware acceleration. With Google Chrome, neither were particularly efficient, and Firefox saw slightly better performance than Chrome.

On Windows, Apple’s Safari browser doesn’t play HTML 5 content. But the Google Chrome browser in Windows played Flash 10.1 content with 58 percent more efficiency than HTML5.

HTML5 is not natively supported in Firefox or Internet Explorer, but the update from Flash 10 to Flash 10.1 improved CPU performance for the browsers by 73 percent and 35 percent, respectively. Flash 10.1 in Windows offers added hardware acceleration.

“When it comes to efficient video playback, the ability to access hardware acceleration is the single most important factor in the overall CPU load,” Streaming Learning Center noted. “On Windows, where Flash can access hardware acceleration, the CPU requirements drop to negligible levels.

“It seems reasonable to assume that if the Flash Player could access GPU-based hardware acceleration on the Mac (or iPod/iPhone/iPad), the difference between the CPU required for HTML5 playback and Flash playback would be very much narrowed, if not eliminated.”

Google added support for the most popular video destination on the Internet, YouTube, in January. The beta opt-in program is available only for browsers that support both HTML5 and H.264 video encoding.

Scrutiny over Flash has grown in recent months since Apple introduced its multimedia iPad device, which does not support the Web format from Adobe. Apple, instead, has placed its support behind HTML5.

For more on why Apple isn’t likely to add support for Flash in the iPhone OS, read AppleInsider’s three-part Flash Wars series.

View post:
Flash, HTML5 comparison finds neither has performance advantage

I spoke to Imagination Technologies—maker of the PowerVR chip that powers smartphones like the iPhone, Droid and many others—and they said, definitively, that you’ll have graphics comparable to the PlayStation 3 in 3 years. More

The latest smartphone subscriber numbers are out, and the last three months have been kind to Google. Android’s still a relatively small player, but its usage base more than doubled since October. The iPhone, meanwhile, keeps on treading water. More

Apologies everyone but there won’t be a TiPb Live! tonight due to me being at GDC 2010, Chad being sick, and Mickey being horribly disappointed in the both of us.

We’ll try to make it up to you with some more great GDC coverage, however. I’ve shot tons of video for TiPb Apps and will be posting it up in the feed asap. If you’re hungry for instant content, I’m posting notes over on Twitter. Otherwise hang tight, we’ll have a round up later this week.

(Also did some moonlighting for PreCentral.net and WMExperts (link to come), so if you want to see what the competition is up to with webOS and Windows Phone 7 Series, check that out).

No TiPb Live Tonight, More GDC Coverage to Come! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Posted by Joel Evans @ 11:39 am

Categories: Apple, Portable gaming, iPad, iPhone

Tags: Apple iPhone, Games, Personal Technology, Joel Evans

Everyone knows how popular games on the iPhone are but it’s not until you see stats like the one recently released from Lima Sky, makers of the popular game Doodle Jump, that you really get a full understanding of just what “popular” means.

According to the company’s press release, with more than 3 million copies of Doodle Jump sold to date, the company is recording that its app is played more than 5 million times a day. A closer look at the 3 million downloads reveals that over 1.6 million of them have taken place in 2010 alone. With the App Store having more than 160,000 apps available, according to AppShopper, how has Doodle Jump managed to stay on the top for so long?

One could argue that there are two main factors behind Doodle Jump’s success. First, the company continues to enhance the game–more than 25 free updates so far–that it sells for $0.99. That means that once you pay the $0.99, you can freely enjoy any of the new levels, bosses, etc. that the company dreams up, without having to spend any additional money. Second, gameplay is simple and is designed for all ages.

Will Doodle Jump continue to ride the top 10 wave? With more people buying iPhones daily, and the company most probably working on an iPad-specific version of the game, I would bet yes.

I have been playing Doodle Jump since its first day of release. The concept is very straight forward and the game mechanics couldn’t be simpler with you tilting the device back and forth to keep Doodle The Doodler jumping higher. Since the company continues to enhance the offering, it always stays top of mind for me, too, and it’s one of the main games I recommend to all iPhone users.

Hopefully more iPhone game companies will try to duplicate the formula that Doodle Jump has mastered. In the end we’ll all win, regardless of which company comes out on top.

Excerpt from:
Doodle Jump jumps over 5 million times a day

Get over the hump day blues by downloading these two free games from Handmark and Donoma Games.

Funkyball Worlds ($2.99 -> Free): A ball-rolling physics-based platformer 72 levels across three different worlds.  In the game you must guide the weighted Funkyball across stationary and moving platforms as you race against the clock.  Stars can be obtained to improve your time, but you must try to avoid all of the hazards along your way otherwise you will fall off of the map and lose precious seconds.

The game features both touch and tilt controls, unlockable Funkyball skins, and OpenFeint integration for online leaderboards and achievements.

Funkyball Worlds is available for free today only (3/10/10).

Sniper Strike ($1.99 -> Free): An action game where you will be rewarded for your stellar sniper shot.  Sniper Strike features three different game modes that will have you hunting for specific targets or just going on a shooting spree.  Your rifle’s aim is controlled by simply touching and dragging across the screen and fired via a button located in the lower right-hand corner.  The five different sniper rifles can be upgraded and modified by obtaining money for your work.

The game features detailed hit summary where shots to certain parts of the body will do more damage, six maps, progressive difficulty, and OpenFeint integration.

Sniper Strike is available for free today only (3/10/10).

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Read the rest here:
Games To Download For Free Today: Funkyball Worlds And Sniper Strike

Namco held a press event last night where they announced the iPhone version of Pool Pro Online 3. This represents the 3rd in the franchise which originally began on mobile phones but is now extending to smartphones and even the desktop.

While the game may be of interest to those who enjoy pool, it also represents a few first of potentially a series of games using their UniteSDK which allows cross-platform online play. Jonathan Kromrey, general manager of apple games for Namco Networks, writes “This is only the beginning of where we are going as a company. Over the next several months, we will roll out a series of other features and games that are powered by UniteSDK, including tournaments for Pool Pro Online 3.”

Pool Pro Online 3 will eventually be also available for PC, Mac, Android, Java, BREW, RIM and Windows Mobile, and will allow instant online play across all the platforms. UniteSDK also includes the usual friend lists, leaderboards and such that we've already seen in OpenFeint and Plus+. Namco is also opening up UniteSDK to 3rd party developers as well.

As for Pool Pro Online 3, it allows both single player and online play in 8-ball, 9-ball and Snooker. Players can also make in-game wagers against their opponents and use winnings to upgrade table felts, cue sticks and new pool halls. The 3d game allows you to rotate your view and pinch/zoom to line up your shot.

The iPhone version of the game will be released on Thursday for $4.99.

Go here to see the original:
GDC 2010: Namco Announces ‘Pool Pro Online 3′ with Online Cross-Platform Head to Head

When Blippy launched a few months ago, the idea was to get the site up there as bare-bones as possible so it was simple to people. That makes sense since the idea of sharing your credit card transaction data was (and remains) highly controversial. But despite the controversy, users have embraced Blippy. So now it’s time to give it a fresh coat of paint — and a new privacy feature.

Today, Blippy has undergone a massive redesign. Previously, Blippy was a stream of your friends’ transactions and little else. Now, it’s much more robust. In fact, it looks very similar to the most recent redesign of Facebook. You’ll notice the new update indicators next to the logo that get badged with a number when there is an update. You’ll also notice a search box front and center (for now, this is only to search for businesses or users).

More important than the redesign is the new feature Blippy is launching. Starting today, you can manually review each purchase before it’s displayed on Blippy. This is an important step in the direction of better privacy controls. Previously, you could pick and choose which sources you imported your transaction data from, but it was an all-or-nothing proposition. You could remove items after they appeared in your stream, but not before. Now you can do that by approving each one. A bit of a pain? Sure, but for some who are really concerned about privacy, this is a welcome addition (of course, you may wonder why they’d be using Blippy in the first place, but hey, people are weird).

This new setting will be displayed when users hook up their credit card or e-commerce account for the first time to Blippy.

Blippy has already streamed about $15 million in purchases, co-founder Philip Kaplan notes. “Today, thousands of people are automatically sharing purchases on Blippy. I think of it as ‘a stream of cool stuff my friends are buying.’ The additional level of control we’re introducing will make it even easier for people to share just want they want to share — whether a new iPhone app, movie from Netflix, favorite bar or restaurant, or grocery store run,” Kaplan says.

In January, Blippy raised a $1.6 million round of funding. The company is also getting some traction with retailers — though not all of them.

Go here to read the rest:
Blippy Gets A Facebook-Inspired Redesign And An Important New Privacy Feature

No wonder Apple is suing HTC for patent infringement over its Android phones. In the three months between October and January, Android’s overall share of smartphone subscribers in the U.S. rose 4.3 points to 7.1 percent, according to mobile market share data released by comScore. Android showed the biggest single gain of any of the top five smartphone platforms. Apple’s share was virtually flat at 25.2 percent (up 0.3 percent), while RIM’s Blackberries saw a 1.7 percent gain to 43 percent.

Overall, 42.7 million people in the U.S. owned a smartphone during the period, up 18 percent. So even though Apple’s relative share didn’t go anywhere, it still grew with the market. But watching RIM and Android phones take share cannot be pleasant for the folks at Cupertino. The iPhone still rules the mobile Web, but again here Android is catching up fast. Time to release a new iPhone.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and Palm saw drops in their shares. Windows Mobile was down 4 percent and Palm was down 2.1 percent.

Photo credit: Flickr/svensonsan.

Read more here:
Google Gains, Apple Stays Steady, And Palm Loses In Smartphone Share

Posted by Jason D. O’Grady @ 11:18 am

Categories: App, Apple, Developer

Tags: Apple iPhone, Apple Inc., Agreement, Labor Relations, Human Resources, Jason D. O’Grady

The EFF has posted one of Apple’s most secret and most confidential documents – its developer agreement that all devs must sign in order to access the company’s iPhone SDK.

The EFF found a creative way to legally get and publish the document, an act that would surely invoke the Apple’s legal wrath. Noticing that NASA had an app, the EFF used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to ask NASA for a copy, “so that the general public could see what rules controlled the technology they could use with their phones.”

Originally NASA responded with a March 2009 version of the agreement but the story has been updated with a January 2010 version. Here’s a direct link to the 33 page PDF document. Great bedtime reading.

The contents of the agreement are hardly surprising, the EFF’s Fred von Lohmann summed up the highlights:

• A ban on public statements, forbidding developers to speak about the agreement.
• Apps made with the iPhone software development kit can only be distributed through the App Store, meaning rejected apps can’t be served through the underground app store Cydia, for instance.
• Apple indemnifies itself against developer liability surpassing $50, meaning if developers get sued, Apple will be liable for no more than $50 in damages.
• No reverse engineering, or enabling others to reverse-engineer, the iPhone SDK.
• No messing with Apple products. That means no apps that enable modifying or hacking Apple products are allowed.
• Apple can “revoke digital certification of any of Your Applications at any time.” No surprise there: Your app can be pulled even if it’s already been approved, which we’ve already seen happen a number of times.

Tip: EFF

Here is the original post:
Apple�s iPhone developer agreement published (updated)

By Katie Marsal

Published: 02:10 PM EST

Related AppleInsider articles: Magazine confirms Steam gaming platform coming… Microsoft considers extending Zune services to… Like Apple, Microsoft rumored to be creating… Zune HD price leak: $100 less than Apple iPod… Microsoft says Zune HD is real, will get…

Similar to how Apple’s iPod touch came from the development of the iPhone, Microsoft reportedly plans to base the follow-up to its Zune HD media player on the Windows Phone 7 Series mobile operating system.

At this week’s Game Developers Conference, Microsoft unveiled its new XNA Game Studio 4.0, which allows developers to create games that can run on a variety of devices, including Windows desktops, the Xbox 360 and future phones running Windows Phone 7 Series. In addition, ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley said Microsoft is working on a “Zune HD2″ that will be similar to the iPod touch, in that it will have no phone functionality.

But the migration to XNA 4.0 means the current version, 3.1, will be left behind. XNA 3.1 is used to write games and applications for the existing Zune HD, which was just released last September. Microsoft has reportedly encouraged developers to migrate their titles over to the Windows Phone 7 Series platform.

That move would make the small number of developers who have written applications for the current Zune HD to abandon the device, at least in its current iteration. Though Microsoft has not announced any plans, it’s possible that the Zune HD operating system could be updated for compatibility with the new XNA 4.0 suite.

“The company’s decision to cut Zune HD from the list of targets for XNA Game Studio 4.0 may rile some developers/users, I’d think,” Foley wrote.

Windows Phone 7 Series was revealed in February and will be on devices due to hit the market by holiday 2010. The new mobile operating system borrowed heavily from the Zune HD touchscreen interface, and uses the Zune branding for its integrated media player.

The Zune HD sports an OLED multi-touch screen, can tune into HD radio stations, offers playback of high-definition movies and TV shows, and has access to the $15-per-month unlimited download Zune Pass.

Last September, Apple introduced a 64GB iPod touch with a 50 percent faster processor supporting Open GL ES 2.0. In January, the Cupertino, Calif., company revealed that iPod touch sales have been strong, growing 55 percent year-over-year.

Recent surveys have found that the iPod touch has grew faster than the iPhone in late 2009. Another study discovered that iPod touch users spend more time using applications on their device than iPhone users.

Read more here:
Microsoft working on ‘Zune HD2′ powered by Windows Phone 7

Yesterday brought news that Facebook is planning to launch its location offering at its f8 conference in the end of April. In first reporting the news, the New York Times noted that “the company was not trying to beat the smaller location-based social networks, such as Loopt, Foursquare and Gowalla.” From what we’re hearing, that’s true — because they could be using some of those services to federate check-ins.

How do we know? Because it appears that a Facebook employee has been showing the app around to friends. One person who has seen it notes that the icon for the location feature has a pushpin on a map. This was apparently a beta version of an app, but the functionality, if Facebook chooses to go with it, would likely be built into the massively popular Facebook iPhone app.

When reached for comment, all Facebook would say is, “We are constantly experimenting with new ideas and products internally. We don’t have anything more to share at this time.” That’s not exactly a denial at all.

What Foursquare and Gowalla (the two location apps specifically cited by a source) had to say was more interesting. Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley danced around the idea of working with Facebook on such a feature, but notes that anyone can access their check-in data through Foursquare’s API. And in fact, plenty of users are already pushing their check-ins to Facebook through Connect, he notes. Also, this page is sort of interesting. It’s what we call a placeholder.

Meanwhile, Gowalla founder Josh Williams said a bit more:

It’s no surprise that Facebook is wading into the location waters (cannonball!) — our ultimate goal at Gowalla is to provide the easiest and most fun way to share location with friends, regardless of where that information is distributed… Facebook, Twitter, etc. It will be important for folks like Facebook and Twitter to clearly spell out how this information is used and displayed.

That suggests that both Facebook and Twitter have been looking at ways to import check-in data. Twitter already syndicates the data through its Geolocation API, but as more and more players get involved in the space, it wouldn’t be surprising at all for the upstart players like Gowalla and Foursquare to ask the platforms (Facebook and Twitter) to make it more clear which data is being sent from where. And make no mistake, based on what we’re hearing, that’s exactly what Facebook aims to be with location: a platform. Yes, like their good buddies Twitter.

[photo: flickr/24oranges.nl]

See the original post:
Facebook Is Testing Using Foursquare And Gowalla Check-Ins For Its Location Launch

Don’t get mad at me—I wanted to go to GDC, but The Man said no. So now we’re relying on CNET to bring us word of Epic Games’ efforts to bring the Unreal Engine to the iPhone. You may not have even played Unreal for several years, but plenty of big games are based on the engine. Mass Effect and BioShock are based on versions of the engine, as is EA’s upcoming Medal of Honor. Just think: playing Unreal on your iPhone. It’s almost… unreal.

The engine is written entirely for the PC, and it goes from PC to Mac to iPhone. It’s quite a bit of work to port over, yes. Just think: on the PC, the engine can count on multi-core processors to drive the whole show. One core for this, one core for that. The iPhone 3GS, fast as it is (by smartphone standards), cannot compare with the likes of the Intel Core i7. Breaking news, I know.

It does seem that the hardest part is getting all those high-resolution textures down to iPhone size. Epic uses something called DXT to compress the textures, a technology that Apple doesn’t support on the iPhone. So Epic has to both shrink the textures beforehand and then drop the quality by quite a bit. Will you really care when you’re playing the latest FPS on your iPhone at a steady 30 frames per second? I doubt it.

This is the Unreal Engine 3.0 we’re talking about, remember, not some 1999 technology nonsense.

Here is the original:
Bravo to Epic Games for porting Unreal Engine 3 to the iPhone

During the GamesBeat keynote at GDC today, OnLive CEO Steve Perlman took the stage to showcase the company’s game streaming technology, which allows gamers to play high quality 3D games without a console — OnLive does all of the intense rendering in the cloud, then streams it back to a lightweight client that will work on nearly any computer (it will work on TVs as well with an adapter). We’ve been hearing about the service for quite a while now (as well as its competitor, OTOY), but now OnLive finally has a solid release date: June 17, 2010. At launch, the service will be available in the 48 contiguous states.

The service will have a $14.95 per month base service fee, and then users will purchase games and rentals on an a la carte model on top of that. You’ll be able to purchase multiple months at a time to get a discount on the service. As a special for early users, OnLive is going to waive the service fee for three months for the first 25,000 users to pre-register at this page.

OnLive’s demos are always impressive. Today, Perlman showcased the service’s ability to play recent games like Crysis on a large TV, as well as on his mobile phone (because all the processing is done in the cloud, even an iPhone can handle it). He also showed off other features that OnLive will offer, like streaming movies and Xbox Live-like community features. It looks great, but OnLive still faces one very major hurdle: latency. Because gamers aren’t actually playing their games on a local machine, there’s a slight lag whenever they do anything. And in the case of ‘twitchy’ games like first person shooters, even 50 milliseconds of lag time can make the difference between a perfect kill and getting destroyed by your opponent. It’s unclear how much lag will be present once OnLive is deployed on a wide scale.

At launch OnLive will be available for PC and Mac only, and a MicroConsole TV adapter (which lets your TV hook up to the cloud service) will appear later this year. 1080p60 will be available in 2011 (Perlman says bandwidth available to consumers is what’s holding this back). International announcements are coming later this year.

Also be sure to check out our past coverage of OnLive competitor OTOY.

Read the original:
GDC: OnLive’s Cloud-Powered Gaming Service To Launch June 17

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 10:28 am

Categories: Apple, Legal

Tags: Apple iPhone, Developer, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Apple Inc., Agreement, Labor Relations, Smart Phones, Human Resources, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has criticized Apple over its iPhone developer’s contract, branding the company “as a jealous and arbitrary feudal lord.”

Earlier this week the EFF used a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain a copy of Apple’s iPhone Developer License Agreement from NASA (the EFF as subsequently been given a later version of this agreement). This is the agreement that developers have to agree to in order to be able to develop and publish apps through the App Store.

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/zdnet/eff-apple-acting-as-a-jealous-and-arbitrary-feudal-lord/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/gizmodo/apple-must-feature-pixietea-in-their-next-iphone-ad-iphone http://www.garagesalepreview.com/gizmodo/apple-must-feature-pixietea-in-their-next-iphone-ad-iphone#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:20:00 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/apple-must-feature-pixietea-in-their-next-iphone-ad-iphone

A Chinese artist named PixieTea both recorded this song and shot the accompanying video almost entirely on an iPhone 3GS. The surprise? It’s actually pretty decent! See for yourself: More

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/gizmodo/apple-must-feature-pixietea-in-their-next-iphone-ad-iphone/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/148apps/the-sticky-strap-a-stand-that-loves-to-suck http://www.garagesalepreview.com/148apps/the-sticky-strap-a-stand-that-loves-to-suck#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:06:08 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/the-sticky-strap-a-stand-that-loves-to-suck

Sometimes the most creative and useful inventions can just be so simple, the Sticky Strap is one of them. If the late Billy Mays were here to sell it he’d probably start his pitch with something like “it wraps, it hangs, it sticks, and it sits! It’s the iPhone stand that works in almost every situation but still manages to fit in your pocket!”

Honestly the first time I saw the Sticky Strap I don’t know what the heck I was looking at. The bizarrely unique stand, designed by aprodukt, is made of 2 double sided suction cups, a nylon strap, and a red plastic hook on the end. Trying to explain how to use it would be a nightmare, it’s just easier to watch this video.

What the video doesn’t show is how durable the Sticky Strap really is. It’s 100% water proof, can be folded in half, mashed up into a ball, short of taking a hammer to the red plastic hook I can’t ever imagine breaking the thing, making it tougher than others like the iBend. Being able to fit in your pocket makes it more portable than something like the Gorillamobile while still retaining some of its versatility. The video does show some of its uses but don’t think that the Sticky Strap limited to those alone. One of the additional uses I found is its ability to hang around poles or wires the red hook couldn’t fit around by sticking one end through the other. If you’re creative with it I have no doubt you could find dozens of other uses for it also.

It’s not to say that the Sticky Strap is limitless, quite the opposite, and aprodukt’s list of “Do’s and DON’TS” is liable to scare anyone a little bit but the basic message is use common sense. If you don’t think sticking your iPhone to a cold surface over a fish tank is a good idea, then don’t do it. The biggest drawback of this design is that it can’t stick to just any surface, it has to be a very smooth and clean surface. While that sounds obvious it’s important to note that includes your iPhone or more specifically the case you may be using on your phone. I tested it with 5 different cases, all three of the hard cases worked just fine but the two silicone soft cases couldn’t be used at all. Taking the case off for use may not be the end of the world but it could certainly become annoying after a few uses. However, for less than $10 the Sticky Strap worth buying for quick on the go use. For only $3 more, aprodukt also offers a kit which includes a 3 pack of protective stickers and a polishing cloth which usually run about $15 through other competitors.

Developer: aprodukt
Price: $9.80
Model Reviewed: Sticky Strap

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Pros:
-Versatile, can wrap or stand on most surfaces
-Durable
-Pocket Size

Cons:
-Can’t use with soft cases
-Suction cups require smooth clean surfaces

The rest is here:
The Sticky Strap ~ A Stand that Loves to Suck

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/148apps/the-sticky-strap-a-stand-that-loves-to-suck/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/techcrunch/upnext-three-new-cities-glowing-foursquare-checkins-and-citygrid-listings http://www.garagesalepreview.com/techcrunch/upnext-three-new-cities-glowing-foursquare-checkins-and-citygrid-listings#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:03:12 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/upnext-three-new-cities-glowing-foursquare-checkins-and-citygrid-listings

One of the most detailed 3-D mapping apps on the iPhone is UpNext, which lets you click on 3-D buildings and see a list of the businesses and offices inside. Up until now, however, it only covered New York City.

A new update adds three new cities: Boston, Washington, D.C., and Austin (just in time for SXSW, of course). The Austin map won’t be available until later tonight, where it will appear in the app’s city selection screen. UpNext lets you zoom around the city in a very Google Earth-like fashion, search for restaurants, bars, and stores.

You can favorite and bookmark different venues, see Citysearch and Yelp reviews, and broadcast a tip about the place through Facebook or Twitter. UpNext now pulls in local listings data (addresses, phone numbers, reviews,menus, websites, photos) from CityGrid, Citysearch’s local content and advertising network.

And what would an Austin update be without Foursquare integration. Once you log into Foursquare through UpNext you can see where all your friends are checking in. The checkins are overlayed as glowing blue dots on the map.

Here’s a video demo showing off all the features of the app:

CrunchBase Information

UpNext

Foursquare

CityGrid

Information provided by CrunchBase

See the original post here:
UpNext: Three New Cities, Glowing Foursquare Checkins, And CityGrid Listings

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/techcrunch/upnext-three-new-cities-glowing-foursquare-checkins-and-citygrid-listings/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/toucharcade/street-fighter-4-%e2%80%93-released-and-reviewed-as-we-get-our-fight-on http://www.garagesalepreview.com/toucharcade/street-fighter-4-%e2%80%93-released-and-reviewed-as-we-get-our-fight-on#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:54:22 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/street-fighter-4-%e2%80%93-released-and-reviewed-as-we-get-our-fight-on

A few weeks back we posted gameplay videos of an unexpected and since, highly anticipated, title coming to the iPhone this month. Well, the wait is now over, with Street Fighter 4 [AppStore] launching today! Whilst many were skeptical at Capcom's ability to port such an critically impressive console title to the portable devices, our time with Street Fighter 4 reveals a surprisingly faithful rendition, if somewhat watered down to suit the smaller scale of the iPhone.

Street Fighter 4 gives you control over 8 characters from the console version; Abel, Blanka, Chun Li, Ryu, Bison, Dhalsim, Guile and Ken (in order of appearance). The game offers an impressive move list, featuring all the special attacks from the console version, leaving out the low and medium punch/kick buttons and their respective moves. The purists amongst you may find this too much of a downsize as it undoubtedly poses a change in pace from the original and diminishes the ability to hit those ridiculously high combos. Having said that, there's no doubting its authenticity– this is Street Fighter 4 in all its glory.

It is hard really to see how any additional attacks could have been squeezed in, as the on-screen controls already take up a sizeable portion of the real estate available. Super and Ultra attacks are performed by simply tapping their respective bars (which may irk some), though they can still be pulled off in their traditional, anologue stick fashion via the SP button. This SP button also activates EX attacks and together with a Focus button, complements the kick and punch attacks on the right part of the screen. It should be noted that these on-screen elements can be moved around and have their transparency adjusted, to accommodate left-handers and minimalists alike.

Street Fighter 4 looks and runs exquisitely on the 3GS device we tested it on, with impressive animations and the same gorgeous backdrops we were treated to in the console version. Combat in Street Fighter 4 is fast and fluid, and button input is as responsive as we hoped it would be. The AI does a good job at keeping you on your toes too, and can be configured at 4 difficulty levels from beginner to gruelling. There are a number of game modes, from the standard Tournament mode (against 7 competitors, with Bison featuring as the end boss), to a “Dojo” challenge mode, together with a training mode and a single player versus mode. For those who prefer human competitors, a Bluetooth multiplayer mode is available too.

To round out the impressive feature list, Street Fighter 4 sports a full blown replay system and local leaderboards, to record your matches for later viewing, and to breakdown your winnings in both tournament and versus modes. Capcom has certainly created a comprehensive Street Fighter 4 offering, with only WiFi multiplayer and online leader boards remaining on our wish list, together with the inevitable cries for a more extensive character roster.

Street Fighter 4 is easily recommended to any Street Fighter fan or fighting game aficionado. At its core it is a lightweight port of the exceptional console title, so don't go expecting anything different if you've had your SF4 fill. On the other hand, it is amazing that such a game was ported to the AppStore in the first place and the simple fact that you can now bring Street Fighter 4 around in your pocket should be enough to sway many an eager button masher.

Impressions from our forums are collecting fast and are largely positive. Our readers have noted that there is only minimal slowdown on 3G models compared to the 3GS device we tested, and even 1G users are reportedly happy with Street Fighter 4's performance.

App Store Link: Street Fighter 4, $9.99.

View original here:
‘Street Fighter 4′ – Released and Reviewed as We Get Our Fight On!

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/toucharcade/street-fighter-4-%e2%80%93-released-and-reviewed-as-we-get-our-fight-on/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/tiger-woods-pga-tour-11-and-ea-sports-active-2-0-coming-to-iphone http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/tiger-woods-pga-tour-11-and-ea-sports-active-2-0-coming-to-iphone#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:50:20 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/tiger-woods-pga-tour-11-and-ea-sports-active-2-0-coming-to-iphone

EA has just revealed that they are working on two new titles for the iPhone: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 and EA Sports Active 2.0.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 was essentially a given for the iPhone and iPod touch.  The game will feature many minor improvements to the overall gameplay, but the biggest addition is the Ryder Cup.  When participating in the Ryder Cup, you will be able to choose from the U.S. or European squad and participate in the various competition formats including foursomes, fourballs, and singles.  Tiger Woods will head the U.S. team and Rory McIlroy will represent the Europeans.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 is set to launch for the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, and iPhone platforms on June 8th.  iPhone platforms possibly meaning and iPad version as well?

The original EA Sports Active was launched as a Wii-only title and was targeted as a more intense competitor to Wii Fit.  EA Spots Active 2.0, as it is being tentatively called, will be launching for the Wii, PS3, iPhone and iPod touch.  The game will feature even more energetic workouts than the original and will also include a heart rate monitor, leg and arm straps each with their own motion sensors and a new online hub to track and share workout data.  We’re not exactly sure at this point if any of the attachments will actually be available for the iPhone and iPod touch versions of the game, although without some sort of attachment you would be required to flail your idevice around while working out. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

EA Sports Active 2.0 should be available sometime this fall.

If and when we obtain more information regarding these two titles, we will be sure to pass it along.

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View post:
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 And EA Sports Active 2.0 Coming To iPhone

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/tiger-woods-pga-tour-11-and-ea-sports-active-2-0-coming-to-iphone/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/gigaom/thing-labs-acquires-birdfeed-wikirank-to-add-to-brizzly http://www.garagesalepreview.com/gigaom/thing-labs-acquires-birdfeed-wikirank-to-add-to-brizzly#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:44:27 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/thing-labs-acquires-birdfeed-wikirank-to-add-to-brizzly

Thing Labs has acquired two “passion projects” from former Apple and Google developers to expand its social web aggregator, Brizzly. Birdfeed, a premium Twitter app for the iPhone made by Buzz Andersen (formerly of Apple, now at Square) will become the free Brizzly for iPhone app (existing Birdfeed customers, who paid up to $4.99 for it, can continue to use the app but Brizzly won’t provide support or updates for it). Brizzly for iPhone is live in the App Store today. Thing Labs CEO Jason Shellen said some of its coolest features are around geolocation and Twitter support.

And Wikirank, a visualization for Wikipedia data from Small Batch (the makers of Typekit, formerly from Google and Adaptive Path), will serve an as-yet undecided purpose for exposing data in interesting ways. One of Brizzly’s goals is to help people explain the real-time social world around them — e.g. what do these Twitter trending topics mean? — which with Wikirank will help (on that note, Brizzly is also releasing publicly accessible guides to buzzing topics today).

Shellen said the acquisitions mark a turning point for his company, which is now committed to focusing on Brizzly as its core product (previously it had been posed as one of potentially many) — similar to what happened to Obvious Corp. and Twitter. He didn’t disclose the price of either buy. Shellen said Brizzly, which opened to the public in November, has had “hundreds of thousands” of signups.

Read more here:
Thing Labs Acquires Birdfeed, Wikirank to Add to Brizzly

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/gigaom/thing-labs-acquires-birdfeed-wikirank-to-add-to-brizzly/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appleinsider/apple-iphone-targeted-in-patent-lawsuit-over-sync-bluetooth http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appleinsider/apple-iphone-targeted-in-patent-lawsuit-over-sync-bluetooth#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:05:00 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/apple-iphone-targeted-in-patent-lawsuit-over-sync-bluetooth

By Neil Hughes

Published: 12:05 PM EST

Apple — along with AT&T, Research in Motion and a number of other mobile companies — is the defendant in a new patent suit that covers a broad range of smartphone related technologies, including e-mail syncing and Bluetooth connectivity.

The suit, filed earlier this month in a U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, is on behalf of a company called SmartPhone Technologies LLC, based in Frisco, Texas. It accuses Apple of violating six patents owned by the company covering a range of topics, including Bluetooth connectivity, e-mail syncing, bandwidth conservation and general smartphone functionality.

The suit alleges that Apple and its iPhone are liable for infringement of the patents and have caused damage to SmartPhone Technologies. In addition to Apple, a number of prominent smartphone companies and mobile operators are named as defendants, including RIM, AT&T, Samsung, Sanyo, LG, and Motorola.

The suit asks the court to find all of the named parties in violation of their respective patents, and seeks damages, costs and expenses from all of them. SmartPhone did not specify damages, but requested a jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas, where patent lawsuits are often filed in hopes of a favorable outcome.

The six patents specifically aimed at Apple are:

Patent No. 6,950,645: “Power Conserving Intuitive Device Discovery Technique in a Bluetooth Environment.”

Patent No. 7,076,275: “Method and System for Single-Step Enablement of Telephony Functionality for a Portable Computer System.”

Patent No. 7,506,064: “Handheld Computer System that Attempts to Establish an Alternative Network Link Upon Failing to Establish a Requested Network Link.”

Patent No. 7,533,342: “System and Method of a Personal Computer Device Providing Telephone Capability.”

Patent No. 6,711,609: “Method and Apparatus for Synchronizing an Email Client on a Portable Computer System with an Email Client on a Desktop Computer.”

Patent No. RE40,459: “Method and Apparatus for Communicating Information Over Low Bandwidth Communications Networks.”

The suit also includes a seventh patent of which Apple is not accused of violating. However, Motorola, Samsung and RIM are accused over U.S. Patent No. 5,742,095, entitled “Personal Communications Internetworking.”

Apple and its iPhone are the frequent targets of patent-related lawsuits. Some of the most recent and prominent cases involve a lawsuit from Finnish phone maker Nokia and camera maker Kodak.

In its annual Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last October, Apple said it was then defending itself from more than 47 patent infringement cases, 27 of which were filed during the 2009 fiscal year. Those suits prove costly to defend, and sometimes Apple comes out on the losing end of a large payout. Last year, a Texas patent suit resulted in a 21.7 million ruling against Apple.

Here is the original:
Apple iPhone targeted in patent lawsuit over sync, Bluetooth

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appleinsider/apple-iphone-targeted-in-patent-lawsuit-over-sync-bluetooth/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/voicecentral-black-swan-brings-google-voice-to-the-iphone http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/voicecentral-black-swan-brings-google-voice-to-the-iphone#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:29:26 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/voicecentral-black-swan-brings-google-voice-to-the-iphone

Riverturn has entered into the Google Voice for iPhone arena with it’s latest offering VoiceCentral Black Swan. Google Voice and iPhone have a long history together and it has not been pretty, until now that is.

Black Swan is an application you can get outside of the App Store and you do not need to have a jailbroken device. It is not a web app like the official Google solution but rather a feature rich “weblication” that enables you to view and manage your Google Voice data just like you would with a native iPhone application. As you can see by the following features, no stone as been left unturned with this app:

• Native iPhone look and feel.
• Sync your Google Voice data.
• Automatic and immediate updates.
• Offline access to Google Voice data.
• Listen to Google Voice messages and read transcriptions.
• Swipe to delete calls, voicemails, or SMS conversations.
• Google Contacts import.
• Call using Google Voice or iPhone.

Simply visit the Black Swan web site directly from your iPhone to download. You will have a choice to select between two versions – free (ad-supported) or premium. The premium version will run you $6.00 a year and for that you will also get zero ads, the ability to import contact photos, favorites, ability to search your inbox, and a do not disturb option.

This is hands down the best current solution for those of you who use Google Voice on your iPhones. Be sure to check out the demo of Black Swan in action and let us know how it works for you in the comments below!

[Via TUAW]

VoiceCentral Black Swan Brings Google Voice to the iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/voicecentral-black-swan-brings-google-voice-to-the-iphone/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/tipb-gear-aquapac-case-for-iphone-and-ipod http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/tipb-gear-aquapac-case-for-iphone-and-ipod#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:22:11 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/tipb-gear-aquapac-case-for-iphone-and-ipod

The Aquapac case is a waterproof case for your iPhone and iPod [$24.95 Store Link] for anyone who wants to the beach, pool, fishing, or take their device anywhere near the dangers of water. What the Acquapac misses out in looks it makes up for in sheer usability. Watch us put it to the test, after the break!

Specifications

The Aquapac has some pretty big shoes to fill in comparison to my handy dandy ziplock! (Yes, I’ve been using a ziplock as my “case” of choice in the bathtub until now!). Here are some of the things the Aquapac is supposed to be able to do:

• Guaranteed 100% waterproof to 15 feet.
• Salt-water and UV resistant.
• Protects iPhone from sand, dust and dirt.
• Can make phone calls through Aquapac (sound quality is slightly reduced).
• Aquapac will float with iPhone in it.

The sealing system on the Aquapac is a patented design that has been used since 1996, so it has been well tested. It also meets with the international waterproofing standards set by the British Standards Institution. Being around so long, I knew that this product had been well tested and probably gone through a few adaptations.

Also, the Aquapac is large enough to be used with other items besides your iPhone, such as; other phones, cameras, your wallet, even small video cameras.

Functionality

So we put the Aquapac to the test. We doused it, drowned it, took pictures underwater with it and tried to make a regular phone call, all to see if the Aquapac is able to really protect our precious iPhones.

I was worried that the iPhone would not be touch sensitive with the Aquapac on but I was able to turn the iPhone on and do all other regular functions. I even placed a call on the Aquapac to see if I would still be able to hear the person I was calling. I was happily surprised that not only could I hear the other person but that the person I was calling could not tell that there was a Aquapac over the iPhone.

For the water test, I was a bit tentative to try it out first on my precious iPhone, so I used my husband’s old Treo (Sorry TreoCentral!). It protected the Treo perfectly, so I took a deep breath and tried it out with my iPhone.

What is really important to remember is that the clamp itself usually retains some water around or near it. So when you open the case it is really important that you shake or wipe off any excess water and then open the case with the clamp facing down. When I open the case I first clean off the outside of the case and my hands, if wet. Then I clean the clamp facing down and then slide out the iPhone.

Conclusion

I feel that this is the perfect gift for anyone who loves their iPhone and iPod — and takes in anywhere near water. If you ever go to the pool, beach, hike, have children, go to water or amusement parks, then I would recommend the Aquapac. If you have children, then I would recommend the Aquapac. It lived up to all of its hype and more so. I just don’t know how I made do with ziplock bags before it (yes I know I am a bit dorky, watch the video for yet more proof!)

YouTube link

TiPb Gear: Aquapac Case for iPhone and iPod is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/tipb-gear-aquapac-case-for-iphone-and-ipod/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/gizmodo/case-mate-hug-review-a-wireless-iphone-charging-pad-that-actually-works-well-review http://www.garagesalepreview.com/gizmodo/case-mate-hug-review-a-wireless-iphone-charging-pad-that-actually-works-well-review#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:20:00 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/case-mate-hug-review-a-wireless-iphone-charging-pad-that-actually-works-well-review

Wireless charging has been around—even for the iPhone—for years, but it wasn’t until the last 12 months that it’s been refined to be as good as standard wired charging. Case-mate’s Hug is our favorite iPhone charging pad. More

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/gizmodo/case-mate-hug-review-a-wireless-iphone-charging-pad-that-actually-works-well-review/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/loopt-update-adds-new-content-partners-to-provide-more-local-music-and-entertainment-events http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/loopt-update-adds-new-content-partners-to-provide-more-local-music-and-entertainment-events#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:09:24 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/loopt-update-adds-new-content-partners-to-provide-more-local-music-and-entertainment-events

Loopt v2.2 is expected to hit the App Store at any moment today, which will expand on the app’s Pulse feature to help you find even more local events that you can share with friends. The update will be arriving just in time for all of you SXSW goers.  How convenient?

By accessing the now conveniently placed Pulse tab, you will be able to find, check-in at, share tips, and RSVP to tens of thousands of events with ease.  You will also be able to see which of your friends are currently at these events, and which are going to be attending.  For some music events, you will even be able to a hear a sample of the band playing from within the app.

“Locally-relevant content is crucial for helping people to truly discover the world around them,” said Sam Altman, CEO of Loopt. “By adding Events to our Loopt Pulse, our users can now not only find great places to eat and drink, but also discover music, movies, dance, comedy and theater events going on in their neighborhood right now.”

For those attending SXSW in Austin, Texas, this update will come in very handy.  Loopt v2.2 will feature a full guide to the music, events, and celebrations at the event, allowing you to check in at certain SXSW venues for opportunities to win giveaways and other special offers.

Loopt v2.2 is basically about adding new content partners in order to provide more location-based events.  The new content sources include SonicLiving (connects music fans to local concert listings, song samples, tickets and other listeners), Zvents (a leading producer of entertainment guides online, powering a network of more than 285 media partners), and Metromix (a local entertainment guide spotlighting bars, restaurants, and entertainment across more than 60 U.S. metropolitan markets).  That’s on top of all of their current partners, including Zagat, CitySearch, Bing, and TastingTable.

Finally, the Loopt update boasts expanded sharing through Facebook and Twitter, improves functionality around checking-in and sharing locations, and adds a handful of searching options to help you more easily find places and events.

Will this update make you take a second look at Loopt for your iPhone, or are you already quite settled in with your other location-based service?

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Loopt Update Adds New Content Partners To Provide More Local Music And Entertainment Events

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/loopt-update-adds-new-content-partners-to-provide-more-local-music-and-entertainment-events/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/cnet/stanford-undergrads-iphones-are-addictive http://www.garagesalepreview.com/cnet/stanford-undergrads-iphones-are-addictive#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:02:00 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/stanford-undergrads-iphones-are-addictive

by Lance Whitney

• 4 comments

Share

Do you sleep with your iPhone? A recent survey found a lot of people who do.

Among 200 Stanford University students questioned about their iPhone habits, 75 percent said they fall asleep with their iPhones snuggled next to them. But they’re just as attached to their phones in the daytime.

When leaving for school in the morning, 69 percent said they’re more likely to forget their wallets than their iPhones. The phone has also pushed aside other devices–84 percent of the students said they use it as their watch and 89 percent use it as an alarm.

But the relationship goes even deeper, at least for some. A quarter of the students said they see the iPhone as an extension of their brain or being. Almost 10 percent said they sometimes pat their iPhone, 3 percent have named it, and 8 percent have suspected at one time that their iPod is jealous of their iPhone.

The iPhone also seems to have an interesting effect on the social lives of the students. Many said their social lives would be affected if their iPhones were lost or damaged. But almost three-quarters admitted that they’ve used their iPhone to avoid making eye contact with others.

So are these people iPhone-addicted? Many of them think so. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “Yes, I’m addicted,” only 6 percent said they definitely weren’t. Among the rest, 10 percent gave themselves a 5, while 34 percent rated 4 on the scale. Of all the students, 32 percent said they’re worried about becoming iPhone addicts and 25 percent called the phone “dangerously alluring.”

But on the positive side, 72 percent said their iPhones make them happier and 37 percent said it makes them more playful. But the biggest benefit seems to be the cool factor, as a majority of the students said that buying the phone simply made them feel cool.

The survey was taken by students in a graduate research methods class at Stanford. Questionnaires were given to 200 randomly selected undergrads at the university in May. All the students interviewed owned iPhones, with 70 percent of them owning one for a year or less.

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Stanford undergrads: iPhones are addictive

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/cnet/stanford-undergrads-iphones-are-addictive/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/148apps/newsalert http://www.garagesalepreview.com/148apps/newsalert#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:47:07 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/newsalert

Developer: Dan Hassin
Price: $0.99 (sale)
Version Reviewed: 1.3

iPhone Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Utility Rating Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.63 out of 5 stars

If you want news custom-tailored to your liking, you should look at NewsAlert. This news app delivers news based solely on your specified keywords, presumably saving you the trouble of wading through RSS feeds. For the most part, it’s a solid experience, and the app pulls from a wide array of sources to make it worth your while.

The first thing you’ll want to do is pick some keywords. The app suggests keeping tabs on your favorite bands or your hometown as well as traditional keywords (i.e., “education”). These keywords then appear as list items in the main view. Whenever NewsAlert finds a new article relating to one of your keywords, you receive a push notification. The app tracks all of the articles that come in, and then you can view them based on the tag. You get 10 keywords to use, with more available via in-app purchase.

The viewer itself is nothing special—like most in-app web browsers, it’s slower than Safari and some of the screen space is wasted by the app itself. Pinch-to-zoom is also a bit jerky. I wish that opening articles in Safari could be selected as the default action (it’s still there, but it takes a few button taps.)

For the most part, getting news articles based on keywords is a good experience. It’s not perfect, however; too often, I get duplicate articles when major events happen. I don’t need to read the results from the latest Maryland basketball game ten times…in fact, I wish I could filter sports results out of my “Maryland” keyword altogether, but that’s not an option. Still, the app does turn up some interesting articles. I wouldn’t rely on it as my sole source of news, but as an addition to my daily routine, it works. It also works particularly well if you’re tracking an artist rather than a general keyword, because then you’re more likely to get interesting interviews or news about albums or tours.

It’s ultimately your call whether or not a simple dollar is worth getting keyword-specific news. The app is well-built, so no complaints there. For me, this is more of a novelty app than a real news source—I’ll stick with my old-fashioned RSS, because I like reading from specific sites. But if you’re the type who needs news on a specific topic from a variety of sources, NewsAlert won’t disappoint. It all depends on your individual needs.

View original post here:
NewsAlert

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/148apps/newsalert/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/theappleblog/analyst-iphone-to-overtake-blackberry-in-2011 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/theappleblog/analyst-iphone-to-overtake-blackberry-in-2011#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:33:46 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/analyst-iphone-to-overtake-blackberry-in-2011

A few years ago it would’ve been only the insane and the insanely prescient who were predicting that Apple would replace RIM in terms of world mobile phone market share. Now it doesn’t seem that outlandish, but the question of how soon we’ll actually see it happen remains up in the air.

According to a new financial analysis company, Trefis (via Forbes), the iPhone will pass BlackBerries in 2011. So as of next year, the iPhone will supposedly overtake RIM’s varied line of smartphones, despite offering far less in terms of consumer choice, and being limited to only one network in major markets like the U.S. So how’s that supposed to happen?

Before we get to how, let’s look at why Trefis thinks this information is important. If you’re looking to buy Apple stock, then it’s very important indeed. Trefis estimates that around 52 percent of Apple’s stock value is dependent upon its mobile phone business, so that as the iPhone’s global market share continues to grow, the stock price will climb accordingly. They have a neat little tool that illustrates this, and you can set your own prediction to see how it affects the model.

It’s neat, but it’s also a gross oversimplification. Even without considering the potentially market-rearranging effect the continuing emergence of Android might have on mobile phones globally, other factors like the iPad will probably have a disproportionately large effect on the stock price of Apple in the coming months. Marketing hype definitely inflates consumer expectation and hopefully appetite, but it also misrepresents how important a product is to a company’s future.

If Apple does overtake RIM, however, it will mark a significant milestone for the iPhone, and one consumers should be wary of more than anything. As a disruptor of the status quo, Apple innovates, and innovates well. Once it reaches the top of the pile and subjugates its competition, that doesn’t necessarily continue to hold true. A victory over RIM in the mobile phone market could lead to a stagnation of iPhone innovation, something the minor updates to the iPhone 3GS were hopefully not a sign of.

The iPhone can overtake the BlackBerry by continuing to expand the markets in which it is available, and by going with multiple carriers in places where it only has presence with one or two so far. It may have seemed unusual to hang on to single-provider models for this long, but now it’s in a much stronger position in terms of negotiating with others. It’s also begun to grow its share in the enterprise, where the BlackBerry has traditionally held sway.

2011 could indeed be the year of the iPhone, but I’m hoping RIM makes a comeback before then to stoke the fires under Apple and stave off any impending complacency that might crop up.

See original here:
Analyst: iPhone to Overtake BlackBerry in 2011

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/theappleblog/analyst-iphone-to-overtake-blackberry-in-2011/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/verizon-wants-your-ipad-on-its-3g-via-mifi http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/verizon-wants-your-ipad-on-its-3g-via-mifi#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:31:08 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/verizon-wants-your-ipad-on-its-3g-via-mifi

In what looks like a very smart business move, Verizon is apparently pushing its staffers to promote MiFi to future iPad owners.

As you know by now, the WiFi-only iPad will be launched April 3rd by Apple, followed by a 3G version which will come only by the end of April. The 3G iPad will come with an opt-in $30/month unlimited data plan from AT&T, but if you just can’t wait, or hate AT&T, Verizon wants your business.

Their MiFi, which you might know already, is a mobile WiFi hotspot, a little device which connects to Verizon’s data network, and lets you connect up to five devices to it via WiFi. Verizon believes it would go great with your WiFi iPad, and has sent an internal information to its employee to promote just that.

Alright, the data connection will cost your more than if you go through AT&T at $60/month for 5GB of data. On the good side however, you’ll be able to share it with all your other devices, and a lot sooner.

Interested?

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Verizon Wants Your iPad On Its 3G, Via MiFi

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/verizon-wants-your-ipad-on-its-3g-via-mifi/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/crunchgear/9-99-street-fighter-iv-for-iphone-hits-the-app-store http://www.garagesalepreview.com/crunchgear/9-99-street-fighter-iv-for-iphone-hits-the-app-store#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:00:48 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/9-99-street-fighter-iv-for-iphone-hits-the-app-store

We’ve spent three posts covering Street Fighter IV for the iPhone so far, and this fourth one is intended to inform you Capcom’s latest game has finally arrived in the App Store (I checked the US, German and Japanese store). Capcom itself isn’t listing the app [iTunes link] on their official “Capcom Mobile” site yet, but it is already being offered for $9.99.

Initial reviews in the App Store are overwhelmingly positive. The game received 64 reviews so far, with 55 people rating it five out of five stars and 9 with four stars. And Street Fighter IV gets a lot of buzz on Twitter, too.

Tell us what you think of the game in the comments.

Read the original here:
$9.99: Street Fighter IV for iPhone hits the App Store

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/crunchgear/9-99-street-fighter-iv-for-iphone-hits-the-app-store/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appleinsider/hp-attacks-apple-ipad-over-flash-arm-expects-50-new-tablets-in-2010 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appleinsider/hp-attacks-apple-ipad-over-flash-arm-expects-50-new-tablets-in-2010#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:00:00 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/hp-attacks-apple-ipad-over-flash-arm-expects-50-new-tablets-in-2010

By Sam Oliver

Published: 10:00 AM EST

As HP attempts to push its own Flash-playing slate PC over the Apple iPad, one ARM executive said he expects more than 50 tablet-style devices to be introduced this year alone.

HP pushes Flash for its slate PC

HP this week began touting the ability of its forthcoming “slate” device to run content made in Adobe Flash — something the iPad will not do. Though HP did not mention the iPad specifically by name, its choice of words and the specific promotion of Flash make it clear that the company is looking to take away some buzz from Apple’s forthcoming device, due to launch April 3.

HP boasted that its slate PC, running Windows 7, can access the “complete Internet — including Flash.” Another note said “Access the full web and not just a part of it!”

“With this slate product, you’re getting a full Web browsing experience in the palm of your hand,” the company said. “No watered-down Internet, no sacrifices.”

HP included a new 30-second video highlighting the ability of its slate to run both Flash and Air content from Adobe. The video shows a multi-touch interface and has a similar feel to Apple’s own iPad advertisement, which debuted Sunday during the Oscars.

In addition, the company released a video on YouTube with a live demonstration of the slate’s Flash capabilities. Alan Tam, senior product marketing manager at Adobe, showed off Flash-based Web content on the device, including video from MTV.com and an interactive Spongebob Squarepants game.

HP’s embrace of Flash is a stark contrast from Apple, which has not allowed the Web standard onto its iPhone or iPad mobile devices. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is even alleged to have made disparaging remarks about Flash and Adobe on numerous occasions.

ARM expects 50 new tablets in 2010

Beyond Apple and HP, the tablet market is expected to get much more crowded by the end of 2010. Roy Chen, ARM’s worldwide mobile computing ODM manager, said he expects more than 50 devices to debut in 2010.

According to Computerworld, most of the hardware will be introduced in China, but new tablet-style devices will be released in all markets.

“Like many chip makers, ARM often gains an inside view of products its chips are being used in, sometimes when asked for additional engineering support and other times due to partnership programs,” author Dan Nystedt noted.

Chen’s comments came during a press meeting in Taipei, where ARM showed off two tablets running the Google Android mobile operating system — one from Compal Electronics with a 7-inch screen and Nvidia Tegra 2 chips, and a smaller device called the Armadillo. Both rely on ARM cores in their chips, like Apple’s iPad.

The iPad sports a custom processor known as the Apple A4. One report alleged that the CPU is a stripped-down ARM Cortex-A8 system-on-a-chip running at 1GHz. It has been predicted that Apple spent $1 billion to design its own silicon. The Cupertino, Calif., Company purchased fabless chip designer P.A. Semi in 2008 for $278 million.

Go here to read the rest:
HP attacks Apple iPad over Flash, ARM expects 50 new tablets in 2010

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appleinsider/hp-attacks-apple-ipad-over-flash-arm-expects-50-new-tablets-in-2010/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/want-to-rate-your-life-there%e2%80%99s-an-app-for-that http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/want-to-rate-your-life-there%e2%80%99s-an-app-for-that#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:44:43 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/want-to-rate-your-life-there%e2%80%99s-an-app-for-that

Have you ever wondered what you were thinking or how you were feeling this time last week, last month, last year? Would you like to keep a record of your life’s ups and downs or your happy and sad moments? Webdunia.com (India) Pvt. Ltd have just released Rate Your Life, a simple but effective diary app that allows you to keep a log of your daily experiences and rate each event and activity.

The large social networking sites and blogs available today allow us to share our views and opinions with the world and, for a lot of people, they have replaced the traditional way of keeping a diary or a journal. Status updates, Tweets and Blogs are great but if you’re looking for something that allows you to document your life in a far more intimate and private way then Rate Your Life could be for you. It allows you to log your innermost thoughts, feelings and secrets and rate each day from Excellent to Disaster.

As you can see from the screenshots, the functionality of the app is very basic but I found the ability to track your daily ratings over weeks, months and years using graphs in the “My Ratings” feature, really appealing. Rate My Life will not help you to discover the magic formula for the perfect day, but it will certainly help you to remember the last time you had one.

Rate My Life is Available In The App Store for $1.99

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Originally posted here:
Want To Rate Your Life? There’s An App For That

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/want-to-rate-your-life-there%e2%80%99s-an-app-for-that/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/itunes-lp-was-record-labels%e2%80%99-idea http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/itunes-lp-was-record-labels%e2%80%99-idea#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:06:51 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/itunes-lp-was-record-labels%e2%80%99-idea

GigaOm is reporting that, contrary to speculation that Steve Jobs wanted to return us to a more analog time when we bought new albums and sank back for ours drinking in every liner note and detail, iTunes LP was actually the record labels’ idea:

I’m told by an industry source who preferred to remain anonymous that iTunes LP wasn’t Apple’s idea in the first place. Rather, it’s the result of the same renegotiations between Apple and the major record labels that yielded DRM-free songs and flexible pricing early last year, a concession by Cupertino to make a gesture in favor of album sales as consumers increasingly show a preference for digital singles.

It’s further said that Apple subsidized the first batch of iTunes LPs, whose production costs were an unbelievable $60,000. The more recent release of developer tools is seen as reducing that cost, and rumors persist of an iDVD-like replacement application from Apple that would work to make iTunes LP and iTunes Extra.

Either way, enthusiasm among artists and Apple itself seems to be low, though just over double the amount of iTunes LPs are available now than were at launch. GigaOm suggests artists are also interested in the App Store as a way to provide extra content to consumers, which might split focus for iTunes LP.

In terms of pushing the format forward, it’s now supported by Apple TV (stuttering though it may be), but there’s been no sign of support for the 75 million iPhone and iPod touch devices on the market. It will be supported by the iPad, however, though Apple hasn’t been pushing iTunes LP as a selling point so far.

Have you bought an iTunes LP? Are you interested in the format going forward?

iTunes LP was Record Labels’ Idea? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/itunes-lp-was-record-labels%e2%80%99-idea/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/hadouken-street-fighter-iv-is-now-in-the-app-store http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/hadouken-street-fighter-iv-is-now-in-the-app-store#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:01:25 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/hadouken-street-fighter-iv-is-now-in-the-app-store

Gamers awaiting the arrival of Ken and Ryu to the iPhone need not wait any longer. Capcom’s Street Fighter IV, is now available for download on the App Store.

Choose from 8 classic fighters and battle your way in head to head combat. The game features the classic gameplay and all of the signature moves that have made the fighting series a legend among console gamers. Game settings include arcade style single player and head to head using bluetooth.

Be sure to check back here for a full detailed review. In the meantime, get ready to Dragon Punch your foes to victory.

Pick up Street Fighter IV for $9.99 on the App Store

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Here is the original:
Hadouken! Street Fighter IV Is Now In The App Store

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/appadvice/hadouken-street-fighter-iv-is-now-in-the-app-store/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/zdnet/open-source-first-ask-questions-later http://www.garagesalepreview.com/zdnet/open-source-first-ask-questions-later#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:41:59 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/open-source-first-ask-questions-later

Posted by Dana Blankenhorn @ 5:41 am

Categories: Apple, Applications, General, Google, business models, mobile, wireless

Tags: Google Inc., Open Source, Dana Blankenhorn

Once again, Google has bought something only to open source it.

This time it’s ReMail, first acquired, then put on Google Code as open source under the Apache 2.0 license. (It previously did the same thing with DocVerse.)

ReMail was more efficient in terms of system resources than Apple’s own mail.app, it offered full text searching, and it had other neat features, like autocomplete.

Founder Gabor Cselle now lists himself as just a software engineer at Google, the rest of the development team has also scattered, and Apple has taken ReMail off its app store.

What’s going on? Well, it’s not a bug it’s a feature.

For Google, open source simplifies vendor relationships. You can join the Google software ecosystem without signing a contract. You can exploit Google projects like Android and ReMail and profit from them, because they’re under an Apache license.

Just as the Internet takes friction out of the distribution and development process, open source for Google removes friction from the business process.

Why did this not happen before? One reason is you leave a lot of “money on the floor” by doing this. The other reason, of course, is that Google can afford it.

As I have written here many times, Google’s advantage lies in its infrastructure. It is the low-cost producer of full Internet infrastructure. This includes more than bandwidth. It includes all the tools and hosting needed to deliver Internet transactions.

This advantage can be exploited against any rival. In this case it is being exploited against Apple.

Until someone is willing to try and match this advantage, and even the phone companies seem for now unwilling to even try, Google will exploit this advantage against all comers.

These advantages lean in favor of anyone with ideas, but they also put a limit on the degree to which you can profit from those ideas. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lone programmer in your pajamas or Steve Jobs — Google’s advantages both enable you to bring your ideas to market and squeeze your potential profits like the view of buildings you see on Google Earth.

It’s easy for Google not to be evil in such an atmosphere. There is no one for it to be evil to.

But it does make open source start to feel a bit like Orwell’s Animal Farm. All pigs are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Read the original:
Open source first, ask questions later

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/zdnet/open-source-first-ask-questions-later/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/tipb-apps-4-3-street-fighter-iv-for-iphone-gdc-2010 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/tipb-apps-4-3-street-fighter-iv-for-iphone-gdc-2010#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:23:31 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/tipb-apps-4-3-street-fighter-iv-for-iphone-gdc-2010

Live from GDC 2010 Rene talks to Tezuka-san, Street Fighter IV [$9.99 - iTunes link] iPhone producer for Capcom (via translator) about making Street Fighter for the iPhone and iPod touch, getting the controls right, and whether or not we might see Street Fighter for the iPad.

Tezuka-san points out how Capcom decided to make the controls very customizable, allowing users to choose whether they want the button low down, in the middle, or high up, and set the level of transparency. This means you can hold the iPhone or iPod touch anyway you like and set up the controls just the way you like.

I had a chance to play it just before release and while I got my butt kicked in multiplayer, the game looked gorgeous and handled very well. I could pull off what few moves I remembered from my childhood in the arcade, and I could resort to button (er… screen) mashing when all else failed. (Yes, just like my childhood in the arcade.)

For the iPad, they’re going to sit down and figure out how the controls work and what the experience is like on that screen with that form factor. If it makes sense, they’ll do it. If not, there are other Capcom games that certainly might. It’s all about the quality of the end product for them.

Watch along after the break!

YouTube link

TiPb Apps 4.3: Street Fighter IV for iPhone (GDC 2010) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/tipb/tipb-apps-4-3-street-fighter-iv-for-iphone-gdc-2010/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/zdnet/foursquare-and-gowalla-appear-on-more-mobile-platforms http://www.garagesalepreview.com/zdnet/foursquare-and-gowalla-appear-on-more-mobile-platforms#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:15:12 +0000 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/uncategorized/foursquare-and-gowalla-appear-on-more-mobile-platforms

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 5:15 am

Categories: Microsoft, Mobile services, Mobile software, Palm, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, WebOS, Windows Mobile

Tags: Mobile, Palm Inc., Gowalla, Social Networking, Keyboards, Online Communications, Marketing, Advertising & Promotion, Hardware, Peripherals

I am a fan of social networking applications on my devices and was pleased with a couple recent new releases for a couple of my current smartphones. I recently pulled my T-Mobile Touch Pro 2 out of the drawer and loaded it up with the latest WM 6.5.3 ROM with HTC Sense 2.5 found over on XDA Developers because I was growing a bit tired of the keyboardless Google Nexus One. I realized that the Touch Pro 2 is quite a nice device and as wonderful as the upcoming HD2 is going to be I don’t think I can justify the cost given that WM 6.5 is on the way out and the TP2 is more than capable to satisfy my WM needs. We now have good Twitter clients, a fairly powerful Facebook client and, as of just a couple of days ago, a Foursquare application to go along with quite a few other applications.

WinMoSquare was in beta testing for the last couple of months, but is available now in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile application store. You will need a touchscreen device to use the application, along with GPS capability. As stated on the developer website, features of WinMoSquare include:

• Check In: Now you can make quick and easy check ins when ever and where ever you are
• Friends: See what your friends are up to, and where they are
• Add Venue: At a location that is not already in foursquare, no problem, just add it from WinMoSquare
• Badges: Keep track of you and your friends badges right from WinMoSquare
• Search: Look for nearby venues you can check out and then check in to

I am also a fairly new Palm Pre Plus owner and as we were recording PalmCast Live #99 I learned that Gowalla appeared in the Palm App Catalog. Gowalla is an alternative social networking, location-based application and service. I understand that Gowalla actually gives you rewards from places you are at, which is something that is beneficial to using these services. There are now version for the Apple iPhone, Google Android, and Palm webOS platforms with a mobile site (m.gowalla.com) for other devices such as BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian.

Do you use either Foursquare or Gowalla on your mobile phone? Which one do you prefer and why?

Original post:
Foursquare and Gowalla appear on more mobile platforms

]]> http://www.garagesalepreview.com/zdnet/foursquare-and-gowalla-appear-on-more-mobile-platforms/feed 0 http://www.garagesalepreview.com/zdnet/citrixs-xenapp-6-debuts http://www.garagesalepreview.com/zdnet/citrixs-xenapp-6-debuts#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:01:49 +0000