Skybound flies high

Filed under: Gaming, Reviews, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

I don't always get enthusiastic about games, but Skybound [App Store link] actually sucked me in and kept me playing for quite a long time.

The object of the game is to keep an animated ball bouncing ever higher by swiping your finger across the screen to create a layer of clouds. It seems simple, and certainly, learning the game is exceedingly simple. On the other had, doing well takes some skill, and you are swept into the progressive scoring to get your ball higher and higher into the stratosphere.

The game has three levels, Easy, Normal and Boss mode. Boss Mode is more a fighting game than the others. The animation is smooth, the sounds are appropriate, and the game play is very addicting. There are surprises and power-ups, enough things happening to keep it all interesting. For a game that sells for $US 1.99 I'd say my cost per minute of this app is very low.

The game was released in December and works on the iPhone and iPod touch, and a recent update fixed some bugs, and has improved the graphics. It's also become a bit more challenging. The developers are from Norway, and have a good web site with information and support.

Reviews from users have been quite positive, and I really don't have too much to suggest for improvements except for perhaps the ability to pause and save a game in progress. Once you get bouncing, you hate to quit, but sometimes you must.

If you want to test the game, the developers offer Skybound Lite [App Store link] which is free. I expect many people will be happy enough to get the full version after a few addictive minutes of play. It really provided me some welcome relief as I was stuck at an airport waiting for a flight.

Skybound flies high originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Skybound flies high originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone Live! Tonight at 8pm EST/5pm PST

iPhone Live! hits the nets again tonight (Wednesday, Feb. 11) at 8pm EST/5pm PST. (Pre-show will start about 10 min. before if you want to drop by early!)

As always, we’ll take your chat questions live on the show, or leave them for us any time in the comments below, or send them to @theiphoneblog on Twitter.

Join in via http://www.tipb.com/live

Chat with you soon!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone Live! Tonight at 8pm EST/5pm PST

Ripdev launches anti-piracy service for iPhone developers

Filed under: Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store, SDK, iPod touch, Jailbreak/pwnage

Last week, the iPhone cracking app-cracking tool, Crackulous, was released, igniting discussions amongst developers and users over App Store security, piracy and how to combat these threats within the confines of Apple's walled-garden. Because of the iPhone SDK, and Apple's Terms of Service for letting apps into the App Store, individual developers are severely limited in what they can actually do, code-wise, to address the issue.

This doesn't mean developers are completely helpless; indeed, as the comments pointed out, there is stuff that can be done to thwart IPA cracking and even the use of Crackulous itself. But what if you are just struggling to find time to code your current iPhone projects and don't have the time or necessary skill-level to address iPhone piracy?

Enter Ripdev's new Kali Anti-Piracy service. I talked to Slava from Ripdev last week, and they really seem to be onto something. Essentially, Ripdev has figured out how to put an extra wrapper around iPhone apps, which not only prevents the app from launching or functioning properly if it has been cracked, but also prevents the current cracking tools from working on the app at all. Even better, this process only uses documented and allowed calls, making it SDK compliant. Oh -- and if the app is legitimately purchased, it can run on a jailbroken iPhone without a problem.

Continue reading Ripdev launches anti-piracy service for iPhone developers

Ripdev launches anti-piracy service for iPhone developers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ripdev launches anti-piracy service for iPhone developers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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xGPS will Turn your iPhone into a True GPS device with Turn-By-Turn Voice Navigation

mophie’s Juice Pack Air: world’s thinnest iPhone 3G battery / case

mophie's iPhone 3G Juice Pack received universal praise, and while the additional baggage bothered some, most users just appreciated being able to utilize 3G for more than 47 seconds without needing an AC outlet. Not one to rest on its laurels, the company has today introduced the new and improved version: Juice Pack Air. Contrary to popular belief, this actually isn't intended for Apple's MacBook Air (now there's an idea to capitalize on, mophie), but instead, it's the planet's thinnest external iPhone 3G battery / case. The device houses a rechargeable 1,200mAh battery that "virtually doubles the amount of time you have to rock, talk, surf, and send messages." Eager consumers can pre-order theirs now in black, purple or white, while patient souls can mellow out until they hit mophie's website and Apple stores everywhere this Spring. Full release is after the jump.

Continue reading mophie's Juice Pack Air: world's thinnest iPhone 3G battery / case

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

mophie's Juice Pack Air: world's thinnest iPhone 3G battery / case originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to make an iPhone game

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Developer, iPhone, iPod touch

The folks at Gogogic asked Twitter if they wanted to see how the company's iPhone games were made, and since the answer was in the affirmative, we all get the benefit of looking into just how one iPhone developer put their game together.

It starts with a wiki; the company keeps a collaborative site of all the ideas they have for upcoming games, and if the decision is made to go ahead with an idea, that wiki page branches out into the planning documents behind the eventual app. Concepts are drafted in sketches, conversations, and outlines, and eventually they feel like they have the idea "fully developed," at which point the game goes into a proposal pool, and then is eventually picked for production.

That begins with an animatic, as you can see above -- before they ever write the first code line, they map out what will happen in certain game situations. It looks like they used Flash to put that together pretty easily, but you can see how well it shows off game design elements and how things should work during gameplay. After that, there's nothing to it but to do it -- the game is coded, art and sound elements are put together, and of course the usual run of playtesting and so on takes place (the company is going to show off how to test and publish games in a future post).

The game above turned out to be called Symbol6 (Hexago was a working title), and is in the App Store right now. Thanks to Gogogic for sharing a look behind their process -- there are tons of developers working on apps at the moment, and it's neat to see how someone else does it.

How to make an iPhone game originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

How to make an iPhone game originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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3D Realm: Prey coming to the iPhone

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Hardware, Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Thanks, Nick!

3D Realm: Prey coming to the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

3D Realm: Prey coming to the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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App Store: 20,000 iPhone Apps in Seven Months

Apple released the iTunes App Store on July 11, 2008. Now, 7 months later TUAW reports they’ve hit 20,000 apps. For those tracking the darn-near-exponential growth at home, it took 5 month to hit 10,000, so they’ve doubled again in less than half the time. Scary.

With Windows Mobile still in stasis, Android only sound and fury thus far, the Pre still pre-mature, and BlackBerry blocked by its small on-board memory, is there anything on the horizon that can slow this juggernaut down? (Aside from developer complaints and infinite fart apps, of course).

And how many of those 20,000 apps have you downloaded already? None? Nine screens full? All of them?! Let us know!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

App Store: 20,000 iPhone Apps in Seven Months

Review: Box.net for iPhone

Box.net’s iPhone client lets users of the online storage service easily access their files while on the go. It’s a convenient option for iPhone and iPod touch owners with remote storage needs.

‘iTunes Replay’ On-Demand Video Coming?

AppleInsider reports that Apple is developing an on-demand video service that would allow users to stream their purchased iTunes movies and TV shows from Apple's servers for playback on personal devices. The service, to be called "iTunes Replay", wo...

Want to Stream Your iTunes Videos Directly to Your iPhone? Enter iTunes Replay Rumor!

Even if we get a 32GB iPhone this year, that will still limit the amount of big, blobby iTunes movie content we can carry around with us. Sure, maybe 20 movies at 1GB each is doable, but as video and sound quality increase towards the HD, and collections grow and grow, the ability to stream content to mobile devices becomes key.

So it’s not too surprising Apple Insider reports iTunes Replay is looking to provide just such a streaming service:

iTunes Replay would arrive on the heels of last month’s report that Apple has shifted its online content delivery strategy to include a provider in Limelight Networks, joining longtime Apple partner Akamai Technologies. Having two different providers could help greatly optimize the delivery of streaming content to the millions of customers who use iTunes.

Personally, while I’d enjoy the ability to stream iTunes to my iPhone, I’d never buy anything that I couldn’t also store locally as a backup. Too many online media services have gone offline over the years, effectively stealing back the content their users had legally paid for. However, it’s definitely an option I’d like on-the-go. What I’d like even more? The ability to use a Back to My Mac-like connection to stream my own content to my iPhone, you know… like SlingMedia Player.

Anyone psyched for this?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Want to Stream Your iTunes Videos Directly to Your iPhone? Enter iTunes Replay Rumor!

CEOh-Snap!(ish): Palm’s Colligan Prickly on Apple Patents

Confession: it was a pretty boring call from Palm CEO Ed Colligan today. No Pre release date. No Pre feature update. No assault on Apple. Nothing and pretty much more nothing. We kinda wish Steve Jobs had crashed the event and gone all Christian Bale on Palm. At least that would have been interesting! Still, PreCentral caught this tidbit, for what it’s worth:

On the issue of PATENTS, Colligan made sure to note that there are no pending legal actions with Apple right now. More pointedly, he noted that Palm has 15 years worth of patents (over 1500 of them in total) and that in patent fights often go like this:

The reason you do that is to have a defensive position. It’s like two little porcupines going around, and you don’t want to touch each other because you might get stung. You peacefully coexist and everything’s OK and you keep working together. We’re very respectful about people’s intellectual property, we believe we’re huge innovators and have been for a lot of years and that this product has an enormous number of innovations in it. If something does happen there, we do have the portfolio, we think to defend ourselves and to be successful doing that. But nothing’s happened to date, so we’re really just focused on getting the product out the door.

Note to Palm: while you fancy yourself a prickly little rodent, Apple’s totems are the big cats, so either you’ll bloody their mouth and run them off, or they’ll use those quills to pick their teeth clean after they’re done eating you.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

CEOh-Snap!(ish): Palm’s Colligan Prickly on Apple Patents

ID that font on the go with WhatTheFont for iPhone

Filed under: iPhone, Graphic Design

If you're a graphic designer, hopefully you're familiar with WhatTheFont, the essential service from myfonts.com that helps identify a font from a photo or other bitmap image. Now, MyFonts is bringing that power to the iPhone.

With WhatTheFont for iPhone, you can take a picture using the iPhone's camera, and use the WhatTheFont to identify the font in the image. No more guessing -- or even waiting until you get back to the computer. WhatTheFont is even useful to iPod touch users -- the software identifies fonts in images saved from Safari, screenshots, or other images in your photo library.

WhatTheFont requires internet access to work, since it connects with myfonts.com to perform the image analysis. It's free, and available in the App Store.

[Via Swissmiss.]

ID that font on the go with WhatTheFont for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

ID that font on the go with WhatTheFont for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MobileMe Scam Alert: Round 3

September was the last time we saw some malicious attacks on MobileMe subscribers. Well the scammers are at it again, trying to take advantage of Apple’s MobileMe subscribers. A Gizmodo reader claims to have gotten the email shown above.

If you then click the fake “Login” button you will be directed to a website the scammers have set up — to look like Apple’s web site — asking for your credit card information. It is safe to say, delete this email if you happen to find it in your inbox.

[Via Gizmodo]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

MobileMe Scam Alert: Round 3

iPhone Buzz Week in Review - Week 5 2009

The week started with news that Adobe and Apple are working together to create Flash for iPhone, according to Adobe chief Shantanu Narayen. Despite it's not so easy and really up to Apple, but Narayen said that he was "pleased with progress". In the ocean of the social networking services, especially ...

The Great iPhone Sync Debate: Desktop, Laptop, or Cloud?

For the last few months I’ve been conducting an experiment, trying to figure out whether it better suited my needs to sync my iPhone 3G to my desktop computer, to my laptop, or to embrace the (potential) future and try to sync only over-the-air with the cloud (online services and storage).

First, a little about the contenders.

• My MacBook is purposefully kept light. Aside from whatever temporary I’m working on at the time, it has almost nothing on it, including no media unless I’m actively watching it. It’s speed on-the-go with limited capacity.
• My iMac is heavy duty and also serves as my media machine. It’s connected on one end to a Drobo and serves an Apple TV in the living room on the other. It’s pure power and content, but absolutely no portability.
• My cloud is, well, the cloud — everything I keep on my MobileMe, iDisk and Apple keeps ready for me on their massive iTunes servers.

A month with each of them (Round Robin interuptus notwithstanding) and what were my results? Which have I stuck with (for now)? Read on to find out!

Syncing the iPhone with a Laptop

The laptop is a convenient sync-solution to be sure. It goes almost everywhere I go, so it’s almost always available. If I get new content, be it a new podcast or a new iTunes movie, I can immediately plug my iPhone in and sync it over. This is one heckuva compelling argument, even more so prior to iPhone OS 2.2, when the iPhone itself couldn’t directly download new podcasts. It also makes for easy charging on-the-go. There’s always a USB port available, and I don’t have to worry about iTunes wiping out my current content to “helpful” prepare for syncing with a different machine. Have a problem? If Apple pushes out a firmware update, or — horror of horrors — I need to restore, the laptop being mother-ship, means I can handle it right away — no waiting to get home to re-load everything.

The downside? My laptop hard drive is small. My old laptop had a tiny 100GB 7200RPM drive (I went for speed over size) and my new one has a 128GB. With the OS, applications, data, etc. (sometimes virtual machines), that leaves precious little space for media files. This meant I was always in “management” mode. I could keep a small subsection of my laptop, either subscribing to a few of the same podcasts I already subscribed to on my iMac, or moving files back and forth when I was on my home network (or, in a pinch, slooooowly over iDisk). This reduced the convenience and eliminated one of the best features of the Apple ecosystem — the ability for it to keep track of what you’ve watched and how much of it you’ve watched across platforms. Duplicate files throw that out the window.

Syncing the iPhone with a Desktop

The desktop is a powerhouse. Big drives, lots of ports, and in my case it already serves up content to my Apple TV. That means what I want to watch and listen to it is already loaded up — and because it’s on most of the time, is constantly downloading new podcasts and other content. I can wake up in the morning, plug in, and get the latest stuff, maybe move over a TV show or movie if I want to go somewhere later and watch something (via the iPhone AV-out cables — like a portable Apple TV!). And then when I get home at night, I can sync up again and continue watching/listening to anything I haven’t finished yet via Apple TV or AirTunes speakers (and thanks to the iPhone Remote App, I can control it from anywhere in my home), from right where I left off.

Limitations? You betcha! Aside from not having my host machine with me while I’m away from home — meaning I can’t get new stuff when I want it — if I ever decide to rent HD content (or create my own with an HD camcorder) or subscribe to HD podcast feeds to really make use of the Apple TV’s 720p output, those won’t transfer over to the iPhone. If I subscribe to both HD and iPod feed, then I have the same content duplication problem. Granted, for most podcasts the iPod version is fine, but when we get into TV Shows and especially movies, it just won’t cut it anymore.

Syncing the iPhone with the Cloud

Since iPhone OS 2.0, with MobileMe and Exchange ActiveSync support, both my work and personal email, calendar, and contacts have been syncing with the cloud, and I’ve been able to buy wirelessly from the App Store (2G/3G for under 10MB, WiFi for over). That was step 1 in my considering living foot-loose and tether-free. iPhone OS 2.2 was step 2: over-the-air (OTA) podcast downloads (with the same 10MB cell/WiFi split). Sure, I’m skipping the iTunes music store, but I don’t buy music anywhere near are often as I get Apps or download podcasts. If I’m out and about, without desktop or even laptop, and I find out a great new podcast has just dropped, I can either hit the “get more episodes” link, or just search for it in the iTunes App and download it directly to my iPhone. With apps like MobileFiles, I can even access my iDisk to view my docs and even transfer them to my local iPhone storage.

Need more? Yeah, I’m still waiting on Apple revamp MobileMe and add push support for Task, Note, Photo, and Backup, syncing as it looks like Microsoft is about ready to do with Windows Mobile 6.5’s “My Phone” feature (cute name!) Bandwidth limitations, however, make me think I won’t be getting OTA TV show or movie downloads anytime soon. Given the size of firmware updates, they too will likely remain tether-only for now. Also, just like I can be caught away from a laptop or PC, even WiFi and cell coverage have their limits.

Conclusion

After having tried these three different sync solutions, each on their own, which one have I decided on? Which one is the clear winner?

None. Frankly, each one has advantages and disadvantages, so I’ve evolved into a hybrid model. My iPhone is setup on my iMac desktop and I sync there fairly regularly. Due to the advances in iPhone OS 2.0 and 2.2, however, I don’t sync anywhere nearly as often as I used to, and if I need new content while I’m away, I just download it directly (for podcasts) or drop it into my iDisk (for other types of small media — using Back to My Mac from my laptop).

It’s not completely elegant and seamless yet, granted, but it’s amazing how far we’ve come even just recently, and while “sync is hard”, I have every confidence future iPhone and MobileMe updates will make it easier and easier over time.

So What Do You Do?

Sync from your desktop? From your laptop? Pure cloud baby? Or, like me, do you keep a couple tools at the ready? Let me know what you’re doing, especially if you have any ninja-sync skills you wouldn’t mind sharing!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

The Great iPhone Sync Debate: Desktop, Laptop, or Cloud?

Review: Milog for iPhone

This mileage tracker offers a simple yet powerful way to keep records of your driving data.

Big Apps Table: iPhone Sees What’s Beneath Microsoft’s Surface

Scratch Microsoft’s Surface and what do you find? More Surface. Or, more accurately, make an x-ray app on the iPhone, place said iPhone on said big a$$ table (YouTube link), and you find some pretty amazing looking technology.

Now the iPhone uses electricity and capacitance for its multi-touch, and the surface uses — I believe — infrared video cameras, so the interaction is all the more impressive. How are they exchanging data and coordinating image display, rotation, scaling, etc? Is the edge-detection and outlining beging done on the Surface side and transmitted, or crunched on the iPhone side? And are there any practical uses for this, other than ZOMG! cuil vidz!? (Though that’s clearly enough for us!)

(Thanks to Phil from WMExperts for sending this our way!)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Big Apps Table: iPhone Sees What’s Beneath Microsoft’s Surface

First Look: Touch Poet lets anyone be a poet

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look

With Valentines Day right around the corner, it would seem that everyone is looking for something to get their loved ones. While most might settle on candy, or other holiday items, would you ever think of writing your special someone a poem? Even if you've never written a sentence in your life, you can easily write a poem with Touch Poet [iTunes link] for iPhone.

Touch Poet grabs word snippets from works by Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, and Rudyard Kipling as well as Digg headlines and other news sources. When you tap on the right-pointing arrow in the app, words will be move out from behind the arrow. When you find a word that you want to use, you can drag it up to the top portion. The snippets of paper has a really great physics engine that makes it look as though you are actually touching it. If you don't like a word, or would like to choose a better word, then you can "throw" the piece of paper in the garbage shoot by tossing it towards the bottom right of the screen. If you can't seem to find a word that you like, you can input your own words by double-tapping on the bottom of the screen -- this will allow you to input your own word.

If you tap the upward facing arrow you will have several options, namely the ability to select the source of your words. From here you can also Twitter your masterpiece or e-mail it straight to your loved one. You can get your hands on Touch Poet by visiting the iTunes App Store. It is currently on sale for $.99 (US) through Valentines Day; after then, it will go up to $2.99.

First Look: Touch Poet lets anyone be a poet originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First Look: Touch Poet lets anyone be a poet originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Core i7 (Nehalem) Based MacBook Pros Possible in Q4 2009?

Tom's Hardware reports on Intel's plans to offer their first Core i7 (Nehalem) mobile processors by the fourth quarter of 2009. These 32 nm Arrandale processors will be suitable for notebook designs, and Tom's Hardware speculates that we'll see thes...