Watchmen MMO coming out for the iPhone

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, iTunes, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

I love massively multiplayer online games, I love my iPhone, and I love Watchmen, the genre-defining graphic novel series of the late '80s (of which, I'll brag, I have a whole set of first edition copies) that's very soon to be the first movie blockbuster of 2009. That's why the news, over at our sister site Massively, that all of my loves were coming together in what's meant to be a Watchmen-branded MMO game for the iPhone made my day.

Watchmen: Justice is Coming will have 3D environments, customizable avatars, and thousands of players interacting in the game at the same time. Massively's got some video from G4 showing off the app, put together by the apparent newcomers Last Legion Games. Unfortunately, while the concept is lofty (they've got a long-term vision for improving the game based on player feedback), the gameplay itself looks like clunky adware -- the kind you might expect from Warner Bros. and the iPhone deals they've come up with so far.

So we're reserving judgment on this one until we can give it a try, and fortunately we won't have to wait long -- the devs say they've lined up the game for release later this week, right along with the movie. That timing doesn't impress us either -- usually, when a game and movie release simultaneously, one's been hurried to make the deadline, and trust us, it usually isn't the movie. It's Watchmen on the iPhone, so it's hit two of three bases with us already. But it'll need to bring a good game, too, if Last Legion is hoping for a home run.

Watchmen MMO coming out for the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Watchmen MMO coming out for the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Is Sirius working on its own iPhone app?

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

After all the bad news about the NiceMac StarPlayr application for the iPhone, Sirius Buzz, a web site that tracks the goings on in satellite radio, says they have it on good authority that a free player is coming from Sirius/XM directly.

Without citing specific sources, the author of the post says the player is going to be released 'very shortly'. The article implies that Sirius/XM, knowing their own app was coming, nixed the NiceMac solution.

That will be welcome news for the hordes of people who want an iPhone-based solution to listen to Sirius and XM. In particular, a lot of Howard Stern fans want to listen on the go, and an iPhone solution would be just the ticket.

With new car sales falling off a cliff, and the Sirius/XM merger not the financial panacea it was supposed to be, the nation's only satellite radio service could use a little positive buzz. Thousands of subscribers signing up for streaming could be a good thing for the company and subscribers.

Of course, all this could be a baseless rumor, but keep watching this space for more.

Via Sirius Buzz

Is Sirius working on its own iPhone app? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Is Sirius working on its own iPhone app? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Standard USB for your iPhone?

Last week it was reported that the GSMA trade association had brokered a deal with the leading cell phone manufacturers to standardize on Micro-USB. Is this a ploy to get you to buy more overpriced adapters? Standardization of any gadget is great for the consumer, although high-margin charging accessories are huge ...

Apple Readying New, iPhone-Friendlier Airport Extremes and Time Capsules?

Since all current and previous iPhone (and iPod touch) devices have 802.11b/g WiFi, if placed on a faster, wider-range 802.11n network, they typically cause such networks to downgrade to 802.11b/g speeds for compatibility. This means your hyper-fast router will slow down your iMac or MacBook whenever your iPhone hits the network…

…But maybe not for much longer?

Apple Insider reports that the FCC has just been hit with new versions of the Airport Extreme (802.11n Router) and Time Capsule (802.11n Router + HD for Time Machine backup) that handle things a tad more gracefully:

The documents appear to indicate that Apple is adding a combined mode, allowing its AirPort base stations to simultaneously support iPhones and other 802.11b/g devices operating at 2.4 GHz, while also broadcasting 802.11n wide signals in the 5GHz band to maximize throughput for notebooks and devices such as Apple TV. Existing models can only run in one mode or the other, providing either wide compatibility or the highest possible network performance, but not both.

While only the most power-mad of power users will likely ditch their old Airport Extreme or Time Capsule for the latest/greatest, the new features should appeal to iPhone users looking for high-quality routers to round out their setups.

Now who wants one?

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

Apple Readying New, iPhone-Friendlier Airport Extremes and Time Capsules?

Mac Mini and iMac Product Part Numbers? Available Tomorrow? [Updated]

Hardmac posts what it claims are the product numbers and rough descriptions of the iMac and Mac mini which are expected to be released tomorrow:

The new iMac models and their corresponding references:
- MB417: Entry level model...

Mac Mini and iMac Product Part Numbers? Available Tomorrow?

Hardmac posts what it claims are the product numbers and rough descriptions of the iMac and Mac mini which are expected to be released tomorrow:

The new iMac models and their corresponding references:
- MB417: Entry level model...

xGPS v1.2 Released; Turns iPhone into a True GPS device with Turn-By-Turn Voice Navigation

Melinda Gates secretly pines for iPhone, actually doesn’t even like Africa

In a recent Vogue interview, Melinda Gates confided that she's battled some iPhone envy in her day: "Every now and then I look at my friends and say 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone'." It's just too bad for her that Apple is forbidden fruit in the Gates household. "There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household. But iPods and iPhones are two things we don't get for our kids," said Melinda. Stay strong, Mrs. Gates, we're hearing good things about Windows Mobile 7. Oh, and we made up that part about Africa.

[Image courtesy of Save the Children]

Filed under: Cellphones

Melinda Gates secretly pines for iPhone, actually doesn't even like Africa originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

$2.5 million bedazzled iPhone coming to a palace near you

Austrian jeweler Peter Aloisson has unveiled the "Kings Button," a diamond-encrusted iPhone with a $2.5 million price tag.

New Mac Mini Packaging Spy Shot

Earlier today, we received a product photo of what is claimed to be the new Mac Mini. Without another source, we published it on Page 2 and called it a likely fake.

OneMoreThing.nl, however, has received the same image and fe...

BeejiveIM: Awesome Instant Messaging iPhone App was Less Pricey for a Week [Updated]

Health monitoring comes to the iPhone

Heart patients will be able to check their electrocardiogram on an iPhone, using a new system demonstrated by Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Systems.

NexTreaming announce new version of NexPlayer

Live TV will be streaming to your iPhone with the new version of NexPlayer from NexTreaming. Fully compliant with international standards such as 3GPP and 3GPP2, and also supports proprietary specifications for some operators such as Orange, Vodafone, SKT, KTF and LGT. NewPlayer has been optimized for the hardware capabilities of ...

Softbank offers 8GB iPhone free under a 2 year contract

Japanese iPhone carrier Softbank Mobile will introduce a new program giving customers free 8GB iPhones under a two year contract. Disappointment looms for those who just handed over $235 (or about 22,782 Yen) with the plan starting on Friday. Although not clear, Softbank may be employing the philosophy that every time ...

Grip it good with Mobigrip

No matter your age or even device, Mobigrip is apparently 'the' safety belt for digital toys, like your ever important iPhone. Hindsight being the devil she is, this would have been perfect for me, however my phone was already on the ground and the projectile in question was a nail-polish ...

Found Footage: iTunes-based App management concept

Filed under: Found Footage, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

One of my biggest annoyances with my iPhone involves the difficulty of managing my applications. Springboard, the iPhone application that actually displays the different pages of apps, clearly wasn't designed with the intention of managing so many apps. I've long thought, like with other aspects of organizing content on the iPhone, that app management should be possible in iTunes.

Apparently I'm not alone, because this video by svdomer9 shows a nice mockup of how such an iTunes-based app management scheme might work. I really like the idea in general, though I would suggest that there also ought to be a kind of well at the bottom which would hold the applications until they've been assigned to a specific page. Naturally, it would be nice to see a bit more sophistication on the iPhone side as well so that it would be easy to go directly to a given screen (via the roller interface, perhaps) as well as directly send Apps to a given page (e.g. a pop-up menu that would appear when you hold your finger on an App for a few seconds).

Whatever the particulars, it seems that we need something like this on the iPhone going forward. If you had Apple's ear, how would you do it?

[via @pogue]

Found Footage: iTunes-based App management concept originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Found Footage: iTunes-based App management concept originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Monday Fun: iPhone Banned at the Gates’… but Melinda Might Want One?

Pulling from a Melinda Gates interview with Vogue (via Geeksugar), being married to Bill, who loves the power of software, isn’t without its limitations:

There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household. But iPods and iPhones are two things we don’t get for our kids [...] Every now and then I look at my friends and say ‘Ooh, I wouldn’t mind having that iPhone’

Gizmodo imagines all sorts of iPhones secretly hidden beneath the mattresses at Casa Gates, but we imagine some fancy Minority Report-like future security that just scans people for Apple-tech coming and going. And, hey, seriously, who can blame Gates? Can we really see Steve Jobs giving his kids Zunes… or Xbox’s?

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

Monday Fun: iPhone Banned at the Gates’… but Melinda Might Want One?

Review: Done for iPhone

iI you’re always in a hurry and don’t mind some clunky setup procedures, Chilli X’s Done is a fine choice for getting a glimpse at your to-do list and getting right back to work.

iPhone Mobile Browser Share Now… 67%

Heh. Internet Explorer, for reasons unfathomable to any modern web designer, still rules the desktop with a massive, if waning browser share. In the mobile space, however, things they are a different.

Net Applications (via CNet) is reporting that the iPhone owns 66.61% share, which compare to Java2ME (RIM’s OS) 9.06% and WinPho’s 6.91%, Android and Symbian’s 6.15% each, and Palm’s 2.37% and the assorted others’ at 2.75%.

No doubt rivals will gain share as the overall market increases, and new products like the Palm Pre hit. What’s interesting, however, is that the WebKit engine beneath Safari is also powering Android’s Chome Lite and will also be powering the Palm Pre, making WebKit’s share of the market extra impressive…

It should also be noted that, when looking at these numbers, even with 16+ million iPhones on the market, the sheer usability of Mobile Safari has to be factored in. Simply put, on many platforms the browsers are still crippled from a rendering standpoint, and frustrating from a interaction standpoint. Make it usable and people will use it, who’d a thunk it?

No doubt other platforms will be addressing this in future updates… but will it be enough to catch Apple’s lead?

(Thanks to Phil from sibling site WMExperts for sharing!)

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

iPhone Mobile Browser Share Now… 67%

These tricks are treats

Filed under: Freeware, iPhone, iPod nano, iPod touch

Over the last few months I've reviewed a few magic tricks (here and here) that work on the iPhone and iPod touch. They were quite diverting, and can help you bring some joy to the office and take people's minds off the layoffs and other bad economic news.

Now, Magician Andrew Mayne has come up with some clever tricks that work great and are, drum roll, free. Just the tonic for the recession.

All these effects take a bit of preparation, and these are not the kinds of tricks experienced professionals would do, but of you have been hankering to try some magic and fool your friends these free effects are just the ticket.

The first trick is called EZ Money. You show a collection of currency on your phone, then pull one bill literally right off the screen and the real thing appears in your hand.

Weapon X works on the iPhone, iPod touch, and even the iPod Nano. You run the iPhone along your arm, and you see an X-ray, but there is something strangely wrong with it.

Spirit Photography is a bit weird. Have someone choose any bill from their wallet, take an image with it using your iPhone and the image will be strangely haunting. It's a good effect, and has enough little traps to keep your audience guessing.

Again, no one is going to confuse you with David Copperfield, but all these tricks are free and all but Weapon X are not likely to be easily figured out. Weapon X is more a novelty than a trick, so I'm not giving the set any demerits.

Andrew creates professional illusions for Penn and Teller and David Blaine. His iPhone tricks are a fun diversion for him and probably will be for you too. You can see video demonstrations and explanations of all three tricks here. You'll also find some links to some iPhone gags. Enjoy.

These tricks are treats originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

These tricks are treats originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments