Image via CrunchBase
Apple released its iphone update version 2.2. Of-course still no cut and paste. But this update does bring some nice goodies to the table this time around. Some of the new features include
Street-view for Google maps. Just like the browser based version of Google maps.
Ability to download podcasts directly to the device instead of syncing with Itunes
Rating an app when you delete it from your device
View multiple screen shots for an app in the app store
Search field is moved beside the URL bar to save screen real estate (how about full screen browsing?)
Ability to turn off autocorrect, auto caps.
Pressing the Home button from any Home screen takes you to the first Home screen
Fernlightning has release Cube 1.0 for the iphone. Cube is a FPS shooter that features high res textures, dynamic lighting and multi-player. The controls consist of pressing the top right of the screen to jump bottom right of the screen to move forward. Pressing the top left of the screen to access the menu and the bottom left to fire your weapon. Tilting the device moves the view around. The game looks gorgeous and has a decent frame rate with some slowdown when a lot of enemies appear on the screen.
It appears the emphasis is on the multi-player mode as the single player mode contains no narrative or story at all. However this game looks great and has lots of potential.
Tip: Once you first load the game tap the top left of the screen to access the menu and load a map from the menu. It appears the map that is first loaded when you start the game does not contain any enemies.
There is a dastardly plot occurring in the world today. One that is so shocking and disturbing I am cautioning to sit down before you read this.
It appears that for some unknown reason people who use the iphone on TV have no idea how to hold it. When the iphone is shown on TV people are consistently holding the device upside down when talking on it. Sometimes even when TEXTING! . I submit to you the following three pieces of evidence to prove this case.
1. Mrs. Ari on Entourage
Observe the above image of the lovely Mrs. Ari from the show Entourgage. Her chararcter is very rich and trendy. It is perfectly acceptable to believe that she would use one of the hottest gadgets in the world. But is it believable that she would be talking on it UPSIDE DOWN? CONSPIRACY!
2. Charlie on 2 1/2 men.
Here is Charlie Sheen on the inexplicable hit TV show 2 1/2 men. Clearly it can be seen he is holding the phone upside down. Could it be because Jenny McCarthy is sitting beside him which is distracting his ability to properly talk on a phone? Is he high and/or drunk and he actually thinks he is holding it the right way? The real reason is CONSPIRACY!!
3. Some dude on CHUCK
Here is some random guy on the NBC show Chuck holding an iphone UPSIDE DOWN. Even more disturbing is there is a shot of this guy (which I dont have) typing text on the iphone while holding UPSIDE DOWN. This is especially baffling because Chuck is a show by geeks, about geeks, whose target audience is geeks. Surely they must have thoughts geeks such as myself would laugh at such an obvious gaff. Clearly they just did not care or is the real reason CONSIPIRACY!!!
WHAT IS THE REASON BEHIND THIS CONSPIRACY?
Like all good conspiracies the true reasons behind this one may never be known. There is much speculation on why this is occurring currently, here are the top suspected reasons
No free advertising for Apple. This is possible and the way to get around free publicity for Apple is to hold the phone upside down. But if you review this screen shots of Mrs. Ari you will see that she is clearly holding the phone the right way with the Apple logo showing.
The Device is never on while on screen. This is a likely reason. Chances are the devices are turned off while being filmed so that they don’t make any noise, or distract the actor in potentially playing a game of Super Monkey ball or Tetris instead of saying their lines. So with the device off those that are not familiar with one may think the button goes at the top.
Actors are stupid. Many actors are not the sharpest knife in the drawer and as result may think they are holding the device the right way when infact it is incorrect but their humongous egos forbid them from seeing the error of their ways
SOMETHING MORE SINISTER. There is possibly something more sinister afoot. The new world order in addition to controlling the world and enslaving the mass population also wants everyone to start using iphones upside down. Just because they can!
The game I am constantly playing especially in all my meetings is virtual villagers by Vivendi mobile games. The premise of this game is you have some shipwrecked people and you must advance them as a society though research and growth of the population though hooking up the guys with the girls. As your tribe advances your research will unlock new items that will make tasks easier as well as allowing you to progress faster. One interesting aspect of this game is while your villagers are performing tasks you have the option to play a minigame to speed up progress. For example while your villagers are performing research you can play a rudimentry match game. It’s a nice touch that makes waiting for tasks to complete not as boring as other resouce building games. There are also mysteries on the island that your tribe can unlock to help flesh out the overall story of the game. As well you can customize the look and names of your villagers. The game will also continue even after you exit! Your villagers will age, and continue to perform tasks. A great touch. Virtual villagers is like a cross between the sims and a RTS. One of the more humourous aspects of the game is when you select a villager and pick them up you see their feet moving like they are trying to get away from your grip! The game cost $7.99 it seems a little high but considering the depth of this game it is well worth it.
You may have noticed for some strange reason the whats new section of the apps store along the bottom lefthand side under the catergories in iTunes has been removed. My theory is so that Apple can push the apps they want to sell via the whats new center box as opposed to updating every new application that is coming into the app store. This sometimes makes it difficult to find new applications as they are added. Fear not my dear reader here a couple of sites to help keep track of all that is new in the app store and beyond.
Apptism
Apptism is a great resource that tracks all new and upcoming apps to the app store. You can subscribe to each app via RSS feed. as well there are ratings and links to news items about the apps.
Iphone.exe
Iphone.exe is a site that tracks all new app store and jailbroken apps. The site contains screen shots and a brief description of each app.
Check out this fantanstic looking game coming soon to the app store, its called Trace. The graphics are rather simplistic but the game play looks like a cross between a side scrolling platfomer and line rider. The game promises 6 Unique Worlds and 120 Levels. But the best part is this game will be free. Check out the game in action in the video below
Apple was the first to fire the opening salvo against Nintendo by proclaiming the iphone/ipod is a serious handheld gaming device. Well one could not expect Nintendo to sit on their heels and ignore what Apple is doing. Turns out that was true. As reported on Nikki online Nintendo is working on new version of their cash cow the Nintendo DS
The Nikkei business daily is reporting that the widely-used Nintendo DS is about to receive a major upgrade. The new model will come with a built-in camera, store digital music, and build on the existing version’s wireless connectivity. It should hit the market by the end of the year. If this rumor is true
Some questions remain such as
Will it play video?
If so this could finally bring legitimacy to the DS as a media device rather than a gaming device.
Can playing MP3 be accomplished without opening the deivce?
If the DS is in my pocket I would hate to think I would have to take it out of my pocket, open it, take out my stylus, tap the screen. just to change songs. The device will need external controls.
Can I download games/apps via wifi?
This could be the most important factor in order for Nintendo to directly challenge Apple. Apple’s app store is wildly successful. Nintendo would need to consider an central download location for users to obtain games and or applications. As great as the new DS could be, nothing beats being able to download the latest game on your iphone/ipod at 2 in the morning when you are at home lying on the couch in your underwear. RAther than going to the local retailer when they openm wearing pants no less!
Will the memory be expandable?
Is it really a big deal for an Ipod or a DS to have a small slot that accepts flash memory? The answer is no. But how they ever possibly get you to buy their neest offerings by making it sexier by offering more storage capactity and calling it a new device. (I’m looking at you apple)
This capacity in the new DS could really make or break this device. I would think for certain this would be included if for no other reason to piss off Apple and make them look stupid for not doing this.
We will have to wait and see if this is true, but either way Apple better sit up pay attention and keep a close eye on what Nintendo is doing.
The one massive problem I had with firmware 2.0 was STABILITY. This was perhaps one of the most unstable operating systems I had ever used in my life (that includes Windows ME!). The functionality was great. The App store, and other minor changes over firmware 1. The major problem was the stability. Downloading applications from the app store was a crapshoot. Sometimes they would work, other times they would lock the device, forcing a restore of your ipod. I know I personally went through this over 10 times. Forget updating your applications directly on the device this almost never worked. There was also the issue of installing applications on your device via itunes which took an unbelievably long time. Lets not forget the painful hours long process of backing up your device via itunes. My personal record for backups was 2 1/2 hours under firmware 2.02 with 30 apps installed.
Thankfully firmware 2.1 addresses these key issues. The most noticable change is the amount of time it takes to install and backup applications. It is considerably faster. Check out my personal example for comparison
Firmware 2.02
Install 40 applications Time 2.3 hours
Firmware 2.1
Install 40 applications Time 20 minutes
As you can see the time it takes is much more tolerable. No longer when restoring the device does it take longer than watching your average Hollywood movie.
Backups are much the same situation. It doe not drag on forever as it did under previous versions of 2.x firmware. The longest backup I have had under 2.1 firmware has been 15 minutes. This is a welcome change, as I was sure constantly quitting my backups under 2.0 firmware, I mean after an hour when the backup is not even half done, there is only so long I can wait!
The above two mentioned changes are certainly welcome but the other major change is application stability. Under firmware 2.0x, More often then not applications would crash, freeze or worse case scenario freeze up my device forcing a restore. I am yet to experience this under 2.1 YET!
A few other changes under 2.1 include
Genius Playlists. Based on the songs in your itunes library Genuis will recommend songs you should buy from Itunes.
If you have a passcode on your device after 10 incorrect attempts it will wipe the device of its contents
Better battery life
No really big changes in terms of functionality or features, and yes still no cut and paste! This version of the 2.1 firmware feel more like this is how the 2.0 firmware shold have been, it is a welcome change but I can’t help to think that it shold have been this stable right when 2.0 was launched.
The one thing that had been lacking on the iphone platform was a great video application. Sure youtube is good for viewing videos if you know what you are looking for an connected to the internet. Podcasts are good but you always know what you are getting, sometimes its nice to view videos the way you watch tv, randomly fipping through them.
The fine folks over at iFixit.com have completely disassembled an V2 Ipod touch and surprise it contains a bluetooth receiver. For whatever reason Steve Jobs failed to mention this, at the Lets Rock event. Seems strange that a major selling point of the new devices would be left out of the list of product features. The only reasons that seem to make any sense are:
They plan to sell this as an “upgrade” in the future couple with another item. Example 6 months from new You can buy wireless earphones for your touch for $120 bucks. Purchase of these earphones, and it will activate the bluetooth module
Battery life is will not sustain the drain of bluetooth yet.
Ipod v3 will finally see this feature activated
They are just mean and put this stuff there for no reason
Even more interesting is the fact that there is an FM Reciever in this device!! I don’t see the big deal in enabling this but if they did, this would mean I am listening to radio instead of potentially purchasing songs from iTunes.
Matrage (ME)is a very happy ipod touch owner. I recently traded in my 8 GB nano and upgraded to a 8 GB touch. The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences with all the other touch/iphone fans, and hopefully I can inform and entertain along the way.
The game I am constantly playing especially in all my meetings is virtual villagers by Vivendi mobile games. 
