GadgetNewsBlog

In place of the roller ball, you have the capacitive touchscreen, of course, and this has both an advantage and a disadvantage. On the plus side, you can aim incredibly quickly, just in front of incoming missile tracks and spacecraft, whereas the old roller ball was large and had momentum – it took a lot of practice to use it to aim quickly and precisely, and it took time to move your aim from one point to another.

On the downside, there’s no way to control which of your three missile silos are used to fire missiles – the game’s logic simply chooses the closest. Although this might seem sensible, this system does away with one of the key expert strategies used in the original game – that of using a side silo to lay down a blanket of explosions while you used the centre silo to pick off ’smart’ bombs and anything else that got through. With the current game logic, the centre silo usually gets exhausted first and you’re then into fighting a rearguard action trying to pick off smart bombs low in the sky with just the left and rightmost silos. Read the rest of this entry »

Dub Siren is one of the most innovative music apps I’ve seen to make it into the App Store in a long time. And that’s coming from someone who isn’t even capable of using the app to its fullest!

With some 55,750 apps in stock, sifting through the inventory to find the gems is getting harder all the time. Then, along comes Dub Siren, which streams music from some of the top Reggae, Dub and DubStep Internet radio stations and allows you to interactively mix music with a wide variety of Reggae effects like horns, beeps, boops and many other sound samples. Read the rest of this entry »

AppCraver recently spoke with Jason Petralia, CEO and Co-Founder of people operating technology. He shares his experiences developing for the iPhone and iPod touch.

When did you start developing apps for the iPhone? Did you have previous experience as a developer?

I personally started in April ‘09 and it has been a roller coaster ride since! That said, my partner and I have been waiting for something like the iPhone/Touch platform for about 10 years.

What / how many apps have you made so far?

Two are up in iTunes at the moment: Animal Fun Time and Magnetic Personalities. We’ve completed 3 more for a total of 5. Approval for the other 3 completed apps is expected this month. In addition, we are working on 9 more applications at the moment and plan on releasing 2 or more applications a month is all goes as planned. We are a publisher so the effort was far from just me!

What type of apps/games/software inspires you? Where do you get your ideas?

We brainstorm, people often come to us with ideas and we make them happen if well planned, unique or just better than what the market offers. We design and we keep learning more. I spent a solid week on pure idea incubation in Los Angeles with Amith Nirgunarty, the other Co-Founder. Read the rest of this entry »

In an age when the environment is garnering more attention and global warming seems to be an increasingly popular topic, it is no surprise that iPhone apps are taking cues and beginning to focus on beloved Mother Earth. One such app, which turns recycling into a game, is i-Dig: The Recycling Challenge. The game is based on an ecological adventure in which the goal is to help a worm collect (and properly recycle) as much trash as possible. There are obstacles to amp up the excitement of rummaging and recycling, and the game also offers single and multi-player modes. At the end of the day, though, i-Dig is just reinforcing some eco-friendly habits which, let’s face it, we all need to adopt.

Following up on last night‘ release of iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 firmware and SDK, developers are finding more changes and new features.

• TUAW reports that the AT&T IPCC hack, where the carrier file was modified to allow iPhone tethering sans official AT&T sanction no longer works. Bummer, given AT&T still hasn’t announced anything about legitimate tethering support or pricing.
• Engadget Mobile’s been informed that new APIs have been introduced allowing for the manipulation of live video to produce “augmented reality” apps (where information is layered on top of the video).
• Ars Technica reports iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 allows developers to connect to test devices via Wi-Fi, rather than having to tether via USB as in previous releases, and still access instruments and other features.

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

iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 Breaks AT&T Tethering Hack, Allows Wi-Fi Testing, Intros Augmented Reality APIs?

Apple has just informed developers that a new version of iPhone 3.1 Beta firmware and SDK have been released:

iPhone SDK 3.1 beta 2 and iPhone OS 3.1 beta 2 are now available on the iPhone Dev Center. These versions are for development and testing only and should be installed on devices dedicated to iPhone OS 3.1 beta software development. Please read the iPhone OS beta Pre-Install Advisory and the iPhone SDK 3.1 beta 2 release notes before downloading and installing.

Use the Apple Bug Reporter if you discover compatibility or functionality issues while testing with the iPhone OS 3.1 beta 2 release.

Registered developers can, as stated, grab it via developer.apple.com.

UPDATE: Ars Technica reports iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 allows developers to send apps to test devices via Wi-Fi, rather than having to tether via USB as in previous releases.

According to WhenWithApple, minor changes include new language for the video editing options, now called “Trim Original” and “Save As…” Screenshot after the break!

When/if we come across anything else, we’ll update and add it to our ongoing iPhone 3.1 Beta Walkthrough…

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

Apple Releases iPhone 3.1 Firmware and SDK to Developers

Apple has stealthily updated their premium in-ear headset with remote and mic. What exactly did they update? Well nothing major but it’s an update regardless – they replaced the soft rubber 3.5 mm headphone plug casing with a hard plastic one. So now instead of the soft rubber falling off we will now start to see the hard plastic replacement crack.

All joking aside, Apple really got these headphones almost perfect. And as a bonus they are now fully compatible with iPhone 3GS. Sorry first generation and 3G owners, you are still missing out on the control features.

Be sure to check out Rene’s full review from this past January.

[Via AppleInsider]

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

Apple Stealth-Updates Premium In-Ear Headset for iPhone 3GS

Amid unconfirmed reports that some 3GS iPhone are over heating and turning models with white cases a light brown, Apple has released a document that advises owners on how to use their devices to avoid potential damage caused by a silicon barbeque.

Apple says you should operate your iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in a place where the temperatures are between 32º to 95º F (0º and 35º C ). Low- or high-temps might temporarily shorten battery life or cause the device to temporarily stop working properly.

Store your iPhone where the temperatures are likely to stay between 4º to 113º F (-20º and 45º C). Leaving your iPhone in your car on a sunny day is not a good idea because inside temps in a parked car can exceed this range.

Some clues that the interior temp of you iPhone is beyond normal range are:

• The device stops charging
• Display dims
• Weak cellular signal
• Temperature warning screen appears with the message “iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it”

The warning message is a safety mechanism that protects the components of your iPhone, Apple says. If the message pops up on your display, turn the device off and let it cool down before firing it up again.

No worries: Even if you get the warning message, you’ll still be able to make emergency calls, Apple adds.

You’ll see the temp warning message under the following conditions, Apple says:

• Leaving the device in a car on a hot day
• Leaving it in direct sunlight for extended amounts of time
• Using certain applications in hot conditions or direct sunlight for long periods of time, such as GPS tracking in a car on a sunny day or listening to music while in direct sunlight

For what it’s worth, I’ve been running my new iPhone 3GS nonstop since I received it 4-5 days ago and have not experienced any issues with over heating. In fact, the only issues I’ve experienced with the new phone is an over abundance of goodness.