Archive for category iPhone

The future of iPhone games

Posted by My Cool Gadget in iPhone on October 12th, 2009

With the release of “2012,” the iPhone app tied to the forthcoming Sony Pictures film of the same name, a group of developers may have kicked off the future of games on the hit smartphone. 

While the game itself is fairly simple and lasts just minutes, it incorporates features that may never have been tried before, and as such, could be among the small number of titles that are showcasing what will soon be considered par for the course. 

In the minds of many industry observers, thanks to its integration of a functional operating system, an accelerometer, GPS and a camera, and the fact that thousands of developers, big and small, have released games for the iPhone, the Apple device has already surpassed Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS as the most important, or at least most adaptable, portable gaming platform. 

But as developers get more creative and as its technology improves, it’s likely that the iPhone will only get more impressive as a gaming machine.

With “2012,” the developers at augmented reality entertainment production studio Trigger seem to have broken new ground with a couple of features. In the game, players are tasked with making their way–virtually, of course–from their real-world location to a digital Tibet. They do so by answering trivia questions related to survival, and with each correct response, they are credited with hundreds of miles of forward progress.


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The new iPhone game, 2012, features an innovative ability to call out to people on a user’s contact list for help with answering tough questions. This is one example of where features in iPhone games are heading.

But sometimes the questions can be difficult, and since players get only three “lives” with which to get to Tibet, the game borrows a page from the TV game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”–players are able to cash in “lifelines,” and reach out to real-world friends for help with tough questions. 

To do so, players can call people from their iPhone contacts list, directly from within the game, a feature that, according to Trigger president and executive creative director Jason Yim, had never been implemented in an iPhone game before. 

And while from a user experience perspective, the procedure seems very simple and well-integrated, Yim said that from a technology perspective, successfully integrating phone calling from within the game was “quite complex.” 

By itself, the feature may not come across as that impressive, and it has some serious flaws–for example, each time someone plays the game, they must re-enter the three people they wish to call for lifelines, something that can be time-consuming for someone with a lengthy contacts list. But as a technological innovation that will eventually make its way into any number of games, the feat is both impressive and important. 

Just the beginning
To Yim, however, tools like this are just the beginning of what will soon be a new wave of feature innovation, many of which will happen as developers clue in to how to take things to the next level, and others which will come as a result of new developments in the iPhone operating system itself. 

For example, he pointed to the fact that Apple is now allowing Flash programmers to bring their applications to the iPhone, a move that will make it possible for many games to now be ported onto the device, and which will make it “simpler to create basic content for the iPhone.” 

And new innovation, exciting especially to a company like Yim’s Trigger, is the emergence of new augmented reality games that double as marketing vehicles for large companies. Already, some apps for the iPhone 3GS–which, unlike the two earlier versions of the iPhone, has a built-in compass–have implemented AR, such as a secret feature in the Yelp app that lets users shake their phone three times and see restaurant names and reviews appear on the screen over the video they’re watching. 

But Yim suggested things will soon go beyond that. For instance, he said that an iPhone user might be able to walk up to an AR-enabled poster, point their device at it and automatically unlock some sort of prize. Similarly, a user could take their iPhone into a McDonald’s, or some other partner restaurant, and get a free french fries, all because the device knows where it is, and syncs that awareness to some sort of marketing campaign. And if that was built into a game of some sort, it would give players an incentive to participate. 

One-point-five Life
To Ge Wang, the chief creative officer and co-founder of hit iPhone apps Ocarina and Leaf Trombone developer Smule, augmented reality is exactly the direction that the next generation of iPhone games will take. 

Wang said that the iPhone, as a device, is moving people’s sense of computing into a new age, taking them away from their monitors and letting them go anywhere they want. As a result, games will be able to leverage that newfound computing freedom and blur the lines between the virtual world and the physical world.

“I think maybe for the first time, with the iPhone and all these supersmart phones,” Wang said, “you have (the convergence of a couple of) things you need for augmented reality.” game_190x149

First, he said, is a ubiquitous computer in the hands of millions of people. And second is that that device, always in users’ possession, provides consistent network connectivity and location awareness. 

Add that to the fact that the iPhone, especially the 3GS, is rich in sensors, and you have the ability, more than ever, to bring connected gaming out into the open world. 

“The time’s never been better or more ripe for…this kind of mixed virtual reality,” Wang said. “It is kind of this alternate reality, and augmented reality. It’s not quite Second Life, and it’s not first life. It’s almost 1.5 Life.” 

Wang also pointed to the push notifications feature of the iPhone’s OS 3.0. He suggested that game developers would be able to change the dynamic of how people play games together, and that with push, “people don’t have to be proactive, they can be reactive.” 

In other words, multiplayer iPhone games could offer each participant the ability to take turns, regardless of where that person is, because the device can send a notification when it’s time to take action. And that’s just one example. It’s hard to prognosticate the endless ways that this kind of tool could be implemented in games, but to Wang, this kind of feature means players can having passive relationships with the games they play to more active ones. 

Smart micro-transactions
Another future game innovation is likely to be what Seth Gerson, CEO of iPhone app developer LastLegion Games, which built the official iPhone game for the film “Watchmen” called personalized in-app purchases. 

Already, some iPhone games and other applications allow in-app purchases–but to Gerson, those tend to be a bland set of offerings that pay no mind to the personal preferences of users. 

But that will change, he suggested, as developers get ahold of and mine new behavior data that allow them to offer players the specific kind of virtual items they want. “You can give the consumer a voice in what they’re purchasing,” Gerson said, “and give them better experiences.” 

That means, essentially, that iPhone games will be set up to determine, based on how people play, or on preferences they’ve asserted during play, the kinds of items the might want to buy. In a first-person shooter, that could mean offering specific kinds of weapons or armor, or different kinds of outfits in a fantasy game. The sky, really, is the limit, so long as developers think about what the data they collect mean and use it to enhance players’ experiences. 

Gerson also thinks there is a future for iPhone game features based on cloud computing. He said it’s too early to say exactly how that will evolve, but the upshot is that developers will be learning how to automatically transform multiplayer games into solo play if someone’s network connectivity is lost. Further, he said, technological advances in data distribution will mean that multiplayer games will work better even on AT&T’s EDGE network and won’t require 3G for seamless across-the-network play. 

Given that Apple always plays its cards close to its vest, there’s no way to know for sure what kinds of technological innovations are coming for forthcoming versions of the iPhone or its operating system. Much can be guessed, of course, and developers are going to have to stay a step ahead if they want their games to be relevant and exciting to players faced with nearly limitless choices. 

It also matters, of course, how new innovations are implemented. It doesn’t do anyone any good when new features are rolled out if the way they’re done makes for a mediocre user experience. But when done right, a new feature can be disruptive and force everyone in the field to stand up and take notice. 

Because the iPhone environment is so adaptable, as it should be given that it is a functional, albeit limited, computer, it is certain that there is no limit to the kinds of innovations that are coming down the line, both for games and for other kinds of apps. But given that games are one of the most popular genres of apps for the device, you can be sure that if there is one area certain to highlight the evolution of new kinds of features, games will be where the action is hottest.

Originally posted at Geek Gestalt

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Five reasons Google Android will beat iPhone, BlackBerry and WinMo

Posted by My Cool Gadget in Blackberry, Google Android, Palm, Symbian, Windows Mobile, iPhone on October 10th, 2009

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The Google Android mobile operating system currently runs on less than 2 percent of the world’s smartphones, but research firm Gartner predicts the platform will grow to 14 percent of the global smartphone market in 2012–beating Apple’s iPhone, Windows Mobile and RIM’s BlackBerry platforms. 

Computerworld notes that Android will pale only to the Symbian OS, installed mostly on Nokia devices. Nokia is the world’s No. 1 phone manufacturer worldwide, and Symbian runs on about half of all smartphones. 

Symbian’s share will fall to 39 percent by 2012, Gartner predicts. 

Here are five reasons why Android will beat iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile on the global stage, according to Gartner’s forecast:

  • Google backs Android, a major pipeline for its cloud services.
  • Android is improving rapidly. The Cupcake 1.5 release was well-received, and Donut 1.6 has already been sent over the air to handset owners.
  • Android is open, making it easier to quickly gain developers’ support.
  • Android will run on phones from several manufacturers, which will help it quickly spread through the marketplace. HTC, Motorola and Samsung are already supporting handsets.
  • Android combines the best of what’s out there. It’s open, but it offers iPhone-like menus and apps, with Windows Mobile-esque icons, with Palm Pre-like multitasking. There’s another arms race afoot–the battle among Android handset makers as to which company can squeeze the most out of the OS.


As reported by Computerworld, Gartner forecasts the following market share in 2012:

  • Symbian: 203 million handsets, 39 percent of the market;
  • Google Android: 76 million handsets, 14.5 percent of the market;
  • Apple iPhone OS: 71.5 million handsets, 13.7 percent of the market;
  • Windows Mobile: 66.8 million handsets, 12.8 percent of the market;
  • RIM BlackBerry OS: 65.25 million handsets, 12.5 percent of the market;
  • Linux variants: 28 million handsets, 5.4 percent of the market;
  • Palm webOS: 11 million handsets, 2.1 percent of the market.


The main takeaway: Android’s the biggest gainer of the bunch, at the expense of RIM’s BlackBerry OS. 

(Remember: These are global figures, not the US market, which is dominated by the iPhone and BlackBerry OSes. Still, they indicate the rapid global growth of the smartphone segment.)

Which will you choose?

This story was first published at ZDNet’s The ToyBox blog.

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Why buy a Windows Phone over an iPhone

Posted by My Cool Gadget in Windows Mobile, iPhone on September 24th, 2009

We can’t help but be excited about the upcoming release of Windows Mobile 6.5, now known as Windows Phone, but this isn’t forgetting the fact that the competition is tighter now than it’s ever been for the mobile operating platform. 

We met with Tony Mestres, general manager for Mobile Communications at Microsoft, and asked him exactly what everyone is thinking: “Why buy a Windows Phone rather than an iPhone?”

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Screenshots from the upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5
(Credit: Microsoft)

“A Windows phone is more designed for you,” says Mestres, “across the range of hardware available, across the range of software that you can put where you like on the device, rather than designed the way someone in Cupertino thinks you should have a phone.” 

This is a compelling argument for people who hate being chained to a single design aesthetic shared with the millions who also own the iPhone, but it’s an empty statement if the new operating platform fails to address the usability issues experienced by owners of phones running previous versions of Windows. This is especially true for touchscreen smartphone owners who have struggled with tiny menu items and scroll bars since the inception of Windows Mobile. Thankfully, the platform appears to be a significant improvement in usability from our brief hands on with an HTC Touch Pro2 running the software. 

The Zune-like home screen (pictured above) is finger-friendly, with smooth kinetic scrolling and a fast response to input. We saw the same speedy performance in the phone’s photo gallery with lag-free scrolling between images. The email and calendar apps have received an aesthetic overhaul, and while they don’t look as sharp as similar apps on the iPhone or Android phone, they are much easier to read and use than in the latest versions of Windows Mobile. 

Like Apple, Microsoft sees huge potential in an apps market, and though the soon-to-be released Marketplace for Windows Phone will only feature about 500 apps at launch, Mestres tells us that Microsoft is working closely with developer partners to help devise specific apps to cover a range of useful functionality. 

Microsoft will also instigate transparent guidelines for developers, outlining how apps should look and behave, and is suggesting competitive pricing for apps in the store. 

What’s a Windows Phone?


What’s in a name? As far as we can gather, this change in title is an effort to create distance between the handsets we buy and the Windows platform running on them. 

This seems partly out of a professional modesty, the way Google inscribes a simple “with Google” on the underside of Android phones, but is also likely to be a way to distance newer models from the previous negative connotations surrounding the Windows Mobile brand. 

“People don’t buy phones for the operating system,” says Mestres, “they buy them for (their usability and customization)”–features not immediately recognizable in current Windows Mobile phones. 

Mestres explains that Windows 6.5 is the beginning of a journey, on which Microsoft’s customers can expect not only improvements in future releases of its operating platform, but changes in what customers can expect from a Windows Phone. Microsoft will launch a new cloud-computing service alongside WM6.5, which will offer customers an online location to back-up phone data to, but also is a glimpse into the future where Microsoft envisions a “three-screen” ecosystem, where software on your mobile interacts with your PC and home entertainment system through the Xbox or streaming with Windows Media Centre. 

“The things we’re talking to our OEM and our operator partners about I think are really game changing, when you think about a connected experience across the three screens,” says Mestres. 

A phone that can act as a window to a desktop computing experience or as a conduit of content streaming to the media devices in your living room is a compelling sounding proposition, and is reason enough to keep Microsoft in mind when thinking about mobile for a few years to come. 

Windows Mobile 6.5 will launch globally on October 7. 

This story was originally published on CNET Australia.

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iPhone 3.1 upgrade problems and how to fix them

Posted by My Cool Gadget in iPhone on September 22nd, 2009

A number of iPhone Atlas readers, and numerous more on Apple’s Discussion boards, have reported a bevy of problems–some large, some small–after upgrading to iPhone OS 3.1. The following two procedures work to solve a number of the reported problems:

  • Reset your iPhone by holding down the sleep and home buttons until the Apple logo appears.
  • Restore your iPhone: In iTunes, click the Restore button under the Summary tab. Restoring the phone will erase contacts, calendars, photos, and other data on the phone, but will restore automatically backed-up information including text messages, notes, call history, contact favorites, sound settings, widget settings, etc. Of course, make sure that you back up your phone before restoring.


However, some issues–chronicled below–persist: 

Podcasts are listed in random order for some users who are reporting that podcast episodes are not being displayed properly by date. We encountered this problem in one out of seven podcasts on a test iPhone 3GS. This bug has been confirmed by Apple, so look for a fix in a future firmware update.

podcastsort_270x404Random freezes or shutdowns are a major complaint for users after upgrading. The problem is the source of heated discussions within a huge Apple discussion thread containing nearly 900 posts. The problem seems to manifest itself whenever the iPhone goes to sleep, the user locks the display, or just randomly. When the user next tries to use the phone, he or she will find it completely unresponsive–the display remains blank and pressing buttons won’t wake it. The only recourse for the user is to perform a reset as described above. 

Battery life is another major complaint for users after upgrading and one we’ve encountered ourselves. So far, none of the usual fixes have resolved a problem some are claiming happens even when the iPhone is idle. Regardless, we’ve noticed on our own iPhone 3GS that battery life is significantly poorer after upgrading to iPhone OS 3.1. It isn’t unusual to commute home at the end of the day with 25 percent or less battery life. 

Apple is clearly aware of the battery problem and is actively trying to resolve it by engaging iPhone users in a study. Participating users will receive a specialBatteryLifeLogging.mobilecongfig file that will capture Powerlog files from the iPhone when syncing with iTunes. The user sends the log files to Apple via email or http://bugreport.apple.com. Hopefully with enough input, Apple will find the root cause of this problem and issue a fix in a future firmware update. 

In the meantime, we suggest that you look at our guide to getting the most out of your iPhone battery for suggestions on improving battery life. 

Slow or sluggish performance is a complaint from some users, blaming the problem on MobileMe syncing. According to a post by Skid on the Apple forums, you can resolve the issue by performing these steps: 

1. Launch the Settings App
2. Go to Mail, Contacts, Calendars
3. Go to your MobileMe account
4. Turn off contacts and calendars
5. When prompted, delete them from your iPhone
6. Reset your iPhone by holding down the sleep and home buttons until the Apple logo appears.
7. Perform steps 1-5, but this time turn contacts and calendar syncing on. 

If the above steps do not resolve the problem, another alternative is to delete your MobileMe account from your iPhone, perform a reset, and set up your MobileMe account from scratch. 

Unknown error (-50) was an error we encountered when syncing from iPhoto to our iPhone 3GS on another computer. According to Apple, all we needed to do was sync using iTunes 9, which we had not installed on the second computer. After upgrading to iTunes 9 the problem disappeared.

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A problem with Exchange is a source of complaints about the OS 3.1 upgrade manifested by 2G and 3G iPhone models failing to connect to Exchange 2007. Details about the issue can be found in the article, “Apple explains iPhone OS 3.1 Exchange changes.” 

Bricked iPhones caused by the OS 3.1 upgrade failing to apply was a source of complaints by some unhappy iPhone users. Fortunately, there is a fix for most “bricking” incidents: Take the following steps to do a factory restore of your iPhone: 

1. Press and hold Sleep/Wake and Home until the iPhone resets.
2. When the Apple logo appears release Sleep/Wake, but do not release Home until you see the prompt to connect the iPhone to iTunes.
3. Connect your iPhone to its USB sync cable.
4. iTunes should launch. If it doesn’t, launch it manually.
5. Perform a restore of your iPhone’s firmware, settings, apps, and media. 

A handful of other common problems were reported with the OS 3.1 update for Wi-Fi, the compass, and other small items. We’ve covered many of these in the posts “Major, minor iPhone upgrade problems and how to fix them,” and the follow up post “More major, minor iPhone upgrade problems and how to fix them.” 

If the above fixes don’t help with your OS 3.1 issue, consider following the Apple iPhone Troubleshooting Assistant before investing your time in calling AppleCare or visiting the local Genius Bar. 

Tell us about your iPhone OS 3.1 upgrade problems in the comments. 

Originally posted on iPhone Atlas

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iPhone OS 3.1 and iTunes 9 now available, unlockers be aware

Posted by My Cool Gadget in iPhone on September 11th, 2009

iPhone OS 3.1 and iTunes 9 (1)Today Apple released the new iPhone firmware 3.1 update along with the new iTunes 9. Bug fixes, changes to the AppStore, easier synchronization process and fixing a modem exploit are part of the features list.

The long rumored iPhone OS 3.1 has arrived bringing some new stuff to the iPhone and iPod Touch family. iTunes has also gotten a brand new 9th version offering extended functionality.

One of the most important changes is the iTunes app on the iPhone will have access to a Ringtone store (more than 30000 titles there already) available for 1.29 US dollars each.

Further on, Apple AppStore has been granted with a new Genius feature, which recommends you applications based on your currently installed and purchased software. This will ease the app search through the huge AppStore database, which continues to grow.

The new version of iTunes will also offer an easier syncing to Apple devices thanks to the many new controls and whole new interface. App syncing, for instance, is more user-friendly than ever, allowing you to arrange the apps on the iPhone/iPod Touch screens directly from iTunes.

The OS 3.1 for iPhone and OS 3.1.1 for iPod Touch are already available through iTunes and you can go for it just now. Here is the complete change list of fixes:

  • Improved syncing for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos
  • iTunes U content organization
  • Redeem iTunes Gift Cards, codes, and certificates in the App Store
  • Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store
  • Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
  • Option to “Save as new clip” when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS
  • Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on
  • Remotely lock iPhone with a passcode via MobileMe
  • Use Voice Control on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets
  • Paste phone numbers into the dialpad
  • Option to use Home button to turn on accessibility features on iPhone 3GS
  • Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
  • Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling
  • Fixes issue that cause some app icons to display incorrectly

iPhone OS 3.1 and iTunes 9 (2)

There are some other small things that were spotted in the iPhone OS 3.1 beta a couple of months ago and it’s strange why they are not included in the official changelog. Currently we still cannot confirm those – perhaps you would fill in in the comments:

  • iPhone vibrates once upon entering the icon moving mode
  • Updated AT&T profile to 4.2
  • Updated modem firmware to 5.08.01
  • Improvements to OpenGL and Quartz.
  • New APIs to enable third party apps to access videos and edit them (meaning video editing applications coming your way).
  • “Fraud Protection” toggle has been added to settings under Safari.
  • iPhone boot time is now faster.

As you can see there is no ground shaking features added into this new update. Except for the fact, of course, that the 3.1 upgrade will update not only the operating system, but also the modem firmware, fixing the last known exploit used for unlocking the iPhones of all walks of life. It is also believed that once upgraded through the ordinary way you may not be able to unlock or jailbreak your device ever again.

iTunes 9 is available for free download for Windows and Mac along with the iPhone/iPod Touch OS 3.1 updateable through iTunes.

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