Posts in news

Apple Shares the Fun With New iPod touch Commercial

With the white iPod touch announced, it’s about time Apple time showed off their shiny new “phone without the phone”, giving the likes of Game Center, FaceTime, and iMessage well deserved close-ups in a brand new shell. Picture perfect in every frame, the new white iPod touch will be a hot gift for anyone who wants to stay connected with their friends with free iMessaging or take advantage of all the great apps that iOS has to offer. Thin and lightweight with a respectable video camera for quick home movies, I certainly miss its portability and thinness now that I have an iPhone. Share the fun this holiday season with an iPod touch, too-tight jeans, and a catchy tune that’ll have you dancing and bobbing in your office chair. Apple’s latest commercial can enjoyed on YouTube, or past the break!

[via Macgasm]

Read more

Developer Trailer for Infinity Blade 2 Details Amazing Graphics

December 1st will see the launch of Infinity Blade 2, the much anticipated follow-up that brings much improved visuals to one of iOS’ strongest titles. First showcased at this year’s iPhone 4S keynote, Infinity Blade 2 has already gotten plenty of hands-on time by the likes of IGN and SlideToPlay, and is expected to be a massive hit when it lands next week. Infinity Blade 2 will feature more weapons, an updated combat system, and more areas to explore while remaining familiar to the gameplay you love. The visuals, however, are what Infinity Blade is renown for. In the latest trailer, the developers discuss the game’s jaw-dropping graphics that’ll be delivered thanks to Apple’s A5 processor. Catch the video after the break!

[via SlideToPlay]

Read more

Apple to Approve Streaming iPad Games for a Monthly Charge

Bloomberg is reporting that for the first time Apple has agreed to let a game development studio break away from the pay once per-game business model. The company, Big Fish Games, will attempt to peddle their iPad games through a monthly subscription.

The company’s founder, Paul Thelen, says that the service will be similar to that of Netflix. Consumers will pay a monthly fee to play iPad games streamed directly to their device over a wifi connection without having to download each game from the iTunes App Store. Big Fish Games currently have 99 iPad games available for download and it sounds like there may be even more to choose from by the time this new service launches early next year. It appears that the launch will include a single app available for download that users will be able to browse available iPad games – similar to Big Fish Games “Game Finder” app.

Thelen reports that there will be several options for gaming subscriptions starting at $4.99 a month. There will also be an ad-supported and time limited free version.

Big Fish also will offer a free version of its game service that limits play to 30 minutes a day and includes advertising. The subscription will initially cost $4.99 and will increase early next year to $6.99 after more titles are added, Thelen said. Apple collects a 30 percent commission.

It will be interesting to see if there is actually a demand for a streaming game service on the iOS platform. Apple reportedly seemed hesitant to agree to the let the game development studio use the business model that has been previously reserved for digital periodicals. If this trial run is a success, we will likely see a flood of new apps utilizing this model. Hopefully it doesn’t have an effect on the quality of iOS games we have seen to date.

 

[Bloomberg via MacRumors]

Apple Looking To Recruit Senior-Level Executives For iCloud Services

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal today, Apple has been looking to recruit senior-level executives “with backgrounds in Web-based software” to bolster the talent pool at Apple for iCloud and their other cloud and web based services. Curiously, the report also notes that Apple is also considering new iCloud apps that will “reduce the need for people to carry around numerous devices at once”.

The company doesn’t have specific Web-centric positions in mind, and it is looking broadly for talent to fill director-level positions and above, including senior executives if they find a candidate that is a good fit, this person said.

As the article notes, Apple has been hiring a number of lower-level staff for their web and cloud offerings since 2010 - including poaching web engineers from companies such as Quantcast and Yahoo. This move also follows on from Eddy Cue’s recent promotion to the role of Senior Vice President Internet Software and Services after leading Apple’s iTunes, App Store, iBookstore and iCloud offerings.

[The Wall Street Journal via MacRumors]

Analyst: The iPad 3’s Retina Display is now in Production

According to DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim in an interview with CNET, the iPad 3’s 2048 x 1536 QXGA display is currently in production, with names like Samsung, Sharp, and LGD now laid on the table. The iPad’s possible Retina Display, which would double the pixels from the current 1024 x 768 display found in the iPad and the iPad 2, is rumored to find its way into the next generation iPad by 2012. Excited yet?

Shim says that finished iPad 3s with their aluminum shells and upgraded 4:3 displays could be finished in December following the few weeks it takes it takes to assemble Apple’s latest tablet. 9to5 Mac has already found hints of Apple’s next iPad, codenamed J2 (supposedly the 3G model with J1 being Wi-Fi only) in the iOS 5 source code, following a DigiTimes report that 2 million iPad 3s would be produced by the years end.

Keep in mind that an iPad 3’s Retina Display would have more vertical pixels than the 27” Apple Thunderbolt Display currently on the market, with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. Provided Apple could even sell such a pixel precise display, what would it mean for developers and designers creating new and unique interfaces for the iPad? And remember the transition period from the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4? Yikes. Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

[CNET via 9to5 Mac]

Charity: The Humble Introversion Bundle!

In the giving mood? Why not head down and meet up with the other fine gamers hanging out at the Humble Bundle, who’re offering a bunch of cross-platform games (DRM free) to raise money for Child’s Play and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Donate for a couple of great causes and get a bundle of excellent games in return. If you donate more than the average, you can acquire some bonus titles not otherwise available with the initial line up of games and tech demos. The $70 bundle can be yours at any price, but we recommend at least slapping down a Jackson if you can. Contributers also have the option of bragging rights and posting their handle on the Humble Bundle wall of fame.

The Humble Introversion Bundle includes lots of great titles such as Aquaria, Multiwinia, and DEFCON, giving you plenty of adventure, multiplayer, and virtual gaming environments to romp through over the holidays. Given the choice of exploring underwater caverns and blowing up computer viruses, there’s something here for players of all ages. You can find links to all the great games below.

There’s fourteen days left to donate, so you have plenty of time to cash in your paycheck and donate to a worthy cause. Be sure to check out The Humble Introversion Bundle official launch video after the break and get amped up!

Read more

Apple Posts New iPad 2 Advert: “Love”

Apple has tonight uploaded a new iPad advert to their YouTube channel. This latest advert, “Love”, follows the general style of their previous iPad 2 adverts — with a strong narrator intertwined with people using the iPad, highlighting an emotional connection. This advert highlights the emotional connection between people using the iPad for things that they love doing. There are shots of a basketball coach using an iPad to show his team a strategy, a group of friends in a band using the iPad to control levels, a person painting a landscape with an iPad, a person creating a home movie with iMovie on the iPad and a young child learning about dinosaurs on an iPad.

For some, it’s a life long passion. For others, its something discovered yesterday. We all have things that speak to us, they drive us to get up early, and stay up late. Getting lost in the things we love has never felt quite like this.

Jump the break to see the advert for yourself and jump over to Apple’s website or YouTube channel to see more of their iPad adverts.

Read more

Apple Announces Holiday Sale For This Friday, Across The World

Update: Apple has now confirmed the “One-Day Shopping Event” is also occurring in the US this Friday - but it makes no mention of the sale also taking place in its retail stores, suggesting this is an online-only affair.

Apple has begun placing banners on its online Apple Stores across the world, indicating that it will be holding a sale this Friday - on the yearly “Black Friday” as it is known in the US. The banners, found on the store page, inform us that this “special one-day Apple shopping event” is this Friday, November 25.

Mark your calendar now, and come back to the Apple Online Store for the special one-day event. You’ll discover amazing iPad, iPod and Mac gifts for everyone on your list.

The banner has gone up on the Australian, Italian, UK and a number of other international stores. No mention has yet been made on the US store, but it is expected to also receive the banner in a number of hours. In the US the Black Friday sale is expected to also take place inside Apple’s retail stores - no mention of the sale in retail stores is made on the Australian or Italian notices.

Hacker Builds Custom Siri Proxy Server

A hacker known as plamoni created a Siri proxy server that could allow anyone to use it and make Siri work with a wide range of non-Apple devices. Applidium, a development firm, hacked the Siri security protocol and has explained the process so anyone can use it.

One implementation of Siri + the proxy server is sending commands to any standard thermostat with Wi-Fi capabilities. plamoni taught Siri (no jailbreak required) to send commands over the network and if you’re interested, the source code is available for free online. Anyone with an iPhone 4S unique identifier and knowledge of networking can get it working. In order to set up Siri to control your home’s temperature involves a DNS server that uses a proxy to send requests to Siri’s servers.

Video after the break. Read more