Review: Galaxy on Fire 2 HD

Galaxy on Fire 2 HD is an excellent sci-fi game with an extensive storyline, massive amounts of side missions, and graphics that will render you speechless. The original version of this game has been around for almost a year but the developers have released this HD version which is optimized for devices packing Apple’s A5 processor, which include the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2.

The storyline holds true to the original version of Galaxy on Fire 2 but for those unfamiliar with the game, here is the back story:

A hyperdrive malfunction sends intergalactic adventurer and war hero Keith T. Maxwell tumbling through space and time. Awakening 35 years later at the far end of the galaxy, he quickly finds himself fighting for his life against a mysterious alien armada that is wreaking havoc on the warring races occupying this volatile sector of space.

The story is just interesting enough to keep me motivated to see it through to the end. The developer boasts that game has 10+ hours of gameplay and that is no lie. I have passed the 10 hour mark, have not completed the main storyline, and there are still more side missions left than I know what to do with.

You spend the majority of the game in a third person view of a spaceship and the only exception is when you are docked at a space station. In these stations you will experience text based conversations with other characters. Through conversations you will acquire more missions and receive money for successfully completing them. You can also get money by mining astroids for Ore and then selling the materials in the space station’s Hangar. Money can be used to buy more powerful spaceships and weapons, hiring wingmen, or purchasing components to build your own weapons. Different planets will have different prices for all items so there is definitely an element of economic strategy to the game. There is a Space Lounge on every planet and it is the place to go when you need a mission or want to earn some extra money. The types of missions vary from transporting cargo or passengers across the galaxy to being hired security for other citizens. Overall the gameplay is entertaining and it makes it hard to put the game down.

The real selling point of this release is the stunningly enhanced visuals. All the 3D models used in the game have been completely rebuilt and many elements such as asteroids and jumpgates are four-times the original resolution. The developers have added additional light sources for incredible realism which can be truly appreciated when taking an “Action Freeze” – it is like a screenshot except you can spin the camera around in any direction to find the best angle, utilizing the light sources to enhance the quality of the freeze frame. New textures and enhanced backgrounds all equate to an amazing visual representation of a living, breathing universe that is so immersive I guarantee you will lose track of time while playing. Read more

Ecoute 3.0 Brings New UI, Queue, Lion Features

Back in January I reviewed Ecoute 2.0, a major update to a standalone iTunes music player that was made quite popular by its support for “themes” to be used in a desktop music controller. Today, developers PixiApps have released Ecoute 3.0, which represents a big shift in terms of user interface and underlying engine, but builds on the feature set offered by Ecoute 2.0.

For those unfamiliar with standalone music players, Ecoute belongs to this family of apps that are capable of playing iTunes’ media library without actually using iTunes. By fetching the required files to make iTunes’ library available outside of the iTunes environment automatically, Ecoute offers an alternative view for music, videos and podcasts, while at the same time giving the user additional tools to share songs online, create keyboard shortcuts, and more. Unfortunately, it appears Ecoute 3.0 still can’t automatically identify an iTunes library stored somewhere else than the default location, as I noted for version 2.0 in January. The app does have, however, an option to manually open iTunes libraries stored on your Mac or external drive.

From a feature standpoint, Ecoute 3.0 is fairly similar to its predecessor. You can share tracks on Last.fm, Twitter and Facebook, assign keyboard shortcuts to various playback controls, install themes, navigate with gesture swipes and control the artwork widget on your desktop. These are features that were implemented in version 2.0, and have been improved for 3.0. Still, there are some important additions in this update: for one, the app is fully compatible with OS X Lion (natural scrolling, full-screen mode) and 64-bit. These optimizations have brought along a faster UI and more responsive search results when filtering your media library.

Speaking of user interface, the biggest change in Ecoute is the application’s design, which has completely changed from Ecoute 2.0. The app now uses a multi-column layout that adapts on screen depending on what you’re browsing and works with three-finger swipe navigation. Say what you will about Lion’s gestures, but I find this method incredibly more intuitive than Ecoute’s old interface. Now playing information has been merged with the title bar, where you’ll also find buttons to love a track, enter full-screen, and the duration of a song. Gone is the huge bottom bar from Ecoute 2.0, which leaves room for more compact music controls and, overall, provides a more elegant look to the entire app. Ecoute 3.0 feels a lot cleaner and it’s been simplified to make browsing music fast and lightweight.

There are other new features in Ecoute 3.0. Artwork view has been given its own section and you can now automatically display it after a period of inactivity; minimal mode and gapless playback have been implemented, giving a reason to those who can’t stand iTunes’ bloated interface to go even more minimal with Ecoute; you can also “shuffle by albums” and have multiple selections.

More importantly, at least for me, Ecoute 3.0 comes with a queue feature (accessible through Lion’s typical popover control) that lets you re-organize the songs you’re about to listen to. You can drag & reorder songs as well as add more to the queue from Ecoute’s main list.

If you’ve been looking for a fresh new way to access your media library in a standalone, easy-to-use app while leaving iTunes to perform heavier tasks such as TV show and movie management, I recommend Ecoute 3.0 today just as I did with Ecoute 2.0 in January. The app is elegant, responsive, fully updated for Lion, and you’ll be able to customize it with themes. Ecoute 3.0 is available at $8.99 on the Mac App Store.

iCloud Libraries To Be Wiped Tomorrow As Apple “Prepares” For iTunes Match Launch

In an email sent to developers a few minutes ago, Apple has announced that iCloud music libraries will be wiped tomorrow, November 12th, at 10 AM PST. Since Apple began testing iTunes Match in August, iCloud libraries have been wiped periodically as part of Apple’s testing process to build and optimize the service. Currently, iTunes Match is being tested by registered developers in the United States, and it requires iTunes 10.5.1 beta.

As we prepare for the launch of iTunes Match, we will be deleting all current iCloud libraries on Saturday, November 12th at 10 AM PST.

Please turn off iTunes Match on all of your computers and iOS devices. On your computer, choose Store > Turn off iTunes Match. On your iOS device, tap Settings > Music, then turn off iTunes Match. On your Apple TV, please choose Music > Turn off iTunes Match.

The songs on your computer should not be affected. As always, please backup regularly and do not delete the music you add to iCloud from your computer.

iTunes Match is Apple’s upcoming scan & match service for music built into iTunes and iCloud. iTunes Match will scan a user’s music library, find songs that match with Apple’s iTunes Store, and upload results that haven’t matched correctly. Songs stored in iCloud can be downloaded on any device, at any time, as long as you’re subscribed to iTunes Match, which costs $24.99 per year. At the “Let’s talk iPhone” media event in October Apple said iTunes Match would launch by the end of the month, but as the company missed its own deadline many started wondering whether additional beta time was required to finalize iTunes Match. On November 3rd, Apple seeded to developers a new beta of iTunes 10.5.1 for additional iTunes Match testing.

Apple Still Investigating iOS 5 Battery Life Issues

Apple yesterday released the iOS 5.0.1 software update which, among other fixes and features, included optimizations for battery life of devices running iOS 5. In particular, a number of users in the past weeks have reported shorter than normal battery life on the iPhone 4S, Apple’s latest iPhone model released on October 14th. Apple promised that the iOS 5.0.1 update would fix a software issue that had affected battery life on iOS 5, not just the iPhone 4S.

Yet after the release of iOS 5.0.1, which was distributed over-the-air to iOS 5 devices as well as through iTunes, several users on Apple’s Support Communities reported battery life issues similar to pre-iOS 5.0.1 scenarios, if not worse after the upgrade. In a statement issued to All Things D, Apple says they will continue to investigate issues with battery life:

The recent iOS software update addressed many of the battery issues that some customers experienced on their iOS 5 devices,” the company said in a statement. “We continue to investigate a few remaining issues.

As Apple keeps working on iOS 5 and improving the system’s battery management, a number of users suggest that disabling some of iOS’ Location Services and Notifications might improve battery life dramatically. Apple doesn’t specifically recommend any of the “tips and tricks” found online, though it does offer a Feedback page for all users willing to report back about their experience with iOS devices.

Developers Explain Changes in Growl 1.3→

Developers Explain Changes in Growl 1.3

Speaking of Growl themes, the developers of the popular notification system for OS X have seen a bit of confusion after the release of version 1.3 on the Mac App Store. They have published a post with a summary of changes, and here’s the most important point:

Growl is still open source and under the BSD license, but version 1.3 is sold at $1.99 on the Mac App Store. This paid model allows the developers to work on Growl full-time.

So why upgrade to Growl 1.3 when the old version might still work? First off, to get the new features. More importantly, for a reason I didn’t know about:

Growl 1.2 and older will not work with Sandboxed applications - Sandboxing is meant to protect users from bad things happening (which is a good thing!), but it has consequences for applications which are doing good things too (like Growl). Apple announced this summer that Sandboxing is a requirement for all applications in the Mac App Store. As our developers who went to WWDC this year quickly realized, the impending Sandboxing requirement would have broken Growl entirely for applications in the App Store, for everyone, without a large amount of changes. Growl 1.3 introduces support for Sandboxed applications.

We may debate on the pros and cons of sandboxing, but the point is that, eventually, the old Growl will stop working with sandboxed Mac App Store applications. If new features and compatibility aren’t compelling reasons to upgrade, then I guess the problem is with those users not willing to spend $1.99, not Growl. The Mac App Store charts, by the way, seem to indicate Growl 1.3 has been pretty successful so far.

I use Growl on a daily basis and I like the new version a lot. Another thing I didn’t know about: apps written with the Growl 1.3 SDK will be able to display notifications even if Growl 1.3 isn’t installed. The system is called “Mist”, and a comparison table is available for developers here.

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iOS 5 Notification Style for Growl→

iOS 5 Notification Style for Growl

Back in September, MacThemes forum user SkyJohn created an iOS 5-like notification theme for Growl, which was recently released on the Mac App Store as version 1.3. A few days ago, following feedback from the MacThemes community, SkyJohn updated the Growl theme to include the same “cube” animation seen on the iPhone or iPad. The effect is very nice, as you can see from the screenshots above.

The latest version of the theme is available for download on deviantART, and it includes black and white variations. Being a Growl theme, you can’t expect the notification popup to roll down from the menubar exactly as in iOS 5, but the result gets very close. Make sure to check out MacThemes’ thread as well for suggestions and other modifications.

And if you don’t like the iOS 5-like banner style for notifications, check out this iOS 5-inspired translucent theme for Growl by Philipp Rappold (via). Growl is a $1.99 download on the Mac App Store.

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Apple Starts Selling Unlocked iPhone 4S In US Online Store

Alongside the international launch in 15 more countries, Apple today began offering unlocked iPhone 4S units through its US online store. Current orders for unlocked iPhones ship in 1-2 weeks, and the models are available at $649 (16 GB), $749 (32 GB) and $849 (64 GB). The unlocked iPhone 4S only works on GSM networks such as AT&T in the United States and allows for micro-SIM cards from local GSM networks when travelling internationally. The unlocked iPhone 4S doesn’t work on Verizon or Sprint.

The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a contract commitment. You can activate and use it on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T in the United States.* The unlocked iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint.

If you don’t want a multiyear service contract or if you prefer to use a local carrier when traveling abroad, the unlocked iPhone is the best choice. It arrives without a micro-SIM card, so you’ll need an active micro-SIM card from any supported GSM carrier worldwide. To start using it, simply insert the micro-SIM card into the slot on your iPhone and turn it on by pressing and holding the On/Off button for a few seconds. Then follow the onscreen instructions to set up your iPhone.

Apple launched the iPhone 4S in October and promised unlocked versions would be available starting in November. The unlocked and contract-free iPhone 4S can be purchased from Apple’s online store here.

AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.6 Released

Earlier today Apple released an AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware update, reaching version 7.6. The update is compatible with all 802.11n AirPort Express, 802.11n AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models and adds a number of fixes:

  • An issue with performance on overlapping wireless networks
  • An issue with AirPlay audio streaming
  • An issue with configuring multiple entries for DNS servers

Apple recommends upgrading from AirPort Utility 5.5.3 or later. The new version can be downloaded by checking for updates directly in AirPort Utility.

Firefox 9 Beta Released with “New Look” To Match OS X Lion

Two days after the release of Firefox 8, Mozilla has made available a first public beta of the next major Firefox update, Firefox 9. As expected due to the company’s fast release cycle, Firefox 9 will follow Firefox 8 in a few weeks, with Firefox 10 likely entering initial alpha testing soon.

For the first time since the release of OS X Lion in July, Mozilla says they have included “a new look that matches the Mac OS X Lion application toolbar and icon styles”. In the release notes, Mozilla refers to these changes as “improved theme integration for Mac OS X Lion”. For comparison, we have grabbed a series of screenshots to show the differences the “new look” brings between Firefox 8 and Firefox 9 beta. It is, however, possible that haven’t spotted all the differences between the two versions yet – MacStories readers are welcome to leave us a comment if they find more visual cues to the “new look” in Firefox 9 for Lion.

Mozilla mocked up some big Lion changes a few months back, and notably Firefox still hasn’t implemented several native Lion functionalities, like natural scrolling and full-screen mode.

Firefox 9 comes with other improvements for developers:

  • Type Inference: Firefox Beta adds Type Inference to make JavaScript significantly faster. To learn more about how rich websites and Web apps with lots of pictures, videos and 3D graphics will load faster in Firefox, check out this blog post.
  • Do Not Track JavaScript Detection: Firefox Beta enables JavaScript to show developers when users choose to opt-out of behavioral tracking with the Do Not Track privacy feature.
  • Chunked XHR Support: Firefox Beta supports chunking for XHR requests so websites can receive data that’s part of a large XHR download in progress. This helps developers make websites and Web apps faster, especially those that download large sets of data or via AJAX.

You can download Firefox 9 beta over at Mozilla’s website.