Posts tagged with "iOS"
#MacStoriesDeals - Monday
Hackers Find A Way to Stream PlayStation 3 Games to iOS Devices
Here’s something you’d probably like to try right away, but likely can’t because it’s really too geeky to understand: a group of hackers and developers known as “pandaelf” managed to stream PlayStation 3 games to the iPhone and iPad on a local network using a series of USB devices attached to the PS3, and an “interpreter” to send iOS gestures back to the console. Somehow, it’s working.
Here’s what they did: they connected a USB mouse and keyboard to the PS3 as input controls, and another “third party capture device” that streams video to a PC running a build of “everyAir”, a remote desktop controller. everyAir really handles everything, from iOS to PC communication to live video streaming from the TV and PS3 to the iPhone and iPad. It’s one hell of a setup but as you can see from the demo video below, it seems to be working.
Video and Q&A below. Somebody please find a way to play Game Cube games on the iPad now, and I’m sold. [via iThinkDifferent] Read more
#MacStoriesDeals - Super Friday!
Sorry for not having Deals yesterday, it was hectic around MSHQ! But don’t worry, today will make up for it! Here are all of today’s deals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get ‘em while they’re hot!
Apple Gets Back To Basics with Lion→
Apple Gets Back To Basics with Lion
Great post by David Chartier at Macworld:
iOS and Mac OS X are symbiotic entities. When designing iOS, Apple distilled the Mac down to something pocketable, but the core concepts are there, such as an app-centric workflow, an always-accessible “home base” Dock, and a fierce pursuit of intuitive interfaces. After gaining knowledge and experience from nearly five years and four versions of iOS, Apple clearly felt that it’s time to return the favor in Lion. Apple is incorporating some of the fresh simplicity of iOS back into its point-and-click desktop computing platform that, at its conceptual core, is almost three decades old.
It’s all there in the first beta: AirDrop lets you share files in your local network with one click (and I wonder if iOS 5 will gain support for this feature). The Finder is streamlined, redesigned and it’s got Coverflow-like navigation in the icon view. There is a unified UI for managing Mail and Calendar accounts. The Launchpad really looks like an iOS homescreen. Mission Control, one of my favorites, brings Spaces, Exposè and full-screen apps all together into a simpler interface.
We only have one beta of Lion, but the future points in this direction: simplification.
BGR: iOS 4.3 GM Next Week, Build 8F190?
Boy Genius Report claims Apple has finalized the code of iOS 4.3 and a GM build with version number 8F190 should be available in a few days, perhaps next week. We’ve heard Apple was set to release this build weeks ago, but major issues were found in Bluetooth connectivity, AirPlay and camera roll, among others.
One of our Apple sources has just informed us that it looks like Apple has finalized the code for its upcoming iOS 4.3 release. The build, we’re told, is 8F190 for those keeping track.
At this point it seems clear that Apple will announce the availability of the GM build at next week’s media event, where the next-generation iPad will be unveiled as well. The iPad 2 is rumored to run an updated version of iOS 4.3 with FaceTime and Photo Booth enabled.
Joystickers’ Classic Will Put Buttons On Your iOS Device
If you’re a hardcore iOS gamer and you’ve always felt like your iPhone and iPad could use some hardware button love in certain games (*cough*shooters and platforms*cough*), you should take a look at this new Kickstarter project by a Chicago-based startup called Joytstickers, which aims at improving the quality of your gaming by putting physical buttons on the shiny glass surface of your iOS device of choice.
Question is: how? The Classic, a product that’s been in development for 9 months, is a set of buttons that can stick to an iPhone’s screen thanks to a special “micro-suction cup material imported from Japan” that’s invisible to the naked eye but allows the material to stay put on the screen without damaging it or leaving any sign of attachment. As you can see in the promo video, they really just stick. The reason why Joystickers is doing this is to overcome the lack of tactile feedback when playing iOS games. Personally, I can say this sounds extremely good for games like Pizza Boy or shooters that require a “fixed” control position on a glass screen that, admittedly, doesn’t usually make gamers so excited. The only major problem for now is that there’s no solution for directional (D-Pad) controls, meaning that you’ll either have to stick 4 buttons on screen and forget about diagonal input or just use a Classic for non-directional virtual buttons.
The startup is also promoting a brush and a stylus for iOS, but we think The Classic is the most interesting product available on Joystickers’ Kickstarter page. You can back the project here by pledging $1 or more, and it will be funded if $25,000 is pledged by March 24th. [via MobileCrunch] Read more
#MacStoriesDeals - Wednesday
Image Editing and Photo Booth for iOS Surface in Apple Patent
A few days after Apple released the first beta of iOS 4.3, several developers and bloggers did a little bit of digging into the SDK and new firmware file to find out whether Apple had managed to hide references to new hardware and features into iOS 4.3. iPad camera files aside, icons for FaceTime and Photo Booth surfaced, as well as strings in the code that pointed to new camera effects finding their way to iOS. These effects looked very similar to the ones used by Apple in the iPod nano fifth generation: X-Ray, thermal, light tunnel, kaleidoscope, and so forth.
A new patent design uncovered by Patently Apple today confirms that engineers and designers at Cupertino have been studying the implementation of Photo Booth with image effects for iPhones and iPads, but the most interesting part is perhaps the adoption of image editing features system-wide, configurable in the settings, that users will also be able to manipulate with sound, motion, GPS and touch. Read more
Gameloft’s VP Talks Premium Games, Maturing iOS Gaming Market And EA’s Sale Tactics
Last week over at Mobile World Congress Gameloft’s vice president Gonzague de Vallois spoke to PocketGamer and had some interesting remarks regarding iOS gaming. One of the things he spoke about was iOS gamers gaining an increasingly high expectation for games on the platform, particularly in regards to graphics and utilizing the full potential of the device.
He says that taste’s of iOS gamers are maturing and are moving on from supporting the small developers who make small, casual games to the games that are more fully featured and more fully use the potential of the device. To me at least, this seems like a bit of an odd comment given the continuing success of games such as Angry Birds and the caliber of indie games that are continuing to come to the App Store such as Rockin’ Rockets.