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- Outnumbered presents an interesting twist on iPhone multiplayer
Filed under: Gaming, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Veiled Games sent word of their new game, Outnumbered [iTunes link], on the iPhone app store, and it seems intriguingly different. It's basically a multiplayer arcade game, which pits two iPhones or iPod touches against each other via Bluetooth. One player takes over the role of the O.N.E., a singular robot armed with weapons and special attacks, and the other player controls M.A.N.Y., which is a top-down view where you can control waves of attacking units and robots. The two players duke it out, with the first controlling his robot around the arena, and the second overseeing the armies and buying new units with collected currency. When the single robot is dead, players switch sides, and whoever earns the most points while fighting (for attacking, moving, or a few other criteria) wins the game.
Interesting idea. Of course, you'll need a friend with their own iPhone or iPod touch to do all of this, and you'll have to be in the same room, as the connection only works (so far) over Bluetooth. If you're still confused as to how it all works, there's a nice tutorial video up (although that voice gets to be a bit much after a while) that explains how the game goes down. Most of the big iPhone titles we've seen this year mostly focus on single player gaming, so it's cool to see an attempt like this to try something that more than one player can share. Outnumbered is available in the App Store [iTunes Link] right now for 99 cents, and a lite version (that will allow a second player to play along, although one of the two players must own the full version) is due out soon.TUAWOutnumbered presents an interesting twist on iPhone multiplayer originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPhone - App Store - Apple - IPod Touch - iTunes
Переслать - Apple updates MobileMe iDisk app for iPhone
Filed under: Internet, Internet Tools, iPhone, MobileMe, App Store
Apple has updated it's MobileMe iDisk app [iTunes link]. Besides a new (much cooler) icon, version 1.1 features:
- Auto-complete email addresses when choosing recipients for a shared file
- File sharing emails are automatically saved to your Mail account's Sent folder
- When viewing an image, tap and hold to save it to your photo roll or copy it to another app
- Maximum setting for cache size is now 500MB (up from 200MB)
- Faster downloads
- Various bug fixes
- Localizations for Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
TUAWApple updates MobileMe iDisk app for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - UPDATE: AT&T "unimpressed" with "irresponsible" Operation Chokehold
Filed under: iPhone
I posted earlier today about Fake Steve Jobs' Operation Chokehold.
Well, AT&T has just told Cult of Mac they're not impressed:
"We understand that fakesteve.net is primarily a satirical forum, but there is nothing amusing about advocating that customers attempt to deliberately degrade service on a network that provides critical communications services for more than 80 million customers. We know that the vast majority of customers will see this action for what it is: an irresponsible and pointless scheme to draw attention to a blog."
So, the battle lines are drawn. Where do you stand?
TUAWUPDATE: AT&T "unimpressed" with "irresponsible" Operation Chokehold originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - So long, Psystar - permanent injunction halts Mac clone biz
Filed under: Apple Corporate
What ride, eh? In what may have provided more blog fodder than a golfer hitting a tree, the end may have finally come for the storiedlife of Pystar's Mac clone business. AppleInsider, Gizmodo and The Loop are reporting U.S. District Judge William Alsup just put the smackdown on Psystar's selling of derivative works of OS X, doing anything to circumvent several things -- all of which wind up putting OS X on your non-Apple hardware. Still no ruling on the Rebel EFI software.
Bottom line: Psystar has until December 31, 2009 to stop selling Mac clones forever. Word is they have already started to comply.TUAWSo long, Psystar - permanent injunction halts Mac clone biz originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Developers now can use private API for screen capture on iPhone, says Apple
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, SDK, iPod touch, Jailbreak/pwnage
As Apple seems to be lightening up and accepting more applications using private APIs (including Ustream and others that stream video from the iPhone 3G), word comes that the review team is now officially allowing the UIGetScreenImage() function to be used in applications distributed in the App Store.
An Apple forum moderator stated in the developer forums:
Apple also states "that a future release of iPhone OS may provide a public API equivalent of this functionality." It's also noted that "At such time, all applications using UIGetScreenImage() will be required to adopt the public API.""After carefully considering the issue, Apple is now allowing applications to use the function UIGetScreenImage() to programmatically capture the current screen contents." The function prototype is as follows:
CGImageRef UIGetScreenImage();
This function, which is a part of the Core Graphics framework, allows an application access to what's being currently being displayed on the screen. It's useful for things like capturing a screen shot, as our own Erica Sadun's BETAkit does to allow developers to send screen shots to a developer. It also allows streaming video from the iPhone camera, as an application like this captures what's being displayed on the screen from the camera, and records it or sends it somewhere.
What other features devs are hoping to see opened up? There's things like general calendar access, Core Surface, and XMPP and app-settable timers that developers would like to take advantage of in their SDK apps.
I hope this is a sign of what's to come for the iPhone SDK, and that we'll see more things like this opened up soon for App Store distribution.
[via the Apple Developer Forums, dev membership required]TUAWDevelopers now can use private API for screen capture on iPhone, says Apple originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Dragon Age: Origins coming to Mac as a digital download December 21st
Filed under: Gaming, Software, Odds and ends
Gamepro's got the news that Electronic Arts is fast-tracking Dragon Age: Origins for release on the Mac -- they're now saying that it'll be out as a download as soon as next week, on December 21st. I've been playing the game on PC (it came out for both PC and consoles in November), and it is excellent -- an instant Bioware classic, and definitely the best roleplaying game of the year, especially if you enjoy good Baldur's Gate-style epic. Of course, you can pick up the PC version right now and play it in Boot Camp, but given that we've been needling developers to hurry up with their Mac versions, we have to give EA credit for this one. A month late is much better than, say, a few years late.
We'll also point out that this version will use Transgaming's Cider wrapper technology for the port, and they don't exactly have the best track record for quality Mac releases. But again, an A for effort on the release date. If you want to play it natively on the Mac, you'll be able to buy the game in either standard or deluxe versions, with the deluxe including extra bonus content and the "Warden's Keep" downloadable content pack (both versions come with the "Stone Prisoner" pack already, and the content packs open up more quests and items in the game itself). December 21st is the listed date: look for a link on their website then.TUAWDragon Age: Origins coming to Mac as a digital download December 21st originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Airlock automatically locks and unlocks your Mac using your iPhone or iPod touch
Filed under: Odds and ends
Like many people reading this article, I spend my day with my iPhone in my pocket. When I leave my office, I don't have to think about bringing my iPhone with me, it's already with me. Now if I step out of my office for more than a few seconds, my MacBook Pro automatically locks itself, and when I return, it automatically unlocks itself.
I work in a busy office. Occasionally a coworker will call or knock on my door and ask for my help with something, and the two of us will go to wherever I am needed. Most of them time I get back to my office and realize that I have left my MacBook Pro unlocked. To solve this, I've tried various things: setting a "hot corner" to trigger my screensaver, which requires my password be typed, or manually switching to the login window. (Many Windows users are used to hitting the Windows key plus "L" to temporarily "logout" but Mac OS X doesn't have an equivalent feature built-in, although there are some possible work-arounds.)
The biggest problem with all of those solutions? They require me to remember to do something. Which I usually forget to do.
Enter Airlock, a preference panel which will automatically lock and unlock your Mac when it senses that your iPhone (or iPod touch) is nearby.
That might sound like magic, but it isn't, it's Bluetooth. Once your iPhone is "paired" with Airlock, it will periodically check to see if the iPhone is still "in range" (which you can adjust, using the slider shown above). That's it. You don't need to run any software on your iPhone.
I've been using Airlock for about a week, and think it is pretty much the perfect balance between security and convenience. There is even a manual login option which lets you bypass Airlock using your regular login password (handy in case your iPhone battery dies or you need to use your computer without your iPhone around, possibly because your 7 year-old son has absconded with it to play Super Monkey Ball 2 again).
Airlock will let you automatically open applications when you come into range or go out of range. The functionality is a little limited at the moment - for example, I'd like a way to automatically set my iChat status as "away" when I'm gone and "available" when I'm back. That can be accomplished if you know how to write AppleScript, but it seems like an obvious feature to build in. There are other possible uses for this I can imagine: telling Mail.app to check for mail as soon as I get back, or telling NetNewsWire to resume downloading when I walk out of the room and pause it when I get back, so it will do those functions when my computer is otherwise idle. Again, if those things are possible it would require you to know how to code them in AppleScript.
Airlock will also only "pair" with one device at a time, which can cause problems if several people use the same Mac. For example, if I lock my iMac at home with my iPhone using Airlock and my wife wants to use it, she needs to have my account password, or else she can't get into the computer (there is no way for her to access the regular login panel, which would be another big feature request). However, for the usual use-case of one person and one Mac at an office, Airlock works great.
The webpage also warns that "due to a bug in Mac OS X, Airlock may not be compatible with computers that use wireless keyboards or mice." You can use Airlock for up to three hours without registering, which I would encourage everyone to do. (You can quit it and relaunch it for another three hours also.)
Airlock also recommends making the "activation range slightly larger than it appears necessary." Wireless signal strength isn't an exact science, and interference is possible. I found that sitting across the room from my iMac at home I was much more likely to run into interference than sitting next to my MacBook Pro at my desk at the office.
The dot shows you where your iPhone is located in proximity to Airlock. You can also adjust how often Airlock checks for your iPhone's presence. Checking more often will secure your Mac faster, but will increase the drain on your iPhone battery. There is a slider available to change between "better battery life" and "more responsive."
Fellow TUAW-er Brett Terpstra suggested that "do it yourself" folks might be able to mimic this behavior using RedHand (€ 1.49) and Proximity (free) but added "I found absolutely no method of Bluetooth proximity detection that didn't occasionally boot me out to a lock screen at least once every few hours when I (and my fully-charged, often docked, iPhone) were sitting right next to it." While I was writing this article with my iPhone charging and hooked to my MacBook Pro, Airlock locked me out once. I toggled Bluetooth on my iPhone off/on and Airlock unlocked.
It's not foolproof, but Airlock is one of those great little gems which solves a problem simply and easily, making life a little easier. I hope to see a few improvements (and hope that Mac OS X bug gets fixed for those who use wireless keyboards and mice) but for me it was money I was happy to spend for a little convenience, and so far the "false positives" haven't happened often enough to bother me, especially since I'm not having to log into my MacBook Pro all day long.
Airlock licenses are US$7.77 which allows you to use Airlock on up to three Macs. As mentioned above, you can download and test it for free for up to three hours per launch.TUAWAirlock automatically locks and unlocks your Mac using your iPhone or iPod touch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Chrome makes Safari take a back seat
Filed under: Software, Internet, Internet Tools, Apple
ComputerWorld is reporting that Chrome has surpassed Safari as the third-most popular browser.
According to Net Applications, which tracks the browser habits of 160 million unique visitors each month to the 40,000 sites it monitors for customers, Chrome's share jumped to 4.4% for the week of Dec. 6-12, an increase of 0.4 percentage points over Google's slice of the browser pie for the month of November.
Chrome's share during the week topped Safari's 4.37%, said Vince Vizzaccaro, executive vice president of Net Applications. "It appears that Chrome has made a substantial surge in usage market share," Vizzaccaro said in an e-mail.
Not surprising considering how much Google is pushing it. In the last two days I've seen dozens of Chrome ads on Facebook and (more surprisingly) the Amazon.co.uk home page.
Chrome is based on WebKit - an open source web browser engine. WebKit is also the name of the Mac OS X system framework version of the WebKit browser engine that's used by Safari, Dashboard, Mail, and many other OS X applications. I've only played around with Chrome for a few days, but I'm happy to stick with Safari for now (I love my MobileMe sync).
Here's how the top four browsers play out in market share:
Internet Explorer 63.6%
Firefox 24.7%
Chrome 4.4%
Safari 4.37%
What about you guys? Firefox, Chrome, IE (if you're on a PC) or Safari? Tell us what you use in the poll!
TUAWChrome makes Safari take a back seat originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Stolen laptop returned courtesy Back to My Mac information and police work
Filed under: Odds and ends, PowerBook, MobileMe
In late August we told you the story of 'Jim' who had his Mac laptop stolen along with some other computers and household goods. For the heck of it, he tried using Back to My Mac to find his machine. Back to My Mac is a feature of Apple's MobileMe service. Jim was surprised to find the Mac was online. He watched whoever had the laptop searching job sites, and cruising the web. He even saw some blurry pictures of people hovering around the computer.
The local police spent some time on the investigation, and finally recovered the laptop. Just a few days ago Jim picked it up. Many of his files were gone, but the Mac itself was in pretty good shape.
The investigators said the laptop had changed hands at least 5 times, and was probably used at least once as payment in a drug deal.
The perps may never be identified because of the laptop constantly changing hands, and no one seems to be talking. A happier ending would have been to have the crooks caught, but at least the laptop is back, and Back to My Mac helped accomplish the rescue. There have been other cases of Back To My Mac rescuing Macs and Apple's Find My iPhone service (also part of MobileMe) tracking stolen iPhones.
Thanks to Jim for sharing his story with us.TUAWStolen laptop returned courtesy Back to My Mac information and police work originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Dozen Daily Deals for December 15, 2009
Filed under: Deals
'Tis the season shop until your brains melt (or skip it all entirely, depending on your interpretation of the term holiday). In that spirit, for the next few weeks we'll be rounding up a dozen daily deals courtesy our friends at DealNews.com. Each afternoon tune in to TUAW for this handy summary. Keep in mind that while our posts will live on, the deals won't. Each is lovingly generated by the deal-bot every day, so get 'em while they're hot. Enjoy!
- iTunes Music Store: [iPhone / iPod Apps] App Store Price Drops: SketchBook Mobile, ReelDirector, Wolfram Alpha, more
- iTunes Music Store: [MP3 Downloads] Free at iTunes: Bob Dylan "Must Be Santa", more
- Apple Store: [iMac] 4 refurbished Apple iMac Desktops: 20" for $849 + free shipping, 24" from $1,099
- Apple Store: [MacBook Pro] Refurbished Apple MacBook Pro Laptops from $1,299 + free shipping
- iTunes Music Store: [iPhone / iPod Apps] TomTom U.S.A. for iPhone downloads for $50
- GoDaddy: [Computer Services] GoDaddy.com coupon: New 1-year domain name registration for $1
- US Appliance: [40" - 42" LCD TVs] Sony XBR 240Hz LCD HDTV Bundles: 40" for $1,049, 46" for $1,449 + free shipping
- iTunes Music Store: [iPhone / iPod Apps] LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone downloads for $20
- US Appliance: [50" - 52" LCD TVs] Sony BRAVIA XBR 52" 240Hz 1080p LCD HDTV Bundle for $1,649 + free shipping
- MacUpdate Promo: [Computer Software] MacUpdate Holiday Bundle: 14 Mac apps for $50
- Bargain Outfitters: [iPod Accessories] Eton Sound 100 AM/FM Clock Radio with iPod Dock for $35 + $8 s&h
- MidnightBox: [iPod Accessories] Griffin Technology BlueTrip Bluetooth Stereo Connection Kit for iPod for $11 + $4 s&h
TUAWDozen Daily Deals for December 15, 2009 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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