Find the latest mobile phone news and reviews here. We review all the latest mobile phone handsets and give you the lowdown on where to get the best mobile phone deals and contracts.
Up to this day, the iPhone has constantly been proving itself as an effective game medium. Although there are some who would say otherwise, it has become quite the casual game platform of choice. Even Nintendo is recognizing its prowess and has deemed it an even bigger competition than Sony or Microsoft. Interestingly enough, the people who also make games for the hardcore crowd are cashing into the viable iPhone market and are now releasing spinoffs of their own games (such as Capcom’s Resident Evil series) or completely new IPs. Highborn is the latter and it is made by the folks over at Jet Set Games.
Jet Set Games is actually comprised of people who have worked on the original Command & Conquer games. This includes the co-founder of the PC game developer Westwood Studios, Brett W. Sperr. The company established in 2008 is situated at the heart of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Highborn is first and foremost a strategy game. It gives you a bird’s eye view of a board game like interface wherein you get to explore the map within a predetermined number of steps. You then attack enemies such as undead skeletons and take over forts. Direct attacks are animated in 3D and you get to see your troops attacking the enemies automatically.
As you can probably guess, Highborn is more of a casual strategy game rather than a micromanagement RTS. You will have a total of 9 campaigns opened up for single play, the real fun comes from connecting to game sessions with friends and having some friendly competition. You and your Facebook friends may battle it out with the use of a 3G connection or the ol’ faithful Wi-Fi connectivity.
With its wacky set of characters, a total of eighty memorable heroes and comical game assets, Highborn is a very charming game to check out if you like social networking based multiplayer games.
Apple’s latest gadget has just been released, and many people are already in their homes enjoying the comfort and accessibility of the internet and digital media in their brand new touch screen tablet, the Apple iPad.
This lightweight, stylish, 10 inch touch screen tablet fits perfectly well on top of an office table, beside a computer, the kitchen counter, your coffee table and virtually everywhere in the house. Apple’s new device may feel like a shrunk down computer in terms of usage, but it certainly seems more like an interactive magazine than anything else.
The iPad comes with a nice big 9.7 inch touch screen display, and it is this huge screen that gives the tablet its advantage over smart phones. Browsing on a mobile phone is one thing, but it will always feel like internet-lite as opposed to actually being able to enjoy the net. At the same time netbooks and computers tend to be cumbersome and even the smallest netbook will require you to find a place to set it down to use properly.
As one might expect, accessibility is the key advantage of the iPad –with its small size, you can use it almost anywhere at home, and you can also use it anytime thanks to the 10 hour battery life. Indeed, Apple has been able to finally pull off a device that has a great battery life. Many users are now claiming that their iPad are even able to go beyond the regular 10 –reaching up to 11 and 11 & half an hour.
Of course, the device has its own drawbacks, the most obvious of all is the fact that all if the iPad’s impressive features (aside from the battery) is a given for any tablet devices that will be competing against it. In fact, Apple’s lack of Flash support will leave them as the only manufacturer that lacks one important media format –while all other operating systems such as Android will be supporting Adobe’s web format.
Apple’s launch plans for the Apple iPad is bound to get plenty of online customers angry. According to various reports, the launch of the iPad will actually push through this May 28, but stores will be focusing on people who are going to be lining up in the queue. Those who already made pre-orders might have to wait for as long as two weeks before the touch screen tablet is shipped to their homes.
While there is something that is interesting and enjoyable about having to wait for hours in a queue just to get a single tablet, this plan does cut out online shoppers. In the simplest, aspect, this is unfair of Apple –as the best way to gauge the volume of products that needs to be manufactured is also based on the number of pre-orders that are made prior to the launch –and from that data, the total number of actual stock to be produced for the demands of both online and walk-in customers is calculated.
Sadly, it seems that folks who had the insight and wisdom to order their iPads weeks ahead of time will be getting the bad end of the deal as they will be among the last to receive the device. Indeed, from the way things are, it appears that the only way to get an Apple iPad early once May 28 rolls in is to be camped in one of the many electronic retail stores that are offering the touch screen tablet. Once again, Apple has managed to hurt their very own customers –unless they actually want to discourage people from pre ordering Apple devices online.
Curry’s and PC World stores, along with Apple’s official retail offices will be stocking and offering the iPad to customers on Friday morning –there have also been some reports that store will be opening extra-early to accommodate the projected number of iPad buyers.
While other manufacturers are pretty upfront about it, the guys at Apple sure have their way in skittering about while avoiding the topic at hand. Simply put, the iPad international launch has been delayed. And while Apple has been to announce the new date, they are also heavily bent on taking the focus away from the new date and instead have the public become astounded as to how the device is so heavily demanded in the US.
Yes, this is not surprising considering that Apple is the very same company that seemed happy to announce the upcoming iAds feature to consumers and end-users (the business market would like that, not the general public).
Anyway, back to the iPad launch; there is no denying that the tablet has been quite the success when it launched. Many of the early buyers have been pretty generous about praising the device. Even the critics find it hard to admit that the 10 inch tablet is able to deliver a unique internet experience and is a delight for many eBook readers.
The tablet serves comes with the ability to run apps (as well as apps for the iPhone and the iPod Touch), play games, browse the internet, read eBook, play media files and more.
Knowing all that does not make the additional 1 month of waiting easier; the only good thing here is that local preorders for the tablet have not yet opened up or else Apple would be slammed heavily by many distributors and operators. Speaking of which, it seems like Vodafone, Orange and O2 have been aware that the launch has been pushed back. Pre-orders for the tablet are expected to be out by the 10th of May.
Just what is the iChatAgent? This is the big question on the minds of many developers as they have started delving deep into the SDK for the iPhone 4.0 OS. There are indeed plenty of new features, though very few details on what these added capabilities are, Apple is confident that the sheer number of added functions will be something that users will look forward to.
Anyway, the presence of the iChatAgent heavily hints at the possibility that the next Apple iPhone (the iPhone 4G) would come with a second camera on the front. While Apple has yet to confirm or deny this rumor, it does coincide with many previous claims that the device would indeed have the feature. iPhone users have been begging for a front facing camera for quite some time now and many are hoping that the next device would actually have the feature.
Speaking of features that users are begging for, the new iPhone 4.0 OS does bring with it the added bonus of multitasking for up to four tasks. Apple has also brought in folders for icons and the ability to change the background wallpaper on the phone.
Developers have been unhappy with one major factor of the newly released SDK; the license agreement. It turns out that a clause in the agreement prevents developers from making use of third party software in order to create applications for the iPhone. Many rely on programs such as Adobe Flash Professional in order to create their apps. This rule does push out Adobe from the picture but at the same time, has met the disapproval of many in the dev community.
Expect to see more about the Apple iPhone 4G later this year.
Read original article and the rest of the info about the new iChatAgent at Mobile Choice UK.
We have all heard the news: Apple is (allegedly) preventing developers from using Adobe software for developing Apps for the new iPhone 4.0 operating system. Though there has been a very strong feedback against the move by developers, there is little for consumers to be worried about, or is there?
The most obvious effect here is that one of Apple’s biggest advantages is that users have plenty of apps to download and use. While Apple is not known to be the kindest when it comes to approving which applications will be allowed to be placed up in the Apple App Store, they still provide developers with one of the largest app markets where users actually purchase content.
The catch is about the take a turn for the worse as it has been determined that the new SDK will have developers programming straight from scratch instead of being able to use programs such as Adobe Flash.
The details of the rule can be found in the License Agreement for iPhone 4.0 operating system developers, in clause 3.3.1: “Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).”
While Adobe is not the only developer whose software has been deemed unapproved, it is the largest and most often used software in the development of iPhone Apps. Considering Steve Jobs’ stubborn stand against Flash and all things Adobe, it is most likely that the agreement would not be altered or changed –ever.
Read more about how developers are reacting to the new License Agreement and what this all means for the future of the iPhone at Tech Radar.
It is a simple feature, but Apple fans are very happy to finally have it. Multitasking has been a long deprived capability that iPhone users have learned to live without for more than two years. Just like cut and paste, it appears that Apple really has a tendency for leaving out simple features that users really need.
Anyway, the new iPhone OS brings in multitasking (just like the previous major change which enabled cut and paste), and while the process is simple –double tap the home screen to bring up the list of programs, it is something that many iPhone users have been hoping to get.
Of course, even the new feature has its limits; only up to 4 programs can be running at the same time. No word yet as to why this is the limit but many believe that this is the maximum number of apps that can run while keeping phone performance at its most tolerable slowdown rates. Many believe that the mere inclusion of multitasking, even without running more than one app, would slow down the device’s performance albeit insignificantly.
Aside from the switching active programs, Apple announced that the OS update will be changing almost 100 new things for the iPhone. While we have yet to see a list, a couple of the more prominent additions are the inclusion of folders for menu icons (which allows icons to be stored and grouped) as well as the ability to change the black background.
For many, while the new features are welcome, they are hardly anything to be excited about; after all, multitasking, changing the background wallpaper and icon folders are pretty common features in basic smart phones.
Read the rest of the article and see the new multitasking video demo of the iPhone 4.0 OS at Know Your Mobile.
Sure, that is how many people and companies generate income online. And in more ways than one, it is a needed annoyance that people have learned to ignore while going about their merry ways on the internet. However, if Steve Jobs thinks that this revolutionary new advertising feature will be something that users will be looking forward to, he ought to get his head checked out; never in a million years will integrated advertisements be a good thing for consumers.
As stated above, we all know the argument and we know how the system works. No one ever said that we should simply do without ads, but when a big corporation such as Apple actually takes the stages and brandishes it as a new feature then we are going to have some serious problems.
Still, that did not stop the Apple messiah from beaming like a happy parent. At least he still had real treats up his sleeve that left us with something real to look forward to. Like multitasking, folders and the ability to change background colors. Those are nice, but hardly the big change that we all thought was going to come with the new OS.
On a side note, details on the SDK for version 4.0 has also come out and it looks like Apple’s Adobe-hating has just been bumped up a serious notch as it practically bans the use of Flash for making app content. Of course, we on the consumer side hardly really care about this, but expect to see some developers dropping out of the game while they go learn some new ways of developing for Apple.
Speaking of which, the iAds also seem to be Apple’s new way of competing with Google Ads –interesting.
Read more about the ads and other things to expect from the new Apple OS at the Guardian UK.
Bad news for all Apple fans who had an iPad shipped from the US. According to recent reports, it turns out that the Apple app store cannot be accessed by users outside of the US. While the iTunes store would accept users that log in through an account with a fake American address, purchasing apps is a completely different problem since the store would also require the use of a US based credit card.
In any case, the worldwide release of the iPad is slated for April 24, which many believe would be the time that everyone would be able to access to store. Apple has yet to make an official statement regarding the lockout but many believe that this is part of having the device exclusively released in the US for a couple of weeks.
Anyway, the iPad had a very successful launch as it grossed about 300,000 units in the first day of sales alone. Reports are now placing current sales figures at 700,000 devices and many believe that the device will hit the 1 million mark pretty soon. This comes as to no surprise considering how well made the iPad is and how it turns the internet into something that everyone can truly enjoy.
All is not good news for Apple however. Recent accounts from early iPad buyers have revealed that the device has problems connecting to WiFi routers that support dual band technology. As a result, some public access WiFi hotspots cannot be used by the device. While changing the setup in a home environment is easy, it will affect other devices rely on very specific settings. Apple has formally recognized the problem and has announced that they are working on a solution.
Get to know more about the Apple store lock out at Pocket Lint.
The Apple iPad has been quite a commercial hit after it launched last weekend in the United States. According to reports, the touch screen tablet sold over 300,000 units on the first day of sales. The sales figure has grown to 700,000 in these past few days –surpassing all initial estimates for the iPad.
While the Apple brand is one of the biggest contributing factors to the success of the device, there is also the fact that the touch screen tablet is one well made piece of hardware that people will certainly find a use for. The device is able to function as a web browser with its WiFi connectivity, touch screen display and large resolution that offer a better net experience than smart phones. It also works as an eBook reader, a media player, a gaming device and since it can run a wide variety of applications, it is one of the most versatile gadgets you can have at home.
Still, the device is not without its flaws. Aside from the previously announced fact that it lacks multitasking and Adobe Flash support, several iPad buyers have reported having issues with the tablet’s ability to connect to routers.
Apple has since made an official statement regarding the issue and has identified the problem as something that occurs when the iPad attempts to connect to a router that uses dual band technology (2.4GHz and 5.4GHz). While Apple has advised that owners of the routers change the network names, it pays to remember that even such a simple change would mean having to replace the settings on other devices that use the same network.
There is still no word about Apple creating a real fix to the issue such as an upcoming patch but that is something that many iPad owners are hoping to see in the next few days.
Find out more about the answer to the iPad problems at Pocket Lint.
Up to this day, the iPhone has constantly been proving itself as an effective game medium. Although there are some who would say otherwise, it has become quite the casual game platform of choice. Even Nintendo is recognizing its prowess and has deemed it an even bigger competition than Sony or Microsoft. Interestingly enough, the people who also make games for the hardcore crowd are cashing into the viable iPhone market and are now releasing spinoffs of their own games (such as Capcom’s Resident Evil series) or completely new IPs. Highborn is the latter and it is made by the folks over at Jet Set Games.
