Archives - Posts written in January, 2010
Apple’s iPad marketing sparks complaint to FTCPosted January 31st
“A consumer complained to the FTC that Apple is falsely advertising that the iPad supports Adobe Flash.
Catan: The First Island brings tabletop gaming glee to iPhonePosted January 30th
“Filed under: Gaming, Features, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review
Catan. If you've ever visited, there's a good chance you're passionate about it.
First unveiled as a traditional board game in 1995, the now-classic trading and settlement game has evolved over the years to include dozens of scenarios, expansions and reworkings, from limited edition game maps to browser-based Internet versions. Naturally, the Settlers of Catan is now also available for the iPhone [iTunes link], and it's a a damn good condensed version.
First things first. This is the full, but basic, game. The original ruleset isn't condensed at all, but none of the expansions are present in the current version. While long-time board gamers might scoff at simple "vanilla Settlers," the basic game as presented in Exozet's iPhone version acts just like the tabletop big brother. You can choose to play on the fixed beginner board or a random map, you can play with three or four people (or bots), you can trade, you can go for longest road, etc. All the things that make Catan such an enduring game are here, and that's great to have in your pocket.
Read on to find out more about Catan: the First Island on the iPhone (and iPod Touch).
Continue reading Catan: The First Island brings tabletop gaming glee to iPhone
Catan: The First Island brings tabletop gaming glee to iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our
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Got some time? Crush the CastlePosted January 30th
“Filed under: Gaming, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review
I admit it. I am iPadded out. I am iTired. I am suffering from iBurnout. So it was with pleasure that I found an addicting little game for the iPhone and iPod touch called Crush the Castle [iTunes link]. It's a free medieval game where you use an ancient trebuchet to smash a variety of castles and the inhabitants standing nearby. Crush the Castle is physics based, so you have to swing a heavy projectile in the air and release at just the right point to flatten the castle off to the right of the trebuchet. After a few tries it gets damned addictive.
You have more than a dozen castles to crush in two different kingdoms. If you do well, you get some medals. If not, you are rebuked by the king. The animation is good, the physics seem accurate, and the sounds of castles coming down and soldiers screaming adds to the fun.
At each new level, the distance to the castles from your siege machine increases, so you really have to get the release point for the projectile just right.
Crush the Castle is a port of a Flash-based game which you can play for free online. If you really get into the mild mayhem, I'd suggest you look at the US$1.99 version [iTunes link] which has 90 levels, 10 types of ammo, and an editor so you can design your own castles before you knock them down.
Both versions get great reviews from users, and I'm in agreement. It's helping me forget all the endless iDebates over the iPad and work my iAggressions out on my iPhone. ...”
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Review: Palm Pixi Plus smartphonePosted January 30th
“The "Plus" in the Palm Pixi Plus really means one thing: the addition of Wi-Fi connectivity.
With iPad on the way, AT&T touts network investmentsPosted January 30th
“With a 3G-capable iPad coming later this year, AT&T says it's improving its 3G network.
With iPad on the way, AT&T touts network investmentsPosted January 30th
“With a 3G-capable iPad coming later this year, AT&T says it's improving its 3G network.
Analyst: There’s a market of four to five million iPhones a year in ChinaPosted January 30th
“Filed under: Apple Financial, Apple, iPhone
I thought Apple sounded a tad bit defensive about China on the conference call Monday, but Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty says there's nothing to worry about: she expects Apple to sell up to four or five million iPhones in China per year. Apple told us on Monday that they've activated about 200,000 iPhones in China so far, but Huberty claims that there's a market for maybe 50 million iPhones over there, and echoes Tim Cook's assertion that price is the main issue. "Hardware pricing, service plan pricing and the large up-front payment," she says in her report, "were cited by 85%, 66% and 56% of respondents respectively, as reasons they were not likely to purchase an iPhone."
Keep in mind that the four to five million figure is a top end -- in the first year, Apple has said that they're aiming for more like one or two million. But there is definitely a solid market to be found in China, and significant sales there could help buoy Apple earnings reports over here for sure.Analyst: There's a market of four to five million iPhones a year in China originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Analyst: There's a market of four to five million iPhones a year in China originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPad CPU may find its way into next-gen iPhonePosted January 29th
“Filed under: Hardware, iPhone, iPod touch
Since the announcement that the iPad comes with a 1 GHz A4 chip developed and owned by Apple (thanks, no doubt, to their acquisition of chipmaker PA Semi), one thing's been on a lot of people's minds: when will this chip make it to the iPhone?
The iPhone 3GS runs on an 833 MHz Samsung chip, that, presumably to increase battery life, is underclocked to 600 MHz. While this is better than the original iPhone and iPhone 3G's 620 MHz CPU (underclocked to about 412 Mhz), there's still plenty of room for improvement. Analysts fully expect that improvement will come either from the A4 chip itself or a lower-powered variant of it designed for the iPhone's smaller screen and battery.
Early impressions of the iPad's speed from people who have actually handled one are that the device is far faster than any iPhone or iPod touch released so far, with applications opening "instantly," and provides far smoother graphics performance. With Apple now designing and implementing its own "system on a chip" CPU for the iPad, it seems very likely this will be one of many iPad features that will trickle down to Apple's smaller mobile devices. Once the iPad actually finds its way to consumers (and teardown sites), we'll have a much better idea of what Apple's A4 chip is capable of. As for the next-gen iPhone's CPU, I'm placing my bets on an A4 variant rather than the full iPad CPU, with an operational speed in the neighborhood of 800 - 850 MHz -- more than twice the speed of the iPhone 3G.
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The iPad: What you need to knowPosted January 29th
“The Macworld staff tackles the good, bad, and ugly questions about Apple's latest device, the iPad.
The iPad: What you need to knowPosted January 29th
“The Macworld staff tackles the good, bad, and ugly questions about Apple's latest device, the iPad.