north-sea
Latest
TUAW's Daily App: Silent Hunter Mobile
The Silent Hunter series is largely accepted as the pinnacle of submarine simulation. The PC and console games are pretty much the best way to feel like you're in charge of a real old-school submarine. Ubisoft currently owns the license, and they've now released an iPhone version of the brand, which has you piloting a German U-boat around the North Sea in 1939. It lacks most of the depth (pun intended, sorry) that Silent Hunter is known for; the game is basically a shooting gallery, and while there is a bit of strategy in ship placement, the plan is mostly to kill the other side before they kill you. Still, it's fun, and except for a little bit of lag in the controls, it plays pretty well. You can send your sub up or down in the water (make sure to stay below when you get close to the escort you're stalking) and fire torpedos at any targets you spot. The game's campaign mode has 12 different missions, and each one offers up a nice set of progressions, from just hunting down merchant ships to taking on destroyers, on up into anti-air combat. You can earn XP to upgrade your sub and its parts, but the gameplay doesn't change much; you pretty much just navigate to the right spot, and then open fire at the right time. The graphics are presentable on the iPhone, but the music is actually excellent. All in all, the game is definitely worth a go at US $1.99 (which is what it's on sale for in the App Store right now). You won't find anywhere near the level of complicated and subtle gameplay that the larger versions of Silent Hunter have, but if you just want to line up a destroyer in your sights and yell, "Torpedo away!", Silent Hunter Mobile does the trick.
Motorola MT810 Ophone to sport both capacitive and resistive digitizers, makes TV cameo
Remember the Motorola MT820 that got leaked in China last week? Well, for some mysterious reason it's now adopted a new name -- MT810 (but with the same codename, "North Sea"). According to IT168, the tipster isn't exactly clear on whether the two model numbers refer to the same hardware configuration, but a quick search on the Chinese regulator's database reveals just MT810, and that it'll work on China Mobile's TD-SCDMA network and WAPI (China's own take on WiFi). Going back to the latest leak: we're now learning that the camera will capture 720p footage -- apparently a first on the Ophone platform -- and a minimum of 5-megapixel stills, accompanied by an LED flash. As for the flip cover, turns out it also serves as a capacitive touch layer, while the screen underneath is coupled with the good-old resistive digitizer -- ideal for those who prefer writing Chinese with a pointy stylus instead of a sausage. Sadly, the tipster's still mum about the cover's rumored 3D filter capability, which would in theory go nicely with some live soccer on the phone's CMMB mobile TV capability, as teased by a recent commercial on China's national television -- video after the break, if you can bear the jealousy. [Thanks, Rachel]%Gallery-92553%
