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I Am Alive tops April PSN downloads, just one Vita game charts
Ubisoft's post-apocalypse third-person-survivor I Am Alive apparently struck a chord with PlayStation 3 owners last month, topping the PlayStation Network's download charts for April 2012, even edging out March's big PSN release, Journey.The Walking Dead's game adaptation from Telltale managed more than a shambling start as well, taking up two spots on the top 10 with the season pass and first episode in third and fifth place, respectively. Just one Vita title landed on the list, Escape Plan, in the number 10 spot. All of this information – and more! – can be found in the latest PlayStation "Pulse" video, which we've dropped just below the break.
Pulse News for iOS adds local content for many cities
Pulse News for iOS has added a local category to its news aggregation app. The change puts hundreds of local news sources into the Pulse app, which can make the app a 1 stop destination for a lot of users. As far as I know this is the first news app that has offered tailored local content. Partners include Patch (from our owners AOL), which is available in 800 US cities, and some other regional and suburban publishers have joined up as well. In addition to local news, the app offers localized deals from Groupon, Living Social and Gift City. A new local sports category has content from SBNation, Bleacher Report, and CBS Sports. Finally, the app has added Zagat restaurant info and local food blogs to help users find the best meals in their areas. I tried the app today to generally good results. I didn't see any info from Patch (they don't do anything here in Arizona), but the other categories populated quickly. Local news has been pretty much ignored by most of the news aggregation apps, so this is a good step for news junkies who find it easier to get news from Afghanistan than their own backyard. The Pulse News app does not require an update. The new feature is added at the server side, so users only have to add a new content source to see the local news options.
Auditorium 2: Duet multiplayer wants you to make sweet harmonies with that special someone
Indie studio Cipher Prime has launched a Kickstarter project for Auditorium 2: Duet, the sequel to 2008's rhythm-physics title Auditorium, which is celebrating its debut on Steam today. Duet aims to be a polished playground built on the experience Cipher Prime has gained developing Auditorium, Pulse and Fractal over the past three years, but its most exciting feature is something none of the developers have attempted before -- multiplayer."When we first started our studio we were very nervous," Cipher Prime's Will Stallwood told Joystiq in an exclusive interview. "We created Auditorium by accident and had little game design experience. We've spent the past three years honing our skills so we could tackle multiplayer."Auditorium has been our playground since the day we started, so the only logical step is to keep her as our playground," Stallwood adds, unknowingly outing Auditorium as a female game, for those of you keeping score.Auditorium 2: Duet will be optimized for two-player gameplay, and Cipher Prime will be testing it as a local feature to start, with tentative plans -- more like vehement wishes -- to include PS3/Steam and iPad/Steam crossplay functions down the line.%Gallery-148865%
Auditorium devs look to Kickstarter for sequel funding
Will Stallwood and Dain Saint of indie studio Cipher Prime don't want to buy new Ferraris.Actually, they may want to do that -- because hello, Ferraris -- but that's not where their current focus lies. Cipher Prime wants to make a sequel to its first title Auditorium, titled Auditorium 2: Duet, and has turned to Kickstarter to crowdsource a portion of its budget.Cipher Prime is the conductor behind a trio of ambient, subtly beautiful, rhythm-based brain busters. After launching the originally Flash-based Auditorium in 2008, the developer orchestrated two follow-up titles: Pulse and Fractal. Since then Auditorium has been ported to iOS, PS3, Xbox 360 and PSP, and today marks its launch on Steam -- and, Stallwood hopes, the launch of its sequel's development.Speaking exclusively with Joystiq, Cipher Prime's Will Stallwood says development of Auditorium 2: Duet will only take place if the team manages to hit its sizable Kickstarter goal of $60,000. According to the developer, the goal represents half of what the team needs to complete the project, with Cipher Prime contributing the other half of necessary funds.
Nokia's social apps coming to Android and iOS: lions expected to lie down with lambs shortly
Nokia's Pulse app looks and smells familiar to anyone who's ever used Google Latitude. The difference being that the Finnish handset maker has the benefit of Navteq's $8 billion geolocation technology that it picked up back in 2008. Now the Haus of Elop is opening a Boston skunkworks that'll port the app, as well as future social software over to Android and iOS. It's part of a wider project to coax users toward Windows Phone by getting them hooked on a suite of features hoped to be "more than the sum of its parts." What do you think dear readers, will it work?
Pulse News updated with source syncing
Apple Design Award-winning Pulse News has been updated with Pulse Sync, a new feature that allows for instant syncing of sources across devices for anyone with a free pulse.me account. In my case, I have Pulse News on both my iPhone and iPad; adding a new source to my news feed on the iPhone will automatically sync it to the news feed on my iPad. It's a great new feature that works quite seamlessly, and it ensures I have essentially the same news reading experience no matter which device I'm using. I did notice a small snag during the initial setup. I enabled Pulse Sync on my iPhone first, which turned out to be an unfortunate error on my part -- my iPad has been my primary device for Pulse, with all my feeds set up exactly how I wanted them. Enabling Pulse Sync on the iPhone first meant Pulse Sync assumed my iPhone's feed was how I wanted things set up on all of my devices, and I couldn't find any way to back out of that. I wound up having to manually re-order my news sources on my iPad, but the good news is after I did that those changes automatically propagated back to my iPhone. Pulse News is free for both the iPhone and iPad, and it has built-in support for Instapaper, Evernote, Read It Later, and Reader. Pulse is hands-down the best news reader I've used on any device, well-deserving of the Apple Design Award it won this year, and it's an app that all iOS users should have on their devices.
Scosche myTrek sends workout vitals to your iPhone, starts shipping now for $130 (video)
With a variety of portable power accessories, most Scosche products are designed to keep gadgets up and running, not to get our own blood flowing. The company's new Bluetooth myTrek pulse monitor pairs with an iPhone or iPod touch to motivate you to keep going and going, however, pumping "inspiring" audio alerts through your headphones during a workout, while also tracking pulse, distance, speed, pace, and calories burned. The arm-strap uses a pair of LEDs, along with a photo sensor and accelerometer to capture vitals as it rests strapped to your forearm, providing five hours of continuous feedback before needing its own boost using the included USB cable. You'll need to have your iOS device within 33 feet of the device to record your workout, so the myTrek may be better suited for trips to the gym than, say, a run through the park in the rain. It's also rather pricey, at $130, but if you're already dropping a grand or two for your gym membership each year, a gadget that lets you elegantly track your progress may be within reach.
Get Pulse on iPad for $1.99 through August 12 [update]
Auditorium developer Cipher Prime released Pulse on iPad back in May and has since enjoyed 12 consecutive weeks in the top 10 iPad music game charts. To celebrate this success, Cipher Prime has slashed the price of Pulse: Volume One down to $1.99 through Wednesday, August 10 -- a 60 percent saving off its usual asking price of $4.99. [Update: The deal has been extended and will now conclude on Friday, August 12.] We'd never dare tell you what to do with your money, but we can think of worse ways to spend a couple bucks. Did you really need that comb that looks like a switchblade? Okay, definitely, but you get the point.%Gallery-122885%
Scientists find less damaging defibrillation method, heart tissue relieved
Good news, aging Earthlings: a team of researchers have found a way to shock a coding patient's heart, while leaving other organs and tissues undamaged from the defibrillator. The device send a single high voltage pulse of electrical energy to a patient's chest in order to fix an irregular or nonexistent heart beat; traditionally, what often results is damage to point of contact and surrounding skin cells, muscles and tissues, but a team of whiz kids have seemingly figured out a way to dodge the dreadfulness. Led by scientists Stefan Luther and Flavio Fenton, the team claims that by using a series of five pulses of less potent shocks (instead of a single concentrated charge), docs can see an 84 percent reduction in damaging power. This new technology -- coined low-energy antifibrillation pacing (LEAP) -- can also be used in implanted defibrillators, not just the well-known flappy paddles. Due to the relatively low emissions, both the patient and such implants have extended lives. And that, friends, is good for us all -- given the impending Robot Apocalypse, we'll be needing those extra years just to hold down the fort.
ViviTouch haptic tech offers range of feedback, aims to reinvent the mobile gaming wheel
When a company touts a product as being as revolutionary as the leap from black & white TV to color, it's either incredibly delusional or it has a damn good product on its hands. And judging by the buzz surrounding Artificial Muscle's ViviTouch tactile feedback technology and our own hands-on at CES, we're inclined to believe its braggart rights. Taking the "one-buzz-fits-all" approach and chucking it in the bin of 'ye olde tech of yesteryear,' the electroactive polymer tech creates a "spectrum of feeling" in the 50 - 300Hz range that registers with a user's hand in five milliseconds. We know what you're thinking -- haptic minutiae is fine and all, but what about my battery life? Well, if the company's CEO is to be believed, the vibrating touch interface drains 70 percent less juice than rival implementations -- so it's still hoggy, but not quite as hungry. If you're looking to get a feel of your own for these sensational claims, you'll have to wait for the Mophie Pulse to make its way to fourth generation iPod touch's later this year. Buzzwordy presser after the break.
Livescribe Connect upgrade lets you share doodles in several ways, just not wirelessly (video)
Pen pushers who took a chance on Livescribe's note-recording smartpen have benefited from some nice apps, hacks and upgrades along the way. Now the company's latest productivity-booster is a software update called Connect, which lets you share your scribbles via Email, Google Docs, Facebook and Evernote, as well as through Livescribe's own Pencast platform. Some of these sharing options were already available but Connect tries to speed things in an interesting way: by letting you set sharing instructions even as you jot down a note. Simply draw a double line and write, say, 'Facebook' or 'Google Docs' somewhere on the page, and the sharing will take place automatically the next time you sync to your Mac or PC. Most of the sharing options are free, but if you own an older Pulse model or the new entry-level $99.95 2GB Echo you'll need to buy a $15 upgrade before you can share via Email or Google Docs. Heck, we'd pay way more than that if only Livescribe would come up with a way to sync and share wirelessly -- docking this thing feels about as cutting edge as a quill. Video and full PR after the break.
Crapgadget: 'atrocious amalgam' edition
Sure, it may not be as functional as a 3 megapixel camera conspicuously disguised as a magnetic cat, but what could be more secure than an oversized pseudo-padlock thumbdrive? Not your style? Well, surely you have use for a new towel, complete with iPhone pocket? No? Might you enjoy re-training yourself to breathe while basking in the glow of your iPod-ready black light? Fine. Negative Nancy (shown above). We'll just leave you to your USB-warmed coffee and rage relief button. When you're ready to come out and play, hit up the links below to help us crown the king of crappy combos. Read - Brando Flash Drive (Looks like a padlock!) Read - USB cup warmer (with a massive 56-inch USB cable!) Read - A black light -- with an iPod dock! Read - Visualizing pulse meter (for learning how to breathe!) Read - Gym towel iPhone pocket! Read - The unfortunate offspring of the Staples Easy Button's sordid love affair with a stress ball. %Poll-63853%
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Pulse: Volume One
Cipher Prime is the developer behind the former Daily iOS App choice Auditorium, and the company has returned to the platform with Pulse: Volume One, an iPad game that has you playing with both rhythm and sound. The idea starts off simple -- hit the notes on the screen as the radiating circular pulse hits them from the center. But as with most music games, things start slow and build up quickly until you're frantically trying to tag all of the notes in their wacky patterns to match up with the song as it plays. When the game works well, it does feel like you're "playing" the notes as they go by, but when things get really hard, it can be confusing to keep up. Unfortunately, the game only has eight songs to play through. While the songs are good, that's not a lot of content. There's no Game Center integration or other modes to play with, either. With the lack of extras, it might be tough to justify the US$4.99 iPad price -- the game's not available on the iPhone yet. This might be one to wait for a sale on. Still, if you like the feel of a good music game, Pulse will likely get yours going. Update: While there are only eight tracks in the original version of the app, Cipher Prime emails to tell us that more are being added, at the rate of four new tracks a month over the next six months. All of the updates will be free, we're told, so that's a pretty excellent deal right there.
Pulse, from makers of Auditorium, now on iPad
The lovely, addictive Auditorium is a big favorite at Joystiq HQ, and developer Cipher Prime has just delivered an equally enjoyable follow-up, Pulse: Volume One, a new rhythm game for iPad. It's unsurprisingly tough to describe, but if you like tapping screens in time with music as you simultaneously create lovely visuals, we imagine you're really going to enjoy it. If you're a little nervous about parting with $5 sight unseen, we've got a gallery of screens and a promo code for one of you just after the break.%Gallery-122885%
Scientists figure out how to see through walls, sort of
We all know that light can't exactly pass through solid objects -- unless of course, you're using a laser or something. Yes, X-rays allow us to look into suitcases at the airport and broken bones in our bodies, but there's a new kid on the block that claims to have done the impossible in a novel fashion. Jochen Aulbach and his colleagues of the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics out in Amsterdam have developed a technology that allows scrambled light to remain focused as it passes through ultra-thin layers of paint. You see, when light is sent through opaque material, it becomes muddled and lost in the space-time continuum. Aulbach and his crew used a spatial light modulator, or SMT, to control a 64-femtosecond long laser pulse that's passed through a thin layer of paint. The SMT emits pulses that last long enough for only a machine to see and the data is sent to a computer for calibration. NewScientist claims that with this technology, it might be possible to hone in on cancerous cells and blast them to oblivion without damaging the healthy tissue surrounding them.
Angry Birds is top PSN download in January, Mass Effect 2 comes in at #8
No wonder developers are jumping ship to Rovio: it's flooded with money. Angry Birds has managed to perch itself atop not only the iOS and Android marketplaces, but it has claimed the top spot on the PlayStation Store as well. Released as a mini, the port works on both PS3 and PSP, which undoubtedly helped its sales. The rest of the top 10 for January include: Angry Birds Tetris X-Men Pac-Man Championship Edition DX Final Fantasy VII Wheel of Fortune Marvel vs Capcom 2 Mass Effect 2 Castle Crashers Risk Factions Mass Effect 2 is a surprising addition to the top downloads list, considering it is a full $60 game. Perhaps the success of Bioware's RPG will cause more publishers to consider releasing full retail games via the PlayStation Store?
Mophie Pulse haptic game grip hands-on
Today at CES, Mophie showed off a prototype of its Pulse game grip for the 4th-generation iPod touch, which features battery-powered front-facing stereo speakers and haptic feedback by Reflex Technology. We spent some time using the Pulse and came away rather impressed. Game audio, music, and even the keyboard tick sound get translated into convincing pulses and vibrations. The iPod touch interfaces with the Pulse via the 3.5mm headphone jack, and a switch on the bottom left edge turns the haptic feedback on and off. As a bonus, the Pulse also offers full case protection. No word yet on availability or pricing, but you can check out the prototype in the gallery below. %Gallery-112607%
Kodak adds Quick Comment option, activity sensor to refreshed Pulse digiframe
We've been talking a lot about second generation hardware at CES this year, but it's not just Intel and AMD who are unveiling their next iterative step toward consumers' pockets. Kodak has disclosed plans to update its Pulse digital photo frame -- you know, the one that can receive images via its very own email address -- with a new Quick Comments feature plus an activity sensor that switches the display off when no humanoids are moving about in front of it. It doesn't seem like you'll be able to author your own comments when responding to the sender of your latest pic, though you will be able to communicate via a selection of gorgeous pre-canned proclamations like the always popular "OMG!" and the ever-versatile "LOL!" The new Pulse will be arriving in the spring, costing $130 for the 7-inch variety or $200 for its 10-inch SKU. Skip past the break for the full press release.
Kodak intros Easyshare Touch, Mini and Sport cameras, Playfull and Playsport camcorders
Things are just getting underway here at CES in Las Vegas, and Kodak's on-hand in order to serve up its latest smorgasbord of optical treasures. Without further ado, allow us to present to you the Easyshare Touch -- a $149.95 offering with a three-inch capacitive touchpanel, a dedicated video record button, a 14 megapixel sensor, 5x Schneider-Kreuznach lens and an HDMI output. Next up is the $99.95 Easyshare Mini, described as Kodak's smallest camera yet. It's "around the size of a credit card," offering a 3x wide-angle optical zoom lens, a built-in front mirror (you know, for those glorious self-portrait sessions), a ten megapixel sensor and a 2.5-inch rear LCD. Moving right along, there's the $79.95 Easyshare Sport, which is the outfit's first waterproof camera that can go up to ten feet underwater without any significant consequences. It'll also shrug off dirt and dust while snapping 12 megapixel shots and previewing them on the 2.4-inch LCD. Sashaying over to the video realm, there's the $149.95 Playfull camcorder, which touts an ultraslim design (it'll "fit in the pocket of your skinny jeans," according to Special K), a 1080p capture mode and an unmistakable 'Share' button to get your footage onto YouTube or a social network without any wasted time. The company's also using CES as an opportunity to launch the next generation of its Playsport video camera, with this $179.95 model being waterproof up to ten feet, shockproof, dustproof and capable of logging clips at 1080p. You can also snap stills at five megapixels, and that previously mentioned 'Share' button is predictably tacked on here as well. Speaking of revisions, the Pulse digital photo frame is also seeing a gentle refresh, with this one available in 7-inch ($129.95) and 10-inch ($199.95) sizes. The newcomers add the ability to comment on the pictures you receive from friends and family, with our favorite predetermined response being "Such a KODAK MOMENT!" Seriously. Oh, and these also have an ingrained activity sensor that turns the frame off when you walk away, and brings it back to life when you re-approach. Finally, the ESP C310 all-in-one printer will be selling for $99.99, but so far as we can tell, Kodak would rather extol the virtues of its ink-saving abilities than drum up interest in its cutting-edge feature set. Further details can be spotted in the full release after the break. %Gallery-112240% %Gallery-112328%
iPhonECG case monitors your heart rate to make sure you're appropriately excited about CES
CES isn't just about incrementally thinner or faster hardware, you know. Some people like to bring legitimately innovative ideas to the show, such as this iPhonECG case, which does what its name suggests: it takes an ECG (electrocardiogram) reading of your heart's activity through a pair of electrodes and then communicates its findings to an iPhone 4 it can be attached to. We say it can be attached to an iPhone as communication is done wirelessly, so you'll probably be able to monitor your ticker's rhythm without the Applephone pressed against your bosom. Then again, maybe you like that. It's a free world, we don't judge. We'll be sending out our most hairy-chested editor to give this thing a proper test at the Las Vegas convention next week. Until then, scope out the video after the break.
