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iSimulate brings iPhone apps to the big screen


Apple's iPhone simulator built into Xcode is nice, but it doesn't completely replicate the actual feel of playing with an iPhone (not to mention that things like multitouch and accelerometer info can't be tested on screen). Enter iSimulate, a new app from a company called vimov. In conjunction with a program on your Mac, it allows you to take the input (including multitouch and accelerometer) of an iPhone, and wirelessly connect it to an app running on your monitor. The effect, as you can see above, is basically an iPhone controlling a big-screen app.

Which has all sorts of possibilities. Developers can use it to both test and show off their apps, which is nice. But perhaps more importantly, (assuming it works smoothly -- we haven't tested it yet) it will let people use apps on their big screen monitors. Playing on the iPhone's screen is fun and all, but wouldn't it be nicer to play on two big screens at the same time?

The app might not quite be ready for that use quite yet -- not only is the app for your Mac called an "SDK" (which definitely means it's meant for developers, not gamers), but the price might be prohibitive as well. They launched it at $2, and the price is going up exponentially (it's now $8) until it arrives at its final price of $32. But this is definitely a great idea. And it if happens to be popular even at that price (for consumers and developers), we wouldn't be surprised to see Apple finally "get it" in terms of bringing some of the App Store's offerings to their own big screen.