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Another World: Anniversary Edition comes to BlackBerry 10
Classic games publisher Dotemu has announced a port of the Anniversary Edition of Another World for the BlackBerry 10 OS, which means you can play the game on the new Z10 or BlackBerry's Playbook. This is the same version that appeared on iOS systems a little while ago..The Anniversary Edition of the game includes the ability to switch between old-school and updated graphics with just a swipe of your fingers, as well as both original and remastered soundtracks, controls made just for the touchscreen, and three different difficulty modes. Fans can pick up the game for $4.99 on BlackBerry's AppWorld ecosystem right now.
Tekserve CTO speaks out on the trouble with managing iPad business migrations
Macworld has a fascinating interview up with Aaron Freimark, the CTO of NYC's well-loved independent Apple retailer Tekserve. Freimark's current job is to help companies do something we've talked about here quite a few times before: implement iPhones and iPads into their business environments. When the iPad first arrived, any inclusion in a workplace was fairly novel, but these days, iPads are used in lots of various industries and workflows, and Freimark is helping companies figure out best practices and plans for how to implement Apple's products in their business. It turns out there are quite a few complications in deploying iPads on a large scale, which Freimark and his team continue to try and figure out. Each device needs to have an Apple ID connected to it, he says, but of course that ID can match up to one specific person, rather than the company at large, so coordinating those numbers can be a pain. (The alternative, having one Apple ID for all the deployed devices, would mean that employees would have a hard time customizing their iPads with apps they choose.) Just buying the apps as well can be an issue -- when a company wants to buy something like 50,000 copies of one app for distribution, it can be hard for both Apple and the company to get payment across in the right way. Even Apple's VPP program for business app buying is not a panacea. And Freimark says that even when companies decide to take the leap into iPad deployment and run a pilot program, that program can often end up being messier than it needs to be, and might convince the company that it shouldn't have tried to include Apple's device in the first place. Tekserve is doing its best to help companies smooth over that process, and I'm sure that as we see more and more large companies integrate the iPad in their businesses (and Apple makes even better tools for doing so), the whole process will become easier over time. Freimark also mentioned that he collaborated with Greg Moore on an AppleScript technique for creating those thousands of Apple IDs automatically, rather than manually. You can check out the script on the Enterprise iOS site.
Getting your iOS screen clean on: wipin' secrets
In this world, there are those who don't let a little grease and grime bother them. And then there are those of us who buy bulk cleaning products at Costco and carefully tend to our oleophobic screens, caressing and conditioning our babies. Guess which group TUAW blogger Kelly H. belongs to? That's her iPad mini shown at the top of this post. Chris R. uses his Smart Cover's built-in microfiber for iPad cleaning but not for his iPhone. "The iPhone gets wiped on jeans, shirt, whatever." Kelly G. augments that approach with "Spit, breath, whatever." Randy N. relies on both the Smart Cover and his jeans. "I rub my phone on my leg," he admits. The rest of us at TUAW depend on a variety of approaches for keeping our preciousssss clean. The most popular solution is the microfiber cloth, useful for phones, tablets and camera equipment. It was endorsed by the whole team. Mike W. mentioned he picks his cloths up for cheap from Amazon. Hunt around for deals. Steve S. swears by Antec Advance spray. As the marketing text states, it's a "unique non-drip formula that adheres to your device's screen, allowing for quick and easy cleaning, and is anti-bacterial to keep your device germ-free." I use Wipe N Clear, which I in buy bulk from Costco. The individual packets make for easy transport; they work on my glasses as well as my iPad; and I can tuck a few away in my backpack. They're not perfect -- often leaving a few stray fibers -- but you can't beat them for convenience. How do you maintain your phones and tablets? Drop a note in the comments and share your cleaning secrets.
Bloomberg blames iOS device thefts for NYC crime rise
Crime in New York City is trending slightly upwards this year, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg has picked a strange culprit to blame the rise on: Apple's iOS devices. In his weekly radio show, the mayor pointed out that New York City was home to 108,432 "major crimes" this year, which was 3,484 more than 2011's total. And thefts of Apple products rose by 3,890 in that time, which Bloomberg says put the city over the top. "If you just took away the jump in Apple, we'd be down for the year," according to the mayor's press secretary. Hizzoner himself said that while there are lots of new smartphones and cellphones in New Yorkers' pockets, this is specifically an Apple phenomenon -- he didn't include thefts in this total of other devices, including the Samsung Galaxy. New York City thieves have discriminating tastes in the smartphones they steal, apparently. All kidding aside, Bloomberg also reported that homicides for the year were currently totaled at 414, which puts the city on pace to see the lowest total murders since it began tracking numbers back in 1963. So that's great news. Now if only New Yorkers could be sure to keep their Apple devices secure, we'd see some real drops in "major crimes" next year. [via GigaOm, photo by MSG on Flickr]
Apple wins patent rights to new curved glass process
Apple has been granted patent rights for a new process using high temperatures to shape and mold a curved glass casing, similar to the one currently on newer Samsung devcies, as opposed to the very flat screen found on the iPhone 5. This exact patent doesn't have a huge influence on Apple's actual production line, and definitely doesn't portend anything as interesting as a new iPhone design. But it does show that Apple has been researching how to make this kind of curved glass for a long time, and that the company's very interested in finding more and easier ways to make its world-famous device components. The process also covers glass of all shapes and sizes, so while the images included with the patent (as seen above) hint that it would be used to make new iPhones and other portable devices, the documents also say that the glass could be shaped for larger devices, including "displays, monitors and televisions." Apple's work on processes like this is an investment not just in determining how to create today's devices, but a look ahead to what it might create in the future as well.
Woz predicts that in 2013, iOS devices are headed to work
Apple's co-founder Steve Wozniak often appears here on the pages of TUAW for doing some silly things like joking around with Stephen Colbert or starring in an iOS game. But the man's still got a great mind (and a lot of experience with technology), so when he makes some predictions for 2013 over in Forbes, it's worth giving him a listen. Woz's main theme seems to be business technology -- specifically how that field is trending more and more away from standard beige box desktop PCs and much more towards personal smartphones, tablets and other such devices. Woz says that the cloud will continue to be a big trend next year, and that will extend to businesses using smartphones and tablets more and more in the workplace. Finally the software and hardware on mobile devices is catching up to the growing need businesspeople have to make good use of the powerful computers they carry in their pockets. Businesses have already seen a "BYOD" (bring your own device) trend in the workplace, where employees are increasingly using their personally owned iPads and iPhones for work. Woz says that will continue, as businesses will have to balance issues like security and productivity with the comprehensive customization and portability that smartphone and tablet devices offer. That's some good insight right there, and Woz should know: the guy carries like 10 different smartphones. We've already seen businesses making good use of iOS devices, and it makes sense that 2013 would bring that trend even more into the forefront. [via Slashdot]
Audiobus claims to mix audio sources on your iOS device
We've seen before that iOS can be very powerful in terms of producing audio, but there's one big drawback, and it's that iPhones and iPads are still only designed to be used for one task at a time. If you want to do more than one task at a time (like combining beats with a synth, or processing and recording vocals), you're either out of luck, or you have to find an app that does both. Until now, apparently. Audiobus is a brand new app for iOS that purports to have solved this problem, and will combine audio sources and actions across multiple apps somehow. That means that with Audiobus, you can play synths in one app, play drums in another, and record them all together in a third. There are a few catches, not surprisingly. The first is that each app you use must be Audiobus compatible -- you can't just combine any app's output with any other, sadly. But there's a solid list of Audiobus apps available already, and presumably adding the compatibility in isn't too hard. Second, of course, using multiple apps at the same time can push the processor a little bit, so Audiobus recommends you use newer devices, in order to get as much power as possible. But otherwise, this sounds like a nifty suggestion for the apps listed as compatible. Audiobus is available now for $9.99. I think this is probably the next area where Apple can grow with an official solution. Obviously, Apple has wanted to keep iOS devices targeted towards one task at a time, but if third parties start creating other ways for apps to connect, Apple may get pressured to release more and more options for sharing information across multiple apps.
Nielsen reports that iPad is most wanted this holiday season
Nielsen has released its annual report on which electronic goodies consumers in various age groups are looking for this Thanksgiving. Once again, Apple products are claiming most of the top of the list. Kids in the US aged 6-12 are looking for an iPad as the number one item under their holiday tree this year, and while that's followed by Nintendo's new Wii U system, Apple's iPod touch, iPad mini, and the iPhone fill out the rest of the top five spots. At the very bottom of the list, the Apple TV makes an appearance, too. That's not a device I would expect kids that young to ask for, but apparently so. On the older side, in persons 13 and up, iPad also tops the list of items that are most expected to be purchased in the next six months. Tablet computers and e-readers are also sitting near the top of that list, and since the iPad is the most popular of those (with 21 percent of people expecting to buy it soon), it's not too surprising to see Apple's slate in high demand. The iPhone is also high near the top of that list. It's perhaps also interesting to note that the rest of the list is full of gaming devices like the Nintendo 3DS, PS Vita and the major gaming consoles. Considering that the iPad and the iPhone provide a strong mobile gaming experience and the widest ecosystem of game apps out there, that's an interesting perspective on what people are willing to spend big ticket money on lately. Finally, the Apple TV makes an appearance on the adults' list as well. I think 2013 will be a very interesting year for that device -- if Apple can bring its popular App Store to a non-mobile device, starting with the Apple TV, the core functionality of that little black box may be very different in a year's time. [via 9to5Mac]
Sword of Fargoal 2 and the iControlPad 2 both head to Kickstarter
Two big followup iPhone projects are looking to Kickstarter for funding. First up, the developers of Sword of Fargoal 2 have launched a US$50,000 campaign. The first game in that series was a relatively early hit on iPhone. The sequel has a much larger scope and is expected to hit several platforms, including iOS. Supporters can get copies of the game's soundtrack, extra versions of the title or see their name in the game or a song. I imagine this project will be funded before long. Meanwhile, the people behind The iControlPad are working on a second version of the popular iOS controller. They've launched a $150,000 Kickstarter campaign, which is a not insignificant goal, but you can get a version of the finished product for as little as $69. More generous backers can pick up better versions of the controller, which is supposed to eventually include not just controls for iOS (and other Bluetooth) devices, but also a full keyboard, and a number of other buttons. It seems like a nice device. While $150k might be a little high, the controller's popularity will probably get it funded. Both of these projects come from solid backgrounds and sound very cool. We look forward to seeing just how both of these fundraising efforts come out.
Intel's full Atom 'Bay Trail' roadmap leaked: 22nm, Ivy Bridge graphics, quad-core
We saw a leaked hint of what was coming for Intel's Valleyview system-on-a-chip (SoC), but now the full plan appears to have been outed by Chinese blog Expreview. The lineup will feature four models of the 22nm chips, with the D- and M-series looking to replace the Cedar Trail 32nm SoC chips used in current netbook and low-end desktop devices. The I-series is for embedded and industrial use, while the T-series would appear in tablets and other small form-factor devices, according to the leaked slides. That model would supersede the Clover Trail SoCs, which are only just arriving themselves in upcoming Windows 8 slates like the Acer W510 or Asus Tablet 810. The chips should offer a burly horsepower bump over their predecessors, with up to four cores and clock speeds topping out at 2.4Ghz. The icing on the cake will be the integrated Gen 7 graphics engines of Ivy Bridge fame, featuring the same HD 4000 and HD 2500 GPU's as the grownup chips, but with only four "execution units" instead of the 16 you'd find there. That would offload functions like video decoding and 3D rendering from the CPU and allow simultaneous display to a TV or monitor. Bay Trail would also support 8GB of DDR3 RAM, double that of the "last" gen, as well as USB 3.0, SATA 2.0 and a host of other connection options. If the leak is accurate, the processors would arrive sometime next year, we'll just have to wait and see if that's soon enough for Intel to take a run at its formidable competition.
Editorial: The future comes slowly, but revolutions are worth waiting for
During a trip to Switzerland, my family started off on a day hike to reach the nearby foothills of a mountain. It looked doable, but as time passed the range seemed to recede before our approach. After many hours we turned around, having apparently failed to close any distance. Crossing from now to the future in technology can likewise seem illusory. When we scrutinize and celebrate each tiny incremental invention as if it were a milestone, we lose track of time as if we were counting grains of sand dropping through an hourglass. Game-changing inventions are rare, separated by epochs in which progress adds up to a lot of sameness. Futurism is an unforgiving business. But sometimes, as in the cases of cloud computing and media convergence, redemption comes with patience.
Apple prompts developers to prepare apps for China
We've mentioned before that Apple has big plans to sell devices and computers in emerging markets such as China, but this year's WWDC has moved the plan from Apple selling hardware to its developers trying to sell apps as well. If you saw the keynote on Monday, you probably noticed that Tim Cook and co. pushed hard to convince developers that China was the next big market in apps. There are a number of new features coming to both Mountain Lion and iOS 6 that are aimed directly at Chinese users. Most of it so far is supporting Chinese services, such as search engine Baidu and the extremely popular microblogging (sort of like Twitter) service Sina Weibo. Text input is another big area that Apple has been working on with its software, and Siri has been updated to work with a few more Chinese dialects. On the OS X side, Mail has gotten an update to work with QQ Mail and a few other popular Chinese email services. This is likely only the beginning of more and more Apple support for China and its users. Given how the market over there is growing, Apple is investing heavily in that area going forward.
Switched On: Big kicks, not all for starters
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The end of last week's Switched On left doubt for the future of dedicated devices that tread on the turf of smartphones. After all, funding is key to every major new product initiative and, despite the vast fortunes of many Silicon Valley engineers that have been accumulated via IPOs and acquisitions, few wish to take on the risk of fronting a new consumer device themselves.(In 2007, the handheld FlipStart PC was hatched from FlipStart Labs, funded by Vulcan Ventures, the investment arm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.) Most venture capitalists abhor the device business; it is a rare device that makes it to the spotlight of startup debutante balls such as DEMO, TechCrunch Disrupt, or Launch. Even most of the 94 companies at CES' Eureka Park were not developing end-user devices Where, then, can a device entrepreneur go for funding and pick up some publicity in the process?
Huawei 2011 financials: 20 million smartphones sold yet profit down 53 percent
Huawei's annual earnings report is out and it's a mixed bag, since while turnover increased by 11.7 percent to 203.9 RMB ($32.3 billion), profits plummeted 53 percent to 11.6 billion RMB ($1.8 billion). Revenue from overseas sales (138.4 billion RMB) equated for over half the company's total income and it boasted of having sold 150 million consumer devices, including 20 million smartphones in the year. The company didn't provide reasons for the drop in profit, emphasizing that it's increased R&D spending by 34.2 percent to 23.7 billion RMB ($3.75 billion) and that in any event, it's got around $30 billion of assets that can shoulder the brunt of a bad year. However, the company may not see a rosy 2012 either, after both America and Australia refused to give the company big infrastructure deals (Huawei's bread and butter) thanks to allegedly close relationships between the company and the Chinese government. It seems to be following a similar trajectory to rival ZTE, which also felt margins squeeze as it entered the global retail space and felt the heat when its political dealings were thrown in the spotlight.
NC State researcher finds more efficient way to cool devices, looks to cut costs too
Does your electronic device have you a bit hot under the collar these days? A researcher at NC State has developed a faster and less expensive method for cooling gadgets -- especially those that tend to crank the heat up. Dr. Jag Kasichainula, an Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, authored a paper on the research that implements a "heat spreader' composed of a copper-graphene composite and an indium-graphene interface film to cool devices. Because the two materials exhibit a high thermal conductivity, they allow the device to cool more efficiently while distributing said heat -- 25 percent quicker than the pure copper in many pieces of tech. And if that wasn't enough, the research also details the process for creating the composite using electrochemical deposition. "Copper is expensive, so replacing some of the copper with graphene actually lowers the overall cost.," Kasichainula notes. If you're itching to read a full rundown of the findings, the full text can be accessed via the source link below.
51% of households in the US own something made by Apple
According to a new survey put together by CNET, over half of all households in America now contain something made by our favorite company in Cupertino. Over 55 million homes in this country own something that Apple makes (whether that be a computer, an iOS device, or an Apple TV), which means that 51% of American households are now Apple product owners. And the stats get even crazier from there: Of households that own at least one device, the average amount of devices owned is three. So not only has Apple sold devices to half the country's homes, but that one device wound up the gateway device to more Apple gear. Outside of the audience as a whole, Apple buyers tend to be more well-off, which we've not only heard before, but which makes a lot of sense, given how expensive multiple Apple devices can be. CNET's survey says that if there was an age gap on Apple's purchases, though, it's definitely narrowing. Older customers buy almost as many devices as younger folks, and a full 61% of households with kids owns an Apple device as well.
Thoughts on Messages, FaceTime and an open standard
So here is an interesting read for this weekend: It's about Messages, how they've just made it across to the desktop (in beta form, sure, but coming soon in final version form), and how they sort of "compete" against FaceTime in Apple's messaging domain. Writer Trevor Gilbert's suggestion is that Apple should combine those two protocols into one messaging service, and then here's the real kicker: Open them up, so that any platform, and essentially any app, could tag in and use those protocols. In that sense, they'd be very similar to ICQ or AIM, or any of the other chat services currently out there, except of course they'd be running on and licensed through Apple's technology. Gilbert makes a good case for consumers (and certainly, I'd appreciate using Messages and FaceTime with my friends and family who don't happen to have Macs or iPhones). But I don't think Apple's that keen to open up the standard like this: as it is now, Messages and FaceTime are both selling points for Apple devices, and big ones at that. Yes, it would be easier for consumers to use Messages across platforms, but Apple would be opening up the door for other platforms to take advantage of its services, rather than doing what Tim Cook and everyone else in Cupertino has said they want to do all along: sell more and more devices. Not to mention that Gilbert says the open message service would be "real-time, and free of charge." Real time is right -- Messages certainly works very well. But "free of charge" it is not for Apple at all, and opening up the service for almost anyone to use would definitely make it even more expensive than it already is. It's certainly an interesting idea, and it would have some big ramifications for the messaging market, no question. But right now, I think Messages and FaceTime both are where Apple wants them: extra, selling point services for Apple devices only.
Apple patents new method for water detection
Apple has submitted a patent that describes a better method of detecting water in an electronic device. In other words, Apple has devised a way to know if your iPhone has been in a pool (for example) before you try to return it to an Apple Store as defective. The patent describes a method of covering up an internal electronics sensor with a glob of water-soluble glue, which dissolves and reveals the sensor when exposed to water. The appearance of the sensor would tip off anyone examining the phone to water exposure. There are a number of different methods described in the patent, but they all follow that basic idea. I question this research. Should Apple dedicate so much time and effort into uncovering customers' mistakes? Wouldn't it be better to spend that time making iPhones just more resistant to liquids? Then again, that's easy for me to say, but burdensome for Apple to replace all of the devices that suffer water damage every year. If a patent like this helps Apple avoid some of those costs, maybe that's better for both the company and its customers. [Via Engadget]
Mass Effect 3 getting an iOS game
Mass Effect 2 got its own iOS game when it was released on the traditional consoles a few years ago, and since Mass Effect 3 is due out in another month or so here, you probably won't be surprised to hear that EA is again planning another iOS game tie-in for the release. This time around, though, it sounds like they're doing it a little more intelligently. The last game focused on the first companion you met in the full console game, telling a little bit about his backstory through a pretty straightforward (and honestly, kind of boring) action game. This time around, the iOS title will again be action-based, as a third-person shooter, but instead of just telling background story, it will directly affect one of the main game's elements. Playing the iOS game will "increase a player's Galactic Readiness rating," which is an element directly used in Mass Effect 3's "Galaxy at War" system (which will also tie in to the multiplayer elements in the game). It sounds like the iOS title is more of an arcade title than a full campaign game, which means that the more you play it, the better your starting console game stats will be. EA also says that you'll be able to earn "exclusive weaponry" for the main title, so that's a nice bonus as well. The Mass Effect tie-in game is called Mass Effect Infiltrator, and should be available for all modern iOS devices soon. It'll be interesting to see what EA does with this one -- the company has learned a lot about the iOS platform since the last tie-in title, and with anticipation for Mass Effect 3 at a fever pitch, this title should be the latest and greatest the big traditional console company can do.
GameStop iOS trade-ins a big success
GameStop recently started taking trade-ins on iOS hardware, and it turns out the decision was a great one for the company: President Tony Bartel said in a statement that the program "has exceeded our expectations," especially citing lots of post-holiday traffic, as people bring in their old iPhones and iPads to clear them out of the way for newer models received as presents. GameStop will reportedly pay out up to $300 for iPhones and $400 for iPads, but of course those prices are for the highest-end and latest models. Odds are that you'll get significantly less for an older model or one with no 3G or less RAM flash storage. But it is interesting to hear that GameStop is seeing lots and lots of devices come in. Unfortunately, they didn't share actual numbers, but I'd argue that there are plenty of other places to get rid of iPhones and iPads -- I've sold my old devices on Craigslist, and just over the Internet to friends and even family. Then again, maybe some people prefer just walking into a GameStop and walking out with store credit or cash. This may be a trend to watch in the new year -- as Apple releases more iterations of their various mobile devices, we'll undoubtedly see more markets like this pop up for older versions and used items.
