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iPhone covered front to back with camera-related rumors
Well, here's a nice bit of symmetry to emerge from the Apple rumor mill in recent days -- some new purported details on both the rear and front-facing camera on the next-generation iPhone. The first, and more straightforward of the two, comes courtesy of The Chosum Ilbo, which is reporting that the next iPhone will pack a 5-megapixel camera supplied by LG Innotek. Details on it are otherwise pretty light, but the site says that LG has already started producing the "sophisticated cameras" at its plant in Gumi this month, with mass production supposedly set to begin in the second half of this year. The second rumor concerns the iPhone's front-facing camera, and comes after a bit of digging in the latest iPhone 4 SDK beta. According to MacRumors, the SDK not only includes an unfortunate bit of code that suggests video calls will be WiFi-only, but evidence that video chat will be integrated into Apple's Game Center as well -- exactly how remains unclear, although there's certainly no shortage of possibilities. Dive into the links below for the complete details.
GameFly releases GameCenter app for Android
Good news, Android users, GameFly's GameCenter app is no longer just for your jerk iPhone-owning friends. That's right, GameFly has released an Android version of the app, putting the rental service at your mobile fingertips. The app allows users to manage their rental queues, check out trailers and browse game news. Finally, you can watch GameFly inexplicably ship the game at the bottom of your list on the go! GameCenter is available now on the Android Market.
360iDev: The future of Jason Citron's OpenFeint
OpenFeint's VP of Engineering, Jakob Wilkerson, took the stage here at 360iDev in San Jose to talk about something most people might not have expected: Game Center. Ever since Apple's official social gaming network was announced last week, the question's been in the air about what will happen to all of those unofficial gaming networks, of which OpenFeint is the largest. Wilkerson took the news in stride, however. As CEO Jason Citron told us last week, OpenFeint isn't going anywhere, and as you can see from their chart above, OpenFeint still believes that they can build more social game services, in the form of OpenFeint X, on top of Apple's official offerings. Wilkerson talked about Game Center in terms of potential; he used examples from OpenFeint to explain how implementing leaderboards and friends lists in the right ways can really open up player interest in a game. OpenFeint often talks internally about bringing, both, hardcore and casual game players into the fold, and their different online features target those various audiences. We also got a chance to talk to Citron again regarding his thinking about OpenFeint so far, and what the company plans to do when Apple unveils its official plan. Read on for more.
OpenFeint's Jason Citron talks Game Center and Aurora Feint 3
The first thought on everyone's minds as we heard during the event yesterday that Apple would be forming their own social gaming network on the iPhone called Game Center, was probably, "What about OpenFeint?" Since almost the very beginning of the App Store, OpenFeint founder Jason Citron has been working hard to provide developers with a free and easy solution for implementing a social network and social features on their iPhone apps, and with one small announcement, Apple appeared to make all of that work obsolete. Quite a few unofficial social networks have spawned on the iPhone (OpenFeint is one of the first and definitely the biggest, with over 12 million users at last count), and with one fell swoop, it appeared that Apple's new official network would make them all unnecessary. Not so, Citron told us in a quick interview today. Yesterday, he confirmed in a statement that OpenFeint would still do their best to sit on top of any official network that Apple would build, and today he talked a little more with us about the future of OpenFeint, his worries about Game Center, and how the company's first iPad title, Aurora Feint 3, is doing.
Current game network developers comment on Apple's Game Center
Way back in February at Macworld, one of my questions to Eros Remini of OpenFeint was pretty blunt: "Why," I asked a representative from the biggest third-party social gaming network on the iPhone, "haven't we seen an official platform-wide network?" Remini didn't have a good answer for Apple, but he did say that OpenFeint was happy to step up and fill the void. Apple answered for themselves this morning: They announced Game Center, which will be an official social gaming network for the iPhone and iPad, complete with friend lists, leaderboards, achievements, and everything else that third-party providers like OpenFeint have set up already. So what does OpenFeint think of Game Center? We contacted it for a statement and we are told that OpenFeint is welcoming Apple's Game Center. The company has recently released a virtual goods marketplace called OpenFeint X, and their statement about Game Center says that there's still a place for OpenFeint on top of Apple's official service. "OpenFeint X is currently built on top of OpenFeint and in the future it will also sit on Apple's Game Center social graph, achievements and leaderboards so developers and gamers don't miss a step," Jason Citron, CEO of Aurora Feint says. Current OpenFeint players (of which there are 19 million at last count) will automatically become OpenFeint X members, and it sounds like OpenFeint plans to move on to the virtual goods market, leaving their old social gaming realm behind for Apple. There were a few other reactions from various developers and publishers about the Game Center news -- read more information from PopCap and Ngmoco after the link below.
iPhone OS 4.0: Apple announces Game Center, a social gaming network for the iPhone
This is huge -- Apple has announced Game Center, an official social gaming network for the iPhone, coming to the device along with OS 4.0 this summer. So far, there have been a few social networks vying for an audience in the form of OpenFeint and Ngmoco's Plus+ system, but Apple's going official, bringing in friends lists, leaderboards, achievements, matchmaking, and so on all to the iPhone themselves. Jobs said on stage in Cupertino that they will combine GameCenter with the App Store's over 50,000 games and entertainment titles. It'll be extremely interesting to see how Apple's network interacts with App Store titles, and it looks like OpenFeint and the like have some serious first-party competition.
iPhone OS 4 unveiled, adds multitasking, shipping this summer
Just a bit more than a year after we first laid eyes on iPhone OS 3.0, Apple is back with the latest big revision of the OS that powers the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. iPhone OS 4 is shipping this summer (iPad in the fall), and the developer preview will be out today. iPhone 3GS and new-gen iPod touch will get all the features, but some features won't make it to the iPhone 3G, original iPhone, and older iPod touches. The biggest new feature is multitasking, which Apple says is going to be the "best" implementation in the smartphone space, though it's obviously not the first. App switching is activated by double tapping the home button, which pulls up a "dock" of currently running apps, and Apple claims it can do this without hurting battery life or performance for the front app. Unfortunately, this multitasking won't be available for devices older than the 3GS and new iPod touch. Multitasking is just one of seven different new "tentpole" features, including Game Center, enhanced Mail, and more... Notable new features for users ("tentpoles" are in bold): Multitasking. Spell check (like on the iPad). Bluetooth keyboard support (again, on the iPad). User-defined wallpaper (a jailbreak favorite). Tap to focus when recording video, just like with photos, and a 5x digital zoom for the camera. Playlist creation and nested playlists. App folders for sorting apps! You can even put an app folder in the dock. Enhanced Mail! You can have a merged inbox view, switch between inboxes quickly, and sync to more than one Exchange account. There's also threaded messaging (at last!) and in-app attachment viewing. iBooks, just like on iPad, only smaller. You can wirelessly sync books between platforms, a la Kindle. Enterprise features, including remote device management and wireless app distribution. Game Center. It's like Xbox Live, but for iPhone games. Includes achievements, leaderboards, and match making. It will be available as a "developer preview," and out for consumers later this year. Developers are getting plenty of new tricks too: New SDK, available today. 1,500 new APIs. Background audio (think Pandora). Background VoIP (think Skype). Background location data, both with live GPS for backgrounded turn-by-turn, and cell tower-based for lower power draw. Local notifications. Like push notifications, but sends a notification straight from the app without needing a push notification server, perfect for an alarm, for instance. Fast app switching. Saves the state of an app and resumes it from where you left off, without dwelling in memory. iAd. Apple says it's for keeping "free apps free." The ads keep you in the app, while also taking over the screen and adding interactivity -- using HTML 5 for video -- up to simple gaming in-ad. Apple will offer a 60 / 40 split on revenue, and users can even buy apps straight from an ad. In-app SMS. Map overlays. Quick look for previewing documents. Photo Library access. Calendar access. Full access to the camera. Video playback and capture. Date and address "data detectors." Automated testing and performance / power analysis (the same tools Apple uses). %Gallery-90056% %Gallery-90057% %Gallery-90058% Make sure to check out the iPhone OS 4.0 liveblog to see how it all went down!
Apple previews Game Center social gaming platform for iPhone OS
Apple just announced Game Center, which is a social gaming network for the iPhone -- it sounds a lot like Xbox Live, actually. It's has a friend system, leaderboards, and achievements -- and we're guessing it'll blow up out of the gate, given how many games are on the platform. It's being previewed in iPhone OS 4 right now, and it'll launch later this summer. We're hunting for more info, we'll let you know! %Gallery-90058% Make sure to check out the ongoing iPhone OS 4.0 liveblog!
GameFly GameCenter update: manage your GameQ
When the GameFly GameCenter mobile app launched last October, its creators promised to eventually bring its functionality into parity with the main site's user interface. Thanks to a recent update through the App Store, that future has been realized. GameCenter has been tweaked to allow GameFly subscribers to add titles to (or remove titles from) their GameQs while out and about. A handful of additional UI changes have also been made to streamline the game-renting process. You can check out the app for free using the download link below. GameFly GameCenter (free)
Gamefly updates GameCenter iPhone app
GameFly (which is sort of a Netflix for video games) sent along word that they have updated their free iPhone app called Gamecenter [iTunes link]. Not only does it work as an official app -- you can update and add to your queue straight from the app, which is definitely nice, as you can go carry it around a game store an add titles at will -- but the new update adds lots and lots of game information that's even useful away from GameFly. You can browse games on all of the major systems, and check out user ratings and screenshots along with video of nearly all of them. It's pretty well done, especially for a free app. The app also includes game news from Shacknews as well, which is a nice bonus, but hopefully by now you've got your own way to get any news you need on the iPhone. If you're a GameFly member, this one's a no-brainer, and even if you're not, there's enough per-game content (and quick access information) in the app that it's definitely worth a look.
GameFly releases 'GameCenter' iPhone app
GameFly has released its free "GameCenter" iPhone app, allowing customers of the video game rental service to adjust their queue on the go. However, GameFly co-founder Sean Spector wants the app to be used by a much broader audience than just GameFly subscribers. Speaking with Joystiq, the executive told us that the company has put a lot more functionality into the app and the "GameFly" tab is only one part of the program.The "Games" tab is essentially a database, with specs, controller details (pretty handy), Achievements, Trophies and reviews. The "News" tab, which can be divided to show specific platforms, is currently a feed from the company's recently acquired Shacknews. Spector plans on future app updates featuring community functionality, trailers and more news sources.Spector tells us that he expects "all the functionality that's in GameFly on the app" in the future. Meaning that users will have access to the full GameFly store and easier queue rearrangement (slide functionality, rather than inputting numbers). For subscribers, the commerce and "Keep It" functionality work just like on the main site, with properly applied discounts and coupons. Spector also noted that those without a GameFly subscription who download the app receive a 15-day free trial.GameFly seems serious about making the app as useful as possible and is asking for feedback. If there's anything you want to see after trying it out, send the company an email or leave feedback through the app, which can be found under "Settings" tab. GameFly GameCenter (free)
Game Center CX is TV for retro game nerds
Fuji TV's Game Center CX has everything: exclusive developer interviews, looks at early versions of some of our favorite games, and, every episode, one man giving his very best to play a classic game to completion. The first season of the show focused more on the interviews and features; from season 2 on, the focus of the show became the gaming-- suffering along with host Shinya Arino as he tries to play old games from start to finish. The games range from the classic (Metroid, Prince of Persia, Actraiser) to the classic-to-us (Kato-chan & Ken-chan) to the painful (Takeshi no Chousenjou, which seems to have been designed as a cynical joke against gamers). Of course, the show is edited to fit into its format, so you aren't stuck watching all twelve hours or however long it takes.Crunk Games's Ray Barnholt is our hero for compiling this exhaustive episode guide. He has profiled the personalities and written detailed descriptions of each episode, including who is interviewed, what is discussed, and, most importantly, a play-by-play of the game sessions. Reading his descriptions is almost as good as watching the actual show. Speaking of the actual show, he's provided links to Japanese fanpages, at least one of which has Youtube links.We're generally glad that the Virtual Console is raising awareness of old games in general. Now we're glad that the VC enables whole new generations to do what Arino is doing, and experience game history first hand, one complete game at a time.Would you watch this kind of thing if it were on American TV? How about a similar show in English on the web? We wouldn't mind some personal narrative or gameplay videos on the Wii, to add value to the VC experience.
Wil Wheaton on the death of the arcade
Wil Wheaton (yes, that kid from Star Trek) has a touching column on the slow death of the arcade over at Suicide Girls, of all places (page is safe for work, but links to NSFW content). Wheaton lays out some interesting historical analysis on what actually caused the game center's slow decline (endless fighting game clones might be as culpable as powerful home systems), but just as interesting are Wheaton's carefully laid out sensory memories from the gaming rooms of his youth. More than the games themselves, the pizza-stained, Mountain Dew-infused social atmosphere of the old arcades are what give them a special place in many an old fogey gamer's heart. These young whippersnappers don't know what they're missing with their online deathmatches and Xbox Live Arcade downloads and what-not. In my day, we played standing up at a wooden cabinet in a dimly lit room... and we liked it, dagnabbit!
