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Google Voice is now your real-time pusher (on Android)
Once upon a time, Google undercut its own infant OS by offering rival platforms some of the best features of Android. Those days are long gone, and once again -- as much as we love Google Maps Navigation -- the poster child for only-on-Android functionality (in the US) is Google Voice. That's because as of this week, the Android version supports push notification of incoming messages in real time, as well as a neat interface for your reply (as evidenced by the above pic). Feel free to tease your iPhone and Pre-addicted friends, people; multitasking or no, they're not going to get a heads-up of incoming voicemail transcriptions with plain ol' HTML5.
Battle of Puppets brings the fight to the marionette stage
Battle of Puppets fell through the cracks here when it was first released, and that was unfortunate -- it's a 2D real-time strategy game for the iPhone with a distinctive art style and a plethora of cool features that definitely deserves a look. The team has been updating the app often, and the latest update not only adds in achievements and leaderboards via the OpenFeint platform, but also has dropped the price to just 99 cents for a limited time. The game has a surprising amount of strategic depth -- more than you'd expect for an iPhone title. There are five different armies (each one representing an "opera" theme), each with its own strengths and weaknesses, and the little unit battles play out over 22 different theaters, where various environmental changes can actually affect the strategy of the game. And in addition to commanding your puppet troops, you can "cast spells" on the screen with gesture input, which will also affect the flow of battle. It's almost too much to handle on the iPhone's small screen, but the developers have added in a tutorial that should help you figure it out. At 99 cents, Battle of Puppets is a steal. More casual game players might get a little dragged down by the complexity, but those looking for strategy will find it underneath the cutout art designs. And if they continue to update the app at the rate they have so far, there'll be even more coming in the future.
Parents can breathe a bit easier thanks to Crisp Thinking's NetModerator
Letting your children play MMOs can be a tricky balancing act for gamer parents. On the one hand, you want your children to have fun playing games online while gaining socialization and computer skills. On the other, you're a protective parent who wants to make sure your kids are safe -- without making them live in a bubble. You can teach them about online safety and how to protect themselves, but there's always the possibility that something will take a wrong turn. Thankfully, it seems that a company called Crisp Thinking have developed a tool to help parents in their fight for online safety. Their system, called NetModerator, has been put into place in kid-friendly MMOs like Free Realms and FusionFall to combat against predators, bullies, and the like. It watches for certain keywords and phrases during online interactions. When detected, the system will step in and moderate the conversations -- allowing for real-time changes in potentially dangerous situations, as opposed to a reactionary method of dealing with abusive or predatory accounts after the conversations have taken place. The entire concept is fascinating, so we're sure parents will want to pop over to VentureBeat's Games Beat and check out Dean Takahashi's great write up about this new technology. With an accuracy rate of 98.4% in terms of flagging dangerous and harmful conversations, and the ability to learn cloaked phrases, we're sure parents will be glad to hear that there's another layer protecting their kids from online danger. It's no replacement for the first line of defense -- good parenting -- but it certainly doesn't hurt. [Thanks, Pete!]
Speed trap checker Trapster for iPhone updated to 4.0
We've mentioned Trapster once here on the site before, but we haven't really covered it in any depth yet, I believe. It's the official iPhone app [iTunes link] for an online database of speed traps, so that you can get fair warning when the police are checking speeds in a certain part of town. It's a very popular app with over 3 million users already (and if you're constantly looking to dodge speed traps, you've probably already heard of it), but as with all community databases, one of the questions is always confidence: is the information you're getting true, or is it a perception that could be wrong? The company has just released version 4.0 out onto the App Store, and most of the upgrades are designed to help you out with confidence in their listings. There's a new feature called Patrol, which will show you just how recently another Trapster user has driven down the same road you're on, which means the information there is much more recent. Another mode called Caravan will actually let you watch the locations of friends or other users in real-time, so if you're road-tripping with friends, you can track your trip together. There's new Facebook and iPhone connections, and lots of new "trap types," so you can even track accidents, construction zones, or just mark off dangerous intersections. Sounds good, and even better, the app is completely free. The only issue we've heard from users so far is that the app can use battery power like crazy (given that it's tracking GPS and sending information back and forth constantly), but if you've got a car charger going while you're driving around, that shouldn't be an issue. If you do a lot of traveling with your iPhone, it's definitely worth a look.
Galcon Labs in the App Store now
Galcon (App Store link) was one of the most popular games of last year -- it presented a fascinating mix of strategy and real-time arcade gameplay onto the iPhone just as it was starting out, and along with games like Fieldrunners and Flight Control, really cemented a place for the platform in the gamer's arsenal. It's been described as "real-time Risk in space." The basic premise is that you can drag little ships around from planet to planet, conquering planets of various sizes and thus producing more and more ships to take over with. And now it's back. Galcon Labs is available now on the App Store, and it's pretty much exactly what you want in a sequel to a game you love: updated graphics and sound, more game modes, more online multiplayer, and just generally more of the same great gameplay, in a nice new package. So yes, odds are that if you sunk quite a few hours into Galcon, Galcon Labs is a no-brainer. Just in case you don't want to make any financial commitment at all, there is a trial available for the original game, but given that Labs is just 99 cents right now, if you have any interest at all in dragging little ships around to fight wars between planets, it's probably worth the buck. %Gallery-74558%
Video: Google Earth animated with real time human and vehicular traffic
Mmm, real time dynamic maps of the Earth. It seems nowadays that supervillainy just isn't as hard as it used to be. Back in the days of Hugo Drax, you had to be a filthy rich eccentric to ever get to spy on the whole world, whereas today all you need is Google Earth and some Georgia Institute of Technology students. Using motion capture data and the veritable litany of CCTV cameras people have surrounded themselves with, the team have succeeded in mapping and animating the real time movements of cars, people and clouds. A proper unveiling is coming up at a symposium next month, by which point they might have added weather patterns, birds and river motions to that list, but for now you can enjoy the video demo after the break. [Via Engadget Polish]
GDC09: How HeroEngine revolutionizes MMORPG game design
Let's be frank, MMOs are a pain in the rear to design. You have large teams working collaboratively to build huge expanses of terrain, hundreds upon thousands of objects in the world that players can interact with, server architecture to worry about, and even more in-depth things that the standard player may not even notice or consider.But if you've been on the site recently and have been checking out our coverage of the GDC, then you may have heard us and developers talking excitedly about HeroEngine, the new MMO developing tool from Simutronics. HeroEngine is powering games like The World of Gatheryn and this funny Star Wars game from those BioWare people, as well as other companies that haven't announced their new projects as of yet.So why is HeroEngine so amazing? Well, we got the inside scoop straight from Simutronics as we visited their booth at the GDC.
Scramble Live lets iPhone users play against Facebook users
Zynga has released a new iPhone game called Scramble Live, and while the game itself isn't anything really new -- it's Boggle, basically -- the technology is pretty interesting. They've already got a Facebook version up and running with over a million users, and the new app will let you play against other users, on both the iPhone and Facebook, in real-time. That's a pretty impressive hook -- rather than building up a new social audience, you can just carry away your Facebook friends and play with them while you're on the iPhone.Unfortunately, there's a catch (isn't there always?) -- the game's iTunes page says the live game is only available over 3G or Wifi, so us first-gen iPhone users are out of luck for that mode. But there's also a solo mode, as well as a "pass and play" version that you can use to play with people around you.The game's "on sale" at $2.99 until March 9th, when it'll jump back up to $4.99. If you're a fan of the Facebook version and want to try out some cross-platform gameplay, give it a look.
Video: Star Ocean "Hope for the Future"
The more we see of the upcoming tri-Ace developed, Square Enix published, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, the more excited we seem to get. Not only is the Star Ocean series one of the most beloved, classic role-playing franchises still kicking around, both the CGI and in game footage of the game look impressive. Honestly though, we just get overly excited when effeminate heroes jump out of their spacecraft pilot seats to stare blankly at a monitor and luckily this trailer showcases that move twice. 'Round these parts we call that, "Supreme pimp pointing." Star Ocean: The Last Hope lands Stateside on February 24.
Samsung launches SPH-B5800 T-DMB handset with TPEG integration
Although Samsung has already crammed T-DMB support into a plethora of its (sometimes oddly-designed) handsets, the sleek SPH-B5800 gets the honor of being the "world's first" that also integrates TPEG. While we knew the firm was working on the Transport Protocol Experts Group service last year, this phone marks the "first time" users can expect to receive live updates "about traffic, nice restaurants," or other points of interest surrounding them. Reportedly, the phone will receive new information "every five minutes" depending on your location, and will show a route and expected arrival time for any destination that perks the user's interest. On the DMB side, it purportedly sports a "full list of channels" to keep you occupied while cruising in the backseat. Other features on this snazzy slider include a 2-megapixel camera, electronic dictionary, "My Pet" game (long lost Tamagotchi sibling?), file viewer, and support for audio book playback. So if you're anxious to let your phone dictate where you eat for supper, you can snag the SPH-B5800 later this month for around 600,000KRW ($645).[Via AVing]
