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Need another reason to hate the horrible Flappy Bird clones? They steal content, too
Flappy Bee -- or "Happy Bee Game" as its title screen says -- is a Flappy Bird clone that changed its name to steal downloads from people searching the App Store for the now-removed iOS top-rated game. Flappy Bee is garbage, which is enough of a reason to hate it, but it also happens to have stolen its mascot directly from the game Bee Leader. Greg Harding, the director of Bee Leader developer Flightless, submitted a complaint with Apple more than three days ago, but the offending app remains on the market. What's worse, Flappy Bee has been in the top 5 most popular free games for more than 48 hours, and is raking in the cash while using stolen assets. I realize there's a protocol for this sort of thing, and the system that is in place exists so that fraudulent dispute claims can't be made against legitimate developers, but give me a break. It shouldn't take this long for an App Store scam artist to be removed, and I can only hope Flappy Bee is axed before much longer. By the way, Bee Leader is a fantastic game that also happens to be free. I'd not had the chance to try it out prior to finding its clone, but the original game is quite fantastic. I suppose I can thank Flappy Bee for that, but Bee Leader should really be the one at the top of the popularity list rather than its poorly coded doppelgänger, so I'll make it easy for you; click anywhere on this paragraph to give Bee Leader a try.
Attack of the Clones: The Flappy Bird copies have arrived, and boy are they crappy
Flappy Bird is simple, straightforward and hugely successful. Those three things make it a prime target for copycats, and now that the game has perched itself on the top of the App Store charts, the clones are arriving in full force. They are, on the whole, completely garbage, and I've taken a whole bunch of them for a test drive so you don't have to. It was brutal, but here are six Flappy Bird wannabes that you should avoid at all costs. Flappy Penguin Avoid the deadly garbage (lasers and bombs, for some reason) while collecting the other garbage (coins and items). Yawn. Flappy Plane Clipart of a plane needs to avoid the other clipart. That's the entire game, and the plane doesn't flap, so it's also false advertising. Fly Birdie - Flappy Bird Flyer Holy crap. Even though this game consists of two moving parts (the bird and the pipes in the foreground), it runs like absolute garbage. It's actually bogging down on my iPhone 5s. That's a special kind of broken. Smarcle Flyer I don't know what a "Smarcle" is, and I don't ever want to know. The game is ugly and doesn't play any better than it looks. Flappy Bee The best part about Flappy Bee is that its name is actually "Happy Bee" after you download it. Clearly the game wasn't performing well enough under its original title so the developer decided to see if a new title would help. It didn't. Fluffy vs Flappy Birds The one actually looks surprisingly good for a ripoff, but the gameplay is somehow even more frustrating than that of Flappy Bird -- and not in a good way. It's slow, boring and offers nothing in the way of a reasonable, enjoyable challenge.
Toad Rider is a shameless Battletoads ripoff, and a poor one at that
When a developer decides to completely rip off another game, they usually at least attempt to give it a fresh spin. Sure, games take inspiration from each other all the time, and to be fair, it's oftentimes difficult to pin the word "ripoff" on a game at all. It's not difficult with Toad Rider. The game's iTunes description notes that it's "Inspired by the classic Battletoads game." Though I'd say that it's less "inspired" and more "lifted." For reference, here's one of the insanely difficult hoverbike levels from the NES classic Battletoads, which was released in 1991: And here's some gameplay footage of Toad Rider: Yikes. For starters, taking your inspiration from one of the most rage-inducing levels in the history of gaming probably isn't a fantastic place to start, but Toad Rider also doesn't add anything to make its version worth playing. The game is US$0.99, and it also features in-app purchases (ew) that allow you to skip deaths and otherwise take advantage of your willingness to shell out cash in exchange for bragging rights. Don't bother with this one.
The Daily Grind: Do you pay retail prices for digital downloads?
Let me say up front that I'm not averse to digital downloads. I used to be, but I've finally been suckered in by the convenience factor, not to mention the (relatively) instant gratification. One thing I won't do is pay $59.99 for a digital download, though. You see, brand-new physical game packages can also be had for $59.99, and that gets you a box, a manual, and a disc. More importantly, it cost the game-maker a certain amount of money to put that package together, and that cost is not there when a digital download is purchased. What about you, folks? Do you support premium prices for downloads, or do you opt for the physical package or wait for a digital sale? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Counterfeit Pokemon apps sneak into App Store (Updated)
Each app in the iOS App Store must go through Apple's notorious approval process. Previously known for its heavy ban hammer, Apple is now earning a reputation for being lax and letting a myriad of cloned and counterfeit apps into the App Store. According to reports from Develop and Ars Technica, the latest titles to raise suspicion are a pair of Pokémon apps, one from developer Jonathan Milanovic and another from House of Anime. In both cases, the apps are present in the iOS App Store in the game category and have gotten the attention of customers. One app, Pokémon Pocket Edition by Milanovic, was not even a game, but merely a gallery of Pokémon photos. Customers were understandably angry when they realized they paid $5 for a bunch of images. After the Develop article was published, Milanovic pulled the app because people misunderstood what they were buying. He told Develop, "I did note that it was only a gallery, and supported this by listing the game in 'book' section on the App Store." The other app, House of Anime's Yellow Pokémon, debuted this weekend and climbed as high as No. 3 on the App Store's paid apps chart. It, too, is the recipient of many stinging comments, criticizing the app because its doesn't work. As Ars Technica points out, this game uses screenshots and characters taken directly from Nintendo's Pokémon series. It's not just inspired by Pokémon, it's a blatant ripoff of Nintendo's popular franchise. These titles slipped through Apple's review process because Apple apparently relies on the copyright owners to police the app store for infringing titles. Apple looks for technical issues with apps, but not copyright infringement. When you think about it, the company is in a similar position as YouTube, which also struggles with users who upload infringing content. Just like YouTube, the app store is so big, that Apple can't adequately police existing and incoming titles. Until Apple develops a tool or improves it manual method to scan submissions for infringement, it will be the responsibility of developers and copyright holders to keep a watchful eye for clones and ripoff titles. Hopefully, when a copyright owner brings a knockoff app to Apple's attention, Apple will step up its policing and remove the title promptly. Update: Ars reports that the app has been pulled from the store.
Ripoff apps plague some iOS developers
Update: Some of the Tamsong apps have already begun disappearing from the store. Near-clone apps in the iOS App Store? It's not a new phenomenon, by any means; last week, developer Anton Sinelnikov had the bulk of his app library yanked from the store for plagiarism. In fact, high-profile app launches like RealMac Software's Clear can find themselves with unwanted "tribute" apps even before they arrive in the store. For major developers like EA or Rovio, it usually doesn't take too long to rouse Apple's app cops to clear out the duplicates, but less well-connected devs may find themselves frustrated by copies that don't get the attention of the authorities. Apple does indeed have a feedback page for this issue, so that's obviously the first thing to try. Alan Scully of Breaking Art was surprised to discover this week that some of his apps (Flickr HD, Beer In Japan & more) had identical twins in the App Store, all from a single developer: Tamsong Co. In fact, he found out that all the Tamsong (or Tamsung) apps appear to be clones of other developers' work: devs like e-MedTools, Primolicious and others have doppelganger apps in the Tamsong library. The first question that came to mind: are these apps actually cloned, or just very similar efforts? Second question, how is it possible to make such convincing app copies? And third, what is Apple going to do about punting this xerographic developer out of the store? Answering question one: These are clones, no two ways about it. Check out the evidence for one example, Beer O'Clock from Breaking Art (thanks to Erica Sadun for digging into the app contents). Pricing: Identical Beer O'Clock! $0.99 from Breaking Art, Released: Feb 24, 2010 Beer O'Clock+ $0.99 from Tamsong, Released Feb 10, 2012 Interfaces: Identical Breaking Art Tamsung Looking under the hood The app .ipa files are actually different sizes. What about the components? We extracted them into separate folders and set to looking. Inside each is an identical PhoneGap-powered www folder. PhoneGap is an HTML5-based framework for building mobile apps, which will suggest an answer for question two. Both apps sport nearly identical index.html files: The _CodeSignature files for each app seem to indicate that many of the files have identical values. Running md5 on background images demonstrates the remarkable similarity: But how? Under normal circumstances, doing a straight-up clone of an iOS app would be relatively difficult. The fact that these apps were built with PhoneGap, however, provides a theory about how this might have been done. The PhoneGap development environment may make apps especially vulnerable to cloning, because the web assets making up the UI are stored in the clear inside the app. Developers using this framework (and similar HTML5-based tools) may want to keep an eye out for clones. In any case, it's clear that we have a rogue developer in the store, and the ball is now in Apple's court.
Ripoff of upcoming Clear app appears in App Store (Updated)
Days before the launch of Realmac Software's Clear to-do manager, developer Reejo Samuel, who is not on the Real Mac team, has ripped off the software and released it on the App Store. Clear has gotten quite a bit of buzz, and we got a sneak peek at it during Macworld | iWorld 2012. With the interface that is intuitive and simple to use, it's bound to be a hit for the Real Mac folks when it comes out. Samuel's app appears to copy everything about Clear. It's a Xerox from the logo and basic functionality right down to the color scheme, but it doesn't appear to have some of the more intricate functions of the app. It's not the first ripoff to appear in the App Store, by far, and it won't be the last. But for readers thinking Samuel's app is the real deal, it's not. We hope Apple takes notice and bans him as quickly as they approved the app, which went live today. As for the real Clear app, it'll be released Wednesday. We'll have a full hands-on review of it then as well. Update: The knockoff app has been pulled from the App Store. The developer's only other app remains available.
Seagate teams with Monster for staggeringly overpriced Momentus XT upgrade kits
Too lazy to pop your existing HDD out in favor of a Momentus XT solid state hybrid drive? There's a Monster for that. In what has to be one of the poorest partnership decisions of the new millennium, Seagate has decided to hitch its wagon to a company famous for scamming customers, suing small businesses and charging a fortune for things that... well, shouldn't cost a fortune. Here at CES, Seagate and Monster Digital are introducing the Dakar series of upgrade kits, which will be offered with 750GB and 500GB models of Seagate's Momentus XT drive at suggested retail prices of $289.99 and $269.99, respectively. For those keeping count, the drives alone will run you around $100 (500GB) and $185 (750GB), which means that you're paying well over a Benjamin for the following: software (not needed; download cloning apps for free), cables (a couple of bucks on Monoprice), an instructional video (Monster should actually pay you to watch this) and a screwdriver (you have ten -- just look). Great product launch, guys. Just great.
WikiLeaks cables shed light on Apple's battle against counterfeit wares
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but if you're Rolex, Gucci or Apple, you probably aren't very interested in being flattered. Due to Apple's intense popularity, an entire industry has arisen that thrives on knocking off the iconic wares Designed in Cupertino. We've seen plenty in our day, and while it may strike some as if Apple's doing absolutely nothing to curtail the aping, a new WikiLeaks release confirms otherwise. According to an electronic memo from the Beijing embassy dated September 2008, Apple began to put obvious and deliberate pressure on China to act against businesses who were copying its wares a few years back. As it turns out, knocking out the knockoffs isn't exactly high on China's list of governmental priorities, and progress on halting the KIRF extravaganza has been sluggish at best. The entire story is quite the exhausting read, but it's worth delving into if you're curious -- per usual, you can get educated in the links below.
Ninja Fishing for iPhone looks eerily similar to popular Flash title
Ninja Fishing is a new title coming on the App Store that combines Fruit Ninja's hacking and slashing mechanic with a fishing game, where you throw fish up in the air and then chop them down for fun and profit. Unfortunately, quite a few people have noticed a resemblance to a Flash game called Radical Fishing, which itself was already being made into an App Store title called Ridiculous Fishing. Sure enough, the original Flash title has you fishing and then shooting fish out of the air, and the planned iOS title plays generally the same way, it would seem. So what's the deal? Certainly there is a resemblance between the two games, even if the swipe-to-slash mechanic is a new addition. And this obviously isn't the first time we've seen game mechanics from another medium apparently ripped off for an iOS title. But the developers of Ridiculous Fishing seem to be taking it in stride anyway -- they're still working hard on their iOS title, and they say it'll have lots of cool new ideas and "an amazing visual style" as well. Gamenauts, the company that released Ninja Fishing, says that the title was inspired by the original Flash game, and that credit will be given, though they weren't specific on how that will be done. Mistakes were made, it seems, but given how many titles are available on the iOS store, it's probably not too surprising that we've got a few overlaps.
Samsung pulls controversial Anymode Smart Case, says it never received certification
The Anymode Smart Case for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 may bear a suspicious resemblance to Apple's iPad 2 Smart Cover, but Samsung insists it had absolutely nothing to do with it. In a blog post published today, the company responded to allegations that it tried to market a Cupertino rip-off, claiming that the accessory never received official "Designed for Samsung Mobile" certification. Samsung went on to point out that none of the cases have actually been sold, while confirming that it's "working with Anymode to address this oversight." In the meantime, the contentious Smart Case has been removed from Samsung's Anymode's site, meaning we can finally return to leading healthy, productive lives.
Apple approves Canabalt clone
Late last year, the developer who created popular indie game Canabalt released the game's source code under an MIT open source license. This license lets other developers use the underlying game engine to power their own games for either private or commercial distribution. While the underlying engine is free to use, the Canabalt developer clearly states other developers cannot "distribute or redistribute our game code, art or sounds." Unfortunately, PLD Soft may have violated this open source license by taking the source code, repackaging it with minimal changes and submitting it to the App Store as an app called Free Running. Apple approved this Canabalt clone, and it is now available for free. While it may prevent the entry of harmful and poorly written applications into the App Store, Apple's approval process is not perfect. Just last week, a Mario clone made its way into the App Store, and now we see the debut of a Canabalt clone. The Mario clone had a limited lifespan and was pulled promptly from the App Store, we will wait and see if Free Running meets the same fate. [Via Daniel Wood (@loadedwino)]
Mario clone in App Store, place your bets for how long (Update: It's gone)
UPDATE: Yeah, as tipster Matt told us, this app has been pulled. That only took a few hours. You gotta be kidding. I am dying to know who, exactly, at Apple is unfamiliar with Mario the plumber. An intern born in the 90s, maybe? At any rate, go grab this platformer featuring Monino, whose brother was captured by Bowler and is being kept in a castle. Sound familiar? It's like a mirror universe, I know. Given how much the iPod touch and iPhone have been hurting Nintendo's DS sales, we're likely going to have to wait until the Japanese game company stops making hardware altogether to see a real Mario franchise appear on iOS. Until then (and until someone at Cupertino wakes up to an irritated email), you'll have this game. Honestly I'm not wasting the 99-cents on it, as the reviews clearly point out the controls are atrocious. You can't have a decent platformer if the controls aren't responsive, I don't care how gussied up to look like a Nintendo rip-off it may be. Get it while it still exists, which will probably be a few more hours. They didn't even bother to change Mario's appearance! Update: Electricpig posted a video as well, which you can see on the next page. Thanks for the tip, David!
EFO's diminutive Google TV keyboard makes us laugh, cry, exclaim
Google's remained fairly mum on its TV experiment ever since a number of major networks blocked Google TV devices from accessing their online content, but you can bet that Logitech and Sony are still doing everything they can to unload inventory. If -- for whatever reason -- you've found yourself in the precarious position of needing a backup keyboard, EFO's got a couple of comical solutions. The outfit's new Google TV keyboard is named simply enough, and it's also one of the smallest KB remotes in the history of KB remotes. That's great for those who tend to shove their controlling devices into pockets and whatnot, and there's even a touchpad that works vertically and horizontally -- depending on preference, of course. Bluetooth ($75) and RF ($65) versions are available, with initial shipments to go out starting on the 15th. Head on past the break for a demo video, also known as the cutest thing you'll see all day.
Knockoff 3-in-1 iPad camera connection kit improves Apple's own design
Frankly speaking, the vast majority of knockoff gear is a giant leap backwards from the real-deal. This, friends, is one of those fringe cases where the opposite is true. The 3-in-1 iPad camera connection kit (available in black or white) is a single dock connecting apparatus with a trifecta of ports: USB, SD and microSD. In order of mention, you can offload photos from your camera onto your iPad via a direct USB connection, offload photos from your SD card and offload photos from your microSD card. It's all pretty self explanatory, and at just $29.90, there's hardly a reason to even consider the official version. Hit the links below to get your order in, but don't expect it to ship until early next year. Update: And now, we introduce to you the 5-in-1 iPad camera connection kit. This is getting out of hand.
Keepin' it real fake: Magic Mouse and iPhone converge into iPhonc
Do you dream at night? Do you stare at your ceiling pondering questions that no other Earthling could possibly ponder? Contrary to popular belief, you aren't actually alone in this nightmare, and we too have wondered what would happen to our universe if a Magic Mouse and iPhone collided. Look up. Now down. Now back up again. That greenish, devilish device you see above is the iPhonc, a "KIRF of all KIRFs," if you will. It's hard to pinpoint who exactly thought to shove a dumbphone into the body of a Magic Mouse, but in some strange way, they've managed to make our souls smile. Best of all? Even the source here admits that it's meaningless to wonder over the specifications and price, noting that the shell alone should attract sufficient attention. Makes the fading of Meizu a little easier to handle, you know?
Best Buy charges $30 for PS3 firmware update, laughs all the way to the bank
In case you hadn't noticed by now, Best Buy's Geek Squad isn't always the most scrupulous sort, but their latest attempt to upsell consumers is truly off the charts. We've confirmed for ourselves that the Staten Island, NY store is offering 120GB PS3 Slims for $329.98, explaining away the surcharge as their fee for a firmware upgrade. In case you've never booted up a PS3 yourself, let us explain the sheer ridiculousness at work here: a system update requires about three button presses, and some discs prompt you automatically. Hell, if you want to play online or access the PlayStation Store, you don't even have a choice -- ever since Other OS got Sony's goat, firmware updates have been mandatory across the board. Still, it's hard to say no when Best Buy employees are this polite -- when we explained to a rep that we already had a PS3, he graciously offered us an update anyhow... for just $29.98.
Keepin' it real fake: Dyson's Air Multiplier gets ripped off, multiplied a few more times
We never really understood the value proposition behind Dyson's (admittedly boisterous) Air Multiplier, but that's mostly due to the $300+ MSRP. Cut that back to right around $40, and you just might have us singing a different tune. Thanks to the wonders of KIRFing, Dyson's bladeless fan has seen itself duped and multiplied over in China, with a 10-inch version now selling for just $41.05 so long as you buy ten or more units. Abiko seems to the company hawking the knockoffs, with its version reportedly "indistinguishable from the original." So, what's it going to be? The real deal? Or the real deal? Update: Dyson requested that we add this comment, so we're more than happy to present you with it. "The Dyson Air Multiplier™ fans were launched in 2009 after four years of research and development. A team of specialist Dyson engineers have refined and patented the technology: illegal copies are of significantly inferior quality. Dyson rigorously defends its intellectual property and treats any infringement very seriously. Dyson is taking legal action against anyone who copies its technology."
Confused pig face mobile phone has paw print buttons, Winnie the Pooh sticker
Oh China, how we love the gadgets you produce. Particularly those of the homegrown variety. We can't say we spotted this pig face mobile during our recent jaunt through the gadget sectors of Hong Kong, but boy, do we wish we had. In one of the most extreme cases of product confusion ever, it looks as if we've got a clamshell phone with the face of a pig, a 0.3 megapixel camera, light-up eyes, a smattering of misplaced Walt Disney logos, paw print send / end buttons and rear speakers, and a random Winnie the Pooh sticker on the rear -- you know, to really cap things off. We're guessing this is some failed attempt to generate yet another KIRF Disney phone, but seriously, a glowing pig? Hello Kitty is not pleased. [Thanks, Chris]
Enso's zenPad is vaporware, get refunds while they last (update)
Did you order a Enso zenPad? If so, you'll be happy to hear that the company has decided on a concrete release date; its website is now ticking down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until May 8th, when Enso claims they'll finally ship the rebranded Smit MID. Problem is, if you ordered your zenPad on March 22nd -- the day we wrote about it -- you will have waited 47 days by the time the device ships, exactly two days too many to get a PayPal refund. But more importantly, manufacturer Smit has now disavowed any knowledge of a deal, and Enso itself has admitted that the zenPad as such does not currently exist. We've done quite a bit of digging and even spoke with an Enso founder to get the whole story. Enough promises have now been broken and lies told that if we were you, we'd request refunds ASAP, but if you still want to hang on for a chance at a $155 Android tablet, you can hear the whole tale right after the break. Update: We just spoke to Enso CEO Alberto Armandi, who says that the company has now secured the necessary funding to make good on orders, and promises that he will ship us a zenPad for review within two weeks. We'll revisit this story then. Meanwhile, read how we got to this juncture after the break.
