Android-iPhone War Gaining Speed During Pre-Orders
June 18, 2010 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
With a small army of Android phones headed to the market from Motorola, LG Electronics, and Sony, the stage is set for a major showdown between the two fastest-growing smartphone platforms as Apple brings the iPhone 4 to market. But the challenges seen by AT&T, Apple’s exclusive U.S. carrier, and Apple in taking advance orders for the iPhone 4 could give the competition a boost.
Those rivals include Motorola’s Droid X — launching one day before the iPhone 4 — with its 4.4-inch screen and the Droid Shadow with a 4.3-inch screen. Like Sprint’s HTC EVO, these upstarts are showing defiant bulk as the iPhone gets slimmer. The Droids are packed with goodies like slide-out keyboards — still absent from the iPhone — fast processors and sharp cameras, and, perhaps, Android’s latest multitasking operating system, version 2.2.
According to several reports, LG will release up to 20 new Android devices, while Sony Ericsson is readying the Xperia 8 for battle.
But the iPhone 4 is no slouch either, with its 960-by-640-pixel screen with Retina display, a gyroscope, and dual cameras for video conferencing. A leak of the prototype in April and AT&T’s decision to allow early upgrades to iPhone 3GS customers have fueled a landslide of pre-orders.
The carrier said there were 13 million upgrade inquiries on its web site and it had to suspend pre-orders on Wednesday, when a new system designed for fraud protection reportedly went haywire amid the chaos.
Apple, too, said it was overwhelmed, announcing on its site that the computer giant and its partners had taken 600,000 pre-orders, the largest ever in a single day. That forced Apple to push back the order-fulfillment target date from July 2 to July 14.
"Many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in frustration, " Apple said. "We apologize…
Moshi Moshi Handset Turns iPad Into Giant Phone
April 15, 2010 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
While the apps targeted for the Apple iPad are often packed with innovation, hardware add-ons and innovative external hacks have lagged a bit behind. Now one tech obsessive has taken matters into his own hands and given us an example of how the iPad can be used in a way that lends some credence to the recent pejorative "iPad nano" term used to describe the iPhone.
Connecting the the iPad to the Moshi Moshi 01H handset and using Skype software, one can essentially turn the device into a giant, albeit somewhat old school, telephone. Going on sale today, you can pick up your own Moshi Moshi 01H handset for just $29.99 here.
Via BoingBoing
Comics As ‘Top-Level’ Category For New iPad
March 14, 2010 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
The new bookstore for the iPad (see “Is iPad a Gamechanger?”) will include comics and graphic novels as one of 20 “top-level” categories, according to the blog on AppSlice, a new tool for browsing and finding apps. Manga will be included as a sub-category within the comics and graphic novel category, along with others. The 20 top-level categories will include around 150 sub-categories over-all.
This represents a significant improvement in the merchandising of digital comics as compared to the current sales through Apple’s app store, which will make comics easier to find for readers using the new device.
Resident Evil 4 Now Available For iPhone
July 27, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
Remember that super-polished version of Resident Evil 4 we saw strutting its stuff on iPhone? Well, it’s available right now for purchase in the App Store — and suspiciously smushed down to 37.3 MB. While the game sits on the pricier side of the app spectrum (and is missing elements from the console versions), anything called "Resident Evil 4" is almost impossible for us to resist.
Almost.
[Via App Advice]
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom, $7.99): 
Financial Times Says Apple Tablet Debuts In September
The UK’s Financial Times newspaper that “confirms” Apple will release a touch tablet in September. This account various in timing from two leading theories: an October release and a ship date in “early 2010.” But as I wrote in a recent column, regardless of when the tablet ships, the device will transform the industry.
Meanwhile, there is other evididence of a tablet in September or October, such as Toshiba “ramping up” production of flash memory chips during the month of August.
iPhone Game Earning $10K Per Month Via Ad Revenue
iPhone app developer MobilityWare just let us in on some pretty impressive revenue stats for its game Word Warp. On average, Word Warp brings in just over $10,000 a month.
That isn’t revenue from sales of the app, however, but via advertising, at an eCPM rate of $1.91 since September 2008. iPhone owners have the option of buying the game for 99 cents, or downloading a free version that feeds interstitial ads in between matches, sent via iPhone ad network Greystripe. In a phone call yesterday, MobilityWare marketing director Dave Yonamine told me that less than 20 percent of total Word Warp owners opt for the paid version; instead, they overwhelmingly go for the free, ad-driven version, downloading it roughly 1.5 million times.
“We’re going to give consumers that choice,” Yonamine told me, “and whatever they go with is fine with us.” By offering that choice, the company gets another healthy revenue stream besides app purchases, on a game, which by Yonamine’s estimation, cost mid-five figures to develop.
The advertising income also helps the company fund updates and enhancements to the game, which in turn helps keeps Word Warp relatively popular. More than a year after being in the Store, Yonamine said, the app still gets thousands of downloads a day. As he put it, “I find it humorous that people say the ad-support model is flawed.”
The Official Comic-Con iPhone App Is Here
July 21, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
iPhone owners who are headed to San Diego this week should download the official Comic-Con iPhone app. It basically provides all the information you would normally find in the official Comic-Con International program book, including maps of the halls and exhibit floor, program schedules, and a news feed without having to lug around that heavy program. Plus the programing line-up and exhibitor listing is easily searchable, and the maps are multi-touch zoomable (of course).
I’m sure this will come in handy during the five-day convention. Its not perfect. The maps don’t switch to landscape mode, and the exhibitor and panel search could be improved if they actually integrated with the maps (showing you where to go). But my hats go off to Comic-Con for putting the extra money into a possibly very useful tool. Best part is it’s FREE.
And I’m sure in future years the app will only get better. Social integration would be awesome, allowing you and your friends to create and share customizable schedules. Fantastic Fest and SXSW have some great social features like this on their website.
Sega Brings ‘Streets Of Rage’ To The iPhone
Sega today announced intentions to bring Streets of Rage to the iPhone. When’s it coming out you ask? How’s about right now! That’s right, folks. Because of Apple’s policy on speaking about iPhone apps/games before release, Sega simultaneously announced the game’s existence with its release.
Unfortunately, our friends at Touch Arcade were none too impressed with Sega’s port, saying the game suffers from tremendous slow down and renders the game “unplayable on the 3GS.” Oh no! We’re too busy spending our time with Drop7 to play anything else on the iPhone, so how about you tell us, Joystiq Biomass[TM]. Anyone drop the $4.99 for Streets of Rage today and encounter any problems?
An iPhone Server Farm - What?
July 15, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
In recent months some have chirped that the iPhone is really a sort netbook in disguise, and now with the debut of a new prototype, the iPhone may start doing double duty as an ultra portable server solution.
Created by Japan’s FreeBit, the iPhone server farm prototype houses up to five iPhones and is really just a showcase for the company’s Serversman software.
The free software supports the iPhone, iPod Touch and Windows Mobile phones allowing you to use your phone for network storage, as a file viewer or as a mini-web server. You can see a video explanation and demo of the entire set-up here.
Via IT Media
Resident Evil 4 Coming To The iPhone in July
July 15, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
We know, we were shocked too! Well, maybe not shocked, considering that Resident Evil 4 popped up on the Japanese App Store before it was pulled right down. The game will return (legitimately this time) to Japan by month’s end.
If you’re nowhere near the Land of the Rising Sun, fear not! Capcom says the game will roll out to the rest of the world soon after.
