Macgasm

Since the iPhone was released nearly three years ago, people have been complaining about three things that the iPhone doesn’t do.  The first being, that Apple won’t allow third-party apps to multi-task on the iPhone.  Rumors are now circulating that when iPhone OS 4.0 is released that it will support third-party multi-tasking.  Second, is that the iPhone did not have cut, copy, and paste until recently.  When iPhone OS 3.0 was released this feature was implemented.  Finally, people complained that the iPhone is closed, or in a Walled Garden with its Apps.  Why am I bringing all this up?  Funny you should ask.

Sascha Segan, of PCMAG.com fame, is reporting that Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series, is going to encompass all three of these things that people have been complaining about with the iPhone.  As where Apple is making strides to bring these features to the iPhone, Microsoft is taking two steps back with their Windows Phone 7 Series.  Microsoft in true fashion is now playing catch-up to Apple.  They have seen the one thing that people don’t like about the iPhone, it’s closeness, and now they are mirroring that with their own Windows Phone 7 Series.  Microsoft’s Windows Phone Developer Charlie Kindel is quoted as follows:

“Like the iPhone, Windows Phone 7 won’t support third-party apps being able to run in the background. But third parties will get access to a wider range of services than are available on the iPhone. For instance, Pandora could stream in the background using a special background-music service, Kindel said. But VoIP apps will be limited; there won’t be a service to allow third-party apps to access telephony in the background.”

Well, lets look at the second and third sentences in his quote.  Kindel states that, third-party apps like Pandora will be able to run with “…a special background-music service.”  This sounds awfully familiar to the way that the iPod app on the iPhone works.  Where you can listen to your music, and run other apps while your music is playing.  From the get go Apple has had multi-tasking on the iPhone.  It’s just with their core apps though, not with third-party apps.  However, as I stated earlier, it’s rumored that third-party multi-tasking will be in iPhone OS 4.0.  There are concerns with multi-tasking — one of which is battery drain.  Those pesky background services don’t close themselves after you’ve closed your application.  They are still running in the background eating away at your battery.  Hopefully, Apple will have devised a way to end these processes when the app is closed.  Or, at least give us a way to kill the process that is running.

We’re also seeing Microsoft omitting cut, copy, and paste from Windows Phone 7 series.  This is strange because this feature is in all of the Window Mobile OSes.  So why is Microsoft omitting it.  Bill Ray of The Register explains why,

“Cut and paste does present a UI challenge to the finger-driven interface, but no more than changing the font size or underlining text, which is rather the point. Microsoft doesn’t want people changing font sizes or cutting and pasting documents together. Windows Phone 7 Series devices are for making phone calls, playing music and listening to entertaining farting noises – just like the iPhone.”

Wow!  Microsoft is doing the exact thing that Apple has been catching heat for.  So, I wonder if the Microsoft fanboys will be up in arms over this feature that has been used in their previous mobile OSes.  (Yes, there are Microsoft fanboys.  You know who you are, don’t try and deny it.  Be proud of your fanboy status!)  All joking aside, Microsoft isn’t learning anything from the iPhone.  They are simply three years behind.

Kindel continues to talk about how consumers will only be able to install applications on their Windows Phone 7 Series by using the Microsoft Marketplace.  Ok, let me see, Microsoft Marketplace sounds awfully close to iTunes Store.   This has been an issue with so many people.  Google’s Android has used this as a selling point for their platform.  With Google Android you don’t have to install your apps from a Marketplace per say.  So, now Microsoft will have their own Walled Garden to which they will control.  Maybe this will take the heat off of Apple since now there are two companies doing the same thing.

I know I’m going to catch a lot of flack over this, but it has to be said: Microsoft is following Apple’s model.  Apple came out with the iPod, then the iPhone.  Microsoft came out with the Zune, now they are coming out with Windows Phone 7 Series.  Unfortunately, Microsoft has not learned from Apple’s growing pains.  Instead they are repeating history.  I think it’s great that Microsoft is trying something new, but try to be a little more original next time.

Photo Credit: Windows Phone 7 Series – Inicio

Article Via PCMAG.com & The Register

It’s a happy day today for competition. Today, the largest e-book vendor on the market has announced that they’re going to be releasing an application for Mac OS X. Amazon has put together a free eBook reading application in a hope to directly compete with the iPad, and Apple’s iBookstore. No longer will you have to buy a Kindle 2 or a Kindle DX to gain access to their enormous catalog.

Pretty interesting stuff.

We’re not sure what kind of back-door agreement might be in place with Apple, or if there even is one, but Amazon’s being pretty vocal about getting a Kindle-like app on the iPad, much like they have already done with the iPhone. Hopefully they’re successful, and consumers will have the opportunity to choose whether they want to stick with the native iBook reader or use a third party reader.

What could set the iBookstore apart from the Amazon store on the iPad is the tight integration with iTunes. We’ve seen a lot of competitive ideals come to the iPhone, some of which are far greater applications than Apple’s natively bundled software options, but at the end of the day, people seem to migrate to iTunes for their purchases. The iTunes digital hub could be the one thing that makes the iPad such a success.

I’m sure the big wigs at Amazon realizes this, and I certainly hope that they knock it out of the park with their Kindle application. We need some real competition in this market. A well designed Kindle application could seriously put a stranglehold on the iBookstore, and with rumours that other companies, such as Barnes and Noble, thinking about putting together their own bookstores on the iPad, things are going to get plenty interesting after launch.

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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has been available on consoles for a while now, but LucasArts and Aspyr have teamed up to bring a special edition to Windows and Mac OS X subtitled as the “Ultimate Sith Edition.” Unfortunately, the Mac version was delayed until recently. I have had it for a while, and now that I have played through it, I can give you a full-fledged review.

MacWorld reviewed the game as well, and I was a little worried about the game going in. After playing it, I found their review to be overly critical. There are some flaws, and some can be frustrating, but this is far from the train wreck that Chris made it out to be.

Gameplay

Controls

Unlike Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, this is a full-out action game. The attacks are one-for-one with your input. If you click the left mouse button, you swing your light saber. When you press “Q,” you conjure forth lighting from your finger tips. It certainly feels more fast-paced, but you lose a lot of granular control that you got with the pseudo turn-based system from KotOR.

Instead of selecting your targets by clicking on them, you have to be facing them. This is the one area where the keyboard and mouse controls really falls short. It is somewhat clumsy to change your target in a crowded room, but there is a solution. If you prefer, you can play the entire game with an Xbox 360 controller. The only other issue I’ve really found with the controls is that using the track pad doesn’t quite give the same sort of input as the game is expecting. You can’t just drag upwards once, and then rest your finger there. You have to constantly be dragging in one direction.

Customization

In order to upgrade your character, you are awarded “Force Spheres” when you level up. You then use these spheres on different aspects of your character’s abilities. If you prefer to focus on light saber melees, you can focus on upgrading your light saber skills. If you prefer to take out your foes with force lightening, then by all means upgrade your force abilities.

In each level, there are hidden “Holocrons.” Sith Holocrons will provide you will replenished health, and the like. Interestingly, Jedi Holocrons provide you with both “Force Points” (for leveling up) and light saber crystals. If you want to alter how your laser sword will appear and function, you’ll need to go hunting for Holocrons.

Your character will appear in new duds in every new level, but you can change how you look if you so choose. You can swap between any of your outfits from previous levels, but that’s not all. You can also skin yourself as characters from other Star Wars games and movies. If you are dying to play as Obi-Wan, Luke, or Darth Maul, the world is your oyster.

Audiovisual

Graphics

For the most part, this is a very pretty game. The models look very good, and the environments are all very distinct looking. Action games often fall into the trap of repetitive scenery, but each area has a very unique variation on the theme of the planet you’re on currently.

Sadly, all of this beauty comes at a cost. My year-old MacBook Pro is on the low end of supported hardware. They recommend at least a 2.6 Ghz quad-core processor, and a video card with 512 MB of VRAM. There isn’t much you can do if your hardware is lacking. You can, however, turn down the resolution, and that worked well for me. After taking it down a notch, I was able to get it to run without any problem. The only time I really noticed dropped frames was in one area about half-way through the game where there happened to be a lot of enemies on screen in a large setting. I found that the choppiness was very much overstated by MacWorld’s review. Compared to the choppy mess that was the KotOR games, this was surprisingly smooth for me. Is it perfect? No, but it was certainly serviceable.

Sound

I was somewhat torn on the sound in this title. There was a very pleasant score. In fact, there is a wonderfully cheesy moment towards the end that implements a well known song from the movies. However, I find that the music and sound effects can sometimes drown out the voice acting. I ended up going into the game settings, and turning the soundtrack down.

As far as the quality of the voice acting goes, there is some good and some bad. There are some deliveries that sound realistic and soulful. Unfortunately, there are a handful of performances that seem quite contrived. All in all, I’ll go out on a limb and say that there was more good than bad in this department.

Story

This game is set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, and you get to play as Darth Vader’s secret apprentice. Lord Vader demands that you go on a series of missions on different worlds to hunt the few remaining Jedi. Slowly, it is revealed that perhaps your relationship with Vader is not what it seems. Eventually, you end up fighting the Galactic Empire, and helping the Rebel Alliance get off the ground. Interestingly, there are two endings available: Lightside and Darkside. The Lightside is the canonical ending, but there is extra content for the Darkside ending.

The high water mark for stories in a Star Wars game is Knights of the Old Republic. I think most people can agree on that point. There are times in this where it rivals the quality of the Old Republic, but it just isn’t nearly as fleshed out. However, it has the benefit of being set during the era of the movies. We get to see characters that we know and love. That is a great feeling, but it just wasn’t as immersive as Bioware’s epic. The game could have used more down time — breathing room, if you will. This is a point in which I am in complete agreement with the MacWorld review. I’m just not as attached to these new characters as I am those of KotOR. I don’t feel personally involved.

Ultimate Sith Edition Bonuses

This special edition brings with it multiple new aspects. The previously mention custom costumes were previously only available via DLC on the original release. Also, there are new Databank entries as well. Those are great, but the bread and butter of this release is the three new levels. Two of these were previously released as DLC, but the third was released first in this edition of the game. These add-ons take the Darkside ending, and run with it.

These levels will take you to the Jedi Temple, the Death Star, Tatooine, and Hoth. The first of these levels is set during the events of the original game content. The second takes place during A New Hope, and you’re saddled with taking on Obi-Wan Kenobi. Lastly, the third level puts you up against Luke Skywalker himself during the events of the Empire Strikes Back. If you get a kick from interacting with beloved characters, you’ll love these levels.

Summary

In sum, this game has shining moments of greatness. Being an all-powerful Sith is incredibly fun. The controls can be a bit frustrating at times, and you’ll need fairly high-end hardware to run it, but it is worth it if you’re interested in Star Wars at all. My only real warning is that you check to make sure that your hardware is supported.

Image Credit: LucasArts

In my ongoing effort to reclaim my inbox, I’ve realized that both smart folders and mail rules can seriously cut down on the clutter. One thing I’ve been working with on and off is trying to figure out a way to quickly see when a tip comes into my inbox. Normally, it’d just get thrown into the mix with the rest of my emails. I had originally filtered them into a folder called Tips with mail rules, but I found myself forgetting to check them occasionally, so I clearly needed a better system.

Apply Color Labels to Emails

I’ve decided that color coding some key emails with a mail rule is the best system for me. Tips coming into my inbox get a red label. Comment replies to the website get a blue label. Article submissions get a green label. So, now I can quickly see when an important email comes into my inbox.

Here’s how it’s done

1. Open mail.app
2. Go to your mail preferences
3. Click on Rules
4. Click Add Rule
5. Set a name for your rule in the description field
6. Set the criteria you want to meet in the top section (ie. see image for my set up)
7. In the perform action section select the set color option
8. Pick if you want the text, or background to change colors
9. Select the color you want to emails to be
10. Click Ok

There ya have it!

Sending money to someone else has never been easier.  Luke Bornheimer of 9to5Mac reports that PayPal’s updated iPhone app allows you to send money from your iPhone using Bump technology.  You might have remembered Bump as the billionth app downloaded.  This app allowed you to transfer an Address Book contact from one iPhone to another by simply bumping iPhones.  Now this technology has been brought to the PayPal app.

The applications for this are endless.  You and a friend are going to go see a movie and you order tickets online with your credit card.  However, your friend doesn’t have any cash on them, and your movie starts in twenty minutes.  No problem.  With PayPals Bump technology you can simply bump iPhones, and send your friend money for your ticket.  It’s that simple.

Moreover, imagine you and a bunch of friends go out for dinner.  You want to split the bill, but you don’t want to give your server six different credit cards.  No problem.  You’ve got PayPal on your iPhone with Money Tool’s – Split Check.  Simply put in your total check, then tip, and finally how many people are in your party including yourself.  You even have the flexibility to change the contributions per person.  So, that one friend that ordered three drinks will pay a little more than everyone else.  You can even add the people from your Address Book in the Add Contributors page.  Finally, you can review your friends portion of the total bill, and then send the request for them to send you their part of the bill.  You won’t have to write your friend a check, or rush out to an ATM to get cash.  Heck, with this app who needs cash?

This and many other apps for the iPhone and other mobile devices will free us from a paper based society.  We are pretty much there now with online banking, and the use of credit/debit cards. This is the missing equation, and PayPal has found the solution.  I’m very excited when I see how these tools leverage technology to make our lives easier and more productive.  What’s your opinion on how this type of technology makes our lives easier?  I’d like to know your opinion.  Let me know by leaving a comment in the comments section below.

Article Via 9to5Mac
Photo Credit: App Photos Provided By My iPhone

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I played my fair share of the original Mega Man II, and frankly I should have left my memories in the past instead of trying to relive them on the iPhone version.

Mega Man II was probably one of the defining moments in my gaming life. It was one of the first games that stuck in my brain. Runners up include The Legends of Zelda, Blades of Steel, and Tecmo Bowl. I look back on the massive amounts of time spent playing those games with great fondness.

Mega Man II for the iPhone bastardized the whole damn memory.

Does the remake represent the game accurately? Sure. Does the control mechanic in the iPhone version work how you’d expect? Hell no. It might just be that my dexterity has deteriorated a little over the years, but jumping from ledge to ledge should be a task worthy of a pat on the back every time I land a jump successfully.

Some things just don’t work on a touch screen, and I’d argue that Mega Man II is one of those things. The side scrolling action when mixed with a touch screen control system just ends up being a giant pile of fail. It’s not Capcom’s fault. The game is as good as they could have made it. It’s the original Mega Man II wrapped in a tight little package, but like I said earlier, the controls absolutely suck.

If you’re an iPhone gaming savant, and have mastered the touch screen control system then you’ll love this game, and should ignore everything I just ranted about.

Why are the controls terrible?

It comes down to game design. I’m not sure what the incentive was to try and recreate the feeling of  playing Mega Man II on an old fashioned arcade machine, but it eats up way too much screen real estate, leaving us with buttons that are too small.  I don’t have giant fingers, in fact it’s quite the opposite for me, so if I’m having a hard time using the control scheme there’s probably an excellent chance that others are as well. Capcom would have been better off making the game fullscreen and overlaying the buttons.  Had they done that, it would have afforded them the ability to increase the button sizes.