Likewise, the soundeffects through out the game are nicely done—from the clacking of the chips to the shuffling of the cards, the sounds are clear and high quality.
I’m on the fence if this is a plus or a minus. On one hand, it’s lets me interact with other playersjust like we would with a “regular” game board. (IE: Cheating can occur if you don’t pay attention.)On the other hand, one of the advantages of playing on a computer is the reinforcing of the rules. It lets me relax and enjoy the game more when I don’t have to examine if the other person’s move is legitimate or not.My Face Time Experience
One of the major features touted with the iPhone 4 was the front-facing camera and the ability to have portable video chats, designated FaceTime. I was one of the lucky few who picked up their iPhone 4 on day one and was most curious about this feature, particularly since I video chat on Skype time to time. What follows is my experience in an effort to get the feature to work.
When I first got the phone, I had SMS disabled via AT&T because I'm not a fan of text messaging plus I have a TextFree account for those who obsessively send me messages. Apparently, this was a bad idea in terms of activating FaceTime.
To begin, FaceTime is automatically disabled when you first received the phone. You have to activate it by going into Settings, then Phone, then turning it on. From there, the system sends a message to AT&T's servers to activate the service. This isn't sent when one disables the SMS. A quick call to AT&T and that issue was resolved. Please note that if you ever have to restore your phone, this process has to be repeated.
Then there was the issue that the feature only works between iPhone 4 devices. My friends are not as daring as I and as a result I knew nobody with an iPhone 4. Fortunately, Apple set up 888-FACETIME, which I used, and I had a video chat with a courteous woman who explained some of the capabilities of the feature, including the ability to dock your self-image in a different corner of the screen and the ability to switch what your facetime partner is watching by flipping to the rear camera (it was my unmade bed. Whoops).
The first time you use the service, you must have access to both a cellular and WiFi signal. The cellular is only necessary the first time so the system can note that your iPhone has FaceTime capabilities. Future calls would then only require WiFi.
I'm sure the porn industry is all over this feature. I'm surprised it is taking Skype this long to release a new version that takes advantage of the front-facing camera since video-chatting is their forte. They don't even need a cellular signal to initiate.
By now, I'm sure most of you have seen the quality of the image, mine was right up there with all the online demos you've seen. The quality in some ways, makes me wonder how much bandwidth would be used if 3G were supported for video calling. I'm guessing I would have eaten up the 2GB limit pretty quickly with just a few phone calls a month, which is I'm sure the reason that this is being limited to WiFi for now.
In short, setting up FaceTime for first time use can be a little tedious, but once you get things working, having video chat capabilities in your hand is definitely a feature I can see getting used to pretty quickly.
Vector art and dual stick shooters are two genres that have received more than their share of love on the app store. Every time I think we have seen everything we possibly could from these types of games, a new one comes along and shows how it can create something fresh and exciting from a familiar formula. Pew Pew 2 by Jean-Francois Gevelin is a great example of a game that can take a mechanic that has been done before and turn into a more polished expirence.iPhone 4 Knockoffs Are Getting Better
Wow. They're getting better at copying Apple and adding a few things, like removable batteries and easy to get to memory cards... not that you could video conference or anything, but check this YouTube video demoing the knockoff...
Wireless HD Video Uploads Are Coming
Sometimes Steve Jobs responds to direct emails from consumers, and recently a reader from MacDailyNews sent a message to Apple CEO Steve Jobs to ask about the inability to upload HD videos to the web without having to doc first.
Jobs replied to this email with "You can upload them via a Mac or PC today. Over the air in the future."
Being able to currently send video directly from the iPhone via email or MMS is nice, but the quality suffers greatly due to compression of the files. Even though Steve Jobs doesn't give a time frame for such a feature, being able to upload and sync over the air in the future will be a nice addition. Of course I'm sure it would probably be over the Wi-Fi connection so we don't start hitting that new 2GB cap on AT&T's 3G network!
iPhone Insurance Now Available
Insurance for your new glass iPhone is now available, but is it really worth it?
The premium is $12 / month (which on its own is a little high), but the real kicker for us is the $199 deductible. Since the new price of the iPhone is $599 or $699 to replace one in the middle of a contract, it would basically mean that you would have laid out the $12 monthly and then another $199 to get a refurbished model.
So lets take a for instance case that you use your phone for 12 months, then loose it, you would have paid out $144 monthly and then another $199 for the deductible when it came time to replace the phone, grand total of $343 (half the price of a new one). In the case of loosing the phone, maybe this isn't so bad, but what if you simply broke something on your phone?
Currently, you could get a broken screen replaced for $149 in your local repair shop, or fix a broken port for around $99.
Personally, we think if we lost our phones, we would probably pick up one on eBay for the remainder of our contract, or use one of our older phones.
Just seems like a steep deductible to us.
Those that have played Rocket Cat's Hook Champ know what a high quality game it is. So it is no surprise that it's sequel, Super Quickhook, takes the grappling hook fun of it's predesessor to a new level. What could Super Quickhook have to offer that Hook Champ hasn't already done? Let's take a look at this new title, and see why it should be in everybody's homescreen.Hulu Plus Released for iOS Devices!
Today Hulu announced its premium subscription based service for streamed television content. Customers willing to pay $9.99 monthly will gain access to the full library of current Hulu television shows plus an expanded older library of content. Subscribers will be able to gain access to full seasons of shows in 720p HD format.
In addition to watching shows on the web, iOS devices are now supported, including iPad, iPhone, and iTouch devices. Streaming will be available over Wi-Fi and 3G. Hulu had this to say during todays release;
"Hulu Plus is not a replacement for Hulu.com. Hulu Plus is a new, revolutionary ad-supported subscription product that is incremental and complementary to the existing Hulu service. For almost all of the current broadcast shows on our service, Hulu Plus offers the full season. Every single episode of the current season will be available, not just a handful of trailing episodes. Now there's never a bad time to jump in on a hot new show like Modern Family (which I recommend highly). From Family Guy to Glee, from The Office to 30 Rock, from Grey's Anatomy to Desperate Housewives, from Parks & Recreation to Parenthood, from House to Saturday Night Live, and dozens of other hits, the best time to jump in on any series is any time, and with any episode, that's right for you."
Currently, Hulu is accepting invitation requests for users to try the service, but a public release date has note yet been announced.
The free Hulu Plus app has shown up in the App Store today and it can also be used to request an invitation, so if your a Hulu fan, we suggest that is the best way to get your name on the list.
Google Docs Updated
Google announced today that it has updated Google Docs for iPhone and iPad.
Google Docs mobile version now allows you to view PDF's, PowerPoint files (ppt), and Microsoft Word files (both .doc and .docx). Obviously, you will need to upload these files to your Google account to view them.
Google also added the ability to pinch for zooming and the ability to quickly flip between multiple pages. Take a look at docs.google.com (no need to install any apps here and that has to be a little scary for even Apple).
