iPhone Archives - Page 2 of 37

Douche Defender Hits iOS

Scott Foe has always been one of my favorite people in the gaming business. Known for his work on the Sega Dreamcast, the Nokia N-Gage, and the award winning Pocket Kingdom, Foe has had some unique experiences in gaming. Plus, he’s just excellent company for libation-fueled conversations. Adding to Foe’s coolness is his latest game, Douche Defender. This free-to-play game is full of cheesy lines and familiar faces. Here’s what Foe said about his latest creation in the Douche Defender press release:

I’m always trying to bring something new, something that people have never seen before, something from the way-way out-there machine, and we have definitely achieved that uniqueness with Douche Defender. There is a huge subculture of seduction lurking out there on the internet and this is both the first game that I have designed with female players as the targets and the first game that I have designed with real-world implications outside of the game, and so I am very excited to see how Douche Defender is received.

I’m going to download the game today and give it a whirl. I hope you do the same. It looks like a fun, simple, and unique game with an awesome title. Well played, Mr. Foe.

Google Now Available For iOS

Google has updated its Google Search app for iOS to include Google Now. For those of you not familiar with the product, Google Now is an intelligent search assistant that uses natural language input and a card-based system to serve you information. Many tech experts feel that Google Now is a much more powerful and effective alternative to Apple’s Siri product. While there are certainly similarities, I believe that the products are different enough that a direct comparison is somewhat inaccurate. In practical terms, I’ve gotten way more mileage out of Google Now on my Android devices than Siri on my iOS devices.

Here’s a clip from Google’s blog with additional info:

Google Now is about giving you just the right information at just the right time. It can show you the day’s weather as you get dressed in the morning, or alert you that there’s heavy traffic between you and your butterfly-inducing date—so you’d better leave now! It can also share news updates on a story you’ve been following, remind you to leave for the airport so you can make your flight and much more. There’s no digging required: cards appear at the moment you need them most—and the more you use Google Now, the more you get out of it.

Due to the way Apple manages notifications and background processes, Google Now for iOS is slightly less powerful than its Android counterpart. It currently lacks some of the cards found in the Android version too. That said, it’s still a very powerful information tool and I recommend giving it a go.

If you play around with Google Now of iOS on your iPhone or iPad, I’d love to hear about your experience with it in the comments section.

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Verizon Wireless Changes Upgrade Terms

Verizon Wireless has announced several changes to how upgrades work for its postpaid customers. In the past, customers were able to get upgrade pricing 20 months into an existing contract in exchange for extending the contract by two years. That deal is over. Instead, customers will have to wait for the entire length of the contract to expire before being eligible for upgrade prices. Here’s an excerpt from a post by Verizon’s executive director of corporate communications Brenda Raney:

In alignment with the terms of the contract, customers on a two-year agreement will be eligible for an upgrade at 24 months vs. today’s early upgrade eligibility at 20 months. This change aligns the upgrade date with the contract end date and is consistent with how the majority of customers purchase new phones today.

In the immortal words of Lando Calrissian, “This deal is getting worse all the time!”

Some tech pundits have speculated that Verizon’s chief competitor, AT&T, will follow suit. Many also believe that the Sprint and T-Mobile, the (distant) third- and fourth-largest carriers in the U.S., will capitalize on the move and emphasize the more lenient terms each company offers.

For you Verizon customers out there, does this change your view on the company? Are you less likely to renew your contract because of the new terms? Or is it not a big deal to you?

Source via Droid-Life

How To Make a Fandango Ringtone With iTunes

For smarks, the hottest thing in the WWE is Fandango’s theme song, “ChaChaLaLa.” There are several reasons why the song is over; it’s an intricate, interesting, and ironic issue (the three Is, get it?!?). I’m not going to get into it right now, but what I will get into is how to make your very own Fandango ringtone. The current version of iTunes makes it super-easy to create your very own “ChaChaLaLa” ringtone for your iPhone. Here’s the rundown. Continue reading “How To Make a Fandango Ringtone With iTunes”

iPotty: A Potty Trainer With an iPad Stand

My friend John posted a link to the CTA Digital iPotty. This is a potty training seat with a built in iPad stand. It’s funny and horrifying at the same time. I’m not sure why any potty-training toddler needs this. I’m also not sure why any parent would think this is a good idea. To be fair, I don’t have any kids, so what do I know…except that I wouldn’t want a toddler playing with my iPad while feces and urine are flowing.

Just to check myself, please let me know if you think the iPotty is a good idea. For you parents out there, is this something you’d buy for your kids?

RPad.TV Invitational: Let’s Play Shufflepix (please)!

My pal Scott Foe dropped me a line to tell me about ShufflePix for iPhone. It’s a simple iOS puzzle game that turns your pictures into jumble puzzles. The goal is to put the puzzles together as fast as possible. You can check out how your puzzle-solving abilities stack up on the leader boards. While playing with strangers and strangers’ pictures is fun, playing with friends is even better. You can challenge your friends and use your photos for a more social experience.

If you’re so inclined, please download ShufflePix when you have a chance. You can use Facebook to connect, but can also use the game’s account system if you’re averse to the social network. This could be a fun RPad.TV activity and bragging rights will be on the line. I only ask that we keep the RPad.TV ShufflePix games schlong-free.

For more info on the game, check out the video below.

Coffee Talk #563: Apple as Console King?

Last week, Polygon posted a fantastic article full of juicy quotes from Valve co-founder Gabe Newell. Here are a few choice lines:

I think Apple rolls the console guys really easily.

The biggest challenge is that Apple moves on the living room before the PC industry sort of gets its act together.

The quotes got a ton of play on the Internetz, but I didn’t spend too much time thinking or talking about them…because Newell’s stance didn’t seem debatable to me. I think he’s right and his (greatly respected) opinions are obvious. However, RPadholic N8R suggested…more

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the Los Angeles Clippers floundering without Chris Paul, Verve’s Ethiopia Birhanu, or overdosing on Kevin Smith commentaries (and loving it), Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Last week, Polygon posted a fantastic article full of juicy quotes from Valve co-founder Gabe Newell. Here are a few choice lines:

I think Apple rolls the console guys really easily.

The biggest challenge is that Apple moves on the living room before the PC industry sort of gets its act together.

Apple has done a phenomenal job selling iPhones, iPads, and Apple TVs. Those products have become more than phones, tablets, and streaming-video players. They’re multifaceted devices that are “lifestyle” products. So Newell is absolutely right about Apple being in millions of living rooms. He’s also right about Apple having a huge opportunity to displace traditional console gaming. The question is whether Apple will try to shake up and dominate that business the way it did with smartphones and tablets.

When Steve Jobs ran Apple, I would have bet against it. Under Jobs, Apple had a strange relationship with gaming. At times it seemed like the company didn’t understand it. At other times, it almost seemed like the company was afraid of it. It will be interesting to see how Apple approaches gaming under Tim Cook. He seems more flexible than his predecessor and more willing to venture into territory that has been historically foreign to the company.

I have no doubt that gaming will become a bigger part of Apple’s future, but I have no idea how the company will approach the field. It could continue to make iOS gaming bigger and bigger, enhancing the experience through AirPlay. Handheld consoles are already hurting because of the rapidly improving iOS gaming market. It’s conceivable that Apple will continue to foster iOS gaming growth so that it cuts into home consoles.

Or the company could be more aggressive on the hardware front with Apple TV or the mythical Apple television set. Imagine a more powerful Apple TV with visually-impressive games that are controlled with iPhones and iPads. In the immortal words of John Lennon, “It’s easy if you try.”

Ultimately, I don’t think Apple will take on Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony head-on. That’s not what the company does. It successfully played its own game with smartphones and tablets, and I see it doing the same with gaming. Will that be enough to make it console king?

What do you think of Newell’s statements about Apple possibly rolling the big console companies? Can you imagine a world where Apple rules living-room gaming?

Coffee Talk #555: 2013 Consumer Electronics Wishes

Continuing our discussion of nerd hopes and wishes for 2013, I was wondering what you wanted to see in the consumer electronics space. Are you hoping for advancements in PCs, mobile phones, tablets, or software? If so, what specifically are you having gadget dreams about?

As for me, I’m hoping to see Apple take some bold steps with iOS. Don’t get me wrong — it’s a simple and powerful operating system that is the gold standard and has certainly gotten better over the years, but many of the recent changes have been subtle. Meanwhile, the competition has been catching up and, in some cases…more

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the existence of Scary Movie 5, praying for a United 1K challenge, or dreading losing 1K status after January, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone has become a boldly different alternative, mostly because it had to be in order to compete. Android has gotten exponentially better over the last two years, but that’s partially because it had so much catching up to do. As someone that uses and enjoys both Android and iOS, I see a lot of features on Android that are better than their iOS counterparts. Android apps, however, are another story. I’d love to see more Android apps have the level of polish that their iOS counterparts have.

Now it’s your turn! Fire away in the comments section (please).

Four Free iOS Games For the Holidays

Are you looking to buy yourself a Christmas (the commercial holiday, not the religious one) present, but are short on cash? If so, then you’ll be happy to learn that there are four iOS games that are free for a limited time. The first chapter of Walking Dead: The Game is sure to scare you, as well as vex you with some tough decisions. Avengers Initiative is a fun brawler that stars Captain American and The Incredible Hulk. ARC Squadron is a space shooter that boasts some really impressive graphics. Last, but probably the most appropriate for this time of the year, is Santa Rockstar, which is a Rock Band-style game featuring Kris Kringle.

Check out the iTunes descriptions to see how long these games will be free for (or just download them now). If you happen to pick up any of these freebies, please let me know what you think of them in the comments section.

Warren Ellis, Gun Machine, and the iPad

Renowned comic-book author Warren Ellis wrote a blog post on how he used the Apple iPad to write a large portion of his upcoming novel Gun Machine. The post was a response to another one of my favorite comic-book scribes, Greg Rucka. Ellis used the iPad along with a “Logitech Zagg Keyboard Case for iPad,” PlainText, iA Writer, QuickOffice Pro HD, and the outstanding Dropbox cloud service.

There are a few takeaways here. First, I’m reminded of tech pundits that dismissed the iPad as a content creation tool. While I always viewed the iPad more as a consumption device (which is what most people use it for, primarily), I’ve been blown away by the amount of great apps that allow for content creation. There are some truly (insanely?) great music, office, and image editing apps out there. There have been several days when this blog has been updated through a combination of Clean Writer, Filterstorm, and WordPress. As far as content creation goes, the iPad has exceeded most people’s expectations.

Secondly, Warren Ellis has always been one of the coolest cats writing comics. (You must read his run on The Authority!) The fact that he wrote a large chunk of his novel on an iPad makes him even cooler.

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