Qualcomm director of advanced gaming Dave Durnil chatted with your excellent friend Justin Leeper to talk about the company’s gaming efforts on Google Android. In addition to developer outreach, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Game Pack and Snapdragon Game Command are two of the ways the company is reaching out to gamers. Learn more about these products and future plans for them in this video interview.
Category: Mobile Tech
gTar Teaches You How to Play Guitar Using an iPhone
Incident Technologies’ gTar is a cool Kickstarter project that has been getting a ton of attention this week. This combination of an electric guitar and an iPhone app teaches people how to play guitar. Things start off easy, with prospective Joe Satrianis only needing to hit the right string. Naturally, more advanced learning requires users to hit the proper frets and strings at the proper time. gTar is compatible with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Here’s a clip from the product’s Kickstarter page:
The gTar is a fully digital guitar that makes it easy for anybody to play music, regardless of experience. All you have to do is dock your iPhone in the body, load up the gTar app, and an array of interactive LEDs along the fretboard will show you how to play.
You may be asking yourself what it means for a guitar to be “digital.” While most guitars have pickups to amplify the sound of vibrating strings, the gTar has none — instead, we’ve designed the gTar with sensors that detect exactly what you’re playing in real-time and relay each note to your iPhone, which then produces the actual sound. This makes it possible for us to do all kinds of exciting things.
Judging from the product description and the video above, gTar looks like a pretty sweet product. It looks like it will be a fantastic educational tool beginners, but it also has tremendous creative possibilities for advanced players. Additional apps by Incident and other developers could make the gTar a wonderfully diverse digital guitar. As a longtime (and not very good) guitar player, I usually judge a guitar by its wood, craftsmanship, etc., but the digital nature of the gTar has me geeking over a six-string in a whole different way. This is some very cool tech and I’m happy to see that Incident has already blown past its Kickstarter goal.
Any thoughts on the gTar by Incident Technologies?
U.S. Cable Companies Join For National WiFi Access
Five major American cable companies have joined forces to form Voltron. Wait, that’s not right. Let me try that again. Five major American cable companies have joined forces to offer cross-network WiFi access. Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable offer local WiFi hotspot access to its customers. Under this partnership, customers of one company will be able access the WiFi hotspots of the other companies using the same login information. Here’s a clip from the press release:
Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable today announce that they will enable each other’s high-speed Internet customers to access their metro WiFi networks, totaling over 50,000 hotspots. To simplify access, a new network name, “CableWiFi”, has been created for subscribers to use when accessing the WiFi hotspots outside their home market. The first implementation is already complete as Bright House Networks and Cablevision launched “CableWiFi” alongside their branded WiFi networks in the New York City area and central Florida earlier this month. Over the next few months, the “CableWiFi” network name will be added by each of the cable companies to their branded WiFi hotspots.
As a customer of (crap bag) Time Warner Cable, I’ve never found local hotspots useful. My LTE or HSPA+ connection is almost always better in Los Angeles. This roaming agreement is much more interesting. As a frequent traveler, having an extra dose of connectivity is a great thing. Part of me wants to fly to New York to test out this roaming agreement…and also see my parents and eat some real pizza.
What do you think of the CableWiFi partnership?
GameSalad Creator Comes to Windows PC
A few weeks ago, I wrote about programming tools that allow you to make games without needing to code. One of the ones I mentioned was GameSalad Creator, which allows you to make games for Android, HTML 5, iOS, and more. Previously available for Mac OS, GameSalad Creator is now available for Windows. If you’re interested in the product then you can sign up for the beta here. To give you an idea of GameSalad Creator’s look and feel, check out the image gallery at the end of this post.
Even though GameSalad allows designers to make games without coding, it’s still a very powerful tool. In fact, the company has had great success (like Borat) on the iOS platform. Here’s more from GameSalad director of marketing Jonathan Hunt:
The GameSalad developer community is both passionate and productive. In just three years, our platform has been used to create more than 60 Top 100 Games in the U.S. App Store, including a game that earned the number one slot. We are thrilled to welcome Windows users to our community and expect that this will open up a floodgate of creativity, resulting in even more high quality games for players everywhere.
I know that many of you have game design ideas floating around your head. I also know that most of you are Windows PC users. Any of you willing to give this product a shot? Perhaps the RPad.TV community will be playing the chart-topping iOS-game you created with GameSalad Creator for Windows!
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More Four-Inch iPhone Rumblings
One of the most consistent rumors on the next iPhone is that it will have a four-inch screen. The Wall Street Journal recently added another log to that particular fire. For five generations, the iPhone has rocked a 3.5-inch screen. There have been dramatic improvements in resolution and image quality, but the size has remained the same. Apple’s competitors, on the other hand, have been pushing larger and larger phones, even hitting a whopping 5.3-inches with the Samsung Galaxy Note. Is the time right for Apple to finally use a larger screen for the iPhone?
The argument is usability vs. visibility. For most users, one-handed operation (get your mind out of the gutter!) with a 3.5-inch phone is ideal. Larger screens make one-handed use difficult or impossible (unless your name is Paul Wight). That said, larger screens make video content, web browsing, gaming, etc. more enjoyable. While the iPhone 4S is a fantastic phone, I just can’t deal with the screen size. I’m thrilled by the potential awesomeness of an iPhone with a four-inch screen; it seems like it would hit the sweet spot for most people in terms usability and visibility.
Out of curiosity, which iPhone rumor excites you the most? Are you drooling over the prospects of metal construction? Do you long for an iPhone with an LTE radio? Or is it all about the iPhone having a four-inch screen?
Google to Sell Multiple Nexus Devices Directly to Consumers
The word on the street is that Google will use multiple manufacturers for its next batch of Nexus flagship phones. For those of you not familiar with the Nexus line, these phones use an unaltered or “vanilla” version of Android that’s free from manufacturer skins. Nexus phones have been used as reference models for major updates to the Android operating system.
The original Nexus One was made for Google by HTC. It was followed by the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus from Samsung. It would be fantastic if Google used multiple manufacturers to launch the next major version of Android (Jellybean). The kicker is that these phones will be sold directly to consumers through Google Play. Here’s more from The Wall Street Journal:
Google plans to give multiple mobile-device makers early access to new releases of Android and to sell those devices directly to consumers, said people familiar with the matter. That is a shift from Google’s previous practice, when it joined with only one hardware maker at a time to produce “lead devices,” before releasing the software to other device makers.
While I love me some Google Android, I’m tired of waiting for OS updates that are delayed by manufacturers and carriers. That’s why I currently rock and love my Galaxy Nexus. While phones like the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S III look amazing, I prefer Nexus phones because they’ll get updated faster and, for the most part, don’t have bloatware issues.
I love the idea of having several Nexus phones to choose from. For Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), there’s just one Samsung phone. Although I’m happy with my Nexus, I prefer the construction and build quality of HTC and Motorola phones. Being able to choose from several “pure” Android phones sounds awesome, don’t you agree? Are you excited by the rumor that Google will sell multiple Nexus phone through Google Play?
Scott Foe Talks About the Nokia N-Gage
My friend and colleague Scott Foe kicked off his blog with a post titled “What the F*ck N-Gage?” For those of you that don’t recall the device, the N-Gage was Nokia’s failed foray into the gaming market. Scott used to work at Sega during the Dreamcast days and was a key player at Nokia during the N-Gage period. He knows all about failed consoles and labels himself as “the undisputed most-spectacular failure that the games industry has ever witnessed”. I respectfully disagree with that self assessment.
Scott’s rant covers all sorts of topics, but my favorite part covered the failure of the N-Gage. Here’s a snippet:
Who could deny that the N-Gage was a spectacular failure? A “failure,” because, today, there are more people who own my self-produced album of J-Pop lounge-covers, Sakura Scotty, than own N-Gages. A “spectacular” failure, because there wasn’t a man, woman, nor publisher-side producer in the games industry that didn’t see it fail.
The logic of Nokia’s games strategy was so straightforward as to be un-ignorable, “We are Nokia, the largest handset manufacturer in the world, absolute masters of sourcing and logistics, capable of buying component parts for cheaper and putting the products for sale in more places than any other organization on the planet. The games industry is worth billions, and when we throw our winter cap into the ring, we will take a piece of that market.” The logic was also terminal due to a very straightforward lack of heart.
I covered the hell out of the N-Gage back in 2003. I loved the idea of a connected gaming platform integrated into a mobile phone. The potential was awesome and realized today in Android, iOS, etc. The problem was that Nokia was never (and still isn’t) great at software; expecting the company to build a robust backend and an intuitive frontend for gaming was a little ridiculous when viewed through the good old retroscope. The other problem was that Nokia was (and still is) great at making hardware, but laid an egg with the N-Gage. Nokia made (and still makes) some of the most beautiful phones in the history of the business. The N-Gage doesn’t look or feel like Nokia hardware at all.
Anyway, kindly read Scott’s blog when you have a chance. It’s witty, insightful, and intelligent.
Apple Kicking Google Maps to the Curb in iOS 6
Apple and Google have been conducting their little (okay, not so little) cold war for years. A lot of the fighting has happened in executive boardrooms and courtrooms, with consumers not seeing the fallout. It looks like that’s going to change with the release of iOS 6. Rumor has it that the iOS 6 version of the Maps app will drop Google Maps in favor of the technology Apple has been buying up. Here are the details from AllThingsD:
Between 2009 and 2011, Apple acquired three mapping companies in quick succession: Placebase, in 2009; 3-D mapping outfit Poly9 in 2010; and in 2011, C3 Technologies, a second 3-D mapping company. Three mapping-company acquisitions in as many years. But for good reason: Apple has been hard at work developing its own in-house mapping solution for iOS, and now it’s finally ready to debut it.
Sources describe the new Maps app as a forthcoming tentpole feature of iOS that will, in the words of one, “blow your head off.” I’m not quite sure what that means, and the source in question declined to elaborate, but it’s likely a reference to the photorealistic 3-D mapping tech Apple acquired when it purchased C3 Technologies. C3 did use missile-targeting technology to develop its gorgeous 3-D models of major cities, so …
Apple has been taking steps to ween itself off of Google’s numerous products. It was interesting to see Siri use Wolfram Alpha instead of a Google-based solution. Watching the company move away from Google Maps is another telling step. It looks like Baidu will be the default search engine for iOS devices sold in China. Can you imagine a day when Apple uses a non-Google search engine as the default choice for the rest of the world?
What do you make of Apple apparently ditching Google Maps on iOS? Do you think Apple’s new Maps app will blow your head off? What does that even mean?!?
Harry Potter Books Part of Kindle Lending Library
Amazon has announced that the Harry Potter series of books will be available through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library starting June 19, 2012. The program is available to Amazon Prime subscribers and allows them to “borrow for free as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates.” As the name implies, a proper Amazon Kindle is required; you’re not able to borrow books through Kindle apps available for Android, iOS, etc.
This a fantastic addition to an already excellent program. Obviously the Harry Potter books are immensely popular. The Kindle e-readers are fantastic, while the Kindle Fire is a good starter tablet PC. Amazon’s combination of hardware and content is tough to beat (at least in the e-reader space).
Any of you tempted to pick up a Kindle now that Harry Potter is in the mix?
Coffee Talk #476: Making Games Without Coding
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, Floyd Mayweather’s surprisingly exciting victory over Miguel Cotto, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2012 inductions, or remembering MCA, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Do you ever dream about making your own games? Perhaps you have a sweet game in your head, but can’t get it on screen because of a lack of coding skills? Here are two visual programming tools that can help you make games without knowing how to code. First up is GameSalad Creator. This robust editor allows you to make games for Android, HTML 5, iOS, and more. It offers an almost shockingly diverse amount of options, including a robust behaviors editor. GameSalad Creator is free, with a more powerful Pro version available for $299.
A simpler and more focused visual programming tool is Codea for iPad. This $9.99 editor allows you to make games for the iPad on the iPad. It offers a mix of drag-and-drop and straight code editing. To give you an idea of what Codea can do, TwoLivesLeft has published Cargo-Bot. While it’s not as diverse or as powerful as GameSalad Creator, Codea offers a surprising amount of power considering its price and platform.
Don’t expect either of these editors to let you make the next Skyrim or Gears of War. These tools are meant for people that don’t know how to code or don’t like to code. With that in mind, of course the options are relatively limited. That said, they do offer numerous and powerful ways to unleash your inner game designer.
Are any of you interested in making games this way? Do products like GameSalad Creator and Codea interest you?