Posts tagged apps
Q: Does Summly make you smarter?
A: “We’re not legally allowed to make such claims, no.”
Check out this great promotional video for Summly, a free news app for iOS, with young Summly founder Nick D’Aloisio in conversation with globetrotting raconteur Stephen Fry.
Apple game development (or not)
This is a good read. In particular, I think he’s spot on about Game Center, Apple’s match-making system for online multi-player games. Game Center lacks features and polish at least partly because Apple has not released any games that demonstrate the value of Game Center.
Perhaps coincidentally, this week marks the first time that I have used Game Center regularly, thanks to a great new word game called Letterpress. (My three word review: get it now.)
Thing is, you need Game Center to play Letterpress. There’s no other way to connect with other Letterpress players, and there’s no single player mode in the game.
Most of the reviews I’ve seen online since Letterpress launched have mentioned this idea: the reviewer had never (or rarely) used Game Center before Letterpress came along.
It’s possible that Apple is actively developing great games that demonstrate what’s possible with Game Center. It’s also possible that they’re carefully avoiding game development, to avoid competing with game developers.
Right now, though, it looks like Apple is missing an opportunity.
Apple event March 7
Highlight’s of today’s Apple Special Event:
recap of recent successes
- sales, especially iPad, growing exponentially
- Apple retail stores continue to thrive
new version of Apple TV
- now has full HD (1080p)
- same price: $99
- available March 16
the new iPad
- new! high resolution Retina display
- 2048 x 1536 resolution
- 264 pixels per inch
- A5X quad-core graphics
- new! better camera, similar to iPhone 4S
- auto exposure, auto focus, face detection
- 1080p video recording
- new! voice dictation
- microphone button on bottom of keyboard
- new! support for LTE cellular networks
- Bell, Rogers, Telus in Canada
- iPad can be personal hotspot if carrier supports it
- most “bands” of wireless ever in one device
- new! 10 hour battery life (even using LTE)
- US prices identical to iPad 2 launch
- starting at $519 in Canada
- available March 16 in Canada, pre-order now
iPad app demos:
- flight simulator
- sketch program
- Infinity Blade: Dungeons game
- developer notes iPad screen is better than Xbox 360 or PS3
- iWork apps: $9.99 each, free update if you already own
- GarageBand free update adds Smart Strings, Notes Editor
- iMovie: $4.99 (or free update)
- new! iPhoto for iPad: “reinvention” of iPhoto
- iPhoto: brushes, sharing, $4.99
- new! iPhoto Journals for sharing from iPhoto
iPad 2 still on sale - $100 price drop
- $399 for 16GB WiFI model or $529 for 3G cellular
