Hasta La Gadget!

The next upgrade to Apple’s iPhone will have a strong focus on gaming, analysts and developers agree.

That’s because the gaming market is an increasingly juicy segment of
the mobile multimedia space — and it’s one that Apple’s phenomenally successful iPhone is well-positioned to dominate.

"The iPhone and iPod Touch are becoming a major new handheld gaming
platform, and if you look at the App Store and look at what’s doing
well, that’s reflecting," said Bart Decrem, CEO of Tapulous, developer
of the popular Tap Tap Revenge iPhone game. "I would look forward to improvements in the device as a gaming platform both for the phone and iPod Touch."

Apple made clear its plans to seize the gaming market in November 2008 when Apple marketing executive Greg Joswiak called
the iPhone and iPod Touch "the future of gameplay," posing a serious
threat to dedicated gaming consoles such as the Nintendo DS and Sony
PSP. The reasons? A few things: The quick, electronic distribution
method of games and apps via the iPhone’s App Store; the accelerometer
and multitouch display, which are introducing new approaches to gameplay;
and the iPhone’s lighter, more portable form factor
compared to its rivals.

Numbers say the iPhone is indeed in a position to assault the gaming
market. Analysts predict Apple is on
track to sell 40 million iPhones or more per year. By way of
comparison, Nintendo sold 42 million DS consoles from January 2007 to
June 2008.

Add to that the fact that the iPhone App Store has already
got the DS and PSP beat in terms of game titles available: When the App
Store was just three months old, it had 1,500 games; the PSP and DS had
about 600 and 300 titles, respectively.

There are just a few weaknesses the iPhone needs to address before it’s
truly acknowledged as a serious game device, said Steve Demeter,
developer of the Trism iPhone game: Processing limitations,
graphic capabilities and memory management. For example, the PSP’s
advantage as a dedicated gaming device is that its application
programming interface (API) is geared toward loading complex textures — a task the iPhone falls short on.

If Apple is serious about making the iPhone a gaming platform, it’s a good bet that the next upgrade to the iPhone will address those limitations.

Tero Kuittinen, a Global Crown Capital analyst, agrees that the next
iPhone will have enhanced graphics and more powerful processing capabilities. And
those improvements will likely be incorporated in a new ARM chip that
Apple is developing in-house. In April 2008, Apple acquired semiconductor company PA Semi to manufacture ARM chips for future iPhones.

Other than introducing graphical improvements it’s unlikely the iPhone
will see dramatic changes. Kuittinen noted that Apple enjoys keeping
its interfaces consistent to ensure software is backward-compatible — so forget about a slide-out keyboard or a screen that’s either much smaller or much larger than the current iPhone. Developers Decrem and Demeter agreed that Apple will likely
be conservative with changes so as not to require software coders to
rewrite applications to be compatible with the next iPhone.

One minor change Apple will likely introduce in the third-generation
iPhone is an improved web camera with video-recording capability and a
flash. Kuittinen said the camera will have to sport at least a
3.5-megapixel resolution in order to compete with Research In Motion,
Samsung, HTC and LG, which are already selling handsets with superior
cameras to the iPhone.

When can we expect the next iPhone? Considering the first iPhone
launched June 2007 and the second iPhone shipped July 2008, the third-generation iPhone should land no later than summer 2009.

Let’s hope this one has copy and paste.

See Also:

• iPhone Firmware Reveals Next Gen-Model Is in Testing
• Onyx Turns iPhone Into Web 2.0-Savvy Gaming Device
• iPhone Teases With Game Possibilities
• Why iPhone Games Will Rule
• Gamers Eye the iPhone, as SDK Approaches

Photo: Erik Veland/Flickr

Philips’ groundbreaking Cinema 21:9 HDTV looked so curious when it launched a fortnight ago that we actually questioned its authenticity. Clearly, this beauty is for real. Pocket-lint was lucky enough to be on-hand for its unveiling in London, and it hosted up a nice video showing off the 56-inch beast in action. The black bars you’ve grown used to detesting were indeed gone, and while Philips wouldn’t dole out any hard specifications, we are told that it boasts five HDMI sockets, a Spring release date and an estimated £3,000 ($4,276) price tag. Vid’s after the break, per usual.

Continue reading Philips’ 56-inch Cinema 21:9 HDTV gets showcased on video

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Philips’ 56-inch Cinema 21:9 HDTV gets showcased on video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This question came from reader Andrew:

On your
Web site, it mentions that the LG Voyager can be used as a modem, and the best way to do that is with USB. How do you access the Internet [using the Voyager] on a PC? Naturally, I was told that you supposedly are unable to do that. Any help?

My reply after the jump.

This article was written on January 09, 2007 by CyberNet.

Big news today at Macworld. After years of anticipation, speculation, and rumors, Apple has announced the iPhone! Here are some of the features:

• 11.6 mm (thickness)
• 3.5 in. (width)
• Runs Mac OS X (access to Safari Web browser)
• Touchscreen display with multi-touch support
• 2 megapixel camera
• 8 GB storage
• Bluetooth with EDR and also WiFi
• Quadband GSM radio with EDGE
• EDGE or WiFi, the phone switches to WiFi when detected
• Google Maps: Satellite directions, traffic monitoring, and normal maps.
• Random access voicemail
• Widgets: Weather and stocks
• Photo album lets you scroll through images with your finger and you can zoom in/out by “squeezing” or “pinching” the screen with two fingers.
• The orientation of the screen (landscape or portrait) will automatically rotate based upon the orientation of the device itself.

One of my favorite features is the quick switching. While listening to your music using the iPod application on your iPhone, the phone rings.  As the phone call comes in, the music fades out, and the screen changes allowing you to answer.  While on the phone, you can even pull up photos to send in an email, and browse the web.  After you end the call,  the iPod continues playing where you left off. Amazing!

Also on stage with Steve Jobs was Jerry Yang of Yahoo and Eric Schmidt of Google.  A big part of this iPhone is the use of some of Google’s services, like the maps for satellite directions, and traffic. Yahoo is involved by offering free push IMAP email for all of the customers.

Now for the price: The 4GB model will be $499 and the 8GB model will be $599. They’ll start shipping in June! Note: As Nate the Great mentions below, it does require a 2-year contract.

News Source: Gizmodo

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• Verizon Turned it’s Nose up at the iPhone
• Apple and Cisco Finally See Eye to Eye with iPhone
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I doubt it, but one representative from New York would like to see it. Pete King, R-N.Y., has introduced a bill that proposes making the annoying click sound a required feature on all camera phones. The ability to switch it off would be disabled. Enter a whole new realm of phone hacks. From the E-Week article:

Designed to protect children and adolescents who “have been exploited by photographs taken in dressing rooms and public places with the use of a camera phone,” the bill requires any camera phone manufactured in the United States to “sound a tone or other sound audible within a reasonable radius of the phone whenever a photograph is taken.”

If it passes, any mobile phone or handset manufactured a year after the bill passes would be required to have a clicking sound. Any silencing option would go the way of the dinosaurs: Extinction.

Yet another micromanaging bill written under the guise of child protection. While I am hardly condoning misconduct against children, I think this bill is way out of line. Will this really prevent crimes from occurring? No. What about digital cameras? Would they be silenced as well? What if I witness a murder and have a clear shot at the perpetrator, but the sound of my camera phone gives me away? What if I’m trying to photograph wildlife? One shot and they’re gone.

I certainly hope this bill is dumped for something more worthwhile. If child protection is really the issue, then silencing camera phones is not going to improve anything. Stiffer penalties for abusers might be a better place to start.

Camera Phone Predator Alert Act (HR 414)

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