Hasta La Gadget!

Apple on Friday said it would begin accepting submissions for iPad apps next week to launch with the grand opening of the iPad App Store.

Apple’s e-mail, provided to Wired.com by a developer who asked to remain anonymous, told developers to submit their apps by March 27, 5 p.m. PT if they wished to release their apps when the iPad lands April 3.

“You will also receive additional information about submitting your app for final review before iPad ships,” Apple’s e-mail stated. “Only apps submitted for the initial review will be considered for the grand opening of the iPad App Store.”

With the iPad launch just days away, we’re sure to see a wealth of brand-new tablet apps from developers eager to get a head start. Most of those developers, however, are coding in the dark, because they haven’t actually seen the device yet.

BusinessWeek on Friday reported that a select group of developers who have worked with the iPad had promised to keep the device isolated in a room with blacked-out windows. Apple also required them to sign a 10-page pact swearing not to disclose any information about the iPad.

Apple has only granted a few developers the privilege of using an iPad to help make their apps, according to BusinessWeek. Some major developers, including Evernote, have been rejected when they requested access to iPads for testing.

That creates a reverse conundrum for the Apple developer community. When the iPhone 3G and the App Store launched in July 2008, many apps were riddled with bugs, because developers were still getting familiar with the new iPhone OS 2.0 software development kit — but at least the original iPhone was available for testing. With the iPad, the situation has flip-flopped: Developers have experience with the iPhone SDK, but most have never touched an iPad.

And that means developers are coding apps that fit a tablet screen without any hands-on testing to gauge whether their interface is suitable for the iPad experience. Apple provides an emulator for testing iPad apps, but that won’t be the same as actually using the app with a large, multitouch screen.

Even Apple seems to have already been challenged by its own product. A few weeks ago I pointed out that some default iPhone apps — Calculator, Clock and Stocks, for example — are conspicuously missing from the iPad, according to press releases and images. Later, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber cited tipsters who explained that Steve Jobs scrapped the iPad versions of those apps.

“Ends up that just blowing up iPhone apps to fill the iPad screen looks and feels weird, even if you use higher-resolution graphics so that nothing looks pixelated,” Gruber wrote. “It wasn’t a technical problem, it was a design problem.”

In theory, making games for the iPad shouldn’t be as difficult. Games resized for a higher resolution might just work out fine. Designing iPad apps in general, however, will likely be a new art that developers — and even Apple programmers — fine-tune over time.

See Also:

• 5 Apps We Can’t Wait to See on the iPad
• The Wired Tablet App: A Video Demonstration
• Will the iPad Be Missing a Few iPhone Apps?
• Rumor: Some iPhone Apps Scrapped From iPad by Steve Jobs

Chip maker Marvell wants to get into the tablet business and it is showing a prototype that will offer web access and high-definition content at a price that would beat the competition by a wide margin.

The prototoype tablet, called Moby, is targeted mainly at students who may be looking for a digital device that could give them access to books and the internet, and could also act as a music player.

The Moby tablet will be powered by Marvell’s ARMADA 600 series of application processors. These chips can offer gigahertz-class speed, says the company. The device will also bring 1080p full-HD capability, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS connectivity and FM radio. Marvell hasn’t disclosed detailed technical specifications for the device.

Marvell is no stranger to offering visions of fantastic gadgets at low, low prices. Last year, it showed a $100 computer inside a wall plug and has tried to popularize the idea of plug computers that would draw just about 5W of power, come with a 1.2-GHz CPU, a USB port and internet connectivity.

Meanwhile, tablets have become all the rage this year. Apple’s iPad will be the first to hit the market on April 3. Other PC makers including HP, Dell and Samsung have also said they plan to release tablets for consumers.

The $100 Moby will support full Adobe Flash and could run either Android or the Windows Phone 7 operating system.

As intriguing as it is, Moby is just a reference design at this point. Marvell hasn’t said if it will manufacture the tablet itself or partner with companies who want to take the design and produce it. Either way, the Moby will be available by the end of the year, says Marvell.

Marvell says it plans to announce a pilot program with the District of Columbia Public School system so students in the system can try out the Moby.

See Also:

• Marvell Plans $100 Computer Inside a Wall Plug
• Marvell Plans $100 Computer Inside a Wall Plug
• Marvell’s Super Speedy 802.11n Chipset Leaves WiMax in the Dust
• Next-Gen Cellphones Will Run 1080p Video and 3D Games

Photo: Moby reference design (Harry McCracken/Technologizer)

For eons we’ve wondered what it would be like to walk around in a bona fide Virtusphere, and at GDC last week we finally got our chance. The large plastic cage can turn and roll in any direction, and once replete with a wireless head-mounted display and fake gun, we were ready to take on some polygonal alien baddies. Getting into the cage is surprisingly easy, but unfortunately once we had a screen strapped to our head our well-honed sense of balance was right out the window, and we found ourselves staggering around a bit as we got used to the motion of the cage. The real military versions have a motion sensing gun controller, but we had to do all our aiming with our head, which didn’t help. After a minute or so we got used to the “momentum” involved in moving the cage, which felt pretty great, but we’d say our favorite part about the experience was just being able to turn in place to confront baddies — there’s something about a few well placed steps that really blows away a left or right tug on our 360 controller’s analog stick. At the end of the day the sheer size, cost, and ultra-dated graphics has us hardly pining for one of these in our living rooms, but with a bit more work on the gaming end (and a working gun pointer) we could see this as the arcade experience to beat. Check out a video of our harrowing experience (from outside and inside) after the break.

Continue reading Virtusphere’s virtual reality hamster ball put to the test

Virtusphere’s virtual reality hamster ball put to the test originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you somehow held off on buying a Core i7 rig as soon as they popped out last year, you’re in luck — and your poor Pentium II system is flat out of it. Just about everyone has updated their gaming desktop lines this week with an option to splurge on Intel’s 3.33GHz (or more) Core i7-980X Extreme Edition processor, and iBuyPower is no different. Said PC builder is now offering the chip within four of its Paladin desktops, and given that the stock clock speed is far too sluggish for your own greedy self, the Paladin XLC V3 ships in an overclocked configuration that promises a 30 percent boost in performance over the stock silicon. The rigs also ship with 6GB or 12GB of DDR3 memory, the latest and greatest ATI / NVIDIA graphics cards, an optional Blu-ray burner and a fresh copy of Windows 7. The lowest-end rig gets going at $2,159, while the aforesaid XLC V3 will set you back $4,409; the whole gang is available to customize as we speak.

iBuyPower crams Core i7-980X Extreme Edition into Paladin desktop line originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It doesn’t take a genius to cook up this marketing plan for Das
Keyboard. You make high-end keyboards, you hold the Ultimate Typing
Championship. This year at SXSW, Das
Keyboard brought the two finalists–Nate Bowen of NYC and Sean Wrona of
Ithaca, NY–to Austin Texas, and crowned a winner.  Both typists have
been clocked at 150 words per minute, but this contest wasn’t even
close.

The championship had two rounds, and Sean Wrona won the
first round easily, hitting an unbelievable163 words per minute. The
current world record is for typing 158 words per minute, according to
the Guinness Book of
World Records.

The second test included a mix of
unintelligible phrases and code that required multiple keyboard
commands. Despite the complex material, Wrona beat his opponent 125 to
72 words per minute. That is the round I captured on video below.

After
Wrona collected his $2,000 prize, I asked him if his fingers hurt. He
shrugged and said: “My fingers are fine, although it is kind of
uncomfortable on the wrists.”

You can test your typing skills at ultimatetypingchampionship.com,
but don’t expect to see my name on the finalist list. I still look at
the keys when I type.