Zeebox is clearly busy these days. It just added automatic show syncing and recommendations to its second screen app a few days ago, and it’s back with a new developer portal that opens the Zeebox APIs to everyone, not just partners. Those building mobile and web apps can now integrate Zeebox’s guides, social networking and tagging into their projects, as well as create synchronized widgets for Zeebox’s own release. If you’re inclined to build on the company’s TV experience, it’s free to try the programming tools you’ll find at the source link.
If you didn’t get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we’ve opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week, Ting went rogue and all but confirmed the HTC Tiara, Boost Mobile did the obvious and announced a phone that’s long been rumored in its pipeline and Wind welcomed a new, compact Samsung handset into the fold. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that’s happening in the mobile world for this week of June 17th, 2013.
With the announcement that Google would be shutting down its Google Reader service on July 1, many users have gotten bent out of shape because of the news. However, numerous developers have been hard at work on creating replacements, while other devs are busy improving their already-existing solutions. However, it seems that Facebook may joining
We’ve been expecting this day for a while now, but after delaying the retirement of its API v1, Twitter has officially cut the cord and is requiring Twitter clients to use its new API v1.1. Essentially, this is the final breath for a handful of Twitter clients, including TweetDeck, SilverBird, and DestroyTwitter. The updated API
Apple’s developer bits are generally the bigger picture story that comes out of WWDC, and some details are slowly emerging about those 1,500 or so new APIs Apple has added for devs to take advantage of. Some of the better news is around new gaming technologies, which should result in much improved experiences for both gamers and the people creating the games they play.
iOS 7 will introduce support for “Made for iPhone, iPod and iPad” (MFi) program-compatible game controller hardware (via 9to5Mac), which means developers will finally be able to access system-level tools for building in support for a wide range of devices from accessory manufacturers. The new API supports both controller sheaths that hold the iPhone or device itself, and standalone controllers that would more closely resemble your traditional gamepad.
New images found by Touch Arcade from the iOS 7 developer’s guide shows that controllers will be able to offer support for configurations of two joysticks, a directional pad, and up to six buttons at least, so that it should be able to replicate the setup of traditional controllers like the PlayStation DualShock or Super Nintendo gamepad pretty easily. For retro titles and core games alike, this should be a tremendous addition to the arsenal, and you can expect third-party hardware accessory makers like Griffin, Belkin, etc., as well as startups on Kickstarter, to be all over this. There are third-party controllers already out there, but they’ve always required devs to integrate an external SDK to get games working with them, that’s not going to be the case anymore.
Retro games should also get a nice boost from SpriteKit, Apple’s new framework for developing more simple, 2D style games and creating interesting physics effects like the one shown in the video below. Sprite Kit looks to be pretty powerful, but has the disadvantage of not reaching outside of Apple’s ecosystem, or of supporting older devices. Still, Apple has a very fast-adopting user base for new versions of iOS, and there are a lot of dev shops that focus only on iOS, so we could see some very cool stuff built with this new, simpler Unity-type engine on Apple’s devices.
Other new gaming features include turn-based multiplayer game modes, ladder rankings for high score leaderboards and more. But the game controller element alone could have a huge impact on iOS and its role in the mobile gaming market, and it’s quite likely that Nintendo and Sony should be watching very closely to see how the ecosystem around that feature develops.
In order to equip enterprise devs with the proper tools to create custom Maps, Google announced the Maps Engine API. The kit allows users to leverage the outfit’s cloud muscle to layer appropriate info on a Google Map and publish the results for either internal or widespread use. Direct access to Maps Engine is provided through the API and web, Android, iOS and server-to-server platforms are all in play. A few companies have already put the goods to use — FedEx is leveraging it to search its locations for the closest shipping option.
Though Google chucked open API access to CalDAV back in March, it appears the company’s had a change of heart. Up until today, only a select few whitelisted developers could make use of Google’s calendar open standard; a decision it made based on actual usage data. But given the amount of feedback it’s received from blocked devs in the time since, Google’s decided to re-instate access to CalDAV APIs, in addition to those for CardDAV — a first — its open standard for contacts. The news won’t make much difference for Windows Phone 8 users (CalDAV and CardDAV support was already promised), but at least your third-party apps can now continue to play nice with your social calendar.
Google just announced the release of their Maps Engine API, a service that allows customers to build, store and distribute their own maps and associated data in a public or private way. Google Maps Engine was formerly called “Earth Builder”. […]
In an effort to reduce what Amazon is calling “sign-in friction,” the company has launched their own login system for third-party developers, and they’re calling it “Login with Amazon,” simply enough. The new service will compete with the likes of Facebook and Google, who have their own login services for third-party apps as well.
Essentially, Amazon users will be able to log into third-party apps, games, and websites using their Amazon credentials, eliminating the need to register yet another account with a website that users may only visit once or twice. Users also have the ability to share certain portions of their Amazon profile with apps, games and websites.
Login with Amazon has been in its testing phases on Zappos.com and Woot.com for awhile now, both of which are Amazon subsidiaries. It seems that testing on these two sites has gone rather well, as Amazon reports that Zappos saw 40% of its new customers choose to sign-in with their Amazon account, while Woot discovered that new customers logged in with Amazon twice as often as any other social login on the website.
Amazon says their login service can be added “in a matter of hours” and it’s based on the OAuth 2.0 authorization framework, which is a widely-adopted open protocol, so developers shouldn’t have any problem at all implementing it into their own services.
With the public launch of the login service, we should be seeing even more login options appear on websites, as well as different apps and games. Facebook and Google have been the most popular options for third-party login, and now that Amazon has joined the party, we’ll see if the retail giant can shake some feathers.
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